Screaming out "Goddamn! I love the Sega Saturn!"

[Never_Scurred]

Been on a Sega Saturn love binge as of late. I got a homeboy that does custom art and prints that gonna hook up my beige Saturn for me.
Any game recommendations? I got all the shmups I want, but whatabout platformers and puzzle games? The only platformers I got is what came on the Capcom Generations 2 Collection.
Also, will the MPEG card allow me to play VCD's?

[Skykid]

Saturn is love.

Want to see the customisation when done.

Keio 2 is an exclusive Saturn platformer I particularly like. Elevator Action Returns is awesome.

Expect some mofos to recommend Astal, but it really ain't so hot.

[qmish]

Side scrolling etc.:
NiGHTS...into Dreams, Astal (easy but godlike music and so beautiful graphics), Clockwork Knight 1-2, Psychic Killer Taromaru (well, prices are ridiculous and extremely hard to find, right? But i had to mention it), Assault Suit Leynos 2 (mecha run'n'gun, though some say original Valken is better), SCUD: Disposable Assassin (with some lightgun moments), Three Wonders (for Roosters: Chariot no Sagashite).

Beat'em'ups (2D):
Guardian Heroes, Pu-Li-Ru-La.

"3D & active movement":
Burning Rangers, Dynamite Deka, Ninpen Manmaru (not Super Mario 64, of course, not sure how good it its), Powerslave aka Exhumed (that's FPS and on Saturn it's best version).

Mecha:
Well, Virtual On w/twinstick There is also Bulk Slash and Gungriffon 1/2

Rail shooters/lightgun:
Panzer Dragoon 1/2. Virtua Cop 1-2, HotD

Adventure:
Torico aka Lunacy (CG video, very dreamy, unique atmosphere), Enemy Zero (interesting experiment yet pain to play), Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari (beautifully drawn but need to know japanese), Deep Fear (nice RE-like horror with beautiful soundtrack).

Fightings:
I dunno what i shall mention, maybe Astra Superstars, good old Darkstalkers, Fighters Megamix, Last Bronx...

RPG and semiRPG:
Besides pricey Azel there are... Albert Odyssey, Baroque (for me it's masterpiece of art direction and atmosphere, j-only though), different Shining- games, Thor: Seirei Ou Kiden, Princess Crown (ok ok it's sidescrolling hack'n'slash or how'd i say), Dragon Force (rts/rpg, awesome music), and yeah most of them are in japanese...like, sRPG called Black/Matrix or, another one, named Wachenroder. Also, Culdcept (it's like Monopoly x TCG).

Puzzles?:
Saturn Bomberman (Best. Music. Ever.), Baku Baku, Bubble Bobble 3, Zoku Gussun Oyoyo (building way to exit with tetris-alike blocks), Kururin Pa!.

Racing/Sports:
Manx TT Super Bike, Sega Touring Car Championship, Wipeout 2097, Steep Slope Sliders (because Cave! joking), Scorcher, OutRun @ 60 fps

Bonus mentions:
Dark Savior (for Landstalker fans), Purikura Daisakusen (isometric action, Power Instinct spinoff), Linda Cubed (j-only, crazy jrpg with trippy cutscenes), Psyche Metal (This. Shmup. So. Underrated.)

Oh, sorry for breaking "platformer/puzzle" req and sorry for sometimes incorrect genre separating. Anyway, if you add shmups (i dont need write them here, rright?) that would be "portrait of Saturn" for me which is based at what i read and watch, so that's more "at what i'll be aimed for" when i ll have my own sat ^_^

edit:
+1 for Elevator Action 2
As for Astal, that depends on what you want. I absolutely love it's audiovisuals yet i know it's pretty basic platformer.

[Pretas]

Willy Wombat is an overhead platformer by Westone/Hudson, using pre-rendered sprites in 3D environments, that always gets left out of these Saturn discussions for some reason. It's got character designs by Susumu Matsushita, a setting inspired by Western cartoons, and full English voice acting despite being a Japan-only release. So it had every reason to be a fairly well-known curiosity amongst Saturn importers.

I can only assume its continued obscurity is a consequence of its aggressive mediocrity. Enemies are bland, and are either trivially easy when being picked off by Willy's boomerangs from afar, or incredibly cheap when swarming him at narrow choke points. The stage design gets particularly painful by the fourth world: I couldn't finish a certain level where you have to race down a long, winding track after triggering a switch to slip past a gate before it closes; I would always arrive a split second too late no matter how precise I was. I had only seen one boss fight by that point, and it was a normal-sized enemy with a very simple pattern and one attack. There are also a lot of visibility issues resulting from the low-angled perspective and the unguided, freely rotatable camera. Oh, and you have to grind for gems to be awarded Save Tokens, else you can't save.

The game runs on something called the "AQV Engine" that Hudson once tried to promote, and even made a logo animation for. I wonder if they had intended to use it in future Bomberman games.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Baku Baku (Animal).
Of multiplatform games, AMOK and Loaded can be a bit of fun (local 2 player). Tomb Raider was originally developed for Saturn so it's a bit of real-time 3D history right there.
Rockman 8 is supposed to be in some ways enhanced version.
Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack.

The leaked Chelnov port seemed pretty accurate to me but I didn't find the way to remap controls or enable auto-fire.

[Jonathan Ingram]

In addition to what has already been mentioned:

- Fantastic Pinball Kyutenkai
- Arthur to Astaroth no Nazo Makaimura
- Motteke Tamago with Ganbare!
- Tadaima Wakusei Kaitakuchu!
- Nekketsu Oyako
- Tryrush Deppy
- Puyo Puyo Sun

[Pretas]

- Fantastic Pinball Kyutenkai
- Arthur to Astaroth no Nazo Makaimura
- Motteke Tamago with Ganbare!
- Tadaima Wakusei Kaitakuchu!
- Nekketsu Oyako
- Tryrush Deppy
- Puyo Puyo Sun

Except for Deppy, all of these are on the Playstation as well.

[qmish]

Though Nekketsu Oyako lacks arrange soundtrack (which is nice melodic rock) on PS1.

[broken harbour]

Nearly every capcom fighter is brilliant on the saturn, as is Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes, After Burner, Outrun, Galaxy Force, etc... lots of great arcade ports.

[Jonathan Ingram]

Except for Deppy, all of these are on the Playstation as well.

I know that, but Never_Scurred didn't specifically ask for Saturn exclusives, did he?

[Kiken]

Also, will the MPEG card allow me to play VCD's?

Yes. If it's the twin operator model you'll also be able to view Photo CDs.

Rockman 8 is supposed to be in some ways enhanced version.

On the upside, it features 2 boss cameos from earlier games. On the downside, it has rougher video compression on the cinematics. On the YMMV side, Tenguman's stage has a different theme from the PS1 version.

You also have the original version of Treasure's Silhouette Mirage on Saturn.

[chempop]

Magical Drop 3

[BrianC]

- Arthur to Astaroth no Nazo Makaimura

Any reason to get this over Incredible Toon Machine?

I actually like Sonic 3D Blast and the Saturn exclusive 3D bonus rounds are good stuff.

[Jonathan Ingram]

Any reason to get this over Incredible Toon Machine?

Why does it have to be "over"? It's more ITM goodness but with a Makaimura theme. If you like ITM, you should get it no question. This and Coropata for the DS.

[MJR]

Funny, just today plugged my saturn to my CRT tv to play the only good version of Radiant Silvergun, after I felt burned with the XBLA version. And yes, the saturn version is far more playable.

[louisg]

YES! I just ordered a copy of Bulk Slash

[zinger]

YES! I just ordered a copy of Bulk Slash

Wow, me too. Just a few hours ago.

[KindGrind]

My Saturn is hooked up to my main retro setup, a late CRT. Space is pretty limited on the tiny shelves under that particular set, but the Sat sits proudly next to the Duo, NES and SNES.

Most of the great games were already mentioned; Baku Baku is a great puzzle game. Guardian Heroes is great. Astal, not my thing. The Panzer Dragoon series is essential. I did acquire a copy of Burning Rangers, and even with the Nights controller, it's a bit too "ghetto" for my taste. I think I have to give it another shot... I might not have been in the mood when I played.

[BrianC]

Any reason to get this over Incredible Toon Machine?

Why does it have to be "over"? It's more ITM goodness but with a Makaimura theme. If you like ITM, you should get it no question. This and Coropata for the DS.

oh ok. I thought it was just a port of ITM with a GnG makeover.

Edit: Watching videos, it looks like it's based on Sid & Al's Incredible Toons, which has the same intro level as ITM.

[Pretas]

Nothing "ghetto" about Burning Rangers. Sonic Team pushed the Saturn's polygon capabilities close to their absolute limits with that game. Only the Shenmue prototype had more detailed 3D graphics.

It would have been better served to have been delayed as an early Dreamcast release, honestly. Polygons in the environment warp and disappear so frequently, you get the impression that the world is constantly crumbling around you.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Panzer Dragoon I and II are must have games. Never got around to buying Saga. I bet it's good too.

Guardian Heroes, Necronomicon pinball, Last Gladiators pinball, Sega Rally, Nights, Virtua Cop 2, and Legend of Oasis are the only other non shooter games I own on Saturn. Haven't spent much time with Legend of Oasis and Virtua Cop 2 but I like all the other games. Nights is kind of a love/hate thing with me.