Sega Saturn buying advice

[atheistgod1999]

I'm planning on getting a Sega Saturn (want to acquire more consoles before getting more games). I have over $225. What should I get?

While I'm fine getting Japanese games, I'm not going to play them until I'm fluent (yes, I know this will probably take a few years). I'm going to take a 1-month beginner Japanese course in a few days, so I'm going to begin learning it.

[Stevens]

Saturn is a great console, but it is super fucking expensive to buy for.

[Jonst]

You won't regret buying a jp Saturn... Make sure you get grey with oval buttons (first gen I think)...

[Bitter Almonds]

The games are way overpriced now.

[TransatlanticFoe]

You don't need any Japanese to play the import shmups on the console but you do need a lot of cash. A lot of the desirables have really gone up in price (Battle Garegga, Batsugun) and even some of the less popular (Kyukyoku Tiger II, Gekirindan) can get ludicrous too. If you really need to know Japanese to play the game, it's pretty much nailed on that it's cheap as chips.

Saturn + Action Replay cart is all you need for imports if you can't find a JP Saturn locally (postage will hurt you otherwise).

[null1024]

most of the big Saturn games that get recommended don't require you to read any Japanese, which is nice

If there's one game you should play [it's not terribly cheap, if not break-the-bank expensive -- look into installing pseudosaturn on an Action Replay cartridge], it's Bulk Slash. Probably my favorite game on the machine.

[FinalBaton]

If I were you I would buy a japanes saturn because -1- they're a bit cheaper and -2- they have WAY cooler designs.
I got my white japanese model 2 saturn on ebay for $60 US shipped, with 2 controllers and power cord
Also you'll be buying an Action Replay anyway and that enables you to play american games on your jap console, so there's no problem there.

All my Saturn games are japanese copies. The language barrier is there for imports, sure, but there's a sizeable library wich doesn't require require any knowledge of japanese. And some others have a bit of text but it can be manageable with some walkthrough/translation guides.

That's what I'm doing with Princess Crown. Well, that one actually has a decent amount of text. But it can be done! I printed that translation guide with stills from the game, that's floating online, and it's definitely playable that way. Sure you gotta stop and read your guide when talking to NPCs in town, but it's doable.

I have Guardian Heroes (japanese version is way cheaper than the american one, wich is a plus), and it too is perfectly manageable. If you wanna follow the story, print a translation online and there you go!

I also bought Dungeons & Dragons Collection and that one only have minimal text (used to describe branching paths. You don't even need to look that up online).

Own Darius Gaiden, jp version (can be bought on ebay for $30, wich is like half the price of the US version).

Other games I own are Metal Slug (this one's more expensive, but dammit it's worth it ), and The King Of Fighters '95.

I recommend all those


As you can see, I don't have a ton of games but that's the same for all my consoles' library. I'm fine with slowwwwwwly expanding my collection. So if you're like me, you won't be bothered by the slightly above average price of the games on Saturn.

[atheistgod1999]

Well, it's kinda late to get a Japanese Saturn. What about region modding it? Am I good with just some jumper wires, a soldering iron, and solder do I need other things? My dad has the 3 aforementioned things and I have enough soldering skill to swap some wires and pins, so I could make it a Japanese Saturn in maybe a half-hour at most.

[WelshMegalodon]

most of the big Saturn games that get recommended don't require you to read any Japanese, which is nice

No way dude, it's all about confusing the hell out of Japanese-illiterate ag1999 by recommending Sakura Taisen and Langrisser IV. Maybe Tokimeki Memorial and YU-NO if he's feeling particularly confident... or not.

EDIT: As mentioned, the Action Replay 4M Plus is the best way to circumvent the region lock. The only reason for you to want to mod your Saturn is for a modchip to play backups, although even that is possible on an unmodded system if you can pull off the swap trick.

[tomwhite2004]

Well, it's kinda late to get a Japanese Saturn. What about region modding it? Am I good with just some jumper wires, a soldering iron, and solder do I need other things? My dad has the 3 aforementioned things and I have enough soldering skill to do swap some wires and pins, so I could make it a Japanese Saturn in maybe a half-hour at most.

As mentioned a couple of posts above just get this...http://m.play-asia.com/action-replay-4m ... s/13/701b2

The other alternative is to buy somthing like a phantom universal mod chip but its not worth the hassle if all you are doing is looking to make your machine region free. In short no, you cant undo a region lock with a few wires alone, if only!

[FinalBaton]

Why is it too late to buy a japanese saturn?
I don't get it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I say get the fucker chipped/jailbroken first. Many good games, but hot damn, not THAT good if you look at the prices. Still - quite a number of exclusives not QUITE right emulated last time I checked.
Sad truth is - I hardly ever hook mine up, despite liking some of its GENUINE exclusives rather a lot.*
*) Unless the lights in Elevator Action Returns emulation got fixed by now.

[maximo310]

This is the completely wrong time to jump into the Saturn, especially as most of its shmup selection is super pricey besides Layer Section or Darius Gaiden.
You'd probably get a bigger bang for your buck with PS2 or X360 ( or any 6th gen/7th gen console) for collecting purposes.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Well, I do find myself playing my cheaply bought games most (darn certain I'm not the only one like that).

[Bloodreign]

Seeing how insane prices are for Saturn games now, makes me appreciate the 46 games (most imports) that I have now. But if you like puzzlers, the Puyo Puyo's are still fairly priced, as well as the Magical Drops, and the Tokimeki Memorial Taisen Puzzle Damas, as well as the Chibi Maruko chan one (though it averages about $30, that's what I paid for mine).

[FinalBaton]

Bloodreign, I have to say : I love your avatar SO much.

It's such a tight and cutesy animation cycle! Plus the character is cool of course, hehe

[evil_ash_xero]

If you get a U.S. Saturn, just get the Action Reply. https://www.amazon.com/Action-Replay-4M ... B008FPMBNG

You will be good to go. Being stuck with the U.S. library is pretty lame, as almost all of the shmups are JP exclusive
But it does seem like the Sega Saturn's have gone through the roof lately. Then again, most older games have gone through the roof.

I'm still trying to get my hands on a Rhea, so I can avoid some of this nonsense.

[cj iwakura]

Hey, some of my favorite Saturn games were localized, especially if you're an RPG fan. Sadly, the best RPGs go for $texas now, especially Dragon Force.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'm seeing Baku Baku Animal, AMOK and Loaded on eBay still priced mildly for Saturn games. I enjoyed all of them on the thing. All 2-player too. Virtual-On Saturn port finds some defenders as well. Typically, you may not associate Saturn with this kind of 32-bit sleaze, but then you end up playing it more than some "collector's item" of a game.

[Ji-L87]

It seems to me that in general, it's not really the time to get into retro consoles period. At least not if owning an original copy of every cool game is the goal.

I love my Saturn and would absolutely put in a good word for it as a fun system to own, but it's a harsh truth that all the games that we really want for the system seems to exist on a price point which to me could consist of nothing but alternative-dimension fantasy numbers for all I care.

That said, there are still good games that can be bought with actual real money, such as Sega Rally, which is fantastic

[atheistgod1999]

Will there ever be a good time again?

[Skykid]

Will there ever be a good time again?

Never say never, but you'll probably be a really old bastard by the time the market crashes.

[BIL]

ag99 if I'm ever suicide bomba'd while battling Chechen separatists in Mozambique, I'll bequeath all my nerd shit to you. Don't hold your breath though kid, I don't die easy.

[Skykid]

There is a final strat for budget classic game collecting that doesn't involve flash card modding the heck out of everything: buy what's still cheap.

Sega Mark III is probably the last bastion of card boxed software that hasn't had a wallet-fistfuck injection, and contrary to its rep has a superb library of ports like Fantasy Zone and Aleste, some neat back catalogue compatibility so you can play Bank Panic on a teeny card, and some high skill exclusives worth playing.

It also has the best version of Sonic 1 in existence thanks to Yuzo Koshiro's family.

[atheistgod1999]

So I'll probably be at least 60 by the time the price bubble bursts? Fuck my life

[Stevens]

I just discovered Shining Wisdom goes for drug money. I had that when it came out, along with Dragonforce and Shining THA.

[BIL]

So I'll probably be at least 60 by the time the price bubble bursts? Fuck my life

Well, it's not as bad as it could be, at least for consoles. Collecting is a luxury these days with all the means of playing factory code on real hardware.

Honestly, I get the talismanic/fetish angle, I really do. I know full well I only "serious game" at a fraction of the capacity I could, because ATM I enjoy just puttering about ROMsets looking for good stuff to collect. I sincerely love gaming, but I love my hobbyist distractions too. And even if solid state optical drive alternatives become the widely available, reliable solution I hope for, I'll still be ripping from my personal collection of discs, collecting further ones and ripping those too.

Ultimately though, with the workarounds available now, talismanic is all this stuff really is. Don't let a pursuit of that ruin your enjoyment of the games themselves. HG101's Taromaru review would be the useless butterfingered scrubwank it is whether the author was playing my mint+complete with sticker copy or some random CD-R. The game is the thing! Running on real hardware where at all possible!

[Skykid]

Indeed, collecting rewarding skills, scores and 1CCs is what gaming is all about. Thrive on those moments and be thankful the Internet made it possible for kids of your generation to dive into the greatest catalogue of videogame adventures for the price of free.

[atheistgod1999]

Does the Action Replay work with games that require the RAM cart? Like, can I quickly take out the AR and put in the RAM cart?

[tomwhite2004]

Does the Action Replay work with games that require the RAM cart? Like, can I quickly take out the AR and put in the RAM cart?

Its compatable with both the 1mb and 4mb ram games, no need to swap anything around.