Rediscovering the Saturn

[Gozur]

I picked up a Saturn the other day and have been looking all over the net for a list of games that support TATE on the Saturn. I've found a few various lists that referrence some shmups but nothing that denotes H or V and if there is a TATE mode that is configurable.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

[it290]

Forum member jp's site has a comprehensive list, although it doesn't list H/V or tate mode and many will disagree with some of his rankings (especially regarding the Cave titles). For a start, two excellent and cheap vertical (w/tate) games that I can recommend are Layer Section (aka Galactic Attack) and Strikers 1945. GA can be found for <$10 and Strikers usually comes in at the $15-$20 range.

[SAM]

Okay, here is the list of Saturn shmups that got Tate mode:
(Not include non-shmups game.)

The Game Paradise!
Batsugun
Donpachi
DoDonpachi
KyuKyoku Taiger II Plus
Kingdom Grandprix
Battle Garegga
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Gunbird
Gekirindan
Layer Section
Shienryu
Gun Frontier
Image Fight & XMultiply
Sonic Wings Special
Skull Fang

[captain ahar]

get Dodonpachi, Batsugun, Layer Section, and Battle Garegga first (BG seems to be in a price lull at present).

then if you are still in the mood for more, Game Paradise, Gun Frontier and Strikers (the first one, buy #2 on ps1) are worth owning as well. the others are either not worth owning (IMO) or they are available in a better form on another platform (ps1 or ps2. see Donpachi, Strikers II, Shienryu, and Gunbird)

[D]

Okay, here is the list of Saturn shmups that got Tate mode:
(Not include non-shmups game.)

The Game Paradise!
Batsugun
Donpachi
DoDonpachi
KyuKyoku Taiger II Plus
Kingdom Grandprix
Battle Garegga
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Gunbird
Gekirindan
Layer Section
Shienryu
Gun Frontier
Image Fight & XMultiply
Sonic Wings Special
Skull Fang

1942, 1943, 1943 KAI in Capcom Generations, but note that the TATE option is not fullscreen. You will have borders top and bottom, so unless you know your tv's service menu code and are willing to stretch the screen this might not be a good choice

Doesn't someone have a site about exactly this?

[jp]

Forum member jp's site has a comprehensive list, although it doesn't list H/V or tate mode...

It does now...

or they are available in a better form on another platform (ps1 or ps2. see Donpachi, Strikers II, Shienryu, and Gunbird)

Those two are best on the Saturn.

[captain ahar]

or they are available in a better form on another platform (ps1 or ps2. see Donpachi, Strikers II, Shienryu, and Gunbird)

Those two are best on the Saturn.

well, jp aside from that not being true ( ), you can get them for cheaper on their respective ps2 collections (or in gunbird's case, at a better value, as the pack includes Gunbird 2 in it's upscaled, interlaced glory ).

just trying to be monetarily efficient.

[raiden]

Shienryu on PS2 is a royal PITA. Not only does it not save hiscores, it also doesn´t save your config, so you have to select tate every time you play it. However, to select tate, you need to find the right time to stop hitting start, because otherwise the game will start, and when the game starts, it doesn´t offer a menu option to quit either, so you have to let yourself die three times in order to return to the menu and then select tate.

Gunbird is just a little unnerving for all the loading times it features that are not present on Saturn. But it´s not nearly as unnerving as the Gunbird 2 version for PS2. What use is being "monetarily efficient" when you get games that bother you that way?

[captain ahar]

Shienryu on PS2 is a royal PITA. Not only does it not save hiscores, it also doesn´t save your config, so you have to select tate every time you play it. However, to select tate, you need to find the right time to stop hitting start, because otherwise the game will start, and when the game starts, it doesn´t offer a menu option to quit either, so you have to let yourself die three times in order to return to the menu and then select tate.

Gunbird is just a little unnerving for all the loading times it features that are not present on Saturn. But it´s not nearly as unnerving as the Gunbird 2 version for PS2. What use is being "monetarily efficient" when you get games that bother you that way?

never played the gunbird collection, so i was speaking out of turn. the only psikyo collection i have is the sengoku blade/ace one. so i withdraw my already publicly viewable advice.

concerning shienryu, i'd rather pay $20 bucks for Double Shienryu (with explosion) than upwards of $50-60 for Shienryu alone. small irritations for a difference of 40 dollars says i. also of note, is the entertainment factor of having a side-by-side comparison of interlaced/non-interlaced modes. seriously, that kept me going for a couple hours.

[iatneH]

The ST-V cart of Shienryu can be had in the ballpark of $50 also

But that's still $30 more than Double Shienryu, I suppose..

[Skyline]

Shienryu on PS2 is a royal PITA. Not only does it not save hiscores, it also doesn´t save your config, so you have to select tate every time you play it. However, to select tate, you need to find the right time to stop hitting start, because otherwise the game will start, and when the game starts, it doesn´t offer a menu option to quit either, so you have to let yourself die three times in order to return to the menu and then select tate.

Shienryu for PS2 is the first game I've ever seen that outright has a disclaimer that tells you "if you want to switch between games, you have to reset the console."

Sure it's a cheap-ass value pack. But the fact that D3 enabled memory card, config, and game quit support on one game but not the other is a bit retarded.

[Ganelon]

concerning shienryu, i'd rather pay $20 bucks for Double Shienryu (with explosion) than upwards of $50-60 for Shienryu alone. small irritations for a difference of 40 dollars says i. also of note, is the entertainment factor of having a side-by-side comparison of interlaced/non-interlaced modes. seriously, that kept me going for a couple hours.

While I agree with you on the SS version of Shienryu not being worth it compared to the PS2 version, you exagerate the price. I've found Shienryu for $15 (w/o spine) on Ebay, and The Shooting (w/Helicopter) for $10 new back when Play-Asia had it.

[Ord]

Batsugun is a MUST!!! It's probably my favourite shooter on the Saturn and it's the perfect port.

[jp]

or they are available in a better form on another platform (ps1 or ps2. see Donpachi, Strikers II, Shienryu, and Gunbird)

Those two are best on the Saturn.

well, jp aside from that not being true ( ), you can get them for cheaper on their respective ps2 collections (or in gunbird's case, at a better value, as the pack includes Gunbird 2 in it's upscaled, interlaced glory ).

just trying to be monetarily efficient.

Shienryu and Gunbird are two of the cheaper Saturn shmup titles...

[SAM]

While I agree with you on the SS version of Shienryu not being worth it compared to the PS2 version, you exagerate the price. I've found Shienryu for $15 (w/o spine) on Ebay, and The Shooting (w/Helicopter) for $10 new back when Play-Asia had it.

I actually got a PS1 version of Shienryu for sale here in the Trading Station section, asking for $15... I am willing to sell it at a lower price if you ask though.

[Danny]

Get Sonic Wings Special. It's very cheap to buy and it pretty much gives you anything about the Sonic Wings series that a fan can want plus it has TATE and allows for menu/score saving. Plus the amount of playable characters and levels in that game is just incredable (unlike my spelling sorry!)... "oohh! suits you sir!"

[CIT]

get Dodonpachi, Batsugun, Layer Section, and Battle Garegga first (BG seems to be in a price lull at present).

I agree wholeheartedly on Batsugun, Layer section and Battle Garegga, but get Dodonpachi on PlayStation, the Saturn port is a real mess.

Also, the best Saturn shmup IMO is Soukyuugurentai. It's vertical, but uses a horizontal screen.

[captain ahar]

get Dodonpachi, Batsugun, Layer Section, and Battle Garegga first (BG seems to be in a price lull at present).

I agree wholeheartedly on Batsugun, Layer section and Battle Garegga, but get Dodonpachi on PlayStation, the Saturn port is a real mess.

Also, the best Saturn shmup IMO is Soukyuugurentai. It's vertical, but uses a horizontal screen.

isn't the ps1 port quite a bit more expensive though?

and i'm brain damaged, i can't believe i forgot Souky. go buy this now, and if you get the Otokuyo release, you can have a tasters bite of Battle Garegga, if you aren't quite willing to take the plunge... yet.

While I agree with you on the SS version of Shienryu not being worth it compared to the PS2 version, you exagerate the price. I've found Shienryu for $15 (w/o spine) on Ebay, and The Shooting (w/Helicopter) for $10 new back when Play-Asia had it.

really?! i've never seen it that low. there was a time where that was THE game i wanted for saturn and i never saw it go for less than $35. of course, this was when i relied on ebay for my game fix, and we all know what the market is like there.

[Ganelon]

I actually got a PS1 version of Shienryu for sale here in the Trading Station section, asking for $15... I am willing to sell it at a lower price if you ask though.

Thanks for the offer but I'm afraid I already have the US Gekioh, which I got for $10 new retail as well. No tate in this version but it does have the extra modes, which perfectly complements the barebones but with tate The Shooting I have on PS2.

Note that the Otokuyo demo of Battle Garegga features a nasty yoko wobble mode (unless there was an option to change it that I didn't notice). Maybe not the best first impression to draw from the game.

And yeah, ahar, Ebay is a random mess. Sometimes you'll incredibly luck out and find a mint Astra Superstars w/spine buy-it-now for $25 and sometimes games like Chi no Rondo unexpectedly double in price for a few months. Crazy shit...

[captain ahar]

Note that the Otokuyo demo of Battle Garegga features a nasty yoko wobble mode (unless there was an option to change it that I didn't notice). Maybe not the best first impression to draw from the game.

i haven't played the demo since i got garegga, but it does let you choose viewing mode before you start. options are tate, yoko wobble, or horizontal tate (i think).

also, while in the long run it doesn't matter. garegga's rank is either incomplete, or severely brain-damaged in the demo. when i first played the demo, i thought, "this is the intimidating monster everyone speaks of?" then i got to try the real thing...

[D]

I recommend you wtch video's and buy what you like to see.
Or check in MAME if you like, then if you don't read anything particularly negative go 4 it.

[Gozur]

Thanks for all the replies and the links it really helps.

[raiden]

what´s this about Shienryu extras in the PS1 version? Never played that before. Does the jp. version have tate mode? How is it technically? Loading times? Hiscore saving? I was thinking about buying Shienryu for Saturn, but maybe I´ll get the PS1 version instead.

[louisg]

I highly recommend RayForce, which has a US (and maybe a euro?) domestic release under the name Galactic Attack (and a Japanese release that goes by Layer Section). It's got tate mode in the US release as well. This should be easy to find and cheap on auction sites.

[BulletMagnet]

...but get Dodonpachi on PlayStation, the Saturn port is a real mess.

The PS1 version looks and sounds better, but the Saturn version is far from a "mess." For one thing you don't have to go to the options menu to select your plane, or turn the "wait" option on every time you play to get the thing to run at the correct speed (or close to it). The Saturn version also has a few extra features, though nothing TOO huge. Also, as the cap'n mentioned, the PS1 port is rarer and more expensive. Overall, though, both are good buys, depending on which port's strengths you value more.

i haven't played the demo since i got garegga, but it does let you choose viewing mode before you start. options are tate, yoko wobble, or horizontal tate (i think).

IIRC you're correct on that, though like you it's been awhile since I played it. In any event, the rank isn't "brain-damaged" in the demo, it just doesn't really kick in much in just the first stage, heh heh.

what´s this about Shienryu extras in the PS1 version? Never played that before. Does the jp. version have tate mode? How is it technically? Loading times? Hiscore saving?

The US PS1 release of Shienryu (aka Geki-Oh Shooting King) has several extra play modes to choose from, aside from the main game: some are basically just the regular game with a new coat of paint, while others are pretty different. I don't remember load times being a big deal (though there is some slowdown), but there is no high score saving. I haven't played the Japanese PS1 version myself, but IIRC it's pretty much the same as the US release, which means no tate. I might be wrong though, someone correct me if I am.

[CIT]

For one thing you don't have to go to the options menu to select your plane, or turn the "wait" option on every time you play to get the thing to run at the correct speed (or close to it).

Well, you don't have to do that in the PSX port either. Selecting the plane in options is in 2-player mode only, but seriously, who plays Dodonpachi in 2P!?

I haven't played the Japanese PS1 version myself, but IIRC it's pretty much the same as the US release, which means no tate. I might be wrong though, someone correct me if I am.

Nah, you're right there.

[BulletMagnet]

Well, you don't have to do that in the PSX port either.

Unfortunately, it applies for one player as well...the "type" item is right there in the options menu, and you've got to choose "A," "B," or "C" before you begin (you do choose shot/laser type in the "regular" manner though). I own the PS1 port, I can confirm it.

[captain ahar]

i haven't played the demo since i got garegga, but it does let you choose viewing mode before you start. options are tate, yoko wobble, or horizontal tate (i think).

IIRC you're correct on that, though like you it's been awhile since I played it. In any event, the rank isn't "brain-damaged" in the demo, it just doesn't really kick in much in just the first stage, heh heh.

that's funny, even when i collect everything it feels real different.

[Nei First]

Well, you don't have to do that in the PSX port either.

Unfortunately, it applies for one player as well...the "type" item is right there in the options menu, and you've got to choose "A," "B," or "C" before you begin (you do choose shot/laser type in the "regular" manner though). I own the PS1 port, I can confirm it.

Yeah, in Tate mode even in one player you have to select your ship from the options menu. In 2 player mode you have to select the same ship. IMO they are very minor setbacks.

I got the PSX rev only a few months back, the port is excellent i'm much happier I chose this over the saturn version. It's definatly worth it.