Sega Saturn wheel

[Obiwanshinobi]

Got one bundled with my first Saturn, but still have yet to try it out. The problem is, I have a hard time taking console racers of that gen "seriously". Ridge Racer or Daytona ports might have been good for their time but I like my car games arcade-smooth.
Having said that, I enjoy Excite Truck despite its sub-arcade performance, so maybe there is some hidden gem on Saturn particulary worth playing with that wheel?

[Specineff]

I haven't played it with the wheel, but I know the Japanese version of Saturn Wipeout XL works with it and the analog controller.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Apparently bonus tank levels in Duke Nukem 3D support the wheel. Hmmm...
I wonder if Guardian Force would be any good with it.

[gabe]

Out Run.

Best home port of the game ever created. Runs at 60fps, and supports the wheel.

[louisg]

Out Run.

Best home port of the game ever created. Runs at 60fps, and supports the wheel.

Yes, it's excellent. There's also a very close version of Power Drift. I'd also recommend Sega Rally-- it runs at a good speed without drops and controls well with the wheel. It really is an excellent port.

Apparently the Japanese version of Daytona: Circuit Edition is good too, though I haven't played it. It came out a little later than the launch version of Daytona USA and they fixed the framerate and the more severe pop-up issues. Don't get the US version though-- that one I can verify has butchered controls.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Glad to hear good things about Outrun and Power Drift. Should be worth a go at least for the graphics and the "arcade at home" flavour.

[Op Intensify]

Any idea how the port of Manx TT is? That was one of my favorite games at the arcade I frequented as a kid.

There's also Sega Touring Car, but that one doesn't seem to be highly regarded.

[louisg]

Sega Touring Car is kind of wrecked by inconsistent framerates and long load times (when coupled with the short races). It's basically a good game, but there's better on Saturn. Also, don't even think of playing it with a pad.

I've heard good things about Manx TT minus some reports of crazy rubber banding. I'd be interested to hear from someone here as well about how they think it holds up.

Oh, I should mention that the Saturn port of Need For Speed is very good and I *think* it works with the wheel.

And if you need a good un-recommendation: GT24 is perhaps one of the worst $5 I ever spent

[D]

The Manx TT port is surprisingly good. After Sega Rally, Manx TT IMHO is the smoothest racing game on the Saturn. I said IMHO, not 100% sure, but it is very smooth. Problem with Manx TT is the lack of tracks. The music is great.
The smoothness can clearly be seen in this vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&featu ... pBGnDjGR08

[Obiwanshinobi]

Thanks to a Total Control 3 Saturn-to-DC adapter, I managed to play Metropolis Street Racer with my Saturn wheel. This obviously bodes well for other vehicular Dreamcast games.
I'd need some furniture between me and TV/monitor to make it more playable, though, and even then I doubt it would be as comfortable as using just gamepad. Nonetheless, gives me opportunity to experiment before I decide whether or not to buy a wheel for GameCube (with - sadly - just one game in mind).

[Sinful]

Japanese Daytona CE (has 3 extra exclusive tracks that Arcade don't have + fixes a few things from US version, like controls & some technical issues), and Sega Rally of course! The original Daytona was what got me buy the Saturn & Wheel ASAP so I could finally have the Arcade at home. Sadly I still have the wheel, but my Saturn somehow mysteriously disapeared in one of my moves? Still need to replace it... man, I miss it.

But yeah, Sega Rally I find has very, very deep replay value for a racers with only 4 tracks. It's one game I can always come back to once in awhile and have a total blast with it. The tunes are way better then the Arcade too, so because of this it's actually my prefered version to play, despite 30fps instead of the Arcade's 60fps (though I still bounce back and forth for the heck of it and since I love comparing games too)

There's also Sega Touring Car, but that one doesn't seem to be highly regarded.

Yes, this game does get a lot of hate. Even when I first bought it brand new back in the day, it just didn't click with me right away and stopped playing it entirely before even learning how to play. Wasn't until the recent years that I finally gave it another go, and I now regret not giving it a chance back in the day. This really is another high quality Sega Arcade Racer. I assume everyone dimisses it due to having such a unique style of play and nobody being able to crasp it quick enough to keep at it, hence they just assume it's crap like everyone else says, and leaves it at that. ... Managed to unlock everything except one thing. Have no clue how to unlock it normally without the use of a code (which I think requires the wheel if I recall correctly?). Other then this, this game has lots of unlockables and cool secrets based on the Saturns internal clock, which you can set to whatever (set it to Chistmas, and the Saturn exlusive extra track changes to a Christmas theme. Very cool!).


Well, that's it. For me these 3 Racers are thee top Racers on Sega Saturn. Never got into the Outrun yet. And I've just discovered Power Drift, so I still need to get into it too. Other then this, Sega racers I always found to be the best racing games (my all time fave is Daytona II, which has not port yet). Too bad since GT on PS1, every racer needs too have it all and Arcade style racer are no more.

[BubbaMc]

Virtua Racing?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Too bad since GT on PS1, every racer needs too have it all and Arcade style racer are no more.

Not true at all. PS2-era consoles got Burnout 1-3, Shox, OutRun 2006, Crash 'N' Burn (2004), Battle Gear 2-3 (2 as Tokyo Road Race in PAL), Midnight Club II, F-Zero GX/AX and more. Speaking of the the latter...

I assume everyone dimisses it due to having such a unique style of play and nobody being able to crasp it quick enough to keep at it, hence they just assume it's crap like everyone else says, and leaves it at that.

sounds almost exactly the way most (!!!) people seem to perceive F-Zero GX, except they don't have what it takes to openly confess.

[broken harbour]

Can't say I'm a fan of Sega Touring Car, the game is hampered by a brutally inconsistent frame rate, hideous pop in and touchy controls.

These things affected the original Daytona USA port, but didn't seem to make the game an unplayable mess like Touring Car.

There's a pretty good port of the first Need for Speed game on saturn as well, it's as good as the 3DO version.

Saturn port of Wipeout is also hugely impressive considering it's running on inferior 3D hardware. Rock solid framerate.

[Sinful]

...unplayable mess like Touring Car.

Yep, that what all say that never learn how to come in first consistently enough for all tracks. ie. learning to play the game (which is also why over 90% of game reviews & opinions on videogames are flawed). So naturally you and all that do this are gonna say this. I did when I first bought it and never touched it for years and years.

And if frame rate bothers you (which I don't recall it bothering me?), then you can always emulate the Arcade game via the Model 2 emulator. I do it. I do it for all Saturn M2 ports actually, since I love comparing them back and forth to look for differences + get reminded about what's different about them again? But yeah, if you're gonna use the fps excuse, then I have to say emulate the Arcade game instead since it's a constant 60fps. Then come back to the Saturn version & for it's extras... but you know what? I think you'd still complain that the game controls shit even with the Arcade game. But there's nothing wrong with the controls or gameplay, which is really fun (game was very popular in Japan Arcades too according to Europes OSSMagazine). It's just very different racing gameplay and requires a new way of playing racing games (it's based on very high speeds. Of which the Saturn's lower fps makes it seem even faster).

Here, try this, the first two tracks you can actually play and make it in first place without touching the breaks ever (letting go of the acceleration is still needed... er, I pretty sure, anyways? It's been awhile). As you can shift your weight into enough of a powerslide. So yeah, try it this way. And keep playing non-stop (maybe in an endless Time Attack?) until it clicks. How I eventually got the hang of it.

[Austin]

Not sure if it supports the wheel, but F1 Challenge is a solid Sega racer on the Saturn that not many people mention. It is bare bones like most of their arcade Saturn racers typically were, but it is good.