Getting a Saturn, but what Saturn to get?

[KennyMan666]

So, I've long wanted to get myself a Saturn. While Saturn emulation works pretty well, I have my reasons for actually wanting a real Saturn anyway. Now that I have both the money to spare for one and a respectable CRT TV to play it on, I figured it's about time to get to getting one. But I'm not entirely sure what to go for.

Basically: I'm in PAL world. While a normal PAL machine would be adequate for most of what I'm out to do, I would kind of like to be able to play both PAL and NTSC games on it. Being able to play "backups" of hard to find/extremely expensive games would be a bonus, but it's not what I am primarily looking for.

And so, I wonder what my best bet here would be. Modded PAL machine? Modded NTSC machine? PAL machine and one of those cartridges I hear about that makes it region free?

Also, even though I have quite a bit of money to spare, I of course don't want to pay any inflated prices for anything, so my question is also what a fair price for what I should be looking for would be.

(looking for advice on what machine to get. Not game recommendations.)

[xbl0x180]

I think Action Replay or some kind of Game Shark thingy will suffice for some games, unless you need the cartrige slot for extra memory or something. I have a US/NTSC Saturn - with the Virtua Fighter game that it came with. Ho-ho my God, I used to play this thing to death and now I look at it and it's so crappy!

I'd be interested to know of any suggestions for this thing myself. For starters, I'd love to get my greasy meathooks on that psychedelic game PuLiRuLa




The rat bastards at taito never included it in their North American game collections for the PS2

[neorichieb1971]

Buy a PAL machine for £10 from somewhere and then buy a NTSC console from someone here. Then get universal cartridge for region free. A stepdown from maplins or somewhere will cost about £20 that will do the job.


Ultimately its your choice.

[njiska]

As stated, you should be able to get pal and ntsc consoles for cheap. If you can find it there's an action replay cart that allows you to go region free. For in region backups you can just use the swap trick.

[JAM]

[KennyMan666]

While I do see the merits of having one PAL and one NTSC machine, optimally I'd just want one, for space reasons. Action Replay cart, huh. Would that be better/cheaper to get than a modded console? Do people even region mod Saturns?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Mind you, PAL machine needs a 60 Hz mod. I bought a chipped PAL Saturn in a good shape, but NTSC games on it run bordered and slowed down still. Reportedly the 60 Hz mod is pretty easy to do with my model (last PAL iteration) but I've yet to do it. I don't even own a soldering iron.
Good news are, some PAL games are optimised (Baku Baku Animal, Guardian Heroes...), so it's worth a go or two even before modding.
RGB output via SCART looks pretty lovely on my CRT. You'll need a proper cable. Component is technically supported, but no component leads for the Saturn had been officially manufactured.

[Friendly]

The best option would be a PAL Saturn with a 50/60Hz mod, a mod-chip to allow booting CD-Rs, and an Action Replay to defeat the region lock of imports. I have a pretty large Saturn collection, but I never use my original discs, only my backups in order to keep the originals scratch-free. Of course I have no idea if anyone is still selling Saturn mod chips, given that the system is now 17 years old (afaik, they were only available for the second model of Saturn, the one with round buttons). Installation of the chip is very simple and requires only minimal soldering skills. Installing a 50/60hz switch is slightly more difficult.

[brentsg]

I would probably just buy a Japanese Saturn, skip the localized content.. and of course the (lame) bootlegs.

In Japan the Saturn had an amazing library.

[njiska]

Do people even region mod Saturns?

Oh dear god yes and it's super fucking easy.

Simple mod
http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id= ... ega_saturn
http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/saturnregion.htm

Awesome Mod:
http://www.gamesx.com/importmod/sat_switchless.htm

[Kiken]

Component is technically supported, but no component leads for the Saturn had been officially manufactured.

The Saturn hardware natively supports VGA, not Component video. Not only were no cables ever released, but no software was ever coded to run in the 480p mode.

[xbl0x180]

Uhhhhh... "soldering"? You might as well ask me to perform emergency brain surgery. Both will be catastrophic

[Vyxx]

Uhhhhh... "soldering"? You might as well ask me to perform emergency brain surgery. Both will be catastrophic

It's much easier than it sounds, I used to feel the same way. Just need some solder and a spare junk PCB to practice on a few times first.

[Jockel]

*cough* BTW I got a region modded Saturn I want to get rid off *cough*

[KennyMan666]

Region modded PAL Saturn, I take it? Name your price (including shipping to Sweden), tell me what's all included in that (cables and shit), and tell me what games you have to sell (if any). Send a PM if discussing such matters in an open thread that isn't in the Trading Station isn't kosher.

[cj iwakura]

Pretty sure Dragon Force got a PAL release, and it's my favorite Saturn game, if not the best Strategy RPG ever made.



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[TransatlanticFoe]

I remember a review of Dragon Force in Gamesmaster magazine - I think it quoted someone saying "... kick your ratty posterior". With lines that like it's got to be worth a pickup if it's not ludicrously expensive.

An Action Replay 4-in-1 cart is good for not only playing titles from other regions without a mod, it also gives you something to back up your saves onto when the battery dies every 10 years or so.

As far as PAL titles go, there's some good stuff out there. If you've got a CRT, then get some guns and go for Virtua Cop 1 and 2 as well as the only (albeit reportedly only 75% finished, with the odd missing zombie and wild texture quality variations) gun-enabled port of House of the Dead. The two regular Panzer Dragoon games are well worth your money. Shmups wise there's Galactic Attack (which you really should own), Darius 2, Darius Gaiden and not a whole lot else - hence the action replay cart!

There are three Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story games which are fun, if a little short and arcadey, if you like your Mechwarrior-style stuff. I think they're also dirt cheap.

[KennyMan666]

I'm not actively looking for game recommendations - "what to get" was refering to me wondering what kind of Saturn I should go for. But getting the light guns is a good idea, I like Virtua Cop.

But highest on my list of games to get are Dark Savior (which I'm also considering speedrunning) and NiGHTS, since those are two of my three favourite Saturn games. The third one costs all the money so I'll continue playing that on emulator.

[Blackbird]

Pretty sure Dragon Force got a PAL release, and it's my favorite Saturn game, if not the best Strategy RPG ever made.

I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it is a darned enjoyable game. It really is unique though; I can't think of another game that plays quite like it.

I was actually playing this game earlier today. I had 4 Generals with 20 troops between them vs 4 Generals with 90 troops; was pretty amusing watch my Beast generals literally just tank the opposing armies and then face stop the opposing Thieves in the duel =P.

Regarding the topic, I have a number of games that I would recommend, but I'm not sure which titles among them have been ported to the PAL format.