Sega Saturn

How the hell did you save games? I've always wondered this...never saw memory cards for the saturn thats all...

I think there was a cartridge slot on the top of the console behind the CD tray. You used to save to memory on that.

Bizarre, but true. I think?

EDIT: Pixx!

It also had a built in memory that used a flat battery, pretty much like a watch battery. I remember I lost ALOT of saved data as the thing ran out

Yeah, makes sense. There was no such thing as Flash NAND memory back then...

Those were the days.

It also had a small amount of built-in system memory, I remember because I bought a second hand Sega Saturn, started a file on Panzer Dragoon Saga, would get about an hour or so in, 'Save' then turn the unit off only to find that next time I turned the machine on, the 'saved' data was not there... :/

Turns out that when I checked the removable compartment at the back of the system, I found that the battery installed in the system still had it's insulation tab in! so either someone had bought the machine at launch with a memory card or had been playing Sega Saturn games and not having any save function for however long they had the console I would imagine the former situation to be the case though unless they only played games on it that could be easily completed in one sitting.

It was a constant worry as a Saturn owner that your internal battery would die! Apparently the batteries are supposed to last 10 years but mine never did! You could buy (as has been previously mentioned) the official Back-Up Cartridge - they cost £40 but it was worth it as it could hold hundreds of save files and mine never ran out of space.

The cartridge slot was also used by developers to give Saturn extra memory. The most famous example was the 4MB RAM Cart released by Capcom (only in Japan unfortunately) to help with their plethora of 2D fighters on the Saturn to give pretty much arcade-perfect ports that destroyed the PS ports. I'm amazed so few of you know a lot about the Saturn but then I remembered - it was exactly the same back in the day:)

Yeah, its such an underrated console that had a great list of games. Panzer Dragoon 1, 2 and Saga, Shining Force 3, Shining Holy Ark, Shining Wisdom, Mystaria, Fighting Vipers, Fighters Megamix, Virtua Fighter 1,2, Clockwork Knight 1,2 NiGHTS, Sonic Jam, Sonic R, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, House of the Dead, Virtua Cop 1,2 Daytona USA, Sega Rally....I could go on

Man I loved my Saturn, happy days!

Just been clearing out stuff todayand I found a few Sega bits and pieces, controllers etc mainly, among all that is an official Sega Saturn Wheel, thought I'd post here in case anyone was interested in aquiring one.

Just been clearing out stuff todayand I found a few Sega bits and pieces, controllers etc mainly, among all that is an official Sega Saturn Wheel, thought I'd post here in case anyone was interested in aquiring one.

..well, if Eddage ever gets back to me about his Sega Saturn, I will let you know

..well, if Eddage ever gets back to me about his Sega Saturn, I will let you know

I noticed that you won an auction for a Saturn, let me know if you want the wheel.

I noticed that you won an auction for a Saturn, let me know if you want the wheel.

..I'll let you know (but I imagine I wouldn't even bother getting the wheel out if I had it.. I never use the N64 one any more )

Do you have any other Sega Saturn things you want to part with?

Do you have any other Sega Saturn things you want to part with?

I guess the wheel won't get used a great deal, but when you play driving games with it, it's like you're playing an entirely different game as those official Sega wheels are very well made Imo.

Other Sega Saturn Stuffz for Sale...

Boxed and Complete games...

D

Darius Gaiden

Mighty Hits

Virtua Cop 2 WITH light gun

Incomplete games

Virtua Cop (comes boxed but the box belongs to Burning Rangers! )

Misc

Action Replay PRO - 4 in 1 cartridge that acts as an Action Replay, Memory Card, Ram Expansion and Sega Satellite, it allows you to play import games.

Let me know if you are interested in any of that stuff in addition to a wheel and I could cut you a deal. : peace:

I guess the wheel won't get used a great deal, but when you play driving games with it, it's like you're playing an entirely different game as those official Sega wheels are very well made Imo.

 

Other Sega Saturn Stuffz for Sale...

 

Boxed and Complete games...

 

D

Darius Gaiden

Mighty Hits

Virtua Cop 2 WITH light gun

 

Incomplete games

 

Virtua Cop (comes boxed but the box belongs to Burning Rangers! )

Misc

 

Action Replay PRO - 4 in 1 cartridge that acts as an Action Replay, Memory Card, Ram Expansion and Sega Satellite, it allows you to play import games.

 

Let me know if you are interested in any of that stuff in addition to a wheel and I could cut you a deal. : peace:

Actually.. I may be interested in Virtua Cop 2 (With Lightgun), Darius Gaiden and the Action Replay PRO (for the ability to back up saves and play Import games..)

You can let me know a price now, if you like (and feel free to include pictures ) ..and that goes for the wheel too

I won't be able to let you know anything until I have the Saturn in my hands though and give it some play time

What is D?

I took a pic of the wheel, when I initially dug it out with a load of Megadrive and Master system stuff when clearing out my wardrobe the other day...

As you can see, the wheel is there on the right above the MD and is in good condition - aside from being slightly dusty, this will be dusted before being posted - as for the games... the erm box to Virtua Cop 2 is actually in very good condition, it's just that I always store the larger boxes away and I can't get to it right at the moment :/ I was planning on clearing out more stuff tomorrow though so I may be able to provide a pic of that and the other games tomorrow.

Also, 'D' which you enquired about is I believe a third person adventure title from Sega which I think comes on two discs and did get a sequel on the Dreamcast named 'D2' anyway I have never actually played it tbh and both that and Darius Gaiden are complete and in good condition.

A recent article on Racketboy: Link

I've been using it to play my retail copies of Saturn games and it works a treat. I haven't found any problems yet. Apparently pretty much all games work, but I've only tried Wipeout, Sega Rally and The first disc of Panzer Dragoon Saga (the one that was given away with Sega Saturn Magazine. I can't afford the full game!)

It's pretty handy since I don't have to set up my Saturn every time I want to play it, plus it's memory doesn't run out of batteries! Plus it can be used to play imports without having to mod your Saturn.

And to prevent me getting in trouble: it won't directly boot roms/isos and it doesn't need a system bios (which is the illegal part of an emulator AFAIK) to run.

..hmm.. so, the Sega Saturn I got on ebay arived last friday morning.. and it was pretty dirty (the controller was covered in scratches and dirt.. what do people do with their consoles, the gardening?!)

Anyway.. I spent an hour or so cleaning it up and getting it looking pretty good The scratches on the controller remain, obviously, but the dirt has been eliminated from the seams, buttons and grooves.. groovy!

Anyway, I turned it on and was quite excited considering that it has been 14 years since it was released and this was my first taste of it! As expected, I was greeted with a screen to set the language / time etc.. so I turned it off and slipped in a new battery so I could save my games : peace:

The Sega Rally box called out to me and I opened it.. "Why are these boxes so bad?", I pondered. I lifted the disc from the case and set the box to one side. The game went on and I was tearing up the tracks in no time.. then I finished the races and was back at the main menu. I enjoy Sega Rally (the Dreamcast version is great) but was that all there is to this game? I know it's old, and it plays quite well.. but really, one of the main reasons I got tempted by the Saturn had turned out to be nothing more than a short experience.

The Sega Rally disc was removed from the system and with a selection of 8 others to choose from on 'day 1', I had faith there would be considerable entertainment there to justify my purchase. Next in line was Manx TT.

I liked the look of this.. and when I sat down to try it out, I enjoyed it. Again, like Sega Rally, the options looked limited but if it was entertaining enough, it wouldn't be a problem

The games continued to transfer from their useless cases to the chunky Saturn and as the quality of the games decreased, so did my enthusiasm. I gave it a few days, but by Monday it was in the hands of another owner. My brother fancied taking it off my hands when I offered it to him, so he gave me the money and I handed him the console and games in better condition than the way I received them.

While some of the games I had were OK (Sega Rally, Manx TT, Daytona USA..) I couldn't help but come to the realisation that those just would not last. By Sunday night, I felt I had already saw all there was in those first two. A good look on the internet for games that would help ignite my love for the machine just weren't there.. it felt like I couldn't take the machine anywhere else. This was it, and sadly it wasn't enough

I made sure my brother gave me the option to buy it back for the same price if I ever change my mind (as whatever I have said about it, somehow I hold a soft spot for it and the controller..) but, as it is, I was glad to experience it at last but my curiosity was quickly satisfied and I couldn't justify clearing a drawer for it. I know I only had it a few days, but it made very little impression and I could see how much inferior it was to the PS1 and, obviously, the greatest console ever- The N64 I can't see me looking for it back.. but I'll always have the memories : peace:

The problem with racing games on the Saturn is that they were all based on arcade games. Unfortunately arcade games at the time (especially Sega ones) only featured 3 or so tracks.

I love Sega Rally though. It's a classic.

Nando, I'm sure you made the right decision, because it was your instinct telling you to get rid of the Saturn. Also, I don't want to be a hypocrite, because I did sell mine years ago. Times move on.

However, I must say, I think you played the sort of games that have become more outdated than others. My favourites were the sprite-based games like Story of Thor 2 and Guardian Heroes. Although, like I say, you didn't like the machine, so I doubt it'd be worth the money to seek these out.

Nando, I'm sure you made the right decision, because it was your instinct telling you to get rid of the Saturn. Also, I don't want to be a hypocrite, because I did sell mine years ago. Times move on.

 

However, I must say, I think you played the sort of games that have become more outdated than others. My favourites were the sprite-based games like Story of Thor 2 and Guardian Heroes. Although, like I say, you didn't like the machine, so I doubt it'd be worth the money to seek these out.

That was one of the main problems.. I knew that if I wanted to hunt out the few games to make it worthwhile, I would have to invest a decent amount of money and I just wasn't prepared to do that. I'm sure there were a few games I would have liked to have played (I considered getting Panzer Dragoon before i decided to sell the Saturn on..) but I honestly didn't feel there was enough available to warrant the investment.

I was glad to get my money back because the other night I saw a new PS2 Slimline in Sainsbury's for £39 so I bought that instead as I could use it as a DVD player (the only other one I have in my room is on the PC here ) and I have always wanted to play Devil Mary Cry, Onimusha, God of War, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Ico, Shaddow of the Collosus.. and others! I feel this was a much better purchase I wasn't exactly on the hunt for the console, but when I saw the price I just had to go for it

I'm sure there were a few games I would have liked to have played (I considered getting Panzer Dragoon before i decided to sell the Saturn on..) but I honestly didn't feel there was enough available to warrant the investment.

Panzer Dragoon Saga is a good RPG and I've not actually ever seen the gameplay matched, with the dragon riding and calculating your moves based on whether your opponent is going to be behind you, in front of you, to the left or to the right for whichever turn. However, I still wouldn't pay anything like £80 for it.

I was glad to get my money back because the other night I saw a new PS2 Slimline in Sainsbury's for £39 so I bought that instead as I could use it as a DVD player (the only other one I have in my room is on the PC here ) and I have always wanted to play Devil Mary Cry, Onimusha, God of War, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Ico, Shaddow of the Collosus.. and others! I feel this was a much better purchase I wasn't exactly on the hunt for the console, but when I saw the price I just had to go for it

Good buy. ICO is good, Shadow of the Colossus is even better and if you like RPGs I recommend Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King.

..if you like RPGs I recommend Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King.

I saw you mention that in another thread.. and would you believe my girlfriend and I got it for £1.99 new in GAME a few months ago.. what a bargain, I'm sure

I saw you mention that in another thread.. and would you believe my girlfriend and I got it for £1.99 new in GAME a few months ago.. what a bargain, I'm sure

Yes, I'm afraid I do mention it a lot! Even though I'd say I enjoy most games I play, DQVIII is the last game that I thought was truly exceptional.

£1.99 eh? Amazing value! If it grabs you, you'll be laughing at how good it is for the price. Considering how much enjoyment I've got out of it, at that price, it'd have cost me 2p per minute!

I played the Saturn only once at a friend's house in the late 90's, I think that was about a decade after it was released. I had thought about owning one, but at the time I just couldn't afford it due to other upcoming expenses I had at that time in my life like college.

 

The game I played was Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which remains one of my favorite games today. I may go buy a used Saturn and see what good games I can get for it which are unavailable elsewhere.

 

Thank you all for the knowledge given about the Saturn here, it inspired me to go search for some games!

Are you sure it was a Saturn you played and not a Dreamcast as Marvel vs Capcom 2 wasnt released until the year 2000:confused: