Underappreciated Sega Saturn Games

[Isgoed]

Haha, no my Japanese isn't that good!

Manx TT also looks good yes, it seems to be like a typical Sega game with bright arcade-like graphics.
I've also looked at the prices of Sega Saturns, and they seem to be pricey, but I will keep it in mind though.

I also have a Dreamcast, so that will be my substitute for a Saturn atm

[Greyfox]

Great to read about these games, as with @Saturn 's post on the Sega Saturn emulator, this thread will sort the trash from the gold. So having a look through shortly, thanks forthat

[Ben]

I have posted some lists in the past for people getting into the Saturn, I thought I'd put them in spoilers here so they're all in one place and organized.

Japanese games that are playable in English:
[spoiler]
Cotton 2: Probably the best cute 'em up of all time.
Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru: A side scroller beat em up with horror elements, highly recommended.
Elevator Action Returns: Side scrolling beat em up.
Sexy Parodius – Great shmup, also released in Europe in English.
Astra Super Stars : Very underrated fighter by Sunsoft.
Gungriffon II: Excellent mech/FPS hybrid.
Princess Crown: A side scroller with RPG elements, spiritual predecessor to Odin Sphere. One of the best games on the Saturn.
Dungeons and Dragons Collection – Basically a collection of side scrolling beat em up with some RPG elements.
Kyukyuoku Tiger II Plus: Overhead shmup.
Groove on Fight: Great 2d figher.
Tryrush Deppy: Side scrolling platformer.
Hyper Duel – Shmup.
Game Tengoku: Another great shmup.
Cyberbots: 2d mech fighting game.
Blast Wind – Underrated Shmup.
Bulk Slash – Mech fighting game.
PuLiRuLa: Side scrolling beat em up (sort of), with some really beautiful animation.
Sengoku Blade – Another underrated shooter.
Battle Garegga – Very underrated shmup.
Soukyugurentai – Shmup.
Batsugun: Another shooter.
Nekketsu Oyako: Side scrolling beat em up.
Purikura Daisakusen: Isometric beat em up.
Dodonpachi: Shmup.
Thunder Force V: Side scrolling shmup.
Silhouette Mirage: Side scroller with very colorful graphics by Treasure. Not an exclusive (also on the PSX), but a great game.
Deep Fear: Survival Horror game set underwater, released in Europe in English.
Super Tempo: Very colorful 2D side scroller, sequel to the Genesis games.
Ninpen Manmaru: A 3D platformer from Enix with animated cutscenes. It works with the 3d controller.
Elan Doree: 3D fighter with characters riding dragons, basically Panzer Dragoon Fighter.
Pretty Fighter X: A 2d fighter with high school girls and anime cut scenes. It's not half bad!
Skull Fang: Shmup.
Dragon Ball Z Densetsu: Decent 2D fighter, I'd pass if you aren't a DBZ fan.
Dragon Ball Z Shinbutoden: Same as above.
Wolf Fang:  Shmup.
SDF Macross: I hesitated to put this on, it's a great Shmup but has a ton of Japanese text/dialogue. Still playable, but you miss something.
Macross DYRL: See above.
Asuka 120% Limited: Another girl-centric fighter, it was released on Japanese PCs and the PSX too, but this is considered the best version.
Gekirindan: Shmup.
Dezaemon: Shump.
Darius Gaiden: Shmup.
Darius II: Shmup.
Sonic Council: Very good 2D fighter.
Cotton Boomerang: Cotton 2 with a few new characters and an amped up difficulty. Probably for shmup freaks only, I love them and this one makes me want to pull my hair out. Plus it's basically Cotton 2 anyway.
Silhouette Mirage - 2D sidescroller, it's on the PSX in English markets but the Saturn version is superior and Japan only.
Gunbird - Shmup.
Keio Flying Squadron 2 - Sidescroller based on the Mega CD cute 'em up. - Released in PAL markets.
Detana Twinbee Yahoo - Cute 'em up.
[/spoiler]

Lists by genre I made awhile back:
[spoiler]
My off the cuff Saturn top games list, by genre.

Top 5 Shmups:
1.  Parodius
2.  Hyper Duel
3.  Cotton 2
4.  Battle Garegga
5.  Radiant Silvergun

Top 5 2D Fighters:
1.  King of Fighters 97
2.  X-Men Vs. Street Fighter
3.  Astra Superstars
4.  Groove On Fight.
5.  Street Fighter Zero (Alpha) 3 (this version is better than the Dreamcast version when you use the 4 MB pack or Action Replay).

Top 5 Platformers/Sidescrollers:
1. Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru
2. Super Tempo
3. PuLiRuLa
4. Princess Crown
5. Elevator Action Returns

Top 5 3D Games:
1.  Deep Fear
2.  D
3.  Panzer Dragoon
4.  Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
5.  Nights into Dreams

Top 5 Value Games:
1.   Tomb Raider – This is the better port compared to the PSX version and sells for around $5 U.S.
2.   Galactic Attack
3.   Sega Rally Championship
4.   Shining the Holy Ark
5.   Mystaria

I thought about a top 5 RPGs list, but the best ones are all Japanese only outside of a couple that are insanely expensive (Panzer Dragoon Saga in particular).  Mystaria and Shining the Holy Ark are great though, and on my value list already.
[/spoiler]

A top value list of good, but cheap games for the Saturn beginner:
[spoiler]
After Burner II - Nearly arcade perfect.
Sky Target - A 3D version of After Burner.
Alien Trilogy - Fun shooter and nice homage if you're a fan of the films.
X-Men - Children of the Atom - Different enough from X-Men vs. Street Fighter to be worth a purchase.
Space Harrier - Another arcade perfect port, just get the JP version for the cheaper price.
Sonic 3D Blast - I think in hindsight, this was a solid game, just not a traditional "Sonic" game.
Pandemonium - Underrated platformer.
Last Bronx - Excellent weapon fighter.
The Horde - Notorious for the Kirk Cameron scenes, it's actually not a terrible game.
Clockwork Knight - Another underrated platformer.
Earthworm Jim 2 - My favorite version of this one.
Torico/Lunacy - Underrated Puzzle/FMV game by Atlus.
Manx TT Superbike - Underrated arcade racer.
Mr. Bones - Worth playing for the Montrose soundtrack alone.
Sega Touring Car Championship - Very underrated racer.
Skeleton Warriors - Based on the cartoon, similar to Shinobi.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo - Still my favorite version of this one.
WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game - Actually an underrated fighter (yes, it's a fighter) based on the WWF.
Soviet Strike - Excellent helicopter shooter.
Bug! - Underrated Platformer.
Bug Too! - Another underrated platformer.
Cyber Speedway - Underrated racer with a great soundtrack.
[/spoiler]

Metal Jesus has done some good videos, too:



EDIT:  One final note needs to be mentioned.  Princess Crown is really only playable if you use a GameFAQs guide, but it is easily playable with one.  The dialogue from the game has even been translated, the fact that it's so difficult to dump text from a Saturn game is probably why it still hasn't been translated as an iso.  Here's a link to the best translation + walkthrough.  http://web.archive.org/web/200803041714 ... ation.html

I also updated those lists from the Saturn thread, I added Silhouette Mirage to the imports and Sky Target to the value games.  If you're going to bookmark any of these pages for reference, this thread is the one to go with.  I also went back through and noted games that had PAL releases, if any UK posters catch some more i missed I'd appreciate it.

[Isgoed]

Very informational post, Ben

[Ben]

Thanks Isgoed, hopefully more people will check out the Saturn as info on these games has spread.  Since I made that import list, most of the games have had videos posted on Youtube and are easy to research.  For a long time, you just had to own and play those games to even know what they were.  Just to give you an example, CNet once wrote a ridiculous article naming it the worst console of all time - http://www.cnet.com/news/why-the-saturn ... -all-time/

A few more things to note, that import list and value list are both on topic.  You might wonder why I left off the majority of SNK and Capcom games as playable imports, that's because those aren't really under-appreciated at all, they normally take the top import/playable in English lists for the Saturn.  That's not an exhaustive list of playable imports, just a list of ones you don't normally see mentioned, and most of the value games fall into that also.  I also corrected one other thing, I listed D&D Collection as oppposed to Tower Of Doom.  When I made the list originally, I copied + pasted together from a few different shorter lists I'd made in the past and one of them referred to that game specifically, not the whole disc.

[zapiy]

Great info Ben, the Saturn really is a gem and should get some more love.

[onthinice]

I remember the Saturn did not fly with Sega sports fans as Madden Football kept getting pushed back. When Madden did arrive it was actually a very solid game but to little to late.

I always wanted to play Lunar for the Saturn. I enjoyed the Sega CD version. Not sure it was ever released outside of Japan for the Saturn.

I have played the Horde on the 3DO and it is a good game worth checking out for the Saturn.

[Ben]

Thanks zapiy, I think history is slowly coming back around on its side much more now, as gamers appreciate 2D again since the 3D craze of the 32 bit era has worn off. 

onthinice, you are correct about Lunar.  The best version of Lunar is the MPEG Edition for the Saturn that uses the MPEG card add on, but it's one of the great JRPGs that never saw U.S. or UK release unfortunately.  Check out how good the opening looks with that card:
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

One thing I forgot to point out for any U.S. gamers, you want to buy the PAL version of Torico as a value game, NOT the U.S. version as a value game.  The U.S. version is one of the more expensive games and will run you $200 or so, but the Pal and JP versions are very cheap.  It was called Lunacy in the U.S. and Torico in other markets, that's why I listed both names.

I was digging around Youtube and saw that Classic Game Room has done some great reviews for many of the imports I listed, this one for Cyberbots in particular is well done:
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

I also remembered one more shmup that I should have had on the import list, Steam Hearts.  It makes top shmup lists for the TG16 a lot of the time, but the Saturn port is far superior to it.  Here's a good video on that:
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

[zapiy]

Some cracking games, they really are..

Been thinking of getting my Saturn out again.

[davyk]

For puzzle game fans, Baku Baku has to be the most under-rated game in the genre.

It doesn't actually look like much and it appears to be just a variant on Puzzle Fighter (you match food types to animals instead of coloured gems). It still looks great and has aged rather well thanks its use of well designed and subtly used 3D but more importantly than that there is just something deep within the game code that makes it a brilliant 2 player versus game. It somehow manages to be far more entertaining than it should be. Matches can swing back and forth yet don't last too long - probably thanks to how it doles out food and animal tokens to players (yet it is completely fair - both players get the same sequence dealt to them). The ratio of food to animal symbols can be tweaked and an extra animal and food can be added but just the default settings provide a brilliantly entertaining game.

It was apparently an arcade game and the Saturn port lets you choose between the jolly original soundtrack or an excellent console version arrangement.

It got an optimised PAL release (it runs full screen) though for some reason a versus league mode which tracks several players in a series of versus matches (saved to the backup memory if desired) remains untranslated and hidden - though it can easily be unlocked with a key sequence, is easy to use even with the JPN menus and supports the Western alphabet for name entry (see gamefaqs on how to unlock it).

[TrekMD]

That looks like a fun puzzle game.  Quite an interesting take on the "Tetris" concept while adding some unique gameplay.

[zapiy]

Any mention of Galactic Attack?

[davyk]

Any mention of Galactic Attack?

No. For the very simple reason that I didn't think it was under appreciated.

It is a masterpiece of level design and represents the pinnacle of old school shmups (i.e. pre bullet hell). It was ranked No.8 in the all time best games ever poll for 2015-16 at shmups.com

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=56559

[zapiy]

Good point but I still feel its a shmup that gets lets discussion or mentions than many of its counter parts.. In the Shmup community its loved but outside that it appears underappreciated to me at least.

[davyk]

Fair enough. I stumbled upon it by accident when I first got a Saturn. Had never heard of Galactic Attack but then the naming mess that game has may have something to do with it.

Once I got a Japanese Saturn I just had to get the JPN version of it. (Don't like using the AR unless I have to). Playing it in TATE mode is amazing - well worth the effort of rotating my CRT!