I remember my grandmother plays Nights into Dreams when she was in her late 50's, then she moved on to Tomb Raider. Everyone thought my grandmother was odd because she gamed with us kids. In her 60's she started playing World of Warcraft with us and into her 70's she finally got a Steam account. Now at 81 years old I can say that my grandmother is still gaming and is the most awesome person I have known in my life. :D
That generation of consoles was a period where I was always like "what are they gonna do next". Ps1, Saturn, and N64 were doing some really awesome stuff and really competitive. Idk, rose colored classes of course, but now we really have limitless capabilities but don't take the chances as much.
Well, rose-colored glasses maybe, but I remember that "what's coming next" feeling, and the excitement reading the game magazines or going to a good game store back then. I also loved the competition between the platforms leading to them taking chances and giving us *unexpectedly* great game experiences (the good side of the "console wars"). I had friends in the biz who could get me a pass to E3 every year back then, and it was just bonkers amazing seeing and playing the games of the year to come. Nothing like today, even though there are some very good modern games. It's so rare today that a game is *unexpectedly* great. I know how fun Ratchet will be. I know how fun Tales of Arise will be. Also, I still play Saturn & PS1 more than I play XB1 and PS4. I have most available consoles still, and my top 3 consoles by play-time today are 1. Switch, 2, Saturn, 3. PS1
@Hiden Bunter's Krak Pype I think you mean 4th and 6th? Generally people call PS1/Saturn/N64 the 5th gen. But yeah the 4th to 6th was videogaming at its best, with 5th the high point for me personally. 8th gen (PS4 etc) was better than 7th gen, so I thought we'd be improving again ... but so far the new 9th gen looks like a corporate disaster, only saved by the indie scene.
I wear the rose colored glasses too, proudly even! Haha! The PS1 is my favorite and I've been obsessed about its library of games ever since I was a kid. Nowadays I'm finally taking a look at the competition at the time and both the Saturn and the N64 had some great games too.
People get creative out of desperation. With technology and financial constraints, they are forced to get creative, especially when they're breaking new territory in terms of game design. Now, they have schemes for every type of game so don't have to get creative, they just have to use gimmicks to attract people to THEIR game over the dozens of others that do the same thing.
What you explain at the end of this video was pretty much my feeling on the Dreamcast, being 10 or 11 when that came out. It's difficult to describe just how impressive and mind blowing Sonic Adventure and Shenmue were. I replayed Shenmue 1 on the PS4 recently and it almost brought tears to my eyes walking through Ryo's neighborhood, as if I was visiting and old childhood friend I hadn't seen in 20 years.
Omg, dude yes. For a second while reading your message I thought to myself did I write this lol. Anyway I agree with you completely. Going from Genesis to my PlayStation I wasn’t all that blown away although I enjoyed my PS1. However back then when I got a Dreamcast and played Sonic Adventure and Shenmue………BLEW my freaking mind 🤯.
@@chrisfern4699 haha that's awesome man, some internet comradery betwixt two kids lucky enough to have had the first 128 bit console. I honestly understand why the Saturn flopped in the States, considering we didn't get half of the best games on the system, and Shining Force 3 took forever to come out. Shining Force 3, from my perspective and of my two older brothers, would have been the number one reason to get the console, and then we didn't even get the second two installments with Scenario 2 and 3. Also Sega didn't release a traditional Sonic game, even though they could have done some kind of 2D/3D hybrid like knights with a lot of cool 3D parts thrown in there. I have Sonic R and honestly the controls are just bad. It's an interesting game but I'm not surprised it didn't make Sega Lord's list. But the Dreamcast was great and had great games. I think the problem was too many kids had a bad taste in their mouths from the Saturn still. I really think Sega should have held off on the Sega CD and just released all of those games like 1-2 years later on the Saturn. It was like they kept going for a quick console cash grab. Meanwhile Nintendo took a long time before released the N64, but when they did it was done right, had a ton of great games, and great 3rd party game developers.
I worked at Game Crazy in those days (basically, a store like Gamestop that was in some Hollywood Video locations). Hollywood Video employees got annoyed with me because I would play the trailer for Shenmue over, and over, and over on our demo screen. I also vividly remember pushing tons of people to buy a Dreamcast instead of a PS2, because "the PS2 has no games". Man, those people must have been pissed at me, in the end.
Oh yeah, I love Saturn. I remember buying one used in a local game store back around 2001. I bought Tomb Raider and Sonic 3D Blast with it. I later got sealed copies of Virtua Fighter Kids, Fighters Megamix, and more. I found Christmas Nights at a thrift store and bought a sealed copy of Nights with the 3D controller. Everything Saturn was dirt cheap then. I even got brand new arcade sticks for it!
Nice! I was able to get a Saturn pretty cheap in the mid 2000s but I never really got any games for it outside Street Fighter vs X-Men. I'm about to install a ODE in my Saturn soon, so I'll be able to play all the Saturn games... Wish the physical market wasn't so damn insane or I'd get original games for it.
Saturn is still my fav console of all time as well, so underappreciated and overlooked. I used to stare at the box for hours dreaming of all the arcade games that would eventually make it's way to the system that never did because the PlayStation stole the spotlight.
The Sega Saturn holds a special place in my heart for some reason too. I was lucky enough to own it growing up and still have it to this day. Not sure why but from all the retro consoles, the Saturn is my favorite. Nights, The King of Fighters games, Guardian Heroes, Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon 2, Sega Rally, the Street Fighters are some of the best games to play on the console
can I just say how glad I am to have found your channel! I’ve watched so many RUclipsrs videos about sega, Nintendo and many other games and systems, but when I watch your videos it feels… personal in way? It makes me feel nostalgic for systems I’ve never even played before and your videos make me want to try games I never even heard of before. As someone who’s earliest memory is playing a sega genesis time and time again, this channel brings me back to my youth (even though I’m only 21). I must say thank you for so much quality content and can’t wait to see you grow even more
Hey Sega Lord X, I don’t know if you’ll read this, but I wanted to let you know that I listen to you every morning and every night and your videos are very comforting and informative. I appreciate the work you put in on them!
@@maximillionroivas3893 Naturally! I have a list of about 15 *incredible* Japanese Saturn exclusives yet to be translated to English. *Put'em all on.* 👍
I was very late in getting into Saturn games as I only picked up a console about 4-5 years ago. This channel over the years has been a great resource for me to learn about what the console has to offer, and all of these games covered here are spectacular.
For those who are interested in the Cotton games and don't want to pay the outrageous prices, there is a modern release coming up for the Switch and PS4 at the end of September. You can preorder it at PlayAsia and for now nothing has been said for a western release as far as I've heard. It's called the Cotton Guardian Force Tribute and it includes Cotton 2, Cotton Boomerang and Guardian Force.
All 3 super cool games. Guardian Force especially is hardly known in the west, and it's a really interesting, unique shmup with tank-turret controls as you fly through the levels. One of my favorites .., maybe even like it more than Cotton 2 !?!?
Alpha 2 Gold is by far the best Street Fighter yet. The graphics on Nights where amazing back then. Not to mention that was the first Analog I had ever used.
Brilliant summing up at the end of the video, that really encapsulates what it was to be a teenager in the 90s and the excitement and anticipation of extras like the 4mb cart that beefed up the Saturn and pushed the 2d capabilities beyond that of the rival consoles.
Anyone else felt there heart in mouth and tear wellin up on the intro to panzer zwei when he said he couldn't kill his dragon coz it had a pair of wings?
I actually didn't know Rayearth was rare. I have both the USA English release and the Japanese version. The Japanese version came with a sticker you could put on a gamesave cart (which I promptly slapped on my cart ... I was no "collector"). I remember the English version translated a line early on as "Moist", which was so inadvertently hilarious in context. "Moist."
I picked up Rayearth back when it originally came out, that and Burning Rangers, among the last US released titles. I'm pretty sure I have the Rayearth anime somewhere too...
Me and my friends played Daytona USA that first summer for hours every night and loved every minute. We couldn’t wait til everybody went to bed to stay up all night playing it. I was insanely jealous that he had a Saturn! At the time it was amazing to see on a home tv
Yes!! Excellent. The Saturn is also one of my favorite consoles of all time. :-) I wish these games could be revived and see a recent release on the Switch or on Steam. Speaking of English translations, the English translation for Princess Crown is right around the corner. Should be released very soon.
good luck.. most of these games won't even run on emulators. the truth is, the Sega Saturn engine is so complex that even trying to run the simplest games like Daytona Usa or Virtua Fighter on emulators is impossible without tedious steps with installing various bios and patches. If emulators haven't been able to run the Saturn games properly for years, I don't think it'll work better on another console. They would need to reprogram the games entirely in order for them to run on a different engine. R.I.P. Saturn.
@@legrandgougoulilumine6940 that's not true at all. Mednafen runs them great without issues. Sounds like you are obviously very ignorant of Sega Saturn emulation.
@@loki.odinson LMFAO..ok then. Go try Virtual Hydlide and come back to me to tell me if it works. I also doubt that it runs any Nights games without any issues.
@@loki.odinson oh, and I've just checked it out. it seems like there is a lot of steps just to make the cores work. I've also read people reporting it for crashes, sound problems and slowdowns. And yes.. i AM very ignorant of the Sega Saturn emulation as I've been trying for years to make one work properly without any luck.
Excellent video. I am one of the 'score attack' players of Nights you mention. There's just something so fun about linking your runs so the points increase each time, and using the shoulder buttons so Nights cartwheels and somersaults into each run, and then deciding to do just one more circuit to squeeze maximum points out before the timer runs out - making it back with less than a second to spare. The more grace and finesse you fly with, the more points you get. You get endless replay value. It's a masterpiece really.
The Saturn is such a gem... Trully is. Wish Sega could do something with most of it's games in order to preserve them making them available to younger gamers.
The reason why nights was so addicting is the scoring to me... getting an A. How? By flying OVER the checkpoint once you fell the floaty thingy..... and carrying on and only when 10 seconds is left do you fly as fast as you can too the end. A GUARENTEED AND ADDICTION ALSO!
Exactly lol! It was like a racing / score attack cross over, if you weren't into finding the best flight lines to get the best combo and score, then I can't imagine it having any longevity at all.
I love your videos mate, Saturn is my favourite console of all time too and i enjoy your comments talking about the experiences that these games gave you, i would like to see a Top 50 games next time. Keep it up!!
Glad Gungriffon is up there. Best arcade Mech game I've ever played. The intro to that one might be the best on the Saturn too. And the storyline really kept you wanting to get through it.
You are so right about the magic back then. Small example: I was so energized to walk into my video game shop and see Virtua fighter 2 for the first time. Feeling beaten down as a Saturn owner at that point I was wondering if $400 should have been spent on a PlayStation instead, which had so many unique and flashy games coming out. I know now that VF2 runs in Hi-Res mode at 60 FPS but back then all I knew was that there was something extra special about it and it was unmatched by the PlayStation. I actually felt proud that I had a Saturn for the first time. Even the PlayStation centric sales people took pause. It breathed new hope that my console still had great things coming. It never quite lived up to what it was capable of, especially here in the US but man it was, and still is, a great ride.
Unlike with the Dreamcast (for which I stood in line for two hours on launch day 9.9.99), I had no regrets requesting a Saturn for my '96 Christmas present; especially since it was bundled with VF2 & Daytona USA.
Mednafen is definitely worth taking the time to set up to play these titles if you don't own the original hardware. Saturn emulation has come a long way. Wish these games were released on Switch or Steam.
I went the PS1 route myself, but in 2009, a friend gave me their Saturn, and an Action Replay cart, and bought me a few imports, and gave me their 3 US games they already had to get me started. I now own 57 games for the Saturn, and haven't built up a ton more due to insane prices that even import games are starting to go for. But what I have, I do enjoy.
As a lucky/spoiled kid in their early teens in the mid-90's, I got a Saturn in mid-1995, then a Playstation mid-1997 while keeping the Saturn. *Best of both worlds; no regrets at all; it was truly the most magical time in my life as a gamer.*
2:00 there are no PAL Saturn fans :) Or fans of PAL on any consoles. It was something we had to put up with for 20+ years and for that time all our games ran 17% slower :)
A game that I fell in love with and got me into the military strategy genre was Iron Storm. I now know it's part of the Daisenryaku series, but at the time I was in awe of the soundtrack and the cut scenes.
My gaming journey took me from the Nintendo Gameboy to Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Gamegear to N64 then to PS2 through to PS5 and PS portable consoles, Xbox One as well as Wii, Wii U and Switch, and 3DS. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience the Saturn, but I did want one. Panzer Dragoon, Nights, and Astal all looked incredible, not to mention Policenauts. I also wanted SOnic R at the time, not sure now. Thanks for your list, it took a look at some other amazing games I missed too. One of my friends, who unfortunately passed at an early age, also owned a Dreamcast and I used to go over to his place to experience it, and loved it. Sega's got a special place in gaming for me as I've enjoyed their titles immensely.
I'm the proud owner of Galactic Attack and the amazing Astal, and they are wonderful. I hope some day I can play every game on this list, at the very least many of them can finally get affordable rereleases. But who knows, Limited Run is printing new Game Boy Color games and has a new TG16CD game coming, so we may see new print runs of Saturn games one day soon :D
Recently, I got my CRT TV back and have finally discovered that transparencies look a hell of a lot better in composite on the Saturn. Some of those 3D games really need that treatment, while others look great in RGB.
SO true. In more recent years, people love to shlt on the Saturn for its alternating method for transparencies because it looks worse on digital/HDMI. Yet back then on the hardware it was actually designed for, hardly anyone noticed the difference let alone thought it looked worse. lol
+Shaggy McDaniel The technique is called dithering, where a low quality signal (RF or composite) bleeds and blurs colors to create transparencies, gradients, and produce more colors. When you use a high quality signal, it looks like a screen-door/dot-matrix; you lose the effect the game was going for. A lot of Sega games use the technique because most people at the time were using RF & composite.
At the same time, the Saturn only sold with an RGB SCART cable in PAL regions at least. The RF cable was another £20. Considering transparencies were not some new phenomenon, and had existed for years in SNES games, they ought to have been ready for transparent polygons in 1994-5. It was another Sega blunder.
Perfect timing as I just received my Satiator in the mail yesterday, been looking around for ideas for different games to try out on it. I grew up on the Genesis but then switched sides to the PlayStation, never actually messed with a Saturn until buying my first one about a year ago.
If you have/added Marvel Superheroes vs Street Fighter to your Satiator. Can you see if it still has issues with that game? I do want to get one but I’ve been waiting until most of the issues with it and some other games become resolved.
Me too, my favorite game of all time! I can still listen to the plain old level music from the six main levels, and be instantly transported to a happy 1996. Very special game music, and for me the pinnacle of that 90s Sonic Team music, which was generally so great, positive, memorable.
Great selection. I can't state how much I love Story of Thor 2. It is difficult to really explain and show the appeal of the game with short clips. It is a very calm game, contemplating, lots of great puzzles, beautiful pixel-art, great combat and music. I personally find that it is an absolute master-piece in its genre. Hope more people play it.
I was there and understand the feeling of seeing Panzer Dragoon, Nights, VF2, and even Bug running on the Saturn and wowing me at a very special time in my life. I understand.
Us library saturn collecting is a rich man's game but the import scene is very manageable. You'll pick up dozens of hits before you get to the $50 games.
I love my Japanese Saturn, granted at the moment I only have Xmas nights into dreams and fantasy zone. I can’t wait to collect more at the right price. The haters/naysayers just don’t get it
street fighter collection was amazing. I had n64 and had to wait until ps2 to get street fighter collection and it still blew my mind even then after being used to playing SSF2 on snes.
So far, for my Saturn I got NiGHTS, Christmas NiGHTS (thankfully they were shipped to me bundled with a 3D Analog Pad), Clockwork Knight and Rayman (which plays slightly better than the more popular Playstation version, in my opinion). Oh, and a "mandatory" Action Replay cartridge too... 😉
I didn't get to play and own a Saturn until 2015. You point out some great games. Here are what i consider gems for the Saturn: Marvel vs Capcom, Bug,Nights into Dreams, Earth Worm Jim 2, Die Hard Arcade, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Virtua Cop 2, Sega Ages Volume 1, Columns Collection, Astal, Mortal Kombat 2, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
For anyone interested in the Saturn catalogue but put off by the prices of the games, there are a few options to replace the disc drive with an sd card reader and play roms off that. I have a Fenrir- very affordable and easy to install.
I had a PlayStation as a kid coming from the Genesis because by 1998 Saturn was on the way out. I always wanted a Japanese Saturn with the 4MB RAM cart to play Capcom ports. Imagine my disappointment when Xmen vs SF on PS1 didn't have tag battle lmao. Luckily I got into Dreamcast in High School, but Saturn was always that missing link in my gaming life. Anyways, thanks for another awesome vid that keeps the dreams of 90s Sega alive.
Many Saturn games still hold up well, especially the 2D ones. I've owned a japanese Saturn since 1994, but I think the Saturn's 2D games are of such high quality that even someone who's new to the Saturn can appreciate them today. As a Sega fan, I have to disagree with the "you had to be there" argument, because it basically echoes the false idea that "Sega games were of their time" (i.e. not timeless classics) that Nintendo fans like to parrot.
@@SegaLordX You say at the end that "you had to be there to understand why many love the Saturn so dearly" and "how great it was to be playing PD and VF2 back in 1995". I get that, because I also played those in '95, but to me it's not a very solid argument. If I made a similar list, I'd only look at how the games hold up in the here and now, in 2021.
No, you are ignoring the lead up entirely from 21:13 forward. The context was "those that like to define Sega based on their failures". You are taking the most important part of the monologue out of the equation. Those people use Sega's failures as the defining characteristic of the experience and not the quality of the software. They are never going to play enough of these games to rightfully judge either way.
Fantastic video. The Saturn is also among my favourite consoles of all times. I must admit though that I am super tate the party. Did not get my Japanese Saturn before 2018. I knew about the Saturn back then when it was revelant but I was 10 or 11 bank then and took everything the german gaming magazines back then as gospel. Unfortunately besides the offical Sega Magazine that I did not read back then the german gaming press was always more pro Nintendo and later Sony than Sega. So I went with the n64 and later with the ps1. Did not get into Sega gaming before I got my Dreamcast in 2000. But since I have re discovered the Saturn in 2018 I really love it. It is really underated console that I enjoy playing daily.
At the time it came out, it was impressive Sakura Taisen 1&2 on PSP fit both Sakura Taisen (2 discs) and Sakura Taisen 2 (3 discs) from the Sega Saturn onto a single UMD. It wasn't just a lazy port either. The games were adapted around the PSP's screen.
WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL Seeing Virtual Fighter 2 running in the Saturn's hi-res interlaced mode in 1995 was amazing. From that point on, anytime I saw that "interline twitter" artefact on CRTs in interlaced mode (during the PS1's opening screen, or Dead or Alive on PS1) I've always associated that with "high performance". I remember being thrilled with the Dreamcast came out and everything ran like that on my CRT TV at the time.
I think there's nothing to complain about Saturn Bomberman. It has the best solo mode in the series and the graphics are made with so much love for detail. There are so many small things that make me laugh. For me the best Bomberman ever made.
I agree with almost every thing here, I would replace a few with Guardian Heroes, Xmen COTA and Darius Gaiden but this is damn near a perfect list. Sometimes when something is available today in a better form we should not forget back then it was not and sometimes the Saturn was the best place to play many of these games.
My all-time best video game memories are no doubt with the Saturn and Dreamcast. Saturn : Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, Shienryu, Strikers1945 & Battle Garegga. Dreamcast : Sega Rally 2, Crazy Taxi (1), Ikaruga, Border Down, Gigawing, Powerstone, Soul Calibur & Outrun...yes, OUTRUN. These games represents the best time of my life videogame-wise.
Great video.. Glad you did 11-25... Interestingly, my own gaming preference was the games in this video.. I was never really drawn to AAA titles, like the top 10...
Loved to see Nights in this new list! I think it deserved to be in the top 10 video, but it's close enough now. This and Sonic R were the games I played the most on my Saturn as a child. I agree with what you said, the story itself doesn't matter, Nights it's amazing for that sense of freedom. It was so cool to play it and it was even better with the soundtrack!
Man I really got into gaming thanks to the saturn. Sonic Jam, Nights into dreams, Astal, Bug, crock, etc, what a fun time. I wish i knew to pull that fabric out of the console so I could save games. I was just too young I guess.
I’m so happy that magic knight Rayearth was still localized here despite numerous delays and ended up being the last NA saturn released game. The game is excellent and deserves a lot more love
Nights into Dreams is a very simple fun loop with an absurd amount of depth 99% of players never see. I am one of those players. The amount of depth and longevity the score attack and ecosystem gives to it would have been nice to discover in its day but I only boot up christmas Nights at Christmas on emulator lol.
Nice choices to make as your top 25! SLX, I don't have a top 25 but I gotta tell you bro my top 10 is in your list... Which I find awesome... I'll give you my top five. 1) Panzer Dragoon II Zwei 2) Sega Rally Championship 3) Virtua Fighter 2 4) Guardian Heroes 5) Panzer Dragoon Saga
I remember my grandmother plays Nights into Dreams when she was in her late 50's, then she moved on to Tomb Raider. Everyone thought my grandmother was odd because she gamed with us kids. In her 60's she started playing World of Warcraft with us and into her 70's she finally got a Steam account. Now at 81 years old I can say that my grandmother is still gaming and is the most awesome person I have known in my life. :D
That generation of consoles was a period where I was always like "what are they gonna do next". Ps1, Saturn, and N64 were doing some really awesome stuff and really competitive. Idk, rose colored classes of course, but now we really have limitless capabilities but don't take the chances as much.
Well, rose-colored glasses maybe, but I remember that "what's coming next" feeling, and the excitement reading the game magazines or going to a good game store back then. I also loved the competition between the platforms leading to them taking chances and giving us *unexpectedly* great game experiences (the good side of the "console wars"). I had friends in the biz who could get me a pass to E3 every year back then, and it was just bonkers amazing seeing and playing the games of the year to come.
Nothing like today, even though there are some very good modern games. It's so rare today that a game is *unexpectedly* great. I know how fun Ratchet will be. I know how fun Tales of Arise will be. Also, I still play Saturn & PS1 more than I play XB1 and PS4. I have most available consoles still, and my top 3 consoles by play-time today are 1. Switch, 2, Saturn, 3. PS1
@Hiden Bunter's Krak Pype I think you mean 4th and 6th? Generally people call PS1/Saturn/N64 the 5th gen. But yeah the 4th to 6th was videogaming at its best, with 5th the high point for me personally. 8th gen (PS4 etc) was better than 7th gen, so I thought we'd be improving again ... but so far the new 9th gen looks like a corporate disaster, only saved by the indie scene.
All about ROI to the max now
I wear the rose colored glasses too, proudly even! Haha! The PS1 is my favorite and I've been obsessed about its library of games ever since I was a kid. Nowadays I'm finally taking a look at the competition at the time and both the Saturn and the N64 had some great games too.
People get creative out of desperation. With technology and financial constraints, they are forced to get creative, especially when they're breaking new territory in terms of game design.
Now, they have schemes for every type of game so don't have to get creative, they just have to use gimmicks to attract people to THEIR game over the dozens of others that do the same thing.
What you explain at the end of this video was pretty much my feeling on the Dreamcast, being 10 or 11 when that came out. It's difficult to describe just how impressive and mind blowing Sonic Adventure and Shenmue were. I replayed Shenmue 1 on the PS4 recently and it almost brought tears to my eyes walking through Ryo's neighborhood, as if I was visiting and old childhood friend I hadn't seen in 20 years.
Omg, dude yes. For a second while reading your message I thought to myself did I write this lol. Anyway I agree with you completely. Going from Genesis to my PlayStation I wasn’t all that blown away although I enjoyed my PS1. However back then when I got a Dreamcast and played Sonic Adventure and Shenmue………BLEW my freaking mind 🤯.
@@chrisfern4699 haha that's awesome man, some internet comradery betwixt two kids lucky enough to have had the first 128 bit console. I honestly understand why the Saturn flopped in the States, considering we didn't get half of the best games on the system, and Shining Force 3 took forever to come out. Shining Force 3, from my perspective and of my two older brothers, would have been the number one reason to get the console, and then we didn't even get the second two installments with Scenario 2 and 3. Also Sega didn't release a traditional Sonic game, even though they could have done some kind of 2D/3D hybrid like knights with a lot of cool 3D parts thrown in there. I have Sonic R and honestly the controls are just bad. It's an interesting game but I'm not surprised it didn't make Sega Lord's list. But the Dreamcast was great and had great games. I think the problem was too many kids had a bad taste in their mouths from the Saturn still. I really think Sega should have held off on the Sega CD and just released all of those games like 1-2 years later on the Saturn. It was like they kept going for a quick console cash grab. Meanwhile Nintendo took a long time before released the N64, but when they did it was done right, had a ton of great games, and great 3rd party game developers.
I worked at Game Crazy in those days (basically, a store like Gamestop that was in some Hollywood Video locations). Hollywood Video employees got annoyed with me because I would play the trailer for Shenmue over, and over, and over on our demo screen.
I also vividly remember pushing tons of people to buy a Dreamcast instead of a PS2, because "the PS2 has no games". Man, those people must have been pissed at me, in the end.
Oh yeah, I love Saturn. I remember buying one used in a local game store back around 2001. I bought Tomb Raider and Sonic 3D Blast with it. I later got sealed copies of Virtua Fighter Kids, Fighters Megamix, and more. I found Christmas Nights at a thrift store and bought a sealed copy of Nights with the 3D controller. Everything Saturn was dirt cheap then. I even got brand new arcade sticks for it!
Sick
Nice! I was able to get a Saturn pretty cheap in the mid 2000s but I never really got any games for it outside Street Fighter vs X-Men. I'm about to install a ODE in my Saturn soon, so I'll be able to play all the Saturn games... Wish the physical market wasn't so damn insane or I'd get original games for it.
@@Jeffmetal42 It's worth it, you'll have a blast. I'm getting ready to do another fenrir ode project soon I enjoyed it so much.
@@TB-nf6bs yea, I'm pretty excited about it!
Sonic 3D was best om MegaDrive IMO lol.
43 of age and I've played so many consoles over the generations and the Saturn was easily the best time I had playing video games.
Same age. Same experience.
I played from Intellivision to Xbox 360.
The best gaming experience i ever had
in my life was either on Saturn or PS1.
Saturn is still my fav console of all time as well, so underappreciated and overlooked. I used to stare at the box for hours dreaming of all the arcade games that would eventually make it's way to the system that never did because the PlayStation stole the spotlight.
@Marc Carran that is your take which I respect, this topic has been beaten to death so we will just agree to disagree.
I can't like this video enough. That speech at the end is so inspirational, @SegaLordX
The Legend of Oasis is my favorite Saturn game, thanks for mentioning it.
Pretty much the same as Beyond Oasis.
Nothing special really.
Good list of games, like you the Sega Saturn is my favorite system ever, you just had to be there
The Sega Saturn holds a special place in my heart for some reason too. I was lucky enough to own it growing up and still have it to this day. Not sure why but from all the retro consoles, the Saturn is my favorite. Nights, The King of Fighters games, Guardian Heroes, Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon 2, Sega Rally, the Street Fighters are some of the best games to play on the console
can I just say how glad I am to have found your channel! I’ve watched so many RUclipsrs videos about sega, Nintendo and many other games and systems, but when I watch your videos it feels… personal in way? It makes me feel nostalgic for systems I’ve never even played before and your videos make me want to try games I never even heard of before. As someone who’s earliest memory is playing a sega genesis time and time again, this channel brings me back to my youth (even though I’m only 21). I must say thank you for so much quality content and can’t wait to see you grow even more
Hey Sega Lord X, I don’t know if you’ll read this, but I wanted to let you know that I listen to you every morning and every night and your videos are very comforting and informative. I appreciate the work you put in on them!
Love your channel for the nostalgia.
I've played all the games in your top 25 list (Magic Knight Rayearth was my very first Saturn game).
*GREAT list.* I would SO LOVE a well-made Saturn mini console with this top 25 on it... or more.
🤤
Same here, man. I’d definitely buy that!
I would buy 2!!!👍👍👍
A SEGA Saturn mini with at least 50 games on it, plus some Japanese Only releases as a bonus.
@@maximillionroivas3893 Naturally! I have a list of about 15 *incredible* Japanese Saturn exclusives yet to be translated to English. *Put'em all on.* 👍
Aahhh!!! What an idea💡! I would want one so bad, especially just to play ClockWork Knight II!
I was very late in getting into Saturn games as I only picked up a console about 4-5 years ago. This channel over the years has been a great resource for me to learn about what the console has to offer, and all of these games covered here are spectacular.
For those who are interested in the Cotton games and don't want to pay the outrageous prices, there is a modern release coming up for the Switch and PS4 at the end of September. You can preorder it at PlayAsia and for now nothing has been said for a western release as far as I've heard. It's called the Cotton Guardian Force Tribute and it includes Cotton 2, Cotton Boomerang and Guardian Force.
All 3 super cool games. Guardian Force especially is hardly known in the west, and it's a really interesting, unique shmup with tank-turret controls as you fly through the levels. One of my favorites .., maybe even like it more than Cotton 2 !?!?
Alpha 2 Gold is by far the best Street Fighter yet.
The graphics on Nights where amazing back then. Not to mention that was the first Analog I had ever used.
Lol, apparently I've watched this video before.
Brilliant summing up at the end of the video, that really encapsulates what it was to be a teenager in the 90s and the excitement and anticipation of extras like the 4mb cart that beefed up the Saturn and pushed the 2d capabilities beyond that of the rival consoles.
Anyone else felt there heart in mouth and tear wellin up on the intro to panzer zwei when he said he couldn't kill his dragon coz it had a pair of wings?
I actually didn't know Rayearth was rare. I have both the USA English release and the Japanese version. The Japanese version came with a sticker you could put on a gamesave cart (which I promptly slapped on my cart ... I was no "collector").
I remember the English version translated a line early on as "Moist", which was so inadvertently hilarious in context. "Moist."
When i sold my mint copy of the us release in 2016 it went for $400
I picked up Rayearth back when it originally came out, that and Burning Rangers, among the last US released titles. I'm pretty sure I have the Rayearth anime somewhere too...
Dude congrats on 100k!
Thanks!
Me and my friends played Daytona USA that first summer for hours every night and loved every minute. We couldn’t wait til everybody went to bed to stay up all night playing it. I was insanely jealous that he had a Saturn! At the time it was amazing to see on a home tv
Yes!! Excellent. The Saturn is also one of my favorite consoles of all time. :-)
I wish these games could be revived and see a recent release on the Switch or on Steam.
Speaking of English translations, the English translation for Princess Crown is right around the corner. Should be released very soon.
Ooh nice. I had that game for PSP but I don't know if it ever got an English patch of some kind, I highly doubt it though.
good luck.. most of these games won't even run on emulators.
the truth is, the Sega Saturn engine is so complex that even trying to run the simplest
games like Daytona Usa or Virtua Fighter on emulators is impossible without tedious
steps with installing various bios and patches. If emulators haven't been able to run
the Saturn games properly for years, I don't think it'll work better on another console.
They would need to reprogram the games entirely in order for them to run on a different engine.
R.I.P. Saturn.
@@legrandgougoulilumine6940 that's not true at all. Mednafen runs them great without issues. Sounds like you are obviously very ignorant of Sega Saturn emulation.
@@loki.odinson LMFAO..ok then. Go try Virtual Hydlide and come back to me to tell me if it works. I also doubt that it runs any Nights games without any issues.
@@loki.odinson oh, and I've just checked it out.
it seems like there is a lot of steps just to make the cores work.
I've also read people reporting it for crashes, sound problems and slowdowns.
And yes.. i AM very ignorant of the Sega Saturn emulation as I've been trying for years to make one work properly without any luck.
Excellent video. I am one of the 'score attack' players of Nights you mention. There's just something so fun about linking your runs so the points increase each time, and using the shoulder buttons so Nights cartwheels and somersaults into each run, and then deciding to do just one more circuit to squeeze maximum points out before the timer runs out - making it back with less than a second to spare. The more grace and finesse you fly with, the more points you get. You get endless replay value. It's a masterpiece really.
The Saturn is such a gem... Trully is. Wish Sega could do something with most of it's games in order to preserve them making them available to younger gamers.
The reason why nights was so addicting is the scoring to me... getting an A. How? By flying OVER the checkpoint once you fell the floaty thingy..... and carrying on and only when 10 seconds is left do you fly as fast as you can too the end. A GUARENTEED AND ADDICTION ALSO!
Exactly lol! It was like a racing / score attack cross over, if you weren't into finding the best flight lines to get the best combo and score, then I can't imagine it having any longevity at all.
I love your videos mate, Saturn is my favourite console of all time too and i enjoy your comments talking about the experiences that these games gave you, i would like to see a Top 50 games next time. Keep it up!!
Brilliant narration as always, I rarely find any other that does closing line as well as you do.
Glad Gungriffon is up there. Best arcade Mech game I've ever played. The intro to that one might be the best on the Saturn too. And the storyline really kept you wanting to get through it.
You are so right about the magic back then. Small example: I was so energized to walk into my video game shop and see Virtua fighter 2 for the first time. Feeling beaten down as a Saturn owner at that point I was wondering if $400 should have been spent on a PlayStation instead, which had so many unique and flashy games coming out. I know now that VF2 runs in Hi-Res mode at 60 FPS but back then all I knew was that there was something extra special about it and it was unmatched by the PlayStation. I actually felt proud that I had a Saturn for the first time. Even the PlayStation centric sales people took pause. It breathed new hope that my console still had great things coming. It never quite lived up to what it was capable of, especially here in the US but man it was, and still is, a great ride.
I miss my Saturn. And now you’re making me wanna get another one!!
Unlike with the Dreamcast (for which I stood in line for two hours on launch day 9.9.99), I had no regrets requesting a Saturn for my '96 Christmas present; especially since it was bundled with VF2 & Daytona USA.
I’ve never commented but what a great wrap up at the end. I’m from the UK and loved the Saturn. Good work fella
Thanks for this, as someone who went the Playstation route never got to get a Saturn, but always wanted to.
Mednafen is definitely worth taking the time to set up to play these titles if you don't own the original hardware. Saturn emulation has come a long way. Wish these games were released on Switch or Steam.
I went the PS1 route myself, but in 2009, a friend gave me their Saturn, and an Action Replay cart, and bought me a few imports, and gave me their 3 US games they already had to get me started. I now own 57 games for the Saturn, and haven't built up a ton more due to insane prices that even import games are starting to go for. But what I have, I do enjoy.
As a lucky/spoiled kid in their early teens in the mid-90's, I got a Saturn in mid-1995, then a Playstation mid-1997 while keeping the Saturn. *Best of both worlds; no regrets at all; it was truly the most magical time in my life as a gamer.*
@@loki.odinson I just got a pretty powerful PC so I'm hoping I can emulate Saturn games really well so I can finally experience some of them.
@Pro Tengu Any emulator you would recommend ?
2:00 there are no PAL Saturn fans :) Or fans of PAL on any consoles. It was something we had to put up with for 20+ years and for that time all our games ran 17% slower :)
A game that I fell in love with and got me into the military strategy genre was Iron Storm. I now know it's part of the Daisenryaku series, but at the time I was in awe of the soundtrack and the cut scenes.
My gaming journey took me from the Nintendo Gameboy to Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Gamegear to N64 then to PS2 through to PS5 and PS portable consoles, Xbox One as well as Wii, Wii U and Switch, and 3DS. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience the Saturn, but I did want one. Panzer Dragoon, Nights, and Astal all looked incredible, not to mention Policenauts. I also wanted SOnic R at the time, not sure now. Thanks for your list, it took a look at some other amazing games I missed too.
One of my friends, who unfortunately passed at an early age, also owned a Dreamcast and I used to go over to his place to experience it, and loved it. Sega's got a special place in gaming for me as I've enjoyed their titles immensely.
I'm the proud owner of Galactic Attack and the amazing Astal, and they are wonderful. I hope some day I can play every game on this list, at the very least many of them can finally get affordable rereleases.
But who knows, Limited Run is printing new Game Boy Color games and has a new TG16CD game coming, so we may see new print runs of Saturn games one day soon :D
Recently, I got my CRT TV back and have finally discovered that transparencies look a hell of a lot better in composite on the Saturn. Some of those 3D games really need that treatment, while others look great in RGB.
SO true. In more recent years, people love to shlt on the Saturn for its alternating method for transparencies because it looks worse on digital/HDMI. Yet back then on the hardware it was actually designed for, hardly anyone noticed the difference let alone thought it looked worse. lol
+Shaggy McDaniel
The technique is called dithering, where a low quality signal (RF or composite) bleeds and blurs colors to create transparencies, gradients, and produce more colors. When you use a high quality signal, it looks like a screen-door/dot-matrix; you lose the effect the game was going for. A lot of Sega games use the technique because most people at the time were using RF & composite.
@@silverwings21 Yep, which is why decent emulators have filters that simulate it as well. 👍
At the same time, the Saturn only sold with an RGB SCART cable in PAL regions at least. The RF cable was another £20.
Considering transparencies were not some new phenomenon, and had existed for years in SNES games, they ought to have been ready for transparent polygons in 1994-5. It was another Sega blunder.
Perfect timing as I just received my Satiator in the mail yesterday, been looking around for ideas for different games to try out on it. I grew up on the Genesis but then switched sides to the PlayStation, never actually messed with a Saturn until buying my first one about a year ago.
I brought a Saturn at a swap meet a few years back and had no games for it. Just bought a Satiator today, I'm hoping to get into the system.
If you have/added Marvel Superheroes vs Street Fighter to your Satiator. Can you see if it still has issues with that game? I do want to get one but I’ve been waiting until most of the issues with it and some other games become resolved.
@@ThatOldSchoolMagic I think you need the 4MB cart expansion for that game correct?
@@finaltheorygames1781 yes
The ending to this episode was absolutely well said, fantastic even. Cheers buddy.
Policenauts is one of Kojima’s very best games. A shame he wasn’t a bigger name then, to force it to be localized for the west.
this is the video I've been waiting for, thanks for this one bro!
These are all awesome games. Glad you went past a top 10.
Nights was always my favorite game on the system. The music was incredible.
Me too, my favorite game of all time! I can still listen to the plain old level music from the six main levels, and be instantly transported to a happy 1996. Very special game music, and for me the pinnacle of that 90s Sonic Team music, which was generally so great, positive, memorable.
Great selection. I can't state how much I love Story of Thor 2. It is difficult to really explain and show the appeal of the game with short clips. It is a very calm game, contemplating, lots of great puzzles, beautiful pixel-art, great combat and music. I personally find that it is an absolute master-piece in its genre. Hope more people play it.
I was there and understand the feeling of seeing Panzer Dragoon, Nights, VF2, and even Bug running on the Saturn and wowing me at a very special time in my life. I understand.
Great stuff as always, SLX!
ASTAL, omg ive been looking for this game for so long! My parents randomly got this for me as a kid from a flea market and I loved it so much!
Would love to see a top 50. Hell even a top 100. There are so many good Saturn games!
Man I wish this console would've had a better run here in the US
Watching this while playing Layer Section(Galactic Attack) i have both lol great video!
The end of the video made me damn cry. Thank you Sega Lord X for another amazing analysis!
Gungfriffon and Wing Arms ruled my world on the Saturn along with all the classics and fighters. Unforgettable and still fun today.
Perfect timing! I just picked up a Saturn last weekend so I’ve been looking for some good games to pick up for it
Us library saturn collecting is a rich man's game but the import scene is very manageable. You'll pick up dozens of hits before you get to the $50 games.
I enjoyed the hell out of Legend of Oasis… awesome artwork, graphics, music, bosses…. Great to see that on here!
I love my Japanese Saturn, granted at the moment I only have Xmas nights into dreams and fantasy zone. I can’t wait to collect more at the right price. The haters/naysayers just don’t get it
Who hating? Give me their names!? Lol 😂
street fighter collection was amazing. I had n64 and had to wait until ps2 to get street fighter collection and it still blew my mind even then after being used to playing SSF2 on snes.
So far, for my Saturn I got NiGHTS, Christmas NiGHTS (thankfully they were shipped to me bundled with a 3D Analog Pad), Clockwork Knight and Rayman (which plays slightly better than the more popular Playstation version, in my opinion). Oh, and a "mandatory" Action Replay cartridge too... 😉
Just wanna note that Gungriffon II is also great and supports the Twin Stick!
That Sagat and Akuma fight was amazing, rewatched it more then nce :) :) :) happy new year lol
Hit the nail on the head, you had to be there at the time to appreciate 🔥
I didn't get to play and own a Saturn until 2015. You point out some great games. Here are what i consider gems for the Saturn: Marvel vs Capcom, Bug,Nights into Dreams, Earth Worm Jim 2, Die Hard Arcade, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Virtua Cop 2, Sega Ages Volume 1, Columns Collection, Astal, Mortal Kombat 2, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Galactic Attack is one of my favorite Shm'up. I love the OST and the transitions between levels. No score board, no loading times.
"You had to be there"...and I was there. And I'm so glad that I was.
I love Astal... 😍 It's my first Saturn game.
For anyone interested in the Saturn catalogue but put off by the prices of the games, there are a few options to replace the disc drive with an sd card reader and play roms off that. I have a Fenrir- very affordable and easy to install.
I forgot just how many great games were on the Saturn. Nice video.
I had a PlayStation as a kid coming from the Genesis because by 1998 Saturn was on the way out. I always wanted a Japanese Saturn with the 4MB RAM cart to play Capcom ports. Imagine my disappointment when Xmen vs SF on PS1 didn't have tag battle lmao. Luckily I got into Dreamcast in High School, but Saturn was always that missing link in my gaming life. Anyways, thanks for another awesome vid that keeps the dreams of 90s Sega alive.
Enjoyed the rankings so far. Need to add some of these games to my gaming queue.
..love this! can't wait for your top 26-50 games list
Many Saturn games still hold up well, especially the 2D ones. I've owned a japanese Saturn since 1994, but I think the Saturn's 2D games are of such high quality that even someone who's new to the Saturn can appreciate them today. As a Sega fan, I have to disagree with the "you had to be there" argument, because it basically echoes the false idea that "Sega games were of their time" (i.e. not timeless classics) that Nintendo fans like to parrot.
The ending had nothing to do with games holding up.
@@SegaLordX You say at the end that "you had to be there to understand why many love the Saturn so dearly" and "how great it was to be playing PD and VF2 back in 1995". I get that, because I also played those in '95, but to me it's not a very solid argument. If I made a similar list, I'd only look at how the games hold up in the here and now, in 2021.
No, you are ignoring the lead up entirely from 21:13 forward. The context was "those that like to define Sega based on their failures". You are taking the most important part of the monologue out of the equation. Those people use Sega's failures as the defining characteristic of the experience and not the quality of the software. They are never going to play enough of these games to rightfully judge either way.
Ok just saw this video giving Nights a 13th best game rank. I’m glad it made your top 20, though a Nights centric video would be terrific.
Fantastic video. The Saturn is also among my favourite consoles of all times. I must admit though that I am super tate the party. Did not get my Japanese Saturn before 2018. I knew about the Saturn back then when it was revelant but I was 10 or 11 bank then and took everything the german gaming magazines back then as gospel. Unfortunately besides the offical Sega Magazine that I did not read back then the german gaming press was always more pro Nintendo and later Sony than Sega. So I went with the n64 and later with the ps1. Did not get into Sega gaming before I got my Dreamcast in 2000. But since I have re discovered the Saturn in 2018 I really love it. It is really underated console that I enjoy playing daily.
At the time it came out, it was impressive Sakura Taisen 1&2 on PSP fit both Sakura Taisen (2 discs) and Sakura Taisen 2 (3 discs) from the Sega Saturn onto a single UMD. It wasn't just a lazy port either. The games were adapted around the PSP's screen.
Oh yeah, please do the Top 50! These videos are amazing!
I wish I had gotten into Saturn collecting 10 years ago. Damn the expense!
I'd like to add that Astal actually has sonic 2 style co-op! player 2 plays as the bird.
Great episode and your last words, are the speech of a true gamer.
Can't wait for the 10 - 1 episode next time.
Magic Knight Rayearth was to me a surprisingly good RPG, it's different but in a good way
WELCO
METOT
HENEX
TLEVEL
Seeing Virtual Fighter 2 running in the Saturn's hi-res interlaced mode in 1995 was amazing. From that point on, anytime I saw that "interline twitter" artefact on CRTs in interlaced mode (during the PS1's opening screen, or Dead or Alive on PS1) I've always associated that with "high performance". I remember being thrilled with the Dreamcast came out and everything ran like that on my CRT TV at the time.
Damn man Astal looks beautiful, unfortunately I only knew about it's existence in recent years and never got release in EU!
Rayman was also a beautiful side scroller.
I think there's nothing to complain about Saturn Bomberman. It has the best solo mode in the series and the graphics are made with so much love for detail. There are so many small things that make me laugh. For me the best Bomberman ever made.
I agree with almost every thing here, I would replace a few with Guardian Heroes, Xmen COTA and Darius Gaiden but this is damn near a perfect list. Sometimes when something is available today in a better form we should not forget back then it was not and sometimes the Saturn was the best place to play many of these games.
Your last words are amazing, real passion :) Thank you for your videos
I will always watch brother! Continues to be something new everytime you review the epic SEGA SATURN 💣💥💪🏿
My all-time best video game memories are no doubt with the Saturn and Dreamcast. Saturn : Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, Shienryu, Strikers1945 & Battle Garegga. Dreamcast : Sega Rally 2, Crazy Taxi (1), Ikaruga, Border Down, Gigawing, Powerstone, Soul Calibur & Outrun...yes, OUTRUN.
These games represents the best time of my life videogame-wise.
Great video.. Glad you did 11-25... Interestingly, my own gaming preference was the games in this video.. I was never really drawn to AAA titles, like the top 10...
Loved to see Nights in this new list! I think it deserved to be in the top 10 video, but it's close enough now.
This and Sonic R were the games I played the most on my Saturn as a child. I agree with what you said, the story itself doesn't matter, Nights it's amazing for that sense of freedom.
It was so cool to play it and it was even better with the soundtrack!
the full game is available on Xbox live for Xbox 360.
I have the demo.
Man I really got into gaming thanks to the saturn. Sonic Jam, Nights into dreams, Astal, Bug, crock, etc, what a fun time. I wish i knew to pull that fabric out of the console so I could save games. I was just too young I guess.
I’m so happy that magic knight Rayearth was still localized here despite numerous delays and ended up being the last NA saturn released game. The game is excellent and deserves a lot more love
Day before my birthday, awesome to see a new vid from Sega Lord X!
A very solid 25 game list!😀
I hope you ranking the Saturn games overtime
Sega Saturn enemy has a name: Sega.
PlayStation was just a rival/competitor.
Awesome video!
Nights into Dreams is a very simple fun loop with an absurd amount of depth 99% of players never see. I am one of those players. The amount of depth and longevity the score attack and ecosystem gives to it would have been nice to discover in its day but I only boot up christmas Nights at Christmas on emulator lol.
I still need to locate a VC2. Was lucking to get another VC Stunner boxed combo a few years ago.
I need one too. I only have the Dreamcast version on the compilation disc.
Nice choices to make as your top 25! SLX, I don't have a top 25 but I gotta tell you bro my top 10 is in your list... Which I find awesome... I'll give you my top five.
1) Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
2) Sega Rally Championship
3) Virtua Fighter 2
4) Guardian Heroes
5) Panzer Dragoon Saga
Thank you for your great reviews!!! You rock Sega Lord X
Well said final thoughts!!! That's why Sega Lord X is the best!!😁👍👍👍