J-League Go Go Goal! - Tecmo's Sega Saturn Arcade Football Fest

I hope you are all happy, safe & healthy whatever challenges you are facing right now.
Fans of my channel will know that the Saturn was my console of choice back in that generation of gaming. Not once did I regret the decision to choose Sega's 32-bit powerhouse despite it coming a distant third to Sony's all-conquering PlayStation and 2nd globally to Nintendo's cartridge based N64.
Despite the other systems getting more praise from the magazines of the time and getting more ports and big name releases I loved a lot of the software Sega was putting out and once you add the Japanese library to the mix then it is a console with a lot to love.
I've been meaning to start uploading Saturn videos for a while and didn't intend for this to be the first one but hey - that is how life works sometimes.
This is J-League Go Go Goal! by Tecmo. A fairly late Saturn game released in 1997/98 and featuring the Japanese League teams. As usual with Tecmo of this time they produce a technically impressive title with smooth, detailed graphics with decent player models etc.
The game itself is of the arcadey variety with Shoot, Pass and Long Kick buttons and fairly.....robust......tackling.
Its a fun game and one I don't see talked about much on the Saturn - possibly because it was a late release and remained in Japan but can imagine it would have been fairly popular and successful if released in the West with say Premier League teams or Champions League teams. However the Saturn was struggling against the competition, the licence was likely too expensive and with Fifa on all main platforms, Sega's own World Wide Soccer titles and World League Soccer and ISS Pro Evo dominating on rival platforms they probably didn't think it was worth it.
Fun game though!
Want to see more Saturn Football games or Saturn games in general. I have tons of them - as I say - it was my main system for that generation.
This is my original Japanese copy - it didn't come out in the PAL territories and I suspect didn't get released in the States what with it being an arcade port of a sport that was very much in the minority over there - from back in the day played (at 60Hz) on my modded PAL Model 1 Saturn through a Retrotink 5X for ease of capture. It's the first time I've played it in years so forgive the slightly erratic gameplay but it should give you the idea.
I'll be uploading far better Saturn games than this though in the future :-)
As always if you enjoy this video let me know. As always this is running on original hardware. Also let me know if there are particular games or systems you'd like to see.
As always this is uploaded under the Fair Use Policy - no money is being made from this video.
Stay strong, stay safe and stay healthy - Grey Fox

[@DTM-Books]

Polygon players, 60fps, it’s astounding for its era and truly one of the greatest 3D poly showpieces for Saturn. I still can’t honestly tell if the stands are polygons or a VDP2 plane (think of Decathlete/Athlete Kings), but the overall look is outstanding either way.
If the gameplay feels shallow and pure arcade-like, that’s fine. This is pure eye candy, a model girlfriend to hang on your arm and show off to the world. It’s amazing how well Tecmo cracked the Saturn hardware, and it thoroughly shames most Western soccer titles, especially EA’s FIFA 98, which despite its outstanding gameplay suffers from a spotty frame rate. My own personal guess is that this is an issue of Assembly vs C, as Saturn was really built for the former and not much less so for the former. Ultimately, Saturn is a hacker’s machine and that’s where it’s power lies.

[@greyfox1127]

Agreed - the Saturn was a very powerful machine in it's own right and certainly in terms of performance was competitive compared to pits peers (PS1 & N64). While those machines had some obvious advantages I think in the right hands the Saturn really shines. Like many machines it suffers when the Lead Platform a game is developed on defines the game design & graphics (obviously it makes sense to target the strengths of that machine & it's increased market share etc) and then when ported to Saturn it was always going to struggle. When its strengths are catered to the system truly shines. The recent HomeBrew is truly impressive for the system.
It got a terrible reputation based on some admittedly rushed games & some bad ports but has a fantastic library of software in its own right. I definitely didn't regret choosing it that generation - so many amazing memories and gameplay experiences.
Agreed on the gameplay too - it is aiming for a more arcade like experience - which is fine. World League Soccer 98 is another impressive showcase for the system - not just graphically but also the commentary is easily the best I recall from that generation - reflecting the match action accurately and super dynamically and responsively with very little repetition. Gameplay was ace too - very in line with Pro Evo of the time - for that deeper experience. Cheat code allowed actual names of players too :-)
I have a pretty big Saturn collection as it was my system of choice back in the day (so glad as the thought of buying some of these games now is eye-watering!) so if there are any games in particular you want a video of I may have it.
Enjoy my channel!

[@drunkensailor112]

But it's all ruined by the size of the ball.

[@costumeninja1914]

Hahaha, makes it easier to see! The game is gorgeous. @@drunkensailor112