/vr/ - Retro Games

No, but be prepared to spend a lot of money on import games.

>>1835661
It's not foolish if there's lots of Saturn games you'd like to play/discover.

Play Virtual-On.

>>1835661
Get an action replay cart and buy some imports but some earlier saturn games can be found for cheap. Anything 2D is usually superior on the saturn compared to the PS1.

There are more expensive systems to collect for, but the Saturn is definitely not cheap. Also do not expect to find many games in local stores and flea markets, especially if you're in Europe.

Honestly, I would recommend getting the often cheaper Japanese imports over the US games, unless it has lots of text. Make sure you get an Action Replay 4-in-1 cartridge and/or JP Saturn if you want to import.

As for accessories, there are quite a few.

I recommend getting the 3D Pad along with a normal controller, both are great and the 3D Pad is similair in design to the DC controller.(but actually much better, strangely enough)

If you like arcade ports you can get the Virtua Stick HSS-0136, which has an arcade-quality stick but slightly lower-grade buttons. Stay away from the original Virtua Stick, it's cheap but shoddy in comparison.

>>1835661
Depends on what collecting means to you and why you do it. It's very different from the DC but has good games and good accessories in it's own way.

>>1835673
OP writes English very well for a Japanese person looking to import expensive US titles?

>>1835756
>HSS-0136
Don't be silly

>>1835661
I still got my Guardian Heroes disc

Here are some great Saturn titles. I bough all of these new from Electronics Boutique, including PDS.

>>1836708
I bought an unopened copy of PDS off of ebay in like 2000 for $130. Played it for about 20 minutes and then my saturn went into a box. Wish I had never opened it.

I would suggest 2D fighters and space shooters. They thrived for the Saturn.

I miss me some Vampire Hunter and Savior

Collect Japanese only, the bulk of the games dont require english and are usually cheaper than their NA counterparts.

I don't get the hype of PDS, it's not a good game.

>>1838204

This guy knows what's up.
All the arcade games, just go Japanese. They are 40 dollars cheaper and every JP release tends to be in a reasonable range (only expensive ones tend to be Princess Crown and Radiant Silvergun)

But it's a far cry from how much American sellers want you to pay for their Saturn releases.

>>1835661
Mod chip. Mod chip, yo.

>>1838798

Where do you even get a Sega Saturn modchip now adays?

whatever you do dont buy Sonic R. You will be very dissapoint

>>1838662
All the hype you see for it these days are just the people who own a copy trying to generate more interest so they can sell theirs. Don't believe their lies.

>>1838857
Look at those cold dead eyes. Zero emotion and zero determination. He may as well be sitting at a funeral.

>>1838862

You know what? I'm fine with that.
PD1/Z are much better games and worth owning on the Saturn. Saga is just pure dick waving.

>>1838798
Which on do you recommend? All that i see available online is the universal V3.

>>1838973
Pazner Dragoon and Zwei are both better games than Saga. Saga is a 'revolutionary' mess. It's good, but it's also nothing noteworthy as far as gameplay is concerned. It is huge, don't get me wrong. But the gameplay is lackluster, and the soundtrack pales in comparison to the first.

>>1838747
Even Princess Crown isn't that bad, you can get it for about $40-45 in great condition. I think the most expensive game for Saturn I own is the D&D collection which was $70 before eBay bucks and gift cards.

And Silvergun isn't even that bad compared to some of the Japanese exclusive Shmups on Saturn. Battle Garegga goes for at least $200 and Hyper Duel is always $400.

>>1838857
But the soundtrack is way past cool.

>>1835661

N O !
O
!

Enjoy your new Saturn! PLAY IT WELL

I recently just got a Saturn and I absolutely love it. I have NiGHTS Into Dreams, Virtual On, Bulk Slash which I got it for a steal at 45 shipped because it doesn't have the manual; has the spine card and reg card though, and after burner 2 (J) the best version of one of my favorite arcade games. I have a blast with all of them.

As far as accessories I have a Sega Backup cart for basically unlimited saves and the Action Replay 4 in 1 for imports. then I've got the mk2 controller (I have a mk1 console btw), a pretty damn solid 3rd party, and the 3D controller which I actually don't really like. The thumbstick is weird as hell to me and kinda grinds when you move it. I think I just need to take that assembly apart and clean under the thumb ball thing but I haven't yet because I prefer the normal controller.

Also I recently won an eBay auction for 100 bucks shipped on all these games. everything is complete, and in great condition it seems, some are sealed and most come with spine cards as well (that's what the obi is). I just copied the list straight from the auction page. some really fucking solid titles in there, especially the Metal Slug, which usually goes for about the same price I paid for all of this. also came with the Virtua Cop light gun in box. crazy fucking deal.

Enemy Zero
Tomb Raiders (with obi)
Virtua Cop (with obi)
Space Invaders (as new with obi)
Sim City 2000 (with obi)
Tetris S (as new with obi)
Jung Rhythm (with obi)
Fire Pro Gaiden: Blazing Tornado
Soul Edge
Dead Alus
Worms (as new with obi)
Metal Slug
Dragon Ball Z
Golden Axe the Duel (as new with obi)
Fighters Megamix
Christmas Nights
Puyopuyo Sun
Tadaima Wakusei Kaitakuchuu! (new)

sorry for the huge post I'm just really amped about my Saturn lately.

>Waiting for my Saturn to arrive in the mail

Owning a Sega Saturn brings you one step closer to Eternal Divinity. It's a fantastic piece of hardware

>>1838857
Sonic R is amazing, tho

If you have a Saturn, this game is a must play.

>>1839742

Hold up well compared to Landstalker?

>>1839140
>>1838813
The one I bought from SegaStyle a while back is the shitty paper-thin red PCB one. It works, but not immediately. I have to go to the CD player menu, even when using the AR, and then open the drive and close it again to have the Saturn re-read the disc and recognize it as executable.

The universal one that's in stock right now seems to be your best bet. Don't mind the cost. Think of it as a cheaper flash cart.

Hell, depending on how my funds run, I may buy one for my second Saturn to see if it works more reliably, which I think it will since no one ever complains about it.

Any eurobros here interested in a premodded PAL Saturn?

>>1839878
The V3 is good but compatibility can be random sometimes.

The newest Phantom chips have 100% compatibility though, they only need a small fix for Sanyo drives, but they work on everything else from the get-go.

>>1839885
Hold on there's a new chip? And I just bought a Japanese Saturn so for now I don't even need a chip.

>>1839827
I like it better than Landstalker, personally.

>>1839903
It's been out for a few months already.

>>1839941
Is it easier/harder to install than the v3?

>>1839941
Where can I buy it from?

>>1838857
EVERYBODY'S SUPER SONIC RACING
TRY TO KEEP YOUR FEET RIGHT ON THE GROUND
WHEN YOU'RE SUPER SONIC RACING
THERE'S NO TIME TO LOOK AROUND

You're not foolish at all OP, in fact you have exquisite taste. For starting cheap shooters I recommend Layer Section, Gunbird and Darius Gaiden.
Fighters would be Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Vampire Savior.
There's also NiGHTS Into Dreams, Fighters Megamix and Panzer Dragoon II Zwei.

Uhh that's about all I can think of that's cheap. If you're letting your wallet go wild I recommend Silhouette Mirage, Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Soukyugurentai, Shining the Holy Ark, Strikers 1945, Dodonpachi, Stret Fighter Zero 3, Astal, Keio Flying Squadron 2 and various Konami, SNK and Capcom games.

Those companies really believed in the Saturn.

>>1839284
SEGATA SANSHIRO
SEGATA SANSHIRO
SEGA SATAN SHIRO

I never owned this many physical games for one system before. Princes for JP games are pretty good.

>>1839903
got a source on that? I'd like to read on what the new chip fixes (though I've yet to run into problems on my v3 universal)

>>1839445
>100 bucks for all those games
you did quite well actually

>>1840460
>atelier games on the Saturn
what

>>1835661
>Find two cheap Saturns ( in my shit hole countroy cost more tha 100 dolars)
>Try find some games
>"Cheapest" are full moon rune to play
Fuck this gay Earth. I will emulate Saturn

>>1841264
as long as you witness the glory of Saturn some way.

>>1841264
To my knowledge, the Saturn isn't copy protected. You could probably burn the games at home.

>>1839676
Not really, it has good games but the hardware is kind of a mess.

>>1841929
You are so far away from correct, that the light from right would take ten thousand years to reach you.

>>1839742
is this import friendly?

>>1840865

>not knowing that's where it got it's start

Fucking pleb.

>>1841901
She's the best fucking character in the game

>>1840861
I know man I'm so fucking excited for it all to get here. I just hope it comes before classes start back. I still can't believe Metal Slug was in there though. So amped.

>>1835661
OP,

the difference between Dreamcast and Saturn is, that DC has a huge library of awesome games, which is the reason for its cult reputation; and the Saturn has a small library with only a handful of really good games, which is the reason for it being relatively obscure.

>>1842140
The Saturn has at least as many games worth caring about as the DC.

Are Saturns easy to chip? Do they have some sort of swap trick otherwise?

>>1841929
Strangely enough the Saturn has far better copy protection than the Dreamcast did. It uses a ring on the last part of the disc for authentication which is impossible to burn onto a CD-R. If they used this technique on the Dreamcast, it probably wouldn't have the huge piracy issue it did.(modchips are a huge turnoff for most people)

>>1842389
Chipping a Saturn only requires you to solder 2 points for the 5V connection. The rest is just plug and play. There is a swap trick method you can try, but after a while it gets very cumbersome and it could damage your disc drive motor.

>>1842395

That sounds simple enough, but I've hardly ever soldered before.

>>1842395
>Strangely enough the Saturn has far better copy protection than the Dreamcast did. It uses a ring on the last part of the disc for authentication which is impossible to burn onto a CD-R. If they used this technique on the Dreamcast, it probably wouldn't have the huge piracy issue it did.(modchips are a huge turnoff for most people)

This is completely wrong.

Saturn uses "wobble" data at around 2/3rd of the disc. The data pits are not in perfect order, but they move in and out in a pattern. This is not enough to cause read errors, but enough for the CD Drive to raise the vibration error flag, which is what the Saturn itself looks for.

THEN it checks the outer ring, but only very briefly.

Dreamcast uses the same protection iirc. The reason the DC was cracked was because they found a huge hole in the system: it allowed for booting MIL-CDs, which were music cds with extra Dreamcast software on them. All the selfboot DC games are hacked to look like MIL-CDs, which can boot natively.

An exploit was also recently found for Saturn to allow burned discs to boot on a non-modded Saturn, but it still requires an external bootloader (currently an Action Replay re-flashed to act as one). Given that you need to boot backups to be able to flash that thing, and since you lose all other AR functionality sans the RAM expansion, it is better to use modchips.

>>1842490
Is the Ram expansion that important on the Saturn?
And the PSIO devs shown interest in creating a Saturn version but at their rate it'll be five years from now if at all.

So far I'm buying game but I think I might have to chip mine one day.

>>1842490
>An exploit was also recently found for Saturn to allow burned discs to boot on a non-modded Saturn, but it still requires an external bootloader (currently an Action Replay re-flashed to act as one). Given that you need to boot backups to be able to flash that thing, and since you lose all other AR functionality sans the RAM expansion, it is better to use modchips.

Flashcarts on sale when?

>>1842395
This is just so much easier. It unlocks EVERYTHING on the Saturn (except KoF '95) No modding, no swapping, nothing.

>>1842490
In hindsight, they should have included better copy protection on the MIL-CDs, as to my knowledge utility discs on the Saturn like the Photo CD disc did include the protection ring as usual. They disabled MIL-CD support on the last produced Dreamcasts right?

>>1842492
Some of the best games on the system use the RAM expansion, most notably the arcade-perfect ports of Capcom fighters.(XMvSF, MSvSF, SFAIII, Vampire Savior)

There are still lots of fantastic games that don't use it though.

>>1842497
This cartridge is great, but it does not allow you to play burnt games. Also, 1MB RAM compatibility is very spotty, my cartridge does not run the 1MB only games(KoF '96, Real Bout, Samurai Spirits IV) without the usual sprite glitches.

>>1842504
I hope none of the games I own requite the expansion.

>>1842506
Which ones do you own? If you're >>1839445 you will only need a RAM expansion for Metal Slug.(which needs either the 1MB or 4MB cart)

>>1842497
It isn't 100% compatible with all games yet. Some of them, like PD Saga, seem to be acting up.

Also, it doesn't allow you to use any other cart, neither ROM cart for Ultraman and KOF95, nor 1mb carts for those SNK games that glitch up on the 4mb carts. But most importantly, no backup carts either, so you either keep swapping carts to back up your saves from the internal memory (a fucking chore), or you can kiss your saves goodbye whenever the battery goes out.
Not to mention of games that don't or just barely fit in the internal memory.

And you still need to do at least one swap trick boot to actually flash your AR.

>>1842492
>And the PSIO devs shown interest in creating a Saturn version but at their rate it'll be five years from now if at all.

Fuck PSIO. You should be looking forward for Professor Abrasives SD Loader. He was the one who found the AR exploit too.

>>1842504
>This cartridge is great, but it does not allow you to play burnt games.

It does if you flash it with a custom bootloader - this was just found a few weeks ago. But it won't be able to act as an AR cart then.

And no, it doesn't have any 1mb compatibility. It's a 4mb cart and acts as a 4mb cart. The SNK games you mentioned act up like that on original 4mb carts as well.
Some early ARs did come with 1mb only though.

>>1842507
These is what I got so far and I've got Grandia, Sword and Sorcery, and Lunar coming in the mail. Just help someone who never owned a Saturn before, which carts should I look into buying?

>>1842509
>Professor Abrasives SD Loader
Never heard of him and google doesn't help. And what's wrong with PSIO? Apart from the devs taking too fucking long.

>>1842512
What's that service on picture?

>>1842512
These all work without any of the RAM carts. As for what you should buy, I strongly recommend getting the memory cartridge(especially since you seem to be interested in the Japan only JRPGs which take lots of space, and it supports ingame saving unlike the AR 4-in-1) and the 4MB RAM cartridge and/or Action Replay 4-in-1. The 1MB RAM cartridge is not necessary unless you want to play Samurai Spirits/Showdown IV or KoF '96 on your Saturn.

>>1842515
Backloggery. It's a nice site that lets you keep a list of what games you own and which ones you beat/completed.

>>1842518
Why do I need both the 4MB ram and the Action Replay? Doesn't the Action replay have the Ram expansion? Also where do saves normally go on the Saturn?

>>1842523
Just the Action Replay is fine, it has the same functionality as the 4MB cartridge. There have been reports of Vampire Savior not working with some earlier AR 4-in-1 versions though.

As for the saves, they are held by a CR2032 battery in the back. Buy one in any store and replace the old one as soon as you get your Saturn, as these things can run out.(making you lose all your saves)

The memory cartridge uses flash memory, so it needs no battery replacing.

>>1842523
You need a BACKUP cart, and a 4mb ram cart (and maybe a 1mb cart for that three fucked-up SNK games).

Backup cart for saving.
4mb ram for all games that need ram expansion (except the SNK games which are incompatible with the 4mb cart and need a 1mb cart)
Action Replay can act as 4mb ram expansion, cheat device, and has onboard memory for storing savegames, but you have to copy stuff into it manually, you cannot natively save into it from games. It's a chore, and the ARs can sometimes kill themselves, so it is sub-optimal for savegames.
Also AR can bypass region locks.

>>1842512
>And what's wrong with PSIO? Apart from the devs taking too fucking long.

Isn't that reason enough? And according to some people it's a huge scam.

>>1842531
Battery, huh? Guess I'll just buy a memory cartridge if they aren't too expensive to save me the trouble o replacing the battery.

>>1842559
>AR can bypass region locks.
Oh, didn't know that. That's good for those few game that are English only.

And I heard people saying it was a scam but so far I haven't seen anything to say anything that would make me believe that, plus they have been making progress recently apparently. I didn't donate to them or anything so I don't care one way or another but I'd like a solution for my PS1 that doesn't require me to use the laser eye.

Honestly, I'm glad so many of you are saying PDS was more or less forgettable.

I will end my pursuit of the game, it is no longer of any concern to me.

>>1842565
Even if you use the memory cartridge I would still recommend replacing the battery as obviously the games that use RAM expansions cannot save on a memory cartridge. Most other games support saving directly to the cartridge, but there are also quite a few games that don't, it's not as universally supported as a Playstation memory card. A CR2032 battery in the Saturn should last at least 6 months-a year.

All saves can be backed up with the cart with the system menu though, including the RAM games.

>>1842601
If that's the case I think I'll just get the Action Replay and backup my save files instead, at least at first.

How come these batteries last so little? I'm not really tech sevy so this might come off as a dumb question but batteries on GBC or GBA carts last a lot longer. Then again they only save one game and this is for more than one game.

Also, what's the average price for the 4-1 cart?

>>1842604
The Saturn uses the battery for the real-time clock and many different games, which drains a battery much quicker than a single NES, Genesis, SNES or GB game would. Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal are pretty similair, most cartridges of those games have dried out by now since they used a real-time clock.

I haven't really tested the Saturn battery though. it might last a lot longer or shorter depending on the battery brand.

>>1842601
>there are also quite a few games that don't,

Some games will not ask where you want to save, and will by default use the internal memory. BUT if you copy your save to the backup cart and delete it from the internal memory, they'll continue using the save from there without a word. I think Fighters Megamix is one of those.

Some games don't even save anything, like Darius Gaiden (it could at least keep a save of the high scores, but it doesn't).

>>1842613
>I haven't really tested the Saturn battery though. it might last a lot longer or shorter depending on the battery brand.

The Duracell in my PAL Saturn has been lasting for 3-4 years by now. The machine is only plugged in half the time.

My 4-in-1 just arrived, but Waku Waku 7 doesn't seem to recognize it. I go through the AR menu, but a RAM error still pops up when I boot the game. Does anybody have any tips?

I collect a few games for my saturn and I love it, it is a little expensive though, depending on what you're looking for.

>>1842604
I just got my Saturn a few weeks ago and went through this same saving/ram expansion dilemma and I'll just throw in my 2 cents for you. refer to pic related as to what the carts look like that I own.

Personally, I bought the Sega brand backup cart to dump all my saves to. it seems they're usually around 60 bucks shipped, I was able to snag mine on ebay for 30. I use this for all my American games.

then I bought an action replay to act mainly as my region unlocker, but also doubling as the 1 and 4 my ram expansion. I got it from play-asia, they have the cheapest price on it at 30 bucks shipped.
I have intentions on buying a Sega 1 mb expansion cart as well because I heard about the compatibility issues, but I have no games that require it yet so I'm holding off on that. I'm >>1839445 so I'm hoping that Metal Slug will run fine on it and when I get the SNK fighters that have the issue I'll actually buy the 1 mb cartridge.
(1/2)

>>1842818

Now, for my J games I'm not sure about what >>1842559 said, because with After Burner 2 and Bulk Slash I'm 95% sure they both saved directly to the AR cart. However, neither games have in game saving so maybe that's why. Is that what you meant? I may have copied the saves from the tiny system memory over to the AR but I don't remember. for now I just keep my J game saves on the AR cart, I think eventually I'll copy them to the backup cart just so on the off chance my AR shits out I still have at least some version of the saves. I'll have to remember to do it periodically though.
now, having said all that the next thing I was going to do was buy a mod chip and chip my Saturn so I could play burnt games. however, I have a ton of games on it already and don't need to buy/play anymore. so I'm holding off on the chip for the time being. which I guess allows me to wait for that SD loader from Professor Abrasive. I heard briefly about that but knew nothing of it. and I didn't know PA was on the job for that one. he fucking rules, I have his Drag N Derp flashcart for my DMG and it's fucking awesome.

tl;dr
get an AR, get a Sega brand backup (no knock off shit to ensure your saves will LAST), replace your battery ASAP just in case, get a 1 mb expansion cart, and if you want to play backups get a mod chip and that's basically everything you need; in my humble opinion anyway. hope that helped a little bit anon.

>>1842818
Here's Metal Slug on the 4 in 1 cart.

http://youtu.be/ns970PdxIpI

>>1842830
I have a 1mb cart and it runs the exact same speed on that. Metal Slug on the Saturn is a pretty shitty port, it has nonstop slowdown.

The few games that actually have compatibility issues will get corrupt graphics on the 4mb carts.

>>1842835
There are only 3 of those, which are King of Fighters '96, Real Bout Garou Densetsu(awful port, Real Bout Special is far better) and Samurai Spirits IV.

>>1842818
>>1842820
Honestly these prices are kind of rough on me. Once I beat a game I don't really care what happens to the save most o the times so the backup cart might be lost on me if AR does backups, even if the fail-rate can be high. I'll still consider it though. 30 bucks is like five or six games with shipping included.

Thanks for the answer though.

>>1842857
The problem is that if you play some of the RPGs released on the system they can take almost the entire onboard system memory in some cases, Shining Force III Scenario 3 for example takes up 381 blocks.

Most games which only save high scores take up only a few blocks though, around 2 to 10.

>>1842890
Yeah, for Shining Force, you'll need an official backup cart so the game can save directly to it. The 4 in 1 is for archiving your save files from the Saturn menu after you're done playing. Kinda' like using a PS2 memory card while playing PSX games. Can't save to the PS2 memory card directly, but you can use it to hold backup copies of your save files in case the PSX memory card fucks off, as they are prone to doing.

>>1842897
Actually SFIIIS3 is playable without a memory cart, as the game can delete the Scenario 2 save for you after you transfer it. I think Scenario 2 can do the same with a Scenario 1 save, but I haven't tested that.

Dezaemon 2's saves are simply too large for the onboard memory though,(1000+ blocks per save) a memory cartridge is basically mandatory for that game.

>>1842890
That is definitely an issue. So unless I buy the AR cart and just stick to playing one game at a time, I'm better off with the backup cart, to save myself the hassle.

This might turn out a bigger investment than I initially hoped but for now I'll just have to deal with the on-board battery. At least for a while after my Saturn even arrives.

>>1842910
Sim City 2k also uses the entire internal memory for one save (you could argue that who would want to play Sim City on a console, but it's actually a nice little port, if pretty slow).

Ghost Car saves in Sega Rally also use a ton of memory.

Nights A-Life and VF2 Learning Data also need something like 180 blocks.

And even for games that only use 2-10 blocks, copying shit over all the time is a huge chore. Fuck that.

What are some actual games for the Saturn people don't seem to talk about?

If I remember correctly, it had it's fair share of multiplats (though not always the best versions) and had stuff like the Alien Trilogy released for it.
So I am more interested in knowing more about what other games it has other than the exclusives.

>>1842830
So does the game usually run better? Looking at that video I notice a lot of slowdown, but like >>1842835 said apparently it's just a bad port. Can you link footage of the Saturn port running correctly? This copy of Metal Slug I'm getting will be my first encounter with the game so I'm not really sure how it's supposed to look/feel/run/etc and if it's that bad I'll just wait until I get a 1 mb cart to play it properly. If that'll even help any.

>>1842857
No problem. It is really pricey and was totally offputting to me when I first learned that the saving system on the Saturn was so hotchpotch and broken but it's an investment in my eyes I suppose.

>>1842918
The onboard memory is just fine with most games. My AR cart has saves from over ten years ago on it, still. Alas, I forgot to back up my crazy-ass Fighting Vipers save from back then, wherein I kicked my brother up on top of a wall with a KO.

>>1842972
This is the Neo Geo AES running the game from a Chinese pirate cart through a Phantom 1 adapter. You can see that it's much faster. The Saturn version just runs noticeably slower than the Neo Geo version, and is still missing some sprites and whatnot.

http://youtu.be/ZxxonGXi-hg

>>1842972
>So does the game usually run better?

No, on the Saturn, it runs shit no matter the cart. Non-stop slowdown if you have more than 2-3 sprites on screen. I've played it with an AR, an official 1mb cart, and a bootleg cart which can switch between 1mb and 4mb modes (in a legit way). Metal Slug plays like shit on all of those, no matter what.

Neogeo version, while it still has slowdown, it is nowhere near this bad. Most Neogeo emulators are less accurate or emulate the system overclocked, so they have 0 slowdown for Metal Slug, but in reality it DOES have some slowdown even on the original hardware. But the Saturn version has slowdown throughout the entire damn game.

>>1835756
I love cock

>>1842991
>My AR cart has saves from over ten years ago on it, still.

There are multiple revisions of the AR cart, some may be more reliable.

The thing is, it has something like 256k Flash Memory on it. It uses that for the internal firmware, any and all cheat codes you save, and the backup memory as well. It compresses saves a lot, which is why it can say it has 8000 blocks free (which is the equivalent of 512kbyte).

However it also means that if anything goes wrong during saving, the cart will overwrite its own firmware with junk. Give how the Saturn cart slot is known to be poor, this can happen a lot.

The official backup carts can also write crap in themselves, but they actually use a full, sector-based filesystem, so writing corrupt saves will only kill whatever savegames were overwritten with corrupt data - it won't cause the entire filesystem to implode, normally.

>>1843003
>>1843015
It does run noticeably better. I knew the Saturn version had less sprites because of the hardware limitations, I just didn't know the port was so crummy. Oh well, I'm not really complaining since I basically got the game for ~6 dollars. And who knows, it's coming with the box so maybe the 1 mb ram cart is in there too!

So my question then, if even the Neo Geo version has slowdowns why did they make the game so that there's virtually no physical copy that runs 100% perfect? Do the arcade carts run with slowdown?

>>1843091
>I knew the Saturn version had less sprites because of the hardware limitations

It only has a few missing animation frames. It doesn't have less sprites. There would be no hardware limitation for that, the Saturn can draw as many and as big sprites as the fillrate allows for - which is in excess of the Neogeo.

>So my question then, if even the Neo Geo version has slowdowns why did they make the game so that there's virtually no physical copy that runs 100% perfect? Do the arcade carts run with slowdown?

Because the slowdown isn't that noticeable, and the game still looks and plays incredible even with that. Short of Street Fighter 3, nothing had that good 2d animation at the time in the arcades, the game design was solid, the levels were detailed and rich, and the bosses were absolutely huge.

It wasn't until Metal Slug 2 when the slowdown became unbearable - so bad that halfway into developing the third game, they released an optimized/updated build that almost completely eliminated the slowdown, Metal Slug X.

>>1843091
I was using an X in 1 pirate Neo Geo arcade cart. Other than some rare sprite bugs caused by the adapter interface, there's no difference, really. Not that I've ever played Metal Slug on an MVS.

>>1843140
Neogeo MVS and AES copies of Metal Slug are literally the same game with different art/cart shape/box.

The NGCD/Saturn/Playstation versions were a different version with a few minor changes though (the bazooka guys that pop out of broken tanks fire instantly instead of waiting a few seconds, and the city level has a few bonus items placed differently - that is all I remember). I don't know if that was an earlier or later build though. One would think it is a later build, but the bazooka guys reverted to "waiting a second before firing" in the later games, so who knows...

>>1843091
Some(not all) of the SNK ports on Saturn were made worse on purpose since a perfect Saturn port would make their struggling Neo Geo CD obsolete. You might notice there are no SNK ports that use the 4MB RAM cart, well this is why.

>>1843150
I don't think it was done on purpose. I think the dev tools just sucked and caused unnecessary memory contention when using the RAM cart.
Marvel Super Heroes runs just fine without the cart, but if you enable the extra memory, it'll start crawling at turtle speeds.

The Saturn can only draw sprites from the VDP memory, and the carts mapped into external memory that even the main SH2 had to "request" first to be able to use. This is just my guess, but they probably used the memory cart in such a way that the extra latency caused a lot of lag.

Other 4mb games like Vampire Saviour actually store a lot of rarely accessed misc shit in the memory cart, like character select screen, portraits, global sound effects, etc...

Saturn Bros, what is the verdict on S Video cables. Are thirdparty ones ok, like the retro bit or retro arch cables? Or do I have to get sega branded ones?

>>1842140
i vastly prefer the Saturn library myself, that said i haven't looked too deep into DC's library other than SEGA 1st party games, shmups and fighters.

>>1843238
I use Chinese cables I bought before the great s-video cable drought, and I bought some of the RetroBit cables when they came out. They're fine. Not like the shitty Nintendo s-video cables made by retards that use the composite video lead in place of luma or chroma, instead of the proper lead.

>>1842571
good now work on Radiant Silvergun, Batsugun and Batte Garegga

>>1842509
>swapping carts to back up your saves from the internal memory (a fucking chore), or you can kiss your saves goodbye whenever the battery goes out.

But the Action Replay cart has a backup function on it. The only issue is that you can't save directly to the cart though so you have to remember to reset the console and put the saved data that is on the console onto the cart or else your data is gonna be gone the next time you boot it up.

>>1843604
yeah it's honestly not that bad. obviously the save system on the Saturn is probably the worst of all time (if there's worse I'd love to hear it lol) but it really isn't terrible or a huge chore or anything.

>>1843604
>But the Action Replay cart has a backup function on it.

Not if you reflash your AR to load backups. It will do nothing else but that and act as a RAM expansion. Then you'll have to swap in memory carts whenever you want to back up your games.

And even if you keep your AR as-is, the backup function in that is almost as much of a chore but it also has a chance to brick the card.

>>1843764
>(if there's worse I'd love to hear it lol)

Playstation 1 memory cards. 12 blocks ONLY (huge waste of space - games have to use at least 1 block even if they only need 1/10th of its space). And the entire system locks up if while you are accessing the cart in any way.

Saturn memory management is actually just fine, just plug in a backup cart and that's all there is to it - if a game asks where to save, tell it to use the cart.
The only time you'll ever have to touch it again is when you have to move stuff out of the internal memory so there is enough space for the games that require the cart slot for something else.

>>1843764
>the save system on the Saturn is probably the worst of all time

I think it was the best of the generation. Yes, the built-in save system is terrible - but a single memory card (or should I say cartridge?) will probably hold all the saves you could ever need. And at least with the backup batery you had the option to save your game without buying an extra accessory. I have saves for more than a dozen games on my memory card and I've barely scratched the surface.

Protip: Buy a Japanese memory card. They are WAY cheaper than US memory (~$20 vs. ~$50), and Japanese memory cards work in US Saturns.

>>1844084
>Protip: Buy a Japanese memory card. They are WAY cheaper than US memory (~$20 vs. ~$50), and Japanese memory cards work in US Saturns.

That, plus some consoles from Japanese sellers may include memory cards too. I got like 3 extras because of that.

>>1842509
>SD loader
are you telling me someone jury rigged an SD loader through the MPEG card slot?

>>1841958
more like surprise. I genuinely though they started on the PSX or the PS2

>>1842107
not to crush your hopes, but it has framerate issues/freezing issues when using the AR 4 in 1 cart. I really hope you have a 4 MB ram cart and a jap Saturn/region-free saturn

>>1844120
>are you telling me someone jury rigged an SD loader through the MPEG card slot?

That is the plan.

>>1844126
>not to crush your hopes, but it has framerate issues/freezing issues when using the AR 4 in 1 cart.

We already covered this. Metal Slug Saturn runs the exact same with an AR as it does with an official 1mb ram cart that comes bundled with the game. The framerate issues are caused by the game being a shit port.

As for freezing, that could be caused by your AR card being crap (or the cart slot connector not being reliable).

How important it is I get an official memory cart and why? I see on Ebay Power memories and Memory cart plus.

>>1844249
but
how will I watch muh VCD's
that's implying I have any to begin with.
Also I've never had the freezing issue, just slowdown.
>>1844484
as mentioned in the thread earlier, AR carts are random in quality. They might work well, but they also might not and corrupt your data for no apparent reason. Hence why it's a good idea to have a proper official cart to keep save data on.

>>1844535
>how will I watch muh VCD's

Use a second Saturn?

>>1844554
but
I don't want to use a second saturn

>>1842512
>And what's wrong with PSIO? Apart from the devs taking too fucking long.
Nothing. Just like there's nothing wrong with riding a unicorn to work except they don't exist

>>1842604
My batteries have all lasted at least a few years. I don't recall exactly how long but the last time I changed one was like 3 years ago and they're all still good.

>>1842857
I paid about a buck for each of my Saturn cards, memory, AR, KoF. Original or 3rd party doesn't seem to matter. I had no idea people were selling them things at those prices. I bet AR cards will get more scarce if people start flashing them as a mod chip alternative. Time to hit the flea markets again and clean them out before that happens.

>>1844624
> Just like there's nothing wrong with riding a unicorn to work except they don't exist
Well, I still have faith PSIO will eventually come out. I just hope it will be sometime in the next decade.

And I don't think I'll find anything Saturn related in flea markets near me. Maybe I'll just suck it up and order a Japanese one for like 20 bucks.

Got my Saturn. First game I got was Nights.
>the soundtrack
>that want and need to replay levels

It is pretty great.

>>1844484
>How important it is I get an official memory cart and why? I see on Ebay Power memories and Memory cart plus.

Bootleg memory cards may use their own loaders and/or have extra circuitry on the cart to compress savegames. I have one of those Mega memory carts (don't know the name offhand) that offers 81000 blocks, 10x the capacity of a normal cart. But, like the Action Replay, those can get corrupted and/or not support direct saving.

That, and they lack EMI shielding.

Official carts allow direct saving without any bullshit.

>>1839284
Sega of America should have advertised the Sega Saturn by hiring Mr. T to play the character of "Sega T. Saturn".

>>1844669
Mr. T was doing discount long distance and collect call commercials right around the end of the Saturn's life. Wouldn't have made a difference, and would have been seen as desperation. The problem wasn't marketing, it was GAMES.

I'd definitely check out Puzzle Bobble 2x /Bust-A-Move 2x. Best version of that game with the original and 2X maps, plus the secret code that adds double the content yet again.

>>1842509
>>1842512
>>1842820
Is there any information on Professor Abrasive's Saturn SD cart and the progress on it out there? Nothing turned up while googling.
I was thinking about making an SD card "flash cart" for some CD-based console, both because it sounded like fun and because I know the first person to make a Playstation or Saturn flash cart is going to make mad dosh. Basic idea would be a microcontroller that sits in between the CD drive and the rest of the console and emulates a CD interface to an SD card.
I was going to try the Saturn, especially because the cartridge slot would be very convenient for the boot ROM for a loader and maybe even the SD card slot, but if the guy that made the Drag n Derp is working on it already, I don't think I can compete with that.

That leaves the Sega CD, the Turbo CD, and the Playstation. I was going to stay away from the Playstation because the PSIO guys are already working on it, but it seems to be vaporware.

>>1847614
There are 3 ways for doing it for the Saturn, using the MPEG slot is, in my opinion, the smartest and most user friendly method.

The guy has a topic about it at assemblergames.