Sega Saturn

The Last Bandit

Worth buying one these days ?

Tried emulation but its not quiet up to scratch yet so thinking on investing in a console. Top 10 games to be looking at for one ?

Pyongyang

Depends what you want to play. I've not tried a Saturn emulator so can't comment. I'm very happy with the console though, it's brilliant. My joint favourite with the PC Engine. Definetly worth purchasing one I think.

Retr0gamer

Definitely worth getting one but make sure you chip it and get an Action Replay 4 in 1. Either get a JAP/US console or if you do get a European one make sure you fit it with a 50/60 Hz switch, most of the games you will be playing are arcade games and will be absolutely ruined if played in slow motion PAL 50Hz.

The action replay 4 in 1 allows you to play games from any region and is a must because the catalogue of games in the EU and US is pitiful while the japanese catalogue is brim full of absolutely amazing games. Getting the machine chipped is also a must because most of the saturns best games will cost you a fortune so it will save you a lot of money until you are filthy rich.

It might be a big enough initial investment but buying my saturn is at the top of all the retro purchases I've made, such an amazing machine with so many great games to discover on it.

Top 10 games:

1. Panzer Dragoon Saga
2. Radiant Silvergun
3. Soukyugurentai
4. Shining Force 3
5. Dragon Force
6. Die Hard Arcade
7. Hyperduel
8. Nights
9. Panzer Dragoon Zwei
10. Gaurdian Heroes

Plenty more as well like Sega Rally, Virtua Cop 1 and 2, Virtua Fighter 2, Wachenrodder (fan translation on gamefaqs), Clockwork Knight 1 and 2, Shinobi, Psychic Assassin Taromaru, House of the Dead, Shining the Holy Ark, Astal, Bulk Slash, Gun Griffon, Exhumed, Assault Suit Leynos 2, Elevator Action Returns, Darius Gaiden, Salamander/Parodius/Twinbee deluxe packs, Sexy Parodius, Parodius forever with me, Batsugun, Layer Section, Game Paradise, Cotton 100%, Cotton 2, Magic Knight Rayearth, Princess Crown, Legend of Oasis, Saturn Bomberman, and plenty more!

CiDeRmAn

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Worth buying one these days ?

Tried emulation but its not quiet up to scratch yet so thinking on investing in a console. Top 10 games to be looking at for one ?

So, yes I think is the answer to that one.
You should really know better than to ask that question in here!

The Last Bandit

Got one on ebay last night for the price of a PS3 game so happy with that. Its a model 1 PAL unit so already digging out the modding schematics for it

Dr Bob

Its well worth nabbing a copy of Exhumed/Powerslave(us one) as its a great and interesting little FPS.Both the PSX and PC versions are all quite different too..

CiDeRmAn

Pick up Quake and/or Duke 3D too, all made by Lobotomy, all brilliant conversion and they allow access to
DEATH TANK!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNGEH2PqRjg

RedXIV

Don't mean to hijack the thread OP but anyone know who might be able to mod my saturn? Got it at Xmas and pretty sure it's a PAL 1.

I'm in South Dublin, Cheers!

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Got one on ebay last night for the price of a PS3 game so happy with that. Its a model 1 PAL unit so already digging out the modding schematics for it

Model 1's sometimes had a 20pin ribbon connector for the cd-rom drive. If yours has that, best of luck to you finding a chip for it, they're all but gone. Most Saturns are 21pin connectors, & that chip is commonly available.

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Top 10 games:

1. Panzer Dragoon Saga
2. Radiant Silvergun
3. Soukyugurentai
4. Shining Force 3
5. Dragon Force
6. Die Hard Arcade
7. Hyperduel
8. Nights
9. Panzer Dragoon Zwei
10. Gaurdian Heroes

No Battle Garegga? I are disappoint!

The Last Bandit

EnterNow wrote: »

Model 1's sometimes had a 20pin ribbon connector for the cd-rom drive. If yours has that, best of luck to you finding a chip for it, they're all but gone. Most Saturns are 21pin connectors, & that chip is commonly available.

Ya I've been reading that alright, if the disc swap turns out to be total pain I'll have to take the awkward route and mod the modchip to work - handy enough with a soldering iron so hoping for the best

Retr0gamer

o1s1n wrote: »

No Battle Garegga? I are disappoint!

Only if you can turn your TV on its side. The bullets are too hard to see when not in tate mode!

Retr0gamer

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Ya I've been reading that alright, if the disc swap turns out to be total pain I'll have to take the awkward route and mod the modchip to work - handy enough with a soldering iron so hoping for the best

Do not under any circumstances use the swap disc trick. You'll absolutely destroy the CD drive motor and you'll have a useless lump of silicon and plastic in no time. Just get a modchip from racketboy and mod it. Consolegoods.co.uk do amuch cheaper modchip but I've heard one bad report of a dodgy chip from him and bad customer service although from personal experience I've never had a problem with that site.

The Last Bandit

Right chip it is then. I've a few cheapo ebay games on the way to get me started.

Myrddin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Do not under any circumstances use the swap disc trick. You'll absolutely destroy the CD drive motor and you'll have a useless lump of silicon and plastic in no time. Just get a modchip from racketboy and mod it. Consolegoods.co.uk do amuch cheaper modchip but I've heard one bad report of a dodgy chip from him and bad customer service although from personal experience I've never had a problem with that site.

Thats basically it, it's a pricey chip, but its a far better quality product & will save serious headaches - especially if you have to mod the mod chip!

Retr0gamer

It will also save you 350+ euros if you want to play Taromaru so it's a wise investment

OwaynOTT

Well it's great to see its going to a nice home.

I'm pretty sure its my Saturn you got off eBay.

Pyongyang

If anyone's buying an NTSC-J Saturn and wants to put a chip in it, make sure you buy a Model 2 as the Model 1 chip is very hard to come by.

My NTSC-J Saturn is a Model 1, however I have the Action Replay cart and that should sort me out just fine, plus it has the built in memory pack. That said, I don't have any PAL or NTSC-U games to test it on.

If you want to play 'stuff' then a chip is the way forward, but again, be careful what model console you buy.

The Last Bandit

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Well it's great to see its going to a nice home.

I'm pretty sure its my Saturn you got off eBay.

Yep sure is

CathalDublin

My Saturn is gettingthis mod when the pic chips arrive

Myrddin

CathalDublin wrote: »

My Saturn is gettingthis mod when the pic chips arrive

Nah, here's the new ultimate mod - http://mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/saturn-regionfree.htm

The Last Bandit

What's wrong with just region patching the images to suit your console ? 50/60Hz would still be a separate mod if needed.

Retr0gamer

The Last Bandit wrote: »

What's wrong with just region patching the images to suit your console ? 50/60Hz would still be a separate mod if needed.

It's easy to do but still an extra step that you have to do each time that becomes a pain and won't help you if you start collecting genuine games. Just get a 4 in 1. It's the best investment you will make for a saturn. It allows you to play games region free. It has action replay functionality which is handy for getting picky games like panzer dragoon saga working. It can act as a 1 MB and 4 MB RAM cartridge for NEO GEO and Capcom games. It also has 4 MB of flash memory so you can back up all your save data since the save data on the saturn is lost when the battery that is powering up the memory is wasted.

The Last Bandit

Somehow I doubt I'll be collecting too many original imports, prices are well somewhat high !!

Was planning on getting that 4-in-1 cart alright but will still need to add a 50/60Hz mod at some stage.

The Last Bandit

So Saturn arrived but no games from ebay yet so have to amuse myself with the cd player pitch change
Mod chip and 4-in-1 on route as well, but its a 20 pin console I have with is a slight pain.

What the expansion port at the rear for ?

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

So Saturn arrived but no games from ebay yet so have to amuse myself with the cd player pitch change
Mod chip and 4-in-1 on route as well, but its a 20 pin console I have with is a slight pain.

What the expansion port at the rear for ?

It's for the VCD card

Shame it's a 20 pin, I remember there was a thread over on SegaXtreme about hacking the 21 pin modchip to work with 20 pin consoles.

The Last Bandit

EnterNow wrote: »

It's for the VCD card

Shame it's a 20 pin, I remember there was a thread over on SegaXtreme about hacking the 21 pin modchip to work with 20 pin consoles.

Ya I've a few threads bookmarked on modding the mod chip to fit, probably should have done a bit more research and got a model 2..

The Last Bandit

Got the 4-in-1 card and modded modchip installed. Not too difficult really, but very happy with the results

SCART cable on order to that'll clean up the image a bit as well.

Not bothered with the 50/60 switch yet, job for another time although I don't think my TV can handle 60Hz..

Retr0gamer

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Not bothered with the 50/60 switch yet, job for another time although I don't think my TV can handle 60Hz..

But that's the most important mod!!!

What TV have you got? If the TV can do PS2 games in 60Hz (and only PS2 PAL games since they display in NTSC) then you're sorted.

The Last Bandit

Ah I'll get to it tomorrow

I've an ancient Panasonic 21" CRT for now, don't want to add any more consoles to the LCD downstairs cus I never get to use them !!

Retr0gamer

Panasonic is a great brand. I'd be very surprised if it didn't handle 60Hz. It's cheap rubbish like Black Diamonds that you have to worry about.

Myrddin

The 60Hz mod is essential really, get to it!

o1s1n

In this world of cheap CRTs, none of you should be taking any less than a super flat screen Trinitron!

CiDeRmAn

I have been trying to contact three different people on adverts with 21" tritrons for sale and so far they have been sh1te at replying to messages.
I just want one so I can mount it on it's side for lovely Shmupy fun...
There's a guy in Oldbawn with one, but that's a long way to drive.
Things to look for in them,
RGB compatibility, S-Video sockets, extra phone inputs at front, Sony's have them all.
Don't spend more than 30 on one though, look for a remote, although all you'll need it for is picture adjustment, but it does make navigating the AV channels easier, there's about 6 or 7 on the Sony sets.

The Last Bandit

Must check adverts then. Most of the ones I've seen are widescreen which I don't really want.

CiDeRmAn

Well the grey ones look great but I have a 29" black Sony Trinitron that I bought back when the Blanky town centre opened, when Dixons was still Harry Moores in the main mall... ah good times, anywho it's still an awesome set and well worth finding.

Myrddin

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Well the grey ones look great but I have a 29" black Sony Trinitron that I bought back when the Blanky town centre opened, when Dixons was still Harry Moores in the main mall... ah good times, anywho it's still an awesome set and well worth finding.

I had one but had to sell it, it took up too much shelf space in my humble attic. Here's a pic of it in the garden waiting to be collected

Steve X2

EnterNow wrote: »

I had one but had to sell it, it took up too much shelf space in my humble attic. Here's a pic of it in the garden waiting to be collected

.

CiDeRmAn

You know, I'd wear a tee with that quote and the picture of the pussycat, inspired!
Now, find me some more with 2001 quotes, "what are you doing Dave? " or "My mind is going, I can feel it " (my favourite!)

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

You know, I'd wear a tee with that quote and the picture of the pussycat, inspired!
Now, find me some more with 2001 quotes, "what are you doing Dave? " or "My mind is going, I can feel it " (my favourite!)

Well here's the biggest version of that pic I could get. No quote but you can easily add it.

http://retrovia.ie/dls/pics/cat-eye1920.jpg

And a quick google search yielded the following.







.

CiDeRmAn

The lower one is a winner!

I have seen 2001 more times than is healthy.
Read it the same number of times, which is lots.

I also am one of the rare breed that loves ten past 8, 2010 to the rest of you!

But, there really aren't enough 2001 tee's, I only have the one!

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The lower one is a winner!

I have seen 2001 more times than is healthy.
Read it the same number of times, which is lots.

I also am one of the rare breed that loves ten past 8, 2010 to the rest of you!

But, there really aren't enough 2001 tee's, I only have the one!

I'm a fan myself. Also enjoyed his Rendezvous with Rama series of books(or rather his first book and Gentry Lee's series of follow up books, if you get me).

.

corcaigh07

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Panasonic is a great brand. I'd be very surprised if it didn't handle 60Hz. It's cheap rubbish like Black Diamonds that you have to worry about.

agree with all that although you may or not be surprised that mitzabshi(spell) used to have great crts before black diamond came around. Still have one at home and despite the picture leaning towards one side(it happens to most crts unfortunately), the picture quality and colour are excellent

o1s1n

My parents bought a Mitsubishi CRT and VCR on higher purchase in the late 80s. It was still working perfect up until it was thrown out around 2005 or so. The VCR even kept going after the dog pissed in it.

Both of them together cost something insane over a thousand pounds too. You'd be considered mad paying that for a tv set now, nevermind back in the 80s. People really do forget how expensive electronics were.

But anyway, the build quality of their older CRTs was amazing. (I suppose it would want to be for the price!)

Andrew76

o1s1n wrote: »

My parents bought a Mitsubishi CRT and VCR on higher purchase in the late 80s. It was still working perfect up until it was thrown out around 2005 or so. The VCR even kept going after the dog pissed in it.

Both of them together cost something insane over a thousand pounds too. You'd be considered mad paying that for a tv set now, nevermind back in the 80s. People really do forget how expensive electronics were.

But anyway, the build quality of their older CRTs was amazing. (I suppose it would want to be for the price!)

:pac::pac:

I'd say your local xtravision loved you for handing back in piss scented videos!

OwaynOTT

'it stinks of dog piss!'
'so what! It's rewound, isn't it?'

raven999

hi
im a newbie on here i am trying to get my hands on a saturn would like a jap one but postage is to high works out very expensive am watching 2 pal ones on ebay at the moment will see what happens

Ostrom

Also recommend Virtual On, and Burning Rangers!

Excellent console, still gets a frequent airing

The Last Bandit

Definitely get one, I'm surprised at how good some of the games are !! Its kept me out of Skyrim for the last few days

Don't think it matters which region you get so long as you're willing to mod it.

Try and get a Model 2 version (round buttons) as its a bit easier to install a modchip.

raven999

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Definitely get one, I'm surprised at how good some of the games are !! Its kept me out of Skyrim for the last few days

Don't think it matters which region you get so long as you're willing to mod it.

Try and get a Model 2 version (round buttons) as its a bit easier to install a modchip.

hi its the model 2 version im looking at and are the mod chips dear

The Last Bandit

$71 for the chip & Action Replay 4-1 cart delivered from Segastyle.