Episode 34: Sega Saturn 101
Greg Sewart joins Kevin to discuss the Sega Saturn, a very fascinating console with some amazing hidden gems and some true classics. In Part 1 of a 2-part series we discuss the history of the Sega Saturn, what you need to know if you want to start collecting for it, and the best titles for under $10.
MP3 Download (Right Click and Save-As to download)
Hosts:
- Kevin Larrabee (Twitter: @KevinLarrabee)
- Greg Sewart (Twitter: @sewart)
Links:
Loved the episode but I was a hardcore Sega fan and went down with the ship. The guy selling my dad the console tried to get him to buy a Playstation… I wasn’t having that. Anyways… one Sega game that changed my gaming life, Iron Storm. It was a WW2 strategy turn based game. You could play as the Americans, Imperial Japan, or Nazi Germany. Had everything from real battle that were historically correct and had super attention to detail to actual units used in WW2 from planes, tanks, ships, troops, artillery and everything else in between. You could advance in technology if you upgraded your units. The game also provided animations to the battles but this got tiring real fast and prolonged the game by hours. It also had ”what-if” scenarios. What if Germany won the Battle of Britain and invaded England, and then invaded America. Then Japan and Germany after defeating the rest of the super powers fought each other… it was an insane game.
I still have my Sega Saturn and the only reason for that is Iron Storm which I bust out every now and then and play a campaign.
Great episode. A couple of things. First the analog controller actually felt pretty good for the games it was designed for. Another game it was designed around was Panzer Dragoon Saga. You used the analog control to look around in flying combat and to move around in first person. It was a much better experience that way and is the best way to play the game.
Also the first VF port was so bad that around the time when VF2 came out utilizing the new graphics libraries, they sent a free copy of VF Remix to all registered owners. It was a remake of the first VF with the VF2 graphics assets and looked worlds better.
I also was surprised by the Saturn launch. I was just walking through the mall and looked at EB games and they had it. Not many people had internet back then. But at 400.00 I didn’t have time to save for it so I ended up getting it in August.
Also the best reason to actually install a switch to switch out 2 jumpers for region mod is it frees up your cartridge slot. The AR works but is known to have problems running 1MB games on the 4MB model AR. Especially SNK fighting games. So you could ditch the AR and run a real 1MB or 4MB Ram cart. Plus its cheap. A couple dollars for a switch, and you can scavenge some small gauge wire from a an old telephone cord. Assuming you have the soldering iron and a drill already.