The Saturn will go down in history as one of the most troubled, and greatest, systems of all time.
-Greg Sewart, 1UP
Every once in a while hiccups happen. I know it and Sega knows it, but how one recovers from said hiccup is what really matters.
So today is Day 13 of our month-long Console Challenge series and in a last minute change of roster, we’re featuring the incredible, indelible, ineffably great Cheap Boss Attack for his take on the best games for the Sega Saturn. Despite his own things to care for, he made himself available to fill the gap and create an article for today (you’ll encounter him again later in the month!). This is the mark of someone who really loves to talk about games and the kind of person who just likes to help.
Cheap Boss Attack has been a really good friend to me and I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s been my mentor, my confidant, and my resource when I needed some specialized info. This listicle is even doubly special because I got my Sega Saturn from CBA himself! This was a system that possessed a lot of mystique for me as a teen and it’s awesome to have one of my own now. Obviously, I owe him a lot. TWRM wouldn’t be the same place without him. It is therefore with immense joy that I present to you the Sega Saturn Boss Attack… a Japanese-only rail shooter, naturally.
Ensure you make good decisions and follow cheapbossattack.com and @trashlevania on Twitter!
-The Well-Red Mage
“$299.” That was the only thing then Sony Computer Entertainment America President Steve Race said before leaving the stage, murderously stealing the thunder from Sega’s 32-bit, fifth generation console, the Saturn, at the first ever E3 in 1995. Riding high from the success of their 16-bit Genesis (Mega Drive, to the overseas crowd), Sega wrongfully anticipated their consumer’s willingness to pay $399 on launch day, but that wasn’t their only hiccup.
For starters, they butchered their relationship with major retailers by secretly shipping off 30,000 units to only a select few, which led KB Toys, Wal-mart, and Best Buy to simultaneously drop support of Sega’s products entirely. The Saturn was scheduled to release on September 2, 1995, but the Japanese division of Sega demanded it be stealth-released four months early on May 11th, in order to get the jump on Sony’s PlayStation. The only company ready for this abysmal decision, though, was Sega themselves, as third-party games just weren’t ready. So the Sega Saturn released early with just six games, all made by Sega, for $100 USD more than the PlayStation, while burning very important bridges along the way. Oh, and their iconic blue mascot from the 16-bit era that helped push Sega to new heights? He was never given a traditional release throughout the entire console generation. Needless to say, the Sega Saturn was destined for failure – and fail it did. Spectacularly.
Despite the Sega Saturn’s poor sales overall, the console itself was still home to a respectable library of quality video games. After all, the console did do fairly well in its native Japan with a higher install base than Nintendo’s N64. Sega was well known for the quality of their arcade cabinets, particularly Virtua Fighter, and the Saturn saw quite a few faithful ports as a result. A 4MB expanded RAM cartridge was later introduced as well, which made the Sega Saturn the best place to play Capcom’s 2D fighters until the Sega Dreamcast released in 1999. The 4MB RAM cart pushed games like X-Men vs. Street Fighter beyond the capability of Sony’s PlayStation.
But enough about the failed Saturn’s history. Let’s jump into what I feel are the 7 strongest games that showcased what the console was truly capable of.
#7. Sega Rally Championship
Although short on available cars and tracks by modern standards, Sega Rally Championship evolved the racing genre by introducing new handling physics, determined by the ground beneath the player’s tires. It was also directed by Kenji Sasaki of Ridge Racer fame, which was, at the time, the biggest racing franchise in Japan. Sega Rally Championship was a faithful arcade port on Sega’s home console, and while it certainly helped pioneer the rally racing subgenre, it also pushed racing games, as a whole, to new heights.
#6. Radiant Silvergun
The shoot-em-up genre’s popularity waned by the 32-bit generation, so much so that Treasure’s stellar Radiant Silvergun only released for the Sega Saturn in Japan until it became available digitally on the Xbox 360 in 2011. Perhaps the most common import among western collectors – it certainly was my first – Radiant Silvergun had great weapon variety, vibrant visuals, and incredible attention to level design. Its spiritual successor, Ikaruga, is also widely considered one of the best shmups of all time.
#5. Saturn Bomberman
The Sega Saturn may not have introduced the explosive multiplayer antics of Bomberman to the gaming populace, but it’s certainly home to one of its best iterations. Aptly titled Saturn Bomberman, it’s similar enough to just about any of the other entries, but back in 1997 it impressed gamers and critics alike with its online multiplayer mode (via Sega WebLink) and the ability to play locally with up to 10 players using the multitap peripheral.
#4. Guardian Heroes
The 2nd Treasure game on the list, Guardian Heroes is a 2D RPG/beat-em-up hybrid with branching storylines, multiple endings, and upgradable character stats. In addition to its novel sense of depth for a genre mostly known for sucking up quarters at the arcade, Guardian Heroes breaks the mold by offering three different lanes (foreground, middle, and background) that can be switched between mid-combat to avoid attacks and defeat enemies, along with a spirit/god battling narrative of overcoming incredible odds. I remember having a ton of fun with this one back on the Saturn, as well as the remastered release on the Xbox 360 in 2011.
#3. X-Men vs. Street Fighter
Another Japan-only release, X-Men vs. Street Fighter pioneered the Marvel vs. Capcom series with its tag team-focused combat mechanics and legendary roster of fighters. While the game eventually made its way to other territories outside of Japan on Sony’s PlayStation, its core tag feature was completely neutered in order for it to run properly – which it still didn’t do very well. Thanks to the 4MB RAM expansion cartridge, the Japan-only Saturn version (which released a year prior) was a near-faithful arcade port with the tag feature still intact, making it the only version worth playing. If you were a fan of Capcom’s brand of fighting games back in the 90s, you knew more than anyone that the Sega Saturn was the best place to play them outside of your local arcade.
#2. Nights into Dreams
Widely regarded as one of, if not the best Sega Saturn game of all time, Sonic Team’s Nights into Dreams is a beautiful (for its time) 3D game that takes place on a 2D plane. As the titular flying jester, Nights, you enter the dreams of Claris and Elliot with the objective of floating through rings and collecting energy to defeat the evil Wizeman and save Nightopia. Its wonderful music and scenery worked in tandem with the game’s almost dreamlike locomotion, accentuated by the (sometimes) packed-in Saturn 3D Controller that offered full analog support. Nights into Dreams went on to spawn a smaller Christmas-themed mini-game called Christmas Nights that was given away free with other titles (or packed into new console purchases), as well as a traditional sequel, Nights: Journey of Dreams, on Nintendo’s Wii in 2007.
#1. Panzer Dragoon Saga
For the purpose of this list, I only wanted to include one game from each series. That ended up being pretty simple until I reached the #1 spot. Panzer Dragoon was a fantastic introduction to the dragon-riding rail shooter and its sequel, Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei, improved on the formula by adding ground missions to the mix. Panzer Dragoon Saga, however, expanded exponentially by turning the rail shooter into a full-fledged, multi-disc spanning role-playing game. The rail shooting combat is still present, but the folks at Team Andromeda let players explore the world and experience an epic tale on the Sega Saturn. Unfortunately, this was a time when Sega lacked faith in the RPG genre’s ability to succeed in the West, and very few copies of the game were printed for distribution. As a result, the demand far exceeded the supply and Panzer Dragoon Saga went on to become one of the most sought-after RPGs of all time. It’s almost ironic that Sega’s poor vision not only damned the best game on their home console, but the future of the Saturn as a whole.
Honorable mentions go out to the aforementioned rail shooter sequel Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei, the fantasy RTS Dragon Force, the absolutely wonderful Treasure Zelda-like Albert Odyssey, the nearly arcade perfect ports of Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop 2, the mech fighter Virtual On, the final game released for the console in North America and fantastic magical girl RPG Magic Knight Rayearth, the isometric action RPG Dark Savior, and the superior home ports of Street Fighter Alpha 3 and X-Men: Children of the Atom, thanks to the 4MB RAM expansion.
Much like the Sega Dreamcast, the Saturn’s failure is largely the result of Sega’s unfortunate business decisions. Both consoles, however, have their respective cult followings who found plenty to love through both console generations. The Saturn was largely outclassed by the PlayStation, but hopefully the seven games listed above prove that there were more than enough reasons to own both.
The Saturn is one of my unicorns. I’ve never owned one and I’ve never had the opportunity to add one to my collection. I do remember my friend had one and we played a lot of Virtua Fighter on it and tried out a helicopter game a few times but that’s about the extent of my experience with it.
I loved the Saturn even though I never owned one. Every time I had the chance to play one though, I took it. The Capcom fighter ports were the stuff of legend. In fact it was a great system just for its roster of fighters. Two of my favorites were Fighters Megamix, and Fighting Vipers. But it was also home to a myriad of shmups, and JRPGs. Ultimately trying to cram in 3D graphics late in development to compete with the PlayStation made making some games a nightmare for their developers, but overall it’s a great console. And you can use the RAM cart slot as a means to import which opens the floodgates of titles to choose from.
Finally, someone who appreciates “Sega Rally Championship” as much as I do. This is one of the games that I’d always play when I went on holiday – it was often the first order of business. I’d play against my sister, so it was a close contest. That’s why the choice of only 2 cars (and 1 more which can be unlocked) doesn’t matter, because it was all that was required for the original format.
Plus, the Lancia Delta Group A holds the record for the most rally wins by a single car model, making it the greatest of all time. As soon as the Lancia Delta Group A is available, it doesn’t matter how many choices there are because it’s the only one worth playing.
The legacy and importance of “Sega Rally Championship” cannot be underestimated: the tracks being themed on surfaces seems primitive, but the expectation for racing games to feature vehicle physics which responds to different environments is now a basic one. As the first game to do so, it is therefore objectively a founding instalment in the genre because it developed something for which its successors would be criticised for not having.
This is going to be featured on my Top 50 games list.
Never touched a Saturn, so no list from me.
I couldn’t do a full top 7 myself but I love me some Guardian Heroes!
I have played the Sega Saturn. The best games I would nominate are:
7. Sonic R (I weirdly enjoyed the relaxed and innocent atmosphere of this game),
6. Virtua Cop 2 (I enjoyed the different weapons used in the game, the chases and following the different pathways)
5. Gex (I enjoyed the jokes and pop culture references used in this game),
4. Ray-Man (this platformer used colourful designs and a high difficulty),
3. NiGHTS into Dreams (I used to enjoy the dreamlike gameplay and surreal designs used in this game),
2. Saturn Bomberman (this was a cartoonlike game with an enjoyable multiplayer),
1. Tomb Raider (this game had some really good designs and enjoyable gameplay).
I did not realise there was an online multiplayer option for Saturn Bomberman. I agree about with the analysis of the atmosphere of NiGHTS into Dreams, I also played Christmas NiGHTS once.
I don’t know too much about Saturn but I was expecting your number 1 choice, honesty. At the very least, that’s a super expensive game to collect and I have heard almost legendary takes on it from gamers familiar with it. Makes me wish I played it. And Guardian Heroes and Night somewhere high up there on your list was something I anticipated. Great list!
Guardian Heroes was a game that tried to sell me a Saturn singlehandedly. I never had one as a teen but my friend did and playing that at his house over a weekend was mindblowing. I never knew it was ported to 360!
The 360 got a few different Saturn games digitally, like Guardian Heroes and Radiant Silvergun, but man… I really wish Sega would have done something about Panzer Dragoon Saga between its botched supply/demand issue and now. It’s a shame, really.
Thanks for letting me ramble on about Saturn games *and* for the kind words in the article above. It means a lot.
I meant every word!
Am I correct in assuming then that there’s no way to get your hands on Panzer Dragoon Saga other than on the Saturn??
You are correct. They never re-released it in any capacity.
It’s easy to forget how many good games both the Saturn and Dreamcast had, simply because they were commercial failures. To thsi day, I still enjoy msot of the games you listed though. Clockwork Knight was good, simple fun too.
Being one that bought a Sega Saturn at Launch, and had a MASSIVE library of games for it, with 71 games. I must say I am a little disappointed by that top 7. Still I understand that it is all a matter of taste. But to not include one RPG from Working Design, like Dragon Force…
I found that it was more focused on the mainstream games than the true gems of the system. Where is Mr. BONES, Three Dirty Dwarves, Legend of Oasis? Just to name a few. At least we get Guardian Heroes (really it would have been a sacrilege to not put it in lol)
And Night is overrated, yes it is a fun game to play for about… 15 minutes, but after that it isn’t the Mario 64 killer that everyone wanted it to be. I would play Pandemonium any time of the week instead of Nights.
Finally, yes Panzer Dragoon Saga is probably the gems out of all Gems on the Saturn, but it also got an impressive problem of distribution, (No Copy at all where released in Canada) so it is not really representative of what is playable on the system, if only a few could get it’s hand on it. Was also the same thing for Enemy Zero by Warp, that was limited in Shipping Copy, and didn’t reach out everywhere.
But hey that is just my opinion of what I have seen on the Saturn, and completely understand that you may have your own favorite 😉
Was a fun read nonetheless!
Hello! For clarification, these lists were more about the 7 best games that helped define the console — not our personal favorites. That’s more where the honorable mentions come in. While I played a lot of Saturn games, I was mostly using it for fighting games and shmups. Otherwise, my list would have just consisted of those lol. Sorry the list didn’t dig deeper into the hidden gems category, or the more niche stuff, but when it came down to picking 7 games that defined the core of the console, these were the ones that stuck out for me the most.
Thanks for reading!
Eh no problem 😊😊 completely understand that too.
That’s an impressive catalogue! See, I never owned one myself, so a lot of game passed me by. My own experiences stem from playing it at people’s houses and the local gaming place. Was the Saturn pandemonium pretty much the same as the PlayStation one?
Exactly the same, and probably a little less flashy than PS1 version to be honest, but I had my PS1 really late in the console gen, so all games I played were on the Saturn. And I have tremendous fun with it 😄😄
It’s definitely underrated as a system. SOme fo the games did have exclusive content as Ir ecall too though. I think Resident Evil had an extra enemy or two, didn’t it? And possibly another weapon if my memory serves?
I think you are right about RE, sadly, it is one of the game I never played on Saturn. I know that Megaman 8 had some extra, like Fan Arts contest if I remember.
Also, every single 2D games on the Saturn were superior to their PS1 counterpart, because the Saturn was great at handling sprite.
That’s got to be due to SEGA’s experience beforehand, I’d think. It does make you wonder what would have happened if they’d taken the deal Sony offered and worked jointly on the PlayStation though.
It would have been incredible.
About 2D, it is more the architecture of the hardware. Sony put all is eggs in the 3D basket, and as we know it, it was a great move, because 3D is clearly everywhere. SEGA, have made a 2D platform for the most part. Probably due to the failure of 32x.
So there is many great 2D games on it. More so in Japan, where the console was granted even more support, like VanillaWare Princess Maker, and the fabulous Grandia 1 that never make it on Saturn State side, but was way better than the PS1 port.
That said, some Dev truly pushed the envelope of 3D gaming on Saturn, with one of the best Port of QUAKE, and also POWERSLAVE, (don’t quite remember the Europe Name though) and Duke Nukem 3d. I remember that if you had a save if all 2 of these games you unlocked an extra bonus.
I always thought it as a sahme that teh FEDA: The Emblem of Jsutice Saturn remake never made it out of Japan. I’d have loved to play that thing in English.