Saturn

"A good system that never stood a chance"

The Saturn could be considered the "forgotten" Sega console because of how many gamers think that it was the Dreamcast that was competing with the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. The Saturn was first released in late 1994 in Japan and then brought over to the US in 1995. It had a good start, but its popularity quickly vanished when the PlayStation was released soon afterwards and by 1998 Sega had dropped almost all support for the Saturn in the US. It did remain fairly popular in Japan, and ended up beating out Nintendo (a first for Sega) and was supported until 2000 when the Dreamcast was at the height of its short-lived popularity.

There were a lot of things that went wrong for the Saturn, especially in America. The first was that it was by far the most expensive console of the generation. A person could have easily bought both a PlayStation and 64 for the cost of the Saturn, and the games were not as cheap or as easy to get as PlayStation games. Sony had a great ability to convince retailers to promote PS1 games over others, and as a result Saturn games were usually pushed to the back shelves and given less space. Game stores always had plenty of games for each system but many major retailers saw more profit in PlayStation, and for good reason. The other problem with getting Saturn games is that some of the best ones, such as Radiant Silvergun, were never released outside of Japan. This occurred a lot, especially later into the Saturn's life because of Sega's standard business practice of dropping support in favor of the next console as soon as the current one begins to lose popularity.

The Saturn, like all of Sega's other consoles, had a limited selection of games and favored certain genres specifically sports and fighters. The Saturn had every other type of game as well, however the selection was extremely limited and some major genres only had one or two games that were really worth owning. The one thing that Sega did right was to continually develop and publish 2D games, so 2D gaming didn't suffer its fatal blow until the Saturn died. This is not to say that all games were 2D, in fact the vast majority were in 3D, however the Saturn was the last console to really support them. A few games on the Saturn were great; some of the best in their respective genres, but overall there was a small number of great titles and a whole lot of mediocrity.

Sega systems have always lacked third party support, and this trend continued with the Saturn. Many major developers supported the PlayStation almost exclusively, and while some companies such as Capcom (Mega Man, Street Fighter, and Resident Evil) and Konami (Gradius, Castlevania, Contra) supported the Saturn, most of their games were non-exclusive and/or not their best work. Overall the vast majority of games were made by Sega or Sega's 2nd party developers, and they did not make every type of game.

In some ways the Saturn in almost a home arcade system. Many of the shmups and fighting games were direct ports from the arcades and most were nearly perfect because many arcade games at the time used modified Saturn hardware. Other great games include NiGHTS into Dreams, the Panzer Dragoon series, Shinning Force, and Guardian Heroes.

The Saturn had very nice in game graphics, about equal to the Nintendo 64's, though it really depended a lot on the developer. Some games have mediocre visuals, but other games like Panzer Dragoon Saga have impressive graphics even by today's standards. Except for a few games like PDS that really stand out all of the systems had about the same in game graphics. Like Sony, Sega was smart enough to switch over to a CD based medium for games, so it was possible to use Full Motion Videos which are miles ahead of the in game graphics. Nintendo cartridges were not large enough to hold FMV files so there is no comparison, and Saturn FMVs were more or less equal to those on the PlayStation.

2D and 3D graphics on the Saturn should be in different categories. The 3D graphics in certain games were very nice, but overall the PlayStation had a lot of games with much better 3D graphics. The 2D graphics are an entirely different story; the Saturn was made for 2D game. No other console, including the current ones have been able to compete.

Another benefit that the Saturn shared with the PlayStation over the Nintendo 64 is that it had CD quality soundtracks. Like FMV videos, CD audio files are much too large to fit on a cartridge, so the N64 was unable to use them. For the most part the audio on Saturn games was of slightly lower quality than the PlayStation, but there are several exceptions.

The console itself was a rather unattractive bulky black box. On the top of the console were power, reset, and eject buttons with a flip-top CD drive as well as slot for two controllers and a memory card on the edges. One thing that the Saturn would have greatly benefited from is four controller support. Many of the best games were multiplayer and having up to four players at once would have greatly enhanced the gaming experience.

The controller was decent; much better than the Nintendo 64 controller, but nowhere near as good as the PlayStation's DualShock. The side grips of the controller are flat and set wide, which makes the controller somewhat uncomfortable to grab. There is one directional pad on the left and six buttons on the right, but no analog sticks or shoulder buttons. Shoulder buttons would have made the controller less cluttered and analog sticks would have made the 3D games easier to control and given the 2D a more arcade feel.

The Saturn was another casualty left in the wake of the PlayStation, but it was still a good system. While almost everybody could find numerous games to enjoy on the PlayStation, many people would have problems finding enough games to play on the Saturn. However, even though the system was too costly to warrant a purchase five years ago, Saturns are now available used for around $50 and games generally cost only $20 to $30.

For fans of the fighting or shooting genres the Saturn is quite possibly the greatest system around. With over twenty 2D shoot ‘em ups and arcade versions of some of the best fighting games around, fans will have countless hours of fun. For the most dedicated of these fans the system was probably worth the original $400 price tag. Now the system and games are so inexpensive everybody should get one. Even if you only get a couple of games it will still end up costing less than it would to get that many games for one of the current consoles.

Like the Nintendo 64, the Saturn many not have enough to be an exclusive console, however it makes a great addition for anyone interested in owning multiple systems. Right now there are a few Saturn emulators, however then are less than reliable and it is worth the extra money just to have the best quality possible.

Recommended Games
Shooters - Radient Silvergun, Thunder Force, Panzer Dragoon, Darius, Gradius
Action - NiGHTS into Dreams, Guardian Force, Resident Evil
RPGs - Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force
Fighting - Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/18/04, Updated 09/26/05