"A great console from SEGA."

The Saturn was SEGA's next "proper" console after the Genesis/Mega Drive. At the time everyone though it would crush all competition around it (the new Sony Playstation, the Panasonic 3D0, the Atari Jaguar etc) but as everyone now knows it all went horribly wrong in nearly every country apart from Japan.

At first the Saturn was going to be quite different. The original designs started in around 1992/1993 and it was suppose to be a 2D wielding power house that could deliver the most advanced 2D graphics ever seen. After one look at the Sony Playstation specs though SEGA had to quickly change their new console's specifications. They did this and managed to make it technically more powerful than the Playstation but it was a nightmare to program for all but hte most talented of programmers. There is the Saturn's first problem folks: Game companies started to ignore Saturn since they could just have their games on Playstation quicker than taking the time to make them on the Saturn.

Another problem was the launch for the Saturn. The console itself was bought forward early, released at a bad time (in America) and had a high price: $399 or two hundred and forty nine pounds to us Brits. Some outlets stopped stocking SEGA products as well.

However people were paying for it and buying Saturns and SEGA enjoyed success once again. In Japan the Saturn was selling like crazy, with everyone buying a console and the Virtua Fighter game.

But soon people began realising that the launch software was rather crap. Daytona USA was a very bad port of a great arcade game and Virtua Fighter wasn't that good either, with players saying that the 32X version was better. Then some of the key games were delayed, such as Panzer Dragoon. Meanwhile Sony's console was getting everything right and selling well.

Because the Saturn was better at 2D than 3D, it simply failed to take off (especially in America) where 3D games were very popular and the Saturn bombed everywhere apart from Japan because in that country many excellent 2D games were released and 2D gaming was still popular.

This is a great shame but many people are now realising that the Saturn isn't that bad a console at all and in fact it has some of the best games ever on it.

There are 2 major versions of the Saturn and the first version is the one to go for. It has oval buttons instead of circular ones. The second version was cheaper to make but isn't as reliable as the first version.

However there are also 2 major Saturn pad designs, but this time you should try and get the seconds versions which have a better D Pad and more responsive shoulder buttons. The Saturn pad is PERFECT for almost any fighting game, especially the Capcom and SNK stuff.

The Saturn also has a cartridge slot at the back. Many though this was for playing Mega Drive/Genesis games but this isn't the case, sadly. Instead, it is needed for playing games that require extra memory like Street Fighter Alpha 3, Metal Slug and The King of Fighters '95 to name but a few. Most of these games were only released in Japan though. As well as this it is a space to plug in the memory cartridge to save games or other things like cheat carts.

I don't really like how the Saturn saves games. If you don't have a Saturn memory cart then you can save to the hard drive (if you have a battery installed) but this is not very big and only permits a few saves. The memory carts are a bit expensive to buy as well.

As for actual games, the Saturn delivers by the bucket load. You'll find some of the best 2D games ever on this console, such as Guardian Heroes. Unfortunately a lot of the best games like Samurai Shodown 3 and 4 and a lot of shooters were only ever released in Japan, but there are a few that managed to get released in other countries (Darius 2 and Dragon Force for example) There are also some fine 3D games like the Panzer Dragoon Series, Fighters Megamix, SEGA Rally and Nights.

If you are considering getting a Saturn I suggest you get one that is able to run import games because then you'll be able to play some of the finest shoot 'em ups ever, including (if you can get hold of a copy) the mighty Radiant Silvergun and a lot of SNK fighting games and a few Capcom only ones like X-Men Vs. Street Fighter.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/05