Thinking of buying a Sega Saturn. A few questions.

[RMK]

Hi,

I'm thinking about maybe getting a Sega Saturn. Although I have absolutley no where to put it, I feel it has a number of decent games and worth a try. I'm wondering if one version of the console is better than another? I have noticed that there are a few versions in PAL, easy to tell apart by grey and black buttons.

Can these machines be modded at all, and if so what are the benefits?

Thanks guys.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by RMK

Hi,

I'm thinking about maybe getting a Sega Saturn. Although I have absolutley no where to put it, I feel it has a number of decent games and worth a try. I'm wondering if one version of the console is better than another? I have noticed that there are a few versions in PAL, easy to tell apart by grey and black buttons.

Can these machines be modded at all, and if so what are the benefits?

Thanks guys.

Great move, I really want a Saturn too. They can be modded, apparently quite a few PAL games will run squashed and 20% slower than they should do. The console can be modded to do 60hz which solves this problem.

[cv643d]

If you want to run a mod chip get the one with round buttons, not oval. Only thing to keep in mind.

If you add a mod chip your Saturn will be able to read CDr. Then you need to region hack it to be able to run jap/us games, either by patching ISO or running an import cartridge.

[fitzsteve]

Hi!

I recently got a Chipped Saturn, you might find some useful info in my thread:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=57137

I since got an Action Replay to play other region games and they all work so far like Radiant Silvergun, Street Fighter Zer0 3. Backups and genuine play fine.

Steve.

[Lord Riton]

Oh God ! When i read the title of this thread, it remembers me that when i went to do military service arround 20 years agoo now, my mother gave away my Sega Saturn with tons of games i had, there was also my C64 in the "package".. That was the saddest day of my life til now


Sega Saturn was really a great console ! I remember tons of RPGs i had, Shining the Holy Ark ! Shining Force 3 ! PANZER DRAGON SAGA !! OH NO!! Mum what did you dooooo!!.............

[slk486]

Originally Posted by Lord Riton

Sega Saturn was really a great console ! I remember tons of RPGs i had, Shining the Holy Ark ! Shining Force 3 ! PANZER DRAGON SAGA !! OH NO!! Mum what did you dooooo!!.............

Aaarg

As others have stated, if you want to run cdrs, you need to chip it - an extremely easy DIY.

The mod requires some very fine soldering skills, so it's much easier just to get a JP or US saturn and get a Region cart for PAL games.
http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/saturn5060.htm

Not many PAL games where PAL fixed, which means they run slower. Check out this list, to see which PAL games actually run at proper full speed on a 60hz machine: http://shining3master.fortunecity.com/titles.html

The Saturn is awesome. Great Arcade (mostly) perfect ports and schmups. And classic outrun in 60fps

[mully]

I've just done this myself - it truly is a worthwhile project for the access it gives to this fantastic machine's library. Practice your soldering skills first, I nearly ruined my Saturn CD controller.

To display the Saturn on a 50" TV with VGA and HDMI inputs but without s-video, is the best price-performance solution to run its s-video output through a VGA converter or an HDMI converter like discussed here http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=44234 ?

[korruptor]

I've put mine through RGB scart into a 50" plasma. Looks lovely, tbh.

If you get an action replay you don't need to necessarily worry about region modding it, but given the cost is relatively low these days, it's worth doing the full conversion if you've got the nerve to start soldiering

[mully]

Thanks, my TV has no SCART input. But looking at this diagram of Saturn output, I realise I had incorrectly thought the video output was s-video only but the socket is a mini-DIN which also handles RGB and audio. The TV has component video input but I expect picture quality would be inferior converting to this compared to the VGA route. Maybe making a mini-DIN to VGA cable is the low cost answer.

[gehtjanx]

Oh well, I have an Saturn here, but no cables. So when buying you one, see that there is a video cable included, they are mini DIN 10 with no standard or no source to get them as far as I know..

gehtjanx

[JuvUK]

Originally Posted by RMK

Hi,

I'm thinking about maybe getting a Sega Saturn. Although I have absolutley no where to put it, I feel it has a number of decent games and worth a try. I'm wondering if one version of the console is better than another? I have noticed that there are a few versions in PAL, easy to tell apart by grey and black buttons.

Can these machines be modded at all, and if so what are the benefits?

Thanks guys.

try and find a mobo rev .0014, easiest one to mod, use a mod v2 chip from console supplies, once modded backups can be played but you'll need to do a region free mod as well to play all regions.

last of all get a 4mb action replay to finish off the job (a few games use the extra 4mb for a better display, almost forgot try the s-video cable for a 1/2 about picture

cheers, JuvUK

[mikele]

this thread smells like mid 90s! You should definitely get one. I regret not having bought Saturn earlier in its heyday. I chose Playstation instead, probably lured by Resident Evil 2 being around a corner and the larger game library, feel sorta bad about it.

[alexh]

Don't. PSOne was a better console and 3D games as a whole much better.

[jimmy2x2x]

Originally Posted by alexh

Don't. PSOne was a better console and 3D games as a whole much better.

I have to disagree here, PSX did bring 3d to the masses, thats an established fact. But it has dated horribly, most of the games look awful these days imo.

I look at the Saturn as the pinnacle of 2d gaming, with maybe the finest Shmup library of any home system. See here for a start : http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/...-shooters.html

My Saturn gets a lot more playtime than the PSX.

[BrooksterMax]

Tomb Raider first came out on Saturn, but then became best known on the PS.

I love my Saturn, bought back in 1997 on the cheap as the console was dying. Most of my mates had the PS by then, complete with disc-swap trick .

Anyway the games game that everyone loved on my Saturn were Athlete Kings, Sega Rally and FIFA. I still have it, and would love to make it multiregion and get the 4mb RAM expansion for the more exclusive games.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by jimmy2x2x

I have to disagree here, PSX did bring 3d to the masses, thats an established fact. But it has dated horribly, most of the games look awful these days imo.

I look at the Saturn as the pinnacle of 2d gaming, with maybe the finest Shmup library of any home system.

Agree - at the time they were new I'd say the PSX was a much better console but today the Saturn offers a more unique experience.

Like you I was shocked at how bad PSX games look now, I thought they were amazing at the time (which they were). I remember thinking Ridge Racer was arcade perfect - is it hell!

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by alexh

Don't. PSOne was a better console and 3D games as a whole much better.

I disagree there mate.

PS1 was marginally better at 3D than the Saturn. The problem for the Saturn is it was a pig to program for, especially if you used some of the Sega libraries to perform certain tasks, as they were not particularly well optimised.

The guys at Gremlin moaned initially that the 3D on the Saturn was nowhere near the quality of the PS1, but when one of the programmers delved a little deeper, he found certain critical libraries to do 3D functions were crap, so they ended up writing their own routines and the Saturn version of Slipstream was actually slightly better than the PS1 version.

Whilst the PS1 and its 3D were slightly better, the PS1 couldn't compete against the Saturn for the non-vector stuff. Some of the shootem-up's on the PS1 suffered horrendous lagging and shearing of the screen at times, whereas the Saturn coped extremely well.

The PS1 really wasn't that technically much better than the Saturn, it was just easier to program for and get decent results without any extra work.

And as has been said already, whilst the PS1 might have brought 3D to the masses, its dated and awful looking now, whereas the Saturn 2D library is easily the equal of some of todays games.

[alexh]

Don't you agree that at the time (and that is what we are talking about) the PSone was a better buy for UK gamers? Most games which appeared on both platforms looked and played better on the PSone?

[s2325]

Originally Posted by BrooksterMax

Tomb Raider first came out on Saturn, but then became best known on the PS.

I love my Saturn, bought back in 1997 on the cheap as the console was dying. Most of my mates had the PS by then, complete with disc-swap trick .

Anyway the games game that everyone loved on my Saturn were Athlete Kings, Sega Rally and FIFA. I still have it, and would love to make it multiregion and get the 4mb RAM expansion for the more exclusive games.

you can try here: http://www.r2pol.com/product-pol-394...play-Plus.html 109 PLN = 27 EUR

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by alexh

Don't you agree that at the time (and that is what we are talking about) the PSone was a better buy for UK gamers? Most games which appeared on both platforms looked and played better on the PSone?

Definitely agree at the time, but I thought we were talking about people getting one now, which I would do myself if I had room for a decent CRT to run it on.