Sega Saturn Review

Overall Rating

Internal memory, great arcade conversions (for the most part), nice design

Poor third party support, internal battery needed replacing, wiping all your saved games!

In 1996, I opted to buy a Saturn rather than a Playstation, purley because I owned a Mega Drive before hand. Thinking back, I may have been better off in the long run if i'd gone with Sony's machine, but had that been the case I'd have missed out on some of the finest games ever produced. Titles like Sega Rally, NiGHTS, Fighters Megamix, Quake, Guardian Heroes and Worldwide Soccer really did represent the pinnacles of their respective genres (on the consoles). While it may be claimed that the Saturn wasn't as technically capable as the Playstation (don't mention transparacy effects), Sega's in-house produced titles really blew the industry away. Sega's arcade conversions were nearly always spot on (Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter series) but sometimes way off the mark (Daytona USA, Sega Touring Car Championship). Saturn specific titles such as the Panzer Dragoon series and Worldwide Soccer games were exceptional examples of Sega's game making talent. Third party support was always a problem, however. Many titles that were converted to tne Saturn from other platforms were generally sloppy and poor quality (Destruction Derby, DOOM) and many developers complained that the Saturn, with its twin Hitachi processors, was a pain to develop for. Ultimately, the Saturn was a brilliant machine that was perhaps a little under powered in an age of sparkly 3D visuals. However, with it's built in memory, familiar joypad design and awesome catalogue of games, it should be remembered as one of gaming's most underrated consoles. You can pick one up for around £20 now, so there's no excuse not to re-live those classic moments.

Members' Comments onTOMLEECEE's Review

• alquimista on 2nd Jun 2007

  I totally agree with you.
  In fact the reason I'm here today at your page, is because I took my old Sega Saturn out of the closet, and plugged it on once again, as I have a big (more than 50) Saturn games collection.
  And despite all the flaws of this console, (transparencies... agh, blocky graphics), many of the games really had what´s missing today in more powerful consoles. Saturn games had an incredible replay value and are still fun to play today, (all the Panzer Dragoon Saga, Torico, Guardian Heroes).
  This realy was a fantastic console, and mine still works as if it was brand new without a single technical problem, that should be occurring now after thousands of gameplay hours. (And my joypad still works after being thrown at the wall hundreds of times). Brilliant hardware, fantastic games. I would get one like this today particularly if now they're cheap.
  Saturn is part of the videogame history that shouldn't be forgotten and deserved to have a retro cult following today.