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“In 1996, I opted to buy a Saturn rather than a...”

written by TOMLEECEE on 09/12/2004

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

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

General Comments
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.