Let's Reminisce: Sega Saturn

[Melf]

The DC had some great games, but the library is too limited overall, and most of the good games have been ported elsewhere for me to consider it the best Sega system of all. Genesis wins, hands down.

[Brisco Bold]

I agree, but the Dreamcast will always have a special place in my heart.

[BonusKun]

Outside of the Sega Genesis, the Saturn Version 2 6 button pad was made of awesome. I love my Saturn and the fact that a lot of A+ titles didn't make it to the U.S. made me sad.

[MechDeus]

The Dreamcast is hugely overrated, and I am not sure why.

It was the first console with good and consistent arcade ports of 3D games that were spot-on, was the first online console gaming experience for many (the internet was much more widespread by that point as opposed to when the X-Band was a thing), and was the first console with multiple ridiculous peripherals like maracas that were actually awesome.

Narrowing down games on the Saturn that don't have equal or better ports on other systems only leaves like three games out of the ones I listed before. Compared to that the DC has Mars Matrix, Cosmic Smash, Crazy Taxi, Cannon Spike, Dynamite Cop, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Power Stone, Samba de Amigo, and guilty pleasures like Spawn: In the Demon's Hand, Heavy Metal Geomatrix, and Maken X. I love me some Burning Rangers but it was too crippled being on that system to stand up to the lineup the DC still has.

Though I know your comment was most likely just trolling.

[Yoshi]

It was the first console with good and consistent arcade ports of 3D games that were spot-on, was the first online console gaming experience for many (the internet was much more widespread by that point as opposed to when the X-Band was a thing), and was the first console with multiple ridiculous peripherals like maracas that were actually awesome.

Narrowing down games on the Saturn that don't have equal or better ports on other systems only leaves like three games out of the ones I listed before. Compared to that the DC has Mars Matrix, Cosmic Smash, Crazy Taxi, Cannon Spike, Dynamite Cop, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Power Stone, Samba de Amigo, and guilty pleasures like Spawn: In the Demon's Hand, Heavy Metal Geomatrix, and Maken X. I love me some Burning Rangers but it was too crippled being on that system to stand up to the lineup the DC still has.

Though I know your comment was most likely just trolling.

No, I'm completely serious. And the fact that I couldn't give a shit about a lot of your DC list is why. The Saturn shooters destroy the DC ones. The DC also inexplicably had almost no sidescrollers at all. There was no Shining Force. There was no ThunderForce. And then it butchered Phantasy Star forever. When that was the first online console gaming experience, it's no wonder I wish online would go away in so many modern games.

[jyoung]

Obviously the Dreamcast can't match the Genesis. They only made two or three years worth of games for it.

But I would argue that those two to three years were the best run in SEGA's history.

[Korly]

I love my Saturn and the fact that a lot of A+ titles didn't make it to the U.S. made me sad.

Bernie Stolar dropped the ball with the RAM cartridge. X-Men vs Street Fighter could've expanded the market!

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Bernie stolar.
There is a guy every saturn enthusiast (myself included) wanted dead.
Has history shown that he was just doing the best he could with what he had or is he still villified for killing an already quite dead system.

[Yoshi]

Obviously the Dreamcast can't match the Genesis. They only made two or three years worth of games for it.

But I would argue that those two to three years were the best run in SEGA's history.

And you're fucking nuts. Look at 1991-1993 for Sega published games on the Genesis alone:

Streets of Rage 1-2
ToeJam & Earl 1-2
Shining in the Darkness
Sonic the Hedgehog 1-2
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Biohazard Battle
Kid Chameleon
Alisia Dragoon
Lightening Force
Chakan: The Forever Man
Ecco the Dolphin
Landstalker
World of Illusion
Shining Force
Shinobi III
X-Men
Ranger X
Golden Axe II-III
Gunstar Heroes
Eternal Champions
Jurassic Park
Phantasy Star IV

The Genesis was the best example of first party publishing ever. No other system could match the quality and breadth of releases Sega pumped out for it. People yack about the SNES, but they point to all kinds of third party games to support their stance.

[Diff-chan]

The Dreamcast's output for a system with a shelf life of functionally 12 months is simply unreal. Every other system that was irrelevant in such short of a time became so in part because the library was garbage. The PS2 needed around that amount of time just to get going.

But that's the thing - once the PS2 did, pretty much any 12-month time period on the PS2 equalled or exceeded the Dreamcast output. The Dreamcast got a lot of nostalgia because it felt like the first modern system, had lots of fine games, and burnt out so quickly. If it sputtered to death like the Saturn did, it wouldn't be remembered so fondly.

Bernie stolar.
There is a guy every saturn enthusiast (myself included) wanted dead.
Has history shown that he was just doing the best he could with what he had or is he still villified for killing an already quite dead system.

FWIW I think his stance on the Saturn was justified. The only issue was that, in hindsight, it basically killed off Sega's fan base - the type of people Sega needed to buy a Dreamcast. The problem was that all those Sega fans that got a Saturn in 1996 had to buy a PSX in 1997 - and they were done with Sega after that. If SoA could have kept those people happy a little bit longer...