Platformers on the Saturn (a bit lacking imo)

[Deleted]

Hey all,

The Saturn covers most gaming genres pretty well, including the 3D graphic intensive FPS genre. The one area that I think the Saturn sorely lacks in is the platformer genre.

Obviously there is no proper exclusive 3D (or 2D) Sonic game on the Saturn, so I tried some of the others. Astal was a fun game and I like it, but it's one of those games that you only play ONCE as it lacks replay value and that addictive draw. Clockwork Knight to me isn't a very fun game, I know people liked it back in the day but playing it for the first time now, I can't see how this game was any fun, the sloppy controls and frustrating level design ruined it for me. I haven't played Bug! but just by looking at it I know I wont like it any more than Clockwork.

Bit of a shame, the Master System and Mega Drive are home to some of the best platformers while the Saturn seems to be lacking. I hope I am wrong though!, so if you guys have any good recommendations that are still fun to play, I'd be keen

[MIK]

Have a look at Shinobi X, check vids before you buy as it might not be cheap for what you get if it's not your bag. Tiz a gem in it's own right but like you say not enough of these games out there.

Capcom Collection 2 will see you playing Ghouls'n Ghosts collection. If you add BUG! then with these 3 you have some hardcore platforming to keep you busy and I mean difficult to beat. Short on the amount of games but sweet on the ones we have.

Abe's Oddysee was coming to Sega Saturn and I'm sure a working version is out there some where, shame but great on PSone if you've missed it and it's sequel.

[captainkael]

Shinobi X is a great game as MIK said ( i own the NTSC shinobi legions myself)

One of my favourite Saturn games is Jurassic Park the lost world. Its a got some platformer elements but I don't know if I would really recommend it. I like the game alot but I just think thats because I am a huge Jurassic Park fanboy and always though dinosaurs were the coolest. Its worth it I think if you get it for a low price

[tn0w]

keio flying squadron 2, is a nice looking platformer. and you got supertempo which was released in japan only. both are real colourfull platformers and look quite unique. I never played either of them though and both are hard to find and pricey.

[Deleted]

Get Rayman it's cheap, challenging and has great deal of replayability.

[tn0w]

Jul 22, 2013 6:12:42 GMT @gamermans45 said:

Get Rayman it's cheap, challenging and has great deal of replayability.

I think he was asking for saturn exclusive titles

[mick_aka]

SCUD The Disposable Assassin, hard but excellent.

[NeoGeoNinja]

Jul 22, 2013 6:33:31 GMT tn0w said:

Jul 22, 2013 6:12:42 GMT @gamermans45 said:

Get Rayman it's cheap, challenging and has great deal of replayability.

I think he was asking for saturn exclusive titles

IT WASNT WORDED...

in a way that suggested 'exclusives only', but indeed, if it IS only the exclusives your interested in... yeah, youre pretty f*cked. There really are no remarkabke exclusive pkatformers for Saturn, except Shinobi like MIK suggested.

Otherwise, if it is simply a case of wanting to pkay platformers on Saturn, then there are a good few.

Including the likes of Rayman, Pandemonium, Croc, Gex, Johnny Bazookatone and I suppose even the likes of Burning Rangers and Tomb Raider qualify to an extent.

[tn0w]

Jul 22, 2013 11:04:00 GMT NeoGeoNinja said:

Jul 22, 2013 6:33:31 GMT tn0w said:

I think he was asking for saturn exclusive titles

IT WASNT WORDED.../quote]

Misread there... my bad. but agreed, Rayman is an excellent game.

[captainkael]

Jul 22, 2013 9:39:29 GMT mick_aka said:

SCUD The Disposable Assassin, hard but excellent.

Maybe I missed something, I find portions of that game really repetitive. That darn level with the rats and the different tunnels. I loved the game up to that point then me and my bud were stuck for what seemed like forever. Gonna have to give it another try I remember playing it later and we got past that part alot quicker. It is a tough game though. Worth a cheap pickup to play the 2player coop

[martiniii]

Pandemonium! is possibly my all-time favorite platformer. Hugely challenging yet perfectly fair - that seems to be Crystal Dynamics's fingerprint. The game is good and long, and there's a bit of replay value in that you choose from one of two playable characters for each level. I love the music, too.

Gex is great as well, though the awkward scrolling is a real nuisance in parts of the game. The title character's unique wall-crawling ability is put to good creative use. It's probably the most replayable platformer on the Saturn due to the abundance of hidden areas, including a whole hidden world. And from what I've been told on the 3DO Zero forums, the Saturn version is actually the best of the three versions of the game.

I suppose no one's mentioned Mr. Bones yet since it's not strictly a platformer, but most of the levels are platform jumping, and the game is a bonafide masterpiece. (And Saturn exclusive.)

Dark Savior is a grab bag of genres, but platform jumping makes up nearly half the playtime, and it's worth trying if only for what is perhaps the most jaw-dropping platform jumping level ever, Silver Castle.

[Deleted]

The 32 bit era saw platformers fall out of fashion after the glut of them during the 16bit gen - so you won't get too many on Saturn or PS1 for that matter. Even the N64 while it had a few big titles such as M64, Banjo Kazooie, Rayman 2 and Mischief Makers didn't get THAT many others worth a look.

Saturn got a port of Earthworm Jim but it's probably just a bit of an upgrade really. Whizz is available too which is a bit crap mainly because of the difficulty (it has crippling time limits) but it has an interesting isometric look with pretty good graphics (this is a 16bit port too - it was late SNES release - and I've played the SNES version more and perhaps the Saturn version has been tweaked to improve things - must give the Saturn version another try actually).

[Deleted]

Some games that may be worth your time:
Willy Wombat (A 3-D Isometric platformer that is actually really underrated and overlooked),
Steam Gear Mash (A cute iso platformer that is short but sweet)

[MIK]

If your looking for more and don't mind "jumping a platform" aka Psone... It had a good one back in the day which you don't hear people talk about much but a top game and maybe a hidden gem awaiting your attention.

Agent Armstrong, cracking little game and is kinda Shinobi arcade-ish how it's levels are laid out with that multi-level platform shifting from one to another, plus chances of finding better ways of doing the same things that are not obvious unless you think about it style game play. Allows you to go in and out of the screen to use cover behind walls and crates which was a nice touch. Has that coin-op one more go feeling about it and that slight Indiana Jones cheese it has just adds to the charm.

[ajmetz]

Sonic R is a racing game, but does have cool platform elements to it, with multiple routes throughout each course. =).

Dark Savior is an action RPG, but has some good platforming sections in it, =).

There were a few good Megaman games too - Megaman X3 and X4, although X3 is just a SNES port with horrible borders on the SIDE on the screen, XD. Still plays fantastically if you can excuse the poor PAL port.

But yeah, platformer wise, Pandemonium, Tomb Raider, Croc, etc ... all the other games people have mentioned. Again, not platform exclusives, but still good fun, =). Croc's controls are pretty awful though - kinda like manoeuvring a truck around, to be honest. I haven't played Pandemonium, but it looks like fun, =). Tomb Raider's a classic - but does get quite challenging a few levels in - I stopped playing half way through due to frustration, ^_^, but still loved the levels I did play, =).

The Lost World / Jurassic Park felt pretty much lacklustre when I played it back in the day. I only played it briefly on a friend's PSOne though. I just remember being a small green dino and hopping from platform to platform, ^_^.

I had a brief go on a Bug Too! ROM, and didn't take to it much, so don't blame ya' if you reckon it looks unappealing.

NiGHTS isn't a platformer, but it's up there with Mario and Sonic, and I would definitely check it out! But use an analogue controller, and have your memory sorted so you can save your game and progress - you get different endings when you beat it with one character, both characters, and then again more stuff's unlocked when you complete it with all As - so keep at it, =). The higher grades are unlocked by collecting more goodies in the level right up until the final seconds on the timer, before returning the ideya orb to the palace - so don't just grab the orb and finish your lap - hang around and collect as many point as you can until your timer runs out, =).

I wasn't really a fan of Astal - so good on you for sticking with it. And Clockwork Knight? =S Likewise, I didn't take to it.

It's not quite a platformer - but Saturn Bomberman is loads of fun, =). Especially two player Co-op...working through the levels and defeating the bosses with a friend, is pretty neat.

But yeah, pretty much the 16-bit era was all about the platform games, whereas the 32-bit era led with racing games and beat 'em ups. I'm not sure what 128-bit systems were, but I'd wager the Xbox360 generation has been pretty heavily skewed towards the FPS. ^_^.