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Post by Anthaemia. on Sept 7, 2017 20:35:59 GMT
Similarly to F1 Challenge, there's a little-known for getting the most out of The Need For Speed: All you have to do is disable the in-game HUD and use the bumper camera to increase the frame rate, while I'd also recommend turning on the hidden rally mode for more arcade-like handling that makes drifting possible rather than something you'll only experience for a moment before spinning out completely. As for Destruction Derby, I can remember being so enthusiastic about this game when it first arrived on the Saturn, but it's aged horribly - the graphics took a massive (and mostly unnecessary) hit, while the controls feel stiff whenever I try going back to this one. In a very distant third, I'd have to rate NASCAR '98 as the worst of this poll, which is remarkable considering how much I rated its spiritual predecessor, Andretti Racing. Yes, it looks slightly better and has new content, but there's just something that prevented this sequel from ever clicking with me... and I can live quite happily without having to suffer its horrible Americanised "redneck rawk" soundtrack again!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Aug 15, 2017 17:31:59 GMT
When it comes to Saturn games that were released in the US but not PAL territories, my top five has to include World Series Baseball '98, Astal, Iron Storm, High Velocity and Scud The Disposable Assassin.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 20, 2017 23:52:26 GMT
The big thing that got in the way of course was that RE2 was delayed into 1998 as Anthaemia alluded to because Capcom was not happy with the early builds of the game. I forgot to mention this before, but Capcom actually released an official preview trailer for RE2 (in its initial prototype form) on their CFC Style video series that included both the PS and Saturn logos at the very end. However, the PS was still the lead platform, with its own version scheduled to hit Japanese shelves in March or April 1997, with the Saturn port would have likely followed six months later. Of course, all this changed after development was overhauled when the project was close to completion, delaying the results until early '98.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 18, 2017 16:27:31 GMT
Sony did indeed pay to make Tomb Raider II a PlayStation exclusive, but these kinds of deal only ever applied for the first six months following a game's initial release, which is why so many titles published by Psygnosis in particular eventually reached the Saturn. The actual reason we never got TR2, Fighting Force or Ninja is because Core joined most third parties in giving up on Sega's platform beyond 1997. Although their output for the Saturn was quite limited, especially later, Core remained close to Sega, producing the SCUD Race tech demos for Dreamcast - or Katana as it was then still know - and creating an upgraded version of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. In retrospect, I find it hilarious that certain journalists hyped this as a bigger coup than Namco giving the Dreamcast a massively improved treatment of Soul Calibur, since one is now highly regarded while the other has been mostly forgotten.
As for Resident Evil 2, my understanding is that Capcom was happy to cancel even a Japanese Saturn version of this game in return for an opportunity to develop what became Code: Veronica for the Dreamcast, using its Windows CE OS to produce the definitive editions of RE2 and RE3 later on. For those unaware, CV was originally intended as the true sequel to RE3, with Nemesis something that only remained on the PlayStation because of how long the PS2 hardware was taking to finalise. Once you take this into consideration, CV is what a true next generation RE3 should have been, rather than just a spin-off from RE2. In terms of its plot, there's little progression achieved by following Jill Valentine try to escape Raccoon City, while CV directly continues Claire Redfield's search for her brother, Chris, leading to the surprise return of Albert Wesker. I've never really thought of RE3: Nemesis as the legitimate canonical successor to RE2... That honour belongs to CV.
(So many acronyms!)
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 15, 2017 9:17:26 GMT
Pebble Beach is a typical realistic golf simulator of the era, while Valora has courses that feature wildly undulating volcanic environments and require you to frequently judge seemingly physically impossible shots. If anything, it's closer to crazy golf than its predecessor, though both run on the same basic technology and do look very similar beyond them having extremely different settings. However, one key improvement that Valora introduced was more polygonal detail, which cuts to flat shaded mode when the camera is moving - it's only when you're stationary that textures will load up, suggesting a limitation with the underlying engine or an attempt to keep the speed up during motion (which is hilarious when you consider the frame rate of these two games and the aforementioned Virtual Hydlide).
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 12, 2017 23:32:05 GMT
Of the games featured in this poll, I still love going back to Pebble Beach Golf Links, which earns my vote. For those interested in bizarre facts, this title runs on the same engine as another very different project by T&E Soft, specifically Virtual Hydlide. Also, it should be noted that Valora Valley Golf was its spiritual successor, being something of a glorified expansion pack with less realistic, fictional courses and no sign of Craig Stadler, AKA The Walrus.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 12, 2017 23:22:27 GMT
Scorcher looks fantastic and has a brilliant soundtrack from Jesper Kyd, but it's just so difficult. As for Sonic R, this features incredible visuals and plays well enough, but it's got even more polarising music than the original Daytona USA (I happen to like the audio for both, BTW). However, WipEout 2097 is my favourite of the three in this poll by far. Unlike the original, Tantalus did a fantastic job with recreating the PlayStation original, making use of the Duck engine they first developed thanks to assistance from Sega for the Saturn conversion of Manx TT. Also, while some complain about the absence of licensed artists, I vastly prefer the in-house audio by Tim "CoLD SToRAGE" Wright - how can you not love Messij Received?!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 9, 2017 18:50:01 GMT
After seeing Deep Fear I was always curious why Capcom said the Saturn couldn't handle RE2. Capcom never actually said that the Saturn couldn't handle Resident Evil 2... As with the first game in this series, Sony had secured console exclusivity for the first six months of release, but Nextech did start work on a port (using the original "1.5" prototype as a base) in late 1997. However, upon reviewing their original concept following a short break in development at the end of '96, Capcom decided to restart production of the lead PlayStation version, and by February '98 they'd already begun winding down support for Sega's 32-bit platform. Instead of choosing to simply give Dreamcast owners an upgraded edition of RE2, which did also turn up later, Capcom instructed Nextech to create an all-new sequel. Originally intended to be RE3, this was finally unveiled as Code: Veronica, while the eventual Nemesis had been initially conceived as a mere spin-off from its numbered predecessor, which explains why it recycled many of the same locations with only minor differences to accommodate the alternate scenario. From what I recall as a result of extensively researching this project, Saturn RE2 was only 15% complete when Capcom pulled the plug, and contrary to reports back in the day, it didn't require the 4MB RAM upgrade cartridge - this wasn't really suited to providing 3D games with any significant graphical improvements, as ironically seen in Capcom USA's treatment of Final Fight Revenge from early 2000! Just as those comments made by Andy Mee on the subject of Saturn Virtua Fighter 3 ultimately cost him a prominent role within Sega Europe, it's unlikely that Bernie Stolar was ever in the loop when it came to decisions regarding a Japanese-made third party title like Resident Evil 2, or Biohazard, as the franchise is known there.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 9, 2017 18:37:20 GMT
Indeed, Deep Fear uses the same tank controls as Resident Evil. In fact, the game plays almost identically. It wouldn't surprise me if it was running on the same engine. Although it's typically credited to Sega, the engine for Deep Fear was programmed by System Sacom, who also used the same core technology for the unreleased Saturn adventure game Fake Down, which became their final project before they gave up on software development altogether. Here's a short clip that shows many similarities in the background design and play mechanics especially:
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 5, 2017 23:42:12 GMT
Croc is one of those later period third party Saturn games that impressed me from a technical perspective, but it plays terribly compared to something like the Sonic World portion of Sonic Jam. In many ways, I always seem to put it in the same category as Ninpen Manmaru or Pandemonium, since it's visually promising yet a little stiff to control and far too cutesy for my sensibilities. Ironically, my youngest sister loved this and the Spyro series for that very reason.
As for Tomb Raider, this is one of those games I've always been able to appreciate for its graphical achievements, though I also remember the whole series quickly becoming a major hype machine associated more with the PlayStation, and in retrospect the actual content is lacking substance along with any real style. Also, I've not often found myself wanting to play the entire game from start to finish - for some reason, it always quickly feels too much like hard work!
Based on these comments, it probably comes as little surprise that I rate Burning Rangers the highest of the three games being pitched against each other in this thread, despite its regular polygonal glitching. Even with a few extra months of polish (following large parts of its development cycle being restarted after the first test builds were shown to the public), Sonic Team were pushing the Saturn too hard, though I still love their effort's overall style and ambition.
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 30, 2017 14:54:02 GMT
Shinobi X gets my vote, and I feel the PAL version especially deserves a mention for its amazing soundtrack, which can only be described as Richard Jacques doing his best to emulate Yuzo Koshiro...
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 29, 2017 23:01:16 GMT
I can still remember first playing X-Men: Children Of The Atom on the Saturn, as it was around the same time I got to sample the similarly great Street Fighter Alpha. However, Capcom raised the bar considerably with Marvel Super Heroes, so this gets my vote. As is so often the case with these polls, there's always one game that never really clicked with me, and in this instance it's not just Night Warriors, but the entire Darkstalkers series (sorry, fans). On that note, did you know the original Darkstalkers was intended to be a spin-off using the Street Fighter II engine, only featuring monsters licensed from Universal, who withdrew support for the project? Shortly before they launched the incredible VS franchise, we nearly had a crossover from Capcom that would have included such iconic characters as The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Phantom Of The Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Creature From The Black Lagoon... Now there was a missed opportunity!
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 29, 2017 22:50:14 GMT
I still love the first Virtua Cop more than its follow-up, but The House Of The Dead wins this poll for me... Sure, it's a rough (or should that be technically unfinished?) conversion, yet I go back to this more than both of AM2's visually superior light gun efforts. In a way, the "grittier" look actually works better with the whole b-movie aesthetic, plus I never get bored of literally shooting holes through enemies - at a time when zombies were experiencing something of a slump, it was games like HOTD and Resident Evil that rejuvenated my interest in the horror genre. To this day, these two games remain my absolute favourites of their kind, with Resident Evil 2, Zombie Revenge and The House Of The Dead 2 all close behind to round out my top five titles. Incredibly, all of these burst onto either the Saturn or Dreamcast within a few short months!
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 29, 2017 22:42:55 GMT
Please don't judge me for this, but I've always rated Hang On GP '96 over Manx TT Super Bike, while Road Rash doesn't even get a look into this particular contest as far as I'm concerned. For some reason, the AI in Manx TT is prone to "rubber banding" that either puts your opponents ahead to the point where you can't make up the gap, or they'll easily overtake you when you're leading a race, meaning that only the split screen mode has any real longevity. Also, while its handling is a little too sensitive at first, Hang On GP was developed by Genki and is an early demonstration of their later racing pedigree, not to mention it has a lot more content. As for Road Rash, I seem to recall this being released (on the Saturn, at least) around the same time as The Need For Speed, which is a vastly superior game in my opinion.
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 14, 2017 21:17:38 GMT
I'll admit to not really caring much for Guardian Heroes at first, having rented it just once and not really "getting" what most reviewers had been raving about. Years later, I bought Advance Guardian Heroes and everything finally clicked - now I consider the Saturn original a truly hidden Treasure (yes, I went there!) of Sega's 32-bit era catalogue that has thankfully since been revisited so newer generations can appreciate its brilliance. In comparison, I've never been able to play Three Dirty Dwarves for long, despite trying many times for the same to happen with this game. While some may consider this a positive, the general diversity throws me off, and I spend longer adjusting to each section rather than enjoying what should be a cohesive whole. The one thing I will say about both is that they're equally fantastic showcases for the Saturn's 2D capabilities in their own unique ways, but this is a three-way battle, and I've one title left to discuss.
The fact I'm dedicating an entire paragraph to Die Hard Arcade should be an indicator of what I feel is the winner in this particular contest, and you're absolutely right to assume it's my favourite of the available offerings. As the result of a somewhat unlikely collaboration between the Japanese AM1 department and the US-based Sega Technical Institute at a time relations between the company's global divisions were straining, this stands as one of those games that could easily have been released under any name and still succeeded to a degree, such was its quality. A showcase for the QTE concept before Yu Suzuki officially came up with the acronym, it's a shame this wasn't instead issued using the Streets Of Rage license, since it's by far the best 3D update to the beat 'em up genre. In retrospect, the Die Hard associations don't mean much, and this could easily have proved a better example of how to improve on a much beloved series established using previous Sega hardware, which is more than you can say for the Saturn sequels to Shinobi or Hang On...
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