Best way to get a Region Free Sega Saturn?

[Lilith]

So I've been thinking of playing some of those JP exclusive games, but I'd rather not have to copy my save in the system memory to the PAR every time I make a save.  What's the easiest way to mod a Saturn for region free, and what would I need? I've tried looking on eBay for modded Saturns without much luck, but then again, I don't know what all to look for.  

Is it not worth the hassle for a few games and just easier to copy to the cart? The PAR doesn't support saving to the cart, right? I'm afraid to swap between my RAM cart and the PAR because of the Saturn's crappy cart port.

[sych]

Sorry just to clarify:

PAR=Action Replay 4 in 1 Cart?

RAM= Memory Cart?

If so, It takes less than 30 seconds to transer a save file to an Action Replay. Reset the game, the Action Replay menu comes up, find the file and press C to copy. Done.

From my memory of the time I had an Official Sega Saturn Memory cart some games didn't support direct saving at all unless the game you were playing had a file on the system memory. That proved to be more irritating than an Action Replay. Personally I find official memory carts very much redundant when compared to an AR4IN1.

And remember it's not compulsory to trsnser save files to an Action Replay cart, you still have the system memory save space.

Also if you ever plan to get JPN games that require additional RAM the Action Replay Carts are better suited.

What part of the world are you in? 50/60hz

[Lilith]

Well, I guess I'll try out the AR 4 in 1 to start with. Aside from the Lunar remakes, SOTN, Grandia, and Princess Crown, I'm actually pretty clueless when it comes to JP exclusive Saturn games, but I've heard great things about the Saturn import scene.

I am in California, USA.

[sych]

Cool. The cartridge slots arent as bad as many make out but I would recommend if you get an AR4in1 don't remove it and just leave it in there. Try and get one with the PC comms port on top so at least you can back your saves up to your laptop should you ever chose to in the future.

One of the other positives of an Action Replay is the cheats functions. It SERIOUSLY boasts the longevity of certain games. E.g Games you may have completed a thousand times and are bored of or games you occasionally lack the patience for, or games that are just too damn hard for their own good i.e Darius Gaiden and Shinobi X.

The JPN market is truly awesome if you like your RPGs. Grandia is probaby my favourite Saturn game and I'm still only just past halfway. Princess Crown is ace too. I definitly prefer my JPN Saturn games to my PAL games.

[zyrobs]

Easiest way: get an action replay. But then you have to copy saves over, since you cannot save directly to the cart. This can get troublesome over time on games that give you limited save slots, or with games that have huge saves (Shining Force 3). Also a few games can make saves that just don't fit in the internal memory, but they are not that common (things like ghost car data in racing games, or full match replays in Fighting Vipers).

Easiest way that involves the least soldering: put in a modchip, burn region-patched backups. You still can't play originals though.

Best way that allows you to pop in any original disc of any region, with zero hassle: region free bios. But if you don't have the right desoldering tools, they can be difficult to install.

Or you can just grab a Japanese Saturn - all peripherials are compatible (except for PAL official SCART cables), and some sellers on ebay offer cheap loose consoles. Just pay mind to the shipping cost. If you live in the USA then you won't even need a voltage converter.

Note that ebay does not allow modded machines as per their terms of service, so it's not a good choice to get such machines from there. They do pop up occasionally though.

[zyrobs]

Jan 27, 2016 22:16:42 GMT sych said:

games that are just too damn hard for their own good i.e Darius Gaiden and Shinobi X.

Darius Gaiden is by far the easiest shoot-em up out of the entire Saturn library...

[sych]

Jan 27, 2016 22:41:01 GMT zyrobs said:

Jan 27, 2016 22:16:42 GMT sych said:

games that are just too damn hard for their own good i.e Darius Gaiden and Shinobi X.

Darius Gaiden is by far the easiest shoot-em up out of the entire Saturn library...

Are you joking me? It hard as nails! As put to SSForum members a few months back and NOBODY had actually completed it.

segasaturngroup.proboards.com/thread/4796/darius-gaiden

Seriously Zyrobs if you've completed it then massive congratulations

[zyrobs]

I can 1cc it on hard on a regular basis with minimal attention. The only boss I can't beat in it without bomb feeding is Storm Causer, but that's one final boss out of the seven that the game has.

[Lilith]

I think I'll stick with the PAR for now. I only really have one spot for new consoles currently, but that may change. Also I think I may need a second video cable/power cable (I have a boxed PAL Saturn, but wouldn't I need a power converter to run that power plug to JP?)

[sych]

Jan 27, 2016 22:52:16 GMT zyrobs said:

I can 1cc it on hard on a regular basis with minimal attention. The only boss I can't beat in it without bomb feeding is Storm Causer, but that's one final boss out of the seven that the game has.

That's pretty amazing. I get to the final boss and ALWAYS loose my credits. I think your the only on the forum that's completed it. You must be ace at shooters. You must share your secret with us! For me Darius Gaiden along with Radiant Silvergun and Shinobi X are the hardest games I've played on the Saturn.

[Lilith]

Just out of curiosity, would my RAM (Official Sega save cart) work with a Japanese Saturn?

[sych]

Jan 27, 2016 23:00:47 GMT Lilith said:

Just out of curiosity, would my RAM (Official Sega save cart) work with a Japanese Saturn?

Yes it would.

[zyrobs]

Jan 27, 2016 22:54:14 GMT Lilith said:

I think I'll stick with the PAR for now. I only really have one spot for new consoles currently, but that may change. Also I think I may need a second video cable/power cable (I have a boxed PAL Saturn, but wouldn't I need a power converter to run that power plug to JP?)

PAL Saturn would need a voltage converter to work in USA or Japan.
But, you can just plug in a USA machine in Japan or a Japanese one in the USA. There's only a 10% difference in voltage and the power supplies can handle that fine.

Video cables are all compatible EXCEPT for the RGB Scart or JP21 cables. The PAL machines have slightly different pinouts, so they can accommodate the Scart standard properly. You can still use RGB Scart in NTSC machines but you need a third party one specifically wired for them, and they won't auto switch the picture.

Composite and S-Video work on all machines universally.

Video CD cards are region specific (they have onboard ROM data), but that only matters for watching VCDs. For games, the PAL card won't work with them, but any other cart should run any other MPEG-compatible game.

All other peripherals (carts, controllers, etc) are universal. Not sure about the Netlink though.

[zyrobs]

Jan 27, 2016 22:58:24 GMT sych said:

That's pretty amazing. I get to the final boss and ALWAYS loose my credits. I think your the only on the forum that's completed it. You must be ace at shooters. You must share your secret with us!

I'm not that good at shooters, I can barely get to stage 4 on Ikaruga (on normal with one credit, though I can get S rank on stage 1, 2 and 5).

Which final boss can't you beat? There are 7 unique ones in the game due to the branching paths.

Try watching some superplay videos, you can learn a ton from the enemy patterns in those.

[Lilith]

Something just occurred to me, I guess I can try to install a switch or something along those lines on my PAL Saturn? If it works, I'll know right away, since most of my games are NTSC. If not, I don't risk ruining my main Saturn.