The Complete Sega Saturn Top 25

[Music] thank you way back in 2021 I did two videos showcasing my personal top 25 games for the Sega Saturn that's right two videos the first was actually a simple top 10 with the rest of the list coming in a separate video a few months later I always regretted doing it like that and I was never particularly fond of how I handled the presentation it was rather uninspired considering the tools I had available to me the Saturn deserved better and so do you that has prompted me to remaster that top 25 into a new project now presented in 4k with new graphic overlays and a new honorable mention section this sucker is now nearly an hour of pure Sega Saturn awesomeness I really want you guys to sit back and enjoy this one try not to get too caught up in what game comes in at what number or whether your favorites made the list at all this is a simple celebration of my journey with the Saturn and I'm inviting you all to be a part of it we have a ton of great games to go over so let's get started [Music] let's start this journey with some honorable mentions or quite simply games that missed the top 25 but could have easily been there nonetheless first we have the technical showpiece decathlete running in high resolution and 60 frames per second this track and field arcade Port is easy to pick up an extremely difficult to master it's one of the best looking games you'll find on the Saturn next up is capcom's vampire savior the 4 megabyte Ram expansion Masterpiece that featured the weird and wonderful dark stalkers cast this was in many ways every bit as good a poor to Street Fighter 0-3 right down to the Rock Solid gameplay and the nearly one-to-one visual conversion sand some resolution differences if you want something that plays like Street Fighter but with a wholly different visual flare this was a good one to take up I am often mistaken as a hater of Panzer jagoon Saga but that just isn't the case I actually like the game these days and I do recommend it to Saturn owners all the time it just wasn't what I wanted at the time and I still feel this type of game would have been better served on the Dreamcast when it comes to turn-based strategy the Saturn version of Vandal Hearts needs to be mentioned back when the Saturn was on the retail Market this was only in Japanese but recently an English fan translation has opened up my eyes to just how well this game turned out visually it's smooth sharp and just as engrossing as the PlayStation original I love the story here and the battles are challenging and well done grandia also deserves a mention this is another formerly japanese-only release that has since seen an English translation since this was the original platform it was developed for it was long overdue the great visuals and unique battle system make it a must play if you've never had the chance I thought a lot about putting Fighters Megamix on here someplace and pulled it at the last second this was mainly because it's so closely related to a game that's already on the list even so this one has the content the gameplay and the fun factor to easily deserve some screen time I could go on and on all day about honorable mentions so let's stop it right there and jump into the top 25 itself speak English I feel that the legend of Oasis is such an underappreciated gem on the Saturn if you've never played it before it was developed by ancient who also did Beyond Oasis for the Sega Genesis the story here is directly connected to that game and they both are action Adventures similar in design to stuff like The Legend of Zelda explore dungeons find items talk to NPCs you know the drill this one had a great art style and the music was done by yuzo kashiro The Mastermind behind Streets of Rage it opens up a bit slow but really takes on a great pace and tone a few hours in if you have never given it a chance please do the Saturn did not see many games of this type in the West for you pal Saturn fans it was known as the story of Thor 2. thank you [Music] the Saturn had a handful of really great light gun games the first virtual cop was good but part two here was a must buy everything was spiffed up there's car chases shootouts on trains helicopters flying around and a whole Army of bad guys to shoot as with most incredible gun games this one can be played with a friend and is 100 better for it if you find yourself stuck without a light gun or you play on a modern LCD television this also supports the shuttle Mouse and the 3D analog pad for smoother gameplay it was among the last few games Sega am2 developed internally for the Saturn and is one of the machines most impressive 3D games [Music] Bomberman has been on everything at one point in time or another the gameplay has always been great with your friends and family and the Saturn version kicks it up a notch with 10 player support the Japanese version used x-band for online play and the US version used the net link there was even a special Bomberman controller and multitap produced for it most of you know the gameplay here pretty well it has a bunch of different modes ranging from Team based to free-for-all matches the graphics didn't do much to go beyond the titles before it but it certainly isn't a bad looking game at all if you want something to play with your wife and kids you really can't beat it [Music] change [Music] foreign -ups on the Saturn the library is loaded with them after all but layer section was an early game that I feel really set a standard for arcade to home conversions it's based on the title F3 game Ray force and features lock own style action where you can attack stuff in both the foreground and the background you get loads of Sprites on the screen virtually no slowdown at all and man do those Parallax effects get me all warm and fuzzy inside it's got a great soundtrack and two-player simultaneous Co-op best part is is that the Japanese version here is still fairly affordable at under fifty dollars typically a claim would publish it in the west under the name galactic attack it also has a sequel on the Saturn called layer section 2 but I consider this one to be the superior thank you [Music] Dragon Force is one of my favorite games of all time I really enjoyed the sequel here as well this one changes up things quite a bit including the ability to mix unit types and challenge caves to test your skill you still get the 100 versus 100 Battles and the story is directly connected to the previous events in part one the only thing I really didn't like is is that it's a bit more linear than the original and I didn't find the characters nearly as likable otherwise it's a great strategy game and now that it has an English translation many more of you can play it [Music] thank you dark savior is one of the more unique games on the Saturn it's actually a mix of a few different genres it's a bit of an isometric platformer a fighting game and it's sprinkled with touches of RPG and Adventure elements the story here revolves around the parallel system which changes the way everything unfolds based on how you play it in the beginning this creates almost mandatory replay value to see how each segment plays out it's not the best looking game on the Saturn and the gameplay can be off-putting at first thanks to some difficulty jumping but there is a deep and very playable game here otherwise it was done by climax who had also done land stalker for the Sega Genesis it's quirky and different and was perfectly at home on Sega Saturn thank you [Music] sometimes a game on the Saturn just fit my preferences and personality to a t a stall was a 2d platformer starring an adorable little character that has made some bad decisions that has landed him in some hot water while being punished the evil guy steals his girl and astalu must save the day what we have here is a pure Redemption story into the form a stall battles his way across the different Landscapes with only his resolve and his bird buddy that accompanies Helm gameplay here is super simple you run jump Smash and throw the bad guys until you get to a boss while that may seem overly simple a stahl's appeal is really its style visually it's one of the most potent examples of the Saturn's two-dimensional power beautiful backgrounds large Sprites and loads of colors and special effects are all around you frankly there isn't anything remotely close to it in the genre in regards to its art design and appeal some will say the gameplay is too simple while I say it's just strong enough to allow you to really soak up the visual Extravaganza that it is without distractions as a troubled teen myself I had a connection with a Stahl and his attempt to make things right this one is special and it's a damn shame Sega Never released it in Europe [Music] [Music] [Music] cotton 2 wasn't your typical Shoot Em Up it was slower and used a grappling system that allowed you to grab enemies and use them as Shields and weapons the presentation was bold as well large Sprites set against otherworldly backdrops really set a tone of magic and fantasy that set it apart from your typical space shooter it was challenging as well it took multiple sessions just to get past the first half of the game and only the most dedicated we'll ever see the Final Act putting a bow on this awesome package is the music which like the first has a great Whimsical feel to it this appeared first on an STV Titan arcade game and when it came home it used the extended ram car treats for additional voice samples a remixed version of it was released soon after called cotton Boomerang it added additional characters modified the scoring system and added a bunch of changes to the graphics and sound both are incredibly fun and well worth your time foreign [Music] game Arts was known for a great many properties back then Chief among them the excellent titles like grandia and the lunar games but they also created a fantastic set of mech-based action games called gun Griffin you pilot your mobile metal Behemoth across many different Landscapes fighting tanks aircraft and other Mecca that can do just as much damage as you can along with your weapons you have cool options like night vision to employ while you're in the field the 3D Graphics engine was really impressive on the Saturn it ran smooth and the models look great it uses the impact movie card for improved cinematics if you got it and there was a sequel that carries over much of what made it great the Saturn had a handful of solid games based on Mecca but gun Griffin here was the best [Music] thank you foreign love it or hate it the Street Fighter Alpha Series where the go-to fighters on the Saturn all three were Stellar ports of the arcade versions and the upgraded Alpha 2 gold here was one of the best called zero two dash in Japan it takes an already fantastic fighter and adds Cami and the unbelievably hard Akuma mode where you must battle a jacked up shinokuma you will not find a fighting game on this system that looks or plays as well as this that doesn't use the extended Ram cartridge that's right this is the bare bone Saturn in all its Glory proving that it could do just fine on its own in Japan the value line known as satakore got a 0-2 Dash as a separate release but before that you had to get it in a compilation called Street Fighter collection which also included the super and super turbo games it stands tall on a platform that was absolutely chock full of great fighting games giving us Superior graphic sound and gameplay that really set it apart part three was better but this one is still well worth owning foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] magic Knight Ray Earth was an action adventure based on the popular anime it was developed internally at Sega and released early in the platform's Life in Japan the land of sephiro falls under attack and it's up to our three heroines to rescue Princess Emerald and save the day this one doesn't use the random battles of your typical jrpg and instead opts for real-time combat that allows you to switch characters with their own unique attacks on the Fly it's a nice change of pace from similar games on the Saturn and kind of feels like sega's take on Zelda this is backed up by a great audio visual presentation that is colorful well animated and sounds like a dream while this was launched originally in Japan in the summer of 1995 the US version didn't see the light of day until the very end of 1998 it's 5 final official release it's rare and super expensive these days but well worth the energy to find a way to play it laughs [Applause] graphic adventure titles typically aren't my thing so I want to impress upon you just how great one of these types of games have to be to keep my attention konami's police knots is one such title like snatcher before it it was the type of release they didn't treat you like a child while it certainly had its Fantastical details the story felt serious and carried with it the weight of real characters that had something to gain or lose as it unfolded the hand-drawn art is on another level and the animation puts most games to shame I had wanted to play through this at the time so badly as I had been a fan of kojima's work but it was locked to Japan for years thankfully it was translated by fans into English and all those involved have my eternal gratitude this is the definitive version of police knocks not only do you get additional features multiple endings and new art you also get shuttle Mouse and virtual gun support if you haven't played it you are missing one hell of a good experience foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] most of the time it's easy for me to explain to you why I enjoy a certain video game but with sega's nights into dreams it's a bit more difficult I can tell you that I enjoyed the gameplay and thought the art style was nice but it's more than that there's a brilliant sense of freedom to its gameplay almost an antithesis to consequence I mean it gives you this story about little kids helping Knight save the land of nightopia but honestly the gameplay never feel like it's connected to that in the slightest you fly around collecting orbs the entire way and the narrative takes a back seat there's a score attack system in place that people seem to love but I never gave two shits about any of that I just love to fly around and play it to see the next stage so what makes Knights into dreams so special I honestly have no clue all I can tell you is you need to play it to discover the answer for yourselves [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] the first Panzer Dragoon was a great game I loved the music the world the gameplay I mean for such a simple concept as a shooter it certainly did a great many things right when panes are 2 released it improved the visuals added dragons that could evolve and even had some ground-based combat the gameplay here was just as fantastic as well it still has 360 degree Shoot Em Up action massive boss battles and even adds a desperation attack that levels enemies with a massive blast of lasers it's among the best looking games for the platform and even manages to run more smoothly than the first the only thing that held it back from showing up in the top 10 is my disinterest in the story and my preference for the first soundtrack outside of that this is a killer game and every bit is classic as the original foreign [Music] [Music] Fighter 2 was released at a very special time for Saturn fans after the Dreadful launch of the platform in the United States things were looking pretty bad it was clear it did not have the impact Sega was hoping for and its future was casting a hell of a lot of doubt in the hearts and minds of those that had purchased it all that seemed like a distant memory when Virtual Fighter 2 released however it appeared like Sega was finally changing The Narrative of its new platform and turning things around it looks so much better than the stuff released just months before running in the Saturn's high-res mode and sporting a frame rate that was truly impressive it was even backed up by Virtua cop and Sega rally around the same time period and it never felt more promising to be a Saturn owner Sega had really made an effort to show that their 32-bit machine had the ability to do these games and everything was gonna be okay I still love the way this game looks and plays and often fire it up just to listen to its great soundtrack in the watch mode in fact as I edit this very video my Saturn runs it for inspiration [Music] [Music] I had been a fan of beat-em-ups for a long time when I first played Guardian Heroes but it still managed to really give me something I had never really cared about before in a title like this options there are so many ways to go about unraveling the mysteries of this game's story your choices determine your path and there is a pretty robust fighting engine behind it all the better you get at it the more you start to understand the moves and combo systems better resulting in some pretty nasty damage you can Dole out the visuals are quite unique as well lots of scaling transparencies and massive Sprites are always filling the screen the two-player Co-op was joined by six player competitive play so this was one You definitely wanted to play with your friends I suppose one of the reasons this imprinted on me so strongly was the fact that the 2D beat em up genre was damn near completely abandoned during the Saturn's lifetime oh it's true some games still showed up before a type of game that so dominated our time on 16-bit system you would have thought that they would have evolved into more offerings similar to this despite that not happening Guardian Heroes was a great game to get exclusively on the Saturn at the time it had all the boxes checked and earns its place easily on this list hey guys [Music] when the Capcom tag team fighter showed up in the arcade I was immediately smitten with him they played so well and took the gameplay we all knew and really cranked up the speed and intensity as much as I love the Saturn I knew deep down there was no way in hell a cd-rom-based system at the time ever had a chance of doing an accurate Home Port the amount of cuts it would need would no doubt be huge lucky for me Capcom and Sega had an Ace in the Hole with the extended Ram cartridge giving the home versions a real chance at greatness and man did I love Marvel superheroes vs Street Fighter the cast of Fighters met Goki and the quality of the conversion impressed me to no end it was one of those rare cases where you could hold it up against the PlayStation version and really brag about how much better the Saturn game was it turned out so well that it made you want Capcom to try and bring Street Fighter 3 home using an extended Ram cartridge as well that didn't happen but we were still left with a number of awesome Fighters that did [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] marvelous of all the great RPG content on the Saturn shining the holy Ark is one of the more original it takes place in first person and the story is really cool it's essentially a prequel to Shining Force 3 and covers issues like possession and revenge and leans more towards a mature level of Storytelling the visuals have a mix of 2D and 3D engines that holds up fairly well in the soundtrack is straight up Unforgettable it has the Staples of town exploration buying items to improve stats random battles and if you like your RPGs with lots of dungeon crawling and plot twists this is a good one to try out it's better than shining in the darkness by quite a stretch there's not a lot like it on the Saturn and the battle system keeps you entertained with Pixie helpers and a choice of eight playable characters a lot of you may have skipped past this because it tends to get lost in the conversation involving other games on the platform and I'm here to tell you that's a big big mistake foreign [Music] every so often a title gets truly lost to the masses because its graphical presentation just doesn't hold up well whether it's the art some technical flaw or it's just plain ugly people pass it without a second thought I believe this happened to mystoria Realms of lore underneath those pre-rendered and poorly animated Sprites and backgrounds happens to live a strategy game very much worth your time the story opens up with your horrific defeat at the hands of Bane a powerful war Mage who has returned to rural Queensland and ultimately the continent of mystoria by force as Prince Aragon you must rally Warriors to your calls and take back your Homeland gameplay uses the typical grid-based movement you expect but the real star here is the ability to learn so many different attacks and spells which depend on how you play the cast of playable Heroes is quite large and varied you get dragons archers Mage and even hawkmen to command this one is done by micro cabin so if you know their games you know it has that stilted choppy feeling to the way everything looks and runs had this game a better engine I feel it would be discussed easily among juggernauts of the genre like Shining Force 3 and Final Fantasy Tactics don't let the visuals and performance sway you this game is deep varied and loaded with Incredible battles some of you may know it by its alternate title blazing Heroes but it's the same great game either way [Music] oh [Music] the Street Fighter Alpha Series appeared first during the Saturn's generation and all three games were released within its lifetime and while I loved all of them part three was something special it expanded to single player options added a ton more Fighters and gave multiplayer modes few games in the series ever came close to equaling it was a hell of a good looking game too the detail and animation were a high point for the series on Saturn and bested pretty much every other 2D fighting game at the time it came out when the Saturn was already dead in the west and in steep decline in Japan so you knew this was likely gonna be one of capcom's last titles for the platform even with its release after the Dreamcast version it was still well worth owning for the dramatic battle options to this day one of the best feelings Street Fighter has ever given me was battling Two cpu-controlled fighters and coming out on top the skill needed against Two fighters adds some real intensity that one-on-one battles just don't have have it's crazy expensive these days but I still recommend you find a way to play it down for pound there isn't a better fighter that generation directions foreign [Music] there's a lot of folks out there that don't understand the appeal of powerslave they say it's an ugly relic of the early days of the first person shooter but what many don't understand is that this was far more than some simple Doom clone it was Metroid Prime six years before that game showed up Guided by the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses this world is wide open for you to explore stuff is hidden everywhere and power-ups make new areas accessible all the time alien forces have taken over the Karnak Valley and you must find ancient relics to gain the power you need to stop them the environment is fully 3D and much more impressive than most other first-person shooters at the time and you could only play it first on the Saturn the PC version was a different game and the PlayStation version lacks some of the game's better elements like colored Lighting in larger rooms these kinds of games look so much more realistic these days but that doesn't lessen the charm and historical significance of a a title like this it really did show that these types of games could be so much more than switch flipping and gunning down AI that runs straight into your weapon fire you could have platforming exploration permanent power up swimming and all the other things that made side scrolling games great in this type of engine I really wish someone would remake this on a modern platform in Europe it was known as exhumed clear ly during the early days of the Japanese Saturn I was playing Virtual Fighter heavily into a few new games began Coming Out Among those was Panzer Dragoon and on-rail Shoot Em Up with beautiful visuals and a soundtrack from the orchestral Gods this one gripped me immediately I loved its War ravaged World sense of scale within its environments and its impeccable art design from the moment the opening video begins rolling you are treated to nothing less than a powerful emotional Journey full of action and excitement each stage represents a new area of the vast worlds you are in and the variety in those visuals is commendable in fact it was one of the prettiest games on the platform the first year it was on the market and while part two bested in pretty much every way it still holds its own some of you may be wondering why this is here over the sequel it boils down to my love of the soundtrack and the power of that opening cinematic it's so iconic so nostalgic it encapsulates what owning a Saturn will was all about foreign was a Saturn racer with only four tracks a few cars a Time attack and a very simple split screen mode compared to racing games today it's anemic on content may have some wondering why it has such a high place on this list the best way I can put this is is that Sega arcade Racers were more than just racing games it was just as much about the joy of driving a car like outrun before it there were always other obstacles in the way or timers to worry about but the real appeal was the handling of the car the music in the background and the set pieces you passed along the road these things all formed a feeling of joy that few car games ever matched at the time of course sigur rally was a great looking game too especially after the rough visuals of the first Daytona Port this gave you a rock solid frame rate a much farther draw distance and vastly Superior textures rally games weren't a huge thing in the US but my friends and I still played the ever loving hell out of this it really gave me high hopes for Indy 500 and motor raid on the Saturn yet those never materialized on the plus side the soundtrack here was redone for the Saturn and his really good stuff if you want a legit disc of this go put a Japanese release the US version was rushed to Market and is missing graphical assets here and there like Trackside geometry and replay options despite the limited content this is just as playable today thanks to that sweet sweet Sega Magic thank you [Music] taking your own sweet time it was during the Saturn's lifetime that my love for role-playing and strategy games really began to Blossom I had played games in these genres before but I didn't really learn to appreciate them fully until around 1995 or so when Shining Force 3 dropped on the Saturn I was blown away by its story its characters and its robust battle engine a nefarious force is pushing two countries to war and it's up to you to find out why and stop it like a lot of these games you get areas that let you explore and talk to folks and you get battles where you must survive to move on to the next area best part was is that this was a game they just kept on giving in Japan there were a total of three episodes that fleshed out the story from differing viewpoints the second and third were not brought out in English at the time but have thankfully been fan translated in the years since once you play all three games you get a much better appreciation for what's going on and how the developers wanted you to experience it Shining Force 3 is also a great looking game exploration is composed of 3D environments in 2D Sprites battle switched to 3D models to really show off the effects better as you might expect the soundtrack is freaking epic as well maybe the best the series has ever seen the opening alone sends chills down my spine every time I hear it nastario was good but this right here was some of the best strategy play on any system of that era foreign [Music] [Music] choosing a favorite game on a favorite platform typically comes with a load of doubt and reservation I mean most of the time on a favorite system you love tons of games but in this instance I need no second guessing and I leave no doubt in my position Dragon Force is the best game on the Sega Saturn I initially played this with no help no guide no advice no internet and man did it make a world of difference with how I approached it I learned its intricacies on my own I developed my own game plan for fighting the various armies and perhaps most importantly I did not go into every fight with the rock paper scissor mentality that ruins the game for other people on purpose I marched the map with a certain troop type so I could face each battle with a true challenge staring down the screen at 80 dragons against 80 soldiers would seem like a losing proposition the most but I found ways to win I used the formations and special attacks to the best they were capable of the side effect of that freedom can game endless replay value trying to conquer the map with all Mages was no easy task and it often took many battles to weaken the stronger armies enough to defeat them don't get me wrong I played the game by stocking up all my armies with Dragons as well but these playthroughs lack Challenge and strategy that really made this game special I learned to play it so well I could tell you the best places to search for which items without the need of a walk through I also love that DragonForce was a 2d game that really showed off the power of the Saturn 100 vs 100 Sprites strewn across a battlefield that zoomed and scaled at will it seemed like something you would never have seen on the previous generation and something even the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 couldn't have done the same way this is by far my most played Saturn games in terms of hours logged hell just talking about it makes me want to play it right now the sequel was unfortunately left in Japan by Sega but dedicated fans translated it a few years back [Music] [Applause] thank you foreign as you can easily see despite being considered a commercial failure worldwide the Saturn actually had a varied and deep library of offerings many of its best were system exclusives and many remained so to this very day there is a reason the platform has gained such a significant following in recent years and why the fan Community around it is so dedicated the list you have just seen represents my experiences with the Saturn and it remains my favorite console ever released I could easily do a top 50 or even a top 100 but I want you to really focus in on just how much these specific titles meant to me I also had access to the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 during that time and yet the Saturn still earned its place among them it wasn't about how many games the Saturn had it was always about how great they were as an arcade kid I couldn't have asked for anything more as I got a bit older I started to play strategy and RPGs more and the Saturn had plenty to offer there as well it was a cons Soul they just kept on giving me stuff to play even after Sega had long abandoned it if you have never had the Good Fortune of trying out these games at least set up an emulator like ssf or magnafin and try out the exclusives there are options here that aren't just still enjoyable today but can be argued they deserve a place in the conversation of best of that entire generation the Saturn may have been mishandled by Sega on numerous levels but when it came to software quality there are dozens of memorable options here that are absolute must plays I'm Sigalert X thank you guys for watching and I will catch you next time [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Sega Lord X

Views: 135,680

Keywords: sega saturn, retro games, retro gaming, top 10, top 25, sega lord x, segalordx, sega lord, capcom, street fighter, sega, sonic, konami, best games, top games, hidden gems

Id: s3SpzbKHIJI

Length: 42min 32sec (2552 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 30 2023