Saturn - Rom? Ram? You what?

[Geoff D]

Howdy folks; yet another Saturn question - just been looking at KoF95 for the Saturn & apparently it comes with a Rom cart? Can someone explain? Is this used for any other games as well?

How does it differ from the Ram cart?

P.S Is the Saturn conversion of KoF95 any good?

[Treble]

The ROM cart contains the music for the game. It doesn't work, therefore, with other games. (ROM is read-only memory, and can't be altered).

The Saturn RAM (random-access memory) cart stores data from the CD so that it can be accessed instantly by the game instead of loaded from the CD.

KoF 95 on the SS is ace ^^

[Geoff D]

Beautifully put Treb

One more question if you don't mind? I'm not sure of the quality of the internal memory on the Saturn I've bought (it hasn't arrived yet) - if knackered, is it easily replaceable? (not by me of course, because I'm a technical thicky)

Is it worth buying a memory card as well?

[dgnr7982]

I have KOF'95 on the Saturn - its very good.

The ROM/RAM carts are tricky buggers the contacts in the cartridge slot are not so good.

There are 2 RAM carts a 1MB and 4MB that different games require (only a few SNK and Capcom games need it). You can use a 4MB card on a 1MB game but not vice-versa - there are a couple of games that use specific ROM carts.

Check out this link for info:

http://www.shinforce.com/saturn/RAMCompatibility.htm

You don't need a memory card but it helps - once your internal battery dies bang goes your saves unless you backed them up or unless you attempt to change the batter whilst the console is on. There is plenty of room of the internal memory though.

[Geoff D]

Great stuff Mr dgnr - think I might plump for one of the Action Replay RAM carts - seems to do just aboiut everything

[dgnr7982]

Yeah they seem to be a good bet - they are fairly expensive but when you consider what the seperate carts would cost you they are worthwhile - you should be able to get a min KOF'95 with its cart for around ?20-?25.

If your after any KOF game how about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27244&item=3016059367

I currently have a ton of stuff already bought from him and could add it to the stuff I'm going to get sent to me and forward it on to you

[Treble]

I'm not sure of the quality of the internal memory on the Saturn I've bought (it hasn't arrived yet) - if knackered, is it easily replaceable

It's highly unlikely you will have any trouble with the standard RAM. If you are having problems, it's most likely to be the drive. If you mean the RAM used for memory, the problem will probably be in the batteries (see below).

D's explanation of the carts is spot-on. I constantly struggle to get the f**kers to work, despite having had a good fiddle with all the contacts both in the machine and in the carts I have (memory cart and RAM cart).

Also, like D says, buy a memory cart (you will never fill it, believe me) and make backups of all the saves on your internal memory.

[dgnr7982]

[Del Boy] I could do you a cheap memory cart as well [/Del Boy]

[Geoff D]

[Del Boy] I could do you a cheap memory cart as well [/Del Boy]

Ooooh, how much? Plus, is Kof96 any good?

[Madbury]

Just to add my agreement with the advice from others here. I have 50+ saturn titles and my Ram cart is nowhere near full. Sadly my internal battery died and killed all my saves, fortunately I backed them up onto one of the action replay carts before hand (Yay). I've had no problems with the action replay card or the official sega ram card, both are bullet proof it seems.

The way in which the Saturn uses the RAM is infinitely better than the PS. As 99% of the games autosave and autoload by default (most will ask you if you want to use cartridge or internal RAM). The saving and loading is very rapid in comparison to PS and means that your highscores and records are saved each and every time you play without you having to remember to save each time.

Nice...

I also have KOF 95 and can recommend it as a fine fine fighting game, it has great graphics and sound and a really solid fighting engine. For once the one player game is a real challenge as well. Definately one to have in your collection.

Oh and replacing the internal battery is piss easy. I can't remember where it goes in, but it's simple as I replaced mine when I got the machine as a precaution.

[dgnr7982]

I have a black loose unofficial memory card you could have for ?4.00 inc. P&P - don't think you could get one any cheaper than that!

KOF'96 review - seems favourable:

http://www.neo-geo.com/reviews/saturn-reviews/kof96-sat/kof96-sat.html

[Treble]

Oh and replacing the internal battery is piss easy. I can't remember where it goes in, but it's simple as I replaced mine when I got the machine as a precaution.

Inside the expansion slot at the back, where the VCD card can go.

It's best to have a battery in there even if you have got a mem cart, as some games don't detect the cart, and autosave to the internal memory. Radiant Silvergun is one of these, and I would have lost all my data on it (last time my battery went) if it wasn't for the fact that I'd copied it to the cart *phew*

[Robin]

A warning about the Interact memory cards - don't overfill them. I filled mine past the max blocks and it never worked again. The saturn just wouldn't recgnise that it had a mem cart in it's slot. I ended up snapping it in half...

[Geoff D]

I have a black loose unofficial memory card you could have for ?4.00 inc. P&P - don't think you could get one any cheaper than that!

Cheers for the offer Mr dgnr, but I've just noticed that the Action Replay 4 in 1 cart is a memory card as well - surely that will do the job nicely?

Also, thanks for the offer on KoF, but I'm going to go for '95 first I think

[dgnr7982]

I didn't know it had memory as well but if it does then that should do the job just fine. Best bet is just to save everything to internal then once a year change the battery after having backed up your saves to the cart - battery life is meant to be 2-3 years with every 1 year recommended for changing the battery.

Reminds me I really must play KOF'95 at some point - I spent about 20 minutes trying to get the bugger to load (didn't detect the ROM cart) and only about 5 minutes playing it!