Hidden Saturn Gems. (Japanese)

[ShadowDancer]

Today I got a Japanese Saturn. One of the games was 2DO Arukotowa Sandoahru, which I had never heard of before.

Completely in Japanese 100% playable.

Hoping those with a bit of knowledge can throw in some suggestions that aren't mentioned much and worthy of praise.

I don't mind using a quick guide but I am opposed to playing a J-RPG completely in Japanese with a guide. I think you get my point.

The thread is in similar vain to Zero9x's Gameboy thread.

Lets have the less obvious please

[SuperBeatBoy]

Waku Waku 7 is really good. Although it depends if you have played it enough on the Neogeo already though. Alot of titles are escaping my mind at the moment, so will probably get back to you.

No brainer though, get all the 2d fighting games you can.

[Phar]

Bulk Slash, an awesome 3D mech shooter by Hudson

[Baseley09]

Mobile suit gundam saturn (probably on psx too?) is a rad 2D mixed side scrolling and shooting game. Under a fiver, its quite the cool game of its time, 2D but you can attack on a few planes. There is a similar Macross game on both systems that uses the same engine and by all accounts is the same game baring license.

[ShadowDancer]

Thank you for input. I'm sure this thread can develop into something for everyone.

[Yakumo]

There are literally 100's of hidden Gems for the Saturn. If puzzle games are your thing then try something like Waku Waku Monster or Pastel Muse (something like that anyway). For action you could try Bulk Slash as mentioned or maybe something like Nippen Manmaru by Enix. It's sort of like Jumping Flash in a way.

Yakumo

[Skull Commander]

Stop it. Can't buy Saturn....

......must resist.............

[eastyy]

astra superstars i thought was great fun probably not that cheap though

[Soundwave]

astra superstars i thought was great fun probably not that cheap though

Jesus your not wrong on price are you...

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/?_nkw=astra+superstars&_sacat=0&_trksid=m270&_odkw=astal+superstars&_osacat=0

I'm amazed

Neil

[samanosuke]

Yeah, I was gonna suggest Pastel Muses too. It's like a cross between Worms and Puzzle Bobble.

[S3M]

astra superstars i thought was great fun probably not that cheap though

Great game Astra Superstars the sequel to Galaxy Fight and Waku Waku 7 so I've been told.

Well worth a pickup, there are a ton of Japanese gems on the Saturn, I could list a ton of JRPG's I could list but I see you don't want them talk about.

Shadow of the Tusk (Should get a quick menu as all the menu's are in english)

Few lesser known games I'll mention for now.
Chrono Q Park (Nice race)
Groove on Fight (Fun 1 vs 1 )
Stellar Assault SS (Nice remade of the 32x version)
Three Dirty Dwalfs (enjoyable scrolling beat'em up)
Mighty Hits (Point blank clone, I always liked it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZpbskln5T0

[Escape-To-88]

Another vote for Astra Superstars here, it can be had for quite cheap in Japan, it was when I was there I'm sure - at least I *think* I didn't pay too much for it!

Also 'Tenchi Wo Kurau II' is a great sidescroller from Capcom. Did get an arcade release over here but a nice Japanese only Saturn gem.
'Wolf Fang SS' isn't too bad either - nothing to do with the Third Reich I'm afriad, rather an old-school 2D shooter.
I also suppose while not technically a 'hidden' gem 'Thunderforce V' and the special packs with the older games are great.

While I love the neo WAKU WAKU I think the Saturn conversion is, unfortunately, crap so would perhaps avoid that one. There is a lot of load time between each round and it looks pretty blocky.

[BigDeadFreak]

Pu-Li-Ru-La Arcade Gears is probably one of the strangest and most inventive side scrolling beat 'em-ups in the world and I don't suppose tht many people have played it. It's not the best game in the world but it does need to be seen to be believed.

One saturn game I always wanted to play was Elan Doree. It's sort of like a 3D Astra Superstars. It's quite rare from what I understand but I've no idea if it's any good or not.

EDIT: This thread has made me go YouTube crazy.

I've just seen a MMA game called SAVAKI. I don't know anything about it other than it's a very realistic looking beat 'em-up (looks like the sort of thing that Spike or Human would make but in 3D). I want it bad.

A couple of 2D beat 'em-ups that are new to me and look totally bonkers are Rabbit and Ninku. Anyone know anything about them?

[Soundwave]

Another vote for Astra Superstars here, it can be had for quite cheap in Japan, it was when I was there I'm sure - at least I *think* I didn't pay too much for it!

Also 'Tenchi Wo Kurau II' is a great sidescroller from Capcom. Did get an arcade release over here but a nice Japanese only Saturn gem.
'Wolf Fang SS' isn't too bad either - nothing to do with the Third Reich I'm afriad, rather an old-school 2D shooter.
I also suppose while not technically a 'hidden' gem 'Thunderforce V' and the special packs with the older games are great.

While I love the neo WAKU WAKU I think the Saturn conversion is, unfortunately, crap so would perhaps avoid that one. There is a lot of load time between each round and it looks pretty blocky.

Have to agree with Mr 88 on the Tenchi call...I'm really lucky as it came included with my White Saturn bundle from the aforementioned Mr 88 lol
I'm glad t did as it's one of those titles I'd have overlooked otherwise & it really is too good to pass up.
IMO it's actually far better than Guardian Heroes.

Also I'd be in the sae camp with Waku Waku...had it, played it, sold it, deffinitley not in the same league as other Neo conversions on the Saturn & noway a patch on the sublime Capcom conversions.
If you need fighters then it's deffinitley down to KoF, Last Blade/Sam Showdown, Real Bout F/F & the Capcom games.

Pocket Fighter is a must IMO as well.
Overly cute & so accesable it has to be in every collection & if you look hard enough it shouldnt cost more than a few ?'s
Oh & the 4MB cart makes it a smidge better.

It's deffinitley not a Japan only gem but Deep Fear is mostly overlooked & is suprisingly good IMO
Not quite Res Evil standards but up there as a good alternative.

I loves my Saturn

Neil

[saturn-gamer]

Groove on Fight is actually 2 on 2 tag and a pretty original fighter, I liked it alot. Trendy style.

Deep Fear is excellent indeed. But I also like Enemy Zero, it was terrifying not to see your opponents but only hear them and you couldn't spray bullets. Super Tempo is another obscure game, don't know why I'd recommend it.. probably liked the 2d graphics. Elevator Action Returns = lots of fun.

As far as 2d fighters go, I didn't really find the SNK outings all that great. SS4 was probably my fave and although it might not be a fair comparison, my AES cart shatters it. They were inferior to their arcade counterparts unlike CPS2 ports. I would recommend X-men Vs SF, SFZ3, Cyberbots, Vampire Hunter and maybe X-men COTA for its tough AI. Whatever you do, avoid Marvel Super Heroes at all costs.

Dungeons and Dragons, although a poor port, is very good too. Nekketsu Oyako is the closest you'll get to classic Final Fight IIRC.