The Sega Saturn games no one should let pass by?

[Leon Retro]

Nearly all the shoot 'em ups are worth playing.

Batsugun
Battle Garegga
Darius Gaiden
Dodonpachi
Guardian Force
Radiant Silvergun
Soukyugurentai


Astal
Elevator Action Returns
Fighters Megamix
Keio Flying Squadron 2
Last Bronx
Manx TT
Sega Rally
Shinobi
Panzer Dragoon 1 & 2

[wakka]

D and Enemy Zero are weird, clunky, slow, but really interesting and atmospheric games by Kenji Eno’s Warp. Really unique. Enemy Zero can’t be played anywhere else AFAIK.

EDIT: and yeah, burning games to CD-R is the way to go. A lot of the software is ridiculously expensive now.

[Zaki]

Hyper Duel
Keio Flying Squadron 2

[Asura]

Yeah, some of the Saturn output has aged considerably.

Yeah, partially due to its reliance on arcade titles. For instance, I think it had the finest fighters of its era; however, do they really stack up against the ones that followed? I'm uncertain. The bulk of the games I would own, if I had a Saturn collection, are those which have nostalgia for me as a teenager during its heyday.

However, there are definitely titles which are still worth it.

• Guardian Heroes is a unique title that has not been surpassed, because there really isn't much else like it.
• Gungriffon; the sequels didn't really improve on it, and it still plays very well despite the technical limitations.
• Die Hard Arcade; again, pretty unique. Probably better than the Dreamcast sequel though that's fun too.
• Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Great game, and while the original and Orta exist, that's no reason not to play this one as they're all fun. May be the machine's best-looking 3D game overall.
• Decathlete/Athlete Kings, IMO still the best athletics game ever made. Someone needs to tell the team who made the Mario & Sonic games. There's also Winter Heat, which is basically the same concept but for the Winter games; personally I don't think its as good, some people like it more. It's great regardless.
• Mystara, which is meant to be great, if you like SRPGs. I never played it but I've had people rave about over the years.
• Street Fighter Alpha 2, probably the definitive home version of this (though the PS2 version seemed fine; someone will probably correct me in a bit), but certainly it was the best at the time. This is important as many people much prefer it to SF Alpha 3, something I shared at the time but don't share now.
• Virtua Cop 1&2 if you have a CRT and guns; these are genuinely among the greatest light-gun games ever made and stand up extremely well, even today.

I can't recommend Daytona USA, Fighting Vipers or Virtua Fighter 2 as I'd rather play the PS3 versions of these, which I believe are arcade-perfect, or certainly closer than the Saturn version (though if you're interested in gaming from a historic/technical progress level, all three games are "noteworthy" on the Saturn, particularly Virtua Fighter 2 for just how smooth and clean it looks; it was a tech marvel).

Another would be Nights ~Into Dreams, but the PS3 version of that is pretty good too. It was bad on-launch, but it was later patched, and I think it's the definitive version; better even than the PS2 version.

Some will pick Fighters Megamix; I'd say that if you love the Saturn-era fighters, it's pure fan-service and definitely worth it, but if you're so-so, then probably avoid it. It's a tonally weird fighter which throws a bunch of characters from different backgrounds together (mainly the Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers characters, but a few others too) and was something of a swan-song.

Another would be Virtual On, which was my single favourite Saturn game. I can't really recommend it as it's just such a niche thing... But if you're a Gundam fan, or generally like arena fighters, it's really fun, and in truth, I always preferred the first one over the various sequels.

[samanosuke]

I’m assuming you’re burning games and not buying them:

Radiant Silvergun
Stellar Assault SS
Taromaru
Panzer Dragoon Saga
NiGHTS into Dreams

Tried to keep to the Saturn exclusives otherwise there are some great arcade conversions such as Dodonpachi, SNK games, D&D, Elevator Action Returns etc

[Super Monkey Balls]

Layer Section
Elevator Action Returns
Manx TT

[vanpeebles]

Gun Frontier

[Team Andromeda]

Souky
Exhumed
Die Hard Arcade
Decathlete
Winter Heat
Sega Rally
Virtual Cop 1 & 2
AMOK
Mass Destruction
Fighters Mega Mix
Gun Griffon
Panzer Dragoon 1 and II
Astal
Shinobi
Steep Slope Sliders
Deep Fear
XMen COTA
Skeleton Warriors
VF Remix and VF 2
Last Bronix

Are games one can pick up and not cost the earth

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, some of the Saturn output has aged considerably. I think that's a good list above with the caveat that some were even a bit rough around the edges in their day, such as Burning Rangers. I feel it's a real shame we haven't seen a remake or sequel to that game. I'd probably skip the first Panzer Dragoon and jump straight into the sequel for that reason. It's a better game in just about every way.

I'd also add Exhumed. It came out on the PS1 but was better on the Saturn and, if you haven't played it, is one of the finest 3D FPS/platforming games ever made in my opinion.

While you probably play them on other systems, it's worth noting that the Saturn was a great home to a lot of the Capcom VS games and they're fantastic on the system.

[Neon Ignition]

Depends on how you fare with the way some stuff has aged and whether you ever played the stuff that was ported but out the gate:

Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Nights into Dreams
Burning Rangers
Guardian Heries
Dark Saviour
Deep Fear
Die Hard Arcade
Radiant Silvergun
Silhouette Mirage
Story of Thor 2

[hudson]

Sega Saturn passed me by. I played Sega Rally a bit at my mates. Which was cool. However, I went full PlayStation and never looked back.

Recently I have discovered that the Saturn has a library of great shmups which I'm slowly checking out. I also like the look of Guardian Heroes.

I'm interested to know what you guys here think are some great Saturn games that need to be checked out?