What was the best looking 3D Saturn game?

[Asura]

the Saturn version of Zero Divide. Full high resolution, 60fps and 3D areas.

I had no idea it had a Saturn version! Did it only come out in Japan?

EDIT: Looks like that was the case. Shame, I would've bought it. I saw it running on PS1 on a TV show and really wanted it.

[Team Andromeda]

A lot of good games mentioned such as Dead Or Alive and Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Even some games live Savaki are mentioned but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Saturn version of Zero Divide. Full high resolution, 60fps and 3D areas.
Also, check out Shutokou Battle. It's a very solid and smooth racing game with big polygon models.

Yeah Shutokou Battle 97 and Zero Divide look awesome, Zero Divide is another Saturn game that looks better on the Saturn. It was some sort of urban myth that the Saturn couldn't do 3D. I have to Exhumed, Duke Nukem, World League Soccer 98, All Japan Pro Wrestling, AMOK, Ninpen, K-1 . Also Daytona USA CE looked amazing (shame the game wasn't great)

[Neon Ignition]

I don't know how well it holds up in person as I never pursued the game but I remember thinking at the time that Shining Force III was a looker

[Team Andromeda]

I don't know how well it holds up in person as I never pursued the game but I remember thinking at the time that Shining Force III was a looker

Yeah, good call. Some fab use of the VDP II for reflection effects in the Chruch and amazing battles all in semi-high Res too. I always thought layered section 2 displayed some wonderful polygons and looked not far off the PS version. I was also very impressed with World Series Baseball 98 with its full polygons gfx in semi high res and like the WSB series on games on the Saturn, they all played great; speaking of which.. NHL All Stars 98 looked and played amazing too.

[Goemon]

I still think Virtual Fighter 2 looks amazing for a Saturn game. Devs did a sterling job!

[Asura]

I still think Virtual Fighter 2 looks amazing for a Saturn game. Devs did a sterling job!

Virtua Fighter 2 looked marvellous at the time. I remember running the non-interactive demo that came on one of the SSM demo discs, and being blown away by just how sharp and smooth it looked.

[tokyochojin]

It might not be quite as good as Quake's graphics but I loved the visuals in Exhumed. Saturn handles them well with superb lighting effects.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Zwei and Radiant Silvergun spring to mind as the best overall packages of technical mastery with superb art design. Radiant especially makes really intelligent use of VDP 1 for masses of scaling and rotating sprites with VDP powered mode 7 style background layers often with semi-transparency, and all at 60fps.

There is another game though which although not being as pretty as those two, is technically the most impressive Saturn game of all - Sonic R. If you want to know how it was pulled off there are some videos on the Gamehut YouTube channel which explain it, but in short - gouraud shaded and textured polygon backgrounds and characters which fade to transparent in the distance on VDP1. VDP2 floor too of course. And all at a reasonably stable 30fps. The code even utilises the Saturn's DSP to speed things up, alongside the dual CPUs and all in parallel. It's the sort of to the metal hardcore coding which some British teams excelled at. It's also why the Playstation destroyed the Saturn. The machine was just too complicated for its own good.

Also of note are Bulk Slash and Burning Rangers, the latter transfers VDP1 scaled sprites onto VDP 2 to render them with additive transparency. Something the Playstation could do with ease, but was a very difficult feat to pull off on the Saturn.

[Leon Retro]

There is another game though which although not being as pretty as those two, is technically the most impressive Saturn game of all - Sonic R. If you want to know how it was pulled off there are some videos on the Gamehut YouTube channel which explain it, but in short - gouraud shaded and textured polygon backgrounds and characters which fade to transparent in the distance on VDP1. VDP2 floor too of course. And all at a reasonably stable 30fps.
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Sonic R looks like a rough and clunky Dreamcast game. It's one of those games that pushes the hardware and uses lots of clever techniques, but it really was crying out for more capable hardware. A Sonic R for the Dreamcast could have really done the game justice. I've still admired it as a Saturn game though.

[Dogg Thang]

Panzer Dragoon Zwei for me too. It’s a game that overcomes any technical limitations with an incredible sense of style. Few games looked as good even as tech improved. Sometimes I guess that’s a trade off. Even thinking of the PS1 and Metal Gear Solid, that game technically is very ropey by today’s standards obviously but the texturing based on the illustration artwork was gorgeous and, as the visuals improved technically in MGS2 on PS2, the game lost some of that artistry along the way. Everything in the design of Panzer Dragoon Zwei is unique and gorgeous - the shapes, models, texturing, colours. It’s very special looking.

I’d also mention Exhumed and Duke Nukem because they were pulling off some really pretty lighting effects that we were told couldn’t be done on the Saturn. Exhumed in particular is a great looking game and, in spite of its lower res on Saturn, I prefer how the game looks there than on any other system.

[samanosuke]

If you haven’t seen it, this review of Stellar Assault SS shows some of the impressive scenes from the game:

[Team Andromeda]

If you haven’t seen it, this review of Stellar Assault SS shows some of the impressive scenes from the game:

Spot on. It looks and runs great and some of the levels make fab use of the VDP2 for the floors and ceilings. Such a shame it never came to the West (thanks for nothing Bernie!!!)

[S3M]

For me Athlete Kings / Decathlete is perhaps one of the best looking games on the system:

[JazzFunk]

Last Bronx.

[Yakumo]

Last Bronx.

Looks nice but the interlacing and flicker let it down.