no_donatello

Kind of surprised to not see Saturn Bomberman on this list. But I guess that's why it costs so much today. Saturn is a great console and doesn't deserve the hate it gets online. Yes, the Japanese library is much better, but there were great games available in the US. It just all can be kind of hard to go back to when viewed from a modern gamer lens.

@Cyber_Akuma My favorite is ESP Ra.De. Ψ (with the last character apparently being Latin and pronounced psi). It's just really easy to remember... and say... and write out...

The names of Japanese shmups are so crazy sometimes. Great music and graphics, but I bet it sucked to play on an old flip phone...

I thought the first remake was okay. The Saturn's unique 3d is iconic for me, so I don't need remakes. But I thought they did an interesting job fleshing out some of the more primitive parts of the background. The game is noticeably easier than the original. I did not love the hotd remake. And, yeah, particularly when I saw the header image on this article, yikes. The character looks almost completely detached from the environment. Holding judgment though. I appreciate an effort to honor these franchises that Sega clearly doesn't care much about.

It looks good, and I really enjoy the blocky DS models being retained. But one of the things that I personally found really compelling about Sonic Rush and its sequels was the fact that it spanned both screens, and your character would seamlessly transition from one screen to the other throughout a stage. It made the stages a lot more vertical, and you could see where you were jumping and if there was an enemy up/down there.

From everything I've heard, it seems like game development in the 90s was the real wild west. I'm sure it sucked in a lot of ways but also pretty exciting to be in the middle of a really rapidly expanding industry. Certainly was fun being a gamer back then. And at least he made a great game for the near death experience!

The art is so similar that I wonder if Nintendo won't want to have a word with him. He mentioned Astal. Should have made it look like that. Sega probably doesn't even remember making that game!

Looks pretty cool. I can definitely see the influences from the games they mentioned. I honestly only ever dabbled in the Chao Garden in SA2. Don't think I ever touched it in SA1. I remember trying out the Little Chao Garden on GBA once or twice. It's a cool idea, and I know it can get pretty complex if you're into it.

Wow. Looks like I missed some excitement!

I played through Pocket Tales when it came out and before Conker became an alcoholic. I remember thinking it was okay, and I think there was an annoying timed event at the end maybe... Probably not playing it again. But the arcade version of Battletoads is intriguing.

Back in the day, I used to complain when my games had password save versus battery. Nowadays, it really future proofs the cartridge. I have basic soldering ability, so I can replace the batteries, but I'm honestly happy when I don't have to worry about the battery save dying. Ecco for the Sega CD still featured the password save from the cart game, but it also stored the last password on the Sega CD's internal storage. A convenient solution (though the SCD battery is the WORST when it needs replaced). Can't wait to play this on an actual Genesis. I think releasing it on the target platform last is kind of unfortunate, but it's okay.

@jamess Indeed. There was a small renaissance brought on by the Wii's popularity (and there were a few that used PlayStation Move controllers on PS3), but they've been basically dead since. The couple on Switch just don't feel good with gyro aiming.

The game is actually pretty ambitious and has some diverse level objectives. I think all FPS from that generation are tough to return to. I can't recall if this was the game that actually deleted your save after you ran out of lives? It could be bypassed by copying our save to a memory card, but that's pretty annoying.

A new RE light gun arcade game?? I need this!! I went to Galloping Ghost a few years ago, and one of the titles I wanted to play was Gun Survivor 2. Unfortunately, I think it must have been being repaired at the time. Still had a great time, so it's cool.

I think most who criticize it probably never played it. I thought it was pretty fun.

I hobbled my way through the first disc of El Dorado Gate once. It's a very traditional RPG with incredible art. I've always found it interesting how little info there was online about these games, given Amano's connection and it being an early example of "episodic" releases. Each disc is a few hours long, and your save carries forward. I hope this translation happens!

On the one hand, I mean, sure, what's the point? On the other hand, it's fine if people want this. There is obviously no such thing as Super FX 3. Whether it was a Raspberry PI or something different, it was going to be a chip not of the SNES era. I don't need another way to play Doom. I already have too many. But it's good for people that do. Also that is a very cool looking PCB.

Policenauts! Yes! Cannot wait to finally play that.

@PKDuckman Indeed. The Japanese market is not the prize it once was. Even Sony focuses on the west anymore. Closing Japan Studio made that clear. A real shame. But even outside of abandoning the Japanese market, Xbox hasn't been too concerned with a diverse library for a while.

The 360 is the last Xbox I had any interest in. While I'm not big on the core offerings of FPS and online multiplayer, Microsoft worked really hard to cover all bases and create a really interesting library of exclusives. Since 360, they mostly abandoned trying to appeal to the Japanese market, and any exclusive I may be interested in (not many) are available on other platforms. I was kind of surprised they would be making new hardware at all. I thought they'd go all in on streaming.

I used to wonder about the rumored Sega buyout back in the OG Xbox days and the possibility that Sega could have continued their hardware ambitions with the backing of Microsoft. Seeing how these studio purchases have gone... I am forever thankful that deal (if it was legit to begin with) did not go through.

@Fallingshadow I suspect you're right. I don't know where I read it, but I recall reading that the initial print in the US was indeed 5,000, but due to demand, they ended up doing another print, so it was about 20,000 in the end. Not sure the veracity, but indeed, there are always copies on eBay, so 5,000 seems unlikely.

It's a game that definitely matches the hype that it receives. In an alternate universe, this game would be spoken about among the greatest RPGs of all time, but unfortunately so few have played it. The game pushes the Saturn hardware graphically, and the battle system is probably its best feature, actually doing a great job adapting the rail shooter gameplay to a turn-based system. And of course the soundtrack is amazing, like all Panzer Dragoon games.

I was looking at an old Game Informer magazine, and I found their "review" of Panzer Dragoon Saga. It was a paragraph. A sad but not surprising state for a game that they admitted was one of the best games that year.

Kind of makes me think of The Legend of Valkyrie.

Kid gets stranded on desert island... within two minutes, is already mercilessly punching bunny rabbits.

Great work preserving this. The game looks really slow, but the art is great!

Submitted. More arcade, more shmups and how about some lesser-known survival horror from the 32 bit era. I would also love to see them localize some more games. They did it once with Mappy Kids.

Honestly could do without the indie stuff, but I just don't buy it. Problem solved.

Let me play actual carts and CDs, and then we'll talk, Polymega. (Also give me my light guns already!)

Interestingly, Tempest 2000 on the Saturn is one of the only games I can't get the Polymega to recognize — at least since I last tried it.

My only encounter with Patlabor was in Kyoei Toshi (the Disaster Report game that had Godzilla and other Japanese kaiju, etc.). Too bad that game did not get localized. It has all the lovable jank of a Disaster Report game, and where else are you going to get a chance to escape Gamera on horseback?

Never got the appeal of the XL. First, I hate how massive handhelds have become over the years. Apparently the Game Gear and Lynx were ahead of their time. But also the screen resolution is really low to have screens that big. But if people like them, that's great. I have a non-XL New 3DS that I like a lot.

Also a five-year warranty on a used console is crazy! Wow!

Really liked Moon, and I loved L.O.L. on Dreamcast. Day one for me. Unfortunately, I suspect a physical version will be from one of the limited print run companies...

@Jrs1 This and Jet Set Radio Future and Panzer Dragoon Orta. My OG Xbox is barely holding on at this point...

I liked I-Ninja, but I do recall not completing it due to some particularly frustrating levels. Maybe it was a boss fight? Can't recall, but I have wanted to give it another chance for a while.

I don't think I preordered in 2021. I had resolved to not give them any more money until my Polymega was delivered. That eventually did happen. So I preordered the guns, and the wait began again.

I really hate announcements of future announcements.

Mine looked fine, but I recently swapped the battery in my Wii U with a much larger third party one. I hope third party options continue to be available into the future.

The fortunate thing is they're user replaceable.

I have a fondness for the Wii U, despite its many, many flaws. It's probably the last console that will try to do something really radically different. Obviously, a big, expensive controller that only one player could use and was never sold separately (and your console was mostly useless without) was not the best idea. But I appreciate it for trying! My gamepad is still doing okay, but it's nice to know there are options.

I already have too many ways to play these games, but it's great new people will get a chance. They are classic RPGs in both vintage and gameplay. In my opinion, they stand tall against the 16 bit Final Fantasy games, especially since they leveraged the CD medium so well on Sega CD. From watching the trailer, the new voice acting seems pretty consistent. And honestly, taking off the nostalgia goggles, it's not like the old VO was a masterpiece, though it is a shame that the OG intro or boat song won't be in this.

I don't think this is embarrassing. I think it's fairly normal, and video game companies were pretty aggressive in their marketing against each other back then, so it makes sense that it would carry over to marketing to retailers. But no question Sega was rattled by Sony. Imagine if Sony had not entered the game console market and it was only Saturn and N64. Being then the only significant CD-based console, the Saturn would have unquestionably won that fight. But Sony came out of the gate with a great product, cheaper and easier to developer for.

I'm not saying it helped, but I think the launch thing is a little overplayed. The PS3 had a terrible launch and then went on to be successful. The 3DS as well. Both of those consoles got very quick price cuts. The Saturn had a lot of problems. I think the price difference between PSX was probably its biggest. And then it was compounded by Sony getting some big releases while Sega made some poor localization choices. It's been said many times, but you get a very different experience playing Saturn's Japanese library versus only playing the Western releases. Saturn is still my second favorite console after Dreamcast.

Game Gear. If it plays Master System, it must play Game Gear as well. They should have shown Sonic the Hedgehog for Game Gear running on it. Still the right amount of buttons, too. But anyway, I will definitely not emulate games on this, but I do want it.

@drypaphmrbro Okay. Thanks. Chill out.

I've watched a little bit of their content, and I like it. They had a series where they explored demo discs from the 32 and 128 bit consoles, and that is pretty interesting. Some of the discs had demos for unreleased games. Pretty cool. I wish them luck!

+1 for Jaguar support. The library is limited, but it is fascinating. I don't have a ton of nostalgia for 2600, though I did play it a bit. The games just don't hold up for the most part.

Amazing how much support the Dreamcast received in Japan. Basically three versions of the same game on a console that, if we're being charitable, lasted four years (though releases did trickle out after 2002, I know). Unfortunately, I don't think the Japanese games industry is as vibrant nowadays.

I never thought it would happen, but I've actually put my Wavebird away and now use the Retro Fighters BattlerGC as my preferred controller for GameCube/Wii.

@XiaoShao This. I find it very annoying that cartridges are consistently over the retail price on Amazon. It has stopped me from purchasing in the past because I think the price might drop back down to retail price in a couple days (because that does happen sometimes on Amazon), but it often means I don't want the cartridge that badly, so I just forget it. Hopefully the new distributor will be a positive outcome from this.

Man, the press is just all bad for this company. And now Retro-Bit, too? Considering their statement didn't refute the claim of recycled chips, I can only assume that means they must be. Really wild.

Samba de Amigo is peak Dreamcast-era Sega. It's a massively creative game that requires an expensive and very specialized peripheral to be enjoyed, basically guaranteeing it will only ever achieve cult status, but they released it anyway. And I love them for it.

I didn't know it was still in active development. And like others have said, I doubt Nintendo cares at this point with both the Wii and Wii U and their respective online stores dead and buried.

Good news. It always seemed kind of silly, since the handhelds could output to TV as well, but I get that licensing can be dumb like that. I appreciate the support for a cart that I think has been discontinued for a while.

Very cool. Never realized that Eliot and Claris from NiGHTS made cameos in this game.