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Saturn REVIEWS: Dragon Force

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My story with Dragon Force began a long time ago, maybe two or three years after its release, and I didn't know its name then. At the time, I saw some distant cousins of mine playing a weird device in my grandfather's house that was neither a PlayStation nor a Nintendo 64. My young self saw them playing a game with excellently detailed 2D graphics. The music attracted me, and the battle scenes were mesmerizing. To my 9-year-old self, the game looked glorious. One image stayed long in my memory. The special move where shockwaves go through the enemy force. Other than that, I had no idea what the name of the game or even the system it was in. To my surprise, while playing it now for the first time, I realized this was the same game I fell in love with, only a day's glance. As it turns out, that love, which was borne from pure instincts, was fully justified. Dragon Force , despite not quite reaching a fully glorious level, is a very good game. 16: Dragon Force: Year: 1996. Ge...
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Saturn REVIEWS Report: 30-21

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At the top 30 games mark, the Retro Sanctuary Top Saturn games list must be expected to deliver some stellar games. Based on the three games I gave in-depth reviews of, I can say that all of these games may be historically important in one way, but not all of them are worth playing today. One of the best games I played on the system, Guardian Heroes , even has a modern remaster that, unfortunately, devalues playing the original game. Maybe I am not qualified to write a report about these 10 games since the best of the lot are Japanese-only Shmups, but I can write enough about them for anyone interested in playing such ports. One clear thing is that many of the Saturn's best games were never ported west, especially many of the games that fans of the system still celebrate today. Please enjoy:- 30- Worms (1996): Genre: Artillery Strategy Game Publisher: Ocean Software; Developer: Team 17. At this stage, there is nothing new to say about Worms , a classic that appeared in nearly every...
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Studio Ghibli Thoughts: Spirited Away

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  Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is one of my favorite films ever. It was a favorite since I watched it with my family way back in 2003 in cinemas for the first time by mistake; my parents were only open to watching an anime film because it had Disney’s illustrious release credentials on the title. Only years later did I discover that it wasn’t ever a Disney film, and learned about the true majesty of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki’s work. To this day, this is easily one of my most-watched films, and the movie still feels fresh every time I watch it. This is a big reason why writing these thoughts may prove to be challenging if I want to keep them the same length as my previous ones. Just like watching every time watching Spirited Away seems to reveal new things, I feel like every time I write will focus on different things. That’s because the film is flooded with ideas, with every screen meticulously filled with details that are impossible to catch in a single viewing, but let us tr...
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Saturn REVIEWS: Burning Rangers

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Burning Rangers is the kind of game that is difficult to dislike, even if it gives you every reason to do so. With dated 3D polygonal graphics, stiff 3D controls that demand an analog stick, and some cheesy writing, here is a game that I should normally severely criticize as an outdated relic that may have been good in the past. However, the game's solid core and innovative design combine to make sure that, despite all of its age-related flaws, Burning Rangers remains a fun game to play. 22: Burning Rangers: Year: 1998. Genre: Action, Third-Person Shooter. Publisher: Sega. Developer: Sega.
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Saturn REVIEWS: Astal

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As one of the earlier games on the Saturn, Astal was probably not designed with that console in mind; the fact that it escaped the trappings of early 3D "advancements" is proof of that. Yet, with its weird aesthetic, not even its beautifully drawn graphics could hide a very basic and uninspired Action-Platformer. Even on the Genesis, Astal would not be considered a good game. R2: Astal: Year: 1995. Genre: Action-Platformer. Publisher: Sega. Developer: Sega.
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Saturn REVIEWS: Shining the Holy Ark

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Other than the fact that it is part of the illustrious Shining series, and one of the few RPGs on the Saturn, I don't think that there is anything much remarkable about Shining the Holy Ark (other than such a grammatical mess of a name). It's a boring by-the-numbers First-Person RPG that does little to stand out. 23: Shining the Holy Ark: Year: 1996 in Japan, 1997 in NA. Genre: First-Person RPG. Publisher: Sega. Developer: Camelot Software.
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Saturen REVIEWS: Guardian Heroes

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After playing and enjoying Guardian Heroes for a bit, a couple of people noted that the game was actually remastered for the Xbox 360 Live Arcade. That would technically disqualify this game from being reviewed as part of the Saturn Reviews series since a superior version exists on newer hardware. However, that would have robbed me of the opportunity to enjoy this pretty good game. Usually, I am not a big fan of Beat 'em Up games. Yet, this was a great leap forward for the genre, as it introduced some light RPG mechanics and a sense of character progression that I felt was missing from earlier classics of the genre. Overall, even though there exists a better version of Guardian Heroes in the wild, I don't regret playing this game at all. 28: Guardian Heroes: Year: 1996 in NA and Japan. Genre: Beat 'em Up. Publisher: Sega. Developer: Treasure.
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