Saturn REVIEWS: The List

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With the Saturn, Sega has completely dropped off the console space in a lot of the world. Sony was dominating with the PlayStation, and Nintendo's late entry into the market with the N64 completely buried them. In many ways, the decisions Sega made prior to the Saturn era-and during it-have greatly contributed to the downfall of the company. This is why the Saturn has a bum reputation even among Sega fans. It killed their beloved company and set up the Dreamcast to fail.

However, the system still has its fans, and its 2D abilities are considered the best by some of them. Its position as the third prong in the console war meant that it could take some risks with its games, and meant that it didn't need to join the graphical power race between Nintendo and Sony.

Regardless, I have not played any Saturn game before, and that's why I am very interested in starting this review series. I want to be pleasantly surprised with offbeat games, hidden gems, and generally have a good time.

Like with my other review series, I am going to use a top 100 list as a basis for my reviews, this time again from Retro Sanctuary: Top 100 Saturn Games from Retro Sanctuary


So, I am going to review games that interest me from that list from 100 to 1. Like with my other review list, I am not going to review:

  1. Games I already played (does not apply here).

  2. Sports and Racing games; these genres have only gotten better with time.

  3. Multiplayer-focused games, so that takes party and fighting games off the mix.

  4. Genres and games that don't interest me at all, I am simply terrible at shmups.

Legend:

  • Games in bold are games I am going to review.

  • Games in crossed bold are games I would normally review, but have finished before.

  • Games in bold italics are games I would review, but have better ports in other fifth-generation systems.

  • Games in italics are games I would normally review, but have been better remade for future generations' systems.

  • Games that are crossed are games that I will not review.

  • All other games are ones that I am still undecided on whether to review or not.

The List:

  • 100- Bug!.

  • 99- NBA Action. (Sport)

  • 98- Street Racer. (Racing)

  • 97- Gex.

  • 96- Hexen. (Early FPS)

  • 95- The Horde.

  • 94- High Velocity. (Racing)

  • 93- Pandemonium.

  • 92- Madden 98'. (Sport)

  • 91- Blazing Heroes/Mysteria.

  • 90- Grid Runner. (Multiplayer Focused)

  • 89- Crusader: No Remorse.

  • 88- Amok. (Early FPS)

  • 87- Astra Superstars. (Fighting/Japan Only)

  • 86- Mass Destruction.

  • 85- Alien Trilogy. (Early FPS)

  • 84- Tempest 2000. (Shmup)

  • 83- World Series Baseball. (Sport)

  • 82- Steep Slope Sliders. (Sport)

  • 81- Shining Wisdom.

  • 80- Soviet Strike.

  • 79- Rayman.

  • 78- Manx TT Superbike. (Racing)

  • 77- Decathlete/Athlete Kings. (Sport)

  • 76- Die Hard Arcade/Dynamite Deka. (Beat 'em Up)

  • 75- Guardian Force. (Shmup/Japan Only)

  • 74- Bubble Symphony. (Japan Only)

  • 73- Sim City 2000. (Better at PC)

  • 72- Enemy Zero.

  • 71- Gungriffon. (Early FPS)

  • 70- Last Bronx. (Fighting)

  • 69- Mega Man 8.

  • 68- Mech Warrior 2. (Early FPS)

  • 67- Need for Speed. (Racing)

  • 66- Elevator Action Returns. (Japan Only)

  • 65- Herc's Adventures.

  • 64- Sega Worldwide Soccer 98'. (Sport)

  • 63- Puyo Puyo Sun. (Puzzler/Japan Only)

  • 62- Iron Storm. (Too Complicated)

  • 61- Virtua Cop. (Lightgun Game)

  • 60- Magic Carpet.

  • 59- Magic Knight Rayearth.

  • 58- Baku Baku Animal. (Puzzler)

  • 57- Dungeons and Dragons Collection. (Japan Only)

  • 56- Silhouette Mirage.

  • 55- Puzzle Bobble 3. (Puzzler)

  • 54- Space Hulk.

  • 53- Real Bout Special. (Fighting)

  • 52- Warcraft 2.

  • 51- Layer Section/Galactic Attack. (Shmup)

  • 50- Croc.

  • 49- House of the Dead. (Early FPS)

  • 48- Albert Odyssey.

  • 47- Magical Drop 3. (Puzzler)

  • 46- Sexy Parodius. (Shmup)

  • 45- Theme Park.

  • 44- Samurai Shodown 4. (Fighting)

  • 43- Death Tank Zwei. (Multiplayer Focused)

  • 42- Super Puzzle Fighter II. (Puzzler)

  • 41- DoDoniPachi. (Shmup)

  • 40- Dark Savior.

  • 39- Deep Fear.

  • 38- Legend of Oasis.

  • 37- Thunder Force V. (Shmup)

  • 36- Twinkle Star Sprites. (Puzzler)

  • 35- Dead or Alive. (Fighting)

  • 34- Battle Garegga. (Shmup)

  • 33- Daytona CE. (Racing)

  • 32- Kings of Fighters 97'. (Fighting)

  • 31- Metal Slug. (Japan Only)

  • 30- Worms.

  • 29- Guardian Heroes.

  • 28- Vampire Savior. (Fighting)

  • 27- Virtual On.

  • 26- Batsugun. (Shmup)

  • 25- Mega Man X4.

  • 24- Command and Conquer.

  • 23- Shining the Holy Ark.

  • 22- Burning Rangers.

  • 21- Quake. (Early FPS)

  • 20- Hyper Duel. (Shmup)

  • 19- Marvel vs. Street Fighter. (Fighting)

  • 18- Soukyugurentai. (Shmup)

  • 17- Virtua Cop 2. (Early FPS)

  • 16- Dragon Force.

  • 15- Saturn Bomberman. (Multiplayer Focused)

  • 14- Duke Nukem 3d. (Early FPS)

  • 13- Fighters Megamix. (Fighting)

  • 12- Wipeout XL. (Racing)

  • 11- Shining Force III.

  • 10- Tomb Raider.

  • 9- Powerslave/Exhumed. (Early FPS)

  • 8- Radiant Silvergun.

  • 7- Resident Evil.

  • 6- Street Fighter Alpha 3. (Fighting)

  • 5- Nights into Dreams.

  • 4- Panzer Dragoon Zwei.

  • 3- Sega Rally. (Racing)

  • 2- Virtua Fighter. (Fighting)

  • 1- Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Requested Reviews:

  • Shinobi Legions (Requested by Ghoane).

  • Astal (Requested by Sharukurusu).

  • Clockwork Knight (Requested by Sharukurusu).


Outside of List Reviews:

This list is only based on the Retro Sanctuary list, and might be missing some lesser-known games. As always, I welcome any suggestions of games I should be playing, whether they are in the list or outside of it.

Please note if any of the games above that I am thinking of playing are worth it in any way. I will review Games in bold unless someone gives me a compelling reason not to.


 

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