Playing with others on the Saturn
Ah, multiplayer. The staple of today’s gaming. It’s no thought at all to jump online and take on (or work with) players across the globe on this game or that. But this isn’t ‘current-gen Shiro’, this is SEGA Saturn, Shiro!, so… how did the Saturn fare as a multiplayer experience?
Very well of course! To an extent however, it was different. Obviously, online was extremely limited, so local multiplayer was ‘where it was at’.
Forget Friend Codes, you needed Actual Friends!
Last weekend, a local buddy of mine came over to my House of Blues for an evening of SEGA gaming. While we started with a bit of Master System fun, the vast bulk of our time playing was on the Saturn. Fresh off an evening at a local pub / arcade / pinball hall, we started by checking out all the pinball games available on the Saturn. Domestically, there are four available: True Pinball (Ocean), Hyper 3D Pinball (Virgin), Pro Pinball (Interplay) and Digital Pinball: Last Gladiators (KAZe / Time Warner Interactive). There are also other excellent pinball games in the Japanese library, including the excellent Fantastic Pinball Kyuutenkai (TechnoSoft) and the legendary Digital Pinball: Necronomicon (KAZe). It was Necronomicon that we decided to play. Boy, what a game. Featuring a bizarre Gothic theme and four gorgeous, hi-res tables, this was a blast. It’s hard to sufficiently underscore how greatly some games benefit from running in the Saturn’s highest resolution (incidentally, higher than either the PlayStation or the Nintendo 64 can achieve), where minute details suddenly stand out sharp and crisp. Jaggy lines become smooth, and in this case, the pinball tables look sensational. Such a fun game.
We next moved on to a multiplayer classic: NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Acclaim). Who remembers playing NBA Jam in the arcades? The Saturn version is often thought of as the best of the many home versions, and playing against a human opponent that sits right next to you is awesome. In no time at all, the 90s flood back to you, as you shoot three baskets in a row to become ‘on fire!’ or you judiciously use your Turbo button to execute some monstrous, gravity-defying dunks. As an arcade take on the sport, NBA Jam: TE was fantastic, and with two players, it’s an absolute blast. Now… the box says it’s only 1 or 2 players… but the screen clearly allows for up to four players to ‘press start’. I need some more local players to test this out! The controls are simple to pick up, the sprites are large and animate just like in the arcade, and the back-and-forth nature of the game of basketball assures that you and your buddy will have a great time. Boom Shakalaka!!
I need a hero!
While playing NBA Jam: TE, our conversation turned to the excellent Streets of Rage series on the Genesis. No Streets of Rage on the Saturn, but we popped in the closest equivalent: Treasure’s outstanding Guardian Heroes! Featuring hand-drawn, fantasy-themed sprites and backgrounds, three planes of action, RPG-esque experience levels and branching paths, this is a beat-em-up masterpiece. Take control of Han, Nicole, Randy or Ginjirou and take to the streets, forests, cloud cities and more as you hack and slash your way to victory. This gem controls great and looks the business, and is exponentially more fun in multiplayer. What’s more, up to six can play in a battle arena contest for superiority! Got friends? Play Guardian Heroes.
In the Navy…
Once done with a beat-em-up, we needed a solid shoot-em-up. Our selection was In the Hunt! Also available on PlayStation (but who cares), this 1993 IREM / Sims Co., Ltd. Game was brought to us courtesy of Kokopeli Digital Studios. You control a submarine (or two, in my buddy and I’s case) and your mission is to blast everything as you progress through the many levels. You can shoot forward, directly up, or drop charges below you, and learning when to use each weapon without thinking is key to success, because this game is HARD. We didn’t make it very far into the game, but it was not hard in an off-putting sort of way. This is a game that will make you want to hone your skills until you become a master. The graphics are hand-drawn, gorgeous 2D very reminiscent of the art style used in Metal Slug (another top 2-player Saturn classic). The only gripe here, aside from the difficulty, is the slowdown which rears it’s ugly head when there is too much going on on-screen, and it’s extra noticeable when playing 2-player. Surely, the Saturn could have done better? Nevertheless, slowdown in a game as hard as this is a blessing in disguise!
The game with many a name
Next up was the underrated schmup, Galactic Attack (Taito, Acclaim), otherwise known as RayForce and also as Layer Section. This is a top-down scrolling shooter. Released early in the Saturn’s life, it was mostly ignored because it represented a traditional take on a mature genre and therefore didn’t represent what had come to be expected from the 32-bit machines. A solid Taito shooter, the gimmick here is that you can shoot lasers straight ahead but you also have a reticle ahead of your ship which locks on to enemies on the layer below you (hence, Layer Section). This dual-layer gameplay is an interesting twist on the genre and is good gameplay – my buddy and I had a blast. Again we didn’t get very far in, but the quality here was undeniable. This game remained exclusive to the Saturn during the 32-bit generation.
To infinity… and beyond!
How about some one on one fighting action, courtesy of Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes? This game really shows what the Saturn is capable of. Massive sprites darting around at scandalous speeds prove once again that when it comes to shifting 2D, Saturn is King. Little known fact: if you have a Japanese 4MB cartridge, the North American version is compatible with it, and results in even more frames of animation for a smooth-as-butter action. The use of the infinity gems is especially apropos given the biggest movie of 2019. Seeing a titanic bout between Juggernaut and Magneto or Hulk is a sight to behold. Colorful, fast, and most importantly, featuring great control, this is one that is not to be missed, and one that hoses the PlayStation version, no contest.
Kaboom!
Our penultimate game was perhaps the most famous (and certainly most versatile!) multiplayer game: Hudson Soft’s Saturn Bomberman! Regarded by many as the high watermark of the series alongside the Super NES’s Bomberman game, this title is perfectly at home on SEGA’s 32-bit workhorse. We played several matches head to head (and against 3 other CPU players) and in no time, we were expertly laying bombs and traps, collecting power-ups, and finding eggs to ride dinosaurs. The arenas are cutesy and well themed and the gameplay is golden. We also gave the 10-player Bomberman a try, albeit with 8 CPU drones. Playing on a 52-inch display was awesome as the play arena is HUGE (and therefore, your characters tiny). What a Bomberman extravaganza! Now look: I happen to own a 6-Player adapter as well as a total of 7 Saturn pads (including the excellent Retro-bit controllers – get yourself one pronto!), so I could conceivably host a 7 player bomb fest! Surely, someone else locally has a 6-player Adapter and 3 more pads, so we can get a proper 10 player game going? If you’re in the Calgary area, reach out… Interestingly, Bomberman is also a NetLink playable title! Check out the SEGA Saturn Shiro! Season 1 Episode 3 cast for all things technical for how to take your Saturn online in 2019. Best of all? This is the only NetLink game that supports up to 4 players at a time (two players on each Saturn). Bring it!
Mindless Destruction
To round out our evening, we pulled out one last 2-player game: Rampage: World Tour (Midway). This 1980s classic was given the 32-bit makeover in terms of graphics and sound, but gameplay-wise, remains the same mindless – yet strangely satisfying – romp as it always was. The goal here is, essentially, to destroy everything in the city you are in. As the name suggests, the game contains cities (levels) from all over the world, so you can really get your destruction on! Smash buildings to smithereens using your fists and feet, and swat away the puny resistance the citizenry put up, in the form of tanks and attack helicopters. Need to restore some health? Grab a hapless human and swallow them up! Just watch for electric shocks and be careful not to step on fire. We made it quite a ways in to this one… this is a game that as a one-player affair can be quite dull, but add a 2nd player and suddenly the mayhem and carnage are a lot more fun! Got Friends? Then this is a recommended release.
Our evening came to a close with Rampage, and it got me thinking that this is just the surface of the North American Saturn multiplayer experience. There is a plethora of sports games that support multiplayer, from serious efforts like the NFL, NBA, NHL and Baseball sims, to other sports like Tennis and Soccer, or even an Olympic game. There are arcade versions of these sports, such as NBA Jam: TE and Extreme, or Space Jam. How about SEGA’s excellent Decathlete (Athlete Kings in the EU) and Winter Heat? Beyond sports, we have some of the finest fighters from the 32-bit era, both in 2D and 3D. Capcom and SEGA excel here, but we must not forget SunSoft or Acclaim / Williams / Midway, with Galaxy Fight or the Mortal Kombat series. Racing? Many options here such as Daytona CCE (and the NetLink Edition), SEGA Rally, Manx TT Superbike, SEGA Touring Car, and others, including oddballs like Sonic R. Puzzle games also make a great multiplayer experience, from Baku Baku to the Bust a Move to Super Puzzle Fighter to the granddaddy of them all, Tetris Plus. There are one-offs as well. How about some deathmatch via the NetLink for Duke Nukem 3D or via the Taisen (Link) cable for Hexen? A 2 player dogfight in Independence Day. A classic destrucathon in Worms. A 3D robot brawler in Robo Pit. An arcade port in Batman Returns. Lastly there are also the shooters like Darius Gaiden and a mountain of Japan-only schmup releases.
Clearly, the Saturn sported a substantial amount of multiplayer experiences, and the vast majority of these were the traditional, local, single-console affairs. There is something very cool about taking a break from single player experiences and beating the tar out of a friend in Street Fighter, or working together in Contra. Sadly, Saturn fans were few and far between when the console was at retail, but the wonders of the internets have opened up avenues to find local Saturn enthusiasts, making these kinds of awesome gaming sessions possible.
What are your favorite Saturn multiplayer experiences? Any standout moments? Favorite 2-player games or genres? Go on, share with us! And remember… you must play SEGA Saturn!
A Saturn fan since the beginning, Peter plays Saturn almost exclusively. For Peter, Saturn represents a moment in time where 2D games were at their best, 3D was just rising, and fascinating gaming ‘firsts’ were commonplace. There are very few Saturn games that Peter cannot find some enjoyment in!
Excellent article Peter and it was an absolute blast playing those amazing games with you that nite! I’ll bring my Japanese shooters and fighters for the next gaming nite 🤩🤘
Great write up, Peter! Saturn Bomberman is indeed a quintessential multiplayer classic. Some of my other favorites are Die Hard Arcade and Virtua Cop 2.
Haven’t tried Death Tank or DT Zwei but I hear they’re excellent.