[Editor’s note: This story was updated March 29 to add Sascha’s name, clarify that Project Neon does not use WiFi for online multiplayer, add details about the cartridge prototype’s expected timeframe and embed the SHIRO! Show in which Sascha spoke about his project.]
An indie developer is porting their shoot-em-up from Neo Geo to the Saturn, and they plan to distribute it in a unique way: via cartridge.
Fullset posted a video Sunday on X showing a build of Project Neon running on a Saturn.
Project Neon is being ported to the Saturn using the Jo Engine software development kit, Fullset’s programmer Sascha told SHIRO! on X.
“Just started recently, but it’s about 80% done by now,” Sascha said on X. “Just waiting for our cartridge prototypes before continuing as that will make a few things easier.”
The developer explained their plan to release Project Neon on a cartridge that will include WiFi for downloading updates to the game after launch.
“This will release on a special cartridge so that there will be no loading times, no disc rot, no Action Replay needed to boot CD without the wobble,” Sascha told SHIRO!, “and most importantly, it can be upgraded and has the WiFi chip for netplay.”
The wobble he referenced is the security ring pressed into retail Saturn discs.
While Project Neon doesn’t use WiFi for online multiplayer — it has couch co-op — such functionality could be possible in future projects. Using built-in WiFi would sidestep the need for gamers to have a NetLink or Xband modem cartridge, which can cost more than US$100 these days.
“The gamecode can talk to a co-processor on the cartridge via a specific memory address range,” Sascha said. “That chip has WiFi, and from there it’s a simple TCP connection to a game server. We already have this running on our Neo Geo cartridge, it will work the same way.”
Cartridge development and cost
When the Fullset team launched Project Neon in 2024, it came on Neo Geo cartridges that also included WiFi functionality for downloading updates. Fullset sold them for US$381.
A high price isn’t unusual for Neo Geo games but it’s likely far more than what a Saturn cartridge would cost. That said, a price for the Saturn port hasn’t been announced yet.
Sascha said March 27 on the SHIRO! Show that the team needs to finish designing the cartridges to nail down a final price for consumers, but he guessed it might cost about US$120 to $150. He also said he expects to get prototypes of the cartridge in the next four to eight weeks.
Sascha spoke live on the SHIRO! Show on March 27 to discuss Project Neon as well as an upcoming project named Overserved. You can check out that segment below at the 53:34 mark:
On X, SHIRO!’s friend Bob from RetroRGB asked Sascha about the cartridge board’s manufacturing quality.
“Please remember to make sure the cartridge is beveled, chamfered and the proper thickness; many Saturn carts get this wrong and it will damage your console,” Bob said on X.
Sascha allayed his fears, replying, “Yeah, all of that plus correct voltage usage.”
Fullset spent six years working on Project Neon, beginning the project in 2019, as Ray Commend reported for RetroRGB at the time. The sci-fi shmup is meant to be played in tate mode — that is, vertically on a screen that’s been turned on its side. It does have a mode to swap its controls and graphics to yoko — horizontal — mode, though.
The developer has a new game in the works, already, too: Fullset began developing an eight-player battle arena game in the vein of Saturn Bomberman named “Overserved: Food Fighters!” early last year. It’s planned to feature crossplay on platforms including Neo Geo, Saturn, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, tvOS and Android.
“Only fair for a spiritual successor of Saturn Bomberman, ya reckon?” Sascha said about a Saturn version of Overserved.
Amazing stuff!
I always thought that SEGA could had made the Saturn backwards compatible with the Genesis/Sega CD/32X using the cartridge slot, and the CD for the Sega CD (obviously), in the same veins as the Power Base Converter, that would make the Saturn the ultimate SEGA machine, I know it has a x68000 variant inside, wouldn’t that be great? I think so!