Best Of Saturn
A late 1997 Japan-only release, Tactics Formula is a self-described tactical board game. It’s a racing game but rather than controlling your vehicle in real time, you select moves in…
Best Of Saturn
Mahjong games were plentiful in Japan, and this 1995 Imagineer-published title gives the strategic game the “18+” yellow-label treatment. Mahou no Janshi: Poe Poe Poemy boils down to a riichi…
Best Of Saturn
Daytona USA roared into gamers’ Saturns at launch in the West as the most hotly anticipated arcade conversion of early 1995. SEGA’s promise of “arcade in the home” was fully…
Best Of Saturn
Demons lurk all over Japan, and Shin Megami Tensei’s Devil Summoners exist to combat them! Play as a student who gets caught up in a titanic struggle between evil supernatural…
Best Of Saturn
Capcom released buckets of Saturn titles, one of these being the mid-1998 Japan-only Pocket Fighters. Utilizing the 4MB cartridge, this arcade port packs a punch — super-deformed “kids” characters from…
Best Of Saturn
In early 1997, Imp produced and NaxatSoft released a polygonal vertical-scrolling shmup Planet Joker. Players take control of a flying mech and proceed to blast, bomb, and otherwise destroy their…
Best Of Saturn
Life is tough for young, budding alchemist Marie, toiling away in her workshop in Salburg. Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg Ver. 1.3 is a Gust-developed December 1997 enhanced port…
Best Of Saturn
In late 1996, arcade-goers were treated to AM1’s The House of the Dead — a light gun game with a horror theme. The enigmatic Dr. Curien, hell-bent on discovering the…
Best Of Saturn
Druid: Pursuer of Darkness is a mid-1998 Koei port of a British 1995 MS-DOS Ultima-like game. In the land of Navan, four master Druids keep peace in the land, but…
Best Of Saturn
Online dating on the Saturn? Sort of! In 1998, SIMS and Dreamcube released the second Message Navi “game” in Japan. The disc is essentially a catalogue of more than 1,000…
Best Of Saturn
Quintet’s Japan-only 1998 genre-blender Code R is part racing game, part dating sim because, let’s face it, it is the ’90s! Featuring various modes including battle mode, time attack, and…
Best Of Saturn
It began on the wings of an armored blue dragon… the Panzer Dragoon series is perhaps the premier Saturn franchise, helping launch the system in the West with the first…
Best Of Saturn
Taito’s 1996 release Tokyo Shadow is a cool mix of FMV and graphic adventure. You are Hide, and along with your girlfriend Kyoko, you are investigating a supernatural lightning strike…
Best Of Saturn
Exciting Slot Shooting is a curious game, fusing top-down shooting with… a slot machine component! Looking like a Technicolor reverse Space Invaders, different colored monsters are released in waves from…
Best Of Saturn
Published by SEGA and released in late 1995, X Japan Virtual Shock 001 can best be described as an FMV walking simulator where the player takes on the role of…
Best Of Saturn
Something mysterious has fallen from space and crashed into the Pacific, near the underwater military research facility the Big Table. As a member of the Emergency Rescue Service, you take…
Best Of Saturn
A 1995 side-scrolling beat-em-up courtesy of Technosoft, Nekketsu Oyako (roughly, Hot Blooded Family) is a colorful one- to two-player affair. Family matriarch and scientist Saeko has been captured — take…
Best Of Saturn
Fall 1998 saw the release of Simulation RPG Creator, a build-your-own-SRPG program that allowed aspiring gamers to develop their own Ogre Battle or Final Fantasy Tactics epic. The game is…
Best Of Saturn
A late 1997 release, Athena’s Dezaemon 2 is a shmup-builder. Although it features some pre-built levels, the game’s focus is to allow players to put together the shmup of their…
Best Of Saturn
Capcom’s Saturn development was among the very best, and one of their finest examples is Vampire Savior — an excellent port of their third Darkstalkers game. Released in Japan in…
Best Of Saturn
Developed by J-Force and by SEGA Japan and releasing worldwide in 1996, Dragon Force immediately became a juggernaut Saturn game, earning great contemporary reviews and awards and truly showcasing the…
Best Of Saturn
MediaWorks’ 1995 PC Engine game AnEarth Fantasy Stories got a straightforward Saturn port in March 1997. A role-playing game focused more on exploration and puzzle solving than combat, it begins…
Best Of Saturn
Atlus developed Groove On Fight for the ST-V Titan arcade board in 1997, which meant a near-flawless Saturn conversion followed suit. A 2D fighter featuring teams of two that can…
Best Of Saturn
Ho ho ho! SEGA was the ultimate innovating force in the business for many years, and what finer way to reward their loyal fans than to release a completely free,…
Best Of Saturn
Virtua Fighter 2 — perennially on Saturn Top 5 all-time lists, this superb arcade conversion hit in late 1995 and helped redefine what the Saturn was capable of. Very aware…
Best Of Saturn
Developed by Scarab and published by SEGA exclusively in Japan in December 1995, Godzilla: Shock on the Archipelago is a real-time strategy game. You control the Japanese defense forces and…
Best Of Saturn
The 1980s were a golden age for anime in Japan, with Super Dimension Fortress Macross standing amongst the greats with a tale of aliens attacking a futuristic Earth. The Saturn…
Best Of Saturn
A 1997 2D beat-em-up, Asuka 120% Burning Festival Limited is set at an all-girls school in Japan. Here, students represent various clubs and factions, and compete in a martial arts…
Best Of Saturn
Shmup fans are well-catered to on the Saturn, having access to fresh titles as well as compilations of past-generation games. Enter Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus: Salamander (1987), LifeForce (the 1988…
Best Of Saturn
Frequently rated amongst the Saturn’s greatest titles, 1995’s SEGA Rally Championship hit the system with a mission — to show the world that the Saturn can competently handle 3D graphics….
Best Of Saturn
Eidos’ first foray into Saturn development, 1996’s CrimeWave is a vehicular combat game viewed from an overhead perspective. The streets of Mekeo City are overrun with crime and it’s your…
Best Of Saturn
Nowadays we take some types of games for granted as simple freeware or shareware, but in the Saturn’s heyday, they were full-fledged standalone releases. Aquazone could perhaps fall into this…
Best Of Saturn
Every legend needs a hero… and perhaps after Craig Stadler, the next biggest Saturn sports hero is Minnesota Fats himself! Minnesota Fats Pool Legend is a 1995 Data East release…
Best Of Saturn
An action-adventure with a good dose of Metroidvania sensibilities and a touch of RPG trappings, the Story of Thor 2/The Legend of Oasis landed as a 1996 sleeper hit. Join…
Best Of Saturn
1997’s Voice Fantasia is perhaps best described as a minigame-driven RPG-like hodgepodge title reliant on copious voice acting as its main draw. In the game, three crazy girls must use…