Many would argue that one of the Saturn’s finest aspects was its controllers. The basic controller was the Final Evolution of the Mega Drive/Genesis pad; it took the overall shape of the 16-bit version, added an extra row of three buttons (in the style of the special-edition Six-Button Pad), shrunk the design slightly, and added two shoulder buttons, while keeping the distinctive Sega 8-way D-Pad intact. This not only gave the pad a high level of precision, but the presence of all six buttons on the face meant that gamers who had been crying out for a pad to give them the same comforts as their arcade sticks would finally be appeased. However, the initial reaction to the pad in its original, bundled-with-the-machine form, was not favorable. In a reverse of the problems Microsoft had with the X-Box controller, gamers complained that the original pad was too small. As a result, Sega released a newer, larger version that quickly became the standard.

One of the Saturn’s other best-known controllers is the 3D Analog Pad that shipped with NiGHTS Into Dreams. Looking at it now, it’s easy to see how the design of the pad could be considered a prototype for the Dreamcast controller. And indeed, based on the overwhelmingly positive reception for analog controllers in general at the time (the N64’s analog stick launched nearly at the same time, but still drew praise from many players when it arrived), as well as the durability and ergonomics of the pad itself, and it’s not hard to see why Sega chose that design to model the default controller for their next machine on. Whilst the pad was designed primarily for use with NiGHTS, its versatility came to the fore when code houses started making use of the function for other games. Manx TT Superbike is just one example, where the analog pad was used to give the sort of precise racing-game experience that had previously only been possible with steering wheel add-ons. The influences of this pad can still be seen today: One need only compare the X-Box pad to the Saturn’s analog one to see the obvious R&D debt that Microsoft owe Sega.

And, of course, there is the Arcade Stick. Lauded even now as THE joystick for fighting games. Distinctive, with its six buttons facing, and the short-stick-with-knob-on (yes, just like a Wizard’s Staff…), it was an exact replica of the stick used in many arcades; particularly, it was the same layout used for the games that were ported to the Saturn, thus allowing gamers to practice, on their arcade-perfect conversions, without having to make allowances for using a different controller at home.

All in all, the Saturn managed to pack a whole lot of controller advancement into its all-too-brief lifespan. And in so doing, it laid the foundations for a generation of new controllers.

- Misha

PANZER DRAGOON TRILOGY When the first Panzer Dragoon came out, it was visually impressive, both as a 3D Saturn title and in general. While a touch nondescript at times, it was worlds away from what many gamers were used to from consoles, and between the incredibly solid visuals and the style Sega managed to cram onto the disc, it was visually pleasing to play the game. But it wasn’t just style with no substance, make no mistake; PD revolutionized the on-rails shooter. PD changed the spray and pray gameplay shooters tended to exhibit by introducing the lock-on shot: basically, you aim in the general direction of a monster or ship or whatever, and targets pop up on it. When you’ve hit your target limit, you let fly with multiple shots all at once instead of mashing the shot button. It’s a simple innovation, but with that change, PD became less about spam shooting and more about thoughtful targeting. It also improved the possibilities for such games; by changing the play dynamics, more complex concepts could be fitted into what was essentially a simple genre. Bottom line: games like Rez that you all love, while great, most likely wouldn’t even EXIST without the PD Trilogy. The first two titles are similar games, though PD Zwei (the second title) is far more in depth, featuring more detailed graphics, the “Berserk” meter (think of it as a super bomb), multiple level paths, and the ability to evolve your dragon into different forms. All told, Zwei was basically a good game becoming even better. The third title, Panzer Dragoon Saga, however, was where things got REALLY interesting. Take the gameplay mechanics the series was known for, and turn it into a FOUR DISC RPG. Pretty neat, eh? Aside from being the best looking of the three titles, PDS was far more storyline-focused, and featured more exposition into the nature of things than in prior titles. There were also all sorts of novel RPG-esque elements crammed into the game, like being able to explore freely on dragonback and bonding with your dragon to enhance its performance, which were simultaneously surprising and highly welcome. Perhaps most interesting of all were the combat mechanics, which blended the concepts of the PD universe with real time/turn based combat dynamics, resulting in a game experience unlike any other. The combat was a simple affair to understand, but with other elements like sky position (your location in the sky dictates how much damage you give and receive) and the ability to transform your dragon on the fly, you were definitely in for an innovative experience. Unfortunately, there were only like five copies of the game pressed for American release, so finding it for under $100 is practically impossible, but it’s well worth it, as it’s one of Sega’s greatest titles ever. That the franchise lives on beyond the death of the Saturn is proof enough honestly, of how truly great Panzer Dragoon truly is. Mark B.

I picked up Guardian Heroes the same day I picked up my Saturn, in June of 1996, that summer between High School and College for me. I grabbed a few games: D, Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game, Mystara/Blazing Heroes, and then out of the corner of my eye I saw this other game that I’d never heard of. And I considered myself an astute gamer. After all I read all the mags. (Ah the arrogance of our teenager years, eh?) I’d never seen EGM or GamePro mention this game. And me always being curious about games I had never heard of or read about, picked it up. This curiosity lead me to both Shining Forces, to Lunar and Popful mail, to Y’s. And that innate spider-sense was tingling yet again. The cover artwork was awful. But the back? It looked really interesting. Like a cross between Street Fighter and a Royal Rumble game. Six players at once in beat ‘em up matches? I couldn’t even do that in the Wrestlemania game I was about to buy! AND there was a full length game about a giant Undead warrior sacking a human kingdom… and that was the good guy? I was so there! I pulled out a wad of cash and there we were. I had my sports game, my RPG, my spooky first person point and click game and my… I wasn’t sure. My mystery game. This should last me all summer I thought. Little did I know my entire summer of gaming would be spent playing Guardian Heroes and little else. I didn’t even touch D until college. And the others? Well, they got used a bit, but Wrestlemania was a 5th rate game compared to the fun my unsuspecting friends and I were to have with Guardian Heroes and our little wrestling federation we made with the dozens of playable characters on this game.

Guardian Heroes is a combination of so many genres. You have the Role Playing game in the fact you get to level up at the end of each chapter and spend points on raising your abilities. You have the Fighting Game aspects in which you can use fighting game style attacks instead of cycling through a menu. And of course the six player battle royal action. You had the 2D side scrolling action that you could find in Contra or Castlevania or any of a number of old school awesome games. But most of all, it reminded me of the very addicting (To the point where I bought the actual arcade console) Capcom Dungeons and Dragons game. In fact, that is probably the best way to describe it to those of you who have never played Guardian Heroes. Think a home version of Dungeons and Dragons: The Arcade Game but BETTER. (Of course there is a home version of that game. Only for the Sega Saturn of course.)

The story of Guardian Heroes is about 5 heroes trying to save their Kingdom from an evil Mage named Kanon. These heroes are Han, the Blue Knight; Randy, the apprentice wizard with his sidekick Nando, the bunny that turns into a fireball; Nicole, the smart mouthed princess; Ginjirou, the wise and lightening fast Ninja; and Serena, the leader of Kanon’s red knights and actually the deposed Princess of the original Royal Family. (Note that Serena is not playable until you beat the game for the first time). Each character has their own specialty, but my favorite is Randy for he has the most magic, a super fast attack, and the bunny, who was my Pikachu before there was a Pikachu.

The heroes find a magical sword that they think might aid them against Kanon. Unknowingly, the blade summons the Golden Undead Warrior, a hero prophesized to save the kingdom in its darkest hour. Together, these now SIX warriors battle through 30 stages and MULTIPLE endings depending on what path your characters take. It’s simply incredible. There’s even incentive to cover every ending and path, for each path has characters you can only find on them. Characters that once you beat, are unlockable in the player vs player arena mode!

Playing the game has so many options, I hope I don’t forget any. The Golden Undead Warrior adds an extra level of strategy to the game. You can set him on anything from “Stand there like a rock” to “HULK SMASH!” The fact you have control over his AI really changes how the game flows. Personally, I never turn him on unless there’s a boss fight. That way I get all the experience from killing the bad guys, and then at a boss fight, I can sit back, relax and watch crazy boy do all the work until it’s ready to die, then I swoop in for the kill and collect all those yummy XP. And if the fact you can control the Golden Undead Warrior’s setting to change the difficulty level doesn’t impress you, there are also three difficultly levels to play with. Easy is a cakewalk and gives you 99 lives, but you can’t unlock any characters that you defeat for Arena Mode.

Quite possibly my favorite aspect of the game is the fact there are three fields you can fight on. By fields I mean planes. There is a layer closest to the screen, a middle layer, and one all the way in the back. It gives the game a 3D field, as you can be battling in the back, while your friend is up front. This also gives you an extra level of strategy to the game, from moving to a different plane to avoid an attack, to splitting up enemy forces for a two pronged (three if you have a friend, FOUR if it is a stage with Serena as an NPC) attack on the bad guys. No other game has ever touched on this type of control scheme, and it’s a shame, because it is amazing. Simply amazing.

And then there is the music. My god is the soundtrack heavenly. You can stick the game disc in your CD player and it will run through all the tracks. I burned a copy of just the music and I actually have it in my car. Almost a decade later, I still listen to it and it gets the blood pumping and fills me with nostalgia. Especially that opening theme. One of the greatest tracks ever in a video game. I defy anyone to listen to that and not go, “Wow, that’s awesome.”

Yes friends, Guardian Heroes has it all. It can not be classified by one genre, as it encompasses so many. It transcends those genres. It does everything RIGHT. There are no crappy control problems. No ugly graphics. No terrible music or sound effects. No boring plot with characters that never really develop. No. This game has no flaw. NONE. It gets everything right. And it goes above and beyond just any old game by loading itself up with extras. The Vs Arena mode alone makes the game double in value. What other game besides Guardian Heroes on the Sega Saturn lets SIX people play against each other in a Wrestling/Street Fighter style game…all at once! There’s the unlockable characters, the half a dozen endings, and 30 different levels. The music, the characters, the gameplay, the fireball bunny, the constant intricacies in the story, and the ability to play this game over and over and to never grow sick of it.

Reviewers and VG journalists often talk about a system seller. Games like Halo for the Xbox, Final Fantasy 7 (ugh) for the PSX, Bonk for the Turbo-Grafx, Lunar and Snatcher for the Sega CD, and so on. But the problem is those games are often niche and limited. I hate FPS games, so why would I buy an Xbox just for that? Final Fantasy to me is a horrible game plot wise with 2-D characters and boring combat sequences but jaw dropping graphics and music for its day. Lunar? I can get it for the PSX for cheaper than the Sega CD version and it’s got better animations. But Guardian Heroes? It appeals to fans of so many different genres, it’s a catch-all game. This is truly that “If you only own one game for a system, make it this one” game. It’s the first game I ever owned for the Sega Saturn, and it will be the last. It’s a true masterpiece and I beseech everyone reading this to try it, to savor it; to fall in love with this game like so many millions before you have. It might not be your favorite game in the world, but it will be one you can’t help but call great.

And the less said about that failed abortion known as Advance Guardian Heroes for the GBA… the better.

- Alex Lucard.

ASTAL The story begins when the Goddess Antowas created the world known as Quartalia. She constructed the world out of a multitude of gems. Gems for the land, gems for sea, and gems for pretty much everything else. Including the humans! Out of a green jewel, Antowas created Leda, a girl who had the power to create life. Out of a red jewel, Antowas created Astal, a boy who had the power to… um… kick the living crap out of anything that moves. He was pretty much Leda’s bodyguard, and he took his job very, VERY seriously. Such as chucking boulders at snails that got within ten yards of her. Still, the reckless youth and charming lass developed quite a bond between each other, and were always together… until a giant douche demon by the name of Jerado decided to go and muck everything up. He created his own human by the name of Geist out of a black jewel, and sent him to capture Leda. Geist did as he was ordered, and Astal chased after him with a fierceness no one could comprehend. Astal practically tore the planet apart in saving the poor girl, and ended up cracking the ocean in the process. Astal saved Leda, but the Goddess Antowas was INCREDIBLY pissed off about the whole ordeal. She decided to banish Astal from the planet by chaining him to an asteroid, but before he left, Leda gave him the green jewel she possessed. Later, Antowas defeated the evil Jerado and sealed him away. Of course everyone conveniently forgot about Geist, who hung in the shadows until the time was right. Antowas fell back into a deep sleep, and Geist seized the moment capturing Leda AGAIN. Astal saw this, and with his rage broke free from his eternal prison. Returning to Quartalia, however, he found the world was slowly falling under Jerado’s control without the watchful eye of Antowas. The once peaceful creatures had transformed into hideous beasts. And partway into his journey, he frees a captured bird that for some reason won’t stop following him. So now it is up to Astal and his new companion to save his home, as well as find the balance to his own power. Thus begins one of the first, and best, 2D platform games the Saturn had to offer us. As you can see in the story, the crux of Astal’s abilities came in the form of pounding the crap out of things. He could smack baddies all across the screen, as well as lifting incredibly heavy objects and tossing them with ease. He also possessed a Kirby-like ability to inhale deeply and blow winds up to 150 MPH, dealing with any enemy in his path. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the game is the bird companion you run into during the first stage. As you play, you’ll accumulate “karma points”. You can use those karma points to make your bird do various things, including attacking enemies and fetching health power-ups / extra lives. You also have the option of playing a two-player game with the bird as the second character. The main draws of the game, however, are the stunning visuals. The character sprites were top notch for its time, and animated incredibly well. The backgrounds were BEAUTIFUL. They were clear, shiny, and consisted of a myriad of colors. Walking through those stages was akin to walking through several works of art. The bosses also were built to take advantage of Astal’s abilities. Boss on fire? Blow air to put him out! Boss charging at you full speed? Pick him up mid-charge and chuck him across the screen! Astal captured and can’t move? Have the BIRD SMACK THE BOSS AROUND!!! This was a platform game that just SCREAMED to be played. And it still screams to be played today. YA-TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Alex Williams

GRANDIA By the same team that brought us Lunar, ESP Software gave us yet another game about growing up, and finding maturity and wisdom through life’s experiences. However, with Grandia, we received a completely different take on this theme. Where Lunar was a game about developing romantic relationships and focused on several couples, Grandia focused more on the concept of making friends throughout your life and how they give you strength, a shoulder to cry on, and help you to become a better person. There is only one romantic relationship in this game, that of Justin (the main character) and Feena, and it is one of the best developed relationships in any video game. Unlike Luna and Alex who have the perfect seamless relationship where they are in love from day one, and their true wonderful perfect love saves the world, Justin and Feena’s relationship is far more realistic. They start off as acquaintances, become friends, get to know each other, begin to open up and reveal intimate aspects of themselves, and then eventually become lovers. The characters are so much more developed than in Lunar too. Each character is flawed and has a personality that isn’t ‘perfect’. Justin is cocky, arrogant, and often gets his friends into trouble with his rash behavior. He is cowardly sometimes, and truly acts like a teenager, full of the conflicting emotions and actions that one is filled with while in that age bracket. Same with all of the other characters that populate Grandia. Sue is a preteen and thus is immature, pouts, and reacts like a small child would to these events around her. Well, how a small child with magic powers and a strange mystical animal for a pet would react, but you get my point. But it’s the engine of Grandia that makes the game so fantastic. Grandia used an engine that combined real time combat along with turn based strategic combat. In Grandia when a battle (None of which are random btw, thank god) happens, your characters and their opponents are all based on a battle map featuring various topography. At the top of the screen is a bar that shows their charge time. When a character’s icon reaches the first checkpoint of a bar, you can choose their action, and when it reaches the second, they act on it. Things to take into consideration are the distances they are away from you, what type of weapon or spell you have and how long of a time that particular action will take to get you from the first check point to the second. Also of note is certain attacks can cancel your opponents, sending them back to the very beginning of the bar. But my favorite aspect? The way experience is handled. Everything has experience. You use a sword, you get sword experience. You use a fire spell, you get fire experience. And the more you use it, the stronger your character gets. It’s wonderful. Grandia was the first game you could truly customize a character however you wanted. I really enjoyed this and it increased the replay value several fold for me. Grandia was sadly (like many, many games), one of those RPG’s that made the Saturn the best system of all time for this genre of gaming, but remained solely on Japanese shores, until an inferior port was brought over to the PSX in 1999-2000. No matter what system you play it on, it’s a game that helped redefine the entire genre. Alex Lucard

Ya know that “new videogame smell”? The breeze that comes from a freshly broken seal as you open up the jewel case? That smell was especially mystifying for NiGHTS, or so my heightened senses lead me to believe. I bought the box set that came with the new 3D Analog Pad and simply seeing the new controller was a marvel in of itself. Forget the feel of the innovative but awkward N64 controller; THIS is what a 3D pad should feel like. And I just knew that a controller this perfect and intuitive packaged in along with a game must mean that there’s something equally special about the actual game. Plus the box art was awesome and all dreamy-like. I even loved the instruction manual. Every single thing about seeing, obtaining, and opening NiGHTS Into Dreams was exciting and brilliant in some way.

So with a little bit of drool falling from my lower lip, I popped the disc into my Saturn and prepared for the ride of my life. I started playing and wow, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe how… uh, confused I was. What the blood clot am I supposed to be doing here? There were rings to fly through, enemies to destroy, crystals all over the place, obstacles everywhere, and a clock timer ticking time away. A bit overwhelming at first but thankfully I got the hang of things. As a matter of fact, once I caught on the game was a snap. But it was just as quick that I got used to the smooth control and intuitive gameplay that it was all over. Yes, I mean over as in DONE. That was it. Seven levels, a few bosses and the trip had ended. My disappointment was devastating. I remember beating NiGHTS and just feeling… empty. Like I had gotten gypped. Where was my masterpiece? I’d just beaten what many would come to consider the greatest game ever made… and I just didn’t get it.

That was what my first play-through was like with NiGHTS Into Dreams. And looking back, I wasn’t alone. Others within the gaming industry felt similar. At the time of its release, NiGHTS just didn’t attain the mass market success of its greatest rival during that generation, Super Mario 64. Reviewers back then, outside dedicated Saturn magazines and websites, handed the game respectable to moderate scores. Comments ran the gauntlet of, “I don’t get it. What’s the point of the game? Why is it so short?”, or “Great first effort by Yuji Naka, but why isn’t his first Saturn game Sonic The Hedgehog?”, and “Yeah it’s pretty good, but Super Mario 64 rocks my world ten ways to Tuesday.” Yup, same things I was thinking. But ah, ask anyone today? Complete revisionist history. NiGHTS is all but universally regarded as an all-time classic. We’ve got hardcore cult followings. We’ve got fan sites out the wah-zoo. We’ve got never ending online petitions for a sequel. We’ve got game journalists unable even to conduct an interview with Yuji Naka without subtlety alluding to or all out blatantly begging for another edition of the game. Slobbering lunatic fans the world over see it as gaming perfected. It’s recognized and celebrated on such a mass level that it’s just overwhelming.

So what was it that I and several others were missing back then? I can’t speak for everyone else. But where I had gone wrong was that I simply PLAYED the game. To just turn it on, blaze through the levels, and finish it all in record time was to miss the whole point. NiGHTS was to be experienced. One had to slow down and savor it. It wasn’t about beating the game; it was about beating your best scores. It was about getting wrapped up in the superb level design, imaginative character design, and captivating world. It was about the sensation of flight and the fun of experiencing its freedom. I was expecting the intense, instant gratification of a “Sonic The Hedgehog”. What I actually got was so much more.

What I got was a classic, memorable, enchanting story. Elliot Edwards and Claris Sinclair are two children living in the city of Twin Seeds who have both recently gone through a personal life crisis and as a result are plagued by nightmares. Their dreams bring them into the world of Nightopia where they get caught up in events much larger than their own insecurities. An evil creature known as Wizeman the Wicked is amassing dream energy, called “Ideya”, to gain complete control of the dream world. All is not lost, as the kids come in contact with a Nightmaren (nightmare-dweller) who has sided with all that is good and rebelled against the tyranny of Wizeman. His name? NiGHTS. Because Elliot and Claris possess the one type of Ideya that Wizeman can not steal, that of bravery, the children are able to team up with NiGHTS to recover the stolen Ideya, defeat the remaining loyal Nightmarens, save the world of Nightopia, and gain release from their own nightmares. Inspired, original, and imaginative, the narrative here is one of the reasons why I love this game so. The world of NiGHTS Into Dreams grabs hold of your heart and imagination and then never let you go.

What I got was breathtaking graphics. Aside from some minor clipping issues, this is the most “beautiful” game on Sega Saturn. A rainbow of brilliant, flashy color fills the screen with bustling activity comprising what is some of the most gorgeous level design you’ll have ever seen. Bursting with atmosphere, the thought and planning that has gone into every aspect of each fully 3D world is just wonderful to behold. And a visual departure from the bright happiness that is this game’s main stages is the appropriately disturbing boss battles. From an enormous beach ball colored bouncing balloon opera singing rabbit to a boss based on playing cards that looks like a maniacal Joker from the deck, each Nightmaren Dream Boss is an imaginative graphical splendor. Fighting these ingenious abominations, you truly feel like you’re trapped in a twisted nightmare. Plus NiGHTS himself is a marvel to behold as he flips, spins, loop-de-loops and zips around the screen with such beautiful ease that it needs to be seen to be fully appreciated.

What I got was excellent music and sound. There’s just something special about this game’s soundtrack. With orchestrations befitting a dream world, NiGHTS’s music is serene yet exciting evoking happiness and wonder in the player. Hardly could there be a better fit for the images coming across your screen than the mystifying compositions this game offers.

What I got was tight, responsive control and gameplay honed to perfection. Ground movement with Claris or Elliot is in full 3D, with the ability to manipulate the camera to see a variety of angles as in most platformers. The real meat of gameplay, however, takes place in 2.5D flight and this is where the game really shines. A simple control scheme allows NiGHTS to link together and perform over 50 acrobatic maneuvers. In no small thanks to the Saturn’s analog controller, movement is so natural and fluid that this is the attribute fans most exalt when trying to convey the greatness of this game. To achieve the goal of recovering Wizeman’s stolen Ideya NiGHTS must collect 20 blue chips and deliver them to the “Ideya Capture”, which will then overload and release the orb it holds. After destroying four Captures, NiGHTS is then transported to a boss fight against one of Wizeman’s Nightmaren henchmen. A huge part of gameplay is the grading and points system. Simply, the more points you earn the higher your grade for the stage. One does not need to earn the highest grade possible to progress through the levels (although earning all “A” grades will slightly alter the ending), but the true fun comes in mastering NiGHTS various moves and techniques, stringing together long chains of aerial combos in order to build up points ala sort of a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater but without the restriction of gravity. You see, for all its flash, bells and whistles, and storyline components, NiGHTS is, at its heart, a Score Attack game. This fact takes what would otherwise be quite a short experience and adds endless replayability to it. Between the addictive nature of the game’s combo system and the impulsive and intuitive control, Yuji Naka and Sonic Team have created a title that transcends generations of consoles and stands the test of time as a true gaming classic.

What I got was Reala. An evil version of NiGHTS, Reala was also created by Wizeman as a First Level Nightmaren. NiGHTS and Reala share similar powers with both having the ability to fly and perform amazing aerial stunts, but while NiGHTS used his free will to rebel against Wizeman, Reala revels in his evil and has remained loyal to his creator. This is relevant because as a cool bonus, defeating Reala for the first time will unlock a 2-player VS mode, in which you and another player can dog-fight it out using these ying-yang rivals.

What I got was “A-Life”. Short for “Artificial Life,” imagine it as a large scale Tamagotchi-style mini-game built right into the world. The world of Nightopia is inhabited by small beings, appropriately called Nightopians. These creatures go about flying, singing, building things, taking naps, throwing snowballs at each other, pointing the way toward goals, and other various cute-like tomfoolery. Sometimes they’ll even mate creating an egg that, if NiGHTS touches, hatches into a new Nightopian who shares the traits of its parents. Nightopians you’ve helped by hatching react more friendly toward the player, while Nightopians you’ve made fearful by nearly hitting them or by killing their brethren (yes, you can kill them) will avoid and run away from you. The game even features an evolving music engine, allowing tempo, pitch, and melody to alter depending on the moods of these creatures and how you treat them. A neat trick is knocking a defeated Nightmaren enemy into a Nightopian or into one of their eggs. This results in Mepians, genetically mutated Nightopians that end up looking quite disturbing but amusing nonetheless. None of this needed to be included, yet it was just another pleasant addition that made the experience all the more unique and replayable.

What I got was one of the most engrossing gaming experiences of my entire life. By my 60th addictiveness filled play-through of NiGHTS Into Dreams, with no apparent end in sight, I finally realized what it was all about. The point of the game isn’t to just finish but rather to experience everything it has to offer. The enchanting story. The mystical world. The beautiful visuals. The striking music. The perfect control. The endless playability. The cute little extras. All of these aspects and so much more came together to create a gameplay experience unique and unparalleled. NiGHTS Into Dreams is one of those games that the longer you play it, the more you discover to enjoy about it. For that reason it will forever be one of my favorite games of all time.

Do yourself a favor; hunt down a Sega Saturn, get this game, open up your heart and imagination and experience the magic that is NiGHTS Into Dreams.

- Bebito Jackson

Before Xbox 360. Before Xbox. Before PS2. Before Dreamcast. As early as the 32-bit generation, Sega became the pioneer in the console online gaming revolution with the Sega Saturn. In 1996 Sega released the NetLink (or Seganet as known in Japan) forever changing the console gaming world. Originally slated at the retail price of $99.99, the Netlink is a 28.8 kbit/s modem that fits snuggly into the cartridge port at the top of the Saturn.

With the introduction of the NetLink Sega had two goals in mind. One was to create an alternative for surfing the internet. The thought was that computers were retailing around $1,200 at the time and the Saturn/NetLink combo would serve as a cheap, affordable alternative. This is evidenced by the fact that it was packaged with a web browser from PlanetWeb and that later a mouse and keyboard adapter was also made available. Of course the second more obvious goal was online gaming. While limited in library, sporting only 5 compatible games, the NetLink titles were more than proficient. Gamers had Duke Nukem 3D, Daytona CCE Championship Edition, Saturn Bomberman, Sega Rally, and Virtual On to sink their teeth into.

Alas, success was not in the cards for the NetLink, as very few units were sold during the Saturn’s lifespan. Due to the high price (Yes, $99 was far less than a grand for a PC, but that cost was on top of buying the actual console. And we’d be silly to compare the functionality of a PC to the Saturn.) along with the very limited selection of compatible online games, for many gamers the NetLink just wasn’t practical. Sega learned from some of its mistakes and later rectified this problem with the ill-fated Dreamcast including a modem right out of the box and offering a far larger range of available online games.

So yes, it all started right here, kids. The NetLink is just another reason why the Saturn was so revolutionary. The Saturn was the first console with a 1st party created and supported online gaming peripheral. It was also the first console to allow players to use their own internet service provider. Gamers take this sort of stuff for granted today but this was HUGE for its time. The NetLink pioneered the online gaming phenomena starting a chain reaction that continued with the Dreamcast and has passed down to our current console generation. It paved the way for the SOCOMs, Project Gotham Racings, online EA Sports titles, and HALOs of our day. So next time you boot up Xbox Live or upload your Final Fantasy XI persona, please remember where it all started… and pay homage.

- Bebito Jackson

VIRTUAL ON The first time I played Virtual On, at all, was at a Best Buy demo kiosk. At the time, while on a lunch break, I stopped by to try it out, having absolutely no idea what sort of game it might be, but finding interest in the giant robots. After four or five lunch breaks, I was hooked, and I bought it the next chance I could. Since then, I’ve had my fun with the original game, and while I’ve purchased VO:Mars and VO: Oratorio Tangram, the first edition still remains my personal favorite. Maybe it’s because it was the first, maybe it’s because I’d never really had a chance to play anything quite like it before, or maybe it’s because it was yet another game to justify my love of the Saturn. And hey, it is because of VO as a franchise that I’ve developed interest in similar titles, like Armored Core and Gundam titles. Whatever the case, make no mistake: when it comes to giant robot fighting games, VO is easily one of the best. If you’ve never played VO before, here’s the deal: pick a robot, drop into an arena, and beat the hell out of the opposing robot. The robots themselves were your standard Gundam-esque battle robots, from the more heroically designed Temjin right down to the traditional female robot, but they were all chock full of personality. It didn’t hurt that VO was damn sexy. The battle environments weren’t super great, but each of the robots looked great, whether stationary or in motion. The controls were complex (partly because the arcade machine had dual stick design, which the Saturn controllers didn’t emulate), but before you knew it, you’d find yourself madly dashing around the arena, trying desperately to nail your opponent before he or she nailed you. It was a definite rush at the time, and still holds up pretty well today. And this is expanded further by the Netlink Edition, which basically allowed you to play Virtual On, ONLINE, against others. While the systems were nowhere near as fleshed out as, say, XBOX Live, and yeah, you were playing with a 28.8 connection, for a primarily console gamer, this was a serious innovation, one that I embraced whole-heartedly. It doesn’t hold up as well today, sadly, but nothing really compares to getting online and jacking someone up with Temjin (yes, he’s my favorite, no shock there). Bottom line, if you played Virtual On, you remember it. It was far and away ahead of its time in design and gameplay, and with online play available, it remains one of the most entertaining Saturn games ever made. While its legacy has been eclipsed by more developed products over the years, fans know and respect what Sega accomplished with this title in creating the very first mech fighter that allowed movement in all three dimensions. Its legacy and impact lives on. Mark B.

MEGA MAN 8 Mega Man’s appeared on many different platforms in his fifteen-plus years of existence, but during his 10th anniversary celebration in 1997-1998, Capcom saw fit to release Mega Man 8 on both the Playstation and the Saturn. Say what you will about Sega’s doomed console, but if you’re going to play MM8, the Saturn version is indeed far superior. The Saturn is and always was designed to be a 2D powerhouse. MM8 makes excellent use of this; the graphics actually do look a bit crisper and more fluid than its PS1 counterpart. Not only that, there’s a few in-game alterations, as well: the music in Tengu Man’s stage is different, and most importantly, there’s two extra bosses! But we’ll get back to that in a minute. MM8 is considered to be a “love/hate” game. While Mega Man fans as a whole couldn’t complain about an eighth installment in their favorite series, many also despised the “cartoony” look that the Blue Bomber and friends had been given. Everything was in extra bright vibrant colors, with rounded edges and pastel shades that nearly push the game into the infamous “kiddie” category. While previous Mega Man titles had their somber moments and scenes, MM8 really doesn’t. One thing all players could agree on, though, was that the dubbing was atrocious. MM8 was the first Mega Man title to feature anime cutscenes, but the English voice work was laughably bad. Why? Because they had Japanese voice actors record the English lines! Dr. Light’s voice in particular sounds like every stereotypical Asian guy you’ve seen in crappy movies. “L” and “R” are one and the same, my friends, and I’m not talking about the triggers on your controller. Comedy aside…what about the gameplay? Luckily, that’s where MMM8 really shines. Control was spot-on, and Mega Man’s new abilities (like the Mega Ball and various forms of his dog, Rush) were a thrill to experiment with. Classic baddies like Cut Man and Wood Man even showed up, and they were a Saturn exclusive. Of course, they were a cinch to defeat with your powerful new weapons, but the fact that they were in there, complete with remixed theme music, was a nice tip of the hat to longtime fans. Finally, this was the first US Mega Man title to use save slots, rather than an irritating password system. Elsewhere on the Mega Man front, US Saturn owners also got Mega Man X4, which was identical to the PS1 version. Japanese Saturn owners were more fortunate, though, as they had Rockman X3 and Super Adventure Rockman to get their Mega Man fix. The former was a port of the SNES title Rockman X3, but with anime cutscenes and a completely remixed soundtrack (which the original game sorely needed!). The latter was a rather cheesy interactive movie of sorts. But getting back, if you’re any fan of platforming games, then Mega Man 8 belongs in your library. The definitive Saturn version is an absolute must. Liquidcross

Sakura Wars 2 is actually the fourth game in the series. Right after the first game, Sega and Red Company released a version of columns featuring the ST characters, and also “Steam Radio Show” which is really just a goofy picture disc/overpriced collection of voice acting and animation to hold people over until a direct sequel was made.

There are two new characters as well in ST2, but to be honest neither of the two do anything for me. One’s Italian, one German, and both are interesting additions, but in the end they’re nowhere on par with the original gals. Maybe it is just because Soletta, the half Italian-half Japanese new character sounds awful… British. Little things like that, you know?

Oh, and there’s finally another male character on the team. The German member of this international Alliance is named Leni, and they didn’t give him much of a personality. Or maybe that’s just because he’s quiet and waiting for old Adolf to come to power.

You will be playing through 12 “episodes” and then there will be a specific ending for yourself (The wacky character of Oogami) depending on which girl you will be hooking up with. The ending is actually chosen for you depending on which girl you have the highest rating with at Chapter 7. You’ll develop a special dual attack with them, and if you don’t like your lady of choice, well, you have five chapters to get used to the idea. And although some might be saying, “Man, 12 chapters? That sounds short!” Just remember this game spans several CD’s and that each chapter in SW2 is about as long as TWO from the original. So you are in for quite a long game. But don’t worry; every moment of it is wonderful.

The graphics are greatly improved from 1 to 2 (and the Dreamcast conversion is even better.) Where the first game was a bit grainy in terms of the animation quality, Sakura Wars 2 is seamless and feels even more like a cartoon/anime that you are taking part in. SW2 is strongly considered to be the best looking game on the Saturn, and you won’t get an argument from me on that point.

Battles are very much the same as in the original. Same combat, same choices, same everything. Okay, not 100% the same, as Oogami now has an option called “Kabu” greatly limited. Kabu/Protect allows him to protect one of the female characters. He can only do this three times per battle (which he could do 8 times in the original), but it raises the morale and affection of the girl he protects. However a new change is that if you have very strong feelings with a girl, there is a small and rare random chance, they can protect YOU.

Although I still prefer the original, Sakura Taisen 2, is one of the best games made for the Saturn, and deserves the amount of verbal fellatio given to it. It’s funny, yet somber and almost dark at times. It’s beautiful to see and wonderful to hear. But most of all its amazingly fun and addicting to play. Keep nagging Sega until it’s released over here. After all, they’ve only been promising that for over half a decade now. BAD SEGA!

- Alex Lucard.

SATURN BOMBERMAN Ahh, Saturn Bomberman. The pinnacle of the series. Sure you had him on the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo 64, the Game Cube, the Game Boy, the TurboGrafx-16, the Sega Genesis, the PlayStation, the Dreamcast, the Sega Super Neo 32X 64 360, and just about every other blasted console since the original NES version, but Bomberman’s Saturn excursion stands tall over them all. Considered one of the greatest multiplayer franchises ever made, it’s little surprise that Saturn Bomberman’s greatness is in no small part attributed to its staggering 10 player Battle mode capability. That’s right kids, up to 10 players worth of frantic bomb throwing action. I remember buying Saturn Bomberman and on the same day I picked up four extra controllers and two six-player adapters, knowing full well that no other Saturn game would require that many peripherals. But no other game was necessary. This is literally THE REASON to own a six-player adapter. Hook up two of them, scrounge together 10 controllers and 9 friends and it’s sheer lunacy; the type of insane, addictive fun that needs to be experienced to be appreciated. And this is on top of the supported 4-player online play via the Saturn’s Netlink. For the unfamiliar, Bomberman’s gameplay centers on players navigating various mazes while using bombs to pave their way through the brick and any opponents. Besides battle, the game features a 1-2 player story mode where the objective is to defeat the diabolical plans of Bomberman’s long time rival Mr. Meanie. There’s also master mode, which is a series of courses in which you are rated according to how fast and how well you complete each course. Both pale in comparison to battle mode, but do provide a fulfilling single player experience. A unique addition to Saturn Bomberman is Dinosaurs which hatch out of eggs. Coming in 5 different colors, each type has a different ability from jumping over enemies and blocks to sending out a sonar beacon to tell which bricks are hiding power-ups, of which there are several to discover. And if you truly want to master the way of the bomb you must master the power-ups. There’s the Kick power-up that allows you to kick a planted bomb across the screen, sometimes directly onto the head of your enemies. You have the Power Glove which allows you to pick up and throw a planted bomb. And my personal favorite, the Remote, allows bombs to be planted and detonated whenever you wish. These among many others add endless strategy and excitement to an already frenzied game. The graphics are the best out of any 2D versions of the series with more animations, vibrant colors, and the best battlefields of any Bomberman title. But know this isn’t the most technically advanced looking game you’ll ever see. It’s not supposed to be. This isn’t some awkward looking quasi-3D version of Bomberman that hampers gameplay like Atomic Bomberman for the PC and PSOne. The art style, the fun, the effortlessness of gameplay stays true to the soul of the series. To get right to it, this is all about blowing the other guy up. That’s the beauty of Bomberman. Its simplicity. Its pick up and playability. Anyone can play and once they do they become uncontrollably addicted. And with more options, more new power-ups, and the most extensive multiplayer capabilities ever, it’s impossible not to become obsessed like never before. If you want a reason to own a Saturn, this is it. Saturn Bomberman is arguably the best Bomberman game ever created and as a result one of the best multiplayer games off all time. Bebito Jackson

DEVIL SUMMONER Devil Summoner is a Shin Megami Tensei game, and like Persona, is a Megaten spin off not directly connected with the parent line in this franchise. The Devil Summoner line was a Sega Saturn exclusive (as Persona was the PSX spinoff) and like Persona, this spin off achieved a stronger level of popularity than the original SMT games, with Devil Summoner being re-released a whopping THREE times (The original, the special boxed version, and the Saturn collector’s edition). In Devil Summoner, you have a typical Megaten character (High School/College student) who is forced into events beyond his understanding and must come to grips with the fact reality is not as stable as he previously assumed. In the game, your main character is rescued by a mysterious Devil Summoner. Through a chain of wacky events, your soul becomes places within the Summoner’s body and you are infused with his powers. You and a girl named Rei, along with your demon horde must then save your girlfriend from Things That Should Not Be. Unlike Persona, which has a more Lovecraftian feel to it, and SMT which has a more apocalyptic theme to it, Devil Summoner is best classified as “Cyberpunk Horror” which recaptures the mood and feel of the very first Megami Tensei game. In Devil Summoner, there are a lot less random battles than normal, and like the Last Bible Megaten Spin off, you recruit demons, instead of gaining their ‘cards’ like in Persona. You can talk to demons instead of fighting them, which is a staple in Megaten games, but there is a loyalty system to boot, meaning that if your party or your main character has a different alignment from the demon you are trying to recruit, you will almost always be unsuccessful. You can also fuse your demons together to make a new, more powerful one. There are literally hundreds of demons that can join your party, all springing from mythology and folklore, another constant aspect of the Megaten series. In all, Devil Summoner is considered the easiest of the Megaten games, although there are a few tough dungeons. The game’s focus is less on man vs god, and a much stronger emphasis on humans vs. humans, with demons and spirits playing a minor role; an irony considered the title of this game. The one lone fault of Devil Summoner is that you really need a strong knowledge of Japanese due to the text heavy nature of this game. Conversing with demons about philosophical aspects on existence is far easier when you’re not playing “Random button pushing.” If you can read it, then by all means, track down a copy of this game (very cheap when you find it) and enjoy a well written, and enjoyable game that features a lot of customization and more demons than you can shake a stick at. Alex Lucard

But if you’re reading this, you’ve already said “Hell no!” to the burger surplus and economic flying. You want to drop 150 USD on a single game. No, we’re not talking about Steel Battalion after Capcom’s price drop. Neither are we talking about an arguably fair price on the US AES version of Samurai Shodown III. And Shaq Fu wasn’t released on the Saturn. And when it comes to dropping mad cash on ludicrously-overblown traditional shooters, there’s only one name to know: Radiant-f’ing-Silvergun

Released in Japan on July 23rd 1998, Radiant Silvergun is to shooter fans as Guinness beer is to frat-boys: a luxury that, if afforded, delivers the best ounce-for-ounce experience that could be conveyed through the medium. That is, this title was, and still, holds up today as one… if not the- quintessential shooter that every fan and disciple of the genre should have, or at the very least, try. The game is an amazing work in and of itself, being a textbook example of quality and art that Treasure (Castlevania IV (SNES), Sin & Punishment (N64)) has become known for. When it came down to crafting the zenith of the 2D shooter in EVERY respect, Radiant Silvergun reigns supreme. It is only fitting that such a brilliant work ended up on the Sega Saturn.

Gameplay is an indispensable part of any shooter, and Radiant Silvergun brings it in spades. Playing against the signature backdrop of an impending doom befalling Earth, you suit up in a rather slick-looking fighter and take to the skies shooting everything that fits the description of looking cool and evil at the same time. Treasure made damn good use of the control pad, because there are as many unique attacks as the Saturn controller has face buttons, each affording a competent degree of utility. That is to say that as the game progresses and gets increasingly more difficult, you’ll never find yourself staring at your controller thinking “Dude, that V-shaped laser is as useless as a copy of St. Anger.” Not only that, but Radiant Silvergun makes use of the Saturn’s onboard battery-backed memory which keeps track of how long you’ve played the game and what weapons you’ve used. Every time you play through your credits, the firepower of your guns increase, allowing you to progress through the game at a fairly quicker pace. You can also absorb parts of your enemies’ attacks to charge up the requisite huge-ass attack, which might afford you a certain degree of restraint when fighting the elegantly obscene bosses this game will toss at you.

Speaking of which, the graphics and sound are top-notch. Aside from being the best shooter the Saturn has to offer, Radiant Silvergun is probably also the best-looking and sounding as well. The compositions denote a mix of urgency and heroism that most games of the genre try to convey, and you even get a rather mysterious Japanese voice-over as the game begins. Visually, the game was the at the best of it’s form, orchestrating 3D elements against a largely 2D playing field with the surgical precision and anal-retentiveness of the production team that worked on Linkin Park’s Meteora; an almost scary attention to detail that more frantic shooter fans might have missed. In true shooter fashion, the bosses are dealt out large and in charge, and make every use of what hardware the Saturn had to offer.

The only real shames that plague Radiant Silvergun are the ones that surround it’s storied legacy. Despite being recognized as a great shooter both far and wide when it first came out, Sega opted not to bring it to American shores. According to my source for the game, only 50,000 copies were produced, which makes trying to find a copy of this wonderful gem a real bitch to find. While I was fortunate enough to get my copy at a reasonable rate, it is unfortunate that the trinity of unchecked capitalism, Al Gore’s internet, and the “collector mentality” routinely prices this game at 150 USD or higher on eBay. As I type this, there is an auction currently going for 212 USD, which is a damn shame because a game as great as Radiant Silvergun shouldn’t be confined only to those with a collectors’ budget. Games this great deserved to be played by all. So, if you can find it for a price you’re comfortable with, Radiant Silvergun will not disappoint.

- Frederick Badlissi

OK.. You’re launching one of the first consoles on a completely new game medium. Veteran gamers have all grown accustomed to battery back-ups on their cartridges, a luxury which CD-format games cannot manage. The main option is some form of external “memory card”, which can be inserted into the system. However, you’re Sega, and you want your system to make the changeover from cartridge to CD as painless as possible. So you create a console that has built-in memory, thus providing players with an immediate means of saving their games. Not for your unfaithful, the anguished wails of gamers who bought your rival’s machine, played their only game for hours on end, only to realize that they’d lose all their progress because they hadn’t been told they needed to buy a memory card as well.

The Saturn’s internal memory was a masterstroke. Not only did gamers have in-built space for saved games (all those Guardian Heroes unlockable characters will be sticking around), but the memory also allowed the system to have an Internal Clock, complete with date. What, you may ask, is the significance of that? Well, aside from being quite a nice feature if you spent your entire time in front of your Saturn (as many did), certain games came with Super-Secret Unlockables that would only become active on certain dates. An example of this is NiGHTS into Dreams, where by playing it on the right day (or cheating and changing your System Date), you could unlock special holiday related features for the game.

Whilst the Internal Memory lacked the immediate portability of the Playstation’s memory card (a factor later rectified by the RAM cart), its inclusion as part of the package was yet another example of Sega coming up with technological innovations that nobody else had even cared to consider.

- Misha

FIGHTERS MEGAMIX Back in the mid-1990’s, gaming franchises “crossing over” was still a relatively new practice. SNK practically pioneered the genre with the King of Fighters series. Capcom jumped on the bandwagon with their first of many, many crossover games: X-Men VS Street Fighter. So, far be it from Sega to be left out. At the end of 1996 in Japan and not long after in North America, Sega released a gigantic 3D-fighting collection for their home console entitled Fighters Megamix. Fighters Megamix contained a whopping 32 characters to choose from, which was almost unheard of for a 3D fighter at this time. You started out with the all-star studded casts of Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers together for the first time, giving you a total of 22 characters. Each one came in with most or all of their original moves, and the Fighting Vipers characters still retained their body armor. You unlocked the extra ten by going through the “1P Mode”, which was quite an innovative take on the traditional “Arcade” modes found in most fighting games. The mode is split into “courses” where you fight a different order of fighters in each one. Clearing a course would unlock a new character for you, and the roster was HILARIOUS! You got the Virtua Fighter Kids versions of Akira and Sarah. You got Bark and Bean from Sonic the Fighters. You got Rent-A Hero! You got a GIANT BEAN called Deku! You got Siba, a dropped character from the original Virtua Fighter. You could play as the DAYTONA USA RACING CAR! The roster may have been off balance, but COME ON! You could RUN OVER PEOPLE to the tune of “Rolling Start”!!! Since the majority of the game revolved around Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers, there was also the option where you could choose between the “physics” of the two games. Choosing VF physics allows more ground-based fighting, with more focus on technique. The FV physics gives you more control over aerial moves, including air recoveries. If you were a fan of Sega’s 3D fighters so many years ago, you had this game. Pure and simple. EXCELLENT compilation. Alex Williams

D You know, all though most of us laughed and laughed when Acclaim died, I actually felt a little sad; after all they published some games I really enjoyed. D being one of them. D helped create a bond between everyone on my dorm floor my Freshman year of college at the U of MN. Every night at 10pm for the first 2-3 weeks of school, we gathered in the TV lounge, I brought out my Saturn and we played D, with each night a different person taking the controls until finally the game was beat. D is tied with Lunacy for the best point and click game ever. Better than any of the Mysts. Better than Dejavu. Better than Shadowgate or Echo Night. Name a game in this genre, D beats them all, even if it is just for the memories I have of it. You play as Laura, the daughter of a famous and wealthy doctor. Sadly one day your dad goes wacko and kills a ton of patients and co-workers in a Los Angeles hospital, and has taken others for hostages. Worried about your father and trying to stop the loss of life, Laura sneaks into the hospital and finds herself in another world. A world inside the mind of her father. A labyrinth filled with puzzles and riddles to solve. What really adds to the atmosphere of this game is the two hour time limit you have to beat it in. You can’t pause it, and if you don’t finish it in time, the game ends and Laura dies. That simple. I far preferred this (and so did many others) to the more action oriented horror games coming out at this time like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, because there was an actual urgency to the game. You had a time limit, where in these other would be ‘creepy games that really aren’t creepy at all,’ you could save, pause, go eat lunch and come back. D didn’t give you that option. When you put the disc in and turned your Saturn on, you made a commitment. And that really helped in the enjoyment of it. That and it didn’t have the god awful controls of SH or RE. Yuck. Point and click games, like 2D shooters, are very much a niche genre and an acquired taste, but I’ve yet to find a person who when they have tasted D, haven’t wanted to see the game to its completion. If you have a Saturn (Or even a PS1), you can pick up this game for cheap, and play one of the most under-rated games on either system. (Although the Saturn’s version is superior in terms of both sound and graphical quality). I won’t ruin for you what D stands for, but I will tell you in all my years as a gamer, I’ve never found a game that I’ve had more fun playing with a group of people that this one. Alex Lucard

Burning Rangers was one of the last titles released for the dying Saturn, and as a result was released in heavily limited numbers, so even if you WERE a Saturn owner, there was a good chance you might never even have seen this game. It was a product of Sonic Team, who many gamers will know for their incredibly awesome products, both past and future; NIGHTS, Phantasy Star Online, and other awesome titles were created by this nigh legendary development team. Combining over the top action-adventure elements with some seriously stylish presentation and an interesting concept, Burning Rangers is well respected amongst the hardcore gamer community, and with good reason. While the game might be limited in some respects, some genuinely fun and entertaining gameplay combined with an awesome anime style presentation and nigh infinite replay value make this, easily, one of the best games the Saturn has to offer.

The concept of Burning Rangers is certainly different enough: you as the player are a member of the Burning Rangers, futuristic fire-fighters for lack of a better description, who are tasked with going about and putting out fires in locations that normal fire-fighting equipment wouldn’t be sufficient. Instead of hoses, fire extinguishers, and fire axes, the Burning Rangers are given space-age power suits, jet packs, and power blasters with which they are to combat fires. This might seem like overkill until you realize that the fires you’re tasked to put out take place in abnormal locations… power reactors, underwater research facilities, and space stations are your place of work, and each is more hazardous than the last. Thankfully, aside from the tools of the trade, you’re also quite nimble, and capable of all sorts of dodging and acrobatics to ensure survival. And you’ll need them, as well as quick reflexes; fires can shoot out of anywhere, at any time, and as time passes, fire spreads and becomes worse until you escape… or the location becomes a towering inferno, with you still in it. Oh, and don’t think you’re just saving your OWN ass, nonono… you’re also tasked to save all sorts of innocent people who were trapped when the fire broke out, as that’s the heroic thing to do.

From the get-go, you’re given the choice of two Rangers to play as: Shou Amabane and Tillis. Other members of the Burning Rangers force can be played as through the use of passwords, but Shou and Tillis are the two initial characters, and each has their own unique storyline, which immediately boosts replay quite a bit. The story is divided into four separate stages, each with their own unique objectives and characters, as well as their own unique challenges. After going through a brief tutorial, you get to the meat of the game proper: running around in burning buildings. Every stage you encounter, for obvious reasons, is in some degree of burning to the ground (relatively speaking), and it’s your job to save as many trapped victims as you can before the stage goes up.

And boy does the stage go up. As you play, you’ll note the increasing “Danger Limit”, which basically monitors how you’re doing about putting out fires. If you dawdle around or don’t put fires out fast enough, the meter increases, and every time it hits an increment of 20%, COOKOUT TIME. You need to keep moving as fast as possible to put out fires and KEEP putting out fires, or you’ll be as good as dead.

You’re not just fighting fires, though, or at least, not ORDINARY fires. In addition to your standard stationary fires (which come in all sorts of different colors, which looks pretty neat), you’ll find yourself facing down fires that shoot fireballs at you, large spheres of flame that pelt you with fireballs of their own, and environmental hazards like flaming gas pipes and walls that go boom. You’ll also encounter the odd maintenance mech that, for one reason or another, desires your swift and painful demise. Fortunately, you’re well equipped to take on these hazards; aside from being a world-class gymnast, you’re armed with an extinguisher gun, which can be charged to unleash big damage, though you don’t get crystals for that kind of overkill.

Oh, yeah, there are crystals. I’m not typing out the name of them, so let’s simply say they’re “crystals”, yes? Anyway, the crystals can be found by taking out fires, or they could just be lying around the stage at random. Crystals served two purposes: get hit, and they scatter like Sonic’s rings, which keeps you from dying; or, find trapped victims, and the crystals could teleport them to safety. The teleporting of victims was an interesting dynamic, but having the crystals for protection was the more important part; without any crystals, if you took a hit, you were as good as dead.

Okay, okay, enough about the gameplay. So what makes the game legendary? Part of it’s in the presentation. While the game was limited in depth, the game OOZES personality from every pore, from level and character design to the designs of the bosses (who were pretty freaky, including a giant living plant and a pissed off AI construct that attacks you with all sorts of nasty surprises); each was unique, and each was quite cool. The storyline was also solid, and while it wasn’t the best of the best, was well-related through cutscenes and bits of dialogue in the various missions. Other Rangers were also (supposedly) performing other tasks in the levels, and the back and forth chatter helped the game to really come alive.

The other part was the nearly limitless replay value the game managed to pack in. Every mission, you’d be tasked (as I said) with saving the bacon of those unfortunate enough to not call out of work prior to the sudden meltdown of their surroundings. Well, when you saved certain people (including members of Sonic Team, oddly enough), they’d send you E-mails with passwords built in. By typing in those passwords, you could go to the same stages you’d played prior, only they’d feature entirely different layouts. Fires and victims would be in entirely different areas, and doors that were locked would now be open, and vice-versa. And then there were the scores you’d earn for your performance, there for you to try and top each time you jumped into a stage thus giving you even more reason to come back for more.

And hey, there was even a shooter mini-game built in that you could unlock! Come on, how can you not love a game that tries so hard to appeal to so many game sects at once?

Burning Rangers ultimately ended up mostly forgotten by all but the most hardcore (even if Sega never forgot about it; play Phantasy Star Online and witness the bonus “fire extinguishing” mission that plays the Burning Rangers theme while you play). That, unfortunately, is a shame; between the over-the-top design, the heavy anime style and influence, and the genuinely fun gameplay, this is a game that’s DYING for a sequel that may never come. Saturn owners who’ve had a chance to play BR, however, know exactly what all the hype is all about, and no matter how many games that come out from Sega we may NOT like, we can always look back, remember this, and know that at one point, we were all on the same page.

It doesn’t get much better than that, folks.

- Mark B.

AJPW FEATURING VIRTUA FIGHTER The Saturn has two of my three favorite wrestling games of all time. The first is Fire Pro Wrestling: Six Man Scramble. But the game that edges it out in terms of enjoyability? All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua Fighter. Aside from a Nintendo WWF title where you could play as “You,” AJPW vs VF was the first game to combine real wrestlers with fictional characters. And the result was amazing. I will admit I stuck mainly to the All Japan roster, but it was fun to watch Dr. Death vs Wolf or Stan Hansen vs McWild. Although the roster is quite small by today’s standards (only ten), it was high quality all the way. Japanese stars like Giant Baba, Jun Akiyama, Kawada, Kobashi, Taue and Misawa (Hase is in the game, but you have to unlock him) were combined with Gaijins like Steve Williams, Gary Albright, Johnny Ace, and Stan Hansen. My favorites were of course Doc and” The Lariat.” Gameplay was simply amazing and far ahead of its time. The A button was the strike button, the B button was the grapple button and the C was the pick up/throw command. You could also appeal to the crowd through the shoulder buttons. There were a few things to consider. Certain moves could only be attempted after you had worn down your opponent for a while. Your first move of the game will not be a Dangerous Exploder for example. Also Crowd Appealing actually meant something in this game, as the more the crowd was behind you, the harder it was for you to be pinned. It was a nice touch and something the WWE games of today have emulated. Each character in the game had over a dozen combos or chain wrestling that you could do. It was the most realistic a game had been to that point as before AJ it was “grapple, move. Grapple move.” Combine this with the fact that EVERY MOVE IN THE GAME could be reversed, including the ability to reverse a reversal, you had some amazing displays of both technical and brawling wrestling going on. AJPW vs. VF is still hands down the most exciting wrestling game to watch and the one that feels most like an old school Japanese wrestling match. But most importantly, AJPW vs VF featured the bone-breaking concept. Yes, you can break bones in this game if you are too stiff to a certain area. Talk about something we all wish THQ would be smart enough to implement. There are six areas of the body than can be broken: The neck, the back, both arms and both legs. When you collect enough damage to a limb, the bone snaps. And it gets shown. But here’s where it gets good! So a limb is broken? The match CONTINUES. Well, until a second bone is broken, then the referee will halt the match and declare the battered and broken limbed wrestler finally unfit to continue. Finally AJPW vs VF featured the first Create a Wrestler Mode I can remember. And best of all, your stats and abilities were not assigned or merely customized by distributing points, but by answering questions about your character ranging from their athletic background (15 choices!). It’s amazingly enjoyable to go through this process and sometimes funny. AJPW vs Virtua Fighter was so far ahead of its time, it’s interesting to see that even games from this generation of consoles still don’t stand up to it. So many new ideas and innovations occurred in this game that still affect and influence the genre to this day. It’s amazingly cheap to pick up on Ebay, and aficionados of the genre owe it to themselves to experience this. Alex Lucard

SHINING OF THE HOLY ARK Here is my second personal favorite RPG for Sega Saturn, right after Panzer Dragoon Saga. Developed by Sonic Software Planning, the good folks we know today as Camelot, Shining of the Holy Ark brings gamers back to the first person dungeon crawling roots of Sega’s Shining franchise rousing up fond memories of the first RPG I’ve ever played: Shining In The Darkness for Sega Genesis. What a delightful dose of warm n’ fuzzy nostalgia it was popping this game into my Saturn. It’s like a souped-up, 3D, darker version of the game that made young Bebito a RPG addict in the first place. Without spoiling too much, you start the game as a young mercenary by the name of Arthur. The King of Enrich has sent you, your cleric friend Melody, and your boss Forte to hunt down a rouge thief named Rodi who is hiding away in a mine. All is going well on the butt-kicking front for your party until a freak accident cave-in brings nearly everyone to the brink of death. During the confusion Forte becomes possessed by an evil spirit and abandons your party. Arthur wakes up to find that the cave-in was really caused by a crashing Ship and that the passengers, three entities only known as “Spirits”, emerge from the wreckage in as bad a shape as your party. In order for everyone to survive the “Spirits” merge with Melody, Arthur, and Rodi. This increases everyone’s powers, and has the advantage of making the heroes unable to die as long as the three remain together. Thus, now having their destinies explicably linked, the stage is set for a long and captivating story involving friendship, betrayal, finding Forte, discovering secrets of the past, and hunting down a newly introduced evil to the series that would carry on to later games, namely the Vandals. Worth the price of admission alone, the story here is excellent and one of the best in the Shining universe full of twists, turns, and surprises that the player won’t see soon coming. But it’s not just the story that makes SotHA great. Again, gameplay is similar to Shining In the Darkness in that everything is first person but now there are far more locations to explore, from the creepy labyrinthine forests and dungeons to the fully 3D towns. Random turn-based battles are frequent, but also engaging causing the player to fight strategically especially during some truly tough boss encounters. The graphics are phenomenal rivaling the system’s very best. Eye-catching anime inspired character art is traditional to the franchise but with a darker, more mature edge. A well meshed and beautiful blend of 2D sprites with impressive 3D environments proves that when in the right hands the third-dimension is something the Saturn can handle with ease. And the music. Dear lord, the music. Tremendous. This is the best musical score I’ve heard for any RPG of this or any generation of gaming. Even as of today, SotHA’s battle theme resonates inside my mind’s ear (partly because there were sooo many random battles and partly because it was just extraordinary). Brilliant in near every way, without a doubt this game stands as the very best Shining release for the Saturn in North America. But now I know you’re saying, “Whoa, Bebito! Hold on. The best? What about Shining Force III?” Well, it’s a funny thing. You see, Bernie Stolar was smoking from the crack pipe of happiness regularly back then, which is fine if that’s your thing, except that he was in control of Sega Of America and made the insane decision under an alleged drug induced stupor that the remaining two Scenarios of the Shining Force III Trilogy would never see the light of day in North America. Thus, the would-be-epic lost a lot of its luster over in the States (and the UK) simply due to being incomplete. So kiddies, if all you speak and read is English… then I give my whole hearted recommendation to Shining of the Holy Ark, yes, even over the mighty SFIII. Please, I beseech you. Buy it. Play it. Love it. And afterwards, between this and Panzer Dragoon Saga, you’ll understand why the Saturn was renowned as a paradise for RPG gamers. Bebito Jackson

The Shining Force trilogy, III as the name indicates takes place through three different games that share the same storyline. The first Disc, Scenario A, has you play as Synbios from the Republic of Apsinia. There has been a long conflict between Aspinia and the nation they succeeded from, The Empire of Destonia. Destonia has taken the holy land of Barrand from Aspinia, and both Countries have sent their leaders and troops to a neutral territory, the floating City of Saraband, to negotiate a peace treaty.

While here, Synbios and his fellow Aspinians witness a strange event. Their leader, Bertam, King of Aspinia, attacks and kidnaps the Emperor Domaric of Destonia, and appears allied with a legion of oddly garbed monks. After they retreat back to their encampment, Symbios and his allies encounter Bertram, who has know idea what they are talking about. Some third party has framed Bertram and Aspinia!

The majority of Shining Force III, Scenario A involves figuring out who is behind this plot, and why. Through the course of the game, your Shining Force will cross paths with Midion and his Force. Midion is the son of Emperor Domaric and although he and his allies think of you first as an enemy, both sides form a mutual respect in the face of a mutual adversary.

The ending I’m talking about is an amazingly lackluster final battle where your team is divided into two parts. One half of your team has to survive a giant unkillable robot, while the others try to open the floodgates to a dam. It’s a good concept, but far too easy and there’s no sense that this is the final battle until… the end scene rolls. And you are left there puzzled as heck. Especially as the game ends with the Emperor you just rescued vowing to invade and destroy Aspinia.

This is where Scenario B comes in. With this game, you play as Midion and the Empire’s Shining Force. You see a lot of the same events, but from the Empire’s side. It’s a great touch. Scenario B is the most expensive of them all to find, and ironically it’s the one I like least. The Empire’s characters just aren’t as captivating or interesting, and the story isn’t as compelling.

There are parts of Scenario B that deviate quite a lot from Scenario A, but certain battles will seem more than a bit familiar. Scenario B does flesh out the enemy a little more and the end battle is a little more satisfying, but again, it ends abruptly with no true resolution.

It’s Scenario C that is the big one story wise as everything FINALLY makes sense. In Scenario C, you play as Julian, a character who has temporary cameos in both Scenarios A and B until he meets “accidents” that take him out of your party.

Julian is the true hero of SF 3, although he is also the least heroic of the characters. Think of a sword carrying Batman and you have Julian. Obsessed with revenge and the destruction of a monster race known as the Vandals who killed his father 10 years before in Shining the Holy Ark (Yes, all Shining Games from this point back have PERFECT continuity. It’s merely one of the reasons why they are so amazing). The odd thing is that the Vandal who slew Julian’s father, Galm, is probably the most good of all the characters in the game. And yet in Scenario 3 you must defeat him.

Actually, Galm let’s them win and at the end of the game reveals he slew Julian’s father in order to give him the passion and strength to be the savior of the world, but hey, as far as you know, the reason d’etre for Julian’s existence was achieved halfway through the game.

Scenario 3 is by far the best as it has so many tie ins with the other Shining Force games. Holy Ark characters appear. Characters from the other Shining Force games are mentioned. The story in Scenario 3 more than makes up for the crapulence that is the plot in the other two games. You eventually get to control all three Shining Force teams (The Republic, the Empire, and Julian’s army) and can even get a third level promotion for the first and only time in a SF game.

Truthfully Shining Force 3 is a quartet of games, as to have everything make sense, one should play Shining the Holy Ark first. Scratch that, Shining Force 3 is actually a QUINTET. For you see my friends, there is a FOURTH disc to Shining Force 3. A CD that cost 150-200 dollars on Ebay. This game that I speak of is the Shining Force 3 Premium Disc and is quite easily the rarest Saturn game of them all. For in order to get it, you needed to buy all Three Saturn Shining Force games and send away a coupon to get it. This was the only way.

The Premium disc gives you some of the greatest fanboy moments possible. Not only do you get cheesy bonus things like 3D models and a sound test and interviews and making of clips, but you get extra battles pitting your Shining Force 3 teams against characters like Iom, Xeon, and god bless Camelot, Dark Sol himself. And in 3-D to boot. Seeing Dark Sol and the other main bosses from the other Shining games in 3-D is so awesome that only another diehard psychotic Shining Force fan could understand it.

But besides the story, what else makes Shining Force 3 so wonderful and worth buying all three parts instead of just Scenario A in English? The answer is the fact that all three games connect via your Saturn Ram cartridge. When you finish Scenario A, Scenario’s B and C will play MUCH differently in certain places depending on the actions you took in A. The same holds true for when you play B. It influences the storyline and characters you get in C. It’s a great idea and makes buying all three games worthwhile if you are a huge tactical combat fan, which Shining Force is still the measuring stick for all games within this genre. Why wouldn’t you want three games that interact with each other giving you a better battle system than you’ll find in any other series???

Characters also interact in Shining Force 3 in a way that really changes how you do Combat. When characters interact, by healing each other, attacking the same enemy, casting beneficial spells on each other, and so on, their Friendship meter raises. At a certain point, the classification of Friendship raises one level. This friendship meter created symbiotic effects between the characters when they are close enough to each other. It keeps you from playing kamikaze with certain characters and makes you play on the defensive to keep certain characters alive so you can keep their sweet sweet bonus effect up high.

In all Shining Force 3 manages to be Sega’s final masterpiece for the Sega Saturn. It was their most impressive achievement to date, and also the hardest one for them to pull off. Only bringing over one of the three parts to this much sought after game was the beginning of the Sega Executive boneheaded moves we would see time and time again with the Dreamcast. It’s a shame that one of Sega and Camelot’s greatest creations could only truly be enjoyed at its fullest potential when you owned all three parts and that when played on their own, the games fell a little flat. But still, I guess that’s like Voltron. When in the form of five lions, the Robeast would kick Voltron’s Ass. But in giant Blazing Sword carrying robot form, Voltron rules all. It’s a shitty analogy, but it sums up Shining Force 3 quite well I think.

- Alex Lucard

You know, it’s one thing when a system comes out and you find an expansion port on it. Ah, can’t you remember the one you found on the bottom of every Nintendo system you’ve ever had? Or the one that Sony had on their earlier PSX models, only to toss it out because ingenious Hong Kong engineers got to it first? Well, the Saturn not only had a sleek-ass CD drive and a slot for a VCD card in its system, but it also had a top-side and somewhat aesthetically obtrusive cartridge slot. But you know what separates the Saturn from the rest of the pack? No, kids, other than bad marketing. Well before the system went to the commercial wayside, Sega outright exhausted that sucker by giving the system no less than three official carts; 2 of which never made it to US soil.

The first one is an official back-up memory card. Although having internal memory was nice, the engineers at Sega R&D probably found out that a CR2032 watch battery wasn’t the most economical or efficient method of carrying over saved games from one year to the next. So the geniuses there decided to make a ROM cart that would archive your saved games so you didn’t have to lose your NiGHTS or Panzer Dragoon saves to an abyss. Good stuff, if you can locate it.

The second two carts were RAM expansions that came in 1 and 4 MEG flavors, which unfortunately never saw the light of day in the USA. When it came to arcade ports, these were the saving grace of the system. While the Playstation suffered from horrendous load times and missing animations, companies were able to make use of the expansion packs to deliver an uncompromised port of their arcade games. SNK used the 1 MEG cart to bring us near arcade perfect ports of Metal Slug as well as Samurai Shodwn games 3-4. Capcom also made use of the 1 MEG cart on Marvel Super Heroes, but it was the 4 MEG cart that brought classics like X-Men VS Street Fighter and Street Fighter Zero (that’s Alpha to us Westerners) 3, as well as the dubious Final Fight Revenge.

So you might be wondering “OK, Fred. I’d love to play all of these great RAM cart games, but I’ve only got this dinky No-Stateside-Love American Saturn. How can I play these awesome Japanese ports?” Fret not, my friends, for salvation comes in cartridge forum as well: the Action Replay 4 in 1. Not only will it assist in playing single-disc Japanese games, but it’ll give you all the RAM to run the greats, as well as the back-up room to save it. You can pick it up through the link given, but you can probably find it just as easily elsewhere for perhaps even a cheaper price.

So then tell me: who says good things can’t come in cartridge form?

- Frederick Badlissi

Starting life on Sega Genesis with Beyond Oasis and improving in near every way for the Sega Saturn prequel, Legend of Oasis is among the best 2D Action RPGs for the Saturn. Set roughly 1000 years before Beyond Oasis, the game revolves around an ongoing battle to obtain two arm bands which possess untold power: the Silver Armlet of good wielded by our hero, Leon, and the Gold Armlet containing the power of evil held by his nemesis, Agito.

Best described as Zelda meets Rygar meets Street Fighter, Legend of Oasis falls somewhat flat with a weak story and bland musical composition. But the rest of the game’s shining attributes make plenty o’ penance for its sins. The graphics? Simply gorgeous. Even by today’s standards Legend Of Oasis has some of the best hand-drawn 2D visuals seen inside the genre. Our hero, the Arabian decked-out Leon, is imaginatively designed and superbly animated. The game dishes out environments with colorful visuals, lush and full of life ranging from jungles to mountaintops to ruins. All amid nearly no load time. And complimenting the beautiful scenery is gameplay focused on tried-and-true Action-RPG conventions but with some refreshing twists.

Leon has a variety of moves at his disposal due to a combo intensive combat system. Combing special attacks with specific sequenced button inputs almost feels more akin to a well crafted 2D fighter rather than just a mindless hack n’ slash. Add to that the option to wield 4 different weapons, each of which drastically changing your style, attacks and abilities, and then being able to enchant each of those weapons with various magical powers to fit the situation, and you’re provided with some of the most varied and satisfying action one can undergo whilst killing legions of rats, bats, soldiers, and zombies.

But we’re still only scratching the surface. The true crown jewel of this series’ gameplay centers on the summoning of Spirits known as Elementals. That Silver Armlet Leon possesses? It allows the wearer to project his life-force into inanimate objects and summon six different beings of semi-phenomenal cosmic power, all based on “elements” (Earth, Water, Fire, Sound, Air, and Darkness). From this premise we derive the most imaginative and hard-core puzzles you’ll ever see in a 2D Action RPG. The trick is summoning the right Elemental for the right job and as the game progresses figuring out which one is suited for what task becomes increasingly more complex. Heck, even figuring out how to summon the Spirit becomes a puzzle in of itself. It could be as simple as say… summoning Dytto, the Water Elemental, to unblock a passageway by extinguishing the flames in front of a door. Or it can be as crazy as summoning Dytto again from a water-based enemy, using her power to freeze that enemy, using the ice to summon Shade who creates a spirit ball of Darkness to empower your Bow and allows you to destroy an evil thorn-beast then revealing an Electric Switch that, once you summon Airl from a neighboring Air Fountain, can be activated by shooting at it with Airl’s Electric Ball in order to drop a chest from the ceiling containing some much needed items. Yeah… head spinning? It’s this level of problem solving that tests the player’s logic skills and imagination to the brink on insanity. That tiny droplet of water dripping down the side of that wall, it’s not just scenery; it’s a way for you tap into Dytto’s healing powers. That metal door ahead is more than just an obstacle blocking your path - it’s also a means to summon the Sound Spirit, Brass. You’ve got to pay attention, kids. Almost everything in the game has some sort of purpose to it, whether you utilize it or not.

The learning curve thankfully is quite balanced but the longer you play the harder and more ingenious the puzzles become. Make no mistake you WILL get stuck. But that’s part of the charm. Part of what makes the experience all the more rewarding. You feel like you’ve actually accomplished something after completing a level in this game, because you truly earned it. That’s worth the price of admission right there. Keep in mind however that I like a good challenge. I like finally having a game that my casual gaming wife can’t blaze through as easily as I can. It shows that it was made for true gamers rather the occasional pickup and play players.

But no, for all my apparent love for the game Legend of Oasis isn’t an all-time classic. Yes, I compared it in genre to The Legend Of Zelda but it doesn’t reach that level of flawlessness, getting every single element down perfectly. There’s some lackluster music (especially considering Yuzo Koshiro, composer of the excellent Shinobi and Streets of Rage soundtracks, was involved), a mediocre story and many will consider your adventure to be over far too quickly. But know that what it does get right, it gets right in Spades and in some ways no other franchise in the genre has. What we have here is a wonderful 2D Action RPG romp that has been sorely underrated. With enthralling action, oodles of gameplay variety, drop dead gorgeous visuals, all combined with the most engrossing and challenging puzzle elements you’ll have ever seen it’s definitely worth your time to track down if you’re a fan of the genre.

- Bebito Jackson

METAL SLUG If the Saturn would come to be known as anything outside of the fact that it brought a huge amount of badass games in droves, then it would be the fact that a sizable chunk of said badass games came from the house that Andy Bogard and Galford built: SNK. Via the extra 1 MEG ram cart and some programming ingenuity on the part of SNK, Metal Slug offers Saturn owners the joy of experiencing this classic in the comfort of their own homes without having to shell out the price of 5 Geo Metros. Metal Slug, for the uninitiated, can best be described as one of the seminal arcade titles of the early 90s that plays in the same vein of the older Contra titles. Offering cartoony backdrops inspired by WWII, players take the roles of either Marco Rossi or Tarma Roving as they fight everyone from Governator knock-offs to mummies who see it fit to forcibly share their dated fashion sense with the player. With the addition of an extra MEG to the Saturn’s memory, SNK was able to faithfully reproduce one of its non-fighting game classics pound for pound, as everything from the original arcade release has made it into this cart- from the lush and colorful levels to it’s wholly original “fusion-esque” soundtrack. Sure, there may be load times, but during the load times, you’re entertained by a monkey that juggles grenades!!! How can you feel ill towards that? Not only this, but you also get an exclusive mode called “Combat School” in which an anime gal winks at you incessantly until you press buttons entering things like your name, birth date, and other things. And when the day is done, how can you say “no” to it? Metal Slug has juggling monkies, winking anime chicks, a Governator knock-off for a boss, and a fusion soundtrack that would even make an NPR DJ turn their head in disbelief. And the best part of it all? On the collector’s market, it only costs about 2 percent of what the AES version goes for. What are you waiting for? Frederick Badlissi

Is it the time frame? Sakura Taisen takes place in the 1920’s. Japan has an actual military force. And in America, the twenties were a roaring feel good time with flappers, coca-cola and Prohibition running wild. At least in OUR 1920’s. The world that Sakura Taisen takes place in is a little bit different thanks to steampunk. Let’s just say they are a little more advanced than we were back in that era.

Is it the mechs? We all know I loves me the giant robots. Whether it’s Autobots, Veritechs, or the giant robot from Saber Rider and the Star Sherrifs, I like robots. And the mechs in Sakura Taisen appeal to me far more than those in Front Mission or Vanguard Bandits. Why? Because of the Six ladies that make up the Royal Floral Assault Unit. Or as I will refer to them from here on, the Hanagumi.

So is it the Hanagumi? Six great ladies, each with distinct personalities, looks, and mechs? There is Shinguji Sakura the main girl, little Iris Chateaubriand, Kanzaki Sumire who is my personal favorite, Maria Tachibana who is blonde and deadly, Ri Kohran the bookish nerdy girl, and Kirishima Kanna who is the powerhouse roid using Nicole Bass of the team. All six characters are wonderful to get to know as the game goes on, and you can end up with any of them for six distinct endings, each one a blast to sit back and watch. And because I realize most of you will never play the game, or go out and try the anime series based on the games (which you really shouldn’t as it’s not very good to begin with and is rather a letdown compared to the games), Bebito has uploaded shots of each of the girls for you to look at to see what the actual characters in Sakura Taisen look like. Yes, if I have to stoop to including shots of each girl in order to get some excitement in this game generated by Americans, I’m willing to do it. Because even without the animated eye candy, the game is incredible to play. Trust me on this? (Bebito’s Note: You can check out the Sakura girls HERE.)

Is it the dating sim part of the game? Well yes, partly. I think dating sims are hilarious. I find the questions asked and the answers one must give to be a great source of amusement and wish there was more than just Thousand Arms in English, because Thousand Arms is a dating sim at its simplest and most basic. In Sakura Wars, the dating Sim goes far beyond simple Q&A. In battles for example, Ohgami can protect a girl in battle from damage and gain a point towards their love bond, or whatever you’d like to call it. Consider it taking a bullet so you can cock and load your own love gun later that evening. Giggidygiggidygiggidy!

It is Ohgami? He has to be my favorite main male character out of every RPG ever. He’s a pervert. He’s not very bright. He’s got hair like he was an Asian version of the rapper Kid from Kid N Play. And yet he gets the ladies like he was well… me. ;-)

Ohgami is a great character through and through. He’s not just comic relief. He’s not just cornball antics. He’s not just a great military tactician and mincing pedophile (if you go after Iris, you sick f*cks!). He’s a very well rounded character… that just happens to trip and catch him self by placing his hands on boobies a little too often.

Is it the music? Most certainly. Some of the best music ever in a video game. The theme song is incredibly catchy and is on a CD in my Pokemobile VW. I hear the main theme from this game about every other day, and I know the lyrics both in Japanese and in English. I love all the music from this game, but what hooked me on Sakura Taisen most of all was the opening demo when the game starts and watching it. Due to the nature of the plot of Sakura Taisen, music and voice acting are integral to the game. I can’t put enough emphasis on this. Only Sakura Taisen and the Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete go to this level in terms of music being intertwined with gameplay. To play Sakura Wars without the music would be robbing your senses of a whole other level of the game. Don’t cheat yourself.

Is it the voice acting? God yes. Even if you don’t speak a lick of Japanese, just the intonation of each actress and actor makes the meaning behind the words quite clear. These people put their heart and soul into making the characters real and entertaining and Sumire has a laugh that rivals Naga the Serpent from Slayers. This is by far the best voice acting I’ve ever heard on an import game. And it’s just another reason why I am crazy about Sakura Taisen.

Is it the graphics? Let’s leave it at this. The cinema scenes on the Sega Saturn are better than most of what I’ve seen on the PS2. And that’s not me being a Sega fan boy. Or me being a Sony hater. That’s me saying “Holy crap. The PS2 Sakura game, which is a direct port of the SS game, has the best animation out of any game on the PS2 bar none. And yet, the Saturn cut scenes from the original game can hold its own against the remake.” THAT is how good the graphics are.

Plus superdeformed Sakura characters are adorable when they show up.

Is it the game play? Tactical RPG goodness. How could it not be? Each character has their own unique attacks and although there are only 7 characters total, well it’s still more than in any Final Fantasy Tactics game, and the gameplay is seamless. And in the gameplay the dating sim aspects come back into play, because how each girl feels about you correlates directly with how good your characters are in battle. So make Ohgami a pimp daddy!

Is it the mini games? Well, the mini games are cute. But I don’t need them. Still, they are a lot of fun and worth checking out. Each girl has their own mini game. Sakura’s involves floor sweeping, Sumire’s is swimming like the old NES track N Field 2 game. Maria’s game involves cooking, Iris has a slot machine esque “dress the little girl” game that again reeks of pedophilia if you put her in the slutty bunny outfit. Kohran has a card game, and Kanna has a “Who are my real parents” game. Kohran and Kanna I suggest avoiding unless you know Japanese, but Sakura and Sumire are the easiest for English only speakers.

Is it the bromides? Well, cartoon characters don’t turn me on. But they’re pretty to look at, I’ll grant you that.

It’s all of these things and more. Somehow Sakura Taisen managed to take all of these aspects and create a video game that is truly better as a whole than in its separate pieces. Much like the aforementioned Voltron, or even Devestator. Who win between those two, eh?

This game was what really truly made me appreciate how far my Japanese has come along. A game that I was able to enjoy almost at the same level a native speaker could. There is a reason this series is right up there with Sonic in terms of popularity for Sega franchises in Japan. And hell, there’s even more nick-knacks for Sakura Taisen then there is for the Hedgehog franchise. I will never be able to understand why this series hasn’t made it to the States yet. It was supposed to have made it for the Dreamcast, but that got axed. It was supposed to be in the US by the beginning of 2004 at the LATEST. But it’s not here. It probably NEVER will be here. The only answer I can come up with is that once again Sega of America has proven themselves to be total idiots in terms of marketing strategy. Sakura Taisen in English would draw major bucks. Here’s hoping now that Sammy owns them, that they’ll kick Sega’s butt in gear and start forcing them to release an English copy of Sakura Wars that has all the same love and care that went into the original Japanese version.

Go import the game for your Saturn for ten bucks on Ebay. Watch the opening demo and listen to the song, and trust me… you’ll be hooked. Even if you can’t speak a lick of Japanese, the fact this game plays out exactly like an Anime series will be enough to keep you coming back for more.

- Alex Lucard