Sunday Roundup: 9/16/12 (The Sega Saturn Edition)

This has been a long time coming.

The Sega Saturn has been a distant dream of mine for several, several years. I had no trouble finding the system, in fact I’d say I’ve seen upwards of 10 or more in the wild, but for this reason or that, I never picked one up. Usually the culprit was price: either the console was too expensive or I just wasn’t in a state to buy anything at the time, let alone another game console for me to start a thriving collection.

But I would occasionally check eBay and peruse what people were selling their Saturn and games for, watching a spare auction to get a good price range. For more than five years I’d gander at prices and see Saturns go for hundreds with a few games and controllers (and a fair share of Panzer Dragoon Saga’s sell for over $200 bucks as well!).

But this past week, as luck would have it, everything necessary for me to buy a Sega Saturn fell into place: the right price range, the right games, I actually had extra cash, and some support from close friends and even my mom (of all people!) supported my decision. I was more than thrilled to get my first (yes, my FIRST) taste of the Saturn, and here are the games I was able to sink my hungry teeth into.


Corpse Killer: Graveyard Edition
Saturn
Release Date: 1994
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

The first time I heard about Corpse Killer was when I watched the Angry Video Game Nerd’s episode on the Sega CD which featured, among other notably bad titles, this game. Be it childhood influence, ease of gameplay, or just guilty pleasure, but I’ll forever be a fan of the on-rails shooter genre, and this game fits the bill for that nicely. Digitized graphics, real life actors, ZOMBIES!!… this game has everything!

Enemy Zero
Saturn
Release Date: October 31st, 1997
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

Likely because the game was on the Saturn, I didn’t know that this game was the second game in a series called simply D. I only bring this up because I was actually sort of into the game D2 on the Sega Dreamcast. This game is actually the second in the series. Making D2 the third in the series. That’s kind of strange: The second game has a zero in it and the third game has a two in it. Hmm… Anyway, it’s a survival horror game that I’ve yet to play, though I’m very much interested.

F1 Challenge
Saturn
Release Date: 1996
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

Not being a huge fan of racing games I will likely not be playing this one. But hey, what can I say, it came with the online lot. I can’t argue with a game that comes along for the ride. Haha, get it?

NFL ’97
Saturn
Release Date: October 31st, 1996

Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

My experience with football games has pretty much been limited to the excellent arcade game NFL Blitz. Oh, and Tecmo Bowl. Everyone’s played Tecmo Bowl. Anyway, I might pop this in just to see if it works, but let’s just say I didn’t get excited when I read the list of games that came with the auction and I saw this one.

NHL ’97
Saturn
Release Date: October 31st, 1996
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

You know, I’ve never played real hockey, as in on ice with skates. I have played with roller blades and for a short time thought roller blade hockey was the apex of cool. Anyway, when I turned 12 I realized that hockey wasn’t that cool (Haha, two in a row!), at least not for me. I did, however, really enjoy some hockey video games while growing up, including Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey and NHL Hitz. But alas, I will likely skip by this one as well.

Street Fighter: The Movie
Saturn
Release Date: 1995
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

Now here’s a winner. You may recall that I already own this game on the PS1, but that didn’t stop me from being excited to own the Saturn version of the game as well! Because I’ve already played through the game a few times on the PS1 I was fine with putting this one off for the short amount of time I’ve owned a Saturn, but I’ll be getting into this game soon. And honestly, the game isn’t THAT bad. It’s just not that good.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Saturn
Release Date: 1996
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

Combined with Street Fighter: The Movie and Viruta Cop (See below) with a gun, this is the gem of the collection (Another pun! I’m on fire today). It was actually the very first game I tried out, making it the game that now has the honor of being called my very first Sega Saturn game. I’m totally fine with that, although a more fitting game would have been something exclusive, but I’ll settle with smashing gems with Ken and kicking Chun-Li’s ass.

The Crow: City of Angels
Saturn
Release Date: March 12th, 1997
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

I’ve never seen the movie this is based on, and to be honest I never knew there was a video game tie-in. The game is a beat-em up that, I would assume, follow some plot of the movie, which is loosely based on the plot of the comic book, which I also never read or knew existed. Shows how much I know. Anyhoozle, this one looks interesting: any beat-em up will grab my attention, and the back of the box promises exciting gameplay that I can only get with this game. That’s gotta mean something.

Virtua Cop
Saturn
Release Date: 1995
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

The classic arcade shooter was ported to the Saturn, in all of its original glory! I was very happy to see this game on the auction listing, and included with it was the original Sega Stunner gun controller. Even better, the game and controller (and the system and all other games for that matter) that came in the auction were in perfect condition! I spent a good solid hour playing through this sucker, reliving memories of arcade times gone past. A definite classic that I’m thrilled to add to my library.

World Series Baseball ’98
Saturn
Release Date: 1997
Purchased at: eBay (online – $115)

World Series Baseball comes as the only sports game in the package I actually have a passing interest in playing. Only because I haven’t played a good baseball sim in ages. And the White Sox were featured on the back of the box. That had something to do with it too. And it’s, “A Sega Exclusive.” Wicked!

And on one last note, I have to say I got these ten games, the Saturn console, two controllers (one official, one third party), a gun controller (official), and all the hookups to plug in the console and play. Everything was in excellent condition, with all games complete in box and controllers working. Needless to say, I was more than impressed I got this all for $115. I got lucky on this one. Thank you very much, video game guy selling this on eBay last week!

Laters,
Jsick

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. martianoddity

    It has to feel awesome to make such a great deal. One can savour the sweet taste of such a deal forever! 😀

    1. jsicktheslick

      It does feel good, actually! I always feel like I’m liberating each game I buy from some sort of hellish purgatory :p

      1. martianoddity

        I’ll start buy games with that mindset too! That means no more guilt! I’m saving games from a purgatory! 😀

  2. Eric

    Niiiiice! I have always wanted a Sega Saturn, too, for some reason, so I am a little bit jealous now. 😀 That’s a pretty awesome lot, man!

    1. jsicktheslick

      Thanks! My current liking of the system is still a bit low, mainly because I haven’t gotten my hands on any of the killer apps for the system yet. And by killer app I mean the handful of games people can actually name for the system :p

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