Sega Saturn is an incredible gaming console that never got the respect it deserves but offers a compelling library of games.
Sega Saturn is perhaps the most misunderstood and under-appreciated gaming console of all time. At the time of its launch, Saturn sold very poorly and was much less popular than Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation. There were many mistakes made with the marketing and promotion of the console. Most critics dismissed the Saturn. Despite this, I would argue that Saturn is the best console Sega ever released, aside from the Genesis/Mega Drive. To me, Sega Saturn is a lost masterpiece, a console that was the underdog of the 32-bit era that never got the respect it deserved. Despite its poor treatment, Saturn has some of the best games of all time. The style of games offered by Saturn were original and unlike anything being made on Playstation or N64. For example, Saturn games were quirky, off-beat, and weird. Saturn could perform amazing 3D graphics, but it still had one foot firmly planted in the 2D world. For retro gamers, this makes the Saturn games still compelling to play today, whereas Playstation and N64 games look dated with their ugly blocky polygons. While the industry was shifting towards large open-world 3D gaming, Saturn games were rooted in arcade style gameplay. Most of the games on the Saturn were shorter overall, but had strong replay value that compelled the player to keep coming back to get higher scores and to unlock secrets.
Unfortunately, Sega never recovered from the losses it experienced with the Saturn and this led to the company's eventual downfall. On top of that, because Saturn was much less popular than Playstation and N64, the games for it are rare and expensive. They are much harder to collect for. This is unfortunate, because that means that some of the greatest games of all time will never get to be experienced by most gamers. I would love to see a Sega release a new Saturn Retro Collection console like they did with the Genesis Mini and include all the iconic games that most people never got a chance to play!
Recommended games: Nights Into Dreams, Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Fighter, Shining Force, Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, Bug!, Bomberman, Clockwork Knight, Street Fighter, and Sonic R.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned