Collection essentials #298: Sega Saturn

Here’s Sega’s next major console to succeed the Genesis/Mega Drive. Its story is pretty interesting in my opinion, but the history section of this post is going to be a bit abridged because there’s just so much to it…I feel like I make my posts too long already!! There are plenty of places out there where you can read more about it in more detail.

This is the first standalone console I’m covering that exclusively plays games stored on CDs and not cartridges. As 1994 drew near to a close, it was about time for CDs to become the new standard. Sega had already made the Sega CD which released in Japan at the end of 1991, and the improvements in technology in less than three years were pretty astounding. This new generation of CD-playing consoles featured full-fledged three-dimensional graphics! Looking back on them today they seem pretty ugly, but back then it was pretty mind-blowing for a gaming populace that had been used to most games having 2D sprites. 

The Genesis/Mega Drive had seen great success in different parts of the world, but perhaps surprisingly was not popular in Sega’s own home country of Japan, losing out to Nintendo’s Super Famicom by a wide margin and also the PC Engine. But that’s not to say Japanese gamers didn’t like Sega’s games, it’s just that the most popular ones weren’t on home consoles. Sega’s most popular game in Japan at the time was a certain groundbreaking 3D fighting game (which I’ll get to eventually), so what better way to launch their new console but with that game and a promise of a sequel not far down the road? That’s exactly what Sega did, and it paid dividends in their home country. The Saturn got off to a strong start in Japan, and went on to be the best-selling console they ever had on home turf. However, the momentum from the fast start wouldn’t last. A fierce new competitor, Sony, was also competing on the home console market, and an incredibly deep library led by an extremely popular RPG released in 1997 wound up leaving the Saturn in the dust.

Now, over in America, the Saturn was slated for a September 1995 release. But American gamers would get something new from Sega at the end of 1994: the 32X. This strange contraption was a second add-on for the Genesis that played its own games, only this time instead of CDs they were primarily 32-bit cartridges (as opposed to 16-bit) for some additional power. There was some hype for the 32X, but it quickly flopped hard when gamers realized that it didn’t provide enough of an upgrade to be worth the investment, especially with a brand new console generation right down the pipe. This was a major failure that hurt Sega’s reputation.

In the spring of 1995 there was a brand new big annual video game trade event called E3 which invited companies to showcase and announce games and systems in development for the coming year(s). With Sega and Sony’s consoles already having been released in Japan, the two companies were slated to announce details for the North American launches later that year. Both consoles had been originally planned for release in September. Sega, wanting to get a head start, decided to take a major gamble. They made a special announcement that the Saturn would release…literally immediately, to a select few retailers, at a $399 price point. This turned out to be a huge blunder for a few reasons. One, it allowed Sony to undercut their price. Two, it meant that the console’s game lineup was going to be very thin for a while as not all developers and publishers were ready for that announcement. Three, the retailers that had been left out of this surprise launch weren’t happy. Some disgruntled stores choose stop carrying Sega products altogether, with Sega’s reputation already reduced because of the perplexing release of the 32X. 

The Saturn never stood a chance in America. It failed to gain any significant traction outside Japan for its entire lifespan. I’m not as familiar with its history in Europe, but it didn’t fare much better over there, with one reason according to what I’ve heard being that Sony did a far better job promoting and marketing their console there than Sega did. And so, the Saturn earned a reputation outside Japan as a total failure, and to many a console not worth any attention.

But was that really the right way to look at it? No. The Saturn has actually proven to be quite popular among retro gamers like me. The console received a very good library of games despite disappointing sales, and perhaps the early success it had in Japan made many Japanese developers decide that it was worth making games for despite the poor Western market. The console certainly had a strength in its 2D graphical capabilities. In terms of 3D graphics it fell behind its competitors, but there was absolutely no other home console that could stand toe-to-toe with the Saturn when it came to the most cutting-edge 2D games back then. And so, many 2D arcade games, most notably fighting games, were best-played at home on the Saturn even when there were other versions available. 

As for my own history with the Saturn, I was completely unaware of it when it was on the market. I was still a young kid with no internet at home or magazine subscriptions, and none of my friends had one. In fact, it wasn’t until after Sega’s NEXT major home console came out that I first encountered the Saturn at a friend’s house. I was like, “Oh, so THAT’S what came out in between the two consoles I’m familiar with!” Having discovered the Saturn, I became curious about it, especially seeing a specific strategy RPG that seemed pretty cool. A few years later when my family got the internet, I made it a point to buy myself a Saturn on eBay. I focused on building my Saturn library in the next few years, and I became quite endeared to the console. 

I want to note that the Saturn console in the photo is a Japanese console, though the controller is American. That brown color was only used for the Japanese release, while American and European Saturns are black. My first Saturn was American, but I had a problem with Saturn consoles when I lived at my parents’ house because the disc lasers kept dying. It may have been a problem with the environment for some reason, because I’m pretty sure I had at least three Saturns that all malfunctioned in the same way. When I moved out, I decided it was time to buy another Saturn, and Japanese Saturns were cheaper due to being more common (even with shipping) so I opted to import one.

For years I would have told you it’s my favorite Sega console, and it still might be…though I hesitate, as the competition is pretty stiff. Stay tuned as I highlight some of my favorite Saturn games in the coming weeks.