Top 50 Sega Saturn Games You Couldn't Play! - Japanese Saturn Exclusives! 

Recently bought a region free modded VSaturn on eBay. Picked up X-Men vs Street Fighter for it, my God. It looks and plays like a dream. The Saturn is the Aladdin’s cave of consoles. I love looking through eBay and scrolling through it’s never ending list of quirky, mostly forgotten collection of games. What an amazing system, certainly more interesting then the consoles we have today.

And now we have Sakura Taisen and Grandia fully translated for Saturn.

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more views; Most SS best of videos are just a top 10 of the same old games everyone knows by now. This give a whole different perspective and I also appreciate the fact you only included games that have an English translation or are playable as imports with no heavy language barriers

I love the sega saturn. Over 50% of my saturn collection (about 100 games) are japanese imports. Luckily its easy to play imports with just the action replay 4m+.

HELL YEAH!!! TODAY is my birthday and I go this video uploaded from Top Hat!!!!!!! thanks

Loving the Dominatrix character on Magical Drop 3. Only in Japan would something like that make it into a childrens' game!

Man if those Japan games would have came to the USA history could be different

"There are no games on this list that are not playable if you're English-speaking only." We appreciate that! Still waiting on Princess Crown's translation from 10+ years ago.

Great video buddy! Sega Saturn is a console is one I haven't yet played and I sorely need to add to my collection! I might do a first time playing video when I finally get one!

That cheeky AI in the Magical Drop 3 clip :D

Great list of the best and hard work from the Tophat Man!

Great run-down but I do think Battle Garrega deserves a little more detailed description! That is a legendary arcade game and the Saturn version is a pretty much arcade-perfect port. I never knew about Dragonforce! I wonder if the metal band thought of that when naming their band!

Dungeons and dragons collection is a very good beat em up.

It's surprising Hudson never again used that very attractive style of "Fight!" in other Bomberman games.

Very nice video TGHM! Thanks so much for covering the Saturn, IMHO the best console ever.👍

Great video. Thanks for putting the effort into it.

Great job on this topic, Mr. Top Hat! The Wikipedia article devoted to Saturn games lists more games released in Japan than North America and Europe combined. Even if you sort the games by publisher it's plainly obvious that Sega left a lot of their own games home. What makes sense is that the Saturn is so good at handling 2-D Sprites, after all it was designed to be a Sprite-pushing powerhouse. What doesn't make sense is the policy that Sega of America had in regards to these games. That policy was purely insane, as they refused to release most 2-D games (the Saturn's strength), but rather those that were 3-D (the Saturn's weakness) so as to compete better against Sony and their PlayStation. Had Sega of America released the games on your list (and those like them), not released the system 3 months early, and not priced it beyond affordability, things might have turned out differently. -Mark H.

Speaking of Necronomicon Pinball, for Dream Theater fans the opening and ending music is performed by John Petrucci from that band. I've owned this title for nearly 20 year now, and still love to pop it into my Saturn every so often.

So glad I just picked one up for a song ...so much fun to be had.

Great list! Hats off to you!

liked this video, i have been collecting saturn imports for 8 years my collection is big, i havent played all the games yet but i will

Just found your channel. Instantly subbed. Really well presented video.

This is a fantastic group of import games for the Saturn mate. Thanks for sharing. :)

that was a great Video :)

So many incredible games on this amazing console! ^^ SOUKYUGURENTAI has ever been one of my favorite shoot'em up! (yep! It is one of my first imported games back in the days, amongst some other like Burning Rangerss, Thuder Force V, Sexy Parodius, etc. It is not as beautiful, long and "groundbreaking" than Radiant Silvergun, but it is way much more enjoyable! And its kind of "electro-epic-martial" soundtrack is unique and phenomenal. Fun fact: the music is composed by the great RPG's composer, Sakimoto Hitoshi... who also composed the amazing epic score for Radiant Silvergun. (Although I really think the one for Soukygurentai is better., if less memorable.)

Sakura Wars was one of the highest selling titles on Saturn in Japan and the big shots in Sega America didn't want to localize it.

If you like Mech games, I recommend the excellent "Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story" and "Gun Griffon 2" playable with the Twin Stick Controller.

Top Hat, you seem to have overlooked the sword weapon in Radiant Silvergun. You need to use it to chop pink bullets in order to charge up your super scissor attack. That may have improved your experience with the game

Excellent video man

Excellent video

Outside of the Genesis, the Saturn is easily the best Sega console. It's my personal favorite. The Dreamcast always gets praise but in my opinion the Saturn shits all over the DC.

15:05 that penguin game is the first game Hideo Kojima ever worked on. Pretty cool

Good list, but Keio Yugekitai, Steamgear Mash, Tryrush Deppy, Bokan to Ippatsu/Time Bokan, Twinkle Star Sprites, Sokko Seitokai/Sonic Council, Astra Superstars, Groove on Fight, Pocket Fighter, Capcom Generation series, Assault Suit Leynos 2, Puyo Puyo Sun, and Prikura Daisakusen stand out for their absence.

There's quite a number of awesome shooters on this list! Wow!

Shining Force 3 not getting localization for scenarios 2 and 3 was a travesty. Scenario 1 is one of my favorite childhood gaming memories.

Zero Divide giving me some Virtua Fighter 1 vibes, and Savaki and Goiken Muyou are looking pretty damn good!

I collect exclusively for the japanese saturn and appreciate this video.

Saturno era um verdadeiro gigante , excelente vídeo e essa lista de jogos é coisa de outro mundo muita qualidade envolvida.vida longa a sega casa do Sonic 🙌🏿🙌🏿

Simply gorgeous.

Nice list but Skull Fang, Batsugun, Elan Doree, Night Strikers, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Chase HQ, and Princess Crown belong on this list more than many of the games listed. Oh and Parodius. Can’t skip Parodius.

You can play these if you have an ODE (Optical Drive emulator) such as a Fenrir. I have a Japanese Model 2 Saturn with a Fenrir installed in the optical drive bay. It bypasses the region lockouts allowing games from any region to be played.

Gungriffon 2, Princess Crow, Sakura Taisen games, Sonic Council, Advanced V.G., Burning Fest Asuka 120%, Soukyugurentai, Twinkle Stars Sprites, Time Commando, Liquid Kids, Ninja Jajamaru, Ninpen Manmaru, Try Rush Deep.

Castlevania: SOTN also had extra levels, areas to the castle, and new enemies. I think it had a new boss and a few new items as well but unfortunately I misplaced the game before finishing it and haven't found it sense.

The Cotton games also feature fighting game controls for different shot types. Not a gimmick, it actually works well.

Bro you're awesome

Man there we have it, I am about to Place on oder of Bubble SYMPHONY in the near future say tops 3 months from now! happy to see this list but cannot keep concentrated enough to end up watching all of it at once, will probably be back for commenting more later.

I was lucky enough to be in the USA getting into Saturn gaming in the late 1990s. Blockbuster video was dumping their Saturn systems and games dirt cheap. You could get a system and a ton of games for $50, easy. But in Japan, they were still making games like D&D and Vampire Savior and such, and you could easily get imports at a local game store (or mail order). You could easily get Radiant Silvergun at original price. So, you get a system dirt cheap, and can get affordable new imports from Japan. And ironically enough, this was the best thing for SNK fans, since the Saturn ports were pretty good and the Neo Geo systems/games were just so expensive. (Not that the Saturn controller can replicate that sweet Neo Geo digital thumbstick, but the Saturn arcade stick was good.) So. I visited Akihabara in 1999 and picked up a whole ton of used Saturn and Playstation games real cheap. I had little or no idea whether the stuff I was picking up was any good. But here are some recommendations I can make: 1) Cyberbots - I got my hand on a big box copy of this. It's a cool Capcom fighting game. Maybe not popular enough for Top Hat Gaming man's fans to care about but ... well, it's a bit different from the usual Capcom fighting game fare so that's something. 2) Macross Do You Remember Love - this is a simple shooter; it's a bit short and on the easy side. But if you want a more casual shooter game and/or you're a fan of Macross/Robotech, it's a fun play. Nice graphics and music. Absolutely no need for Japanese language understanding. It's just a shooter. The story follows the movie, so if you watch the DYRL movie (released in translated adaptions), you'll understand the story just fine. 3) Gundam Side Story 2,3 - I didn't see Gundam Side Story 1, but I picked up the other two and they're fun. Good first person 3D graphics for the Saturn, and a nice feel for giant robot combat. D-pad moves, with L+R buttons for rotating left/right. I don't know about you, but this is my favorite way of doing this. They also made a Dreamcast Gundam Side Story game, which added command of two other units, and of course vastly superior 3D graphics. Unlike the Saturn games, the Dreamcast game was released outside Japan also. I didn't get very far in them; maybe understanding Japanese would have helped. But regardless, it's fun to just go around attacking things with your Mobile Suit. 4) Assault Suit Leynos 2 - This action mecha game is highly regarded, but I never made it very far. It does have really nice graphics and feeling of action. Maybe understanding Japanese would help make some progress, but it was fun to shoot up stuff anyway. 5) Sakura Taisen and Sakura Taisen 2 - Okay, there is a LOT of Japanese in these, but to be honest you can just answer the dialog portions more or less randomly; maybe take some notes for trial and error. The point is ... you can just muddle your way through them to get to the tactical combat portion. The options are still all in Japanese, but there are few enough options that you can figure them out. I know. I did it myself. What you get is a relatively simple isometric tactical combat game, but with some fun tactics because of the way the different characters have different tile patterns covered by their special moves. It's a lot of fun to figure out how to advance on the enemy and set up geometrical line ups. The fact that it's all tile based gives you Chess-like precision lacking in the later Sakura Taisen games. The bottom line is that Sakura Taisen 1 and 2 are actually doable and fun games even with little or no Japanese comprehension.

Policenauts is such an amazing game.

For Vampire Savior, it was odd that footage from Vampire Hunter was shown instead. Also, I was kind of hoping Astra Superstars would have been mentioned.

Hyper Duel is insanely good.

Bomberman 64 was fucking awesome! Top Hat Man is missing out.

My bank account cries out in pain just thinking about picking up many of these.

I need Bulk Slash in my life

I can play them, only because I have a JP Saturn now. Both US and Japanese consoles use NTSC (though there are mods so you can run it through PAL), so all you need is one of those handy cheap red cartridges that allow you to play games regardless of region.

21:37 You mixed the two game titles here, Dark Savior is a different game entirely.

The weapon "system" in Shinrei looks similiar to Alisia Dragoon, atleast it looks similar with the "auto aim" looking lightning attack.

@top hat gaming man -- Could you summarize the 50 in your description pls?

Believe it or not, I actually have a copy of Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru, (Psychic Killer Taromaru).

Three Wonders is itself the arcade game with the three games to pick from. Probably a clever way to make several games with recycled assets. It's included on Capcom Classics Vol. 2. Supposedly IGA will get mad if you bring up the Saturn version of SoTN.

This was a really cool video. It might be better to get a japanese Saturn over an American Saturn with this kind of selection

Somehow Policenauts was also released for the PS1, which was also Japan Exclusive

I don't remember all that interlacing playing the NeoGeo version of Waku Waku 7. Is that how it really looks on the Saturn? Or, does it not play nice with capture cards because of something like a 240p vs 480i conflict?

Hah! I have some imports because I have a Game Shark Cartridge! yet see this top 50! TOP 50! FIFTHY is a large number of games, my imports at hand right now is five(5!) games and one ninja Penguin on the way ordered via Gameshop in South Stockholm and I got the imports not to long ago, that said remember that I have been playing Saturn since 1998! I will watch this vid on a bit by bit basis.

Not bad for a bunch of triangles substituted for polygons.

Dead Or Alive wasnt the first of the fighting genre to use counter attacks. Virtual Fighter did and probably others i cant think of

Magical Drop 3 is on the PS4. It’s amazing.

Da real MVP

Linkle Liver Story is a great action RPG from the makers of Crusader of Centy, which recently got an English fan translation. A lot of my favorite Saturn games are unfortunately text-heavy RPGs. The Langrisser games, Tengai Makyou IV, Princess Crown, Blue Seed, Farland Story. Hoping one day someone decides to translate them...

My advice to you Sega Saturn owners out there: if you want to play all of your Japanese Sega Saturn games, then I highly recommend getting a Japanese Saturn and avoid the USA and PAL Saturns.

You seem to often describe vertically scrolling shooters as horizontally scrolling.

Watching someone play Radiant Silvergun without using the weapons and chaining system is painful

There was a game called Choro Q park. Have you ever played it

How can you play this retro games now without the console?

Looks up Super Tempo to buy on Ebay! £350 :(

I'm starting to realize that maybe Saturn was the wrong console to become obsessed with as someone who hates 2D fighters and shmups...

finally dedicated time to understanding the history of the saturn and discovering its library. this should've competed very well with the n64 in the west, SoJ fumbled this system so badly.

Savaki, not to be confused with souvlaki :D

Sorry to point at this, but you actually added footages from Vampire Hunter (aka Night Warriors) instead of Vampire Savior. Not a "tragic mistake" ^^, but... -Vampire Savior is even more amazing! ^^

Does any one know the name of the 1st game as soon as the video starts?

I totally have Digital Monsters ver. S Tamers

Many arcade ports, don't know if they count as exclusives. Well, great job anyway 😁

Devil Summoner

Great video top hat

Good luck collecting most of them...

Radiant Savile Gun. Now then now then.

just literally looking for at least one that I can afford haha.

Dead or Alive got a PlayStation port a couple of years later

Nobody can touch the Saturn when it comes to 2d games and graphics!!

radiant silver gun would give giga wing on the dreamcast a run for its money graphics-wise

Other than the sonic games, croc, nights, bug, rayman, resident evil, wipeout, D, this is mostly all we got other than Sports games, miltary games, and movie tie in games is all we got in the USA. There were a few other games but they were very far and inbetween, So pretty much once you own those games that are all priced in the $100-300 bracket in the used market thanks to waka ruining the used game market. If you want any games for the saturn that are decent you must learn to be either not care about not being able to read japanese's 3 languages and get a over priced action reply that by passes region locks. UK got a bunch of games neither US or japan got as well. Mostly didn't hit the states because of how bad sales of the saturn was in the states.

Shinrei Jusatushi Taromaru was one of my favorite games I randomly found after first purchasing my Saturn. You get to convert enemies into companions to fight along side you! Super unique gameplay for the time.

Raced to look up Hyper Duel for purchase and ran into a brick wall to see the start price of 500.00 :/

Dragon Force 2 Is An Innovative RPG Genre To Emulate on Computer

I have almost no Saturn games outside of Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu.

yes you could play with it, you just had to buy some import .....

Where is Grandia?

Wow I live in Australia and I'm shocked at most of these games, why did sega hold back.. 😒 they designed a 2d power house of a machine that could do good 3d, should have just supported what they had.. instead sega worried what sony was doing.

Just eBay searched for Hyper Duel... £540+ 🙁😢😭

Saturn looks awesome, but it's so damn expensive for a poor college student like me lol.

terra diver ??