Retro gaming makes a comeback! When visting a retro gamestore yesterday I saw a Sega Saturn and started thinking... if I could nab a copy of Panzer Dragoon II Zwei I would so buy this thing. I was able to find a reasonably priced copy and went back to grab the Saturn. It's been over 10 years since I last took to the skies with Lagi and Lundi and I can't wait to rearm and (finally) beat the game. Hopefully it stands up to my memories, I sure know the music does!

Still, while I bought a system for one game in mind in this case, I was wondering what other games I should check out. Out of the other games my cousin had back in past the other one that stood out was Tomb Raider, but it and Mega Man X4 are already accounted for on the PS1. There are surely some other gems out there.

What are your favorite Saturn games?

As far as "exclusives" go.. Daytona USA, Enemy Zero, NiGHTS, Burning Rangers, House of the Dead, Sonic R, Panzer Dragoon, Virtual On, Virtua Cop, Radiant Silvergun, Mr. Bones.

-Mike

Essentials:
Nights, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Guardian Heroes

Excellent:
Panzer Dragoon 1, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Virtual On, Virtua Fighter 2

I have a tradition of breaking out my old Saturn every Christmas vacation when I go back home and I love it every time.  It's definitely my favorite system of that generation and holds its own with my favorites from any other.

Panzer Dragoon 1's graphics suffer in comparison to the sequel but the music, level design and bosses are still fantastic after all these years.  Guardian Heroes IMO was the next-generation evolution of Golden Axe and has yet to be similarly superseded among that type of game.  PD Saga oozes atmosphere and again the music is superb.  Virtual On is great fun if you have someone to regularly play against.  I don't know what's left to be said about Nights but I will say it's probably the only action game where the general premise of trying to best your high score from previous tries actually motivates and appeals to me.  Virtua Fighter 2 probably show its age worse than my other picks but if you don't have any of the sequels I figure go for it.

Along with a couple imports the Saturn game I most regret missing out on is Burning Rangers.  I should try to pick it up for when next Christmas rolls around

Anyway congratulations on your new acquisition!  You're gonna love it.

It came with Daytona USA, Virtua Cop and Virtua Fighter 2, so have those three already. It also has the NiGHTS controller but no NiGHTS, but that could work to my advantage if I go looking for it.

Thanks for filling me in what you thought of the original Panzer Dragoon Adam. My cousin had it as well when I borrowed his Saturn all those years ago and while it was a nice game, it just didn't have much of a chance to grow on me with the sequel being right there. If that wasn't the case I'm sure it would have recieved more attention.

Actually, I can remember playing Zwei (the opening level) at the local Series where it was set up as a demo. Forgot about that!

If you don't have the original Panzer Dragoon's soundtrack it's worth getting the game just for the redbook audio.  Those opening and ending themes are to die for.

Games I enjoyed on the Saturn include:

Dragon Force
Bubble Symphony
The Konami Deluxe Packs (Parodius, Twinbee, Gradius, Salamander)
Cotton 2 and Cotton Boomerang
Necronomicon

Oh man, I think the Saturn is a beautiful system! I would LOVE to see Sega release a Saturn compilation like they did for the Genesis, but I'm skeptical to that ever happening. At any rate, the following games are golden:

Dragon Force -developed by the Working Designs (I miss them), this is a great RPG... in fact, the Saturn had a handful of amazing RPGs, all of which I highly recommend!
Guardian Heroes -it's like Golden Axe, with RPG elements, developed by Treasure... need I say more?
Shining the Holy Ark -BEAUTIFUL RPG, and a joy to play! one of my all-time favorites, and my favorite on the Saturn (not to mention a fantastic soundtrack
Shining Force III -here in the US, we only got the first scenario (damn you Sega!), but it's still fantastic
Panzer Dragoon RPG -if you can find a copy, it's well worth it! This is one of those games you'll want to play more than once...

the above are my favorites, but these are also great:

Nights -a true classic
Panzer Dragoon I and II -but, you already know this

cheers,

-avatar!

I actually have Panzer Saga, but I've only dabbled with it a little since I want to play the others first.
I started collecting imports last year, which has led to some nice surprises - Keio Yugekitai 2 is fun, and Silhouette Mirage is so much better than the WD PSX version it's not even funny. Besides that, Sonic Jam is probably the best compilation disc Sega ever made (Spin Dash in Sonic 1, Lock-On games included, museums teeming with music, art, commercials and such), Megaman 8 has Saturn-exclusive content, and I've played the ever-loving HELL out of Puzzle Fighter on the machine (which reminds me, invest in some type of memory card, with a region converter if you can. Having to re-defeat Devilot was a double-sized pain in the butt).
Maybe after my finances stabilize, I'll go after more. I want Radiant Silvergun like nobody's business.

You've all covered the essentials but the Capcom vs games are worth a mention too - the x-men/marvels vs streetfighter/capcom games, Darkstalkers games, Pocket Fighter, Cyberbots and loads of plain ol' Street Fighter games are perfect on the Saturn and the Saturn pad is just about the best pad ever made for fighting games.

I adore my Saturn and, like Adam, get it out every Christmas, starting with Christmas Nights (best free giveaway ever) and always moving on to others. PD  Zwei is one of my all-time favourite games and the only shooter I put time into to get 100% in. Oh and Saturn Exhumed (Powerslave in the US) is a stunning FPS that is more like a Metroid platformer than anything else. Much better than the PS1 and PC versions. Check that one out.

And I totally agree with Guardian Heroes, Sonic Jam and the rest. Gun Griffin may be worth a look too - giant robots with some tactics thrown in. I enjoyed it. Oh, and Kao Flying Squadron 2, a wonderful 2D platformer. Ah, there are just too many good games to mention.

A great system with no end of great games.