Overlooked systems

[Xen]

curl-6 said:

Ljink96 said:

Yeah, most people don't know that in theory the Saturn was more powerful than the PS1. Developers just didn't know how to effectively use the 2 CPUs. Rendering quads at that time was very interesing and kind of unheard of for any game console as PS1 could only render tris. It had a lot of potential but was cut short by Sega's incompetence and messy marketing strategies. The Saturn itself doesn't have many US games and even worse not many of them are any good. Shining Force 3 and Panzer Dragoon were kickass games though.

Yeah I find it really interesting how the Saturn's powerful but complicated hardware compares to the more straightforward PS1. It was one of those systems where only a few games really showed its full potential due to how difficult it was to properly optimize for.

Sega apparently underestimated the importance of 3D going forwards and designed the Saturn as more of a 2D powerhouse, then threw in some extra chips at the last minute when they heard about what PS1 could do. Still, games like Panzer Dragoon and Burning Rangers showed it could hold its own when games were tailored to the hardware.

Fun fact: its 2D prowess is so prevalent, that the best version of SF: Alpha 3 is on the Saturn, beating out even the Dreamcast. Granted, you needed a RAM expansion for it, but still.

Go check the prices for SF Zero 3 on ebay.