Hello all, I am new to the forum, thanks to member xboxsegafan187 for inviting me to join. I am a lifelong collector of just about anything from the NES on forward. I am currently working on about 10 different collections at the moment as well as my game magazine collection.
I am somewhat new to the Sega Saturn. After picking up the system (for the first time), I have finally experienced 4 games I have always wanted to play.. Magic Knight Rayearth, Shining Wisdom, Dark Savior, and Legend of Oasis. I am a huge Action RPG fan so these have been a blessing.
Sorry for ranting, I'll get to the point of my thread!
I am wondering if there is a list of Saturn games from Japan that would be playable to someone with no knowledge of Japanese. I ordered an Action Replay Plus and can't wait to try some import games. So far, I have found only 1 title, but then again, I am just starting to look and thought maybe other users here may have some titles they can add to the list.
So far, Willy Wombat is what I've found to be a Japan-only title that is in English.
I am guessing there's others, so if anyone knows any, I appreciate it!
I would recommend getting the Japanese version of Saturn Bomberman. It is still in Japanese, but you do not need any knowledge to figure out what does what. Also the game is incredibly cheaper in comparison to it's english counterpart.
Ack wrote:I don't know, chief, the haunting feeling of lust I feel whenever I look at your avatar makes me think it's real.
-I am the idiot that likes to have fun and be happy.
Pretty much any Shooter or Fighting (1 on 1 tournament style) game is perfectly playable whether it has an English option or not. Those 2 genres are the main reason for importing for the system and is quite an extensive selection.
-Metal Slug, of course. Can't remember if it was actually in English, but who could remember in a game like that.
-Necronimicon is neat pinball game. I think it's in English.
Otherwise, I know of a Wizardry game that has an English option: Wizardry: Llylgamyn Saga. The SNES import of that game has the same option. It's not everyone's RPG cup-of-tea though.
Not sure of much else you might want to consider.
XYZ wrote:Sorry for ranting, I'll get to the point of my thread!
I think the word you were looking for is "rambling", not "ranting". I'm often guilty of both .
theclaw wrote:You also can play PAL games who accept 60hz. Not that there's much reason to.
Some of those are usually cheaper than the US versions, like Saturn Bomberman, Sega Ages, Panzer Dragoon Saga.
Also some games that were released in PAL in English but not in US: Darius II, Parodius, Keio Flying Squadron 2, Wipeout 2097, King of Fighters 95, Mega Man X3.
I'm pretty sure Metal Slug is in English as well, played it many times just cannot seem to remember the language. NiGHTS Into Dreams is also in English if memory serves me.
I was actually just playing Metal Slug, and it is in English.
The only Japanese was a subtitle in the title screen.
Old Username: sp957
Systems: Genesis, Super Nintendo, Saturn, Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Xbox 360, and Windows PC Handhelds: Gameboy Advance SP, Nintendo DSi, and New Nintendo 3DS
Thanks guys for all the replies and recommendations!!
I was hoping there'd be other titles like Willy Wombat that were Japan only that we didn't get to see but in English. It seems a lot of what's been mentioned so far are the Japanese versions of NTSC games, just cheaper. Which is cool to know as well, and I am enjoying the replies so far!!
Okay my friend, I'm off work this week and can't do much since I hurt my neck, and dug through all of my JP Saturn games. Anyway, this list isn't complete, but what I did was list games that I don't see mentioned that much (so not Radiant Silvergun or Capcom/SNK fighters for example). These are either in English or can be played anyway without knowing a lick of Japanese, and are all console exclusive or the best port of the game IMHO. You should be able to find clips of these on Youtube to see if they're your thing. Have fun!
Cotton 2: Probably the best cute 'em up of all time. Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru: A side scroller beat em up with horror elements, highly recommended. Elevator Action Returns: Side scrolling beat em up. Parodius – Great shmup, also release in Europe in English. Astra Super Stars : Very underrated fighter by Sunsoft. Gungriffon II: Excellent mech/FPS hybrid. Princess Crown: A side scroller with RPG elements, spiritual predecessor to Odin Sphere. One of the best games on the Saturn. Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom – Basically a side scrolling beat em up with some RPG elements. Kyukyuoku Tiger II Plus: Overhead shmup. Groove on Fight: Great 2d figher. Tryrush Deppy: Side scrolling platformer. Hyper Duel – Shmup. Game Tengoku: Another great shmup. Cyberbots: 2d mech fighting game. Blast Wind – Underrated Shmup. Bulk Slash – Mech fighting game. PuLiRuLa: Side scrolling beat em up (sort of), with some really beautiful animation. Sengoku Blade – Another underrated shooter. Battle Garegga – Very underrated shmup. Soukyugurentai – Another shmup. Batsugun: Another shooter. Virtual Hydlide: A dungeon crawler with random dungeons, it's a remake of the SNES Hydlide. Most people hate this one, but I like it, so I put it on anyway. Nekketsu Oyako: Side scrolling beat em up. Purikura Daisakusen: Isometric beat em up. Dodonpachi: ANOTHER shmup. Thunder Force V: Side scrolling shmup.
***ADDED*** Silhouette Mirage: Side scroller with very colorful graphics by Treasure. Not an exclusive (also on the PSX), but a great game. Deep Fear: Survival Horror game set underwater, released in Europe in English.
***3rd Addition*** Okay, so I dug through all of my Saturn games looking for that game I forgot (Pretty Fighter X), and decided to make a second tier. These are all games I didn't remember right off the bat, and stuck in my Saturn to jog my memory. I would generally consider these my second tier of games, but they are still great to good (and playable without knowing Japanese), I didn't put any outright bad games on here. Also, a few of these had PSX releases too, but the Saturn version was the superior port or they were at least both JPN only.
Super Tempo: Very colorful 2D side scroller, sequel to the Genesis games. Ninpen Manmaru: A 3D platformer from Enix with animated cutscenes. It works with the 3d controller. Elan Doree: 3D fighter with characters riding dragons, basically Panzer Dragoon Fighter. Pretty Fighter X: A 2d fighter with high school girls and anime cut scenes. It's not half bad! Skull Fang: Another shmup. Dragon Ball Z Densetsu: Decent 2D fighter, I'd pass if you aren't a DBZ fan. Dragon Ball Z Shinbutoden: Same as above. Wolf Fang: You guessed it...A SHMUP! SDF Macross: I hesitated to put this on, it's a great Shmup but has a ton of Japanese text/dialogues. Still playable, but you miss something. Macross DYRL: See above. Asuka 120% Limited: Another girl-centric fighter, it was released on Japanese PCs and the PSX too, but this is considered the best version. Gekirindan: Another shmup. Dezaemon: OMG! A shmup! Darius Gaiden: It's Darius on the Saturn. SHMUP Darius II: It's Darius II on the Saturn. SHHHHHHHHMUUUUUUUUPPPPPP Sonic Council: Very good 2D fighter. Cotton Boomerang: Cotton 2 with a few new characters and an amped up difficulty. Probably for SHMUP freaks only, I love shmups and this one makes me want to pull my hair out. Plus it's basically Cotton 2 anyway.
*One more thing, the Wizardry first person (American) RPGs were all released on the Saturn through Wizardry VII. Now, these are ports of American PC games, but the Japanese games actually have the option to select English from the menu, and are the best way to play them outside of running an Apple II, Win 3.1, Win 95, etc.
Last edited by Ben on Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:40 am, edited 8 times in total.
.
