Today it’s one of the Saturn’s rarest and most expensive titles. Of course it also helps that it’s got exceptionally fun and addictive turn based strategy mechanics that make it a deep and engrossing game. Shining Force was their original series, and it really excels as one of the Saturn’s nicest looking 2D games. In fact all of Camelot’s games have a similar feel, and even some of the golf ones have comparable RPG elements. Shining Force III draws comparison to Camelot’s Golden Sun – a slightly less obscure game they released a few years later for the GameBoy Advance. In total it’s a pretty sweet compilation. Then there’s a basic 3D area that plays like a rudimentary level from Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast. This allowed for new features, and there’s also the option to simulate the lock-on technology from Sonic & Knuckles and link the game with others from the collection. Most importantly the games were rebuilt for the Saturn hardware and weren’t rushed emulation ports. It combines the four Mega Drive/Genesis games on one disc and replicates the originals whilst adding enhanced elements. The Saturn may have lacked a major Sonic release, with Sonic X-treme being notoriously cancelled, but Sonic Jam is without a doubt the next best thing. There’s a particularly interesting feature that lets you request voiced navigational prompts, which makes for an interesting change from the map-reading skills most games require for orientation. The game has a strong mix of exploration and action, and involves the player commanding a giant robot and putting out fires. The Saturn had few 3D games that could really compete with some of the more impressive titles released for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64, but Burning Rangers was actually pretty awesome. Because of this it’s not as revolutionary as some of the era’s other 3D games, but the mechanics weren’t superseded as 3D gaming evolved – meaning it’s still great fun today.

Hailing from a time when the conventions of 3D gaming hadn’t been fully established, it largely functions as a 2D title existing in a 3D space. NiGHTS was in many ways SEGA’s flagship game for the Saturn, and it’s an excellent title that has aged surprisingly well. In particular that article details the process of playing import games, many of which are mentioned here.*** ***Note: This article is a follow up to The Ultimate SEGA Saturn Guide Part I: Introduction to the Saturn, which mainly covers the console – whilst this post mainly covers the games. There’s so much choice that a top twenty was the absolute minimum I could refine my favourites down to, and today I’ll be detailing these games and explaining why I’d consider them to be the must-have games for any Saturn owner. The SGEA Saturn has a varied library of games, and it’s surprisingly great – especially if you’re including the many Japan-only titles (which I am) that are well worth importing.

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