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Playing Saturn games on your PC is easy peasy
Mon, 06/25/2007 - 5:37am — Mark Vergeer
A new version of Yabause - an open source Sega Saturn emulator for PC - is out. Check it out at http://yabause.sourceforge.net . This emulator is very versatile and compatibility is increasing rapidly. Emulation of the 32-bit Sega console is proving to be quite difficult and the authors have been working on this project for quite some time. So what is it like to play those games on the emulator? Well it might be handy to check out the compatibility for the game you want to try out on the emulator as it is rather tricky to get all the necessary files and there is a good chance the emulator will not like the particular game you want to try out. You'll need a relatively fast pc, a good graphics card and a copy of the Saturn bios files. The latter might not be so easy to get, but using google or dumping the files yourself will no doubt get you started. Just insert the disc in the cd/dvd-rom drive configure the emulator and off you go.
Which games do run? To answer that question here is a small compatibility list. A more up-to-date version - including screenshots - can be found on the emulator-sourceforge website:
| Game Title | Region | Status | Version | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Odyssey | US | Playable | CVS-20051019 | Looks pretty good. Just need to fix a few more bugs and add rotation screen emulation | |
| Arcana Strikes | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041211 | Dies while trying to play opening movie, will have to check out | |
| Assault Suit Leynos 2 | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20060208 | Looks perfect. Goes into an endless loop after starting a new game though. | |
| Atelier Marie | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041218 | Show one intro screen, then crashes emulator | |
| Baroque | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Batsugun | JAP | Playable | cvs-20060807 | ||
| Battle Arena Toshinden Remix | US | Blank screen | CVS-20041215 | ||
| Black/Matrix | JAP | Blank screen | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Burning Rangers | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20050407 | Graphical and audio glitches still existing | |
| Christmas NiGHTS | US | Blank screen | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Clockwork Knight | US | Playable | -Some music problems -Very minor graphics bugs -Randomly crashes |
||
| Cotton 2 | JAP | Blank screen | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Cotton Boomerang | JAP | Blank screen | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Daytona USA | US | Blank screen | CVS-20041215 | ||
| Daytona USA | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041220 | Show one intro screen, then crashes emulator. | |
| Daytona USA CCE NetLink Edition | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20050317 | Appears to wait on Modem or something. | |
| Dracula X | JAP | Playable | cvs-20060807 | -Some graphical glitches | |
| Dragon Force | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20050107 | -You can start a new game, pick a country, etc. then it seems to go into an endless loop. -Movies look corrupt. |
|
| Dragon Force 2 | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041214 | -You can start a new game, and pick which country/character you want to be, then it dies | |
| Falcom Classics | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050329 | Ys is playable. There's some vdp2 priority glitches though | |
| Falcom Classics 2 | JAP | Playable | CVS-20060125 | -Most sounds missing -A few odd graphical glitches |
|
| Farland Saga 2 | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041209 | In theory, this could probably be upgraded to Playable. Although it runs so slow it can't really tested fully yet. | |
| Grandia | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050403 | -RBG0 needs to be properly implemented. -SCU DSP needs to be implemented |
|
| Grandia Digital Museum | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050329 | Playable, but a bit tempermental. Lots of graphical glitches. | |
| GunGriffon 2 | JAP | Blank screen | CVS-20041209 | -Waiting for DMA interrupt | |
| Hanagumi Taisen Columns | JAP | Playable | cvs-20060807 | ||
| Iron Storm | US | Playable | CVS-20050408 | ||
| King of Fighters '95 | JAP | Shows stuff | cvs-20060123 | -Almost working fine. Some strange problems need to be fixed first. | |
| Langrisser III Ltd. Edition | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050206 | -Plays opening movie, then crashes if you try skipping it by pressing a button. -If buttons are pressed before the opening movie, during the Masaya logo, you can actually start a new game. |
|
| Langrisser IV | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050320 | -hangs in the battle screen -some priority problems left |
|
| Langrisser V | JAP | Shows stuff | |||
| Legend of Oasis | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Lunar 2 Eternal Blue | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041218 | -Title Screen background is wrong. -Freezes after you start a new game. Looks to be cd block related |
|
| Lunar Magic School | JAP | Playable | cvs-20060807 | ||
| Lunar: Silver Star Story | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050827 | -Opening movie has wrong sound -After one starts a new game, it plays a bit of dialogue, and then does nothing. |
|
| Lunar: Silver Story Story Complete MPEG | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050827 | -MPEG movies won't play yet.
-Dies shortly after starting a new game |
|
| Macross: Do you remember Love | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050403 | -A few serious graphical glitches. Some timing issues. Otherwise it looks playable. | |
| Madden NFL '98 | US | Blank screen | CVS-20041215 | ||
| Magic Knight Rayearth | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050421 | Some graphical glitches. Movie is desynced | |
| Mega Man X3 | EU | Shows stuff | CVS-20050329 | -A number of graphical glitches -Controls don't work |
|
| Metal Slug | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050303 | ||
| NFL '97 | US | Gives error | CVS-20041215 | -Causes a segmentation fault in the emulator, and crashes it. | |
| NHL '97 | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20041215 | -Shows the copyright screen, then dies. | |
| NHL Powerplay '96 | US | Gives error | CVS-20041215 | -Dies with a Bad Memory Access at 0xE000022E. | |
| NiGHTS Into Dreams | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20050107 | -Crashes after you start a new game -Movies and Title Screen aren't being rendered correctly. |
|
| Noon | JAP | Playable | CVS-20051203 | ||
| Phantasy Star Collection | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Planetweb Internet Browser 3.0 | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20050317 | Sort of works, needs some tweaking. And Netlink emulation as well. | |
| Pretty Fighter X | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Princess Crown | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050104 | -Works, but massive graphics problems | |
| Princess Maker 2 | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050421 | Is pretty much perfect. | |
| Robotica | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20041215 | -Shows the Acclaim logo. | |
| Romance of The Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20041215 | -Shows messages relating to backup memory, doesn't show anything afterwards. | |
| Sakura Taisen | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Segata Sanshirou Sinkenyuugi | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050409 | ||
| Sexy Parodius | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041218 | -Some graphics errors, but otherwise works fine up until the title screen. -Seems to suffer a similar problem to Lunar 2(cd block related) |
|
| Shienryu | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20050826 | Some graphic problems, but otherwise works. | |
| Shining Force III | US | Playable | CVS-20041211 | -Graphical glitches | |
| Shining the Holy Ark | JAP | Playable | CVS-20051202 | Works fine with some graphical bugs | |
| Shining Wisdom | US | Playable | CVS-20050910 | Playable with only some minor errors on dialogs and menus | |
| Slayer Royal | JAP | Playable | cvs-20060807 | ||
| Snatcher | JAP | Shows stuff | CVS-20041209 | ||
| Sonic Wings Special | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050828 | -Some graphic problems | |
| Soukyugurentai | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050409 | ||
| Tactics Ogre | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050409 | ||
| Thunder Force V | JAP | Shows stuff | cvs-20060301 | -constant flickering during gameplay -some 2d status bars have a constant transparency effect (they shouldn't) -minor layer priority problems (press "5" to deactivate the problematic layer) -water is invisible |
|
| Tomb Raider | US | Blank screen | CVS-20041215 | -Freezes Yabause up completely. | |
| Vampire Savior | JAP | Playable | cvs-20060807 | ||
| Virtua Cop | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20040421 | -Works with lots of graphical glitches | |
| Virtua Racing | US | Shows stuff | CVS-20041215 | -Shows the Time Warner Interactive logo, and doesn't get any further. | |
| Virtual On, Cyber Troopers | EU | Shows stuff | CVS-20050909 | - videos don't work
- invisible characters |
|
| Wachenroder | JAP | Playable | CVS-20050405 | -Graphical glitches -garbage audio. |
- Mark Vergeer's blog
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Comments
Other PC-Saturn emulators with varying compatibility
Other PC Saturn emulators with varying compatibility definitely worth checking out if you want to venture into Saturn emulation.
Giri Giri Project
Programmed by Megadeath, this amazingly fast and compatible Japanese emulator - now discontinued but can still be found on the net. Quite a few games are running. Sega hired the GiriGiri team to further develop the emu for their Saturn games service. I wonder how the Saturn games in Gametap are being 'emulated'?
Satourne - http://satourne.consollection.com/
Since 2001 this emulator by Fabien Autrel has been in development. Fabien created this emulator in order to be able to play 'Radiant Silvergun' - his favorite game. But now Satourne can play quite a large library of games.
SSF - http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~phantasy/ssf/index.html
SSF 0.08 Alpha R10 is a good Japanese emulator created by Shima. Compatibility is pretty good and cd-rom support is nifty. Personally this is one of my favorite Saturn emulators. This one gets very regular updates!
All in all the field of Saturn Emulation on personal computers is a very interesting!
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Mark Vergeer - Editor / Pixelator
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Xboxlive gametag
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