Thanks, Sega!: NiGHTS into dreams… Makes A Welcome Return (Which IS Excellent, But…)

Hey, Sega! Longtime supporter from the arcades to Dreamcast and beyond here. While I’m loving that you’re finally getting NiGHTS onto XBLA, PSN and PC soon enough, I’m also one of those crazy people that has the original game in it’s box with the analog controller, the Christmas NiGHTS disc (I have one each here for the US, Japanese and UK Saturn), the excellent Wii follow up and yes, that means I’ve played the game to death and will do so once more when this HD u[date hits. That said (dot, dot, dot)

Not to be a pest (again), but I’m just wondering when we’ll start seeing some of those other first-party Saturn titles get the same HD or remake love. The Panzer Dragoon series, Shining Force III (including all the content that stayed in Japan), Burning Rangers, stuff like that? It’s not as if I’m screaming about BUG! or Clockwork Knight not getting HD remakes here (you get what, one email a month about those, right?). I’m just a little bit concerned about Sega of America ignoring some of its best games on a console that’s been HUGELY underrepresented since it died. That and while they may not have sold in spectacular numbers on the Saturn, the games I listed might do even better today if the time was taken to bring them to gamers in the best possible manner.

Hell, I’d bet a Panzer Dragoon Complete Box Kickstarter would see money raining from the heavens…

4 thoughts on “Thanks, Sega!: NiGHTS into dreams… Makes A Welcome Return (Which IS Excellent, But…)

  1. I remember first seeing Nights into Dreams when it was on demo in a store. I wasn’t impressed by it. The graphics looked nice but the game still looked like last generations. I was expecting much more from the Saturn. But to be fair I never really did give it a chance. I was pretty quick to write it off. But I would still like to see more re-releases like this.
    What would you say were some of the Saturn’s high lights?

    Like

    • NiGHTS kind of grows on you once you get past some of its flaws. That said, i do wish Sega would get to work on restoring other Satrun games they published. As for my favorite Saturn games? There are too many if I include imports, but here’s a short list of US faves:

      Albert Odyssey: The Legend of Eldean
      Alien Trilogy
      A.M.O.K.
      Arcade’s Greatest Hits: Atari
      Arcade’s Greatest Hits: Williams
      Astal
      Baku Baku
      Battlesport
      Blast Chamber
      Blazing Dragons
      Blazing Heroes (aka Mystaria: The Realms of Lore)
      Braindead 13
      Bubble Bobble: Featuring Rainbow Islands
      Burning Rangers
      Crusader: No Remorse
      D
      Darius Gaiden
      Dark Savior
      Daytona USA
      Die Hard Trilogy
      Dragon Force
      Duke Nukem 3D
      Earthworm Jim 2
      Enemy Zero
      Galactic Attack
      Galaxy Fight
      Gex
      Guardian Heroes
      Gun Griffon
      Heir of Zendor
      Herc’s Adventures
      High Velocity
      Highway 2000
      The Horde
      In the Hunt
      Iron Storm
      Last Gladiators: Digital Pinball
      Legend of Oasis
      Loaded
      Lunacy
      Magic Knight Rayearth
      Mansion of the Hidden Souls
      Manx TT Superbike
      Mass Destruction
      Mr. Bones
      The Need For Speed
      Nightwarriors: Darkstalkers Revenge
      Off-World Interceptor Extreme
      Pandemonium
      Panzer Dragoon
      Panzer Dragoon II
      Panzer Dragoon Saga
      Powerslave
      Quake
      Rayman
      Resident Evil
      Road Rash
      Robotica
      Romance of the III Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire
      Saturn Bomberman
      Scorcher
      Scud: The Disposable Assassin
      Sega Ages: Afterburner, Outrun, Space Harrier
      Sega Rally Championship plus International Rally
      Sega Touring Car Championship
      Shining Force III
      Shining the Holy Ark
      Shining Wisdom
      Shinobi Legions
      Shockwave Assault
      Sim City 2000
      Solar Eclipse
      Sonic 3D Blast
      Soviet Strike
      Space Hulk
      Star Fighter
      Steep Slope Sliders
      Street Fighter Alpha 2
      Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
      Tempest 2000
      Tetris Plus
      Thunderstrike 2
      Tomb Raider
      Virtua Fighter 2
      Virtua Fighter Kids
      Virtual Hydlide
      Virtual-On: Cyber Troopers
      Warcraft 2: The Dark Saga
      Wing Arms
      Wipeout
      Worms

      Like

  2. Wow, that’s a HUGE list! And your list for Japanese Saturn games would be longer?!
    I really don’t like the cases for North America and European Sega CD and Sega Saturn games so I’ve been trying to find some Japanese Saturn games that I would be able to play. I’ve also notice that the Japanese versions seem to be much cheaper.
    I’ve seen youtube clips of a few of the games you’ve listed and ones like Alien Trilogy look a little dated. I was hoping to discover some good platformers and space ship shooters. I’m sure there are a bunch in your list. I’ll use your list as a starting point and see what from it peeks my interest. Thanks very much for the HUGE list! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Like

    • I hate US Saturn cases too, as they’re terribly designed and tend to crack or break if you so much as look at them funny. At least the UK game cases were hard-shell black plastic and or/cardboard. The main issue with tthose are the fact that the glue holding the cases together deteriorates over time, causing the art to peel away from the case!

      Most Saturn 3D games haven’t held up too well, particularly games that were also made for the Playstation. The PSOne could do some effects a lot better than the Saturn (transparencies, for example), so most games that look pixely on the Saturn looked a bit to a LOT better on the PS. Tomb Raider is a great example of this, as are Loaded, Wipeout and some other cross-platform titles.

      The main “problem” with Japanese Saturn games is Japanese if you don’t speak the language. While some games are simple to play (any shmup for example and there are a LOAD of import Saturn shooters you’ll love), a lot of the platformers are in Japanese or have been translated into Japanese, so stuff like story and menus may be tricky unless you’ve played the US versions or dig up walkthroughs.

      Anyway, I may as well recommend a few titles for you (*= imports)
      Platformers/Action Games (2D/3D)

      Clockwork Knight
      Clockwork Knight 2
      Bug!
      Bug Too!
      Tryrush Deppy*
      Super Tempo*
      Steamgear Mash*
      Willy Wombat*
      Princess Crown*
      Assault Suit Leynos 2* (Target Earth sequel)
      Keio Yugekitai* (Keio Flying Squadron 2)
      Magical Hoppers (Pandemonium!, but with new anime characters and intro for Japan)
      Gex (I believe the import loses all the English text and voice for a total Japanese redub)

      As for shooters, well, poke around on google, as there are some sites dedicated to Saturn shooters

      Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.