Which is your favorite retro gaming era?

[Arkhan]

Anyone who doesn't like the saturn probably only played Bug and Virtua Cop

[Arkhan]

[Michirin9801]

Sounds like you will love the Saturn. Maybe some day the emulation won't suck. That would be nice.

I've seen videos of people running Saturn pretty damn well on Mednafen, but if only it was more user-friendly... I mean, dragging PCE roms into it is fine and dandy, but I still could never manage to get a CD game working on it! (Well, I did, but it was PC-FX, still didn't manage PC engine, Playstation or Saturn) I don't know what I'm doing wrong, or not doing, so the least they could do is make it obvious what is it that I'm doing wrong or not doing! I don't wanna read pages upon pages worth of forum threads in order to figure it out, I don't have any patience for that...

That's why I love emulating stuff on my Wii, it's far from the most powerful system, but since it's a console they have no other choice but make it more user-friendly, the Wii doesn't have a bloody keyboard and mouse in it, it's got a controller with a D-pad and 7 buttons, there's only so much you can do with it so you have to actually display the options you have on the screen, right there, easy for anyone to see, as for running the games, just put them on your HDD or SD card and you're good to go! Why can't stuff be as simple as that on the PC?
No reason, because it can! Just look at PPSSPP, that's like, one of the best emulators I've ever used, I just expect emulators to be about as user-friendly as Snes9x, or worst-case-scenario I have to load a bios or swap floppy images, which I'm perfectly fine with, but PPSSPP is as easy to use as just downloading it and whatever ISOs you need, you don't even need to mount the ISO image to Daemon tools or anything, it just works! And even DLC is easy to install, you just put it on the folder it tells you to put and voila! It's installed...
But not only is PPSSPP an easy to use and configure emulator that runs PSP games excellently even on lower-end computers, but it goes above and beyond into making your emulation experience as well-presented as possible! It's got a pretty good-looking UI, it's easy to locate your games, it gives you little thumbnails of the games you'll be playing, it has a list of recently played games front-and-centre, getting to whichever options you need and tweaking them is just a couple of clicks away, you don't have to read a manual to find out what keyboard combination you have to press to make it work, it's PERFECT!

[Gypsy]

Anyone who doesn't like the saturn probably only played Bug and Virtua Cop

What a sad Saturn experience to have.

[Arkhan]

Anyone who doesn't like the saturn probably only played Bug and Virtua Cop

What a sad Saturn experience to have.

Bug was kinda funny, but like holyshit if the usa library is all you had, you were f*ckin screwed.

[Gypsy]

Yeah importing is a must. People that are like, the Saturn (or Turbo for that matter) sucks it doesn't have many good games, but also aren't willing to import confuse me. It's a Japanese console that flopped in America but was wildly successful in Japan, what do you expect?

[Dicer]

16-bit hands down. The best smattering of all around goodness.

The pong/8bit era can be a close second if sometimes primitive plenty of those games are easy to pick up and go.

The 32-bit era can be hard to go back to, some of the game just do NOT hold up well, even with upscaling/filtering they are still ugly janky foggy framey messes, but there is other stuff that holds the up to test of time.

Everything past that is just prettier/faster/sleeker versions of crap before it, not always for the better...

[MrBroadway]

The only US Saturn disc I own is Rayman, and only that because it was cheap. Every other game I own is the Japanese version. 1) Way f*cking cheaper; 2) Way more space for more games; 3) Looks better than those monstrous-yet-fragile abortions of a case.

[sanjo]

I loved the Sega Saturn!
I began as a Nintendo fanboy. Atari and NES were my first systems but I was hardcore NES and SNES nerd as a kid.
at that time I did have a slight interest in the Turbografx because Sears always had it on display and I'd play it while my parents went shopping. But they refused to buy me another console.

Some time later, when 32 bit was about to arrive and things got cheaper, I finally I gave the Gen and Sega CD a chance (but what I really wanted was a Turbo, but they were now gone), but was let down by the sound in many of the games (lesser colors wasnt so bad). I purchased it solely for Phantasy Star series, Shining Force, Lunar, and Sonic 2. 

By the time the 32 bit era arrived.  I decided to break from tradition and went for the Saturn first, while most of my friends went for PS1. At first, I had some buyers remorse because 3-D Polygons were the big thing back then, and PS1 games used it better. I was like, why can't the saturn version of Toshinden look as good? I eventually ended up buying a PS1 as well.

However in the end I played my Saturn 2 or 3 times more. Later on the Saturn had some games that I felt had better polygonal graphics, like Virtua Fighter 2 and Sega Rally. I also had this dual  mod saturn (a store put in some additional circuitry or something where you switch it from US or JPN).. and this greatly expanded my library.

I stuck to games that didn't require much Japanese at first, mostly fighters and shooters, then started learning Japanese.

in the end the PS1 AND Saturn's polygonal games aged poorly but Saturn's 2D games were fantastic. Arcade ports were much much better and had less loading times. My favorite fighter was the Saturn exclusive, Groove on Fight.

RPG wise, I think I logged on far more hours on Dragon Force 1 and 2 than the FF series on PS1.
I also liked Iron Storm (Daisenryaku), a WW2 strategy game. Its what led me to translate daisenryaku for the PCE-CD 10 years ago.
 
On the regular tv, the Saturn looked a lot sharper, with better contrast and colors. the PS1 had this blurry look (like how the Sega Genesis was).

Best of all, the Saturn was far more reliable. Never had any hardware problems with it, Just had to replace the battery every now and then. I had to completely replace my PS1.

I know some people complain about dithering used on the Saturn, but back then, they looked transparent due to the technological limitations of the TV.

[Arkhan]

Saturn had Magic Knight Rayearth and that was the best. 

as was Dragon Force.

Both those games were f*cking masterpieces.   

It's a shame saturn kinda blows in the RPG department by comparison really.    The games are all good, but it doesn't have as wide of a selection.

[SignOfZeta]

I picked the same as everyone else. I love this period because it was as advanced as games got before they kinda...left the garage and got big time. The gulf of technical resources between Sega and Technos was massive yet Kunio-kun is at least as fun and was at least as popular as Space Harrior. The JRPG matured, playable pseudo3D was possible on SFC and if was actually fun. STREET f*ckING FIGHTER TOOOOO and of course Neo Geo, Yoshi's Island, Y's IV, Tengai Makyoi, Sonic 2...shit, I just named more shit than I've enjoyed since since the Dreamcsst died.

16-bit forever.

Btw, hear hear to the "8-bit graphics" thing. It always bugs me when people say "8-bit" and there's like 24 colors per sprite and megapixel resolution. "8-bit" is usually like three colors plus transparent unless they stack sprites. It's usually kinda ugly, and that's why the 16-bit era is my favorite. I apreciate the spirit of the Famicom times a million but I just need *slightky* better shit, sorry.

[ClodBuster]

Michirin, I'd suggest a PS2 SCPH-9x (Superslim) equipped with a Modbo chip.

This revision isn't as f*cked up as some of the SCPH-7x (Slim) revisions with the frail diode problem. The SCPH-9x also has better compatibility with the majority of PS1/PS2 games than the 7x.

This is what I use with my PAL SCPH-9x, and it plays pretty much everything fine that I throw at it (haven't tested MGS VR missions yet, though), which is mainly Japanese and some US PS1 and PS2 games. Will play CD-/DVD-Rs too, reserved for some otherwise prohibitively expensive games.

[Arkhan]

I laugh at people who need RGB nes.

It still looks bland half the time because the sprites lack any details.

[MrBroadway]

PS2 can play all PS1 games.   I don't know what Broadway's smoking.   I can confirm FFT and LOD work on a PS2. and VR Missions actually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_games_incompatible_with_PlayStation_2

Which PS2 do you have? I have a chipped PS1 for imports, and neither console are stay hooked up, so it's not a big deal for me to get it out and play PS1 games on it. I never checked for myself what games work or don't work, since I never got rid of my PS1 to begin with.

Just these 3?
Not that big a loss... I could just emulate them if I ever want to play them...

Nah, a lot more, but those were the only three I cared about.

[Gypsy]

On the regular tv, the Saturn looked a lot sharper, with better contrast and colors. the PS1 had this blurry look (like how the Sega Genesis was).

Genesis composite is pretty bad on most models and PS1 composite is truly awful so that's probably why. It's been awhile since I've seen Saturn composite and I actually don't even have a Saturn composite cable anymore to check.

Saturn had Magic Knight Rayearth and that was the best. 

as was Dragon Force.

Both those games were f*cking masterpieces.   

It's a shame saturn kinda blows in the RPG department by comparison really.    The games are all good, but it doesn't have as wide of a selection.

Definitely. I loved Dragon Force. I still need to play the 2nd one. I have the patch for that and Policenauts sitting here waiting for me to get done with my anime bender.

I picked the same as everyone else. I love this period because it was as advanced as games got before they kinda...left the garage and got big time. The gulf of technical resources between Sega and Technos was massive yet Kunio-kun is at least as fun and was at least as popular as Space Harrior. The JRPG matured, playable pseudo3D was possible on SFC and if was actually fun. STREET f*ckING FIGHTER TOOOOO and of course Neo Geo, Yoshi's Island, Ys IV, Tengai Makyoi, Sonic 2...shit, I just named more shit than I've enjoyed since since the Dreamcsst died.

16-bit forever.

Btw, hear hear to the "8-bit graphics" thing. It always bugs me when people say "8-bit" and there's like 24 colors per sprite and megapixel resolution. "8-bit" is usually like three colors plus transparent unless they stack sprites. It's usually kinda ugly, and that's why the 16-bit era is my favorite. I apreciate the spirit of the Famicom times a million but I just need *slightky* better shit, sorry.

So this post (mine) might not make much sense but here goes.

I have played pretty much everything you mentioned (not Tengai Makyo yet) and liked them all. I like plenty of new games too, despite how different they are from old games. That said there is a deluge of very shitty samey indie roguelikes and all the AAA shooter and sandbox clones that you have to look past and find the better games. And I mean, I enjoyed RDR but I don't understand people wanting  to wander around and plat all the sandbox games that come out. I just want to play through the game once w/o a guide. I cleared over 50 PS3 games (not supposed to be an impressive number) so I think there is definitely some fun to be had.

Agree about old games. For me games mostly didn't get fun until PCE. Now there are some playable NES games for me, mostly the ultra popular and well made shit like SMB3. Whereas PCE I can play and enjoy most of the library.