Comment by nanna | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nanna | Hacker News Reader

I loved my Dreamcast but the Saturn was Sega's pinnacle console. So many of the games were blindingly original.

- Radiant Silvergun the best scrolling shootem up at least I ever played (far superior to its sequel Ikaruga)

- Guardian Heroes a scrolling beatemup with dozens (houndreds?) of glorious characters to choose from.

- Nights into Dreams. You fly like a rocket, you dance, you liberate weird little tamagochi which you take on your VMU. By Sonic Team.

- Panzer Dragoon Saga. RPG on a dragon. Beautiful.

- Grandia. Ok this I never played as it wasn't translated, but its reputation preceeds it.

- Fighters Megamix. Graphics werent great but it brought together all of Sega's signature characters (including Sonic) into a Virtua Fighter ring. Madness.

- Burning Rangers. Meca Firefighting, by Sonic Team.

After the Saturn, the Dreamcast was a disappointment, even though it was great. And after the Dreamcast, I stopped playing games. Nothing like those old days.

You could put together a strong argument that Dreamcast had a similar level of originality too. Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Powerstone, Samba Di Amigo, Seaman, Shenmue were all games that were risk taking because they didn't have much of a template to build from.

Rez was amazing as well.

Rez was incredible, true. Shenmue and Shenmue II were also Sega at it's best. Seaman was bloody weird and very ahead of its time - too far perhaps, it was a real struggle to get that critter to understand my voice. Maybe because of my London accent? I had the impression it might have been better for Americans. Samba Di Amigo was also great - Sonic Team once again - though I remember struggling to get the maracas working. I might have had unofficial ones. Jet Set Radio was like nothing else too. I didn't have enough friends to get the most out of Powerstone. I would add Phantasy Star Online - Sonic Team! I was never crazy about Crazy Taxi, it never felt like it survived the transition to console from the arcades, where it ruled.

What a shame for videogames that Sonic Team was, I assume, disbanded along with the Dreamcast?

I'm not

Sonic Team was not disbanded along with the Dreamcast, but - AFAIK - still exists, however; Yuji Naka left in 2005(?) during Sonic ‘06’s disastrous development.

He’s recently ended up in legal trouble after the shitshow that was Balan Wonderworld. Oh; how the mighty have fallen. :(

Rez Infinite survives as a VR/Quest port! Really fun to re-play immersed in the system.

Minor nitpick; but the Saturn didn’t have a VMU; or Visual Memory Unit, that was the Dreamcast. You’re confusing NiGHTs Into Dreams’ A-life (which was still a thing but only in-game) with Sonic Adventure’s Chao system, which allowed you to take the little buggers on the go as I did in High School, lol.

You're completely right!

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