Top Five Sega Saturn Games

Forget the fact that it was an alleged nightmare to program and that it came a poor second to Sony's all-conquering PlayStation, there is still much to discover on Sega's (unfairly) maligned console. Here's five games to take a look at.

Nights Into Dreams

Its difficult choosing just one of Sonic Team's Saturn titles, but as Nights is so unlike anything else and came out first, it had to go in. The gameplay basically involves flying around a pseudo-3D world, passing through rings to open the level exit. The atmosphere is surreal, but to reach that euphoric state you need to master the art of infinite looping: passing through rings quick enough to maintain the timer and effectively loop the level several times while generating insane scores. It doesn't click for everyone, but if your mind is expanded enough its magical.

Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei

Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei is an on-rails shooter, which blends an unusual story line and ethereal atmosphere with some intense action. Unlike contemporaries such as Star Fox, Zwei allowed the camera to be panned all around the dragon mount, and therefore fire at enemies coming from all directions. It also improved on the first by providing a devastating berserker attack. Kwei is remembered best for its wild set pieces and epic bosses.

Guardian Heroes

No other system at the time could do 2D like the Saturn, and the game exemplifying this was Guardian Heroes. Unlike Final Fight, which had a variable plane of movement, Heroes only had three planes where movement was restricted to left and right, with players needing to alternate between them. It ensured the fighting engine was precise, well defined, and unlike anything else. Treasure also blessed it with a fantastic anime intro, and dozens of frames of super-liquid-smooth animation. Then there was the ability to collect extra characters to fight as, and even control a powerful undead warrior. Pure Genius.

Virtual Fighter 2

While the Saturn did not lack decent 3D fighters, none of them could hold a candle to VF2. While it wasn't the most accessible game to grace the console (arguably its only weakness), VF2's perfectly weighted controls, fluid animation and sheer depth really set the game aside, and the stunning high-resolution 60fps visuals only helped sweeten the deal. While the AI was competent enough, VF2 was always best enjoyed with a friend of roughly comparable skill, where learning a character and devising tactics accordingly to beat them became the order of the day - and it still plays like a dream to this day.

Street Fighter Zero 3

Capcom was one of the Saturn's staunchest supporters and as a result there are a host of great beat-'em-ups available on the system. While the likes of X-Men Vs Street Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Marvel Vs Street Fighter are all worthy of a mention, its the Japanese-only Street Fighter Zero 3 that kicked home. Until recently it was the finest conversion of the game to ever appear on a home machine. That wasn't all, though, as Capcom included all the arcade's extra gameplay modes and a console-exclusive World Tour to ensure that arcade veterans had plenty to sink their teeth into.

Well there you have it guys, my top ten Sega Saturn games, I'm interested to hear your favourite games for the machine, make sure to sound off in the comments section to let me know.