Magazine Spotlight #1
Welcome to Magazine Spotlight, where I'll go over some neat information I find in magazines that I own. This will range from advertising, exclusive interviews, and reviews and coverage from games that were new during the time. I'm personally a big fan in advertising artwork and the slogans that go along with it, and especially with a more obscure magazine like Sega Saturn magazine being Japan exclusive, a lot of it hasn't been seen by a majority of people.
At the bottom of the article I'll link the magazine itself to a viewable pdf, so if you want to read over the magazine yourself you can. I'll just be highlighting pages that only really interest me, so there will be plenty of content to look over still in the magazine
A neat comparison between the cover and the very back of it has the back view of Akira and Kage playing the newly released Virtua Fighter Kids. A bit of a weird release, basically if Virtua Fighter 2 had a big head mode with not many additions. Around them you can see some big Saturn releases from the period, Panzer Dragoon, Sega Rally Championship, Virtua Cop, Clockwork Knight etc.. However, I think the coolest ad is on the very next page
Here is an ad for some bottled tea exclusive to Japan (at least to my knowledge, I've never seen it anywhere in the USA) along with Shun and Jacky playing more of the game. All I know is if I'm drinking that many cans of tea while and trying to win in a fighting game, I would have to piss so bad it's not even funny.
An interesting piece of the history of the Saturn is that Sega wasn't the only one to produce the hardware for the consoles. Along with Hitachi (who provided the sh-2 chipset that is housed in the Saturn), Victor also produced Saturn hardware in Japan. This is an ad for the Model 2 version of the console, most likely following Sega's model 2. The differences in hardware are really only the splash screen of the bios upon booting up the console, and the console shell and controller shell themselves having the Victor logo. Also pictured is the Victor photo-cd and video-cd expansion card, allowing for some crisper full motion videos, and functionality with outside photo and video cd's. Interesting how the Saturn was still being marketed to as a multi-media player in 1996, I think it's something we take for granted nowadays with most consoles with a disc drive being able to play just about anything. Lastly, at the bottom of the page are some screenshots of a game that Victor had published called Wangan Dead Heat Plus Arrange, a racing game with some cutscenes that take advantage of the Victor expansion module.
In the "Coming Soon Soft" section of the magazine, we see a preview of Sakura Wars, another huge release for Saturn in Japan. Unfortunately the series doesn't have as much steam over here in the states, but there is a modern game that got released onto PS4, and fan translations both completed and in-progress of older games in the series. This is an insider look as to how certain frames are storyboarded and actually put into the game, very similar to an animated series.
Another game coming very soon during this time (note the 100% completion meaning it's already out or within a few days) is another release in the Sega Ages line of games, Space Harrier. The Saturn was one of the first times a lot of their super scaler arcade games and past history made it onto a home platform completely intact with no downgrades. Here are some details of some of the later more difficult stages along with some tricks to get there.
A frequent section in these magazines was the AM2 official corner. AM2 was one of SEGA's most prolific arcade developers in house, along with developer Yu Suzuki they created some of the most defining arcade games of the 80's and 90's like Hang-On, Virtua Fighter, and Daytona USA. In this section they frequently had interviews with Yu Suzuki about the current game that AM2 was working on at the time and some of the challenges, with this interview being about Virtua Fighter 3. In this interview the magazine asks "I heard that you recently conducted a sampling test using the 60% version of Virtua Fighter 3. How is the current development status?". Suzuki replies "For me, it feels like 60-70%. As for the remaining parts, for example, there are about 5 more stages to make, and there were many 2P character costumes that weren't finished yet. Also new moves are being added day by day, so there are still adjustments to be made". Especially during 80's and 90's in American magazines, interviews with the developers weren't all that common. Mostly, magazines covered strategies, new games to be on the lookout for, as well as advertising and reviews. Interviews being included add, in my eyes, a great deal of substance to the magazine along with being able to follow the continuity of a games development cycle. This is something I wish more companies did in the modern day with games constantly being delayed or the workers being crunched for time. I get it. It's a different industry now where games have much bigger budgets and deadlines to meet, but I appreciate when companies are honest with their consumers and have a more intimate approach when it comes to their marketing and informing the customer-base about what the game is all about. This is definitely a lost era, aside from big events like E3 or the Game Awards, where news is expected to be announced, but also when the arcade was king and leading the way when it came to new technology in the industry.
Toward the very back of the magazine we have some reviews for games released recently being reviewed by the magazine. This is not to be confused with the reader reviews that are placed toward the beginning of the magazine and tend to be from games that have been out for a longer period of time. Similar to other gaming publications, the reviews are credited to specific writers, but this magazine does things a little bit differently. It assigns reviews to 3 different groups, the first being the "lady users group", the next being the "game mania group", and lastly is the guest game writers. This gives some different perspectives on the games and is interesting to see how some reviews skew more towards certain groups. This issue has some big game reviews like Virtua Fighter Kids, Tokimeki Memorial Forever with you, and some quality titles like Puzzle Bobble 2x, Saturn Bomberman, and Greatest Nine '96.
The general consensus on the Sega Ages release of Space Harrier was received pretty well with an overall rating of an 8.0, with the game mania group giving the game a 7 overall saying "Hats off to the translation that says 'what's the difference?' The quality of the game, which reminds us of the days when we played in arcades and on the X68000 version. This version is convincing enough to say that fans of those days won't be disappointed even if they buy this version. The exciting part of this game is that the unique feeling of floating and speed is still relevant today. I would like to recommend it to those who have not experienced it".
Another review pictured is of the Saturn port of Road Rash, which I think is a great game overall, and the Saturn port works well. The game however, only got a score of a 5/10! Guest Game Writers had this to say about the game.
"Following the 3DO and PS versions, the Saturn version was the last to be ported. I was expecting to see how much it had been modified, but as expected, it seems that it was converted as it was. Coarse graphics, and background polygons. Moreover, the content of the game remains completely unchanged. It may have been fresh at the time of the 3DO version a few years ago, but if it was simply ported without any modifications, it would be undeniably old, as other games have progressed. If you're new to Road Rash and have the money to spare, it might not be a bad idea to enjoy the games unique taste". For the most part, ports to Saturn tend to be a little less favored than their Playstation counterparts in Japan, and the Sega exclusive games are scored very highly.
Like I said at the beginning of the article, there's plenty more to read on in this magazine and I recommend reading more if you're into Saturn development or some of the games that were previewed around this time. Or you're like me and just like some of the advertisements.
Full Magazine Link: https://segaretro.org/File:SSM_JP_19960726_1996-12.pdf
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