OK. Thanks. Trying to find an affordable above board method. I really wish I had bought it back when it was even $200!
Iām with ya. Iāve had several opportunities over the years as well but always turned it down because of condition issues. I hate being the way I am with that.
With some quick googling I havenāt found any translation guides. I suppose you could play it along with watching an English walk through.
Iāve bought many Japanese games due to price and liking the cover art a lot more but then gone ahead and āacquiredā the English version and played that. I think thatās really your only option here.
Well, itās definitely something to consider in this case. The JP release is really pretty too. Iāll probably get the import regardless of what I end up doing to actually play it. I want to own the game.
You could also consider buying it, playing it, and then selling it again.
Itās a thought. Iāll get the import first and go from there. Sega has to know by now that if they can ever make it available again it would be a nice seller for them. Sigh.
This is the best way IMO. Typically, this is how I collect expensive games. I feel like I didnāt steal it because I bought it.
To me itās no different then burning a translation patch. Iāve bought the game, I deserve to play it the way I find most enjoyable
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Well, I went that route with Dragon Force when I stumbled onto the import yesterday for $15. Another game Iāve wanted to play a long time since I dropped the ball buying it when it was new.
Rounding the last turn on Shining the Holy Ark. The only thing preventing it from being an unqualified classic in my book is the encounter pacing - fights just take way too long for what they are. Very engaging dungeon design.
Part of me thinks it would have been even more awesome if it was fully 2D, though! The polygonal graphics donāt add much.
I love the polygonal look and feel it adds to the charm of the game. Reminds me of the old Rankin & Bass TV specials, like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer that were done in stop-motion. The random encounters I felt in some areas were a little high, but not too bad, but itās also dialed back in the later levels when thereās minor backtracking. One thing I didnāt like was the pixie system. I never really seemed to hit the correct command to release the correct pixie for attack and finding them was not easy.
I like the ārenderedā look of the character/enemy spritesā¦ I just donāt know if the dungeons gain too much from all the low-res brick/wall textures. Itās certainly not bad looking. I enjoy the pixie system, but it definitely could have used some refinement. Something an extra analog stick would make incredibly intuitive, now that I think about it.
Just got an used, as-is, saturn for free, without cables or controllers. I noticed that I can use the PS1 power cable, but what about the video cable? Is there any other console that uses the same video cable?
Itās unique to the Saturn AFAIK. Shouldnāt be too hard to find one off eBay; good opportunity to start off with S-video or better.
http://www.hdretrovision.com/saturn/
[edit] I mean, it depends entirely on your needs. If you have a Scart setup already, Then go for Scart, thatās the best quality. Component is just as good and can be used on the many North-American CRT TVs that have Component input.
I feel a bit silly. I was playing games for that weekly highscore thread, but I completely forgot that my console was out of battery. I managed to snap a pic, but I have nothing else left 
Itās an April Foolās joke, sadly. Still, theyāre nice mockups, even if the face buttons seem a little small.
Thatās a terrible joke
I really want some quality Saturn controllers.
Retrobit are releasing some officially licensed Saturn USB controllers sometime this year. Keep your eye out for those. Iām hoping the build-quality will at least be on par with the old ones released by Sega Logistics Services.