“Game over, yeeeaaahhhh!” 5 hidden gems for the Sega Saturn

There’s no two ways about it, the Sega Saturn had an incredibly difficult lifespan. Forced to compete with consoles juggernauts like the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation, whilst being severely hampered by limited 3rd party support and questionable decisions from Sega themselves, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why Sega’s penultimate console will forever be doomed to live in the shadow of its predecessor, the wildly successful Mega Drive.

That being said, whilst it was a commercial flop, the Saturn did feature some absolute gems of games, such as Sega Rally, Daytona USA, House of the Dead, Virtua Fighter 2, Die Hard Arcade and the first 3 Panzer Dragoon games. 

However, this only scratches the surface of the gaming treats which Sega’s fifth-gen console served up. So, without further ado, we’re going to take a look back at 5 hidden gems that were released on the Saturn back in the day.

Contents:

1. PowerSlave
2. Mr Bones
3. Enemy Zero
4. Steep Slope Sliders
5. Highway 2000

PowerSlave

“2…. minutes…. to gametime!” We kick things off this week with PowerSlave (or Exhumed in Europe), a gripping FPS title from 1996 that scratched gamers’ itch for all things Ancient Egyptian and took its name, as well as a fair bit of stylistic inspiration from the Iron Maiden album of the same name.

The action here takes place in the Egyptian city of Karnak, which has been captured by dastardly extra-terrestrial insectoids known as the Klimaat at the tail end of the 20th century. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to march into this valley of death and take on the Klimaat, as well as the vast array of minions, which include mummies, scorpions, and evil spirits, all of which makes for a thoroughly entertaining experience.

Incidentally, this title was later ported to other platforms and an enhanced port was released for PC and modern consoles under the name “PowerSlave Exhumed” earlier this year.

Mr Bones

We stick with the theme of combating evil forces for this week’s second title, Mr Bones. In this game, you are charged with controlling Mr Bones as he valiantly fights to stop mad philosopher DaGoulian, putting his diabolical plan of purifying the world with evil using his army of skeletal soldiers.

What is really unique about Mr Bones was the gameplay itself, as it can vary wildly from level to level. Although the changes can amount to little more than a different camera angle, and most levels follow the action/platformer template, some of them differ wildly, ranging from music/rhythm games to games of memorization.

Another interesting feature was that Mr Bones had a supply of skeleticism instead of a health bar. This means that when his skeleticism level drops, he loses body parts, which adds an extra challenge to proceedings as it could potentially make crawling or jumping impossible.

Enemy Zero

We take a truly terrifying trip to outer space now with Enemy Zero, which is arguably one of the most unique horror games to ever see the light of day.

In Enemy Zero, you control Laura Lewis who has awoken from a cryogenic slumber on the AKI space station, only to discover that it has been captured by aliens. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg as these aliens are invisible, meaning you need to listen very carefully to identify them.

As if that’s not difficult enough, timing is also absolutely crucial in this game as every gun in the game needs to be charged immediately before each shot. Failure to do so means the gun loses its charge and results in an immediate game over.

Yes, it’s fiendishly difficult and, no, it’s for everyone, but few games will scare you quite as senseless as this one.

Steep Slope Sliders

If you’re looking for a more pleasant kind of extreme adrenaline rush that puts a chill down your spine in a good way, then one Saturn title capable of doing so is Steep Slope Sliders. Although not as well-known as other snowboarding sims such as Cool Boarders 2 for the PS1 or 1080 Snowboarding for the N64, Steep Slope Sliders won plenty of praise from critics and gamers alike for its eye-catching visuals, innovative design and intuitive, accessible controls.

It also inspired a sequel that was released on PlayStation, but the less said about that game, the better.

Highway 2000

We round things off this week with Highway 2000. Although the likes of Sega Rally and Daytona USA did a sterling job of covering Saturn users’ arcade racing needs, Highway 2000 was the game of choice for those looking to unleash their inner boy racer. In this fast and furious racer (pun very much intended), the focus was on outmanoeuvring your opponents in urban environments which featured an array of tricky twists and turns.

Whilst it didn’t feature a tonne of content, the prospect of bombing round the streets in a Nissan Skyline or a Toyota Supra still proved to be irresistible and made for an interesting game.