A guide for the aspiring import gamer: Part 6

Moar import tips? Moar import tips.

Today, were going to look at a console that wasn't much of a commercial success, but it was still good console in its own right.

The Sega Saturn

The Saturn's regional lockout is fairly easy to get around compared to most other disc-based game consoles, which is great because the Saturn has a lot of games that didn't make it stateside (most of them are shmups, just so you know, but they are good).

1. Use an Action Replay 4-in-1 cartridge. These tend to go for around $40 and are fairly easy to find. These carts serve multiple purposes (obviously), such as being able to back-up save data, being used as a cheat device, expanding the amount of RAM available (similar to the N64 Expansion Pak), and most importantly, allowing you to play imported games.

2. Install a modchip. This is hard to do if you have no experience soldering, and will give you the same result as using an Action Replay, just without the extra features.

Titles of interest:
Radiant Silvergun

Radiant Silvergun is a vertical scrolling shooter made by the guys at Treasure (anyone noticing a pattern here?). Unlike most shooters, it has a unique power up system. While in other shooters, you collect power ups for your weapons, in Radiant Silvergun, you become more powerful the higher your score gets. On top of that, there are a bunch of different weapons to choose from, each best suited for a different situation, so there is quite a bit of strategy to it. The biggest downside to this game, is not the gameplay, it's the price. Radiant Silvergun is highly sought after by collectors, and because of that, the game is ludicrously expensive, You would be lucky to find a complete copy for less than $200, and this game is rarely sold as disc only, so you would be hard pressed to find it cheap.

DonPachi and DoDonPachi

While DonPachi was released in the US, that version is much more expensive and much harder to find than the JP version. Both of these games are known as "Bullet-hell shooters", meaning that most of the screen is filled with enemy fire, and you have to navigate your way around it while trying to eliminate your foes. These kind of games take some memorization so you can learn the enemy firing patterns, but they are very fun and worth a try if you like shooters.

Sexy Parodius

Remember Parodius from the other day? Well, this is one of the sequels. It's basically Parodius, but, ummmm, sexy. Literally. It's also hilariously over the top like the rest of the Parodius series. Any shmup fan would get a kick out of this one.

That's all for today kids. I'll be back on Thursday with a new entry!