All Jaguar Vs Saturn Games Compared Side By Side

[@maverickhuntermeta4954]

3:00 Happy 29th anniversary Rayman.

[@Leeki85]

Atari Jaguar had rather unique color format, CRY Cyan, Red, Intensity (4-4-8). Which had a base of 256 colors that were multiplied by 256 values of intensity. Such format was great for DOOM, since it simplified shading. First byte stored color information and the second lightness. It was a bit similar to how modern deferred renderers work. While unusual such color format was chosen to deliver smoother shading in games. As a side effect Atari Jaguar has colors that can't be reproduced on modern GPUs. Perhaps 10 or 12-bit color subpixels are enough to do it, but old 8-bit modes (8-8-8 RGB) were not. As far as I remember John Carmack was impressed how well this color format worked and decided to use 16-bit color mode instead of PC-like 8-bit color, despite lower performance.

[@baronhausenpheffer]

This list definitely includes a surprise or two! I didn't expect the Saturn version of "Tempest 2000" to look so much better, not because of anything negative toward Saturn, but because that was considered one of Jaguar's most impressive exclusives back in the day. I'd say Jag owners got their revenge by showing up the Saturn so definitively on "Doom", though. On the rest of these, Saturn was the clear winner on "Primal Rage", but most of the rest were effectively a tie with both consoles about on an even keel.

[@RetroComparisons]

After doing the first 2 videos with the SNES & Genesis I just assumed the Saturn & PS1 would blow away the Jag with the shared ports but it really held its own here. For the longest time I thought Tempest 2000 was a Jaguar exclusive because of how highly it's touted but I think the Saturn and PS1 versions are superior in every way. Having said that I'd trade a good port of Doom for Tempest 2000 any day of the week. I think Baldies looked better on the Saturn too but that's a "who cares" kind of game.

[@saturndual32]

Tempest 2000 doesn’t look better in the Saturn… they look about the same and actually some of the pixel shatter effects look better on the Jaguar

[@parazels83]

Primal Rage looks fantastic on Saturn! These big sprites and perfect animation! 😍

[@RetroComparisons]

It's a great port

[@f.k.b.16]

Now this is an interesting comparison! Doom on the Jag for sure won out and Worms on the Saturn had zooming, and Primal Rage had bigger sprites but I would really like to see what the Jag was capable of which none of these really showed off.

[@MoonScythe1]

I think Doom is a good example of what the Jag could do as it was designed from the ground up for that system when being ported. It's why you hear no music. It's one of the few games in the Jag's library to utilize both Tom and Jerry for the game engine. Not a lot of resource was left on Jerry for music so they could only include the sound effects. Would've been cool to see a Jag CD version of it as they could have implemented red book audio for the music. It was so good in fact, it was used as a base for other console ports. With that said though, I don't think there are any games that really pushed that system to its full potential. It just wasn't out long enough for devs to really get grip with its unique hardware and really optimize for it.

[@f.k.b.16]

@@MoonScythe1 Agreed... and Doom CD... sheesh... what a no brainer!

[@RetroComparisons]

These were way closer than I anticipated. Doom probably showed off the most potential for the Jaguar of all of these but I don't think we ever saw its full potential like we did for games on the SNES & Genesis in 95/96.

[@RetroComparisons]

@@MoonScythe1 Of all of the games on the system they really should have released Doom on the CD. Iron Soldier 2 came out on cartridge and CD so I don't know why they wouldn't do it with that.

[@youuuuuuuuuuutube]

In terms of power, for simplification purposes, the Jaguar is like a 24bit system. It's basically half way in terms of power between a Genesis/SNES and a PS1/Saturn. The reason Saturn Doom is so bad is because of Carmack. There was actually an excellent port of Saturn in development, using Saturn hardware efficiently, but the rendering algorithm would be quite different, and Carmack said to restart the project with his own rendering, which was not a good fit for Saturn hardware. Such a shame, all because of 1 guy, who later regretted his decision btw.

[@RetroComparisons]

It's always painful to hear about those "what if" scenarios. I bet the Saturn version would have been incredible if done right.

[@saturndual32]

@@youuuuuuuuuuutube What’s next? Claiming the Saturn is 30-bits because it’s a little weaker overall than the 32-bit PlayStation 😹 I have an idea… instead of saying the Jag is 24bit… let’s call it 32bit and name the Sat/PS1 64bit since they seem closer to the N64… that way the N64 won’t be so alone in the 64bit category 😹

[@shiningphantasy1393]

How Zoop got on so many different platforms is beyond me; I don't remember it selling all that well or it ever achieving that Tetris level of appeal to the masses, though they certainly tried to push it in that direction. Here is a related tidbit though. " According to Aaron Fothergill, one of the programmers for the Atari Jaguar version of Zoop, Electric Spectacle Productions wanted the Jaguar version to have more advanced visuals than the PlayStation version, but Viacom requested the developer to disable the extra graphics to make the PlayStation version more appealing than the Jaguar version." Too bad, looking back I would have liked to have seen that definitive Jaguar version.

[@RetroComparisons]

That story is more interesting than the game lol! It's actually a pretty fun game for like 5 minutes but I've never had the urge to go back and play it. Ironically though I've played this game like 10 times because it seems to pop up on almost every bigger video I do.

[@ericcook5745]

4:35 did Nintendo steal these sounds for pikmin?

[@GregorioBastosNeto]

Do the math! 🐆

[@ChaossX77]

Worst system ever

[@SmilingLavenderFields-ns5uh]

this system came with a bag of math in every box

[@shotgunl]

I think the Jag wins in DooM (someone needs to do to Saturn DooM what the great homebrewers have done with DooM 32x Resurrection) and Zoop. Baldies is interesting; never played it, but the differences in assets and look is interesting. Myst has some contrast and saturation differences but is otherwise close, and Braind Dead 13 seems the same. Jam TE is nice on the Jag, but I do like the Saturn version more. I have the Saturn version of Rayman and love it (and the MS-DOS version, where I first played it plus GBA port). The Jag version is very nice too from what I've played. The other games are also mostly a tie. Sigh...the Jag needed more Raymans and Tempest 2000s and less Double Dragon Vs and Club Drives.

[@RetroComparisons]

I was just saying the same thing in another comment, I should have read yours first. A homebrew port like what they did with the 32x port would be so cool to see! The Jag kind of reminds me of one of those football teams that can compete with the best teams in the league but also plays down to the level of the worst teams when they face off. Most of these are pretty similar and I'd say the Saturn wins with Baldies and maybe the slightest edge to Brain Dead 13 but an easy loss on Doom. While they both look good I'd definitely go with the Saturn version of NBA Jam since I'm so used to the Genesis layout of the controller. Speaking of which, I'm excited to say I cleaned up at the Hartford Retro Expo by winning NBA Jam T.E. as well as Goldeneye & No Mercy. I hope I can make it out to the Long Island expo next year if they have the same competitions. If they have NBA Jam on the SNES though I'm toast, my brain can't handle the button layout for that game for whatever reason.

[@shotgunl]

@@RetroComparisons Awesome wins, Bill!

[@RetroComparisons]

@@shotgunl Thanks buddy! It was a really fun time.

[@mikec3260]

Badass wins Bill! NBA Jam T.E. and Golden Eye for the win!

[@RetroComparisons]

@@mikec3260 Thanks so much buddy! It was a nerve-wrecking but fun experience to be in those tournaments.

[@64-Bit-Gamer]

Cool mini-series!

[@RetroComparisons]

Thanks so much!

[@MKF30]

Nice alot of these are close imo though I did noticed doom and zoom were slightly darker on the Saturn? Primal Eage definitely looked better on the Saturn bigger sprites too 👍🏼😎Nice comparison!

[@RetroComparisons]

Thanks buddy! These were way closer than expected seeing as the Jaguar barely beat the SNES on a lot of ports. The Saturn port of Primal Rage is one of the best so that's a hard one to beat but I think the Jag was better on Doom.

[@MKF30]

@@RetroComparisons Damn phone autocorrect failed me on that post lol 😆 Zoop I meant and Primal Rage(I'm sure you know though lol) 😅 Yeah the Jaguar and 32x were more powerful than the Snes, both being up to 32 bit consoles the fact that it was close with some games vs both or in some cases better on the snes was quite impressive being a 16 bit console output Nintendo and other 3rd party developers pushed at times. A console like the Jaguar for its price and power should have destroyed Snes and Genesis but didn't for quite a few games. I still don't get what they were thinking with Jaguar's price point lol

[@RetroComparisons]

@@MKF30 You're spot on dude! The Jag was a cool console IMO but not worth the price point at all.

[@MKF30]

@@RetroComparisons Thanks! Same lol like 4-500 bucks in the early to mid 90s what were they smoking? Lol 😆

[@RetroComparisons]

@@MKF30 Lmao! That's insane especially considering that back then most parents still thought of video games as simple toys.

[@ace3093]

for the games the both shared it was a decent comparison. Doom was the one game the Jag seemed to really outshine the Saturn. To bad the Jag and its CD ad-on didn't take off otherwise we might have seen some really good games. I think if actual polygons the Jag would fall behind but who knows.

[@RetroComparisons]

Considering how it barely beat out the SNES & Genesis in a lot of games I was surprised that it held its own against the Saturn & PS1.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Powerslave on Jag CD would be a cool port to attempt, the was a Hexen port that got really far IIRC.

[@KrunchyTheClown78]

Another comparison is Atari Karts vs Street Racer. That one probably would have been a blow out with the Saturn winning. But one interesting thing about Atari Karts, is its ability to have hills within the mode 7 plane. Something i never saw on the Saturn.

[@RetroComparisons]

I've never tried that game but I should fire that up at some point just out of curiosity.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Power Drift?

[@RetroComparisons]

@@Blas4ublasphemy Power Drift is such an incredible game!

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

@@RetroComparisons Agreed, I'd love a new game made in the same graphic style

[@SomeOrangeCat]

I maintain that Carmack is *not* to blame for Doom on the Saturn being so bad. Hexen also runs on the Doom engine and the Saturn port of that is quite decent. The hacks at Rage Software just weren't up to the challenge.

[@waterheart95]

It's using the PSX Doom engine directly ported. They had to rush that port since they told just use and port PSX Doom without any time for customizations or rebuilding for the saturn. It's basically a unoptimized port due to lack of time. Now Hexen uses a different build of the Doom engine and was oprimized for the Saturn and N64 pretty well.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

​@@waterheart95 That's their fault for taking that route. They could have based their port off the same Jaguar code the PS1 port used. Carmack was right, because Hexen proved the Doom engine using the one CPU could run just fine on Saturn.

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

The Saturn's lack of focus (seeing Jaguar and 3DO as a threat) while ignoring the real ones (N64 and PS) forced the Sega engineers to Frankenstein a second CPU, making developing games for it nightmarish.

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

Announcer: 2 lackluster systems juke it out as we find out whose parents made their kids happier in the 90s. And who ended up as bitter adults in the present.

[@RetroComparisons]

Lol!

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

​​@@RetroComparisons This kid was too busy with Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Fighter's Megamix, Duke Nukem, Nights, Shining Force III, etc, etc, etc to know I was supposed to be disappointed. Anyone who thinks the Saturn is a bad system has never owned one. But trading my VR Headset for the Atari 50th Anniversary collection, complete with Fight for Life, Club Drive, and Atari Karts? That one made me a bitter adult. I drown my sorrows in Tempest 2K.

[@RetroComparisons]

​@@juststatedtheobvious9633 The Saturn is probably one of the most misunderstood consoles ever. I mean from the standpoint of the average American consumer I get it, the library over here was a letdown and I would have been pissed if my next gen console got discontinued so quick, but I think it's aged really well now that it's easier to access the vast amount of games that came out in Japan.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

@@juststatedtheobvious9633 Loved all those games plus X-men vs SF, Die Hard Arcade, Radiant Silvergun, Virtual On, Darkstalkers, Steep Slope Sliders, Winter Heat, Sega Rally....

[@RAFAKSBR]

Jag has more potencial, as a 64 bit machine. but the saturn have more support from the devs.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Yeah but those are American bits and we all know Japanese bits are way stronger...

[@mtshark7]

Oh wow I think I'm going to give both a tie on this one.

[@RetroComparisons]

For these shared games I'd go with a tie too. The Jag won on Doom, Saturn on Baldies, and the rest were pretty close.

[@parazels83]

Why did they not release Doom 2 on Saturn? They could have fixed their mistakes with Doom 1. Also I hope some modern enthusiasts improve Doom 1 on Saturn to show off real capabilities of the console.

[@RetroComparisons]

That would be so cool to see a homebrew improvement like what they did with the 32x version.

[@parazels83]

@@RetroComparisons I read the developers created a full 3d engine for Doom on Saturn, which could run up to 60 (!) fps, but Carmack didn't approve such radical changes in the game's visuals.

[@RetroComparisons]

@@parazels83 That's so crazy and such a shame.

[@cj694x2]

Doom on the PS1 and Saturn contain both Ultimate Doom and Doom II. Anyway, Doom came out way too late on the Saturn. Duke Nukem 3D and Quake came out not long after, were much more recent ports at the time, and were much better optimized for the Saturn.

[@RetroComparisons]

@@cj694x2 Quake and Duke Nukem 3D are both freaking awesome ports on the Saturn.

[@spartanq201dexterbrother]

The fake 64 bits console vs The Weaboo console

[@Crystallums]

Except for 2 or 3 games... But in most cases the Saturn blows the poor Jaguar to pieces 😅🤣😂

[@RetroComparisons]

Lol! The Jaguar did hold its own on some of these ports but overall when looking at some of the better games on the Saturn it's no contest.

[@Crystallums]

@@RetroComparisons It really wasn't bad hardware... But Jaguar did 3 things wrong: the design of its console, a very poor catalogue and terrible advertising. 😓

[@RetroComparisons]

@@Crystallums Well said! It was a combination of blunders that did it in.

[@danielespeziari5545]

I think this shows the Jaguar could compare favorably with the Saturn. It just needed developers willing to use its hardware to its full potential

[@RetroComparisons]

It's funny, the Jaguar was barely better than the SNES with most of the overlapping games on both systems yet held its own to the Saturn.

[@cj694x2]

Whoa, slow down there, buddy. None of these games are even close to showing the Saturn's full potential. Games like Virtua Fighter 2, Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon, Quake, etc. wouldn't have run at all on the Jaguar, let alone compare to the Saturn versions.

[@RetroComparisons]

@@cj694x2 I think part of it is that we never got to see the Jaguar's full potential so it would be interesting to see what could have been. Having said that, the Saturn at its best was a beast and I don't think a fully realized Jaguar game would have been in the same league as peak Saturn.

[@TeeroyHammermill]

Seems not much difference between a Jaguar and a Saturn.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

According to Gorf, a Jaguar homebrew coder who used to hang out at Atari Age, the machine's full unlocked poly count potential probably ended at early Saturn titles like Daytona. But it would have made up for it with textures and palette. I'm curious if Tempest is a demonstration of his claim? On the Saturn, the tunnel interior looks like it sometimes reveals individual quads. You don't see that on the Jag; it appears perfectly smooth.

[@saturndual32]

In 2d the Jaguar can hold its own against the Saturn and PlayStation… well at least as much as its more limited RAM can allow Were the Jaguar get outperformed by the Saturn is when it comes to textured mapped polygons… but we don’t see such games in this video because they didn’t share any

[@saturndual32]

@@juststatedtheobvious9633Gorf used to make lots of bold claims about the Jaguars untapped potential but ultimately never coded anything to prove it… at the end of the day specs don’t lie

[@albertodiez4215]

Menudo desastre el doom de saturn. Debieron haberlo retrasado y haberle metido mas contenido como excusa

[@sobesons]

Doom Saturn 👎

[@MoonScythe1]

Yeah, that port was just sad. It was a port of the PlayStation version running soley on its CPU. There was a version developed from the ground up utilizing the Saturn's VDPs and unique architecture. They even had it running at 60fps. But John Carmack denied that port because of a little texture warping. He later admitted in an interview that that was a mistake, and he should have let the devs complete that port instead. What could have been SMH.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

​@@MoonScythe1 Hexen runs just fine on Saturn and that's a Doom engine game. Rage Software where just hacks looking to point the blame.

[@MoonScythe1]

@@SomeOrangeCat That's true. It doesn't run great, but it is a MUCH better attempt then Doom ever was. I think an example of an excellent running engine on the Saturn that easily surpasses Doom and Hexen is the SlaveDriver engine from Lobotomy Software. Power Slave (Exhumed) and Duke Nukem 3D uses it.

[@RetroComparisons]

Easily one of the worst, at least for a system that could actually handle the game if done right.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

@@RetroComparisons Yeah. Just look at how good it handled other FPS games it wasn't the lead platform on, like Alien Trilogy! The only mark against it is the mesh transparencies preventing you from seeing behind glass in some parts of the game.