The SEGA Saturn Saroo - The SEGAGuys Verdict.

After spending time with the Saroo, a Sega Saturn expansion cartridge that offers some interesting features, Dan the Mega Driver and James the SEGAHolic discuss whether it is worth Saturn owners time and money.
Note, this discussion was recorded before the 0.7 update so features added there are not discussed here.
Set up guide: • Saroo ODE for SEGA Sat...
Firmware 0.7 update overview:
• SEGA Saturn Saroo Firm...
Saturn Dave's original SHIRO article:
www.segasaturn...

[@mikekilkelly4380]

Bought a Saroo. Loved it. Just bought a Mega Everdrive as well. Again… love it! Imagine telling yourself in the 90s that one day these things would exist. 🤯

[@merlip80]

I did the same recently, got a Mega Everdrive then a Saroo then a Snes Everdrive in the space of 3 weeks in December, all for less then £60 from Ali Express.

[@captainhawdon937]

Great chat Guys! I'll probably grab one of these eventually. It's good to not put all your Saturn eggs in one basket. I've got a satiator but the saroo has got some cool features I wouldn't mind.

[@tomfum]

Great chat guys. The Saroo really seems like the best option in general. i do need to grab myself one

[@some-online-dude]

Just make sure your Saturn isn't a VA0. There are issues with that due to the physical length of certain paths on the mainboard.

[@blorpymcnornor2415]

I’ve read a few sources saying that that bug seems to have been quietly fixed in v 0.7.

[@mistersurrealist]

@@some-online-dude Oh crap, I have a japanese launch unit, so I'm sure it's a VA0.

[@some-online-dude]

@@blorpymcnornor2415 I will check that, thanks!

[@some-online-dude]

@@blorpymcnornor2415 It has not been fixed at all. As a matter of fact, NiGHTS runs *worse* than before after this update.

[@mistersurrealist]

Good option for those who don't already own an ODE or prefer to keep the disc drive. I'm perfectly happy with my FENRIR ODE, which is 100% compatible with the whole Saturn library.

[@MrDJPea]

Really enjoyed this chat and a Saroo was on my 'to get' list when my console is fixed but seeing the 'per game save' is there makes it a no brainer assuming it does it for disc games too - That function on the VM2 is amazing!! One question I have is does the RAM functionality on Saroo also work for disc games too ??

[@SEGAGuys]

Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it. From what I understand, the Saroo’s 1/4mb RAM expansion works better with games on the SD card, whereas it’s glitchy with disc based games trying to use it. - James.

[@MrDJPea]

@SEGAGuys thanks for the feedback chap. Given my preference for disc it's fairly important to me but it definitely looks like a great piece of kit

[@Mohammed1000real]

It's slowly becoming the SummerCart of the Sega Saturn.

[@TheRetroMartin]

Instantly switched on by the Shining Force 3 music in the background. A Motoi Sakuraba tune NEVER escapes me. Amusingly i need a PSP battery cover myself but more due to a broken clip then a swollen battery 😂 Shining Force is worthy to play on it though. I too am also a Tides of Time Saroo background user and im using Hanuman from PD Zwei as my music 😂 I should get some SF3 on there. Itd be cool if in future we could have a small rotation of tunes, or backgrounds. That would be very cool! Youre going to need a lot of space for the Shining Force 3 saves so the Saroo will definitely help with that but all it does is ask you to load a previous scenario save and thats it, any save from then becomes a separate scenario save. That will be why it works, as it looks for a seperate game save entirely at the start. Just finishing off watching. Some good stuff here. Ive found the load times to be amazing. As i noted on twitter, fames like Discworld with ufterly atrocious constant loading absolutely sing on a Saroo and its better to play using that. Really hand in my PAL machine which has a disk drive still and my JP one has the Fenrir, so best of both worlds!

[@CRedd9830]

I love the Saroo so much, did my 6th playthrough of Shining Force III Scenario 1 and it ran incredibly well. I'm gonna replay Scenario 2 & 3 on it too and see how those go on it.

[@mjpiano4386]

Saroo makes Saturn hands down the best 32-bit console now. Playstation cannot compete with these load times

[@fossilfern]

I’ve had my saroo a few months and I love it. The prices of second hand Saturn games are ridiculous and ive been playing my Saturn pretty much every weekend since I got the Saroo.

[@robertmaclean8768]

Hello, great video. I would really appreciate it, if you could post the link to the shop you bought your Saroo from Aliexpress. I wasn't able to find it in the description. Thank you.

[@SEGAGuys]

a.aliexpress.com/_EH0Y1YU Be sure to check out the set-up video and 0.7 firmware video in our Saroo playlist.

[@pickntrix]

@@SEGAGuys I get an error page when clicking this

[@MaxAbramson3]

Love your show. Can't understand what you're saying, folks. Keep at it.

[@RichRetr0]

Would you guys have any tips for bevelling the edge connector of the Saroo board? I ordered one and it came without the bevel and I'm nervous to insert it into the Saturn and risking damage to the connector in the console lol

[@SEGAGuys]

Hey Rich, it’s not something we’ve any experience with, but if you ordered it from AliExpress are you within your return period? We’ve put the link to the exact Saroo we ordered which has bevelled edges, so you could perhaps return the one you got and order one of those instead? Sorry we can’t be of much more help. - James.

[@juiceala]

More fan projects... Shinobi Arcade received an unofficial port to the Neo Geo, also Double Dragon is getting a fan remake to the Neo Geo... but that one isn't SEGA related.

[@WWammyy]

Saroo is a good budget option. Personally I'm happy with my Rhea ODE - The first Sega Saturn ODE and still the only one that works 100% with every Saturn disc and supports in game disc changing

[@SEGAGuys]

The in-game disc changing topic is one that’s overblown. There are, from what I’ve seen, two games that require the disc to be swapped in-game without creating a save file. Those are: Tengai Makyou: Daiyon no Mokushiroku and Rampo. On Fenrir, which also has 100% library compatibility (in terms of the game loading and running), that rules those two games out but the multi-disc games most people will want to play are more “mainstream” titles like Panzer Dragoon Saga and Deep Fear, which create a save file before loading the next disc from the menu/bios screen. I’ve completed Panzer Dragoon Saga played from Fenrir without any issues. The only “issue” Fenrir has, and to call it that seems unfair, is that it has trouble with single bin/cue file games, so some homebrew titles need to be run through Knight of Dragon’s Sega Saturn patcher tool to split the bin file into multiple bins. I’ve seen some fixes for Saroo on GitHub for the two games above that require in-game swaps, but I’ve not tried them.

[@WWammyy]

@SEGAGuys Yes its not a big deal to not be able to swap in game. But Rhea was the first I'm happy with that as I've literally had bo issues with it playing games. Its 100% compatible in the literal sense. That said people may have issues with it not supporting the now common redump format. Its either CDI or CCD formats Also you need a 3rd party menu (rmenu) where I believe other ODEs come with one. My point was simply that I'm happy with it. I use it over the Saroo + Satiator that I also have

[@33PA33]

Do you guys know which motherboard revisions , model type 1 or 2 as well , that your using , be interesting to know if the success rate is better on some than others , I have a fair few 1s & 2s , I don’t own a victor or hitachi variants , has you audio been ok on the saturns you’ve been trying the saroo out on

[@SEGAGuys]

I’m using my Saroo on a Japanese VA1 (grey Saturn). I can check with Dan and see which model/revision he’s used his Saroo with.

[@33PA33]

Be good to know everyone’s input & their experience with the saroo cart , what hardware they are using , I bet there’s more saturns out there , with no top lids screwed on 😊sure you can peer through to the motherboard to see it’s VA revision number , I’ll let you know my findings when I get chance

[@colinwackl]

Where can I get a sticker for my saroo like the one in the description?

[@SEGAGuys]

Contact @ArielAces on X.

[@SiincereARC]

It's been a while since I thought of this but can anyone direct me to where anyone explains what it means when you get Saturn games and the folder might have "2M" or "8M". I thought it stood for which Megabyte Rom Cart you needed but obviously there is no 8MB cart.

[@SEGAGuys]

It has no bearing on the game itself or the content on the disc/ROM. It’s essentially a printing run number, like if the disc colour or label is altered from print to print (such as VF2’s blue disc and grey disc).

[@SiincereARC]

@SEGAGuys thank you. Should one care about that or is that just information that may apply to some people? I'm guessing there's games where it may matter which print you get?

[@chickenbites8877]

Saroo is epic

[@sega-re-trop-vieux]

Looks like a good solution for casual gamers but not for hardcore gamers like me ( I play online almost every week), it means that i can’t use my modem if i use the Saroo ( by the way i bought it ). The loading times are fast and really a good feature. I have also the Rhea and the Satiator ( my favorite by far)

[@treedeblue]

Wait you play ur Saturn online in 2025?? wtf

[@sega-re-trop-vieux]

@ indeed. You need a dreampie and the patched games. Works pretty good. I live in Japan and played with Americans almost flawlessly. I even played with my Sophia system ( first dev kit for the Saturn)

[@SEGAGuys]

There’s an active group of players within the SHIRO! community, ourselves included, who take our Saturns online by using a Sega Saturn modem and a tunnel script written by Joe (Sega RPG Fan) that allows you dial another Saturn player direct using IP addresses. See our video here: The SEGAGuys get NetLinks - Playing SEGA Saturn Online in 2024! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWe3dqOKo8qDiKs

[@roger2k]

A link to buy your Saroo please

[@SEGAGuys]

This is the seller we used, he’s very helpful, however he no longer sells the bevelled edge version of Saroo we bought. He only has Saroo’s without bevelled edges, however we’ve tried one of those carts and, lack of bevelled edges aside, his products are spot on. - James. a.aliexpress.com/_EwqOd9W

[@roger2k]

@SEGAGuys thanks

[@33PA33]

😊