Saturn Bomberman SBom Joycard and SBom Multitap

Any serious Bomberman fan needs the Saturn Bomberman SBom gear in their collection, but it’s not only for the die-hard fans out there either. The Saturn Bomberman SBom Joycard and SBom Multitap are great bits of gear in their own right too. 🙂

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The first thing I am going to take a look at is the Saturn SBom controller, or ‘Joycard’ as called by its creators. The quality of the Joycard is great! The buttons feel good, the D-pad feels solid (albeit a little different to the norm), and there is nothing to complain about in terms of build quality at all.

The interesting thing about this controller has to be the turbo section though. The speed at which the turbo section of the SBom Joycard can pull off is nothing short of incredible! According to the manufacturer it is capable of 26 presses per second, and I have to say I believe it. The first time I connected one of these to my Saturn and switched my Saturn on, my Saturn went nuts! I had to actually switch it off, play with Joycard turbo switches and then switch it back on.

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The next item I am going to look at is the SBom Multitap. There isn’t a great deal I can say about this peripheral except it functions as you’d expect, and it does this with minimum fuss and hassle.

For those of you that are uninitiated into the world of Sega Saturn, the console itself has only two joystick inputs. Of course for most games two inputs is enough, but when it comes to Bomberman it is best played with four players, four beers per player per 4 rounds, and for four hours sessions – this is what the Sbom Multitap does for you (except the four beers part).

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I would definitely recommend grabbing the Saturn Bomberman SBom Joycard and SBom Multitap if you get a chance. They can get quite pricey these days, specially if you buy them in a set, but even so I would say grab them before you can’t anymore. 😀

Sonic Saturn – Toys ‘R’ Us Edition

Released in 1997 the Sonic Saturn – Toys ‘R’ Us Edition is a machine sought after by collectors.

The Saturn itself is identical to the regular white Saturn except for a little black Sonic printed on the lid. As the title states this particular model was a limited edition only at Toys ‘R’ Us stores over here in Japan.

Is it worth what I paid for it? Take a look at the pictures and you be the judge. 😀

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And a close up of the Sonic.

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Before I tell you how much I paid, there is a little bit of a story behind this purchase I should share…..

I have a regular run of ‘junk’ stores that I try do at least once a week. Sometimes these stores strike gold, while other times they come up with nothing. I bought this particular Saturn with a bunch of others, and honestly it was the last one I picked up. When I first saw it, I thought that someone had either stuck a sticker on it, or decided to draw a Sonic by hand – this put me off buying it (being the retro noob I was). As it was only 300yen (yes you read that correctly, 300yen!), and believe or not cheaper than the others there, I threw caution to the wind and spent the 300yen. It was only after I got it home that I realised the Sonic was professionally printed, so I asked questions to the experts on AussieArcade.

I almost left this for someone else, and it was only priced at 300yen (about $3.60)! I would have regretted this more than I can express in words if I left it there, but lucky I had a spare 300yen on me. 😀

Anyone know of the current selling price of these Saturns? I tried to do a quick search but not much came up about it.

Skeleton Saturn – Sega gives everyone bones

Sega thinks the Skeleton Saturn is cool (as printed on the unit itself), and I’m inclined to agree. There is something about the clear/semi-clear consoles that really ring a bell with this old gamer.

Some may prefer the Navi, some may prefer the Hi-Saturn or V-Saturn, but I prefer the “coolest” Saturn of them all – the Skeleton Saturn. 🙂

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A few details:

  • Model – Sega Skeleton Saturn (HST-3220)
  • Production run – around 50,000
  • Released – 1998
  • Price then – 20,000yen
  • Price now – $50 to $200 (although prices seem to be on the rise)

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An interesting fact about the Skeleton Saturn is that it actually had compatibility issues with some games – Metal Slug, Outrun, and Space Harrier (wiki). I haven’t actually tested this out yet, and if anyone reading has any idea why I’d love you to post a comment. When you look this good, of course some people/software companies are going to have problems with you though – they’re just jealous.

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Everyone I know who sees this machine seems to agree with Sega (see picture bellow). 😎

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There isn’t much else I can say about this machine that hasn’t been said already. In my opinion it’s the best looking Saturn out there, and even if it does have compatibility issues with some games (although I haven’t tested this first hand yet), I refuse to believe it’s the fault of this beautiful machine. 😀

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An update regarding software incompatibility!

Well, after speaking with Sean from RetroOtaku I have given the Skeleton Saturn a test with MetalSlug – the only game I have that is meant to have trouble with this particular Saturn. For some reason in my collection of Saturn games I don’t seem to have Space Harrier or Outrun. This is weird though, as I could have sworn I had those at least Space Harrier…

Anyway, I’ll let the images tell the story. 🙂

Step one:
Clean the memory expansion cart, open MetalSlug carefully and make all the connections necessary.
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Step two:
Power on and take close up shot because it looks just too cool.
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Step three:
Get completely sidetracked by the glowing LED. 😎
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Step four:
Realise what I came here to do, pull my eyes away from the LED and………..
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It works! So do I have a different revision of the Skeleton Saturn, or do I have a newer print run of MetalSlug? I wish I had the other titles that are meant to have trouble, so if any one would like to donate a few copies I would be more than happy to test them – of course returning them might be difficult. 😀