u/Responsible-Bell-528

That might be a hot take for some people, but I truly believe it’s true. I know the Sega Saturn had its fair share of problems, but I still believe it was a better overall system. On paper, the Nintendo 64 had more raw power and was better for 3D graphics, but the first problem is that games aren't just 3D polygons. They are a mixture of audio, video, and atmosphere. The N64 was terrible with audio because of its limited cartridge storage and the fact that it lacked a dedicated sound chip. The Saturn, on the other hand, had an incredibly powerful audio subsystem. A lot of people think the difference was just because the Saturn used CDs, but it goes deeper than that. The Saturn hardware could actually synthesize high-fidelity music and sound effects directly on the chip. It also had the option to stream songs directly from the CD like a CD player, though that had some downsides compared to generating the sound through the internal chips. The YouTube channel The Nat Cave made a great technical breakdown on the Saturn audio subsystem, and it’s definitely worth a watch: https://youtu.be/benH0rfjuKI?si=TGL3Cv9XZogRYkuD

The Saturn could also handle heavy 2D graphics much better. While the N64 could do 2D, it would struggle with games that required too many sprites and animation frames on screen at once, like many of the Saturn arcade fighting games or shoot ’em ups. Despite that, the Saturn could still make 3D graphics that were close to the PlayStation. It’s like comparing an original Xbox with a PlayStation 2. The Xbox was undoubtedly stronger, but the PlayStation 2 versions of multiplatform games still look close enough to feel like they belonged to the same generation. Saturn versions of 3D games sometimes look slightly worse than the PlayStation versions or have slightly lower performance, but they are still almost the same. Most of the time, the problem wasn’t the Saturn's graphics power but a lack of optimization.

Another thing was that both the Saturn and the PlayStation 1 were better with textures. Their games could have a wider variety of textures on screen at the same time. Nintendo 64 games had better image quality because of better perspective correction, anti-aliasing, and texture filtering, but Saturn and PS1 games still look richer in detail. For instance, Sonic World from Sonic Jam on the Saturn has better texture work than Super Mario 64.

In summary, the Saturn had more balanced capabilities. It could do a decent job in 3D for a fifth generation console, an amazing job in 2D, and it had incredible audio capabilities. It also had the advantage of multimedia features like playing FMVs and the larger storage capacity of the CD media. While the N64 was better with polygons, it struggled with everything else. The lack of texture variety made everything look blurry, stretched, and less detailed. I’d rather have a game with blocky geometry and pixelated textures that has better texture work and sounds way better than a game with better image quality where everything looks blurry and the sound is either heavily compressed or just muffled MIDIs.

The Nintendo 64 library is also much worse overall. Of course it has some amazing games, but if you count the truly good N64 titles, you only have between 20 to 30 games. The vast majority of its 380 released games are shovelware. The Saturn has a more diverse library with more options in almost all popular genres, with the exception of 3D platformers.

Saturn RPGs: Shining Force III trilogy, Lunar 1 & 2, Grandia, Dragon Force 1 & 2, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Albert Odyssey, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Sakura Wars 1 & 2

Nintendo 64 RPGs: Paper Mario, Tactics Ogre, and Quest 64 (and that last one is awful).

Saturn Fighting Games: This was where the system shined with arcade-perfect ports like Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, Street Fighter Alpha 3, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, and Vampire Savior.

Nintendo 64 Fighting Games: Beyond Super Smash Bros. and Killer Instinct Gold, you mostly have titles like Mortal Kombat Trilogy or War Gods, which don't compare to the Saturn's lineup.

The Saturn also had countless light gun games, while the Nintendo 64 didn’t even have a light gun. The Saturn was also good with sports games because they usually had great performance by using the hardware to render the playing fields efficiently. Most N64 sports games are just shovelware. I believe the more diverse library on the Saturn is a direct consequence of its more balanced hardware capabilities.

Is it outdated in comparison with Mario 64 and Crash Bandjcoot? Yes! Is the movement limited? Yes! But it’s still that kind of game that is fun to pick up and play and I don’t know why.