Sega Saturn - Protected games?

I was wondering if any of Sega Saturn titles were protected in a special way. What I mean is, was there any additional code in the game itself so that it was harder / not possible to backup it properly, run it on a modded Saturn, etc. ?

PlayStation had its LibCrypt, DreamCast had some protective code aswell. That was due to the incredible piracy issues and game hacking. Some PlayStation and DreamCast games [in theory] were able to check if the game was backed up and / or hacked [since many titles got cracktros compiled into them].

LibCrypt checked for mod chips, checked if the game was backed up and whether or not the code was tempered with. Some PlayStation 2 games, like Gran Turismo 4, were also protected.

Now was there something similar to this on Sega Saturn? The only game I've found that does SOMETHING, is Panzer Dragoon Saga, which tells you to remove the Action Replay [or whatever it is you have, aside from memory carts] from the slot and refuses to boot. I don't know whether there is an AR code that disables this, but there probably is or one can be made.

So are there Sega Saturn games that utilize some kind of security codes other than the anti piracy measures used by the console itself [region codes, non copy ring on Saturn games]?

 

There are no Sega Saturn games with special code. Of course none can be copied so that they will boot on a standard Saturn either. You need a mod chip, converter or do the swap trick.

Yakumo

 

True, and I know that. It's just the same with PlayStation. You either need a modchip, AR type of device or a swaptrick to run a CD-R. BUT. Some PlayStation games contained special code to prevent people from running the game even if you did have the modchip or other means to boot pirated / backed up software.

LibCrypt could check if console contained a modchip [Final Fantasy VIII, UmJammer Lammy], whether or not did you use Action Replay type devices or finally whether or not the game disc was backed up or was the code altered in any way.

I'm sure many of people here have seen the screen displayed when you insert a protected, let's say, Japanese game, into a modded US / EU console. LibCrypt routines check for the mod, see it, game doesn't boot. All you see is the red stop sign on black background and japanese text in white type.

Last game in Spyro series that appeared on PlayStation used LibCrypt with some nasty sophistication. The code was hidden in different parts of the game. In other words you could find out few hours into the game, that whoever cracked / backed up a game, didn't make a good job of it. At some point, the fairy tells you that she is sorry, but you can't continue your game, as it seems you're running a cracked copy of the game.

This type of protection was programmed into the title. Later DreamCast games often checked the integrity of the data, as some titles had to be ripped, cutscenes downsampled, to fit on a CD. Knowing that the game would most likely get dumped and made into a CD release, companies protected their products with additional code, since the console's protection was long since overcome.

 

i think this is a very intelligent way to copyprotect your game.
first, it becomes very, very hard to crack for somebody who doesnt have access to a realtime debugger and second, it turns the pirate game into some sort of demo, which will make the user want to buy the game even more (as long as it isnt fully cracked).

 

I dont think there are any Saturn games that have a copy protection built into the software. PSX started implementing that in 1997-1998 (or when FF8 and spyro came out) The saturn was officially dead on 1998, right? All the saturn had was that security ring on CD.

 

D2 for the Dreamcast had routines to check the audio. They were finally cracked but very messily. Disk 4 was split onto 2 disks so that it could be put onto cd-r. I'll keep playing legit copy thank you.

 

Npe. the Saturn was going until 2000. In fact quite a few games were released in 1999 that were pretty good !

yakumo

 

Including the kickass Segata Sanshiro game. Many people outside Japan who never played so much of Saturn usually think that it was Mario Party / Wario Ware games that brought this minigame madness.

The first good game in that genre was, in my opinion, Sando R. Then Segata Sanshiro. Though I'm not sure what was first. Mario Party for the N64 or Sanshiro. I'm guessing Mario Party.

 

I meant in the USA market. I know the Saturn was still going strong in Japan well into 2000.

 

What games were released post-1998?

 

well just for a start we have Dungeons & Dragons collection, Final Fight Revenge (SHITE !) and Street Fighter Zero 3 all from Capcom. Then there are another 16 titles.

Yakumo

 

Is the rip actually decent? I know there was a release, but the audio was verry low quality..

 

The rip is ok but you'd be far better off getting the original. I actually know who ripped it They were working on it for months on end.

Yakumo

 

D2 was one of the first games ever shown for DreamCast. If they could protect it in a way that wasn't bypassed untill just recently, they should have done this with all the titles. Same with original Bleemcast releases. You don't see them floating around as ISOs.

Or maybe these things didn't give in for so long because there's not that many people after them. I wouldn't think Soul Calibur would hold out for that long if the protection was equally tough as the one of D2.

 

Sega rally 2 and virtua figher 3 have to be some of the most dissapoiting rips. Sega Rally 2's rip lacks all music. Meanwhile Virtua Fighter 3 has all the movies cut, so when you go to watch the history or ending movie it just goes straight to the bios. Luckily I ended up tracking down a mint copy of sega rally 2 on ebay, though virtua fighter 3 is a tricky one to find these days.

 

These were the titles I bought my DreamCast with. Along with Sonic Adventures and Soul Calibur at the day of European premiere, so I couldn't be bothered less by the rips.

What does bother me, is that I have a original Soul Calibur game and the audio skips just a bit on various tracks. My consoles are perfect, the game disc is too. I know there has been an issue with skipping audio in the pirated version. Or maybe it just skips in 50Hz mode. I don't know. Haven't played it for a while now. But I remember it skipping.

 

I remember hearing stories about the japanese verison of soul caliber skipping whenever the disc had any slight hair on it or the lens itself was dirty.

 

Well, my disc is perfectly clean and my DreamCast lens is clean too. I got the Soul Calibur game when I bought the console at the European premiere. I played it straight out of a bix on a brand new system and it skipped, so it's neither dirty lens nor disc. I guess Namco screwed something up.

 

Never had any problems with my Soul Calibur. Game and system are Japanese. It does send the laser motor in to a frenzy though.

Yakumo

 

When I got my DreamCast, I first played the games in 50Hz, as my TV was busted and I had to use an old one. It took me some time to get a new one, so I was stuck with the lower refresh rate. Maybe it's on 50Hz when the audio skips. And it wasn't bad either. You could just hear it every once in a while. Repeated beats, things like that.

Oh, and if we're talking about Soul Calibur, I've found some glitches in that game too. And they're cool ones. I guess this only applies to the 50Hz version, since I was unable to reproduce the glitch using the same game, but on 60Hz setting.

Go to the mode where you can see the presentation of every characters skills. When they're at it, pause and unpause the demo rapidly. The character models will get distorted in most amazing ways. I have no idea how that happends. It just does. The best ones to use if you want to try are probably Xianghua, Sophitia and Kilik, as they move pretty fast. Here's some shots I made literally years ago.

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/1024/sc1br0.jpg

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/2945/sc2xj3.jpg

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/9162/sc4jc7.jpg