Sega Saturn Memories Vol 1. – Sengoku Blade

                I was never really great when it came to video games. As the youngest of nine, my brothers and sisters always seemed to have a leg up on me when it came to competitive video games, and that carried over into single player games as well. My sisters clobbered me in Tetris and Dr. Mario. My brothers always had my number in Street Fighter and every 90s fighter you could think of. Heck, even when shmups became my favorite genre, they were better at recognizing and memorizing bullet patterns; light years ahead of what I could only dream of doing. Although I could never match their precision and execution, I was always amazed at their skill level. Those memories of playing with and watching them tear through games are joys that I will never forget.

                My journey through gaming would not have been the same without my siblings guiding me along. Etched in each game, is a piece of my history, filled with the joys of victory, the saltiness of defeat, or the mesmerizing awe to witness greatness in real time (Shout out to my brother’s S run in Einhander). That’s the beauty of games, and really, anything in life that can connect you to a moment in time. That’s why I love this hobby. I hope that through this anthology series, you can join in sharing a piece of my childhood, and maybe even tap into yours. So lean back, take a deep breath, and get your game on, cause it’s gonna be one heck of a ride!

                Sengoku Blade is not my first Saturn memory, but possibly one of the most memorable. Growing up south of the bay area in California, we were blessed with some pretty slick arcades back in the day. On some random Saturday most likely around 1997, my brothers took me to Blossom Hill Golfland. I didn’t play much in the arcades back then, as the machines would just take my money for free, but my brothers were very skilled at shmups and fighters; a must for that era in gaming.

                I followed my brother as he went up to a cabinet with a very non-descript marquee that read, “New Game -Tengai”. It was a horizontal shooter with some heavy Japanese influences and a cool cast of characters. So, I timidly decided to play with my brother. He chose a girl with what I thought at the time was a raccoon following her around. He figured out how to use the charge attack, and that’s when the creature unleashed some holy hot breath of fire across the screen! I chose a male character that looked like he had some orbs in a static formation. His charge attack shot rapid laser like beams in a fixed position, not nearly as cool as the fire breathing critter. We sunk a few quarters in, enjoyed blasting some medieval Japanese baddies, and I never thought about the game again. Shmups were a dime a dozen back then.

                Flash forward to late 2000. My brother dropped me off at the legendary Berryessa flea market (sadly it’s just quite not the same now). My only goal at the flea market is to grab games at a discount. There was a regular vendor who went by Sharif. This guy carried everything you could imagine. I remember picking up Shining the Holy Ark disc only for $5 from him. To this day, I still have the Saturn Mission stick that I picked up for a measly $15. I asked him if I could check out his Saturn imports. He had a pretty limited selection.

                The games were stacked in an egg crate with the spines facing up. I remember seeing the double case for Fire Pro Wrestling 6 Men Scramble. But what stood out to me was a game with the “Atlus” on the spine. I grabbed the case and took a look at the cover…whoa mamma. The main female character was front and center with heavy cleavage, pretty risqué for a teenage boy at the time. I was a little embarrassed, hoping no one was noticing me gawking at the beautiful female form I later found out to be Koyori/Miko. “Sengoku Ace Episode II” was printed near the bottom of the front, with a company that I could recall, but not fully tie in at the moment, “Psikyo.”

                As I flipped the case to take a look at the rear art, it looked oddly familiar. It was a shmup, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint if this was the game that I played in the arcade with my brother years ago. “How much?” I asked. $25. Hmm, dad’s mantra; always negotiate. “How about $15?” Nope. Darn, doesn’t look like it’s gonna work this time. I was thinking he might just want to get rid of the Saturn stuff, as the system was dead in the water with the Dreamcast already a year in. I tried to rationalize that I didn’t quite know what the game was. It didn’t have the same title as that arcade game Tengai. What if it was a stinker? My not quite polished game acumen betrayed me as I went home with just a few SNES carts.

                Back home, I was dying to know what the game was. Told my brother about it and looked it up on eBay… What the freak? $140! You have got to be killing me. Not only that, as we were looking at some of the artwork online, it was abundantly clear to my brother that it was indeed the arcade game we had played. Why did no one tell me that games had different names across the pond! I begged him to drive me back. After some back and forth, he begrudgingly said yes. There was a light rain as he dropped me back at the entrance of the flea market. I did my best powerwalk through the aisles probably looking like I desperately needed to find the nearest restroom. Looked Sharif dead in the eye as he grinned. He knew exactly why I was back. Take my $25 good sir. Popped the game in my backpack to protect it from the rain and powerwalked back to my brother the chauffer.

                A few months earlier, I had bought an Action Replay from Sharif in anticipation of one day picking up Radiant Silvergun; a story for another time. I couldn’t hold in my excitement. This was the game that I enjoyed that random Saturday with my brother. Here it was, in our tiny apartment, on a freakin’ home console! Popped the disc in. Please God, let the Action Replay work. Queue the Atlus intro. Psykio screen, press start…Pure bliss.

                It took me back… There was the girl with the critter spitting hot fire. There I was playing with my brother, just as we had done a few years earlier. And to think, this was my first import game ever! What a way to begin an era. These are the moments, the small joys… captured on an old 4:3 CRT. And front and center of it all… Sega Saturn.

Special shout out and continued prayers to the family of Mohammed Sharif, who was tragically murdered by thieves when he was returning home from the flea market. RIP 12-5-2004.

–CronoLe (aka CanhArtist)