https://www.segasaturno.com/portal/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4536&p=49396#p49396
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Pirro
17 Febrero 2012, 06:03 PM

Re: Que Juego Exprime Al Maximo La Potencia De Saturn?
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Comparto lo dicho, lo ideal sería conocer la verdad, aunque dudo mucho que la conozcamos dado que Saturn no pudo ser aprovechada como PS-1.

Las 2D son tema aparte. Realmente hay bastantes juegos exclusivos 2D (sin cartucho) que dificilmente creo que tendrían la misma calidad en PS-1 (ejemplos: Guardian Heroes, Astal, o PCrown). También hay juegos compartidos (sin cartucho) en los que Saturn sale ganando como Rayman, Silhouette and Mirage o Street Fighter Alpha 2. Sin embargo hay maravillas en PS1 como Abe's Oddysee que veo perfectamente viables (si mal no recuerdo, la versión de SS fue cancelada) o incluso mejorables gracias a la VRAM de Saturn. 

Bajo mi modesto punto de vista, las verdaderas limitaciones de Saturn son las transparencias. Comparto lo que se dice de la mayor flexibilidad que otorga tener más modos en baja resolución, pero tampoco debemos olvidar que lo realmente importante en éste sentido es que Saturn ofrecía alta resolución.

En relación al cartucho...pues bueno, a mí lo que me suele importar es el resultado final y si con cartucho el resultado final era definitivamente mejor en Saturn no veo el problema. Vamos como si cuestionasemos a PS-1 porque no podía grabar partidas sin Memory Card...

Por cierto, dejo unos datos y comentarios bastante interesantes que he encontrado colgados en un foro. No soy un "techie" ni nada por el estilo, pero creo que puede ser interesante leerlos (desvela algunos pros y contras que desconocía de SS):

[quote]Hitachi SH2 32-bit RISC CPUs
Number Speed MIPS
2 28 MHz 25
Purpose:Central Processing Units, specially commissioned by Sega, optmized for 3D graphics work. Data that doesn't specifically apply to the geometry engine or sprite graphics gets sent through here. Data calculation, damage, random number generation all gets done here. Dual processors give the Saturn limited parallel processing capabilities, but the segmented cache doesn't allow both to operate simultaneously.
Comment: "The SH2 has a high calculation efficiency. For magnifying, reducing, and rotating 2D and 3D graphics, it's very fast. No chip can change coordinates as quickly."
--Chief technician on the SH2 project, Hitachi

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VDP1 32-bit Graphics Processor
Geometry Engine Sprite Graphics
Texture Mapping
Gouraud Shading
200,000 Texture Mapped Polygons/Second
500,000 Flat Shaded Polygons/Second
512K Cache for Textures
Virtually Unlimited Sprites on a Line
Virtually Unlimited Sprite Images
Virtually Unlimited CLUTs
Dual 256K Frame Buffers for Rotation, Scaling Effects

Purpose: Along with the SH2s, the VDP and its frame buffer draws 3D objects on screen as distorted sprites. The geometry engine is effective, but also more of an afterthought on Sega's part, primarily to combat the PlayStation's built-in powerful 3D chipset.
Comments: "The Saturn is very fast at drawing single pixels using its processor, while the PlayStation has to go through its polygon engine. That gives the Saturn programmer more flexibility."
--Chief Programmer, Scavenger

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VDP2 32-bit Graphics Processor
Background and Scroll Plane Capabilities
Five Simultaneous Scrolling Backgrounds
Two Simultaneous Rotating Playfields
24-bit Backgrounds
704x480 maximum resolution Backgrounds

Purpose: Takes over the task of drawing in the background. Frees up CPU processing time while creating complex parallax or distortion effects beyond the main play field.
Comments: It's not difficult to use the VDP2, although it takes plenty of time to find an effective use for it. There are so many different ways in which it can be employed."
--Kazuhiro Hamada, Section Chief, Saturn Development Team

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16-bit Motorola 68EC000 Sound CPU
Yamaha Sega Custom Sound Processor (SCSP)
Sampling Synthesis Signal Processing
16-bit Sound
44.1 kHz
32 Voices
FM Synthesis
Two CPU Interfaces
16 Channel Digital Mixer
SCSP contains Yamaha FH-1 11.3 MHz, 128 Step DSP
DRAM Controller for SCSP memory

Purpose: This is Sega's pride and joy. The Saturn sound system consists of a relatively powerful sound CPU, but the custom Yamaha sound processor gives the Saturn audio capabilites outstripping both the Nintendo 64 and Playstation.
Comments: "Saturn's sound hardware is phenomenal. It's way, way, better than the PlayStation's sound - you can basically plug in a synthesizer and play it through MIDI."
--Saturn Developer, Next Generation, December 1995

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Memory Configuration
Memory Type Bank Size
CPU RAM 2 MB

Video RAM 1.54 MB

Sound RAM 540 KB

CD-ROM Cache RAM 512 KB

Battery Backup 32 KB SRAM

Comments: Standard stuff, nothing especially significant except for the CPU RAM. As it stands, only one SH2 CPU can access the main memory bank at a time, so both CPUs, if not programmed properly, will continually play a game of catch up, where one processor is constantly waiting for the other to finish its task.
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Graphics Specs
Resolution and Depth 2D Capabilities 3D Capabilities
Display Resolution
352x224
640x224
704x480
Depth

32,000 colors displayed in foreground
24-bit (16.7 million colors) palette
Virtually Unlimited Sprites on a Line
Virtually Unlimited Sprite Images
Virtually Unlimited CLUTs
Dual 256K Frame Buffers for Rotation, Scaling Effects
Five Simultaneous Scrolling Backgrounds
Two Simultaneous Rotating Playfields
24-bit Backgrounds
704x480 maximum resolution Backgrounds
Texture Mapping
Gouraud Shading
512K Texture Cache
200,000 texture-mapped polygons/second
500,000 flat shaded polgons/second

Comments: Although the Saturn sports a higher maximum resolution, very few games have managed to use it without losing a lot of speed. As a result, Saturn games have are generally at one of the lower resolutions, but at much higher framerates. Also, the lack of many of the hardware features present in the PlayStation and the N64 have forced many titles to fake transparency and lighting effects. However, these effects are possible, even at high resolutions, as Sega's AM divisions have proved time and time again. Developers are learning to use the main CPUs to generate the effects they need without sacrificing much. 

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