Trio You’ll Like on PC --or He’ll Eat His Hat

Crow tastes pretty good sometimes.

I know because I ate quite a bit of it on a recent weekend.

Regular readers of this space know my historical bias toward dedicated game machines when it comes to hard-core, nonstop action. I figured no PC around could handle the kind of workout blistering games like Tekken or Nights put hardware through.

Sega proved me wrong.

With three PC conversions of popular Saturn games, Sega shows that even a relatively humble machine like my P100 can hold its own against the dedicated hardware of the 32-bit rigs. Bug, Virtua Fighter and Baku Baku all run as smoothly on the PC as they do on Saturn.

In other words, they rock.

I ran Bug on the PC and on Saturn at the same time to compare the two and noticed no slowdowns or glitches that might give one an edge over the other. Virtua Fighter tended to slow down frequently in the high-resolution mode, but after switching to low-resolution the game worked great even on my laptop. Perfect for boring meetings or long flights.

The most problematic of the bunch was Baku Baku--which, sadly, is also my favorite of the bunch. The thrill of this enchanting puzzler is its speed, and frequent lockups got frustrating fast. Without sound the problem tended to disappear, but even then I had to run the game screen in a small window to maintain the kind of speed I’m used to on Saturn.

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While none of these titles are among the most technically demanding for the Saturn, they nonetheless demonstrate how much punch a PC can pack if it’s exploited with the right software. And they may be just a hint of what’s to come. Unlike early game machine ports, these three titles need no special hardware. Some might remember that when Panzer Dragoon hit the PC earlier this year, it required a $300 graphics accelerator card.

PC titles like Myst and Sim City have never converted well to game machines. In the same way, game machine titles like Mortal Kombat and Wipeout historically didn’t translate very well to the PC. But while PC titles still suffer in the conversion to game machines, game machine titles on the PC are looking better every day.

For Sega, the PC titles represent part of its efforts to broaden beyond home and arcade rigs to stay competitive. That’s a smart move because its Saturn lags well behind Sony’s PlayStation and the Nintendo 64. It would be a shame to let killer titles like Nights and Sega Rally Championship languish on a platform that has yet to hit its stride.

But it kind of makes me wonder: If PC owners can play Saturn games on their desktop, why should they buy a Saturn?

Staff writer Aaron Curtiss reviews video games every Thursday. To comment on a column or to suggest games for review, send letters to The Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Or send e-mail to Aaron.Curtiss@latimes.com