Which Saturn mod is right for me?

Great news everyone, we now offer mods and repairs for the classic Sega Saturn console. If you don’t have a Sega Saturn in your games room, you’re absolutely missing out. Despite finishing behind its two main competitors, the Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo 64, the Saturn has, in many ways, aged better than its competitors. This is largely thanks to its strong library of 2D titles, which have aged much better than the early 3D titles of the era. To help you get the most out of your Saturn hardware, we now offer a selection of mods for the console. If you’re not sure which mod to choose, here’s a quick run-down of what they all do.

Sega Saturn 50/60hz Switchless mod – This modification changes the behaviour of your Saturn’s reset button. A quick press will still reset the console, but pressing and holding the button will toggle the machine between 50hz and 60hz output. Most of our readers probably know what this means already, but here’s a quick refresher. Due to slightly different standards of television broadcasting, Sega Saturn consoles released in Europe (PAL territories) run at 50hz, or 50 frames a second, while consoles released in the USA or Japan (NTSC territories) have a slightly faster 60hz or 60 frames a second refresh rate. If you intend to play import games on your PAL Saturn, this mod is a must have, since it allows you to play the games at the correct speed. Without this mod, any import games you run on your PAL machine will run around 15% slower than the programmers intended. Apart from being a terrible way to play NTSC Saturn software, this can cause in-game glitches and other problems. Of course, you can also use this mod on a NTSC Saturn so that you can play PAL titles at the correct speed too. Furthermore, many PAL titles received little or no optimisation, so using this mod with certain PAL titles results in smoother gameplay.

This mod is ideal for those of you with PAL consoles. It’s also great if you’re lucky enough to have a Rhea or Phoebe optical drive emulator, since the region-free BIOS mod isn’t needed then. You can order this mod by clicking here.

Sega Saturn region free BIOS mod – This modification is the best, most convenient way to enjoy import games on your Sega Saturn console. Compatible with any model of console, the region free BIOS replaces the Saturn’s original BIOS and allows games from any region to boot instantly on your console. No messing with cartridges, or cycling through colours on a switchless LED region free mod, just put the disc in and play. Please note this mod does not circumvent copy protection, so-called “backup” or pirate copies of games will still not run.

This mod is ideal if you have an American console and want to check out the Saturn’s extensive back catalogue of Japanese games, or vice versa. Note that this mod is unnecessary if you are using a Rhea or Phoebe optical drive emulator, as that device already circumvents regional protections. You can order this mod by clicking here.

Sega Saturn Full Region Free mod – This modification simply means installing both of the above mods into your console. This way you get full flexibility to play any game from any region at the correct speed. If you want the full works for your Saturn, this is the mod to get. You can order this mod by clicking here.

Hopefully that should clear up any confusion. If you have further questions or need to contact us about other Saturn mods or repairs, please do so here.