Cold Case is one of those Sega Saturn homebrew developments that has skirted under the radar for far too long. Taking on the role of a coat wearing protagonist searching for evidence in an unknown case you quickly realize there is more to this than you initially thought. Based off the name of the game I figure your character is either a police detective or a private investigator – there is no official word on the role of your character.
Silent Hill Meets Resident Evil
The developer, JBeretta of Sega Extreme’s forums, has stated Cold Case is like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, survival horror and probably weird as hell until you learn more about the story.
Judging by the video, it is rocking the survival horror vibes. What is interesting is the real time 3D engine being used on the Saturn – a console not known for its 3D prowess.
Saturn 3D Everywhere
Before we start this section, I want to point out this is an early demo, last updated in early 2024. On top of that, it is running on a custom 3D engine, the jo-engine. I hope there are updates to come as this is impressive for many reasons.
Sure, there are graphical hiccups and clipping but you must remember, the Sega Saturn was not designed for 3D, it was an afterthought. Being quickly tacked onto the 2D powerhouse hardware Sega created, 3D was obviously lacking, even though gaming in general was still new to the graphic format. Saturn 3D always had a way of looking last generation somehow. Like a software renderer on PC versus a basic 3D accelerator which the Sony PlayStation was closer to in appearance.
Why Cold Case Matters
For a few reasons Cold Case is still worthy of celebration. The Sega Saturn is not overrun with homebrew games, certainly not many in the survival horror, real time 3D engine, etc genres.
I have no idea if JBeretta will finish it but what is here looks intriguing. If nothing else, it is a great tech demo for the jo-engine and a testament to what skilled fans can do. It is our jobs as fans to make sure they know we want to see more of this, give them some support with likes, shares, comments, etc to help them stay motivated in their journey to entertain.
Source – Sega Extreme via Sega Saturn Shiro