As reported by Time Extension, one of the greatest mysteries surrounding the Sega Saturn has finally been solved. In an interview with the Japanese magazine Beep21, former Sega engineer Junichi Naoi confirmed that the famous Saturn graphics accelerator was indeed real. Codename: Project TRIP. Its mission? To allow the 32-bit console to run games from the Model 3 arcade board, including Virtua Fighter 3 and Shenmue.

When Model 3 widened the gap

By 1996, the situation had become critical for Sega. The Model 3, their new arcade board developed with Lockheed Martin, delivered overwhelming graphical power with one million polygons per second. Compared to it, the Saturn looked weak. Naoi, who had designed the console’s SH-1 and SH-2 processors, proposed a radical solution: creating an expansion cartridge based on the Hitachi SH-3E chipset. The project was greenlit in August 1996, and a small team went to NEC to develop the prototype.

Virtua Fighter 3 and Shenmue in the crosshairs

The interview reveals that Yu Suzuki was planning to rely on this accelerator to develop Shenmue on Saturn. Virtua Fighter 3, the launch title for the Model 3 in arcades, was also meant to benefit from this extension. But faced with disappointing Saturn sales in the West and the imminent arrival of the Dreamcast, Sega ultimately abandoned the project. Both games were eventually moved to the Dreamcast, leaving Project TRIP in the drawers of history.

Model 3 accessible on Recalbox

This revelation resonates even more today as Recalbox now allows users to emulate the Sega Model 3 on Raspberry Pi 5. Virtua Fighter 3, Scud Race, Daytona USA 2 — all the titles that could have run on Saturn via the TRIP are now playable on our retro systems. The irony of the story is that it took thirty years and emulation to finally enjoy these Model 3 classics outside of arcades, despite Sega having an advanced project at the time.

Sources: Time Extension, Beep21, Sega Saturn Shiro

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