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I’d seen mention of Saroo, an accessory for the Sega Saturn, on Twitter (or X, if you prefer), but hadn’t a clue what they were for. After a quick google around, I found that a seller on AliExpress had some for sale (since then, lots more sellers have popped up) and so I took a chance on one.

Read more: Buying a Saroo just to play Sega Rally

What is a Saroo?

A Saroo is a flash card that goes into the Saturn’s cartridge slot and allows for the loading of games via Micro SD, bypassing the Saturn’s CD drive altogether. They can also hold saved game data and provide support for those games that usually need additional RAM cartridges. All without the need to modify your Saturn.

My plan was to just buy one, download all my old favourites, perhaps find some new ones and keep it around to tinker with occasionally. The cartridge came with a pre-loaded memory card, filled with a mixture of classics from all regions and a few rather suspect adult games from Japan. After a few days of trying it out, I’d trimmed out most of the games I didn’t want and added in pretty much all the ones that I could think of that I wanted to play. All ran smoothly, with the exception of one, which seemed to need a Japanese saturn to run properly; thankfully, my Saturn is modded, so a quick switch later, that game ran perfectly too.

So with all these games at my disposal, I would try one out, play a few times, then switch to an old favourite – Sega Rally. I was never particularly good at it, but as pure arcade-style racing experience go, it can’t be faulted, especially with the quicker loading times too. I’d have probably been annoyed buying Sega Rally on release – not many games can be played in five minutes – but for a quick way to unwind, it’s unmatched.

A notable mention should go to Elevator Action Returns – definitely worth trying out if you haven’t already.

Considering I’ve not posted anything in eleven months, you might think I’ve been polishing and crafting the perfect article, waiting till the right moment to unleash its profundity on the world. However, you’d be wrong – it’s about a silly 25-year-old joystick, the QuickShot Intruder 1.

I’m a sucker for buying unusual videogame-related stuff, particular in job lots; they don’t have to be rare, just a little different. So when a listing of 16 old shop stock joysticks appeared on Ebay, I was straight in there. Most of them were old ‘Quick Gun Turbo’ NES joysticks, but this one stood out –

There were two of these in the lot – the sealed one in the photo and one with a tattier box. I’m not someone who obsesses over keeping sealed things sealed, but having two of these meant I could at least nose around the unsealed one.

The QS-149 Intruder 1 (to give it its full, snappy title) supports Atari, Commodore, Sears (never actually seen one of these), MSX, Amstrad CPC 464 and Master System computers/consoles. It only has two fire buttons, so it’s no use for the Mega Drive.

Some of the more interesting features –

Turbo Fire Selectors

Although they look quite natty, they just have three settings – 0, I and II.

Fire Button Cover

Designed to look like some kind of missile launching thing or maybe an eject button, the flip-top cover actually ‘protects the major from fire button dust and wear’. Certainly, there’ll be no chance of wearing the button out if you keep it covered up.

6 US Military Insignia Stickers

For that finishing touch to your wonderful new joystick, why not add one of these insignia stickers to complete the look of a gritty fighter pilot, as you play F19 on your Amiga.