TrekkiesUnite118

X4 has some nicer background effects thanks to Saturn's VDP2. That's about it. As for Megaman 8, it does have some bonus content, but even then it used to be the cheaper of the two. X4 came out after E3 of 1997 when Stolar officially declared the Saturn dead in the US. So it's more likely to have a lower print run than Megaman 8. The entire reason 8 suddenly spiked in price I blame on pricecharting sites. I remember us Saturn collectors seeing it happen in real time back around 2012ish? Basically there was a BIN listed on ebay for $125 for well over a year that wasn't selling. Then someone bought it even though there were auctions going for far less (around the $30-$50 range). Suddenly on price charting sites it was being listed as extremely rare and worth $125. Ever since Megaman 8 has been going for stupid prices.

Later Saturn games started using thinner paper for manual covers as a cost saving measure. It seems to be a crapshoot which ones this was done for. I've owned my copies of Shining Force III and Panzer Dragoon Saga for a very long time and they are like yours. Shining Force III has the older card style cover for it's manual, while Panzer Dragoon Saga has the thinner cheaper manual cover. Other later Saturn games that have this thinner paper style manual in my collection are as follows: Burning Rangers House of the Dead Sonic R Sega Touring Car Championship Quake Duke Nukem 3D. I've had these games for well over a decade, others like Sonic R I got new back in 1997 so it's definitely not a reproduction. The trend seems to start with games released in mid to late 1997 and there's no real consistency to it. My guess is either different printing plants or just whatever paper they had to print with.