Must Play 32x Games

[Tulpa | 3,491]

2 hours ago, Estil said:

That Sony guy who got to the podium, said "two ninety-nine" and then stepped down didn't help matters either.

Who'd have thought one of the most iconic speeches in video game history was just saying one number?

Yeah that one number being said was pretty much check and mate for the Saturn.

That was bad, but worse was Sega earlier in the day saying, "Hey, you know that promised SATURNDAY release date in September? Well, we decided to give four stores a head start, so you can get a Saturn right now!" It was May.

And every retailer that wasn't one of the four, (Babbages, Electronic Boutique, Toys R Us, and one other I can't remember), including big companies like WalMart and Target, plus all the developers who thought they'd have a launch title if it was in September, gave Sega a big middle finger.

 

edit: Software, Etc. That was the fourth retailer.

Edited January 21, 2020 by Tulpa

[Estil | 1,264]

Would it have been slightly more helpful for them if all the stores got to sell them early?

I guess Sega like all the other companies got hit with the third console jinx (Atari (if you count pong as first and the 2600 as the second), Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft...all of their third consoles were not nearly as successful as one or both of their predecessors).

[Tulpa | 3,491]

2 minutes ago, Estil said:

Would it have been slightly more helpful for them if all the stores got to sell them early?

 

Maybe, but I don't think they had the production numbers to stock everyone. They'd have been better off committing to September, but then Sony would get the jump on them. They were in between a rock and a hard place.

 

3 minutes ago, Estil said:

 

I guess Sega like all the other companies got hit with the third console jinx (Atari (if you count pong as first and the 2600 as the second), Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft...all of their third consoles were not nearly as successful as one or both of their predecessors).

Saturn was fourth.

SG-1000, Master System, Genesis, Saturn.

[Estil | 1,264]

SG-1000 I don't think made it out of Japan so it doesn't count.

[Tulpa | 3,491]

It was also in Australia and New Zealand. Which is more than you can say for Atari's Pong.

[Sumez | 2,935]

5 hours ago, Estil said:

SG-1000 I don't think made it out of Japan so it doesn't count.

[cj_robot | 540]

Shadow Squadron was always one of my favorites for the 32X. Solid space shooter that is WAY more polished (and way more fun IMHO) than Star Wars Arcade. It's still pretty basic and short (only 6 missions), but this is the case for many 32X games, as most were rushed out the door.

Doom is another great game. Yes, there were many compromises made, but it still runs pretty well, and at it's core it's still Doom, one of the best games ever made.

After Burner and Space Harrier are two great arcade conversions that are pretty darn close to the arcade (definitely the best ports at the time) and alot of fun. 

Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter are also really good ports.

That's all that I would consider "must-own" Everything else is rather mediocre in my opinion, yes even including Kolibri, Knuckles Chaotix, Star Wars, etc.

[bronzeshield | 293]

The US did see a SG-1000 compatible console in the form of the Dina 2-in-1, which could also play ColecoVision games. But that was after its primary market window had already closed.

[fox | 1,665]

Star wars IIIII
Spiderman II
Knuckles III
MK II
Virtual Racing III
Doom IIII
After Burner III
Star Trek
Metal Head
Motorcross Championship
Night Trap
Fahrenheit
Space Harrier IIII
Kolibri III
Blackthorne II
NBA Jam II
WWF
Tempo
Shadow Squadron II
Virtual Fighter II

So like about half the library are must plays, that is a lot better than I expected.

[Sumez | 2,935]

I think you'll find that list is pushing it a lot, though

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

On 1/21/2020 at 6:29 PM, Tulpa said:

That was bad, but worse was Sega earlier in the day saying, "Hey, you know that promised SATURNDAY release date in September? Well, we decided to give four stores a head start, so you can get a Saturn right now!" It was May.

And every retailer that wasn't one of the four, (Babbages, Electronic Boutique, Toys R Us, and one other I can't remember), including big companies like WalMart and Target, plus all the developers who thought they'd have a launch title if it was in September, gave Sega a big middle finger.

 

edit: Software, Etc. That was the fourth retailer.

I remember walking into Babbages and seeing the Saturn for sale and being taken by surprise, but I still bought one. I think I spent more money on Sega consoles back in the day than all of the games combined for each system.

[Estil | 1,264]

I dunno, with only 40ish games on the 32X, is it really worth it to have your Genesis on life support?  

And apparently you can't "just stick it in your Genesis"  

 

AVGN: Stick it in your Genesis??  More like stick it up your ass!

Edited January 27, 2020 by Estil

[Tulpa | 3,491]

Are you just now getting around to viewing eleven year old AVGN videos?

[Nintegageo | 582]

On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2020 at 9:52 PM, fox said:

Star Wars
Spiderman (maybe)
Knuckles Chaotix
Virtual Racing
Doom
Atter Burner
Metal Head (maybe)
Space Harrier
Kolibri
Blackthorne
NBA Jam
Tempo
Shadow Squadron
Virtua Fighter II

This would be my list, but yeah, 32X is decent and arguably better than the Virtual Boy (not that that's amazing).

Edited January 27, 2020 by Nintegageo

[Austin | 4]

A lot of the 32X's "best" (or at least most popular) games are still acquired tastes. For instance, Star Wars arcade is pretty limited in scope and honestly loses its excitement pretty quickly. Knuckles Chaotix lacks creative level design and gets extremely repetitious, with it forcing you to play through each of its level themes five times each (not to mention the tethering mechanic trips some people up).

That said, if you're the kind of gamer that likes a good variety of stuff, the 32X definitely has it. I think it's a worthwhile add-on despite it lacking a lot of "AAA" (by early '90s standards) games. It's got a lot of C+ and B+ grade titles though and those can be fun. If anything, many games look significantly better than what you could get on base Genesis hardware, or it shows off nice effects that are unique to it. It's nice for that.

It hasn't been mentioned but I enjoy Cosmic Carnage. Decent looking game and the combat is fun when you learn the moves. Interesting use of scaling effects as well, good, beefy soundtrack. It's hardly MK2, but I think it gets bashed more than it deserves. The port of Primal Rage comparatively is sort of trash--it's barely improved over the Genesis version. Not worth it.

Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racing and Shadow Squadron are the highest quality 3D titles on the system. They run smooth, play well and sound decent.

DOOM is one of my favorite games on the system despite its cutbacks. It doesn't take all day to go through it and it plays very well. It's still DOOM.

Re: SMS support. You cannot play SMS games on a 32X, either via a Powerbase Converter or a flash cart.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

I think the 32X could have had a chance had Sega not bungled that decade so well.  The hardware was fine, thinking of it much like the various SNES cart chips just slapped into one lockon system, kind of like the evolution of the NES Aladdin Game Enhancer where you had a basic game on the cart, but the oomph is in the base unit that then locks into the true console.  Had more games 2D especially, not just 3D really tapped the potential of it and were given the time and right to it was something nice to have around.  It's kind of the stupid pills Nintendo had with Virtual Boy killing it within a year just because of the originally presumed N64 launch and the slower sales, 32x had the slower sales and they had the CD thing coming/going on so they killed it before it had a chance to take hold (like VB.)  I never owned one, but I had access on rarer occasion, not to mention emulators after the fact and there's some good fun there between unique titles, ports from arcade console or even PC (BC Racers was a DOS game), and just franchise goodies.  It kind of makes you wonder how far they could have gone, like what limits there were on 32X carts vs hardware with the Genesis being the bottleneck.

[Austin | 4]

Yeah.. the 32X version of BC Racers is trash. One of the choppiest games on the system. Speaking of bad ports, Pitfall the Mayan Adventure was another. Should have been the best console version, ended up being the worst.

The 32X could have had a chance for at least limited success, but my guess is market saturation (3DO and Jaguar were already out, Saturn and PS1 were just around the corner) and a lack of heavy-hitting software didn't do it any favors. It launched strong with Doom, Virtua Racing, Star Wars arcade, etc., there was some solid buzz right at the beginning (which allowed it to move something like 700,000 units almost immediately), but it fizzled out extremely quick.

Games like Cosmic Carnage, Metal Head and Motocross Championship, regardless of how much some of us might enjoy them now, weren't particularly impressive and didn't do it any favors. Genesis ports with limited improvements didn't help either. It needed more games that showed the potential of the hardware.

Edited January 28, 2020 by Austin

[fox | 1,665]

Been hitting some of these 32x titles.  I owned a 32x back in the day, picked up on clearance for $30.  I had VRacing and Cosmic Carnage, so I know all about Cosmic Carnage haha.  The main reason I got it was Knuckles Chaotix which my copy didn't work so I didn't get a chance to play it till now.

I'm digging Tempo and NBA Jam.  Tempo is just quirky and kind of cool and it seems like NBA Jam got one of if not the best home ports, still fun to play today.  I'm not super impressed with the 3D titles, maybe they were a cool use of tech in 1994 but don't wow now or maybe I just don't care much for flight sims.

thanks for the suggestions sages

[koifish | 555]

Virtua Fighter is a blast, even if the music is incomplete and the graphics aren't as good. If you don't have a saturn handy then there's no reason not to have it in a 32X collection.

[littlesamson | 10]

From my experience / taste - Star Wars Arcade, Virtual Racing, Motocross, Metal Head, WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game, Blackthorne, Kolibri, Knuckles Chaotix, MK II, NBA JAM: TE, After Burner.   They fun for what they are, with NBA Jam getting the most play time in my youth.