Console Debate #27 Atari Jaguar

[fox | 1,665]

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

My favourite console of all time for its appearance; I just love how it looks (the base console, not the toilet-bowl CD attachment).  But in terms of gameplay, I only keep my console around for three games: Doom, Wolfenstein, and Cannon Fodder.  There are obviously better alternatives out there for Doom, but this console is definitely my go-to whenever I need a Wolfenstein fix, which is admitedly only a couple of times each decade...

[Vectrex28 | 366]

It had such potential but was ultimately ruined by Atari being Atari, just like the Lynx.

Great hardware for the time, but it was way too ambitious. 5/10

Edited May 7, 2021 by Vectrex28

[Robot_Ninjutsu | 122]

I honestly can't remember if I've ever played a single Jaguar game.

Were there in store Jaguar kiosks? I vividly recall playing 3DO, PSX, and Saturn kiosks, but not the Jaguar.

[AstralSoul | 502]

There is something about this console that keeps it in the back of my mind a lot of time. I don't know if it's the badass name, or the awesome look of the console, or just the fact that as a kid I really wanted one but to this day have never even held a controller for one. I have been on the verge of buying one several times in the last few years and I always back out because I look at the list of games and there are so few that appeal to me and even the ones that do, like Doom and Wolfenstein, can be played on other (better) consoles. So objectively I think it's pretty bad but there is appeal to it even if I can't discern why so it gets points for that. 4/10

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

One of the biggest consoles I basically have no experience with. I never knew anyone who had one and I've only played them at conventions. I do need to get one eventually since they're still readily available NOS and the state of emulation isn't great, so it seems like one of the consoles most worth physically owning. But I mean it's Jaguar so 

And as cool as Tempest 2000 is, probably the game I've played most since it's always the game in the console, I've played a lot of Space Giraffe which feels like a superior successor in a lot of ways. Space Giraffe just isn't as well known because it's not the one beloved game on a console mostly devoid of beloved exclusive games.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

4/10 -- it's not quite average, but also not entirely crap.

Never owned one, but where I lived were some B-tier stores (anyone remember Good Guys?) for electronics and they'd keep kiosks.  Then there are those games you know because they're ports, or were well enough done to get ported outwardly (Tempest 2000 DOS) for other projects(most notably Jag-DOOM which got used and re-used up until 2001-2's Doom GBA.)  I've had experience with some of them like Alien vs Predator and using a weird sorta 3D glasses thing at that store I mentioned and without.  Random few others.  There are probably a handful of never left it type games on there, but not like AAA-tier shattering must haves more or less.  A good deal of the solid stuff, it wasn't exclusive so it kind of leaves the Jaguar as not awful, but awfully passable.

[Nintegageo | 582]

Never played though interested.

[mbd39 | 2,020]

It's an interesting console that may have a few games that are still worth playing. Never played, but interested.

 

[nrslam | 474]

4/10 Seems about right.  A decent percentage of good games, but with such a small library that doesn't translate to a big number.  AvP and Tempest almost make it worth owning just for those. Haven't played mine for a couple years but I'll give the library another whirl when my number comes up for the back-ordered GameDrive multicart.  It is one of the better looking consoles and has the best name ever, so there's that.

[WhyNotZoidberg | 585]

Easy 6/10. I know I gave the CD-i a 6 also and the Jaguar's library is obviously superior. But the Jag is no 7 in my book lol.

It's better than bad and it's definitely worth anyone's time to try out a few games. You'll find games from that era that are on other consoles like NBA JAM T.E., Flashback, DOOM, Wolfenstein 3D, Rayman and Raiden, all of which are very playable. And a handful of exclusives like AvP and Tempest 2000, but also amongst which some are laughably bad and worth a try, especially in the fighting genre with Fight for Life and Kasumi Ninja.

 

7 hours ago, Vectrex28 said:

It had such potential but was ultimately ruined by Atari being Atari, just like the Lynx.

The Lynx blows the Jaguar out of the water tho. Hands down Atari's best console.

Edited May 7, 2021 by WhyNotZoidberg

[RH | 4,902]

6 hours ago, AstralSoul said:

There is something about this console that keeps it in the back of my mind a lot of time. I don't know if it's the badass name, or the awesome look of the console, or just the fact that as a kid I really wanted one but to this day have never even held a controller for one. I have been on the verge of buying one several times in the last few years and I always back out because I look at the list of games and there are so few that appeal to me and even the ones that do, like Doom and Wolfenstein, can be played on other (better) consoles. So objectively I think it's pretty bad but there is appeal to it even if I can't discern why so it gets points for that. 4/10

You 100% nailed my experience and opinion.

I, too, have never held a controller and I don't even think I saw a console until I saw one in a retrogaming store in the last 10 years.  I'm sure I saw one high up on a K.B. Toy Store shelf or something in the box, but as far as seeing an open unit, that wasn't until decades after it was dead.

And though this thing was a powerful work horse for it's time, it still had an Atari "look", which to me always seemed to lack a little polish.  Close, but just not quite there.

I personally can't rate this one. 4 is probably reasonable, but having no experience and yet still being very intrigued by the devices, I have to rate it as Never Played, but Interested.

[fcgamer | 4,722]

Never played it, little interest in it.

A local reseller found one of these last year and offered it to me for sale, but he thought he had gold, well I guess very few of these ended up in Taiwan, and I couldn't talk him down to what I was willing to pay for the loose console, hook ups, controller, and one or two games tops.

Compared to other obscure systems, this just never interested me as much, I'm guessing there's a stigma due to the Atari name.

 

[Vectrex28 | 366]

33 minutes ago, WhyNotZoidberg said:

The Lynx blows the Jaguar out of the water tho. Hands down Atari's best console.

Oh for sure, I love my lynx! Wish I had more games for it though haha

[RH | 4,902]

5 minutes ago, Vectrex28 said:

Oh for sure, I love my lynx! Wish I had more games for it though haha

Supposedly it has a very active homebrew scene.  Aren't you into that type of stuff? (I honestly can't recall.  I just thought I've seen you hanging around the homebrew posts.)

[Tanooki | 4,932]

There is, in the years since the Lynx croaked a lot of homebrew projects ports or new have shown up that people seem to trend towards if they can get a copy.  I think it's something like how the virtual boy has quite a few too where it like nearly adds 50% more library or better to the thing.

[Vectrex28 | 366]

2 minutes ago, RH said:

Supposedly it has a very active homebrew scene.  Aren't you into that type of stuff? (I honestly can't recall.  I just thought I've seen you hanging around the homebrew posts.)

I'd be very much down for some homebrews for my lynx. What would you recommend?

[RH | 4,902]

1 minute ago, Vectrex28 said:

I'd be very much down for some homebrews for my lynx. What would you recommend?

Oh, I don't have one or looked into it.  I have a long list of junk I want.  I finished my GB set, moved on to Game Gear, but the Lynx is definitely the next handheld on my list to collect for once I'm mostly finished with the GG.

I only know of the Lynx homebrew community because I heard about it in my research.  If I'm going to collect for a system with a limited library, I kind of want/hope there's an existing homebrew community.

This is also why I'm willing to get into the Virtual Boy system... at some point, so @Tanooki is simply echoing what I've heard.

[WhyNotZoidberg | 585]

16 minutes ago, Vectrex28 said:

I'd be very much down for some homebrews for my lynx. What would you recommend?

There's a very famous game called Zaku. And a recent development called Unnamed which seems to have gained traction.

 

Telegames have also been re-releasing their old stuff like Krazy Ace Miniature Golf and Double Dragon.

There are some to be found here: http://www.gooddealgames.com/inventory/Atari Lynx.html

 

I recommend joining one of the FB groups like Atari Lynx Sector or Atari Lynx Fans, hell there's even a Atari Lynx Homebrew group

 

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

I can't believe I'm giving the highest rating so far (tied with another member), but I feel 6 is fair.  Sure it's fun to make fun of the Jaguar, but as a kid, out of all of weird, non mainstream consoles that came out during that era, the Jaguar was the one I wanted the most.  Now that I own one with a decent collection of games (plus a flash cart), I can say that I get a decent amount of enjoyment out of this console.  Oddly enough, the game that made me want to buy the console (AvP) is just ok, but not really recommended.  Luckily, I've found many other games that are a lot of fun.  Doom and Wolfenstein are obviously enjoyable, but everyone knows about those.  I hardly ever hear anyone talk about Flip Out or Power Drive Rally and both of those games are a ton of fun.  It's certainly not a console I play a lot, but every once and a while I will power it on and have some fun.  

[AstralSoul | 502]

1 hour ago, RH said:

You 100% nailed my experience and opinion.

I, too, have never held a controller and I don't even think I saw a console until I saw one in a retrogaming store in the last 10 years.  I'm sure I saw one high up on a K.B. Toy Store shelf or something in the box, but as far as seeing an open unit, that wasn't until decades after it was dead.

And though this thing was a powerful work horse for it's time, it still had an Atari "look", which to me always seemed to lack a little polish.  Close, but just not quite there.

I personally can't rate this one. 4 is probably reasonable, but having no experience and yet still being very intrigued by the devices, I have to rate it as Never Played, but Interested.

It's probably unfair that I rated it as well, since I've never actually played the system. I've only seen one in a retro gaming store once a few years ago. But I have looked into the system a lot, checked out a bunch of its games, and played a few on an emulator. So I rated it based on what I know about it and how much interest I have in it. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,520]

I'd try Alien vs Predator.  But I'm not going out of my way to make that happen.

Question, is the Jaguar as lacking of non-trash games as the SNES or CDi?  Asking for a friend.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

I enjoy the system. Got one in 2012ish for about $30 worth of traded stuff. Have had a near complete cart collection since about 2013, still need a few of the telegames, I should get on that. I took it as my only system to play in my one apartment for a few months. I actually really enjoyed playing Atari karts, Theme Park, and Tempest. 6/10 seems right

[PII | 1,884]

It's on my seriously maybe list of consoles = It would probably have to fall into my lap a bit for a very sweet deal.  Always been real curious about the game library though..

[Strange | 1,700]

It’s a console I want but I don’t know if I am willing to spend the money required to own one. Seems popular with the guys at Atari Age though and I believe its got an okay homebrew scene.

If I remember correctly, isn’t there a website still up about the Atari Jaguar from back when it was in production that is basically untouched?