I won a Sega 32X

[3DOKid]

Woo-hooo.

I sold my N64, SNES and Saturn, my STe, chucked away my broken Amiga, boxed my Speccy, sold my broken old laptops and flogged 30 DVDs and PS2/Xbox/360 games,. I'm a good boy I am.

So I treated myself to a SEGA 32x. It has Doom, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racer, Star Wars Arcade and Cosmic something or other. And it comes with a Mega Drive and cables.

I'm actually quite excited, are there any other games I need?

[Trev]

I rather like Kolibri for an original title, but honestly most of the decent 32X software you can find elsewhere in superior form.

Still, w/less than 50 games released it is an easier console (add-on) to collect for.

You've already got VR Racing, so you prob have the systems best (good enough to make you forget Cosmic Carnage which is a forgetable brawler)

Have fun!

[Mobius]

I like Shadow Squadron. It doesn't get as much attention as Star Wars Arcade, but it's better.

[Vance]

You have a funny idea of what constitutes winning.

[3DOKid]

You have a funny idea of what constitutes winning.

It wrapped up all my favourite sega games (minus outrun 2 and Sega Rally 2) in one handy console.

[Austin]

So, if I'm understanding this right.. You sold your Saturn to get a 32X?

OK, now that's out of the way.. Erm.. I think the usual good titles have been mentioned (Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Kolibri, Shadow Squadron, Star Wars, DOOM). I also enjoyed Tempo, Knuckles Chaotix, Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000, but admittedly a lot of people don't like that last one..

It has some other decent ports like MK II, NBA JAM TE, and Wrestlemania the Arcade Game, but they don't hold up as well today as they did back in the '90s. And stay away from these ports, that were never even good in the '90s: Pitfall, RAW, Primal Rage.

You have a funny idea of what constitutes winning.

We need more smileys for posts like this.

[Lemmi]

heh i cant remember playing any other games than Corpse Killer and Fahrenheit. you know i dont think ive put in a 32X cart in my 32x system after looking at the games i have for mine

[3DOKid]

So, if I'm understanding this right.. You sold your Saturn to get a 32X?

OK, now that's out of the way.. Erm.. I think the usual good titles have been mentioned (Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Kolibri, Shadow Squadron, Star Wars, DOOM). I also enjoyed Tempo, Knuckles Chaotix, Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000, but admittedly a lot of people don't like that last one..

It has some other decent ports like MK II, NBA JAM TE, and Wrestlemania the Arcade Game, but they don't hold up as well today as they did back in the '90s. And stay away from these ports, that were never even good in the '90s: Pitfall, RAW, Primal Rage.

You have a funny idea of what constitutes winning.

We need more smileys for posts like this.

I might get Mk2.

I never liked the Saturn. Which is odd, because even back in the day, before the Saturn, I preferred Virtua Fighter to Tekken, and Daytona was an amazing arcade, I prefered Ridge...

I like the idea of the 32x, it's maligned, misunderstood... like the 3DO

I live by the rule: If you have popular opinion, time to change your opinion. Mass opinion is rarely that right. The Saturn/nintendo consoles are way to popular for me, the very idea of agreeing with everyone else repulses me. I'm a freak - what can I say? If everyone else jumped off of a cliff would you? I'd jump off of a cliff, no problem, but just me.

[Lemmi]

I live by the rule: If you have popular opinion, time to change your opinion. Mass opinion is rarely that right. The Saturn/nintendo consoles are way to popular for me, the very idea of agreeing with everyone else repulses me. I'm a freak - what can I say? If everyone else jumped off of a cliff would you? I'd jump off of a cliff, no problem, but just me.

yet you love the playstation, that should have been the POS you got rid of

[Trev]

I live by the rule: If you have popular opinion, time to change your opinion. Mass opinion is rarely that right. The Saturn/nintendo consoles are way to popular for me, the very idea of agreeing with everyone else repulses me. I'm a freak - what can I say? If everyone else jumped off of a cliff would you? I'd jump off of a cliff, no problem, but just me.

yet you love the playstation, that should have been the POS you got rid of

Zing!

[Austin]

I think you will like the 32X, and you're right, it is an underdog, but unlike the 3DO, it doesn't have a LOT of at least decent to good (many borderlining "great") games, partially because the library is so small. It also has a lot of games that are half-assedly done, like slap-to-the-face half-ass, as in the publishers and developers were thinking, "let's stick the Genesis/MD version into a 32X cart, tweak the colors of two or three sprites and leave the rest dark and muddy. People won't be able to tell the difference! And, Oh, let's not optimise it, so it runs worse than other versions! Yes, cash-in, here we come!! BAM!!"

Oh, I forgot about Afterburner and Space Harrier.. Awesome ports, even if you can get the same versions on the Saturn. They are cheap though, so definitely worth it if you like those games. Since you're in the UK, you also have easier access to Darxide, which was only released over there. It's kind of monotonous IMO, but you may want to check it out if you can find it.

[3DOKid]

I live by the rule: If you have popular opinion, time to change your opinion. Mass opinion is rarely that right. The Saturn/nintendo consoles are way to popular for me, the very idea of agreeing with everyone else repulses me. I'm a freak - what can I say? If everyone else jumped off of a cliff would you? I'd jump off of a cliff, no problem, but just me.

yet you love the playstation, that should have been the POS you got rid of

The reason I love it so much is just because so many people on the Interweb have this opinion.

[Auto-Fox]

Metal Head is a pretty good 32X game, though I've only played it at a friend's house. Also, I would invest in a Mega CD, simply because it has a few decent games, plus you get to claim you have the unholy amalgamation of a console that is the Sega Mega Drive 32X CD.
*whew*
Android Assault and Popful Mail are great for that.
Anyway, assuming you don't have a Mega Drive (or Genesis, here across the pond) collection already, some titles I'd start out with are the Streets of Rage (or Bare Knuckle I think it was called over there, which is significantly more awesome) series, the first three Sonic games (naturally), and my personal favorite, the platform mech shooter known as Ranger X.
Honestly, I fantasize sometimes about the unlikely scenario that 32X had won out due to better handling by Sega and virtue of cost compared to the Saturn, and we'd gotten this quirky little "magic mushroom" as Sega's mainstream entry instead... next to the 3DO, it's my personal favorite of its generation of consoles.

[Lemmi]

I live by the rule: If you have popular opinion, time to change your opinion. Mass opinion is rarely that right. The Saturn/nintendo consoles are way to popular for me, the very idea of agreeing with everyone else repulses me. I'm a freak - what can I say? If everyone else jumped off of a cliff would you? I'd jump off of a cliff, no problem, but just me.

yet you love the playstation, that should have been the POS you got rid of

The reason I love it so much is just because so many people on the Interweb have this opinion.

you only notice us people because you loooove the playstation soooo much

[BryWI]

I think this will add to the discussion that is about to be taken.

[3DOKid]

yet you love the playstation, that should have been the POS you got rid of

The reason I love it so much is just because so many people on the Interweb have this opinion.

you only notice us people because you loooove the playstation soooo much

You make a good point

[Vance]

Yeah, out of the top five slots in my point of sale software, in terms of profit, raw sales numbers, and dollar value, Playstation consoles inhabit four slots each time. The DS has the spare. That's every console they've put out.

I'd let a bunch of dorks be snide at me for those piles of millions.

[Trev]

I think this will add to the discussion that is about to be taken.

The only thing that would have made this pic even cooler would be if you had the model 1 sega cd instead for even greater height (although I suppose it might have tipped over)

[Austin]

Hey man, putting the cart cleaner on is cheating.. nothing passes through it. Oh, and the PBC has to go on the top, all that other crap on top won't work.. Maybe replace the Sonic 2 with a Sonic 2 SMS cart in the PBC, haha..

[3DOKid]

It turns up today, hopefully. I'm genuinely excited. I've never seen one working. I never even owned a Genesis / Mega Drive either. I want to play Sonic too

[3DOKid]

Okay. What crimes did this thing commit to be so hated? Now a lot of you reckon it's crap, but that's not been qualified.

I've been playing on mine, I think it's rather good. Certainly in the processing power department it's no better or worse than the Jag or 3DO.

Doom on it is better than the 3DO version (not hard, I know) but also better than the SNES SuperFX version by quite a bit. Not as good as the Jag/PS1/PC versions but hey...

Virtua Racing isn't as detailed as the arcade/PS2/Saturn versions, but feels better than the Saturn version by quite a lot.

Virtua Fighter is Virtua Fighter, which looks and plays perfectly.

Star Wars arcade (32x version anyway) is better than I remember from the arcade.

I don't get it.

What's wrong with it?

First person to say two power supplies is an idiot by the way. (just so we are clear)

[Austin]

I don't get it.

What's wrong with it?

That those handful of awesome games you just played, are some of the only awesome games (and by awesome, I mean AWESOME) you will probably play on the system. That's what's wrong.

Seriously though, it has some neat titles asides from what you received in your bundle. Outside of some recommendations we mentioned above, there are a lot of rushed ports and a few stinkers (you will eventually run across them if you plan on picking up more games). I suppose its good to bad ratio, depending on taste, can be comparable to the Jaguar and the 3DO. It has a smaller library than even the Jaguar though, if that helps put it into perspective. It's too bad, it was a cool idea and could have used more games--I know I played the hell out of it back in the '90s. Regardless, it's cool to see someone else enjoying it for the first time.

[Lemmi]

after looking at my 32x games i dont think ive played more than 3 of them
Corpse Killer, Fahrenheit, and Star Trek. i might have tried Scottie Pipen for a few minutes. so i really dont have much of an opinion about it
i do remember buying my 32x while shopping for 3do games. $15 brand new in the box 1997. i didnt use my 32x much because it would not save my NHL 97 hockey season games. i still grabbed games when i saw them tho



i hope you enjoy the Megadrive/Genesis as much as i did. mine mostly played sports games

EDIT -

First person to say two power supplies is an idiot by the way. (just so we are clear)

Try 3 $%@!$%& brick power supplies if you add the sega cd in there

[Trev]

The main issues for 32X w/me were/are ...

-overhyped, underdelivered (I bought mine near launch mind you, so I felt more burnt than someone buying it years later)

-Graphics were barely enhanced (can count on 1 hand the # of games that look 32-bit ... not good when they are hardly distinguished from the base unit. It is not even close to 3DO, lets be quite clear)

-Tiny library (the pain of going to the store each month to look for new hot titles, only to find the sam ol', or maybe a sloppy port or 2

-Hurt Sega's rep (no doubt, Saturn & DC suffered at the hands of this badly supported add-on)

Anyway, hope you continue to have occasional fun w/it, once the newness wears off. You'll have more fun w/the Genesis/Mega Drive though (I'm shocked you've never owned one!) Big library of games waiting for you.

[3DOKid]

The main issues for 32X w/me were/are ...

-over-hyped, underdelivered (I bought mine near launch mind you, so I felt more burnt than someone buying it years later)

-Graphics were barely enhanced (can count on 1 hand the # of games that look 32-bit ... not good when they are hardly distinguished from the base unit. It is not even close to 3DO, lets be quite clear)

-Tiny library (the pain of going to the store each month to look for new hot titles, only to find the sam ol', or maybe a sloppy port or 2

-Hurt Sega's rep (no doubt, Saturn & DC suffered at the hands of this badly supported add-on)

Anyway, hope you continue to have occasional fun w/it, once the newness wears off. You'll have more fun w/the Genesis/Mega Drive though (I'm shocked you've never owned one!) Big library of games waiting for you.

It's certainly not better than the 3DO, obviously

That said, the 3DO isn't massively powerful, it just hides it well. Mostly under textures. I don't honestly believe that the 3DO could have done Virtua Racing as well as the 32x. Don't get me wrong, NFS and Roadrash are better games, and in many ways better looking games, but I think in polygon pushing (real world, not spec sheets) the 32x certainly looks more powerful.

I think you are onto something though.

I don't give a monkeys about Sega or Nintendo. Never did. My top Sega games are the Virtua range (fighter, racer, cop) Sega Rally 2 and that's about it. Namco, Taito, Capcom, 3DO, EA, Psygnosis, but Sega? Not really. And Nintendo have only made one game I thought was really good. Paper Mario 2

I'll give you background, but prepare to be bored but it will explain.

My family and I? We were poor and smelly, so games consoles were a big no-no. My dad grew his own vegetables and worked in a chemical factory driving fork lifts (must be in my DNA as I really shone at this in Shenmue!), my mum cut my hair and made my clothes, the main weekly main treat was a Mars bar cut into 3 (for the 3 kids) and a glass of cherryade. I'd like to say I was happy but school with no 'Nike' Trainers and a bad hair and bad clothes wasn't a barrel of laughs -- but I had my brother, so it was okay.

Let me make this clear: I worshipped computers. Still do.I always, always, marvelled at them. They were and are brilliant.

I always wanted the maximum value too, being poor and smelly does that to you, so a proper computer that could play games and of cause be a computer, well, that seemed better value than a console that played just games. Right? So, I had no interest in the Nintendo or Sega Consoles. The NES and the Master System I never even thought about them. They seemed very old fashioned, even during what was their hay-day.

This was like 1984 - 1989. Sadly, due to raging poorness, I never got a computer or a console, despite my fixation with the devices. We had a semi broken VCS2600 in about 1981 but barely any games (Pacman and Dodg'em?) but that was kaput around 1983.

Anyway circa 1988, after half a decade of lusting after these machines, and much to my parents dismay, I blew a £100 inheritance (dead grandfathers sum worth) on a Sinclair Spectrum +2a computer and learnt to program on it. At this point I simply couldn't afford pure-play consoles despite doing full time course at technical college and 20 hours per week filling shelves at the local Supermarket. (my mother charged me rent despite me being 17 she wanted a 3rd of my income, after bus fare to college there wasn't much left)

...and my parents certainly wouldn't buy me a computing device. They saw video games as 'evil'. Quite literally. During a prayer meetings held at my parents house my Spectrum was declared 'demonic' and found it's way into a bin on at least two occasions. And was rescued on two occasions. (by the rebel alliance - me and my brother!)

Due to other things, this whole era wasn't a barrel of laughs for my brother and I either right?

Anyway, 1991 I got a full-time Job as a Tax Collector. Wasted most of the money down the games arcade playing Winning Run and I also bought a Atari STe. I now dreamt of being a computer programmer

After a year of collecting Tax I went to Uni, with access to more money, more computers (Amiga 1200) more freedom, and a hair dresser... but no one had a Genesis or SNES, apart from one guy who imported SNES copying devices. I played SF2 against him, but not much else.

In 1994 I bought my first dedicated games console -- a 3DO. My parents became more reasonable, my sister became a human, things got a lot better.

...but by 1995 when I left university, the whole Sega/Nintendo era was pretty much over. I watched it from the sidelines. Sega had messed up, Nintendo were arrogant and trapped in the past and Sony/3DO were a pair of shining lights -- and at the time they were better.

I can't join in with peoples emotional attachment to Sonic or Mario, that was like a club I couldn't join. Sort of Elitist. Still is. I tried playing Sonic the Hedgehog emulated, but 10 years after the event I found it boring. Super Mario 3 was the same.

I don't have much of attachment to the 8bit and 16bit era at all. 32bit was when it really started for me. With the 3DO, the Internet, Cyberpunk, Anime, it was when computers got proper.

[bitrate]

It's certainly not better than the 3DO, obviously

That said, the 3DO isn't massively powerful, it just hides it well. Mostly under textures. I don't honestly believe that the 3DO could have done Virtua Racing as well as the 32x. Don't get me wrong, NFS and Roadrash are better games, and in many ways better looking games, but I think in polygon pushing (real world, not spec sheets) the 32x certainly looks more powerful.

I think you are onto something though.

I don't give a monkeys about Sega or Nintendo. Never did. My top Sega games are the Virtua range (fighter, racer, cop) Sega Rally 2 and that's about it. Namco, Taito, Capcom, 3DO, EA, Psygnosis, but Sega? Not really. And Nintendo have only made one game I thought was really good. Paper Mario 2

I'll give you background, but prepare to be bored but it will explain.

My family and I? We were poor and smelly, so games consoles were a big no-no. My dad grew his own vegetables and worked in a chemical factory driving fork lifts (must be in my DNA as I really shone at this in Shenmue!), my mum cut my hair and made my clothes, the main weekly main treat was a Mars bar cut into 3 (for the 3 kids) and a glass of cherryade. I'd like to say I was happy but school with no 'Nike' Trainers and a bad hair and bad clothes wasn't a barrel of laughs -- but I had my brother, so it was okay.

Let me make this clear: I worshipped computers. Still do.I always, always, marvelled at them. They were and are brilliant.

I always wanted the maximum value too, being poor and smelly does that to you, so a proper computer that could play games and of cause be a computer, well, that seemed better value than a console that played just games. Right? So, I had no interest in the Nintendo or Sega Consoles. The NES and the Master System I never even thought about them. They seemed very old fashioned, even during what was their hay-day.

This was like 1984 - 1989. Sadly, due to raging poorness, I never got a computer or a console, despite my fixation with the devices. We had a semi broken VCS2600 in about 1981 but barely any games (Pacman and Dodg'em?) but that was kaput around 1983.

Anyway circa 1988, after half a decade of lusting after these machines, and much to my parents dismay, I blew a £100 inheritance (dead grandfathers sum worth) on a Sinclair Spectrum +2a computer and learnt to program on it. At this point I simply couldn't afford pure-play consoles despite doing full time course at technical college and 20 hours per week filling shelves at the local Supermarket. (my mother charged me rent despite me being 17 she wanted a 3rd of my income, after bus fare to college there wasn't much left)

...and my parents certainly wouldn't buy me a computing device. They saw video games as 'evil'. Quite literally. During a prayer meetings held at my parents house my Spectrum was declared 'demonic' and found it's way into a bin on at least two occasions. And was rescued on two occasions. (by the rebel alliance - me and my brother!)

Due to other things, this whole era wasn't a barrel of laughs for my brother and I either right?

Anyway, 1991 I got a full-time Job as a Tax Collector. Wasted most of the money down the games arcade playing Winning Run and I also bought a Atari STe. I now dreamt of being a computer programmer

After a year of collecting Tax I went to Uni, with access to more money, more computers (Amiga 1200) more freedom, and a hair dresser... but no one had a Genesis or SNES, apart from one guy who imported SNES copying devices. I played SF2 against him, but not much else.

In 1994 I bought my first dedicated games console -- a 3DO. My parents became more reasonable, my sister became a human, things got a lot better.

...but by 1995 when I left university, the whole Sega/Nintendo era was pretty much over. I watched it from the sidelines. Sega had messed up, Nintendo were arrogant and trapped in the past and Sony/3DO were a pair of shining lights -- and at the time they were better.

I can't join in with peoples emotional attachment to Sonic or Mario, that was like a club I couldn't join. Sort of Elitist. Still is. I tried playing Sonic the Hedgehog emulated, but 10 years after the event I found it boring. Super Mario 3 was the same.

I don't have much of attachment to the 8bit and 16bit era at all. 32bit was when it really started for me. With the 3DO, the Internet, Cyberpunk, Anime, it was when computers got proper.

Thanks for sharing 3DOKid. That gives a nice bit on insight into what makes the 3DOKid tick.

I, like you, was strongly attracted to computers in my younger years and wasn't able to procure one until later on in life. I see kids walking around today with cell phones / laptops / netbooks / iPads / PDA's (not so much now lol) / etc. / etc. / etc. and can't help but to get a little jealous.

Who knows though... maybe it was the lack of access to computers/tech that fed my desire to pursue an EE degree.

[3DOKid]

Thanks for sharing 3DOKid. That gives a nice bit on insight into what makes the 3DOKid tick.

I, like you, was strongly attracted to computers in my younger years and wasn't able to procure one until later on in life. I see kids walking around today with cell phones / laptops / netbooks / iPads / PDA's (not so much now lol) / etc. / etc. / etc. and can't help but to get a little jealous.

Who knows though... maybe it was the lack of access to computers/tech that fed my desire to pursue an EE degree.

I imagine it was.



I guess it's also why I get so worked up about Apple too. Computers are supposed to cheap and accessable and open and...

...Apple aint.

[Austin]

Uh-oh, he mentioned Shenmue.

**edit

That's some awesome insight, by the way. I'm so used to seeing from the eyes of someone who has always been surrounded by videogames, old and new, so it's good to see things from a different angle.

Speaking of the 32X "looking" more powerful, you got me to thinking that maybe it's just because the majority of the polygonal games rely on flat-shaded polygons, whereas virtually every polygonal 3DO game is textured to the rim. On the 3DO, the games look nice for the most part, but they don't run as well framerate-wise (also for the most part). The 32X 3D games, with their flat look, run silky smooth though, also for the most part. With that in mind, I would really, REALLY like to see a full-on, flat-shaded polygon game for the 3DO. Not a single sprite, not a single texture (Think Virtua Fighter from the 32X), and of course, optimized properly! I bet a game like that would run like a dream on the 3DO. Also, realistically the 32X isn't very good at all at handling textures.. Either that or there just wasn't enough effort put into learning how. Darxide is a decent example and is always touted as the 32X being able to handle full-on textures, but really, it doesn't even run as well as any of the average fully-textured titles on the 3DO.

[Trev]

Enjoyed reading a bit about your younger days and how they related to video games 3DOKid. And I agree, nostalgia plays a huge part when it comes to playing games of yesteryear.

The fond memories of waking up early in the morning to play the original Super Mario brothers are still strongly etched in my brain. Yet ... there are other games, considered "classics" of their time that I've only just played recently. And w/out memories to fall back, I have found myself wondering what all the fuss was about?

I was glad to be part of the Nintendo/Sega, Mario/Sonic Wars of the early/mid 90's. But by the same token I was envious of some of the computer games. I drooled over My friends Amiiga 500, I was jealous of all the poin n' click games on the pc, etc...

To me, 3DO (in many ways) represented the best of both worlds.

[3DOKid]

The Amiga was an astonishing piece of computing. I had a friend (believe that if you want!) and we stood in front of Burton Computer Supplies circa 1988 astonished by Shadow of the Beast and it's paralax scrolling. That said, across the road at Parkers Snooker Hall, I quite liked Pit Fighter.