Let's have a thread for the most undeservedly hated retro system, the 32X. Could it have survived as an add-on and later Neptune with B/C Genesis games, taking the Saturn's place in the fifth gen against PSX and N64? Also what games have you enjoyed playing for it?
>>2999642
Bought one for Star Wars Arcade.
Did not regret.
>>2999642
They should have skipped the 32x and went straight to 33x.
It's shit and a waste of money. The Sega CD was good, though.
>>2999737
All it had going for it was Sonic CD and a port of Snatcher.
cosmic carnage is pretty fun, broken experimental fighter with shit graphics and great music
zaxxon motherbase 2020 is underrated, but a bit too brutal in difficulty
>>2999642
>32X doesn't even have 32 games total in its library
top kek
It can go toe to toe with the jaguar in terms of power and capatility, and arguably with quality of the game library. But just like the jaguar couldn't stack up against the PS1 or N64 the 32x wouldn't have been able to hold its own there either.
I don't get why the hate for the 32x has persisted so long. People eventually turned around on the Sega CD, why haven't they done the same for the 32x?
>>2999737
This
>>2999761
It has 40.
>>2999790
Sega CD was too expensive and wrongly advertised as a fmv game system, 32x just sucks.
>>2999790
There's not enough games to convince people to play on the 32x. A lot of the good ones are just arcade conversions (which people would rather just emulate on MAME these days) and once you take those out there's really only a couple of decent games.
I've played everything on the core system, and while there are a handful of great/exclusive games, it really shouldn't have existed.
>>2999790
you must be some kind of masochist to defend this
Even the specs aren't that great, I played Kolibri to death and it doesn't seem to push that many more sprites than an average genesis shooter.
All it effectively did was add a sprite scaller, choppy single digit fps polygons and a larger color palette - still with limitations and no alpha transparency effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d1lNyNNmuo
Stuff like subterrania, batman and robin still looked far more impressive on a stock genesis than anything on the 32X.
>>2999875
I think I read somewhere that the 32x had a really powerful sound system that nobody figured out how to use, so they just used the stock chip.
>>2999884
The soundtracks on Japanese games sounded really great, so I guess it was yet another case of western devs being restricted to the gems sound engine.
Also it probably didn't help that they sold these at the same fucking time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSzE60FwDQI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3sMZYIfRn8
>>2999868
Don't even dare looking at what is behind your computer then
Did complete 32x prices go up not to long ago? I was thinking about grabbing one, since I figured they would be cheap. it seems not to be the case.
I ran into this problem trying to buy a Sega CD. It was cheaper, literally, to buy a combo of a Sega Genesis Model 2 plus the Sega CD unit bundled with games. Shit was crazy.
>>2999642
>Could it have survived as an add-on and later Neptune with B/C Genesis games, taking the Saturn's place in the fifth gen against PSX and N64?
No, stop asking.
>>2999739
Final Fight CD
Another World 2
Shining Force CD
Dark Wizard
Lunar 1 & 2
Rise of the Dragon
Popful Mail
All says hi
>>3000113
>Another World 2
that's actually really bad
I wish they would have ported more 80s arcade games to the 32x, Afterburner and Space harrier was great on it.
>>3000126
I wish they had ported more arcade games, period. Darkstalkers and Alien vs. Predator were both planned for the 32X at one point. The latter didn't even get a real console port. The 32X was a waste of potential.
>>3000116
Why? Cause they killed off the guy from the first game?
>>2999642
how does it even work
i mean, the gameboy player's connection to the console is just a capture device, that makes sense, simple
but you're not gonna see someone make a SNES addon that plays n64 games
>>3000136
I doubt that would even work, the 32X was still limited to megadrive sized carts (4mb max).
>>3000136
It would probably turn out like the punisher megadrive port with more color
Why didn't SoJ just tell SoA that they were making the Saturn so that releasing this mistake would be redundant? Were they just assholes?
>>2999739
i really dont think you've taken a decent look at the library
>>2999739
Nigga, do you even played Silpheed?
>>2999675
this and virtua fighter if you don't have a saturn
>>2999642
I owned a 32x in 08. I bought it just to cross off the list since I didn't have one as a kid. I sold it shortly after. Really wasn't worth it.
Shame since it was neat. But I think it was far too expensive for what it was new.
>>2999642
As a piece of hardware it was amazing. It was the second literal piece of arcade hardware to be available at the consumer level after the Neo-Geo, except unlike the latter it was way cheaper and a couple of generations ahead in power.
Neo-geo for example is basically a system 16.
32x is basically an X-board, which is what afterburner ran on. That thing had 2 of the same CPUs used in the System 16, along with vastly more memory and custom hardware to support sprite scaling and rotation.
Sega had a Neo-Geo killer but decided to market it as a shitty Saturn. Too bad. Think of all the amazing arcade ports we could have gotten.
>>3001256
I don't think SEGA was going to devalue its arcade games that early by porting them to console that was near 1:1 accurate.
>>3001260
That makes no sense, they would just clean up in the home console.
Particularly because of the clusterfuck sega found themselves in when they ended up with not just one expansion, but TWO on the same system and another system to come out soon and ALL of them lacking games.
>>3001260
Huh? They ported over all their big hits to Saturn. And those were 3d model 2 games; way beyond the ability of the 32x.
>>2999739
And this
>>2999642
Nah that honor goes to the Sega CD due to Sega marketing mainly shitty FMV games instead of the good stuff. 32X deserves a lot of the hate it gets. A lot of the good games were just arcade ports that got better releases on the Saturn like a year later and everything else ranged from mediocre to bad. I'll defend the CD till the day I die but the 32X was an overpriced attempt to squeeze a few more dollars from Genesis owners before the Saturn launched.
>>3000535
This.
>>2999868
That is sexy.
>>3001256
It has the best version of Afterburner II, so no wonder I love my 32x.
>>3001819
>It has the best version of Afterburner II
Saturn version is 60 FPS and supports the analog flightstick controller....
The 32X is a fascinating system. It deserves a lot of the hate it gets, it's a very limited system in terms of its library. The thought of what could've been done with it is what intrigues me. Seeing Knuckles Chaotix played over RGB and seeing the detail that was there makes you wonder what could've been done. Not to mention it managed to have a better version of Virtua Fighter than the Saturn got (until Remix came out). When you consider the fact that there were Sega CD 32X games, it makes you think even more. It really makes me wonder why they didn't release DOOM as a CD 32X game. Would've eliminated storage issues and resulted in a better soundtrack. My 32X may get mocked by whoever sees it, but I enjoy what games are there and it's fun to wonder what it could've been.
>>3001857
The real question is, why wasn't the Saturn an enhanced Neptune with CD support and complete backwards Genesis/SegaCD compatibility?
32X (the add-on) wouldn't even exist, it would have been its own separate system.
>>2999642
If it launched as the Neptune setup from the start, and cost not more than $200 (with price cuts a year or two later), then it could have survived longer. Perhaps they also could've made the hardware less of a hack, if being an upgrade is never a consideration. Then, if it got realistic support, it could stay as a strong lower-end console, extending the Megadrive lifespan.
That is, of course, if Sega bothers supporting it for more than 6 months.
But at that rate they might as well have put MD compatibility on the Saturn.
>>3001857
>When you consider the fact that there were Sega CD 32X games, it makes you think even more. It really makes me wonder why they didn't release DOOM as a CD 32X game.
Deadlines and lack of market. Doom was a launch title for the 32x, and limiting it to 32x + CD would marginalize the already minimal market.
>>3001869
>The real question is, why wasn't the Saturn an enhanced Neptune with CD support and complete backwards Genesis/SegaCD compatibility?
Because the hardware was designed in Japan, and the Megadrive sold almost xbox bad in Japan due to the Famicom and Super Famicom owning the complete market. It was only really popular in USA and Europe.
Sega of Japan had no reason to make the machine backwards compatible.
>>2999642
>undeservedly hated
>costed 150 at launch
>tiny library and got abandoned quickly
>used chips that should have been used for the Saturn instead
>Saturn was coming out anyway
>one of the fundamental reasons why Sega got out of the hardware business, costing them lots of money they couldn't afford
They should have just made the Sega CD have a bit more processing power and shit and never have done the 32X.
That said, I think there's some pretty fun titles on the 32X, if you emulate or find the thing for cheap, and if you already have a flashcart, then it's worth looking at the library.
>>3002732
>They should have just made the Sega CD have a bit more processing power and shit and never have done the 32X.
That was what the Saturn for.
>>3001812
If you lose one of those cables the machine is virtually useless, also enjoy finding a place to plug 3 large as fuck power sources.
>>3001256
>That thing had 2 of the same CPUs
But due to being tied to a communication port, only one motorolla could be used at a time, wasn't it? The genesis processor mostly did sound or something.
>>2999884
Doom has great sound quality, no compression, sounds just like on PC, the music is awful though, when really it could have sounded quite good
>>2999741
I thought it was pretty interesting, but only played it once.
>>3000136
I honestly think the entirety of the 32X is "Why don't you just wait for the Saturn?"
>>3002737
Was that even concieved by the time the CD was devised?
>>3001559
>A lot of the good games were just arcade ports that got better releases on the Saturn like a year later
Except Doom, which somehow played terribly on the Saturn and ran way better on the 32X.
I don't get why it has so much slowdown.
>>3002739
Good thing it's just generic DIN cables then.
>>3002757
From my understanding, John Carmack actually developed the 32X version himself with some assistance from Sega of America. The Saturn version was outsourced to Rage Software.
>>3002757
While Quake runs great on Saturn.
>>3002778
Quake is not a port. It was rebuilt for the Saturn. Same with quake 2on psx.
>>3002778
Yeah, I don't get that, Quake, Duke and Exhumed runs like well oiled machines, yet Doom has constant terrible slowdowns.
Was it just terribly rushed like on the 3DO?
>>3002757
I constantly forget about the Saturn port of Doom. Anyway it runs like shit on Saturn because it was a half assed port of the PS1 version. The reason Duke, Quake, Hexen, and Powerslave ran so well was because the people handling them rebuilt the games from the ground up to work with Saturn hardware.
>>3001857
I think that if they had released a version of Doom as a CD+32X game, then it could potentially have been a very good port for it's time.
The 32X version had lots of levels cut and no monster rotations, if it could have had a version with the CD and 32X together, then levels, music and sprite data could be stored on the disc, monsters could have rotations and you could fit all the levels on the disc, complete with the previously cut bosses.
Maybe it could even have some kind of recorded music so you weren't stuck with the fart orchestra.
It probably wouldn't have been a wise marketing move, but it's interesting to think what could have been with the actual hardware at the time.
shat if Sega of America split from SoJ and they would continue to be run by Tom Kalinske and they'd form a new company and beef up the Neptune and compete against SoJ's Saturn and PSX, 3DO, N64, etc. maybe add a cd add-on later on down the road for the neptune kinda like the jagcd and segacd do you think it would have stood a chance against everyone else i think it could've been a neat scenario but im not sure how the legalities work out between different company regional branches maybe someone else can fill in the holes for me also how many megs could a neptune cart size hold do you think they'd be able to upgrade the cart sizes to like 64mb like they did with the N64?
