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32X and Sega CD


2600problems

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let me start by saying i for one LOVE the 32X and Sega CD. yes, the FMV games are horrible, grainy messes that made VHS video look like DVD quality.

 

Yes the games are have better music and a few clips or stages, but that's good enough for me.

 

People blast these 2 systems for not being good enough, not delivering on their promises and being considered crap.

 

consider for a moment the Sega Genesis itself. it was capable, without add-ons, of 64 colors. the 32X added way more than was possible for the base system, 3D

 

graphics that were good for the time, Bigger games and better audio. (Doom counts)

 

Imagine getting a VHS video that has a base color spectrum of 28 colors max then you hear of an add on that adds 148. obviously you'll want that add-on wires be

 

damned, for a better picture. not just better picture, better audio (not quite Dolby pro logic II but close)

 

but I'm going off track. we got games that, i'll admit, were crap at the time, hell they're crap now. for every blackthorne (did I spell that right?) 32x, there's a doom

 

or Metal head. then we have the weird ones like Kolibri or failed Attempts such as Knuckles Chaotix. Perfect Arcade ports such as Afterburner 32x and Star wars

 

32X and killer commercials (everyone remember the angry black guy?).

 

the Sega CD comes out in the 90's (screw the preferred order, to me it's Sega CD and then the 32X) and we get treated to Redbook audio, Full Motion

 

Video (albeit choppy and grainy, but hey, it was the 90's), the best port of Terminator ever made and even a special Sonic Game titled Sonic CD.

 

some of the best titles came out for the Sega CD:

 

Night Trap

 

Double Switch

 

Terminator

 

Lunar and Eternal Blue

 

Shining force CD

 

Popful mail

 

Sonic CD

 

I know people are going to hate me but... the Make my video series and Bram stokers Dracula

 

and a few others I can't remember.

 

the point is, the Sega CD and 32X were great systems yet they are often scapegoated, but compared to the super Nintendo, which despite having a graphics

 

advantage. had to rely on Mode 7 to do 3D, the 32X coupled with the Sega CD had a much better time, despite both having no native 3D support.

 

final note: I was born in 1993 and yes I grew up with the sega genesis. my first experience was with the Kega fusion emulator and I am working on getting a full

 

set. Sonic will never die, but Jurassic park can burn in hell.

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I remember when I was a kid, all my friends thought the Sega CD and 32X were amazing. Granted, few of them actually owned either add-on, but there was at least a perception among us (bear in mind were between 7 and 10 years old) that they were very sexy, cutting-edge technologies. CDs were associated with high-end multimedia/luxury devices; us regular folk only had tapes and cartridges. And we were still pretty stoked on the 32X for a little while even with the Saturn just around the corner--it was still an upgrade from the standard Genesis, and in many ways even from the Sega CD. And 3D graphics--even in the form of blocky, untextured polygons--were definitely the wave of the future.

These days I'm not the biggest fan of either of them, or the Genesis lineage in general, but I do like a few games for them:

Mortal Kombat (Sega CD) - essentially the Genesis version but with arcade sound, no need for a blood code, and an annoying load before fatalities
Terminator (Sega CD) - pretty decent run-n-gun
Silpheed (Sega CD) - underrated except in discussions about the Sega CD
MegaRace (Sega CD) - admittedly not as good as the 3DO or PC versions but still a pretty good time
Heart of The Alien (Sega CD) - liked for also containing Out of This World/Another World
Star Wars Arcade (32X) - it ain't X-Wing or TIE Fighter, but it scratches that massacring-TIE-fighters itch
Virtua Fighter (32X) - great translation of the arcade game
Virtua Racing (32X) - ^ ditto
Mortal Kombat II (32X) - ^ ditto again

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When the Genesis hit the scene I was with the majority of my friends and said bye bye little kids Nintendo ( Although I had a 7800 so I never had a kids Nintendo toy for watching.). So when the Sega CD ad on came out hell yeah my friends and I were out to get one.

 

Time Gal

 

Road Avenger

 

Night Trap

 

Were staple rentals. Then came more fun and amazing stuff.

 

Lunar

 

Snatcher

 

Dungeon Explorer ( 4 players all night long....uhh games folks games really.)

 

So riding the I have a cooler system train we were also about the 32X but knowing the Saturn was in the works we all stalled till discounts abounded and games went on clearance.

 

Blackthorne

 

Knuckles Chaotix

 

Star Wars

 

Cosmic Carnage

 

All fun in the Sega Genesis Zone.

Edited by Professor Gull
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I really like them both.

I'm also a Sega Fan-boy from "The Day".Genesis is my favorite system, and those 2 add-ons really do make it complete.

 

Altogether you have a very sweet system, with a load of games to choose from.

 

However I gotta say, I myself, nor anyone I knew had a Sega CD or 32X to beef up our systems back in the day because they just cost too damn much.

Modern day, what with Emulation, or a nice income to support a hobby which has sources to fill your wants and needs everywhere it can be fairly easy to find the titles you want to play, and the system to play them on.

 

Too many of us missed out on Virtua Fighter, Lunar, Night Trap, Sonic CD, a version of The Terminator that lasts longer than 12 minutes, Midnight Raiders, Panic!, Thats just off the top of my head

Hell, even Virtua Racing because the Genesis version was too damn costly!

Meanwhile the SNES fans were lucky enough to just have to wait for a good game to come out, not wonder if the next cool title was gonna need the add-on that you know mom and dad aren't gonna get you for Xmas.

 

Also, the whole 32X/Neptune/Saturn kerfuffle... yeah... long story short (unless this thread gets busy, then I may elaborate my thoughts) had there been no Saturn at all, and the 32X been really focused on and taken seriously, I think it could have done VERY well.

Edited by Torr
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Yes.

 

Because doing video edits on the fly in real time with a humongous menu would have been a decent idea for an arcade game.

But on a console, you should have been able to pause or something; move around a time scale, have SOME decent control over whats gonna happen when and what's actually going to be playing video-wise!!!

 

Well really, have both modes... an Arcade Mode and a Free Edit Mode.

 

A free edit mode would have given them SOME value... the band choices are pretty bad... even back then I had no interest in any of them.

Having 3 bands with one song each on a game disc would have been better.

Edited by Torr
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so its wrong to enjoy a game that allows minimal control over the game itself? well, that includes call of duty, battlefield and brothers in arms, sonic and every other 2d game out there.

 

so, in short, a game that allows complete control is fun but a game that allows little control is crap. I question the wide gap in your knowledge.

 

by your definition, Desert bus is a "game".

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Guess I shoulda had a Smiley or samething after the 'yes'.

 

I myself sure don't enjoy it though... and I really dont see how anyone can... all the filters and effects ARE cool, but trying to cycle thru about 20 filters, with multiple options within each filter, on 3 different video feeds that keep randomly changing/alternating in real time... is just a really wird hassle that I don't see anyone enjoying... it's like an overworked film editor's nightmare come true.

 

But hey, I like Swordquest.... so yeah... take that YES answer pretty flexibley!

 

oh... and the song/bands that were used... that's GOTTA be a big part of it... because if there was a makemyvideo thingy for a song I really liked... I KNOW i'd give it some play, cause even if I fail continuously, I'd still enjoy listening to music while I played!

Edited by Torr
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I bought the Sega CD a few months after its release. Wasn't amazing but still had some really nice hidden gems plus I've alweays loved Sega so ofcourse I bought one asap,or when I could afford to back then.

 

Rebel Assault

Flink

Popful Mail

Terminator

Soul Star

Road Avenger and TimeGal for folks who did Dragon's Lair type games

Silpheed

Jaguar XJ220 and that scaling!

Plenty more but I always played these a hell of allot.

 

32X I was day one on. Star Wars,Doom,Virtua Racing Deluxe was my go to crack games on the system.

A shame that it got ignored so quickly but Saturn was coming so yeah.

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It's not hard to tell that you grew up with the Genesis, lol. But, you can't fault the SNES because some of its graphics depend on a specific thing it's hardware can do.

 

I actually like the Sega CD. The library is just kinda small if you don't enjoy cheesy FMV games (except for Dragons Lair and Road Avenger, which are awesome.) The 32X has an extremely small library of good games so it's difficult to really say much good about it.

 

Also, is it just mine or does the 32X actually reduce clarity of Genesis games?

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Also, is it just mine or does the 32X actually reduce clarity of Genesis games?

 

from what I remember back when I had one it made the image look cleaner, but that has been years ago when I had one. Made the mistake of letting someone borrow the 32X and never got it back.

Edited by SignGuy81
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SEGA CD is a probably unfairly maligned system; there are a bunch of great games for it. Sadly, the best games are mostly the expensive ones, nowadays. 32X...? I dunno. Neat idea, I guess, but no one really did much with it.

 

As for Make my Video, if you like them, great! I like the concept well enough, and enjoy the cheesy FMV setups for most of them... but I think the execution was sorely, sorely lacking. It's nearly impossible on any of them to score "well," or meet the requirements to succeed.

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I've said it before and I'll say it again, but a lot of the software on the 32X has been made redundant with better versions available elsewhere. Still, at the time it was pretty solid and I really enjoyed it in the mid to late '90s. DOOM, Star Wars, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Tempo, After Burner and Space Harrier were the definitive standouts for me and in some cases still are when comparing to what you get with a stock Genesis (speaking strictly from an audio/visual level).

 

The Sega CD on the other hand has a much larger library than the 32X and it features a lot of great software outside of the FMV titles it's often derided for. While the 32X isn't as fun for me to revisit now, I can't imagine having a Genesis without the Sega CD.

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...at least 32X doom had the music. then again, Jag Doom had the BFG. tough choice

As a Doomphile, I thought the console ports of the time were impressive for the fact that they were even on consoles at all, but they weren't very satisfactory if you had the PC version. The console ports are just too clunky by comparison, but they were pretty cool if you didn't have the PC version (or a PC with the specs to run it at optimal settings).

 

Though in fairness, with source ports like GZDoom and Zandronum and mods like Smooth Doom and HD texture packs, even the old vanilla PC Doom is pretty hard to go back to.

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I've said it before and I'll say it again, but a lot of the software on the 32X has been made redundant with better versions available elsewhere. Still, at the time it was pretty solid and I really enjoyed it in the mid to late '90s. DOOM, Star Wars, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Tempo, After Burner and Space Harrier were the definitive standouts for me and in some cases still are when comparing to what you get with a stock Genesis (speaking strictly from an audio/visual level).

 

The Sega CD on the other hand has a much larger library than the 32X and it features a lot of great software outside of the FMV titles it's often derided for. While the 32X isn't as fun for me to revisit now, I can't imagine having a Genesis without the Sega CD.

 

I completely agree. I've thought of ditching my 32X, because the only decent playable game anymore is Virtua Racing Deluxe, which really doesn't have a version that replaces what it offers. But Sega CD , man I love the 16-bitness of it w/extra content and CD audio. There are many unique Sega CD games that I faithfully dig out and play every year or two (Jurassic Park CD, Eternal Champions CD, Sonic CD, Batman Returns CD, Spiderman vs Kingpin CD, Silpheed, Ecco CD, etc..). Even playing a port like Pitfall Mayan Adventure is must extra-special on Sega CD, with more levels and pretty cool music (and it is very ambient sounding too). Thankfully I can play an SCD game on my Raspberry Pi in case my hardware fails some day.

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Yes.

 

Because doing video edits on the fly in real time with a humongous menu would have been a decent idea for an arcade game.

But on a console, you should have been able to pause or something; move around a time scale, have SOME decent control over whats gonna happen when and what's actually going to be playing video-wise!!!

 

Well really, have both modes... an Arcade Mode and a Free Edit Mode.

 

A free edit mode would have given them SOME value... the band choices are pretty bad... even back then I had no interest in any of them.

Having 3 bands with one song each on a game disc would have been better.

 

It would have been at least slightly better had they actually taken the damn time to get permission from at least some more artists with more talent. If only they got stuff like Van Halen, Slayer, Anthrax, and Prince on it...

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It would have been at least slightly better had they actually taken the damn time to get permission from at least some more artists with more talent. If only they got stuff like Van Halen, Slayer, Anthrax, and Prince on it...

Believe it or not, I think a Prince one may have been in the works.

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how is Vanilla doom hard to go back to? granted its old but at least, compared to a certain other game (cough ** daikatana cough) it's supremely playable, has a really good mod community and of course Brutal Doom.

 

by the way, Doom for the SNES can die in a fire. no extra episodes without raising the difficulty? in a game where a lack of circle strafing and infighting being gone is a death sentence, that warrents a fuck you. still an impressive achievement, especially given how taxing it was to the Super FX chip. makes me wonder why the 32X version looks worse in comparison.

 

and no spider mastermind? no Baron of hell? Hell even the f**king BFG is missing from the 32X port. for a system boasting to be "six times more powerful than the 3DO" this is a damn shame.

 

and one more thing, and this I will never understand, why in the name of god, does the 32X port have a DOS prompt if you cheat?

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