I recently purchased a Jag on ebay, along with several games, and I have to say that this system isn't nearly as bad as I was lead to believe it was based on all the negative reviews it received.
Can anyone else recall the vituperative nature of some of the game reviews printed by the likes of EGM, Game Players, and Game Fan magazines, or those preposterous rumors that the Jag wasn't an actual 64-bit system, but rather a 32 or even a 16-bit system? I can, and being a gullible 14 year-old at the time, I believed them whole-heartedly.
I can still recall the breathless awe I felt when I first saw still images of AVP and Kasumi Ninja in EGM & Game Fan magazines, and the utter disappointment I felt when those games were later panned by the critics. Those reviews, and many others like them pertaining to Jag games, persuaded me not to buy (well, beg my parents to buy me) a Jaguar at the time.
When I recently purchased my Jag, I must confess, I did so primarily out of morbid curiosity. I thought owning "the worst console system ever" would make an interesting collectable. However, now that I've had an opportunity to play a few games on the Jag (AVP, Kasumi Ninja, Cannon Fodder, and Tempest 2000), I can say with utter certainty that the Jag did not deserve, at least in some cases, the bad press it received. If the Jag isn't an actual 64-bit system, as was rumored, it sure has a funny way of showing it.
Now I'm not advocating that the Jag was on par with the Playstation in terms of having an extensive, quality library of games, but the games I've played thus far are as good if not far superior to any 16-bit titles that were released from 93-95. After all, from what I recall, Atari initially positioned the Jag to compete with the then reigning 16-bit systems, not the Sony Playstation that was released later.
Well, I guess I'll end by stating that I'm happily disappointed in my new/used Jag thus far. I intend to purchase the CD unit for this puppy next, so perhaps I'm in for more pleasant surprises.
Jim