Monetary constraints, aka what would be your priorities for these jag items

[NeoGeoNinja]

Rayman for PSX/Saturn and Rayman for the Jag are in some ways two different games. I have friends who were introduced to Rayman via my Jaguar then bought it for their PSX and didn't like it. They described it as being harder and not as fun. This was at least two friends that I can remember.

 

I imagine that they just didn't want to offend you. Jaguar fans and friends are hard people to 'live' with

[+CyranoJ]

I'd actually go for the cheap games first - Always good to have a bunch of fun stuff over something more rare and less fun.

 

Then grab a JagCD because there's a load free software (for the cost of a CD) that will keep you occupied much longer than Skyhammer possibly could.

[Felyx]

Without Jag CD, no Iron Soldier 2, no World Tour GP, no Battlemorph, no Primal Rage, no Baldies, no Vid Grid, no Robinson requiem, no Philia.

And Jag CD allows you to burn a lot of free homebrew games from Reboot, GroovyBee, Dr Typo and others for the cost of a blank CD-R.

Georges could ad: what else?

[+Austin]

Without Jag CD

 

...no World Tour GP...

...no Primal Rage...

...no Baldies...

...Vid Grid...

ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

 

Personally, I'm fine living in a world without those games (or at least the Jag CD versions, in some cases).

[+save2600]

My opinions on the subject:

 

Skyhammer is for the hardcore Jag fanatic. You have to really sit down and get into it before experiencing any sort of enjoyment. I never could get into it and would end up lost before too long. Others have mentioned frame rate and repetitive graphic issues and they're right. Everything tends to look the same, so it's easy to find yourself just floating around, looking for your next goal. I sold my copy a while ago and do not regret it.

 

If you really think you're going to like this game, I'd spend some time watching and listening to what's on YouTube review or walk through wise before plunking down the cash.

 

Personally, I think the CD unit is much better investment as there *is* a few original standout titles, plus you always have the homebrews to look forward to. Oh yeah... If you're into Cybermorph, even just a little, you'll really enjoy Battlemorph!

 

Best option I'd go for if considering your situation though, is pursuing a slew of lower priced games and enjoy them for a while. It'll give you a better flavor of the system overall, but be careful about getting bit! Once the Jaguar clamps it's jaws on you, might find yourself dumping untold amounts of money trying to find the ever elusive combination of great gameplay and smooth frame rates.

 

Re: Jag Rayman, yes it's pricey, but if you're patient, you should be able to score a copy for reasonable. It really is a solid and stupendous title that showcases the Jag's capabilities really well. And that was a good bit of advice, going for loose carts and then doing the 3rd party case and artwork from the guy that sells them on eBay. Great way to store your carts and they look pretty!

[kevincal]

Without Jag CD, no Iron Soldier 2, no World Tour GP, no Battlemorph, no Primal Rage, no Baldies, no Vid Grid, no Robinson requiem, no Philia.

And Jag CD allows you to burn a lot of free homebrew games from Reboot, GroovyBee, Dr Typo and others for the cost of a blank CD-R.

Georges could ad: what else?

 

Not sure im the only one but I prefer Iron Soldier 1 to 2. 2 is extremely difficult even on easy........... World Tour Racing is a pretty cool game indeed but sucky framerate. Still a solid game. Battlemorph is good but I like Cybermorph just the same. Primal RAge is weak. I never cared for the arcade game and this v ersion the characters are small and its just blah. Baldies, yuck. Not fun . Vid Grid, its barely a game. Fun for 10 or 20 minutes. It does have kickass music videos but you can watch those on youtube in better quality. nO comment on Robinsons oro Philia. But the thing t he Jag CD is best for is the VLM. I spent more time with the VLM than any Jag CD game...

[Rick Dangerous]

I think if you read all the forums on here, one pattern will emerge. Your mileage will vary widely with each game. There are people saying they love or hate each and every game for the jaguar on here, and people definitely cut Jaguar games a lot of slack, as far as being considered "good" compared to other systems. I know I do.

 

I would say, start cheap, and keep the games you like, sell those you don't, and slowly work your way through the library. There are games that are generally considered good by most, "super burnout, wolf 3D, AvP, Doom, Battlemorph, T2k" and those that are generally considered bad "White men can't jump, Bruce Lee, Checkered Flag, Club Drive, Dino Dudes, Trevor Mcfur, Supercross 3D, etc." Use what people say as guideposts in the right direction, but you can't go wrong checking something out if you can find it for cheap. All the "bad games" I listed above...plenty of people on here LOVE some or all of them

[+Cobra Kai]

I gave Baldies a fair shot a few years ago. I played about 40 levels, and it's a decent RTS. It's very formulaic for the genre, breed (build) units, then advanced buildings, then send them to destroy the other team. It takes far too long to breed units though, especially on stages where you start with very few. Baldies will crash once in awhile, completely randomly, which is in the end, it's fatal flaw. Graphically, it doesn't do anything to showcase the mad Jaguar 64-bit power, but it does have 100 stages I think, making it a fairly large game.

[kevincal]

Crap wonder how long it would take to beat all 100 stages in Baldies? O_o

[sirlynxalot]

Interesting perspectives guys. I think I am leaning away from rushing into Skyhammer first. I'll sell a few of my other game related items to get some cash and then see how I feel about plunking down for the cd unit versus getting some of the cheaper games here and there. Please feel free to continue the discussion.

Edited July 23, 2014 by sirlynxalot

[Isgoed]

I can't/won't decide for you what to do first, but I can tell you that I never regretted getting a Jaguar cd-unit, AND I never regretted getting Skyhammer.

 

The advantages of having the cd-unit are well known, I guess.

And tales that these units are fragile are exaggerated imo, and not just a little.

 

When I bought and played Skyhammer for the first time (only seen a few youtube clips before that) I was like "wow" this game rocks!

That was my first impression, and I still think that it's one of the better games for the Jaguar and much fun to play.

 

There is slowdown yes, but after upgrading to a better/faster engine the game seems to become faster/more fluid.

Somebody said that everything looks the same, but after several plays you'll become familiar with the town and the map is easy accessible.

There are also different weapons to use that helps using different tactics for attacking enemies and capturing zones.

[82-T/A]

Interesting perspectives guys. I think I am leaning away from rushing into Skyhammer first. I'll sell a few of my other game related items to get some cash and then see how I feel about plunking down for the cd unit versus getting some of the cheaper games here and there. Please feel free to continue the discussion.

 

 

I don't know how to predict the future (wish I did), but I can't imagine that Jaguar games like this can last forever. These things seem to go in waves... but I guess I just don't know.

 

I'd guess that in 20 years from now, no one gives a crap about the Jaguar and you can literally buy almost an entire collection for $100 bucks (or whatever it is)...

 

But, maybe I'm wrong...

[Zerosquare]

I'd guess that in 20 years from now, no one gives a crap about the Jaguar and you can literally buy almost an entire collection for $100 bucks (or whatever it is)...

You could have said the same thing about the 2600 20 years ago...

[Schmudde]

I can't/won't decide for you what to do first, but I can tell you that I never regretted getting a Jaguar cd-unit, AND I never regretted getting Skyhammer.

 

The advantages of having the cd-unit are well known, I guess.

And tales that these units are fragile are exaggerated imo, and not just a little.

 

When I bought and played Skyhammer for the first time (only seen a few youtube clips before that) I was like "wow" this game rocks!

That was my first impression, and I still think that it's one of the better games for the Jaguar and much fun to play.

 

There is slowdown yes, but after upgrading to a better/faster engine the game seems to become faster/more fluid.

Somebody said that everything looks the same, but after several plays you'll become familiar with the town and the map is easy accessible.

There are also different weapons to use that helps using different tactics for attacking enemies and capturing zones.

 

Yeah, I'd second that on Skyhammer. One of my top Jaguar games. The immersive feeling is really enhanced by the fact that the city keeps evolving even when you're in a far-away sector. Because of this, there is a constant feeling of pressure to get your job done and move on.

 

But if you can get some other carts cheaply, it might be nice to start there and build out your collection. Games like Flashback might not be a 64-bit powerhouse, but it has aged well and helps round out the variety of games at your disposal.

[Songbird]

Personally, I have really enjoyed Skyhammer thoroughly. I think I made it through the first two cities after 30+ hours of gameplay. I agree with the above comment that it has a deep, immersive feeling to it that you're in a living, changing city, and not just a static level waiting for the player to trigger something. I certainly acknowledge it has a learning curve and is not really geared for casual play, although Battle Mode is more straightforward if you prefer that. I realize some people have run into technical issues with the game, but I have never seen the game crash once, and I've never lost any saved progress. So I've gotten a lot of personal enjoyment out of Skyhammer.

 

Obviously as the publisher of Skyhammer, take my comments with a grain of salt...

 

I also agree there are a number of solid, cheap Jaguar games to get if money is an issue: Flashback, Cannon Fodder, Wolf 3D, Doom, Tempest 2000, Pitfall, Raiden, Iron Soldier, Super Burnout, and Skiing/Snowboarding all come to mind.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Songbird

[Paul Westphal]

Hyperforce is a unique platformer, and worth the dough.

[danny_galaga]

You already have the best games for it. Save your money

[+SabertoothRetro]

I'm going to go on a limb and say that I never met a Songbird or a Telegames release that I didn't like. They are all still published and command a premium but are generally well worth the price of entry. For me, Skyhammer ranks high for the Jag and for the era. If you're curious about it, go for it. Its a good game and you're supporting the efforts of a publisher that is still bringing new experiences to the Jaguar. The original commercial release games can be had for less but who knows how long these will be produced?

 

If you decide to hold back and keep to the original commercial releases, grab Tempest 2000, Defender 2000, Missile Command 3D, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, AVP, Power Drive Rally, Iron Soldier, Super Burnout, Bubsy (or Zool 2), Power Drive Rally, Val D'isere Sking and Snowboarding, Cannon Fodder, Raiden, Cybermorph, Theme Park, Rayman and I War. IMHO, these are the original commercial release core games.

 

Note: Games like Tempest 2000, Cannon Fodder, Wolfenstein 3D, Rayman, Raiden, Doom and Theme Park are all available on other platforms for less. Although Tempest 2000 was born to be played on the Jag! The others are exclusives.

Edited July 25, 2014 by atariLBC

[sirlynxalot]

Hi everyone, I just bought Skyhammer. It should arrive next week.

In the past couple months I did a lot of research and bought a copy of cybermorph that I found locally. I'm still trying to find wolf3d, missile command, and rayman at more moderate pricesn and don't mind playing the waiting game even if it takes me several months.

I am still very very nterested in the jag CD, but best electronics upped their price for a refurbished unit to $175, and it's harder for me to justify putting down that kind of money for it, and then money for the games on top, when that money it comes at the expense of many interesting looking cart games I could get instead. (I do love the look of the jag CD and would buy it just to have it stick out of my system and change the bootup graphics if it were less of a collectors item).

Edited October 27, 2014 by sirlynxalot

[sirlynxalot]

I thought I would do a quirky followup. I have since sold Skyhammer - cool game for the jag, but did not find myself drawn into it / addicted to it, like I am to other more easily pick up and play type games. Due to a little luck, I did wind up going after my second choice - buying a Jaguar CD, it's pretty cool, but after having experienced a little bit of all three of my initial options (1. buy skyhammer, 2. jag cd, 3. focusing on common cartridge games), I would have to say that at this point, I am finding myself popping in my typical cartridge games like Wolf 3D and Raiden and playing them a lot more than the CD titles (or Skyhammer back when I had it). The CD does look cool though and there are plenty good things to say about homebrew, the light machine, and some of the CD titles.

Anyone in the same position may take this as a lesson, or a recommendation, or just a peculiar insight into my gaming tastes.

[NeoGeoNinja]

1. Buy Skyhammer and Rayman (these games look really stellar for the Jag and seem to have a lot of depth. I would be proud to own either or both as fun games and technical showcases for the system.). or

2. Buy several lower priced games (wolf 3d, flashback, missile command, AVP, pitfall, etc, all fun and affordable games but not as stupendous looking as Skyhammer). or

3. Buy a Jaguar CD and investigate CD homebrew/prototypes/etc (possibly the most expensive option, yet these also seem to be getting rarer and more expensive by the day)

 

I think: 2... 1... 3...

 

But if you really are just that obsessed with the idea of SkyHammer, just do it dude. The games flawed, but cool, regardless.

 

I agree with the consensus on Rayman though. Great game, but superior versions (opinions vary) can be had for LESS on the 'other' systems (PS1 & SAT). I do realise that you probably want it for Jaguar though. The fact that there IS a Jaguar version DOES make it cooler than it's fellow 32-bit counterparts, I'll admit...

 

Hate to say I told you so... but hey!

[Paul Westphal]

Missile command Is rare and not cheap.