Underrated Jaguar Games

[PFG 9000]

I've always thought Syndicate deserves to be closer to the top of the list. I think a lot of people don't give it more than a few minutes because the controls are so complicated, but if you take the time to learn the game you'll find a really enjoyable experience. Not perfect, but totally solid and very atmospheric. It really shows that the Jag could host games with a PC interface much better than other systems of its time due to the potential of the keypad. Sim City would've worked nicely on the Jag.

 

I would include Cybermorph in the underrated category too. Yeah, it hasn't aged terribly well, and there came to be tons of the dark, bland, polygonal tank games on the Jag over time. But I had a blast with Cybermorph when the Jag was new, and my friends were pretty impressed with it too. I'll never forget how great the sound quality was compared to the SNES and Genesis, but nobody talks about that today.

 

I've only briefly played Battlesphere at Jag-Fest a few years back, but I thought it was very highly regarded among the community. Is it worth placing on the underrated list?

 

On a side note, I'm surprised to see a few people mention the difficulty of Rayman. I don't think the Jag version is all that difficult. The controls are perfect and the game plays slowly enough that quick reflexes aren't too necessary. On the other hand, the Playstation and Saturn versions are made far more difficult due to the inclusion of slippery surfaces. Starting in the second area (Band Land), the slippery music staff levels make the game frustratingly tough. It seems like these were intended for the Jag version, but it was released before they could be fully implemented, and as a result the Jag version is much easier. It's one of my favorite Jag games, and I want to get into the other versions because of that, but they're just too frustratingly hard.

[BigKid Icarus]

@PFG 9000 I liked Syndicate on the Jaguar a lot. I think it was just intimidating to get into because of the controls, but I found it more playable than say, X-Com and the PS1 at the time. On that note, Cannon Fodder was another one of my favorite games for the system that I thought translated very well without a mouse.

 

I never noticed that about the other versions of Rayman, but that makes sense. I know they put a few more features into the PS1 version of the game, including an alpha version of Rayman 2 (back when it was going to be 2D) if you completed 100% of the game. I'm with you though, I always figure that as long as the controls are solid, then I'm more likely to blame myself than the game for failing.

[+Sauron]

Hover Strike (both cart and CD) has always been one of my favorite Jag games. Yes, the game has its faults, but was still quite playable and enjoyable.

[Austin]

I would include Cybermorph in the underrated category too. Yeah, it hasn't aged terribly well, and there came to be tons of the dark, bland, polygonal tank games on the Jag over time. But I had a blast with Cybermorph when the Jag was new, and my friends were pretty impressed with it too. I'll never forget how great the sound quality was compared to the SNES and Genesis, but nobody talks about that today.

 

I've only briefly played Battlesphere at Jag-Fest a few years back, but I thought it was very highly regarded among the community. Is it worth placing on the underrated list?

 

I don't normally think of Cybermorph as an underrated game, but I suppose you could look at it as underrated in that it's bashed so much people forget it's actually not that bad of a game. You know, like it's not all that great, but not all that bad either. Just kind of average, maybe bordering on mediocre depending on your skill level. It sits nicely in the middle of things.

 

Personally, Battlesphere can go in the overrated camp as far as I am concerned. It's a game with very limited appeal. It might be fantastic for people really into that genre, but for everyone else it's just kind of "there".

[+madman]

Yeah, Cybermorph isn't underrated, it's certainly not total garbage, but it's not an A or B game. It's a solid C game, there is fun to be had. People like to say it's better than Star Fox because it's not on rails, but to me the gameplay just isn't there compared to Star Fox. Not to say Star Fox is the gem it used to be, but the gameplay is more polished IMO.

[Karyyk]

I'm going to cast my vote for I-War as well. There's something about that game that just 'clicked' for me, and other than AvP and T2K, it's probably the game I've played most on my Jag. It's also one of those games that has aged well for me. All-too-often I'll go to play other games that I used to think were amazing, only to end up wondering what my younger self was thinking. I-War has stood the test of time after repeat plays, so it's got that going for it too.

 

Missle Command 3D and Ruiner Pinball are two more to throw into the underrated mix.

[phoenixdownita]

I may be captain obvious here but with the short library that it has I don't believe there's anything "underrated".

 

We know by now the good, the bad and the ugly and to stay in theme maybe we also know the magnificent seven.

Yeah you can jiggle one title up or down its bucket, maybe there's a couple of titles that could swap buckets but I'd say by now the Jag games original library has really no surprises ... and by God it has quite the share of turdsugly.

 

I don't think Cybermorph to be underrated, it is not horrible but it is not AAA material either, a lot of the Jag library is in that "it's not horrible" category but we should remember it is also NOT in the "wow, that's something else" category, being a short library doesn't help the cause either.

 

And that is really it, I personally do not see the need to revise the ranking, it is what it is, Atari screwed up royally and the HW was not what it should have been, the rest matters little.

[WAVE 1 GAMES]

Defender 2000 is generally underated and panned for its large sprites on most reviews it gets. I however feel that it is one of the best games on the system. It has fun lightning fast gameplay and an awesome soundtrack. Its my favorite game on cart and one of the games that still looks and plays great today. I am referring to the 2000 mode as most people favor the classic mode and speak highly of it but really trash the 2000 mode. I never understood why people hate on it so much. I even saw one review where they stated all you need to do is focus on the radar to play which may be true but even knowing that I still play the game as intended watching everything as it appears on screen. Above all else its still a Jeff Minter game and a damn good one!

Edited October 10, 2017 by Jeffrey_Bones

[BigKid Icarus]

I may be captain obvious here but with the short library that it has I don't believe there's anything "underrated".

 

We know by now the good, the bad and the ugly and to stay in theme maybe we also know the magnificent seven.

Yeah you can jiggle one title up or down its bucket, maybe there's a couple of titles that could swap buckets but I'd say by now the Jag games original library has really no surprises ... and by God it has quite the share of turdsugly.

 

I don't think Cybermorph to be underrated, it is not horrible but it is not AAA material either, a lot of the Jag library is in that "it's not horrible" category but we should remember it is also NOT in the "wow, that's something else" category, being a short library doesn't help the cause either.

 

And that is really it, I personally do not see the need to revise the ranking, it is what it is, Atari screwed up royally and the HW was not what it should have been, the rest matters little.

 

Whether or not something is underrated is completely relative, and for me I'm learning a lot about what people think are special games either to them personally or better as a collective group.

 

I like seeing how people have a different opinion from my own and want to take that into account when I do my Jag video. Seeing so many people praise I-War was definitely a surprise for me, and equally surprising is the lack of love for Brutal Sports Football, but then I'm also very new to the forums here.

 

A couple of people have mentioned some "ranking," is there some official ranking of Jaguar games that I'm missing out on?

[+madman]

I may be captain obvious here but with the short library that it has I don't believe there's anything "underrated".

 

We know by now the good, the bad and the ugly and to stay in theme maybe we also know the magnificent seven.

Yeah you can jiggle one title up or down its bucket, maybe there's a couple of titles that could swap buckets but I'd say by now the Jag games original library has really no surprises ... and by God it has quite the share of turdsugly.

Finally some real talk in the Jag forum. For the most part, I think the majority of us would all agree on what belongs in the trash can, what is worth the occasional play because it's on the Jaguar but if it were on any other system nobody would bother and then there's the top tier games.

[JagChris]

I hate you! I hate you all!

?

Edited October 10, 2017 by JagChris

[doctor_shred]

I really rate Attack of the Mutant Penguins too. It's a lot of fun and totally mad which is a bonus. You can still pick it up for little money which suggests to me it's underrated.

 

Battlemorph CD is also a great game that people don't talk about much. I like Cybermorph but Battlemorph is better in every way.

[LianneJaguar64]

I'd say I War is pretty underrated, it's got a great soundtrack and playa hard and fast xD

[ace2184]

 

We know by now the good, the bad and the ugly and to stay in theme maybe we also know the magnificent seven.

I think this comment is underrated. Edited October 11, 2017 by ace2184

[+Sauron]

 

 

Not sure how you got that out of what he said. Perhaps you should read his post again.

[Stage_1_Boss]

 

Not sure how you got that out of what he said. Perhaps you should read his post again.

Looks like he's just takin' a shot at somethin' I said in the arcade port thread, I didn't get that from madman's post either.

[Rick Dangerous]

It's subjective, but to me the most consistently underrated jag games are:

 

-Defender 2000 (many don't like, ship too big, etc, but i think it's just as good as Tempest 2k)

 

-Breakout 2000 (derided as dull or not reaching full potential by some, i think its great "in the zone" fun with cool visuals and sound)

 

-Flashback (no one ever really talks about this game, probably because its a port, but I think it's a great deep game with good graphics/controls if you put some time into it.)

 

-HyperForce (again, not really talked about much, but big beautiful sprites, lots of shooting action, and many levels to play. The definition of underrated in my book.)

 

-Val D'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding- (This game has it's flaws (frontal visibility) but it's still a gem with luscious graphics and some of the best music on the jag. Often derided and underrated, this game deserves it's own sports movie montage.)

 

-Phase Zero- (This would have been one of the best games on the Jag if finished)

 

-Ultra Vortek-(often derided as a cheap MK clone, it stands alone as the best fighter on the Jag and I think would have done well if ported elsewhere. A solid game that deserved more credit)

 

-Troy Aikman Football--Derided by most as a crap football game, this is actually a pretty fun and easy to play game. It looks decent as well, much better than it's 16 bit counterparts

 

-Tube SE- This game kicks ass and I would happily pay for a slick production of this someday. Everyone who owns a Jag owes it to themselves to give Tube or Tube SE a whirl

 

-American Hero- This "game" is laughed at regularly, but it is a ton of fun in my book. It falls under the "so bad it's good" category and everyone should give it a play through at some point, or several

 

-Battle Morph- Everyone always talks about cyber morph, but this game is easily a top ten (if not top 3) jag game that gets often overlooked because it's on the CD unit. It's a great game that deserves more credit.

 

-Primal Rage-The Jag iteration of this game is pretty decent and the combo moves are pretty doable with the pro controller. Underrated probably only due to rarity (of game and pro controllers)

 

-Hover Strike-Often derided as boring and lame, this game has some depth and I have found it to be quite fun and playable

[PeterG]

I don`t think that Flashback counts as underrated but as you said it is probably already well know as port from other systems. It is one of my favorite games on the Jag. They did a lot very very right on this game even if you have to get used to its pace. (Pretty dissapointed from the remake they did on the Xbox 360 though, but yeah I bought it. :-))

[doctorclu]

@Save2600 - I really like Atari Karts and think that it's gorgeous and a lot of fun. That said, I feel that the short tracks, flat hazards and power-ups make it less fun than MK. Also, aside from Bentley Bear and the tournament titles, there isn't anything "Atari" about it. Part of the charm of MK is the character selection. In that regard, Atari Karts was a bit of a missed opportunity.

 

I completely agree. I wish the game had Rayman, Zool, Bubsy, and other characters competing against each other. But then again, I say that after the hayday of the Jaguar and it was hard to know these characters were going to be part of the Jaguar library while Atari Karts was being developed.

 

 

All said, going into it, what character could Atari have pulled from aside from Bently Bear? The Centipede from Centipede? Sadly Atari is kinda lacking in the mascot department.

 

Cybermorph, still play it more than any other jag game,never understood why it gets so much stick.

 

 

I used to rag on Cybermorph, now it is one of my top five. Great with Def Lepard playing. Can finish the game in about two and half hours now.

 

 

This may be blasphemous, but I don't think "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" is too shabby.

 

It has it's charm.

 

One game I really enjoy is Breakout 2000. I find it has a kind of mellow 'in the zone' feel; I can plop down on the sofa and play it for an hour or more without effort.

 

The best breakout game this side of Arkanoid. Really needed Paddles/rotary controls though.

 

Defender 2000 is generally underated and panned for its large sprites on most reviews it gets. ...

 

 

Classic Defender was good on that.

 

I really rate Attack of the Mutant Penguins too. It's a lot of fun and totally mad which is a bonus. You can still pick it up for little money which suggests to me it's underrated.

 

Battlemorph CD is also a great game that people don't talk about much. I like Cybermorph but Battlemorph is better in every way.

 

Attack of the Mutant Penguins was actually quite fun. Played that all the way through.

 

Battlemorph, now that I've tried to play through. That is a LOONNG game.

 

-Tube SE- This game kicks ass and I would happily pay for a slick production of this someday. Everyone who owns a Jag owes it to themselves to give Tube or Tube SE a whirl

 

Loved that game so much had a cartridge made of it.

 

 

Brutal Sports Football -- I think this and NBA Jam are THE BEST 2 player games on the console and pretty much anytime I dust off my Jaguar I always gravitate towards this game. ..

 

Had hours of fun with that game just me and my friend killing each other's team, heads bouncing down the field along the ball that we were ignoring. Awesome times.

 

Lots of love for iWar. Being a big TRON fan I always thought it was basically TRON x3 for the Jaguar.

 

 

Let's see other games with no love, Bub Drive...

 

 

Bubsy in Crescent Galaxy

 

 

Bubsy's Pinball Fantasies

 

 

And everyone's favorite: Alien Vs. Bubsy

 

 

I ran across these other spoof game pictures when I found my "Atari Mascot Karts" picture I posted at the start of this message.

Edited October 14, 2017 by doctorclu

[alucardX]

On 10/10/2017 at 1:37 AM, WAVE 1 GAMES said:

Defender 2000 is generally underated and panned for its large sprites on most reviews it gets. I however feel that it is one of the best games on the system. It has fun lightning fast gameplay and an awesome soundtrack. Its my favorite game on cart and one of the games that still looks and plays great today. I am referring to the 2000 mode as most people favor the classic mode and speak highly of it but really trash the 2000 mode. I never understood why people hate on it so much. I even saw one review where they stated all you need to do is focus on the radar to play which may be true but even knowing that I still play the game as intended watching everything as it appears on screen. Above all else its still a Jeff Minter game and a damn good one!

I know this is an older post but I share your opinion, this is a really fun game. I spent a few hours playing this game and didn't even realize how much time had passed.

[Chris+++]

On 10/7/2017 at 11:57 AM, Swansea_Mariner said:

Cybermorph, still play it more than any other jag game,never understood why it gets so much stick.

Agreed. I still find massive fun in the game, 25 years after first playing it.

[ColecoGamer]

Underrated Jaguar games? Hmmm… Iron Soldier 1&2 would be among the unappreciated, imho.

[Silver Back]

I didn't get a jaguar until recently and there's a few games I didn't know about until I had purchased one and really looked into the library. From the outside looking in I knew about AvP, Doom, Wolfenstein, Iron Soldier, and Tempest 2000 along with a few others, but here's the ones I learned after the fact and liked, therefore making them underated in my opinion.

 

Ultra Vortek: I always heard about Kasumi Ninja from various sources, but Ultra Vortek is where it's at!  I personally have gotten more enjoyment out of this than I would've ever thought.

 

Atari Karts: I didn't hear about this one until I got my Jaguar, and while not perfect, I did end up liking it. 

 

Power Drive Rally: I love rally racing games and overhead racers like micro machines!  So if I had known about this one, I might've jumped on the jag sooner!

 

Missile Command 3D: Maybe I'm in the minority but I really like this title!  I love classic Atari games and I thought this was a cool and fun reimagining of Missile Command. 

 

Cannon Fodder: I knew absolutely nothing about this one and it's quickly become one of my favorites.  Feels almost like a dumbed down RTS to me, but man wars never been so much fun!

 

 

[+Stephen]

Ultra Vortek is a great game.  There is a cheat code that enables turbo mode and it really adds to the game.  BITD it was rated as the best fighter on the Jag, has that changed?

[Atlantis]

On 10/10/2017 at 10:37 AM, WAVE 1 GAMES said:

 I even saw one review where they stated all you need to do is focus on the radar to play which may be true 

Just a comment: good luck players only watching the radar at level 20+