What is "THE" reason to have a Jaguar CD?

[sdamike]

Just curious what everyone's opinion is on the definitive reason to have a Jaguar CD. I have one, but other than the visualizer, ehh... ?‍♂️

Am I missing out on something? What games or game sold you on it? Please educate me ?

[leech]

I was going to say the VLM, but you said other than that... uhm there were not many games specifically for it.  I think only 14?  Primal Rage was a great version... though honestly probably should have been crammed onto cart.  Battlemorph was kind of cool, and Blue Lightning and the CD version of Hoverstrike is pretty decent. 

I tend to think if Atari had released the Jag as a CD based system, it would have done better.  Well, and gave better incentives to 3rd party developers with better documentation...

But yeah, basically VLM.  I honestly spent more time with that than anything else that came out for it.  The sliding puzzle game was an interesting usage of the video encoding, but needed more videos.  I actually spent enough time to beat it though!

[sirlynxalot]

I mostly just like the incredible 1990s look of the console with the Jag CD connected.  It's like you've pimped the jag to the max.  I played several of the games over the years, but none of them became games I revisited more than a couple times.  I sold my jag cd after not playing it for over a year, but now I regret it since at $1K its way too expensive to justify buying for art and nostalgic value alone. It's something I honestly would just like to look at on my shelf and stare in awe at the most improbable (yet interesting) system of the 1990s.  It's like, this thing should not exist, but it does.

[jerseystyle]

Battlemorph and Hoverstrike CD are sweet. 

[+LS650]

I owned a JagCD for a couple of years.  I sold it and used the money towards a Skunkboard, which I think was a better use of my money.  That said, there were a handful of games I enjoyed - and quite a few I thought were terrible.

 

I think the VLM was terrific, and a lot of fun to play with.  I wasn't a huge fan of BattleMorph or Hover Strike - I never felt like they were that much of an improvement over the cart versions of those games.  Iron Soldier 2 was okay, but again, just a more polished version of the original cart game.

 

I did think highly of World Tour Racing - it's a great racer.  Too bad most folks have never had a chance to play it.  Think of it as Checkered Flag with much better controls and graphics.

 

I liked Vid Grid - and although most folks seem to hate it, perhaps my favourite game was Blue Lightning.  Yes, Blue Lightning!  I thought that was a great game to just sit on the couch after a long day at work, sip a cold beer, and blow shit up.  That's probably the one CD game I miss the most!

[Cebus Capucinis]

It really adds that touch of toilet ambiance to every room it's in, what more could you want?

[+cubanismo]

42 minutes ago, ls650 said:

my favourite game was Blue Lightning.  Yes, Blue Lightning! 

[Wilco]

I know I’m in the minority but I really like blue lightning to the point that I thinks it’s worth owning the console for, I truly don’t understand why people say it’s a bad game. 
 

Other than that playing homebrew via ULS and a cd-r is great since it’s a lot less complicated than getting things to run on a skunkboard (or at least for me, I’m terrible with computers). 
 

Oh and the VLM is really fun to mess around with. 

[PeterG]

Today not much speaks for the Jag CD other than having a "complete" Jaguar system. I would never get rid of mine even though these days especially with the GD out there or on the horizon there is not a real reason to look for one anymore. With that said back in the day I got a lot of enjoyment out of the Jag CD. Hours spent with different music and the editor in the VLM. I did enjoy Battlemorph and Iron Soldier 2 which is still one of the best games in my opinion (although also available on cart). I also enjoyed Blue Lightning with its rocking soundtrack even with all its shortcomings.

 

Looking back of course it has so few titles but being a 13 year old at the time I did not have the money to buy many games so actually that didn't bother me.

 

And then later on when you could try homebrews and unfinished games with a bypass cart it felt like a tool to get to try things never imagined. For example being able to take a look at Black Ice White Noise.

I also never had the Jag CD die on me or having real bad issues with the hardware not working.

So from my point of view it was really well worth the money spend on it

[leech]

5 hours ago, PeterG said:

Today not much speaks for the Jag CD other than having a "complete" Jaguar system. I would never get rid of mine even though these days especially with the GD out there or on the horizon there is not a real reason to look for one anymore. With that said back in the day I got a lot of enjoyment out of the Jag CD. Hours spent with different music and the editor in the VLM. I did enjoy Battlemorph and Iron Soldier 2 which is still one of the best games in my opinion (although also available on cart). I also enjoyed Blue Lightning with its rocking soundtrack even with all its shortcomings.

 

Looking back of course it has so few titles but being a 13 year old at the time I did not have the money to buy many games so actually that didn't bother me.

 

And then later on when you could try homebrews and unfinished games with a bypass cart it felt like a tool to get to try things never imagined. For example being able to take a look at Black Ice White Noise.

I also never had the Jag CD die on me or having real bad issues with the hardware not working.

So from my point of view it was really well worth the money spend on it

I have had the laser and the clip that holds the lid down replaced in mine.  Easy and cheap fixes. 

Was I the only one eho beat Highlander and was disappointed we never got a sequel?

[Wilco]

27 minutes ago, leech said:

Was I the only one eho beat Highlander and was disappointed we never got a sequel?

The only one to beat it: no

The only one who wanted the sequel: yes

[Bill Loguidice]

Gah, Blue Lightning and Highlander mentioned positively in the same thread! Both are visual and playability nightmares, so it just goes to show there's a fan for just about anything.

[Wilco]

15 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

Gah, Blue Lightning and Highlander mentioned positively in the same thread! Both are visual and playability nightmares, so it just goes to show there's a fan for just about anything.

I’m genuinely curious, what is so bad about blue lightning? I’ve loved that game ever since I got it. 

[Bill Loguidice]

1 minute ago, WilcoL said:

I’m genuinely curious, what is so bad about blue lightning? I’ve loved that game ever since I got it. 

Besides being ugly and having a mess of an audio mix, I never found there to be much to the gameplay. I can definitely see someone liking that more than a game like Highlander, though. As basic as Blue Lightning is and as flat and jagged as the visuals are, it's still enough of a straightforward shoot 'em up that I can at least see some of the appeal. 

[leech]

7 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

Besides being ugly and having a mess of an audio mix, I never found there to be much to the gameplay. I can definitely see someone liking that more than a game like Highlander, though. As basic as Blue Lightning is and as flat and jagged as the visuals are, it's still enough of a straightforward shoot 'em up that I can at least see some of the appeal. 

Ha, Highlander for me came at a time where I was sick of messing with Windows and I was determined to beat the game.  Enjoyed the story line enough, though the controls were for sure janky.  But then people play Resident Evil, and I never could tolerate the crap camera angles on that.

[Wilco]

36 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

Besides being ugly and having a mess of an audio mix, I never found there to be much to the gameplay. I can definitely see someone liking that more than a game like Highlander, though. As basic as Blue Lightning is and as flat and jagged as the visuals are, it's still enough of a straightforward shoot 'em up that I can at least see some of the appeal. 

Thanks for the answer! I also find the audio to be a bit hit or miss, but after messing with the settings it is possible to get it to sound reasonable and there definitely are some good tracks in there.
 

I agree with what you said about the gameplay, but I really don’t mind it! What’s not to love about 2 hours straight of explosion after explosion. 
 

It probably also helps that I’ve never played afterburner  

Edited November 25, 2020 by WilcoL
Typo

[+LS650]

n/a

Edited November 25, 2020 by ls650

[Bill Loguidice]

22 minutes ago, leech said:

Ha, Highlander for me came at a time where I was sick of messing with Windows and I was determined to beat the game.  Enjoyed the story line enough, though the controls were for sure janky.  But then people play Resident Evil, and I never could tolerate the crap camera angles on that.

I don't judge it against Resident Evil for PS1, which is too high of a bar. I judge it against the original Alone in the Dark. I feel like it couldn't even match the quality of that. I think it would have been a workable game with some tweaks, even with the rough visuals, but they missed the mark by pretty far for my tastes for that particular style of game (low poly model action game in a fixed camera 3D environment).

[leech]

11 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

I don't judge it against Resident Evil for PS1, which is too high of a bar. I judge it against the original Alone in the Dark. I feel like it couldn't even match the quality of that. I think it would have been a workable game with some tweaks, even with the rough visuals, but they missed the mark by pretty far for my tastes for that particular style of game (low poly model action game in a fixed camera 3D environment).

I was going to say, it actually is a shame that it didn't get an Alone in the Dark port.  Instead it got the 'everyone gets a port' game of Myst.

[jerseystyle]

2 hours ago, leech said:

I have had the laser and the clip that holds the lid down replaced in mine.  Easy and cheap fixes. 

Was I the only one eho beat Highlander and was disappointed we never got a sequel?

I’m with you, man. I loved Highlander and would be all in for a sequel. I’d never played a game like that before so, at the time, I was very impressed.  Played through it again 10 years ago with the rubber chicken and liked it even more. My only issue is how it starts off with a guy basically wailing on you- I’d prefer if it was less combat heavy and more puzzle focused.

[leech]

1 hour ago, jerseystyle said:

I’m with you, man. I loved Highlander and would be all in for a sequel. I’d never played a game like that before so, at the time, I was very impressed.  Played through it again 10 years ago with the rubber chicken and liked it even more. My only issue is how it starts off with a guy basically wailing on you- I’d prefer if it was less combat heavy and more puzzle focused.

It is one of the exclusives for the platform   I somewhat recently got a hold of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace for it, but on larger TV screens the resolution is just too low to enjoy.  It's like watching an overly played VHS version of a cartoon.

[Clint Thompson]

Battlemorph, Iron Soldier 2 and VLM being the most important reason and enough in itself but not to justify the crazy asking prices of $600+ these days for a unit. 

[Bill Loguidice]

1 hour ago, leech said:

It is one of the exclusives for the platform   I somewhat recently got a hold of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace for it, but on larger TV screens the resolution is just too low to enjoy.  It's like watching an overly played VHS version of a cartoon.

I'm with you there. The only classic platform truly worth playing Dragon's Lair and Dragon's Lair 2 on is the Philips CD-i. Pretty much arcade perfect. Of course today, there are tons of platforms to play even better-than-arcade-quality Dragon's Lair on, so we can bypass a lot of the vintage home FMV stuff.

[leech]

48 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

I'm with you there. The only classic platform truly worth playing Dragon's Lair and Dragon's Lair 2 on is the Philips CD-i. Pretty much arcade perfect. Of course today, there are tons of platforms to play even better-than-arcade-quality Dragon's Lair on, so we can bypass a lot of the vintage home FMV stuff.

They even ported to Linux!

 

On the note of Iron Soldier 2.  That is one of the games that I got much later, after having beaten the first one, the second one makes me fill up the proverbial swear jar...

[Gummy Bear]

5 hours ago, WilcoL said:

Thanks for the answer! I also find the audio to be a bit hit or miss, but after messing with the settings it is possible to get it to sound reasonable and there definitely are some good tracks in there.
 

I agree with what you said about the gameplay, but I really don’t mind it! What’s not to love about 2 hours straight of explosion after explosion. 
 

It probably also helps that I’ve never played afterburner  

Did you ever play Blue Lightning on the Lynx? 

That be the REAL Blue Lightning!