Happy 18th Birthday, 32X!

[mylifewithsega]

That's right; on the 21st of November, this fucker's gonna' be 18-years old in North America. My God, it's hard for me to accept just how much time has passed since it's release. I can still remember cutting out magazine articles and Toys "R" Us adverts - yes, that's fetishizing - hoping that I'd one day play Star Wars Arcade, Doom and Virtua Fighter on my brand-spankin'-new 32X....

Sadly, that day took longer than I expected. I was homeless for a few months and my mother, who was raising me on her own, had to sell damn near everything of monetary value. Electronics were the very first to go.

Over time, things improved. My folks reconciled and we had a roof over our head's once again. YAY! By this point, the 32X was dead. Someone over at Sega of America said the Saturn wasn't their future, and that was that. Still, I wanted Sega back.

By the time I had enough money saved, everything was on clearance at Toys "R" Us. And I do mean everything; Genesis, Sega CD, 32X and Saturn. $20 a piece. I had $200 of my father's guilt money to burn, so I had plenty left over to buy games....

Such an awesome day. I spent the afternoon setting up everything. Even picked up an A/V switcher. As much as I wanted to play the Saturn, 32X was first on my list. Star Wars Arcade was the pack-in game and I was floored. After several hours, I finally popped in Doom, which was only $10 at the time. Hours and hours and hours, hopped up on Coke, waring my thumbs down to the nub. I didn't go to bed until well after 1:00AM. Sure, I suffer from insomnia, but I sure as shit wasn't bored.

As I've already mentioned in my videos and previous posts, that collection is no more. Still, it's alive and well in my memory.

Which leads me to the creation of this very topic. Share some 32X memories with us. Let's look back and relive the good, as well as bad, times with Sega's most hated and - perhaps - most under appreciated add-on.

[Kori-Maru]

I don't remember 32X much, but my cousin had it in a box. I've also played Virtua Fighter and Knuckles Chaotix on a emulator. Great ass games for the 32X. I don't see why people dislike Knuckles Chaotix so much. The only problem I with the game was the special stages.

[ROJM]

A lost potential and a legacy lost. That's all i can sum up when i think of the 32x. I thought it was a good add on despite the problems in setting it up. Its just the games promised for this system that never happened like Predators Vs Aliens from Capcom or the Sega of America made Xmen 32x game (when Sega KNEW how to make a good Marvel game) still burns me to this very day. Made worst when you read recent interviews from ex Sega staff from that era talking about the titles that they were planning to create for the 32x but were ultimately scrapped because of management screwups.

The 32x was screwed up because it was priced wrong, hard to set up and other various reasons. The idea of having a bridge between that and the saturn was still a valid idea but ultimately failed. The infighting between SOJ and SOA didn't help and neither did using the 32x for some FMV Sega CD games help matters either. But its still the only console to have one of the best SW games ever made in STAR WARS ARCADE. :)That alone is why this should be celebrated as well as it being the only system to have a near perfect version of VIRTUA FIGHTER which was better than the Saturn version/port of the game.

[mylifewithsega]

A lost potential and a legacy lost. That's all i can sum up when i think of the 32x. I thought it was a good add on despite the problems in setting it up. Its just the games promised for this system that never happened like Predators Vs Aliens from Capcom or the Sega of America made Xmen 32x game (when Sega KNEW how to make a good Marvel game) still burns me to this very day. Made worst when you read recent interviews from ex Sega staff from that era talking about the titles that they were planning to create for the 32x but were ultimately scrapped because of management screwups.

The 32x was screwed up because it was priced wrong, hard to set up and other various reasons. The idea of having a bridge between that and the saturn was still a valid idea but ultimately failed. The infighting between SOJ and SOA didn't help and neither did using the 32x for some FMV Sega CD games help matters either. But its still the only console to have one of the best SW games ever made in STAR WARS ARCADE. :)That alone is why this should be celebrated as well as it being the only system to have a near perfect version of VIRTUA FIGHTER which was better than the Saturn version/port of the game.

I agree. The one thing I hear from many gamers that purchased the 32X during it's initial loss claim it ruined their Genesis cartridges. I've owned two in my lifetime and neither one hurt my library. Then again, I bought mine shortly after the Saturn had been discontinued.

Virtua Fighter is a fantastic port. It's obviously not arcade perfect, yes, but the fluidity and control were spot on. At least the characters' limbs didn't blink out of existance during a replay. Star Wars Arcade was another classic from the 'shroom.

However, the 32X Sega CD titles looked pretty good though. The video for Night Trap and Corpse Killer look incredible when compared to the Sega CD originals. The image consumes more real estate and dithering is kept to a minimum. Night Trap 32X kinda' pisses me off, because it removed the Sega references. Irritating.

[Barry the Nomad]

My biggest accomplishment in owning a 32X was hooking it up properly the very first time. Checking my email records, I bought my 32X October 15th, 2009 for $30 off ebay. Description was "Sega 32X system ALL CORDS interlace cable mod 1 adapter". Pretty great deal!

A week later I bought Knuckles Chaotix complete for $20.

My complete collection is:

Knuckles Chaotix
Kolibri
Metal Head
Moto Cross <- BEST GAME EVER! (not)
Star Wars Arcade
Virtua Fighter
Virtua Racing
Corpse Killer

On my wish list is: After Burner, Cosmic Carnage, Night Trap, Space Harrier, Tempo, Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000

But really, I'll buy any 32X game if it is a low price. I only bought Moto Cross because I knew it was awful and it was 99 cents. Figured I'd see what all the fuss was about.

[segaismysavior]

My friend had 32X and I only remember playing Doom and Star Wars. Doom was impressive for its time, but the difficulty seemed higher based on how sluggish the framerate and controls were. I played very little of Star Wars, I think it was too challenging at the time.

[mylifewithsega]

Alright, the 32X is officially 18-years old. Let us celebrate it with style and look back at Metal Head!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2mJB2YD2UA