2y ago

I re-purchased a Sega 32X. I don't know why...

I used to have a 32x back in the day, but you know, Sega did what they did, and it didn't really pan out. I thought the mushroom system was cool tech, but lamented how little value it added to the Genesis. I essentially gave it away.

The library was small, and even the top tier A-list games barely even graze competency, let alone "good". Most of them play well enough in emulation (there are exceptions, of course), and even Mister has a core for it now.

Still, I unironically enjoy Cosmic Carnage; Doom on 32x was sadly rushed but the result is hilarious for so many reasons (my favorite is the end of the game dumps you into a fake DOS prompt); and I still remember being legit excited to play Mortal Kombat II on the system, and it got a lot of mileage. So it wasn't all bad.

It may not make a lot of sense to buy it again now for the nostalgia, especially with all the benefits of hindsight I have. Did it anyway.

52 comments

Now you just need to get the CD and your genesis will be complete!
- I almost achieved this. I had the master system adapter instead of the 32x. Does that count?
  
  A Master Gear Converter would have made you a baller https://castlemaniagames.com/cdn/shop/products/20210405201406HDR.jpg
- The holy trinity.
  
  It’s the tower of power
- SEGA shelves at toy stores and rental stores were so chaotic in this era ❤️
  
  It started with a good idea. Games were selling for the SNES and Genesis with 3D chips built in (and were really expensive). Like Virtua Racer (SVP chip) and Star Fox (FX chip). So why not sell the 3D chip add on separately instead of paying $100 a cartridge.
  They botched the release (no 3 games at launch) and full 3D consoles were too close. The Saturn was released in the US 6 months after the 32X.
  Would have been interesting if they had released it sooner or if they had released Virtua Racer or Virtua Fighter with the 32X instead of the standalone releases.
  Neat video on the built in 3D chips:
  https://youtu.be/yZHFbLfvb8w?si=Xa9zTLMpd0a_Z-Ha
  Edit: Video specifically about the 32x
  https://youtu.be/sjilAAhp8NI?si=29fyDU_IfLFo-HI-
  
  Parents were so (understandably) confused when buying games lol
- I had this and it was glorious
- That would be totally mega.
- make it even taller and add a sega channel attachment (if only the service still existed)
  
  I wanted that service so bad as a kid. I terrorized my local cable company by calling every single day for months (sometimes more than once) thinking "if enough people called asking for it, they'd get it". RIP receptionist lady.

Now stack a game genie on top of that, like some cursed totem pole.
- Followed by sonic and knuckles, and sonic 3.

It may not make a lot of sense to buy it again now for the nostalgia, especially with all the benefits of hindsight I have. Did it anyway.
Never, ever let this stop you from enjoying this hobby. Nothing about retrogaming collection makes sense. That's not the point! Enjoyment and utility or "making sense" are not directly linked.
Do I need to tear down a dreamcast and mod the ever living hell out of it to play it? No. Do I need to letterbomb my wii? Of course not. But I wanted to because learning the process and just doing it was fun in and of itself. Arguably more than playing the games.
- Wait, this is a thing? I definitely have some consoles for you!
  
  I'm always open to potentially taking unwanted game consoles haha. But you should just look locally, you'd be surprised who wants it. And believe it or not, Facebook marketplace is fantastic for sellers and buyers alike. It's like a better craigslist and literally the only thing good about FB these days.

Kolibri was the shit. It was like Echo the dolphin but with a humming bird. I still have my 32x....somewhere.
- Never got to play Kolibri but Ecco was the shit for its time. I'm bummed no one ever made an updated version on more powerful systems. The 32X version was just the Genesis version with a bigger color pallette if memory serves.
  
  Wasn't there a Dreamcast Ecco release? Not sure if it was any good.

You want that one extra sound channel for MK2

I had that thing with a Sega CD and saved every penny I could raise from shoveling snow and raking leaves to get them both and probably ended up playing like 3 games between each of them.

My husband was a Sega kid, I was a Nintendo kid, it's been fun learning stuff about Sega that I had no idea of :)
- Sega has a really fun history to research into, from console ideas to their place in the Japanese arcade market.
  For a time, they were really innovative, even if most of it didn't work out the way they had hoped. Just throw it at a wall, see if it sticks.
  This is a stupid one, but as a kid, E.A titles always stuck out to me because they had these unique cartridges. They were taller, and had this weird yellow tab on the side. Turns out it was to bypass some restrictions Sega had in place, but as a kid, I just thought it was neat that they looked different. It made me want to get them just to have more cool carts.
  
  Remember the Tengen Nintendo games?

If you haven't read it, and you're interested in the history of Sega in the US, then Console Wars is an excellent book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ConsoleWars(book).

I have wanted an old school mechanical Sega CD for years with the price on them has just gotten stupid.

The 32x was always super fascinating to me as a Nintendo kid....so much so, that I also bought one recently! It's just a wild idea from a different era.

It’s beautiful. 🥺

I wanted one so bad when I was younger. If ever there was a new old stock cache waiting, it's for this.
- Same, I especially wanted Slam City with Scottie Pippen SO MUCH. "IT'S SO REAL!"

What I don't understand is why they made the 32x at all. Sega should have instead delayed the Sega CD, made it as powerful as the Saturn (except without the excessive complexity), and then release it sometime around 1994-1995. Then cancel the Saturn entirely and tout the Sega CD as a next gen addon for your current console. Sell the addon for $199. Then maybe they would have stood a chance against the Playstation.
- Just scrap the Sega CD and 32x, then release a less powerful Saturn optimized for low cost as both a standalone console and an add-on for the Genesis for a bit less money. They would have done very well.
- The Sega CD had a purpose. The CD quality sound and FMVs were clearly something that couldn't be done on a stock SNES or Genesis. But the 32x... I played one in a Funcoland once and I honestly couldn't tell the difference between it and a normal Genesis game. Some extra superfluous scaling effects that the SNES could do natively and the Genesis could do if you were a clever programmer?

Man i fuckin LOVED my 32x when i was a kid. The playstation was out of our budget so I thought the 32x was the next best thing for 32bit gaming. It had the best console port of MKII, Star Wars was the shit, I played the crap out of Doom, NBA Jam, Virtua Racing, Tempo..
But the following year I traded it all in at Electronics Boutique for a credit towards a playstation lol

I mean why not right? I plan to get one eventually along with a Sega CD. I bought a Saturn a couple years ago and only have 1 game for it still (Virtua Fighter). But I wanted one so I got one. I remember playing one during the national tour they did right before launch back in the day. I think someone I knew growing up had a 32X and a different person had a SCD, but I didn't know anyone that had them both.

because eco the freaking dolphin!!!
- You might be thinking Sega CD, which had re-releases of Ecco, but not the 32X.
  
  since the 32X ist just an addon, he still can plays Eco on his megadrive 😅

It’s important that the genesis looks like a toilet. A 32X is a must.

I think owning this back in the day turned me off console gaming completely. Genesis+Sega CD was lots of fun, I even had the memory cartridge to store more saves.
Then, so many different systems released around the same time, and it was hard to rent and read GamePro and hope you'd pick a good game.

52 comments