THE SEGA GENESIS GOES OUT WITH A BANG

Sega's 32X add on upgrade was released at a strange time. It was only a year ahead of The Saturn and confused a lot of gamers who didn't understand quite what to make of it. That doesn't mean that it is terrible though. In fact, The 32X has some absolutely wonderful games and can enhance the Genesis / Mega Drive in unexpected ways.
The potential that The 32X brought to Sega's aging 16 bit hardware may have never been fully appreciated... but let's take a few moments to give it a little love.
Learn more about The 32X:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32X
www.consoledatabase.com/conso...
cancelled-games.fandom.com/wi...)
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Super Mega Grafx 64 - Retro video game videos and live streams.

[@abcmaya]

I wish the Sega CD came out with the power of the 32x

[@phattieg]

They made 32X Sega CD games that actually used the 32X hardware just like the cartridges.

[@abcmaya]

@@phattieg o... cool!

[@maroon9273]

Atleast the same color pallete as the 32x.

[@abcmaya]

@@OPT227 Yeah. That would've been awesome. O speaking of awesome. Have you seen the new remake of Ghouls N Ghouls by Amaru?

[@abcmaya]

@@OPT227 It's incredibly good. better than the supergrafx version. Right now he is working on the fire part of stage 2.

[@bmx7596]

I thought the 32x was a complete joke. The SVP chip would have been a better idea to push.

[@Shannon-ul5re]

If the Sega CD had a new colour chip built in I don't believe the 32x would have been needed, Sega should have put more resources into game development for the CD system staying away from the FMV crap that appeared. The Saturn was a huge miss step by Sega another 2D system instead of a 3D system like there competition yet there arcades were all 3d power house machines... The Sega CD could have ruled for ages if the games were done right.

[@roberto1519]

The 32X, 3DO and the Jaguar were never fully utilized, being dismissed so early, they could never reach their true potential, the Jaguar didn't receive any Japanese treatment at all and even high profile western games never made into the console, such as the Mortal Kombat games, the Jaguar also suffered the same as lots of Saturn games did in the sense that developers couldn't quite grasp the hardware or simply didn't have time to properly utilize the hardware to meet the release deadlines, so they ended up using the x680xx CPU most of the time and many Amiga and other 2D simple games (European platformers, mostly) didn't look next-gen or simply, couldn't even compete with what was already in the market for years on the Gen/SNES. The 3DO was not only too expensive for its own good, but the idea behind it was to make it the ONE device to rule them all, so people would only need a 3DO to watch movies, listen to music and play games, and it was also suffering from further identity crisis that also plagued the Sega CD, which was FMV content and uncertainty about what the gaming market needed and was going to be in the next few years, only defined in the real 32-bit era. It was a neat a idea on paper to add life for the most successful SEGA console, which basically was toe to toe with the SNES, there were millions of families with a 16-bit Genesis at home, but the far better option would be to totally abandon this idea, meaning the 32X, and just make the Saturn naturally backwards compatible with all Genesis/Mega Drive/Sega CD games, out of the box. The Saturn already has a variant of the x680xx CPU inside, with the proper design and the millions spent on the 32X saved, the Saturn would be a great option to migrate all previous owners of the 16-bit/SCD to the true next gen. In all honesty, though, even the Sega CD shouldn't be released, it did no favors for SEGA in the long run, focusing your best on each true next generation. See why Sony and Nintendo are still there, even though, they also mess up from time to time, they're still there.

[@roberto1519]

@Starynight Hope Actually, the best would be to have an adapter like the Power Base (SMS games on the Genesis), so it could read Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges, SEGA shouldn't even have released the Sega CD, even less the 32X, they would have benefited a lot from saving all money lost in addons, developers and commercials, focusing totally in their true next gen console. What the Saturn needed, or SEGA for that matter, was costumer confidence, they had millions already, but they've messed up. The NES taught a lesson for the ages, bring third parties and make them happy. Lack of focus and desperation led them to what they ended up becoming a few years later. Even Nintendo messed up with their successor, Sony couldn't be happier. Imagine this, you have 40+20 million from Mega Drive/SMS owners to bring on to your next console, make it compatible with the games, at the time, it was totally relevant as people considered they were being ripped off by the lack of compatibility, it became totally clear from the NES to SNES transition, which lacked retrocompatibility. Aside from Sonic Jam, there's also a package featuring Castle of Illusion and Quackshot, the latter being Japan only, every time I see these games at random, it crosses my mind how they messed up by not making the Saturn compatible with the Genesis games from day 1.

[@maroon9273]

@@roberto1519 I wish soa poached for a backward compatibility on the Saturn than the blunder sega cd and 32d add-ons.

[@gilbert3579]

I actually like the concept of the 32x if it was more supported it could've been the coolest thing ever. Having a genesis with the the cd, 32x and the master system attachment! That's practically 3 (more like 2.5) generations of gaming!

[@fungo6631]

Not really. You'd basically get a system on par with the Jaguar CD, probably still a bit worse.

[@viraticwars]

If they had made a 32X CD system then I would have bought it.

[@gilbert3579]

@@viraticwars that's something I've never considered, that would've been cool!

[@EAprima]

I must correct you. Jaguar and the 3DO being the reason for the 32X's existence is incorrect. The reason why the 32X was created was due to Sega America wanted to prolong the life of the Megadrive/Genesis by creating stop-gap between the Megadrive and the Sega Saturn. They did that to prevent losing the megadrive market that they felt would quickly die upon release of the Sega Saturn and the soon to come PS1. Sega was never worried and created the 32X in reaction to the 3DO and Atari Jaguar when they had the Sega Saturn in development and coming out soon after the release of those competitors (Atari's Jaguar & Electronic Arts & co' 3DO was released in '93, and the Sega Saturn was released in '94). Also, the Sega 32X and the Sega Saturn more or less and relatively came out around the same time/period as each other. Other than that everything else you said is fine, especially with the Sega Saturn being incredible in Japan with a super amazing array of games that never came to the West.

[@GodofWarChuka]

Good video! I was big in the SNES and Sega Genesis at the time. I missed out on the Sega CD and 32X, because I bought the 3DO, lol. I wasn’t Rich. Just worked full time. I never owned the Jaguar. Now the Neo Geo was the Rich Man’s Gaming console, if you could find one. But in the past recent years, I bought a 32X, a Japanese Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. Been collecting and having fun with lots of games I never knew existed back then. 👍

[@gamecomparisons]

Man, I love this early mid gen of hardware, 3DO, Jaguar and 32X along with the Sega CD and Turbo/PCE CD. I've got to say I appreciate you sharing your experience of these, rather than just repeating what everything else says online. I love the add ons especially (Turbo CD, Arcade Card, Sega CD, 32X, Jag CD) , I thought they were great back in the day and I still think they are far better than expensive chipped cartridges or the "cell phone" business model of portables and set top boxes today. The bottom line for me back in 1994 was cost per game and the 32X won out as I was mostly interested in Arcade games at home. My family only had an ancient 68020 Mac that couldn't play Doom, much less polygonal games. Much the same as in 1988 when I walked into a specialty electronics shop to play Master System (with 3D Sega Scope glasses and light gun) and NES (with light gun) and walked out with a Master System, it was the games that compelled me. Ultimately I wanted a 3DO and Jaguar also and have collected them since at prices I could afford. The bottom line for me in retrospect, is that SoJ was going to release a new Genesis model with little more than a higher color count on screen had the 32X not been pitched as an alternative. I just cannot see how this would have gone better than an add-on that can do so much more than that, I guess it would have depended on the games. It is because of all of the great games I have played for systems and add ons like these that I will never understand the common internet opines that love to hate anything but AAA games and the biggest, nastiest, most anti-competitive megacorp products.

[@SegaFanatic5188]

Well the one thing to keep in mind with that pitched Genesis with more colors is that it came about because Sega of America at this point had made it clear they didn't want to move on from the Genesis. They convinced Japan that they could be successful still with the Genesis and that the 3DO, Jaguar, and PSX weren't a threat. If anything they felt they just needed just improve it slightly. Sega of Japan offered them a Genesis with more colors, Sega of America countered with the 32X. While the 32X is a nice little add-on with some good games, the reality is they would have been better off not doing it and instead just having Sega of America back the Saturn early on and prepare it for a solid launch. Instead they split their resources and wasted time and developers working on the 32X, when that should have been put into prepping the Saturn for a western launch.

[@maroon9273]

@@SegaFanatic5188 had soa prepared for the Saturn. We would've a lot of cancelled games being release for the Saturn especially eternal champion final chapter.

[@AntonyP1970]

Virtua fighter and racing was worth the admission alone back in the day

[@ThunderHorsePyro]

Being a 32x owner myself since the beginning, and knowing full well of it's history, I must say that it's nice to see a positive review on the 32x and it's games.

[@rustymixer2886]

Better than avgn shooting arrows at it and burning 🔥 it 13 years ago huh 💡

[@ThunderHorsePyro]

@@rustymixer2886 that was good too.

[@GreyMatterShades]

I've often had the thought that if Sega had gone with something that had only a fraction of the capabilities of the 32x but was much cheaper, it could've been successful. Think less like a whole console add-on, and more like a beefier SVP in a Sonic and Knuckles style cart connector for $50. Give the system some 3D capabilities without having to put the SVP into every 3D cart. It would've been faster to bring to market, and probably easier to develop for because it wouldn't have been as complex. I was a SNES kid, so I totally wrote off the 32x at the time, but looking back it was pretty impressive. The timing killed it though. If Sega had put it out earlier instead of the Sega CD, it probably would have been a huge success.

[@maroon9273]

I would rather a beefier svp lock cart than another expensive add-on.

[@NickEnlowe]

Thanks for not crapping on this like so many do. I'm glad you were able to see how cool this system was like when it was released and what it still has to offer. It's a pity it got such a short shelf life and had lazy developers not taking full advantage of the hardware. I still dream of what a 32X RPG would have looked and played like.

[@Sinn0100]

I loved the 32X...and you're right, it had some real bangers. Did you know Castlevania Symphony of The Night was being made for the 32X as an exclusive? I wound up getting a Jaguar while trying to buy a 32X for Doom. The funny part was, I couldn't find a 32X as they were all sold out during that first month they released. I did get mine later and it is amazing.

[@rustymixer2886]

Yes Castlevania 32x and super street fighter 2 turbo etc cancelled

[@Sinn0100]

@@rustymixer2886 I didn't know about Super Street Fighter 2. Well, at least we know what that would have looked and played like (SSF2 for the 3DO but with parallax scrolling). While of course we know what Symphony of The Night is through the Playstation and Saturn; However, it would have been a radically different experience on the 32X. Just by the games size on a Playstation disc 351.02 MB versus I want to say 2 to 4 megs on the 32X. I don't think they got any higher and despite using flipped tiles for the upside down castle I doubt we would have seen that at all had it been a 32X exclusive.

[@ConfusionDistortion]

The big selling point for the Jaguar for a lot of people was Alien vs Predator, Wolfenstein 3d, Tempest 2000, Missile Command 3D, Defender 2000, and Doom. Outside of that, I mean there was some decent titles like Ultra Vortek and the pinball games. But for the most part you got stuck with sketchy ports of titles already on other systems, or 2d and 3d polygon games with low frame rates. Then you look at the 32X, and you got Virtua Fighter, which was still popular even with VF 2 being out on Saturn soon. You also got Star Wars Arcade, T-Mek, Virtua Racing, WrestleMania: The Arcade Game, Space Harrier, Afterburner, Metal Head, Mortal Kombat II, one of the best ports of NBA Jam TE, Kolibri, Tempo, the best version of Blackthorne, Shadow Squadron, Starfleet Academy, and a decent Doom that didn't leave you feeling left out. And as of now with the homebrew scene fixing Doom on 32X, making it far superior to the Jaguar version that Id themselves had handled, that pretty much completely puts the 32X over the Jaguar in my eyes. It handled 3d titles better and just has a better library in general.

[@EatingCtrlV]

Hell ya, it's Saturn time! I can't wait for this one!

[@STORAGEROOMGAMES]

I love my 32x, chaotix, doom, Star Wars, mk2! And now an upgraded doom! Such a great and underrated console. Id love to see an mk3 rom hack for the 32x or any new game. Great video!

[@silverwings21]

Cyrus, is that you? I'm currently trying to beat every US 32X game; I'm halfway through the 36-game library.

[@supermegagrafx64]

Oh nice! Yeah dude its me. Good to see you here

[@silverwings21]

@@supermegagrafx64 It's been a while.

[@zekb6382]

I just discovered your channel, love your content.

[@ThomasBryant]

I loved my 32x actually. I feel like blackthorn was my favorite. I loved Virtua Fighter as well

[@supermegagrafx64]

Oh man Blackthorn on 32X is badass. The improved color pallet alone makes such a difference.

[@ThomasBryant]

@@supermegagrafx64 totally agree!

[@RyanRightN0w]

Cool channel! Reminds me of the old days!

[@JD.78]

I emulate the 32X on my phone and i absolutely love the quality of the games it has to offer. I have After Burner Complete, Doom, Star Wars Arcade, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racer Deluxe, Space Harrier, Darxide, Blackthorne and more... Great emulation too, loads of fun. Excellent video, cheers.

[@malcolmar]

Great job. I Used to own the 32X back in the day, sold it, and bought it again. I love my Voltron of video game systems which is the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, 32X combo. A cartridge-based, 32-bit video game system without the limitations of the small amounts of ram on the early CD-based 32-bit system could have been an amazing thing if Sega had better leadership and less infighting. The 32X could have been home for Sega's great 32-bit arcade games, most of which still never made it to a home console. I just bought a repro cart of Doom Resurrection and I can't wait to play it on actual hardware. If a third-party developer wanted to make some quality new 32X games I would be on board. They could even cut their losses and sell them on Steam. I know myself, and many others would still buy the carts for the 32X to really enjoy what the little mushroom was really capable of. Keep up the great work!

[@malcolmar]

@Starynight Hope I got my game from crebbatech. They have Doom Resurrection v2.2b on cart.

[@dad7275]

I bought one originally at around launch and chose Virtra Racing Deluxe and enjoyed it many hours! It was great! Me and my brother in law at the time played really hard beating each others best time on Big Forest and man that was competitive playing! Great times. Wish I was that good now lol.

[@Wildsamsquanch7]

Great work, I like your approach to this video! New Subscriber here. 😁

[@mnomic8371]

Great video! Back in the day I had the Genesis (or Megadrive where I’m from) and I loved it. When I heard about the 32X I was so excited but unfortunately couldn’t afford one at the time. I always wanted one and would drool over magazine screenshots and demos in the store. Star Wars Arcade was one of the titles that grabbed my attention, it looked amazing at the time. I believe the 32X came out for those people that had the Genesis but maybe could not afford the Saturn, or they didn’t want to ditch their beloved Genesis yet; the 32X was the interim method to play boosted games. I just wish I could’ve owned one!

[@sethmartin2588]

I had a genesis model 1 and got a 32X at launch and I was vary happy with the add-on I didn't have a sega CD one of my friends did with a model 2 genesis and we put are add-ons together on my model 1 and all I kept thinking was how combined power and hardware if properly used and developed for would be all we needed for the next generation sega had us covered and I even thought if sega had a bundle package with the CD&32X for like $200 or 250 and backed by the excellence of the genesis reputation Then atari and Sony and Nintendo and all the other companies wouldn't have a chance I was so convinced for the future of sega tower of power I never bought a new console until sega dropped support for all 3 of them. Then I finally got a Playstation because at that time the Saturn was dead in the US. I felt then and to this vary day that the potential of the tower of power station was so underutilized and miss managed to the vary demise of sega itself I love sega for what thay did Bring to my life as a gamer and will always cherish the time with the consoles. RIP sega tower of power station 🫡🫡🫡🫡🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Doom Resurrection is what 32X owners could have had, if Sega wasn't in such a hurry.

[@rustymixer2886]

I play it on my Flashback 2018, yes at games made a A+ console with great sound and no lag

[@brovid-19]

Bubgus

[@cmr2079]

Sega was badly miss managed. They had a 48% market share and pissed it away with crap like this. They were always trying to follow the coat tails of their competition instead of just doing what was best for Sega and their customers. That said, the 32x was cool, but it had terrible release timing. It should have been canceled as soon as the Saturn's release was announced.

[@maroon9273]

Later sega nearly bankrupt themselves and discontinued being hardware company due add-ons and mismanagement.

[@MaxAbramson3]

The SVP lock on carT was going to reel retail for $49.95 and couldve been released for Christmas of 1993.. Using the genesis VDP comma it would played at 60 frames PER second (Ainsteaf of 30), and it was capable of rendering 20,000 polygons per second.

[@AgeofReason]

Sega definitely kept the research and development team working. They put out really cool add-ons. I was not in the Sega camp back then but had a buddy who was.

[@Infinitrium]

32X is Sega's Xbox Series S, Saturn is Sega's Xbox Series X. It really could have worked if Sega's financials were better and their 2 CEOs worked together instead of fighting amongst themselves.

[@TheDunbartxeen]

Ah well nice analogy, but even if they really tried to make it work both systems where just too different. It was more like the Series S would be a GPU Addon for Xbox360. The 32X and Saturn where still too different system wise. Most 32X games use cartridges and not CD. Therefore it never could work as the intended bridge to Sega Saturn. Also i think it was never properly advertised as one, neither to players ot programmers. Also it just was too late in the market also considering project cycles for games. Good idea, badly executed.

[@djutmose]

Great video love these discussions of old hardware. I seem to remember that 32X port of Virtua Fighter took forever to come out. I wanted a 32X for Virtua Fighter as that was the only fighting game I was decent at, loved playing Sarah in the arcade... but by the time it came out I already had a PlayStation (and the Saturn version of VF had been out a while). 32X just didn't seem to be a priority for Sega of Japan, maybe that's why.

[@maroon9273]

32x was a high priory to Japan at first and once the saturn hit the market in Japan they changed. Which doomed the company years to come with poor management due to the two add-ons.

[@illusioncity]

Nomad should have had the 32x built in.

[@supermegagrafx64]

oh man that would have been crazy.

[@gilbert3579]

I can't help but wonder how cool it would've been to be a Sega fan back then. I didn't get into gaming until the early 2000s and missed all these cool consoles. I feel like Sega had good ideas but bad timing and poor logistics. Gaming historian and Sega lord x have some interesting takes on the 32x

[@robmason5799]

I bought one at caldor for 25.00. Then I managed to get a ton of titles for nothing back in the day. If you were an arcade fan then the 32x was perfect for you. This system was the best ports for arcades at the time Wwf arcade, primal rage, nba jam, space harrier, after burner, Star Wars, glad I still have mine

[@dallase1]

The Dreamcast was "The Best System ever made". The Saturn did not have very good 3-D Graphics and was more of 2-D power house.

[@klasicktha1]

It was amazing!!! I wish it would've been around longer because it was such a powerful console

[@y0gafire]

dreamcast deserved to live!! still sad how it went out. even after all these years. n how sega left hardware. n sega saturn was a beast. its just it was too complicated to program for. it was a capable system tho. sad it was never realized. some 3d stuff on that saturn is cool like radiant silvergun n nights n the neat sonic jam hub world which was a proto for adventures...

[@supermegagrafx64]

Dreamcast is absolutely amazing. No question. So much potential and so many fantastic games.

[@roberto1519]

People bought this idea all over the internet for so many years, and comments like "Saturn was a 2D power house" is still ON, it seems ignorance is really contagious. And quite frankly, it got old YEARS ago. The Saturn is not only made for 3D, like the PS1 and the N64 are, but it's quite capable of being even more competent in many aspects. The N64 could barely run anything past 20FPS and was released way after the PS/SAT, and I hardly read comments like "the N64 wasn't properly designed for 3D", which in fact, it wasn't. The PS1 is an amazing console even for 2D gaming as well, the only and main limitation being the 1Mb of RAM, otherwise it would be toe to toe with the Saturn, in case you could add extra RAM to it. SEGA was becoming a 3D gaming company since the early 90's and there's absolutely no way their next console would be a "2D powerhouse". I mean, unless people keeps buying this idea which was probably born in an already defunct blog from decades ago. Sad thing is, most people didn't even own the console, never played most of its exclusives, tailored made games for the console, and keep repeating the same things over and over. Did you know that ports usually end up bad in the other console, for instance, did you know that Grandia and Thunder Force V are inferior products on the PS1, since the original projects were for the Saturn? Same goes for ports from other consoles to the Saturn or Gen to SNES or vice-versa, with rare cases where the port sometimes received the proper treatment and ended up on par or with some enhancements here and there. The PS3 was a real nightmare to develop for, even more so than the Saturn, and you can read developers saying it was hell to make even a pixel show up in that hardware. But the market of 2006 onwards was much more solid and Sony has basically infinite money compared to what SEGA had in the late 90's, that's why they pushed it until it succeeded. A console can only live from a company with a strong spine, same happened to the N64 due to its bad design, hardware-wise and the use of cartridges (GC too, Mini Disc), but Nintendo pushed them until they could.

[@dtester]

Ah, echoes of the old video game magazines of the past. The Saturn had good 3D for it's time. Maybe it wasn't the easiest to achieve or the best at it, but you could get pretty great results as shown in the great polygon games that did come out.

[@rustymixer2886]

Virtua fighter, virtua racing deluxe, doom resurrection, star wars arcade, darkxide soul star or shadow squad , MK2, afterburner, space harrier, metalhead, kolibri or knuckles are great and cancelled ssf2turbo and Castlevania 32x etc would be great too

[@zac9181]

It literally went out with a bang!

[@gilbertonascimento8008]

Dude, great video, but your Virtua Racing footage is from the Saturn version. EDIT: My bad, watching again I realized that is indeed the 32x version. It runs much smoother than I remembered.

[@SIPEROTH]

Nope is not. That is 32x.

[@bitset3741]

Yeah, Virtua Racing Deluxe really was that good.

[@roberthornibrook6344]

I have always believed the games on the 32x should have been able to be played on the Saturn via the cart port.

[@mkultrapolis]

I remember that when I bought my 32X, I redeemed my serial to sega in order to get a free copy of DOOM by mail (in canada), it worked ! I

[@supermegagrafx64]

Wow I didnt know they gave away a free copy. Thats cool man.

[@SIPEROTH]

Got mine in a box for some years now since emulation took over and before that i didn't have a place to set all my gaming stuff. Maybe i should pull the old mushroom out and see if it still works.

[@RWL2012]

it will probably work but with coil whine

[@SIPEROTH]

@@RWL2012 That is an issue with them? Anyway if it works that is good enough i guess.

[@joseavalos9988]

32X was a fine system, but it was too little too late, or just too late.

[@MoonScythe1]

In my opinion, the Sega Saturn was just too early.

[@skeggjoldgunnr3167]

I'm a lifetime Sega fanboy from the start to the bitter end starting with the Mark III. I had also the entire NEC PC Engine Duo /RX, Supergrafx, PCFX...I had the Neo-Geo and the Jaguar and Jaguar CD and the Catbox and Wells Gardner 33" RGB monitor. Sure, I went on to get the Saturn and Dreamcast. But when I put the 32X atop my gen 1 Genesis and Sega CD: The games left me feeling particularly taken for granted. Especially with the 32X CD game titles. Sewer Shark and night Trap didn't work on Sega CD. So let's DO IT AGAIN!!! YEAH!! Fool me once, sega. I started investing in Neo-Geo and PC Engine CD Japanese imports more at that point. I bought only the Treasure games and a few MUST have titles for Sega after that. I threw away that 32X - games and all.

[@TopRetroGames]

Super

[@rustymixer2886]

16:47 Biggest mistake ever, Sega Japan 🪓 axed Sega USA Neptune release !

[@williamoverton7775]

back when me: CD on PC beats CD-I and 3D0

[@hueyh5637]

Don’t know why Sega felt like they had to compete with the jaguar, I never met a person in my life that owns or even seen a jaguar. Sega of America must have been under bad management. Love the video btw

[@JGarrison51285]

My best friend owned one he collected alot of the classic systems. Dating back to the Atari 2600

[@MoonScythe1]

That is not entirely accurate. Sega of Japan has a lot more to blame here. It was them who saw the Jaguar as a threat, not Sega of America. They wanted to work on a immediate competitor to it, which would later become the Sega Saturn. Sega of America was completely against the idea of a new console to replace the Genesis/Mega Drive. The Genesis was very successful in the US, and they saw no reason to replace it. But they brought the idea to SOJ that if all they wanted was a system that can display "more colors", that it would be easier, and cheaper to create an add-on for the Genesis since many already owned a one. The idea did make some sense for the time. SOJ gave SOA the green light to do this, but were told that they had to use the SH-2 processors, obviously because they were already using this processor for the Saturn. The problem, is that SOJ continued with the development of the Saturn with the intention of releasing it in late 1994. SOA was not aware of this. SOJ essentially forced both the 32X and Saturn to compete against each other. Like the author of this video stated. Their were big issues at Sega internally. They were always competing among themselves, which caused their eventual downfall. But make no mistake, Sega of Japan always had the final say of what Sega of America can and can not do.

[@gpturismo]

It's sad we won't see alot of games that were started for the 32x, including possible capcom fighters as sega cut support so soon. The neptune was possibly going to replace the Genesis in stores as both systems combined. Also remember originally they were thinking of making the memory cart on the Saturn to be backwards compatible. Unfortunately that fell through as they realized they messed up and not focused on 3D enough. (ps I played the mess out of metal head, virtual racing and star wars on that thing.)

[@mrfake675]

A bang that further eroded Segas reputation. How they bungled things post Genesis is legendary....and I love Sega.

[@rustymixer2886]

16:47 please china 😆 release this shell and put the at games flashback 2018 SD console boards inside

[@brovid-19]

I rhought darxide was a homebrew

[@stevenr224]

I wanted the 32x, but waited for the Saturn. Out of a business point of view it was a bad idea from Sega. Focus on the Saturn and bring those games to the start of the Saturn could have changed the outcome of Sega.

[@rustymixer2886]

Because Sega Japan Saturn vs Sega USA 32x that was prob

[@TheRealDustinNunn]

Actually, the Sega Genesis was around since 1988 in Japan and the Genesis came to the USA and other countries later on in 1989, 1990 and 1994. The Genesis is never complete without the Sega CD and Sega 32X add-ons.

[@erikkarsies4851]

It sold 5 times as much as the Atari Jaguar!

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

They must have sold only 1 Jaguar

[@rustymixer2886]

I don't think any 32x game had 10,000 to 30,000 colors on screen

[@MoonScythe1]

This is true. This is because most games used the Genesis VDP for backgrounds, which as we all know, only displays 61-64 colors on screen. Very few games utilizes the 32X VDP, which is the chip that has 32,768 colors. Kolibri is one of the games, and it's quite noticeable. Still, you're not going to notice thousands of colors. It's mostly nicer color gradients.

[@rustymixer2886]

@@MoonScythe1 ahhh also why are most 32x games capped at 30fps?

[@MoonScythe1]

@@rustymixer2886 It's a long answer, but here it goes. Every game that utilizes the 32X hardware for graphics is programmed via software. The 32X does NOT have a dedicated graphics chip for 2D/3D games. The 32X VDP chip is used for colors, to hold the first and next frame to be displayed onscreen (dual frame buffers) and display resolution. Everything else, polygons, sprites, rotation and scaling effects, textures and so on, are done via software with the SH-2s. With that in mind, the SH-2s also has to handle the game logic, physics, AI, controller input and audio. That is a lot of tasks. A developer is never going to have 100% utilization for graphics on these CPUs. This is mainly why most 3D games are 20 to 24 fps on the system among other reasons. This is also why devs try to use the Genesis VDP whenever possible. this help free up the SH2s from certain tasks. The Genesis VDP is mostly used for bitmap backgrounds and huds as well as static sprites for 3D games, while the SH-2s handle the rest. It's a similar situation for 2D games. The SH-2s are used for sprites (Mortal Kombat 2, Knuckles Kaotix, Primal Rage for example), while the backgrounds are done on the Genesis VDP. This is because the SH-2s can handle sprites fine (Look at After Burner and Space Harrier), but it is not good at dealing with background planes. Quite a bit of clever programming is required to get those chips to do background planes at reasonable framerates. The only game that I can think of that accomplished this is Kolibri (but notice how that games have small sprites and backgrounds are mostly static). A good example of a game that uses the SH2s for backgrounds, but you can definitely notice the struggle is Brutal Paws of Fury. The backgrounds are beautiful, but the frame rate is garbage. Meanwhile, the Genesis VDP is used for sprites on this game, which frees up the SH2 to handle backgrounds, and still it struggles. With all that said, I think that if the 32X was allowed to mature, we could have seen more impressive looking and performing titles. The one advantage the 32X had was that because almost everything is done via software, it could do effects like gouraud shading and lighting. Here's a video showing the 32X tech demo. Sorry this was long, but I hope it helped answering your question. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4bKcqylib-am5Y

[@rustymixer2886]

@@MoonScythe1 it did help I noticed in 1996 the 32x did virtua fighter characters but Genesis did backgrounds which blew my mind cuz they were very colorful and Genesis did most audio. (I think my connection cable wasn't plug in and I noticed it) . I like the 30fps space harrier and afterburner but why couldn't it get to 60 as Genesis is 60 fps and 32x is 30fps could we have got 45fps or something? I didn't know 32x had 2 sh2 chips but no cpu I know motherboard says mars 😆 but if Sega CD moto is 11hz Genesis moto is 7hz why no moto chip in 32x

[@MoonScythe1]

@@rustymixer2886 The SH2s are the CPUs. It's just that they are used for almost everything. What the 32X lacks is a fully dedicated graphics processor. The 32X does use the Genesis 68000 (or Sega CDs if playing a Sega CD 32X title), but these chips are used as controller/manager processors. They cannot be used for actual game logic for 32X games. As for why Afterburner and Space Harrier is 30fps vs 60fps, I believe that has more to do with the fact that they are first generation titles than hardware limitations. I'm sure that with more time and improved development kits, the 32X could have achieved 60fps on those two titles. It's true that these games are 60 fps on the Genesis, but because of how superior the superscaler sprite emulation is on the 32X, they are still far superior to the Genesis version. Also, the reason backgrounds were more colorful when using the Genesis VDP, is because it did not have to share colors with sprites. The entirety of on-screen colors was used solely for the backgrounds.

[@pipikakachu]

I think it shows that the Genesis was inferior to the snes in the eyes of people without technical knowledge. Devs weren’t utilizing the Genesis to the best of it’s capabilities.

[@johneygd]

I personally don’t care about the 32X at all,most games on it were already also on the genesis,why would you pay twice for the same games you already own? Yes some games did show some impressive visuals on it but that’s it,but what it needed were more original 3D games for it,but even so,i consider the 32X just cheating since it uses it’s own av cable,that’s not how you should upgrade your hardware, If i want,could stiff a gforce card on top of a magnovox odyssey with it’s own av out and then claim it to be the most powerful system,but that would be just a false claim and unfair, Also if sega released the neptune and not the saturn,i guess the neptune would,ve ended up far more worse then the N64 and sega saturn because of it’s low capacity cartride system,even if you could expand the neptune with the mega CD to increase it’s capacity,it definitely would,ve confused alot of consumers and game companies at what what and how to do with it,so it was a very wise decission from sega to move over to the sega saturn.

[@ridiculous_gaming]

I was a 3DO owner at the time, but think many titles on the 32X could have been done almost as well on the Sega CD with proper TLC. I think Star Wars on this add on was and is still impressive even though it had to pump though the Genesis limited bus. It's sad that Sega Japan's envy of Sega US boot kicked the 32X and later Sega.

[@abcmaya]

32,000 simultaneous colors onscreen. The genesis can only do 64 which is the reason why I hated that system.

[@malcolmar]

Even 64 colors in the right hands could look great. All the Sonic games looked amazing and Soul Star on the Sega CD still looks great. With that said, the jump to 32,000 colors is pretty amazing.

[@maroon9273]

@@malcolmar All depends on the developers

[@maroon9273]

Sega did a horrible job during this period after failing with the sega cd year and two. 32x was a bandaid idea which led to the downfall of the saturn, dreamcast and the company as well. A backward compatible hardware or adapter for the saturn are better options.

[@rustymixer2886]

How is a 3 to 6 million sold cd add on a failure? 6 million x $300 that's 2 billion in revenue plus now add CD games it brought in 3 billion...yeah...so...

[@MoonScythe1]

@@rustymixer2886 Exactly. I always cringe when someone calls the Sega CD a failure. For an add-on, an expensive one at that, it did quite well.

[@rustymixer2886]

@@MoonScythe1 exactly it's the highest add on ever sold besides Kinect

[@StormsparkPegasus]

Unfortunately there is no way to actually use a 32X with a modern display. The thing is designed to be a composite video pass-through, so not only does it have crap output quality, it also trashes the Genesis output quality. Even things like the Analogue Mega SG suffer from this if you try to use a 32X. So until someone makes an FPGA implementation, the only way to actualy play 32X games with decent quality is emulation.

[@supermegagrafx64]

I use my HD Retrovision component cables on my 32x and it seems to output a good quality RGB signal. Thats what my footage was captured with in this video.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@supermegagrafx64 Does that require some kind of mod? I didn't think the 32X could handle anything beyond composite (though it might be able to do S-video, I'm not sure there).

[@supermegagrafx64]

@@StormsparkPegasus No it supports native RGB. The Genesis is also RGB through the pass through cable. Genesis and 32x dont do svideo without a mod though. Im not sure where you are hearing about this composite only thing. As you can see in my video this is not the case.

[@gamecomparisons]

My standard Genesis 2 cables, my cheapo RGP SCART to Component adapter, and my HD Retrovision cables work fine on my 55" Plasma and 40" LCD screens. I have zero intent to ever move on to a newer screen. If I did, part of the cost consideration would be whatever converter for composite, S-Video and Component I could find at the time. I am already resigned to giving up on keeping these good old consoles and their add ons hooked up at that point.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@gamecomparisons Yeah, RGB is definitely a step up from the other things. But my displays (and in fact my entire A/V system) don't support component or any other analog signals. I just had no desire to stick with old technology just to hook up consoles, when I can play their games via emulation if I want to.

[@ByGeorge846]

Respectfully, you speak with the cadence of the black kid in the wheelchair from Malcolm in the Middle. The Genesis... has been... around... since.... 1989... and.... also released... the Sega... CD... to moderate... fanfare.

[@Bronxguyanese]

It really sucked that Sega needed Sega cd and sega 32x to compete with the snes. The snes was able to push ps1 like graphics in the by mid 90s. Genesis was a dude by 1995. Genesis was only good for madden and nba live games from EA. Sega saturn flopped in the United States upon release.

[@y0gafire]

but saturn continued to thrive in japan.... interesting.

[@viraticwars]

SNES was pushing hard in the end with new chip sets in the carts, expensive chips. Genesis needed life support with a mushroom and a CD player. If Nintendo hadn't burned Sony then the Sony Nintendo would have released with CD support. History wasn't cut and dry "SNES was better than Genesis" there were many factors at play. Genesis was weaker but had come out three years prior to SNES so naturally the Nintendo system would have better chips and the Fact the Genesis could compete at all is impressive.

[@roberto1519]

That was not the case, they weren't competing with another 16-bit console, their desperation was from the Jaguar and 3DO, SEGA even feared the Jaguar could be a threat to the Saturn, they rushed the console as soon as they could to at least get released prior to the upcoming PS. Since they learned that one of the reasons the Genesis was successful is to become the first strong hardware in the market, making them almost defeat Nintendo, they thought it would work with the Sega-CD, 32X and rushing the Saturn, we know that this isn't the case. People didn't even bother with the Dreamcast, those who owned a PS1 just had to wait for the much more promising PS2 to arrive. Sony wasn't concerned about bringing the PS2 as soon as they could, as they know that a happy costumer comes back to their favorite brand, SEGA never really understood that.

[@Bronxguyanese]

@@y0gafire this is one of the things I never understood is why Genesis was not successful in Japan, but was a mega hit in the United States, but the saturn was a hit in Japan, but a flop on the United States.

[@Bronxguyanese]

@@roberto1519 Sega almost killed Nintendo in the United States. Genesis outsold the snes until the mid 90s when Genesis showed its age. Genesis could not even do a game like Street fighter alpha 2.