Sega Genesis 32X, Failure or Bold Experiment?
In 1994, Sega released an add-on upgrade to the Sega Genesis called the 32X. This was done mainly to keep people from purchasing the existing new consoles of the Atari Jaguar and to a lesser extent the 3DO. Although Sega wouldn’t admit it at the time, it was also put on the market to satiate the public for a cheaper option than their upcoming Saturn. The Sega Saturn would come to the market a year later at $399. Sega released the 32X for $159 and included a game. The 32X would add the capabilities of processing flat-shaded polygons, texture mapping (the processing of putting a 2D image on a flat-shaded polygon to create a more detailed image) Sprite scaling and rotation (done at the software level), a vastly increased color palette (32768 simultaneous colors vs. 64 simultaneous out of 512 on the stand-alone Sega Genesis), and 2 additional sound channels, which finally allowed for consistently good speech vs. the stand-alone Genesis.
Many people view the Sega 32X as a colossal failure. I would agree from a sales standpoint, as it failed to sell even ½ Million units. Despite Sega’s pleas to the contrary, it was obvious that it was a stopgap measure. Many games that were released were only minor upgrades to the existing Genesis games, putting them more on par with the Super Nintendo from a graphical perspective. However; looking back, the system upgrade had a handful of decent to good games.
Back in 1994, I was a poor college student that could not afford a computer but had enough money to get one of the inexpensive options for a more powerful system. I had a strong desire to play the game Doom at home. My only options were to wait for a version on the true 32 bit next-gen systems, which were a year away. Or I could get the Atari Jaguar or Sega 32X. After much deliberation, I decided to get the 32X, since they offered a package that came with Doom, and it was a little cheaper than getting a Jaguar with a separate purchase of Doom.
I was not disappointed in my purchase, as it cost $150 for the full package. I played Doom for weeks on end, enjoying every minute. Sure, the PC version destroys the 32X version, but I was a happy camper with what I had.
This brings me to my next point. 32X was never going to compete with the Playstations or Sega Saturns of the world, but it was a great alternative to paying $100 a game for more advanced graphics (as Sega did with Virtua Racing with the SVP chip installed inside the cartridge). It was also a great alternative at the time to paying over one thousand dollars for a computer.
The Sega 32X should have been marketed as an overall cheaper alternative to adding expensive chips to each cartridge, with better results. Viewed in this light, the 32X has more appeal. History may look down on the little add-on that couldn’t, but in my eyes, it was a worthy addition. Below are some of the games that were worth owning for the 32X
Doom: Although it was not as many levels as the original computer, and the Jaguar version was superior in almost every way (enemies viewable from the side, bigger screen, more levels) the 32X version did have music. Some people say the music was poor, but I liked it very much. The sound effects were right on point. Most importantly, the game played very well with a decent frame rate.
Virtua Racing Deluxe: This was a much better version than the expensive Genesis version. I think that it was the best version of the game available, beating out even the Sega Saturn version.
Knuckles Chaotix: Yes this game was like playing Sonic on Acid, but it was still fun once you got past the rubber band mechanic. Great music and a cool 3D bonus level.
Space Harrier: almost arcade perfect Space Harrier. Nuff said.
Mortal Kombat II: I still preferred the SNES version due to the superior overall sound in that version, and my preference to use the SNES controller for that game. But the graphics were much better here (mostly due to being bigger). This version had the advantage over the Playstation and Sega Saturn versions of having no loading times for the morphing of the character Shang Tsung.
Shadow Squadron: Superior to Star Wars Arcade, an impressive display of many flat-shaded polygons moving around.
Virtua Fighter: Superior to the rushed Sega Saturn version in many ways. Perhaps the showcase for the system’s existence came out a bit too late in the life cycle of the 32X. Very nice voice samples.
NBA Jam Tournament Edition: One of the best versions of the game, mostly due to better graphics and scaling of the players.
Blackthorne: Imagine Prince of Persia with a big shotgun and aliens, and you pretty much have Blackthorne. Nice graphics and sound. Superior to the SNES version in every way.
