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Any former Atari Jaguar owners out there?
- Thread starter Zerostatic
- Start date
pyros
Member
yeah i still have mine, imported it almost on day one, jag and cd unit
like everyone didn't like the controller, but the games were not bad for it's time
Iron Soldier
Power Drive Rally- my favorite
Alien vs. Predator
Tempest 2000
Evolution: Dino Dudes
Blue Lightning- came with the cd, i think
Highlander
now look at what you made me do, looks like jag games tonight, hope it still works
like everyone didn't like the controller, but the games were not bad for it's time
Iron Soldier
Power Drive Rally- my favorite
Alien vs. Predator
Tempest 2000
Evolution: Dino Dudes
Blue Lightning- came with the cd, i think
Highlander
now look at what you made me do, looks like jag games tonight, hope it still works
Funny how no one mentions Jaguar's best game - Battlesphere. Excellent AI, 32 players over the network - it was way ahead of its time.
Other recommendations:
Protector SE - better than Defender 2000
Gorf Classic
Missile Command 3d
Highlander
Tempest 2000
Rayman
Wolfeinstein/Doom
Black Ice White Noise (extremely rare, only a prototype, no commercial release iirc)
Iron Soldier 1/2
Other recommendations:
Protector SE - better than Defender 2000
Gorf Classic
Missile Command 3d
Highlander
Tempest 2000
Rayman
Wolfeinstein/Doom
Black Ice White Noise (extremely rare, only a prototype, no commercial release iirc)
Iron Soldier 1/2
A Black Falcon
Member
EternalGamer said:
The Jaguar does have a couple of good games, but better than the Sega Master System and Sega CD? No way! Those platforms are actually pretty good and had far, far more good games than the Jaguar. Sure Tempest 2000 is amazing, but beyond that the list drops off fast... with the Sega CD you can list a couple dozen good games, no problem. And while I didn't play it more than a couple of times, just looking at a list of 3DO games makes it clear which one has the better lineup...
Virtual Boy though, that's harder. It had under 20 games released total, worldwide... with such a miniscule library, it has to be ranked low, even though many of the games are worth playing. The CD-i is clearly a horrible platform. Same goes for the Amiga CD32, I believe... know less about that one, but didn't it have a ridiculously small number of game releases?
Anyway, the Jaguar. I never bought one... I remember seeing them for really cheap in Kay-Bee at some point when the system was dying, with several games packed in, but I didn't get it, knowing that it was dead and finding more games would be impossible. Still, I have played Tempest 2000, which is of course is really amazing. Tempest X3 for PSX is okay, but not as good as the original...
Izzy said:
I'd assume that that's because of when it came out, and how much it cost (or costs now)...
Two points:Izzy said:
1. I'll never forgive them for the way they sold it. I had my name on their web-based buyer's list for years. When the game was finished they figured the list was too old and announced the game was for sale in a few places and by the time many old-time Jag folks had heard about it the news had hit Slashdot and speculators had bought up all the spots on the NEW list.
Dumb and inexcusable. It still makes my blood boil.
2. That said, I got very, very lucky and a kind gentleman in Georgia bought two copies and sold me his second at cost. (He apparently needed the cash, and didn't need to make a profit.) I played the game extensively. It was ok. Seriously, it was a technical achievement, but not any great game by any stretch. I thought Iron Soldier and Tempest 2000 were both better as games.
British Monsoon
Member
Still got my Jag kicking around somewhere, only really kept it to play Aliens vs Predator from time to time, and to laugh and how disgracefully bad Kasumi Ninja is;
Donkey Thong
Member
GDGF said:I couldn't connect the dot
I didn't find the elephant.
Have you played the Jag version?
I'd imagine it looks the same as the PSX, Saturn and PC versions (I originally owned it on the PC, but eventually picked up the PSX version). I'd imagine the Jag version is completely lacking the absolutely beautiful redbook audio soundtrack. That alone would hurt the game, I'd think.
I believe the PC version was the first version of the game released as well.
Where on earth did you get the idea that the Sega CD, 3DO, and Master System were inferior?!? Those three systems run circles around the Jag.
EternalGamer
Banned
dark10x said:
I may have over extended myself with the Sega CD, that system was a slow burn and eventually had a decent lineup. But I stand by the others. There were about six or seven absolutely fantastic games for the Jaguar (AvP, Tempest, Wolfenstein, Doom, Cybermorph, etc.). I can't say that I ever found that many titles worthwhile on the 3D0 that I couldn't find in better form elsewhere (many were converted to superior Saturn and PSX games). Ditto for Mastersystem (only with NES and Genesis conversions).
You are including ports on that Jag list (with both Wolf and Doom also available on 3DO).EternalGamer said:
3DO offered games such as PO-ed, Need for Speed, FIFA (incredible version for its time), Road Rash, Star Fighter, GEX, Return Fire, Policenauts, etc.
If you include ports, the list goes through the roof.
As for Master System, there were loads of games that were superior to anything else available at home on a console...
Wonderboy in Monsterland
Ghostbusters
R-Type
Double Dragon
Shinobi
RC Grand Prix
Phantasy Star
Miracle Warriors
Golvellius
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Out Run
Reggie Jackson's Baseball
Rastan
Spellcaster
Zillon 2: Tri-Formation
...and plenty more.
EternalGamer
Banned
Yeah, but I included those ports because, as I discussed in a bit more detail in my earlier post, I consider them the best version of those games on consoles. Whereas most of the good 3D0 games (including almost all of the ones you listed: PO'ed, Gex, Need for Speed, Road Rash, and Return Fire) had superior versions on the Playstation.
Yes, but that took time.EternalGamer said:
3DO was available prior to PSX, you know. I don't think I could agree with you on Doom either. The PC is king in that regard (especially today with things like jDoom). Wolf 3D was already dated as hell in the Jag days.
EternalGamer
Banned
dark10x said:
I could be wrong, but if I remember right, most of those games showed up on the Playstation within its first year, which made them roughly contemporary to the 3D0 versions. As for the Jag Doom, it is partially the limitations on save states that I think makes it a more balanced and challenging game, whether or not that was intended.
I bought a Jaguar at release. It's one of the reasons I don't buy most systems at release anymore. Not that I didn't enjoy the few games that came out for it, but it just died off really fast. Tempest 2000 is still one of my favorite games of all time, and I had a lot of fun with Alien Vs. Predator and Cybermorph. Nothing else I played really sticks in my memory though.
Then again - if the releases had kept coming - I wouldn't have been able to play them. My buddy borrowed my system and forgot the power adapter. He found a generic power adapter that fit and used that - flipping the polarity while the system was "on". Fried the chips up real good.
If anybody has a working Jaguar they want to part with, I may be interested. I really do love Tempest 2000.
Then again - if the releases had kept coming - I wouldn't have been able to play them. My buddy borrowed my system and forgot the power adapter. He found a generic power adapter that fit and used that - flipping the polarity while the system was "on". Fried the chips up real good.
If anybody has a working Jaguar they want to part with, I may be interested. I really do love Tempest 2000.
EternalGamer
Banned
djtiesto said:
Well, I always wanted to try Battlemorph as Cybermorph was amazing. Unfortunately, I fear that if I did come acrossed it now it wouldn't hold up.
Battlemorph was vastly superior to Cybermorph. On the other hand, you're right, it wouldn't have the same charm today. I also enjoyed Hover Strike on the CD much more than on a cartridge. The framerate was much better, but anything was an improvement over the cartridge's abysmal rate.EternalGamer said:
Rayman had smoother animation on the Jag, and had more screen transitions than the PSX or the Saturn (which also had a few more transitions than the PSX). However, the sound effects were the same as the Saturn and PSX, and it had PCM audio that was definitely enhanced when it made the redbook jump on the 32bit systems.
No one really talks about Battlesphere or Protector, because... well... NO ONE HAS THEM. And the price that one would have to pay to get one now? I'd rather get a Neo Geo game.
STRONGLY DISAGREE. Yes, many of the games on 3DO that were good were also on other systems, but that doesn't mean that they weren't good on 3DO. Unless you had a Neo Geo, Samurai Shodown on the 3DO was the best port available. At the time, there was no better version of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo unless you had Capcom's CPS2 arcade hardware. Need for Speed's vehicles had a sense weight and well.... speed, that was just not the same on the Playstation (at least, not until Hot Pursuit). I'd like to see how Return Fire is better on PSX. It plays the same to me, plus the 3DO has the Maps o Death. Add in exclusive games like Lucienne's Quest, Blade Force, and Captain Quazar, and the Jag can't hold a candle. The Sega CD outdoes the Jag in more entertaining software as well. The Lunar games, Sonic CD, and Snatcher alone puts that system on par with the Jaguar.
No one really talks about Battlesphere or Protector, because... well... NO ONE HAS THEM. And the price that one would have to pay to get one now? I'd rather get a Neo Geo game.
EternalGamer said:
STRONGLY DISAGREE. Yes, many of the games on 3DO that were good were also on other systems, but that doesn't mean that they weren't good on 3DO. Unless you had a Neo Geo, Samurai Shodown on the 3DO was the best port available. At the time, there was no better version of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo unless you had Capcom's CPS2 arcade hardware. Need for Speed's vehicles had a sense weight and well.... speed, that was just not the same on the Playstation (at least, not until Hot Pursuit). I'd like to see how Return Fire is better on PSX. It plays the same to me, plus the 3DO has the Maps o Death. Add in exclusive games like Lucienne's Quest, Blade Force, and Captain Quazar, and the Jag can't hold a candle. The Sega CD outdoes the Jag in more entertaining software as well. The Lunar games, Sonic CD, and Snatcher alone puts that system on par with the Jaguar.
What do you mean by screen transitions? Are you referring to the little animations that would occur before certain stages?
I can't imagine how the Jag version would have offered smoother animation, though, as the game did not use any sort of traditional animation style.
dollartaco
Member
The Jag may be close to the CD-i in terms of complete failure of a platform to deliver entertainment to its users. The 3DO and Sega CD, while often mentioned in the same breath, were far superior. FMV games gave those systems a bad name, but they accounted for a small number of the the entire library.
Notable 3DO/Cross-Platform Releases
3do couldn't keep many exlcusives and had a terribly stupid price = dead system. jaguar just plain had nothing on it.
Notable 3DO/Cross-Platform Releases
3do couldn't keep many exlcusives and had a terribly stupid price = dead system. jaguar just plain had nothing on it.
dark10x said:
Hard to describe, mang. All I can say is play the PSX version of Rayman with the sound off, and then play the Jaguar version. You'll notice all the little stuff is smoother. When he throws things. The mushrooms that bounce on top of each other. When you end a level and Rayman spins around and says "YEAH!!!" The screen would then roll up into a tube, or flake away into squares, or page turn away. All of it was smoother on the Jaguar. In retrospect, I think that it ran at a faster framerate than it did on the PSX. Its harder for me to say on the Saturn, because I only played the first level of that version, and that was years ago.
Amusing comparison here. Awful screenshots, though. I'd like to see some emulator screenshot comparisons.mr jones said:
Well, the PSX version runs at a flawless 60 fps, so there is no way the Jag version could run at a higher framerate.mr jones said:
According to that article, the Jag version actually has slowdown.
That comparison is rather interesting, however. Notice the different backgrounds used on Saturn? Those are the original PC backdrops suggesting that the Saturn version is actually the PC version ported over. In many stages, the backgrounds were randomly changed on the PSX version (all backgrounds were present in both versions, but varied per stage).
A Black Falcon
Member
EternalGamer said:
While the 3DO/Jaguar thing is debatable (I'd say that the 3DO probably wins, because it just plain has more games, but neither console was exactly a success... It is nice to see you admit that the Sega CD was good, though. I think it was a good system with a solid game lineup... it was the 32X that was the true failure, and even there, there were a few decent games released (putting it probably in Jaguar/3DO territory, above the CD-i)... As for the Master System... just because almost no one in America owned one doesn't mean that it had a bad game lineup. Just look at the Master System appreication thread for proof of that. It wasn't successful in Europe and Brazil for no reason... even if I'd certainly agree that the NES was a much better system, games-wise.
Really, the Jaguar did really badly and has a very small number of good games. It has to be on the bottom tier of consoles success-wise... there is no console I know of with ZERO games that are actually good and worth owning, though (maybe the CD-i? The only value I can think of from that thing is the humor value in how horrible FMV games were... it didn't have much else. And when they tried, well, we got CD-i Zelda.
), and the Jaguar did have a couple of good ones, primarily Tempest 2000. Still, is it worth owning a console for one game?Oh yes, as for those good Jaguar/3DO games, a lot of them were also on PC... Star Fighter, Return Fire, Need for Speed, Doom, Captain Quazar, Wolfenstein, Tempest 2000 (with a different, and worse, soundtrack), Road Rash, Gex, Rayman, etc... all (and more) were originally PC games or had PC ports, and, of course, the PC versions were often the best ones.
Yup. Both the 3DO and Sega CD have good lineups of non-FMV games, something that is simply not true at all for the CD-i.
Oh, how about the Jaguar CD? Didn't it have like five games and a built-in lightsynth that was probably the best feature the thing had?
Version 3.0
Member
dark10x said:
The Playstation version of Rayman does NOT run at a flawless 60fps. I have it...in fact, I bought it on launch day for the Playstation after it ended up coming out on that system first. I was intending to buy it for my poor, neglected Jaguar.
Anyway, it has slowdown.
Parallax
best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
i was one of the few that owned the jaguar. nba jam te, tempest 2000 and primal rage were awesome games for when people were over, and i loved avp, but everything else? yuck. kasumi ninja was crap, vortek, a game that for some reason i was looking forward to got cancelled, and when fight for life came out? i was finished with my jaguar. i would rather buy a 32x than to experience that again....
Agent X
Member
Zerostatic said:
I'm not a "former" owner, as I've owned it since it first launched in the United States. I still have it hooked up to my TV to this very day.
Zerostatic said:
I thought it was a cool machine with a lot of potential. Cybermorph was a great game, and one of the first games with a large number really large (at the time) polygon worlds to explore (though its sequel Battlemorph exceeds it in virtually every way). I was riveted to that game for the entire first month I had the system. That's because the only other game out at the time was Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy, a game I avoided because of some of the bad reviews it was getting (though I ultimately got it for about $5 a few years later).
The Jaguar was notoriously slow at getting games released, particularly in its first year where it only amassed a total of 10 games. That's less than one game a month!
Zerostatic said:
Considering the size of the library (only about 70 games released during its commercial life, with another 20-30 released in the following years by small publishers or homebrewers), it actually had a fair amount of good games for it.
The most obvious titles everyone names when talking about noteworthy Jaguar games are Tempest 2000 and Alien vs. Predator, and of course those are classic examples of great game design. Wolfenstein 3D and Doom were also really good conversions, Iron Soldier was excellent, Cybermorph was great, Rayman is a classic platformer--of course those have also been mentioned. Some of the other highlights that probably don't get as much discussion are Defender 2000 (from Jeff Minter), Missile Command 3D, Power Drive Rally, Super Burnout (motorcycle racing game, not related to Criterion's Burnout games on modern consoles), Raiden, Cannon Fodder, Pinball Fantasies, Flashback, Ultra Vortek, NBA Jam Tournament Edition (best home version ever--I recently posted a comparison with the PlayStation version in this post on AtariAge), Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, Attack of the Mutant Penguins, Protector, Skyhammer, and BattleSphere. If you throw in the Jaguar CD peripheral, then you can also add Battlemorph, Highlander, Baldies (which actually came out for PlayStation about 8 years after its Jaguar release in 1996--still like to try that version someday), and Iron Solider 2 (sequel to the original game, this was also available on cartridge). The Jaguar CD also has the built-in Virtual Light Machine (a.k.a. VLM) which was a great way to enjoy music CDs.
Zerostatic said:
If you can get one cheaply (under $50) and have access to at least one or two of the games above, then I'd say it's worth getting.
Zerostatic
Banned
Awesome replies! I think I might go ahead and make the plunge. After doing much research I came to the conclusion that there about 15-20 worthy jaguar games. Also, I love 2D platformers and with Rayman, Pitfall, Flashback, Zool 2, and Bubsy (this one is meh, though) that alone should be worth my price of admission. Not to mention, that I never really got into Doom or Wolfenstein 3D and Alien vs. Predator is a cult classic, this should provide a nice FPS fix. Also there are a 4 solid strategy games (Mutant Penguins, Syndicate, Theme Park, and Worms). Those I think are the 3 strongest areas for the Jag, but there are a couple of other very good games, most notably Tempest 2000 and Iron Soldier. Now let's see if I can get one cheap!
Alien vs. Predator
Doom
Wolfenstein 3D
Rayman
Pitfall
Flashback
Zool 2
Bubsy
Attack of the Mutant Penguins
Syndicate
Theme Park
Worms
Tempest 2000
Defender 2000
Cannon Fodder
Hoverstrike
Iron Soldier 1 & 2
Missle Command 3D
Skyhammer
Raiden
Alien vs. Predator
Doom
Wolfenstein 3D
Rayman
Pitfall
Flashback
Zool 2
Bubsy
Attack of the Mutant Penguins
Syndicate
Theme Park
Worms
Tempest 2000
Defender 2000
Cannon Fodder
Hoverstrike
Iron Soldier 1 & 2
Missle Command 3D
Skyhammer
Raiden
mr stroke
Member
WOW, this thread brings back memories...I remember trading ALL of my sytems(genesis,snes) in at funcoland for cash to buy into the 64bit era..I read alot of stuff in Gamefan praising the hell out of the system, went out and bought it day one only to have buyers remorse the next day...worst part was having both the Saturn and PS launch right after that and wanting to kill my self for spending all my money on the jag
at least Tempest and AvP were great
was there even a major launch for the jag cd?? I remember waiting for it to come out for ever and never saw it in stores...
at least Tempest and AvP were great
was there even a major launch for the jag cd?? I remember waiting for it to come out for ever and never saw it in stores...
Zerostatic
Banned
I know, that's why I'm considering only cartridge-based systems. Also, games on CDs/DVDs are way too fragile. I honestly miss the days of durable, no-load time cartridges. Heck, that's probably why I love my DS so much.etiolate said:
OK, I can give you that. I never played completely through the PSX version (just up through Band Land). I encountered no slowdown throughout those levels, however, and it most certainly runs at 60 fps. If it was running that well through all of those levels, I can't imagine slowdown being an issue and it certainly would not have had an impact on the areas being compared to the Jag version (which seems to have had MORE slowdown).Leondexter said:
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
"I don't care if Black & Decker released a system, I'd buy it as long as it is 64 BITS!!!!!"Gilatif said:
Freshmaker said:
That was probably the worst thing to ever hit the editorial page of a video game magazine.
The worst thing to ever hit the letters section of a video game magazine was "The Post Meister" constantly complaining that there was never a home port of the arcade game Willow.
Walter Matthau
Member
"head exploding" games
looks like they had burnout before everyone else, too!
lucius
Member
I got the Jag for Tempest 2000, fun game but the system didn't do much for me after that. 3DO was a much better system the EA games were very good on that system. Sega CD was much better than the Jag also. Jag had the worst controller I have ever owned and I have had over 15 consoles.