#super 32x

[doamarierose-honoka]

28 years ago today, Virtua Fighter was released on the Sega 32X at JP. It was developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega.

[musicalueion]

Door Into Summer (Cover)

Artist: Tobikomi

Original Composer: Junko Shiratsu, Mariko Nanba

Original Work: Knuckles' Chaotix - Door Into Summer

[techturd]

Japanese 32X pre-launch Promo Video

[kusosthings]

Doodles

I literally cannot draw tempo's hair right it looks so weird. Fortunately that also gives the opportunity to go with the next best thing

[segadriven]

New video! We take a look at every game in Red Entertainment's Tempo series!

[boobachu]

The only canonically gay video games

Before 1994 the only games that were allowed to fuck other games were obscure bootlegs, the rest were only allowed to fuck cheating devices, which are another gender, but lo and behold comes Sonic & Knuckles!

This power bottom can lock on not only with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but also Sonic the Hedgehog 2! Hell, it can lock on with literally every Genesis game but since they're not as into it you just get blue spheres...

This was a big deal because it's the first time a major company, SEGA, made a huge promotion about it in the homophobic '90s. Very deserving of its spot in queer history.

Tho don't go for the ultimate gangbang if you're weak of heart.

[darth-azrael]

Electronic Gaming Monthly (January 1995)

[devileaterjaek]

Spider-Man on Sega 32X

[mashounen2003]

Preserving tags by @toaarcan:

#That's a lot of money for something that doesn't have any games

-------------------------

You know, this reminds me of something that was already mentioned on Twitter back when this was announced:

Remember when people mocked those peripherals like the Sega 32X and whined about them being an additional expense on top of the money you spent on the console itself? Well, at least those peripherals had games meant to be played on them, as well as some nifty new technology to offer and experiment with.

Are we rating consoles out of 10 now??

[ballgame]

Deltarune has already utilized (faux) vector graphics and (faux) Super FX/32X-esque graphics. I wonder if future chapters will somehow incorporate pre-rendered looking stuff.

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic Heroes (GCN)

The Sonic series reinvents itself again, and I like it!

I just found out about Sonic Team USA, an America-based (but Japanese-staffed) division of Sonic Team set up at first to localise Sonic Adventure, who went on to develop Adventure 2 themselves. Heroes then is their second game, and marks a course correction that the fanbase seems unhappy with but which I reckon is a step in the right direction after the messy SA2.

Eggman is up to no good again, making threats about an ultimate weapon and even worse, kidnapping Froggy. Sonic and his pals Tails and Knuckles set out to see what's up; meanwhile Amy teams up with Big and new cute bunny character Cream (created for this game although she had an advance debut in Advance 2). Rouge, sporting a new armoured super-spy look with bigger wings, is surprised to find Shadow not dead after all but in stasis and amnesiac, as well as the other new character Omega the trigger-happy robot. Finally, the Chaotix (Vector, Espio, and Charmy) are dusted off from their 32X game to re-debut in the modern series and take on the role of detectives to get to the bottom of the scheme.

Ultimately Metal Sonic is revealed to be at the centre of things with a wicked cool new design; this is the only time he has a speaking voice and also the only time he ever really does anything important in the plot of any Sonic media, so it's good for him to get a moment in the sun. The other additions to the roster stick around as core cast members, and even though the plot is thin it has moments that satisfyingly follow up Shadow's story in SA2. Amy's still in her stalker phase but these bits are over quickly. Mainly I just like how it balances a large cast by splitting them up.

The four teams act as separate stories that can be tackled in any order, and whose events play out simultaneously before coming together in the Last Story. My biggest disappointment was that each team plays through the same levels with the same layouts, fighting the same bosses. It makes for a lot of repetition between stories and feels low-effort (and even within levels there are reused chunks). They do try to vary it by tweaking things; Team Rose is sort of an easy mode, with shorter truncated levels and fewer enemies. Team Sonic is the normal mode with full levels including some bombastic setpieces. Team Chaotix is also shorter but has different kinds of objectives, like scavenger hunts or stealth missions which is a more fun and creative way to remix the content. The "hard mode" Team Dark chucks in more enemies (a fun way of increasing difficulty) but I think reduces the number of checkpoints (an unfun way).

As with SA2 we have a linear sequence of levels with no hub in between, but this structure is a better match for the more balanced pace and action-oriented design here. The streamlining doesn't make it feel dumbed down though, as the team dynamic adds some complexity. Each team has a speed, power, and flight character, and swapping who you're directly controlling (the current "leader") changes your abilities, for example the flight character stacks up the others and carries them, or the power character picks up their buddies to throw them. Each configuration has uses in and out of combat, often telegraphed by obtrusive signage. I found controlling all three at once a fun novelty and it's a great way to integrate a wide array of characters in playable form.

The three team members feel distinct, and swapping between them is immediate with the push of a button (all four face buttons finally have a unique use as of this game). Between teams the characters who fill those roles play basically the same with a tweak here and there, which contributes more to the samey feeling of replaying levels. There's also a level up mechanic where beating enemies and finding orbs incrementally powers up one of the three for the duration of the level, or until you die. It feels harsh to reset this when it's still easy to die from a platforming slip, but oh well.

Speaking of the platforming, Heroes has a fast pace. I've been told it's built on the same framework from SA2 but at the last minute they doubled the acceleration value... while the deceleration is unchanged. I did like the zippiness of the speed, but it can feel very slippery and skittish to control. Some speed characters still have a kind of spin dash move but it's not useful at all. Grind rails have a larger role in this game and despite some jankiness at times they have a good showing, with an effective railhopping mechanic and Jet Set Radio Future-like tricking to increase your speed.

Between normal levels are boss fights. Some just throw waves of enemies at you, another low-effort solution but I didn't mind it in the sense of it stretching the game's combat system and forcing you to engage with it. Others are battles against the other playable teams, which are extremely chaotic; whether it was my foes constantly stunlocking me or flinging themselves out of the arena for an instant defeat, I never felt in purposeful control of the flow of these messy bouts. The "proper" boss fights are few in number (there's a hoverplane, an expanded rematch with the same, and then an Eggman mech, plus the final giant Metal Sonic fight) and janky, but in a fun way. They have multiple targets to hit and incorporate chase sequences that are preferable to the design of simply waiting for your turn to deal damage. The problem is it's easily possible to die in the pursuit by falling into the game's ever-present death pits, thus starting the fight over again.

To unlock the final story requires gathering the Chaos Emeralds between all the stories, which means the return of special stages to the series. Vaguely inspired by Sonic 2's example, these have you running through a tube collecting orbs to catch up to the gem. Except only Act 2 of each zone actually has a chance for an emerald, Act 1's stages are just for earning more lives. And specific emeralds are locked to specific zones. And for some reason the third one is way harder than the others. Hrm. The physics and controls in these are also quite clumsy, especially if you try to flip around the ceiling of the tube. I was playing this game on Dolphin, and made use of savestates to make sure I didn't have to replay whole levels to clear these. My advice is to ignore the suggestion of the orb formations and just use the speed characters. I do have to give the special stages credit though for essentially inventing the boost system. It's no surprise that Dimps has reused and riffed on this specific stage type over their games, as they built on this mechanic to bring boosting to the main games with Rush.

The aesthetics of the game are interesting; they go for a colourful chunky look that more or less set a standard for Sonic's world going forward, including the introduction of the goofy Egg Pawns as Eggman's standard footsoldiers. It generally looks good, although character models both in and out of cutscenes are excessively shiny for some reason. It looks like everyone is either made of plastic or smeared with oil! It's honestly distracting, and a very odd choice.

Aurally the game's tunes are upbeat and inoffensive. Each team gets a vocal theme song that only plays during the credits; Team Sonic's super lame track gives a poor first impression and there's some Crush 40 dreck in there too, but Teams Rose and Chaotix have standout songs that are well worth a listen. Character voice acting is a little better than previous efforts, but there's a lot of repeated barks during gameplay on top of which the team members essentially have replaced Omochao with an overabundance of intrusive advice. I must also mention that once again Tails is voiced by an actual child and is at his most stilted; the manual actually states that he's 8 years old and I guess they wanted to drive that home? Why did they feel the need to give these funny animal cartoon characters definitive ages anyway?? Why is Rouge a sultry spy at 17 and Charmy a detective at 6???

Maybe it was the use of savestates saving me from too much pain (I tried to be sparing), but I'm coming out of this game with positive feelings. I think they made some good decisions when course-correcting from SA2, making a streamlined and breezy platformer with propulsive gimmicks, a fun team dynamic, and decent combat mechanics. It's still a 3D Sonic game so it's got a hefty share of jank, but it seemed solid enough to me to not cause undue frustration. My main problem was the repetition of content between stories, but I love the attempt at integrating a large cast in playable roles, something which disappeared completely from the 3D games immediately after this (until Dream Team I guess?) and only sporadically featured in 2D instalments. Now I just need to play Shadow and I'm finally ready for the recent games!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for lying to my partner about when we first met?

My partner (32X) and I (31F) have been dating for almost 2 years now, and things have been going pretty well. We used to go to the same college, but never became friends during that time. I knew them by face and name, but they have little to no memory of me. We only connected several years after college, online.

Here's the deal: the first and only time we interacted in college was during a club activity. We'd been randomly sorted into groups and I ended up in a group with them. They already had an acquaintance in this group, to whom they stuck to the whole time, while I did not have anyone there I knew. Being too socially awkward to interact with anyone, I resigned myself to staring into space while barely half-listening to their conversation. Basically zoned out, I hear a loud:

"Give me your number."

Super confused, I turn around, and ask why they want mine, in response to which I received a rather snobbish:

"Why on earth would I ask you?"

This, of course, was very embarrassing for me.

So the thing is, my partner does not remember this happening. I remember it in vigorous detail. So when I recounted to them this story, I always left out the part where they were asking for their friend's number, instead highlighting their response. It's fun, I like teasing them about it, they were pretty rude back then, so it's not beyond belief.

Still, I feel bad not telling them the whole truth.

What are these acronyms?

[solarisii]

Ooh, I wanna know about genesis sonic game prototype stuff! Do you have any fun facts you could share about them? I always find that kinda stuff super fun to learn about!

Sonic 2's Chemical Plant boss had an unused sprite if you hit Robotnik when he has a full tank. It's still in the game, unused, and has been there since the earliest prototype we know of.

(i love this gif so much)

Sonic 2's scrapped level Cyber City Zone assets were reused or atleast highly inspired Sonic Spinball's level The Machine

(left recently shown of docs, middle converted metropolis to possible pallete, right Spinball's The Machine, all from Sonic Retro forums & wiki)

Also both were made in america at Sega Technical Institute

Knuckles Chaotix (which while technically a 32X game you still need a Genesis for it) has my favourite prototype ever Sonic Clackers/Crackers. With a rom header calling it Sonic Studium, a build date of April 1st, 1994 and a title screen that looks like this

Just *chef's kiss*

For the uninitiated Knuckles Chaotix has a mechanic where both characters are tethered together, allowing for fun and interesting physics nonsense

I mention that because while the title screen says Crackers it's actually pretty likely it was actually named after Clackers, the toy given the movement gimmicks.

Also i just think the game looks neat and unlike it's final version, Knuckles Chaotix, it runs just on the genesis (albeit poorly lol).

there's more connective tissue between the proto Clackers and final Chaotix but more then i can get into right now.

OH BUT ALSO one of the Clackers stage's graphics was going to be reused in the fantastic 2013 port of Sonic 2 as an unlockable boss rush stage, Egg Gauntlet, but Sega removed it.

[charmanderxerneas]

knuckles chaotix sprite redraws. and a rendition of what its like to play as charmy bee (who is so fast and op that he just flies around like crazy, dragging whoever is his partner behind him like a sack of potatoes). I am still very happy with my super responsible purchase of this game and a 32x btw

Original sprites:

[postgamecontent]

Virtua Racing (MD Mini 2)

Virtua Racing is a rare duck on the Mega Drive in that the cartridge incorporates an add-on chip, similar to Nintendo's Super FX chip. This made it one of the most expensive games on the system, and the fact that SEGA never used this chip again tells me that it probably didn't sell to expectations. This was the first home release of SEGA's arcade hit, and it probably wouldn't be anyone's first choice to play today. A couple of other relatively contemporary ports followed on the 32X and Saturn, each trying to do its own thing to add to a game that was already feeling out of date just two years after its arcade debut. This Mega Drive version chooses to stick pretty closely to the arcade in terms of content, which means you get one car and three tracks of increasing difficulty to race on. The arcade viewpoints have been retained, as well.

In terms of extras, you get a Free Race mode where you run around the tracks without any opponents or a timer counting down, unlockable mirrored versions of the tracks, and a little records option that keeps track of your best times and laps. That might seem on the thin side, and by modern standards it is. At the time, that's just how arcade racers were. And while in terms of visuals this Mega Drive port is an obvious step down from... every other version, I think it does a decent enough job of bringing that arcade game to what was a nearly six year old console by that point.

In the context of the genre on the platform, Virtua Racing is really cool. It's fast, it chucks its polygons around better than the competing console's chip-enhanced offerings, and it plays well. It's an interesting curio, but also enjoyable to play. I'm glad that SEGA put it on the Mini 2, and I hope it's part of any Mega Drive collections going forward. It's a part of the console's history, after all.

[archoneddzs15]

Super Famicom - Pinocchio

Title: Pinocchio / ピノキオ

Developer: Virgin Interactive Entertainment / Disney Interactive Studios / Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida Inc. / Westwood Studios

Publisher: Capcom

Release date: 20 December 1996

Catalogue Code: SHVC-ACGJ-JPN

Genre: Platform Action

No. of Players: 1

There was a time when people always associated licensed games with poor quality. This is not always true, as there were many good games of the 16-bit era based on Disney properties that defied this rule. Mickey Mania, The Lion King, Castle of Illusion… Pinocchio (published by Capcom in Japan) is sadly not among them. While Pinocchio is a very good effort, it has a few serious problems and some uneven difficulty despite being a very easy game. There are better platform games out there on the Super Famicom though, so it’s not essential by any means, just an okay game with some very good graphics and sound. There were Sega Genesis and Game Boy versions released in the USA and Europe, and there was supposed to be a Sega 32X version of Pinocchio but that did not end up happening. I would imagine the Sega 32X version matching up with this Super Famicom version had it been finished and seen a release.

Pinocchio was originally based on a book before it was a movie. The book was good too, drawing inspiration from such classics as Jonah and The Whale and Pygmalion. I could gush on and on about how Pinocchio’s story really resonates with me, but the story only plays a limited role in this game. Presentation-wise, Pinocchio recycles a lot of content from Mickey Mania and The Lion King. You can find sprites, pieces of levels, and even a few sound effects. Pinocchio even sounds just like young Simba! If you can get past the recycled content, Pinocchio is a very beautiful game, featuring plenty of colors, sprites with some very high animation counts for their time, and some detailed backgrounds. Pinocchio’s music has an almost MIDI-like quality to it. It’s very basic while also sounding good. The music takes a lot of inspiration from the music in the actual movie, which is a very good thing. There are voice clips and sound effects too, but they are mostly recycled.

Gameplay-wise, it's bog standard. Run, jump, and occasionally attack enemies. The game doesn’t actually tell you this, but to progress in a few levels, you need to press “up” to through an arch door in the background. Most of the time though, you’re just jumping through levels trying to reach the goal. There are a few mini games to go through too. You have a dancing game where you copy what the computer does, fight off moths as Jiminy Cricket, and do a ducking/jumping segment on a roller coaster and a raft. You also have a segment near the end where you have to collect planks before going to the goal. Level design is okay for the most part, except for a few times that give you blind jumps.