Sega 32X

"Another under-appreciated Sega system. Only this one deserved it..."

The history of the 32X is actually rather interesting. What happened was, Sega was about to release the Saturn, but also relized that the Genesis still had a strong fanbase, especially with the Saturn's $400 price tag. Sega decided that to show that they still have respect for their cartridge followers of the wonderful 16-bit era. So, they created an add-on system that would not only play new exclusive games, but add on MhZ to current Genesis games. Cool! If only Sega had done it the right way...

Graphical Cababilities: 5/10

32-bit system?! Could've fooled me. Cartridge or no, these look like Genesis games to me. Besides added glitter and special effects, there were no differences between this and the Genesis. Offered large amounts of slowdown in nearly all games it harvested.

Sound Cababilities: 1/10

ARRRGGGGHHHHH! This is the one thing that pissed off Sega fans the most, the fact that our little ''price cautious because of the Saturn'' friends Sega got rid of the previously planned sound chip!!! Everyone who is an avid reader of my reviews knows I hated the Genesis' sound chip, so this drove me over the edge. Who cares if it jacked up the price $10-$15?! For all we know, it could've saved the 32X...

Controls/Memory: 8/10

Thank gos Sega decided to stick with the Genesis controller for a Genesis add-on. It saved the system in terms of control, making it somewhat better. Memory was all about the Battery Back-Up of cartidges, which were few and far between on this system.

Game Selection: 1/10

This system had the worst game selection of all time. For one, Sega was too busy with the Saturn to even attempt to put commercial advertisement on this thing. So storeowners thought, ''Well, there's no ads for it so it's obviously not popular. Why get it?'' Secondly, the developer line-up was semi-impressive. The games were not. As a matter of fact, I can only think of one game for this system that was cool; Knuckles Chaotix. A Knuckles solo game with a whole crap-load of new characters, and the extremely spiffy in-game ''Buddy System.'' That's all I can think of, really.

Overall Fun Factor: 2/10

These things are probably $5. Buy it for Knuckles Chaotix and to add MhZ to your Genesis games. Seeya! --Rick >:P

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/00, Updated 05/03/00