• Tag Archives 32X

  • Metal Head (Sega 32X)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Sonic Times – April 1995

    Metal Head was an early 32X game released by Sega in 1994. The 32X was a hardware expansion for the Sega Genesis that allowed for, among other things, texture-mapped 3D polygons. Metal Head took advantage of that creating 3D graphical detail that otherwise would not have been possible on the Genesis.

    Story

    In the not too distant future, the ‘World Federation’ along with a Federation police force is established to bring peace to the world. It isn’t very effective so wars and other kinds of strife still flourish around the world. The ‘Metal Head’ is a type of mech developed as a weapon to keep the peace. You play the role of a Metal Head pilot sent as part of a team to put down a revolution led by terrorists with their own mechs. You must work your way from the outskirts of the capital to the center where the heart of the revolution lies.

    Game Play

    This is a single player game designed for use with Sega’s six button controller. The Genesis originally shipped with a four button controller but the popularity of fighting games that used six buttons and the fact that the Super Nintendo was introduced with a controller with more buttons led to the development of a six button controller for the Genesis too. This game takes full advantage. You pilot the Metal Head mech from a first person point of view from inside the head several stories up. The heads up display displays all the info you could want including energy level, time left in your mission, a map, info about weaponry and various other information. Game play is somewhat slow and deliberate and enemies are typically faced one at a time. Various camera views are available.

    Sound/Graphics

    Metal Head takes advantage of the 3D textured objects that the 32X allows. The problem is that while the backgrounds are impressive and still shots look great, some of the animation leaves something to be desired. Explosions are glitchy, pop up is a problem (limited viewing distance), the pace is slow and the control isn’t great. The sound is also mediocre at best with sound effects that come across as low quality samples (which may well be what they are for all I know).

    Reviews

    Reviews of this game were mixed. It was greeted with a lot of excitement as an early 32X game and some of the graphics did look impressive when compared to regular Genesis games. However, these great graphics turn out to be somewhat of an illusion that becomes apparent when animated. The pacing of the game is pretty slow which I guess some people may like (I for one don’t mind a slower paced game) but others do not. The bigger problem is this game’s repetitive nature. Slow pacing is ok when coupled with a sense of suspense about what comes next. But when it is always the same thing, it can get boring fast. With Metal Head, it is too much of the same thing.

    At the end of the day, Mech Head wasn’t really one of the better mech games. However, it makes for an interesting tech demo of what the 32X could do and if you have a 32X anyway, there really aren’t that many games to collect for it so you might as well add this one. As far as I know, the 32X offers the only way to play this Sega game (other than perhaps emulation). It really isn’t a terrible game but seems disappointing especially given that you needed the Genesis, the 32X and a six button controller to play it. That’s a pretty big investment in hardware and if you happened to make that investment based on the promise of this game, you may have been a little upset with the results.


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  • Sega’s Upgradable Hardware Systems

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Computer & Video Game Magazines – Sonic Times – April 1995


    Above is an ad from Sonic Times. Sonic Times was a promotional newsletter sent to Sega retailers during the Genesis era. It contained information like marketing schedules, lists of top games sold and upcoming releases. This ad highlights the upgradability of the Sega Genesis.

    It’s true that the Genesis had a few different upgrade paths. The basic Sega Genesis could play 99% or more of all the games released for that system. However, the Sega CD add-on added the ability to play CD games. Unfortunately, relatively few games were made for CD and even fewer were very good. Sega also released the 32X which plugged into the cartridge port and acted as a pass through. It added some 32-bit hardware to the Genesis enabling better graphics and theoretically better games. However, once again, few games supported it and fewer were particularly good. In many cases games released for the 32X or Sega CD appeared as regular cartridges without significant loss of quality.

    Some games even required both the 32X and the Sega CD but as you could probably guess, those games were even fewer in number. It’s not so much that the hardware was bad, it’s just that it was not well supported by third parties and Sega themselves just couldn’t provide enough software to really justify their purchase price. There were certainly a few good games to be had for these expansions just not generally enough to make their cost worthwhile.

    Pictured above is a fully expanded Genesis with the newer model Sega CD and 32X. What’s not shown is the mess of cables and power supplies needed.

    Sega’s strategy to hardware expansion was quite different than Nintendo’s. What Nintendo hardware expansions you might ask? Well, they certainly weren’t as visible. A CD system was long planned for the Super Nintendo but it never materialized. There were also disk systems for both the NES and N64 that appeared in Japan but never elsewhere. However, Nintendo and other 3rd parties did a lot of hardware expansion in the cartridges themselves. A variety of “memory mappers” appeared in NES cartridges that added more RAM and other hardware. For the Super Nintendo, the Super FX chip is probably the most well known expansion though it was only used in a couple of games. This sort of hardware expansion in the software made for more expensive games but they weren’t THAT much more expensive and easier to swallow a small piece at a time than shelling out for an expensive Sega CD or 32X (or both). Of course, Nintendo screwing over Sony in their partnership to create a CD expansion for the SNES is what led to the PlayStation but that is another story.

    Hardware expansion happened in other systems as well. A couple of games for the Atari 7800 added a Pokey sound chip (from the Atari 8-bit computer line) to enhance the sound. The Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn had memory expansions and of course in more modern systems external storage can often be added or upgraded. However, I think Sega had everyone beat with the amount and extent of upgrade options with the Genesis. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough neat software to go with all the neat hardware.


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  • Next Generation (September 1995)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Next Generation – Issue Number 9 – September 1995

    While EGM and VG&CE were my favorite video gaming magazines, I did really like Next Generation when it arrived with the 32/64 bit generation. Sadly, it didn’t last very long. The September 1995 issue includes:

    • talking: So Which 32-bit system is Electronic Arts betting on? – EA’s Bing Gordan picks his winners of the 32-bit race.
    • breaking: News
      • Joyriding (gaming online)
      • Arcadia (inside the coin-op industry)
      • Generator (game development news)
    • ng special: Reality Check: the future of VR – As the vaporware of the 1980s turns into the hardware of the 1990s, it’s time for a reality check.
    • ng hardware: Saturn: Sega’s plan of attack – Sega Saturn i a tough machine to work with. Very tough. So how is Sega ensuring that its full potential is realized and the games continue to improve?
    • ng software: Alphas: 11 game previews – The future of interactive entertainment is right here: Destruction Derby (PlayStation), WarHawk (PlayStation), Urban Decay (PlayStation), Solar Eclipse (Saturn), Thunderhawk 2 (Saturn), Twisted Metal (PlayStation), The Darkening (PC), Rebel Assault 2 (PC), Yohi’s Island (Super NES) and Virtua Cop (Saturn).
    • rating: Finals: 47 new game reviews – Looking to buy a new game? Trying to decide which system has the best software line-up? Here’s your guide, featuring: Greatest Nine Baseball (Saturn), Ballz (3DO), FlipOut! (Jaguar), Mario Smash (Virtual Boy), Street Hoop (Neo-Geo), Virtual Pool (PC), Dark Forces (Macintosh), Chrono Trigger (Super NES), Tekken 2 (Arcade), and Cybersled (PlayStation).
    • corresponding: Letters – Your means of communicating to a nation. Write us a letter, we print it. Instant respect. No, really.
    • now hiring – The largest recruitment advertising section in the business. Your shot at a dream job starts here.
    • ending – Next month… Next Generation #10 hits the newsstands on September 19. Check out what’s inside today.

    …and more!


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