I’m fortunate that in the 90’s I received my Jaguar as a gift for only $50, on clearance at KB Toys. (My mom loved bargains!) It all happened because my aunt bought me a Jaguar game for Christmas by accident, instead of a 2600 game. (My parents gave me their Atari 2600 instead of buying me a SNES or Genesis. 😩) At least now I had a “64-bit” system, haha… My friends all thought I was nuts…but they loved coming over and playing 4-player NBA Jam, Worms, and Brutal Sports Football. They were also blown away by Alien Vs. Predator…I just played AvP the other day and it still blows me away. The problem is, besides the obvious controversy over the bits, the library of games is small, and within that small library there are only a handful of solid games, and only a few solid exclusives. Attack of the Mutant Penguins is a super querky, yet addictively fun exclusive for the Jaguar…but nobody knows about it. The other problem is that Jaguar consoles and games are expensive now, and as much as I love the console personally, the quality of most of its games does not justify their pricetag anymore. Unless you’re a hardcore collector, you’re better off going for loose used cartridges and looking for the pdf manual online. You can also find after market keypad overlays. Even then it ain’t cheap.
Yes. The 00's were great for $50 Jaguars & Sega CD add-ons & $5-$15 new clearanced games. Sweet times. I would've been super mad if I paid $50 for Ultra Vortec or Club Drive tho.
Bit controversy was non-issue. Real problem was lack of 3D (well 2.5D but who cares) games that would make a difference. It is a shame, because despite certain hardware flaws, Jaguar was capable of doing it.
@@ChrisNeptuneMusic When I think of Zero 5, I think of missed opportunity to port X-Wing. Of course, there are many reasons why Jaguar failed, awkward hardware is just one of them.
The Jag's powerful hardware capabilities meant that it could've easily have ported many more PC titles and Neo Geo games on it with NO real hiccups... Much more hardware-demanding games; that most of the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles tend to STRUGGLE with. I wonder why they didn't even consider or think of that?
They wanted the complex PC Sims, hence the numeric keypad on the controller. Neo Geo games? No.l chance, Atari made at least 2 attempts (trips to Japan in order to try and get Japanese developer support and failed.)
I looked at the Atari Jaguar controller in gaming magazines my whole childhood thinking "what a POS". When I finally got my hands on one at the Sac Gamer's Expo, I fell in love because it is the only other controller that felt like it had the meatiness and grip of the original Xbox Duke controller which is not a great controller in my book but it made me feel right at home.
I thankfully was gifted a SNES, I was torn between a Jaguar or TG-16 when I had my own money but held out for the Playstation.I eventually bought every system in my younger adult life. I never got used to the Jags controller though.
As someone with an Atari tattoo, im ashamed to admin I only own the 2600. That said, I dont think I've ever seen Wolf 3D look so clean!! WOW! Also, much love for those console sneaking around a corner shots. :D Gald to see you again!
Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. RetroBird videos helped me so much last year when I wasn't doing well. Wishing you well, friend. You've got this
The Bird is back, baby! Hope you and your wife have been good and you've been taking care of yourself. Love to see a video on the Jaguar despite no plans to own one haha
Unfortunately, most of the homebrews are of poor quality, don't take advantage of the system's tech, and cost over 70 bucks. The best thing I've seen is the Towers II Enhanced edition.
@@KrunchyTheClown78 you’re one of the few people that actually “love” the Jaguar which deserves all of the criticism it gets, and is responsible for putting the final nail in the coffin of Atari.
Legends say having no 3rd party support on any console doom too failure , a shame wonder what MK1 and 2 ,3 , SF2/Alpha , Pit Fighter just because its made by Atari and outta this world, could have looked like on the Jaguar 🤔
Many parts of the Jaguar were 64-bit, it had a 64-bit data path to external memory devices, 64-bit object processor, 64-bit blitter, which handles z-buffering and Gouraud shading, it had a 64-bit memory management chip. But it was mainly driven by 2 custom 32-bit processors. But here’s the interesting part, all of these 32 and 64 bit processors were too difficult to program for, so most developers instead coded for the same Motorola 68000 chip that was in just about every video game console at the time.
Yeah, it was difficult because Atari forgot the transparent cache mode for JRISC and botched the code execution directly from 64Bit memory. How expensive are those flat-packs for the chips? Could we have more pin? So there should be a “backdoor” on Tom with 16bit Data and the address bus. Use low current drivers and low clock on these pins so that ROM and 68k don’t glitch. Tom, Jerry, and DRAM sit on the 64Bit bus. DRAM uses even cycles, Jerry odd to request memory via the controller on Tom?
The 68000 is why, weirdly, it had so many ports from the Amiga. You could just squirt the code over and it would pretty much work. Probably because the Jaguar was designed by some of the same team who designed the Amiga in the first place.
So glad you're back. The week just doesn't feel like it's over until I've watched the newest Retro Bird video. I like your perspective on the Jaguar, unfortunately I've never had an opportunity to play one so I can't really contribute.
The Jaguar has at least 15-20 decent to good games. It ain't all bad. You'll get more bang for buck getting a Jaguar and a flash cart over something like a Neo Geo.
@@Bubba__Sawyer Yeah I know. The same can be said for every other console but you still see people spending big money for physical hardware and games. Some people prefer the authentic experience. I personally wouldn't buy a Jaguar though...I'd just buy a controller or two, some repro controller overlays and wait for a complete FPGA core to release on MiSTer or some other future device.
Retro Bird is back & playing one of my favorite games of all time in the 90s AVP! Fun Fact it came out 1st on the Game Boy in 1993! The best version in the 90s was on the Atari Jaguar in 1994! Having those two franchises co-exist was huge! i mean we didn't even get another AVP video game until 2003 on the PS2 & the movie was finally made in 2004. So this game came out a whole 10 years before the movie! This is what makes being a gamer so much fun! We got to enjoy AVP way before majority of the masses!
It had 64-Bit architecture, that's what allowed it to be marketed as a 64-Bit console. Sega pulled a similar stunt, marketing the Saturn as 64-Bit in Japan and saying the Dreamcast was a 128-Bit console.
I had a Jaguar in the mid-90s; paid $100 for it. I enjoyed a handful games quite a bit. Tempest 2000, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, AVP and Iron Soldier made it worth it to me. Wish I still had it.
Welcome back! Some people might not know the Jaguar is where Rayman first appeared. I bought my Jaguar from a video game store back in the 90s, Babbage's I think. I had a lot of fun with AvP and Tempest. Ya the system has its flaws but it has some great games and a lot of homebrew games. I just wish my parents didn't throw away my Jaguar box when they moved years ago.
@retrobirdgaming I’ve been following your channel for a while, and I’m totally thrilled that you’ve made a whole video on the Jaguar! I enjoyed it as always. Thank you!
And when we needed him the most, he returned. As for the Jaguar, it had more than enough power to compete with anything that was out at the time. But poor design and poor programming lead to mediocre games.
I always remember the Jaguar as a less fun 3DO. Different systems, but I at least had fun with a lot of the 3DO library. I only ever enjoyed like 2 or 3 Jaguar games 😅
the 3DO was never in my price range. Even back in the 00s when the Jaguar was stupid cheap, the 3DO was being sold on eBay for 300+. Hard to get into a system when it's always expensive.
@@Fools_Requiem 3DO that expensive? I usually see it online for around $200 CAD, sure it doesn't typically have all the necessary stuff (missing a controller or cables) but it's at least more affordable than the Jaguar these days.
@@koolaid33 Sure, it's cheaper than the Jaguar NOW. But it sure wasn't 15 years ago. 3DO's library is still not worth the price. Just about every game worth playing on the 3DO is playable somewhere else.
@@fabianarias6786 basquete kkk sério isso. Kkkkk.cara só americano joga isso .brasileiro prefere super formation soccer 94 futebol.e eu estava falando de jogos .quer comparar basquete com crono trigger kkk ? Fala sério man
I have to say that Tempest 2000 is a fantastic game for the Jaguar. I still have my Jaguar, Tempest 2000 and Trevor McFur and the Crescent Galaxy game that I bought back in 90’s!
Great choices! Here are some other Jaguar exclusives or semi-exclusives I love: - Attack of the Mutant Penguins (ported to PC but no other consoles) - BattleMorph (more advanced and exciting than Cybermorph) - BattleSphere (kind of a Star Raiders 2000, if you will) - Cybermorph (hey, it's fun!) - Defender 2000 (does for Defender what Tempest 2000 did for Tempest, if not as successfully. Once you get in the zone it's really fun.) - Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands (the Jaguar sure got a lot of tank games but this one is the best semi-realistic looking one) - I-War (a really great tank maze shooter somewhat reminiscent of Namco's Cyber Sled but with Tron style visuals) - Iron Soldier and Iron Soldier 2 (great mech games with amazing destructible environments that hold up pretty well) - Missile Command 3D (there are three games here and both the 3D and Virtual modes are pretty neat) - Power Drive Rally (one of my favorite isometric racing games ever and totally distinct from its 16 bit predecessors) - Ruiner Pinball (GREAT tables hurt but not totally ruined by the fact that the flipper action has no finesse at all) - Skyhammer (incredible Descent-like mission shooter with the most impressive graphics on the system) - Towers II (really fun dungeon crawler with an amazing new remaster) - Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding (much better than the SNES version with greatly improved framerate and much more superscaling going on) - Zero 5 (a weird 3D shooter with several different playstyles, some of which are kind of like a rhythm game)
There's a lot of really solid homebrew too, from RPGs to Metroidvanias to shmups to platformers. And a stellar port of Rescue on Fractalus that is a real must-play.
I feel like the Jaguar is one I wish I could go back in time to tell myself to buy on clearance. Then I’d have to go back in time again a few years later to tell myself not to trade it in. Then I’d have to go back in time again a few years past that to tell myself really, don’t trade it in. The third time I would get there too late and have to say, “You fool!” Seriously, though, I passed on a Jaguar a few years ago because it was $150, and I kind of wish I could revisit that.
Back in the day I was so into the Jaguar that my mom made me a birthday cake in the shape of the console, haha. I was so starved for Jaguar games that I wasted $60 on Checkered Flag. What a waste that was! I even had the Jaguar CD; Blue Lightning was good. Alien vs Predator and Doom were my favs. I even enjoyed Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy which a lot of people hate on for some reason.
That 32+32=64 bit thing is a myth. The Jaguar actually contained 5 processors spread across 3 chips - "Tom" contained a 64-bit Object Processor, a 64-bit Blitter and a 32-bit GPU. "Jerry" contained a 32-bit DSP. The final processor was a 16-bit Motorola 68000 (the same processor inside the Mega Drive/Genesis). So the Jaguar DID actually have 64-bit components, and COULD actually process 64-bit instructions. But it's this weird hybrid of processors: two 64-bit, two 32-bit and one 16-bit, that causes much of the debate. Some say that the presence of 64-bit processors as well as the fact it used a 64-bit memory architecture makes the system as a whole 64-bit, while others say that because the 32-bit and 16-bit processors exist, and because they all worked in parallel, it can't be considered a true 64-bit system.
I knew it had 5 processors overall, but like I said in the video, the two 32-bit ones being added together to equal 64 was just Atari's explanation (whether it makes sense or not). From what I understand, a lot of developers just relied on the 16-bit Motorola processor since that was easiest for them. In any case, all the research I did stated that the Jaguar could not process 64-bit instruction sets (at least not in the way later 64-bit consoles could). But I honestly don't know what to believe at this point. The internet is littered with tons of seemingly well-informed explanations that all differ slightly.
@@RetroBirdGaming Atari didn't get 64 by adding 32+32 together, as I said. The Jaguar did indeed have 64-bit components in it and that's where they got it from (interestingly, when the Saturn initially launched in Japan, Sega DID try to say it was 64-bit by adding 32+32). And yeah a lot of developers used the 68000 as the main CPU even though that wasn't the intention (it was only supposed to be used to boot the system, read the controller inputs, and distribute tasks to Tom and Jerry to do the real work). The complexity of the hardware meant they often didn't have the time or budget to learn how to use it properly, as they needed to get all 5 processors working together (and this was the early 90s, when multicore processors were generally only found in big servers).
Welcome back Retro Bird. Two comments: On the Sega hold music during the Sega Saturn era when you called 1-800 USA Sega, they had a blurb if you've been on hold long enough that says "If you did the math the way Atari suggests, using their own system for ranking it, the Saturn would be a 128-bit system. Second was I know it's just started to bring up the nationality of Nintendo and Sega versus Atari. Before 1983, Sega was an American company. Sega was always an East meets West company. In 1983 they just got rid of the Western part. That would explain a lot of things in my 4J Conspiracy Theory on my own URL. One sentence summary of the website: the Japanese have been enforcing left-handed joysticks as an industry standard ever since the Americans swept the pre-crash video game tournament competitions. (The ones that were fictionally recreated in the movie Pixels). The Japanese manufacturers blamed it on ambidexterity that was used on Midway And it spread like wildfire in America with arcades modding their machines to be ambidextrous in America.
I own a Jaguar. Got it off of eBay with 10 games back in 2003. Probably paid like 60 bucks for the whole thing. Atari's biggest mistake was not providing GOOD dev kits to developers. They rushed release, and focused on a NA release more over PAL (even though Europe loved Atari systems). The system launched with 3 games. It took 4 months for the system to get a 4th game. Another month for the 5th. Then, another 4 months before more games came out. Atari published the vast majority of games on the system, meaning they got very little third-party publisher support. The controller is fine, but it really needed the shoulder buttons the pro version got later on. The games are a mixed bag. There is nothing that truly truly stands out as something that you want to drop 600 dollars on the system to play. AvP is the best exclusive, but it has not aged well. Super Burnout is limited in content. Wolfenstein and Doom are better than other ports of the time, but not better than PC. The Jaguar ports of Cannon Fodder, Val d'Isere, Pitfall, and NBA Jam are likely the best versions of those games, but they're not worth getting a Jaguar for and all have perfectly fine versions on other consoles. Rayman on the Jag is a novelty as it was developed for thr Jag, but ended up getting updated versions on the Saturn/PS1/and PC. It's like Tomb Raider on the Saturn. It's a fun novelty being the first version of the game released, but might not be the best version. Tempest 2000 is good, but you need a better controller for it. The Jag CD has notoriously poor build quality and has become excessively expensive and most games are FMV trash anyway. Also, some of the best games for the system are expensive. Over 90 bucks for a loose copy of NBA Jam. There's fun to be found, but it's going to cost you, and you'll likely find it somewhere else for cheaper and almost just as good if not better.
NBA jam could have had clean lines on the floor if the blitter was used for it like on AtariKarts. To sad that Flare was so hell bent on having two scalers in their hardware instead of one good one.
I will say though, like 6 face buttons, I think the number pad is a good idea looking back. I remember in magazines at the time I was thinking “why so much buttons?” But they’ve got their place. Not every game needed them, that simple. I like the concept at least
I think what really did the Jaguar in was Atari lying about it's hardware capabilities and making it out to be way better than it really was. I wish it had worked out, at least we might still have another console manufacturer in the market to compete with others
Atari Jaguar is a very interesting console. It could have been great with its advanced hardware. I'm an Atari fan. We could have seen games similar to playstation or saturn Quality.
So a technical footnote if you're ever wondering what the 32X, Jaguar and 3DO had in common it's that they were three consoles that tried to make it through the era of 3D gaming without dedicated 3D graphics hardware. The 3D games on the 32X are rendered entirely by the two Hitachi SH-2 CPUs and the 3DO did everything in a 12.5 MHz ARM60 (very PC-like in that way) and the Jaguar's "Tom" chip was essentially a CPU for graphics in that it included MMX-like instructions intended to help with 3D transformations (but the game developers still had to actually write all the polygon-drawing software). This is what separated the Saturn, Playstation and N64 from these earlier 3D console attempts - they had specific dedicated hardware for drawing 3D graphics.
The 3do has cell . The SegaDSP in the Saturn turned out to be slower than just using the two SH2 known from 32x . Sadly Tom has no MMX instructions. All JRISC instructions do max one operation per cycle. The CISC instructions need multiple cycles. The blitter uses vectors similar to MMX, but accepts no instructions. Instead it is controlled by a “state machine” (see manual). I swear everytime someone mentions “state machine” they are up to no good. Only exception was C64 sprite crunching and the rotation encoder text book example.
Technically speaking, Jaguar had dedicated graphics processor (Tom) plus blitter. Main CPU (68000) supposedly would just control execution of Tom & Jerry. In fact, this paradigm, which is now normal (GPU rendering) is what bothered many developers back in the day. Regular PCs would do the rendering for games like Doon on their main CPU.
@@aleksazunjic9672 TOM is the name of the chip. It contains independent processors. A big speed bump is that these processors don't utilize their proximity for more speed. There seems to be a shortcut between GPU and blitter, but I know no benchmark. Developers struggled because the 10 years CPU from the Atari ST struggled with the game logic of more than 8 sprites in a 2d game. 3d collision detection and path finding AI is impossible. Only stupid cars in OutRun. Empty games like pitfall.
@@ArneChristianRosenfeldt Well, any graphics cards today (Nvidia or AMD chip) contains multiple processors. For example, GTX 1650 contains 896 CUDA cores, 56 texture units, and 32 ROPs. In a way, Tom was predecessor of this paradigm .
Great! Glad you have a Jag! One game thats not much talked about is Breakout 2000. While not graphically stunning its alot of fun..but its $$. Homebrew community is very active too and worth checking out. Great video!😊
As a kid I was always in awe of the hype train on the Jaguar and the Saturn (and Virtua Boy for that matter). Sucker for a console that had no chance I guess. That's why I had a Lynx instead of a Game Boy. Still to this day I've never played on a Jaguar, bucket list looking mighty full
To a fellow banana lover, just wanted to bring to your attention there is such a thing as banana water! I randomly found it at a store near where I live. It was great! Would definitely recommend
Yes!!! Thank you for showcasing the old Jag. It’s a must have for anyone who has already got the Turbografx, Saturn, Dreamcast, and is now looking to take the next step into the unknown. Its older buddy, the Lynx, is cool too!
I was missing your friday's videos, glad to see you are back!. Also quite interesting to hear about the Jaguar, personally I only knew the console due by the Angry Videogame Nerd video and also because it has an exclusive game of Bubsy (yeah, that infamous bobcat but well... I love the franchise 😂).
It was a 32 bit system masquerading as a 64 bit system. However, Rayman, Alien vs. Predator (and for some reason no one mentions one of the (if not the best) port of Dragons Lair on the Jaguar CD. My younger brother is the only person I've ever known who owned a Jaguar. Aside from the port of Dragons Lair on the Jaguar CD; you could play music CDs and make interactive light shows that changed to specific button inputs. Far more interactive than anything that came out in the PS1, and every other console put out afterwards.
It's so crazy that the cheaper systems had the best games, as that's where the demand was. I knew as many kids with Jaguars as I knew of families who drove Jaguars. Zero!
Getting up on a Saturday morning with nothing to do but to watch a new Retro Bird episode like it's a Saturday morning cartoon is a very relaxing way to start the weekend :) Thanks for the very entertaining videos. Your channel is criminally underappreciated, imo ❤ Edit: Does Rocket Knight Adventures Resparked for the Switch count? It's the only way for me to play it and I think they did a good job with the collection. Also, still waiting for the two hours video on why the DK mine carts are one of the best things in video games ever ^^
That absolutely counts for playing Rocket Knight. The main reason I'm glad they released it is so more people have ways to play it! And still waiting for my opportunity to make that mine cart video!
I've never played Jaguar. I didn't grow up with it. Didn't know anybody with one. The good games (like Rayman or Wolfenstein) can be played on other consoles. Interesting seeing it here though.
What a great video! I'm from Greece and sadly, the console was being given away in the mid 90's with newspaper coupons! BTW I'm always a believer that it actually was 64 bit, due to the 64 bit data bus. But as Tremiel Jr. , the boss of Atari at the time said, "the Jaguar can be 16, 32, or 64 bit". Not a great idea to be ambiguous.
JRISC instructions are 16 bit. The manual talks of an “instruction queue” which is used to break down 32 bit SRAM words and ?64 bit DRAM words? But what is a queue? It has a write and a read pointer pointing into a small SRAM . With one additional pointer this could be a sliding window. And we would need to allow branches within this window. Then small loops would be cached (scan string), small IF would be fast like predicates on ARM2.
Welcome back!!!!! I tried with the Jaguar. I just could never get into it. I think it was powerful and had great potential. There just weren’t many games that I felt were worth getting. On top of that, the controller was awful!
I agree it was powerful & had more potential. Agree not many games were actually good, BUT I really liked the controller, especially the pro-controller with 6 buttons & 2 shoulder buttons. Very comfortable.
@brichan1851 it came out near the end of its life. Most people didn't get it, which is a shame. Only thing it was missing after that was an analog stick.
I bought mine with my paper route earnings at the most '90s electronics store to ever exist - Incredible Universe. I remember walking past a crowd of older kids playing a Neo Geo demo unit on a big screen. It was so busy they even had a couch! Imagine walking past that scene to find the Jaguar demo unit running Lemmings. A humiliating omen... Still, I bought AVP and Doom with the console, so I've never regretted the purchase, but for the rest of its games, the Jaguar's then-new ownership experience was a frustrating cycle of anticipation, disappointment, and trade-in. Jaguar's not-too-fun library was a hard lesson that a console is only as good as its games, not its 64-bit promises or VR dreams. It was a bitter pill, so Atari didn't fool me twice with that CD add-on. Even with the PlayStation I held out for more games before jumping in, and I stuck with that skeptical approach for the rest of my time on consoles. I was Jagpilled, lol. Finally I let go of all my Jag stuff to a collector only last year, all the packaging intact, faded price sticker still on the box. It had its moments, but its awful and ugly games are so easy to recall, while I struggle to name what 5 games I had kept. So, glad to have owned it, but can't say I'll miss it.
I've never been able to find a Jaguar. I've wanted one for a long time, but I've never even seen one in person. Always thought it would be worth checking out, at the very least.
theres ONE practical use for a Jag and it is Rayman. The game has better music on Playstation, sure; but enemy triggers are different, bosses are different, jumping is easier, and overall its much more fair and in line with a retro 2d platformer as apposed to being one of the most frustrating games of all time. Most people ignore the port for its bad music.
Rayman was great. Pitfall 3D was also really good. Doom was the best port until the Playstation version came out. The Theme Park port also good. But 6 good games won't keep your console alive 😢
You put yourself up to quite the task here bird. To continue your genuine enthusiasm and positivity along with your passion for video games, as you slog through to support a rightfully ridiculed and in mist cases hated console that is almost entirely left as a small footnote in video game history.
Ive wanted a Jaguar since the early 90s. But in 93 we got a sega CD instead. Now theyre super rare and ezpensive. I plan to add it to my collection at some point. Love your videos retro bird!
I scored a Jaguar a very long time ago at a tag sale or something for like $20. Two controllers, three games, no box, controller overlays, etc. I would love to get my hands on Doom or Wolfenstein for Jaguar or even NBA Jam too. Then there's Alien vs Predator... Unfortunately I don't have any of those. I have Iron Soldier, which is kinda like Mech Warrior, Kasumi Ninja I think, pretty terrible fighting game, and the last game I have is so bad I don't remember anything about it.
There were some really impressive looking indie games for Jaguar on display at PRGE (maybe you saw them). Especially the 2D games, did not look like anything that could exist on the Genesis or SNES. The 3D games though, yeesh.. I still don’t want one but I appreciate it and it was definitely fun to finally play one.
Isn’t it funny how everyone claims to miss sprite rotation and colors on genesis, but no 2d game on Android not Jaguar rotates sprites or has lots of colors.
The Jaguar was two 32-bit RISC processors driving a 64-bit graphics pipeline (object processor, blitter, memory path, etc). ATARI was in no position to sustain a console at tgat time and didnt even get along well with the ATARI arcade company.
I got an Atari Jaguar back during 2010 for only $100 with 12 games and three controllers (one of them a six button controller). While there are some Jaguar games I ended up loving, I had the WORST first impression in history as the first three games I played were Kasumi Ninja (it's HORRIBLE), Double Dragon 5 (it's EXTRA HORRIBLE) and Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tales (ULTRA TERRIBLE!!). That was NOT a good first day. LOL. Luckily, my second day went 100% better with GREAT Jaguar games like Ultra Vortek (Great game. Yes, it's a Mortal Kombat type game like Kasumi Ninja, but unlike Kasumi Ninja which plays like pure ca ca, Ultra Vortek is actually FUN) and Brutal Sports Football (this is a lot of fun. Yeah, it looks like a 16-bit game, but it's pure fun) and Alien vs Predator (this is an awesome game). After that.... On day three, I had one heck of an experience with two basketball games on Jaguar. One was NBA Jam (which is one of the greatest sports games ever AND it works really nicely with the Jaguar controller since the Jaguar controller makes it really easy to push other players if you lay it semi flat while pushing the buttons) and the other was Whit Men Can't Jump (which is freaking HORRIBLE beyond belief, perhaps the worse basketball game I have ever played). Then.... Day Four, I still had four games left. At this point it's occurring to me that when it comes to Jaguar games, the game is either going to be really, really good or really, really terrible. This day delivered on that as I played Club Drive (it's freaking HORRIBLE), Ruiner pinball (this is an incredible amount of fun. Ruiner Pinball is easily the best pinball on Jaguar and overall just REALLY fun) and Cannon Fodder (looks like a 16-bit game, but it is pure joy to play) and... Supercross 3D (this is the WORST game on the Jaguar and I blame this for being the final nail in the coffin for the original Atari when this game released during December 1995 in direct competition with Playstation's Ridge Racer and Sega Saturn's Daytona USA. The frame rate of Supercross 3D on an actual Jaguar runs at 5 frames per second. I'm NOT kidding, it's 5 freaking frames per second and the controls are insanely terrible and the tracks in the game looks like ca ca). After that, About a few months of playing my 12 games, I ended up getting tons more games. When it comes to ports, the Jaguar ports are MUCH better than SNES and Genesis ports (for example, Troy Aikman football on the Jaguar is MUCH better on the Jaguar compared to the SNES and Genesis versions. It plays better and looks better on Jaguar). However, as a whole, the entire library is a VERY mixed bag of really great games mixed with some really terrible games. Of all the Jaguar games I own (I own 38 of the cartridge games), 50% of them are really fun while the other 50% are ca ca. I don't think I own any other consoles with that much of a split in quality when it comes to software.
Suoercross 3d seems to have no viewing distance or LoD. Just like 9 static meshes. I blame Atari for not supplying a fluid demo with this basic case of 3d. Moro Cross devs devs should only had to implement physics.
I'd actually really like to get a Jaguar one day, but the prices for one in Canada are just absurd. The typical price you see here is around $700 CAD for a console, controller and the cables. The games aren't even that expensive, but the fact the game barely sold makes it very expensive up north. Coupled with the lack of great titles (or games at all), and I just can't find any excuse to save up that much money for it. For that price, I could buy a brand new PS5, and that's got more games that I want to play than the Jaguar, and everyone knows the PS5 has no games, so that says something.
9:44 One of the earliest computer games - Sandy Douglas' OXO, 1952 - used a rotary phone as a controller. Also, search for Typhoon 2001, awesome fan remake of Tempest 2000.
I've owned a Jaguar three times. Last one got sold about six years ago and I don't miss it. I know there's a fair bit of homebrew on the Jag, but I find the scene much less exciting than the Vectrex and 2600. I don't know how, but I seem to have an official scart lead still in my possession.
Hey Retro Bird, I finally got a physical copy of Rocket Knight Adventures! I got on your lawn lol
Nice! Hopefully you enjoy it :)
Did ya get the original or the Switch collection?
Me too! I got the Limited Run one. I have yet to play it.
It’s the original Sega Genesis cartridge. Enjoying it on my CRT!
The 16bit sparkster trilogy is just top tier
I’m fortunate that in the 90’s I received my Jaguar as a gift for only $50, on clearance at KB Toys. (My mom loved bargains!) It all happened because my aunt bought me a Jaguar game for Christmas by accident, instead of a 2600 game. (My parents gave me their Atari 2600 instead of buying me a SNES or Genesis. 😩) At least now I had a “64-bit” system, haha…
My friends all thought I was nuts…but they loved coming over and playing 4-player NBA Jam, Worms, and Brutal Sports Football. They were also blown away by Alien Vs. Predator…I just played AvP the other day and it still blows me away.
The problem is, besides the obvious controversy over the bits, the library of games is small, and within that small library there are only a handful of solid games, and only a few solid exclusives. Attack of the Mutant Penguins is a super querky, yet addictively fun exclusive for the Jaguar…but nobody knows about it.
The other problem is that Jaguar consoles and games are expensive now, and as much as I love the console personally, the quality of most of its games does not justify their pricetag anymore. Unless you’re a hardcore collector, you’re better off going for loose used cartridges and looking for the pdf manual online. You can also find after market keypad overlays. Even then it ain’t cheap.
What a deal you got! And yeah, I've been eyeing Attack of the Mutant Penguins :)
Yes. The 00's were great for $50 Jaguars & Sega CD add-ons & $5-$15 new clearanced games. Sweet times.
I would've been super mad if I paid $50 for Ultra Vortec or Club Drive tho.
Bit controversy was non-issue. Real problem was lack of 3D (well 2.5D but who cares) games that would make a difference. It is a shame, because despite certain hardware flaws, Jaguar was capable of doing it.
@@aleksazunjic9672 Agreed. Later games like Zero 5 prove the Jag’s true 3D capabilities…if only it were easier to develop for…
@@ChrisNeptuneMusic When I think of Zero 5, I think of missed opportunity to port X-Wing. Of course, there are many reasons why Jaguar failed, awkward hardware is just one of them.
The Jag's powerful hardware capabilities meant that it could've easily have ported many more PC titles and Neo Geo games on it with NO real hiccups... Much more hardware-demanding games; that most of the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles tend to STRUGGLE with. I wonder why they didn't even consider or think of that?
They wanted the complex PC Sims, hence the numeric keypad on the controller.
Neo Geo games? No.l chance, Atari made at least 2 attempts (trips to Japan in order to try and get Japanese developer support and failed.)
How do you squeeze a 40 MB NeoGeo cartridge into the 4 MB Tramiel would greenlight?
Man, hearing your humor again after the last few weeks without is so refreshing!!
Happy to be back!
I looked at the Atari Jaguar controller in gaming magazines my whole childhood thinking "what a POS". When I finally got my hands on one at the Sac Gamer's Expo, I fell in love because it is the only other controller that felt like it had the meatiness and grip of the original Xbox Duke controller which is not a great controller in my book but it made me feel right at home.
I thankfully was gifted a SNES, I was torn between a Jaguar or TG-16 when I had my own money but held out for the Playstation.I eventually bought every system in my younger adult life. I never got used to the Jags controller though.
Glad to finally have you back! During your break I finally got a Super Nintendo and Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, been having a blast so far 🍌
That's great to hear!
This channel is winning. Always a subject that is relevant, but rarely explored from the retro gamer perspective.
As someone with an Atari tattoo, im ashamed to admin I only own the 2600. That said, I dont think I've ever seen Wolf 3D look so clean!! WOW!
Also, much love for those console sneaking around a corner shots. :D Gald to see you again!
I love those shots too! They're critical!
The Wolf 3D frame rate is outstanding on the Jag. Same with Doom!
Retro Bird, helping me through the tough times.
These videos help me when I'm having a bad time too, but I also suggest going to God in such times.
@@Vulpasthat’a not really my thing, but your sentiment is sincerely appreciated and I wish you all the best.
Nice Guy seemingly.Will subscribe.
Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. RetroBird videos helped me so much last year when I wasn't doing well.
Wishing you well, friend. You've got this
@@grawman67 you know what, I’m feeling great now and I hope you and all these other fine folks are, too.
Welcome back! It’s about darn time too, I was suffering from Retro Bird withdrawals!
The Bird is back, baby! Hope you and your wife have been good and you've been taking care of yourself. Love to see a video on the Jaguar despite no plans to own one haha
So glad you're back! I missed your videos.
Woah just noticed the new camera it looks awesome!
Glad to be back!
came here to say the same about being back!
Same here!
Right on!
I love the Jaguar. It deserved much more love. It still receives homebrews.
Unfortunately, most of the homebrews are of poor quality, don't take advantage of the system's tech, and cost over 70 bucks. The best thing I've seen is the Towers II Enhanced edition.
@@KrunchyTheClown78 you’re one of the few people that actually “love” the Jaguar which deserves all of the criticism it gets, and is responsible for putting the final nail in the coffin of Atari.
@@Adamtendo_player_1 😢
Legends say having no 3rd party support on any console doom too failure , a shame wonder what MK1 and 2 ,3 , SF2/Alpha , Pit Fighter just because its made by Atari and outta this world, could have looked like on the Jaguar 🤔
@@joezar33 There is an Outta This World/Another World port for the Jaguar. I own it, and it's pretty impressive.
Atari jaguar brings a smile to my face. Something about it feels cozy and idk what it is. Doom plays great on it, AvP, Flashback so many classics
Iron Soldier was a fun game on the Jaguar, that should be added on a top 10 best Jag list.
Many parts of the Jaguar were 64-bit, it had a 64-bit data path to external memory devices, 64-bit object processor, 64-bit blitter, which handles z-buffering and Gouraud shading, it had a 64-bit memory management chip. But it was mainly driven by 2 custom 32-bit processors. But here’s the interesting part, all of these 32 and 64 bit processors were too difficult to program for, so most developers instead coded for the same Motorola 68000 chip that was in just about every video game console at the time.
John Carmack programmed Doom himself for Jaguar
Yeah, it was difficult because Atari forgot the transparent cache mode for JRISC and botched the code execution directly from 64Bit memory.
How expensive are those flat-packs for the chips? Could we have more pin? So there should be a “backdoor” on Tom with 16bit Data and the address bus. Use low current drivers and low clock on these pins so that ROM and 68k don’t glitch.
Tom, Jerry, and DRAM sit on the 64Bit bus. DRAM uses even cycles, Jerry odd to request memory via the controller on Tom?
having Z buffering was awesome at the time, even PSone didn't have one.
Let’s not forget that starting with the Dreamcast a lot of consoles also pitched themselves as 128-bit which is objectively false.
The 68000 is why, weirdly, it had so many ports from the Amiga. You could just squirt the code over and it would pretty much work. Probably because the Jaguar was designed by some of the same team who designed the Amiga in the first place.
So glad you're back. The week just doesn't feel like it's over until I've watched the newest Retro Bird video. I like your perspective on the Jaguar, unfortunately I've never had an opportunity to play one so I can't really contribute.
Jaguar games are the kinds of games that remind you that you have chores to do instead.
Jaguar makes me remember the dishes aren't so bad
nice
The Jaguar has at least 15-20 decent to good games. It ain't all bad. You'll get more bang for buck getting a Jaguar and a flash cart over something like a Neo Geo.
@@thecurmudgeon7350Emulation. It's a thing.
@@Bubba__Sawyer Yeah I know. The same can be said for every other console but you still see people spending big money for physical hardware and games. Some people prefer the authentic experience.
I personally wouldn't buy a Jaguar though...I'd just buy a controller or two, some repro controller overlays and wait for a complete FPGA core to release on MiSTer or some other future device.
Retro Bird is back & playing one of my favorite games of all time in the 90s AVP! Fun Fact it came out 1st on the Game Boy in 1993! The best version in the 90s was on the Atari Jaguar in 1994! Having those two franchises co-exist was huge! i mean we didn't even get another AVP video game until 2003 on the PS2 & the movie was finally made in 2004. So this game came out a whole 10 years before the movie! This is what makes being a gamer so much fun! We got to enjoy AVP way before majority of the masses!
It's crazy, but I didn't even know it was a thing until that latter day stuff lol
It had 64-Bit architecture, that's what allowed it to be marketed as a 64-Bit console.
Sega pulled a similar stunt, marketing the Saturn as 64-Bit in Japan and saying the Dreamcast was a 128-Bit console.
I feel like only the rich kids had a Jaguar and every other console where us regular kids just had either an snes or genesis or maybe both at most. 😅
Finally get my Retro Bird fix. Hope you enjoyed lots of 'nanners and Donkey Kong on your break!
I had a Jaguar in the mid-90s; paid $100 for it. I enjoyed a handful games quite a bit. Tempest 2000, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, AVP and Iron Soldier made it worth it to me. Wish I still had it.
Welcome back! Some people might not know the Jaguar is where Rayman first appeared. I bought my Jaguar from a video game store back in the 90s, Babbage's I think. I had a lot of fun with AvP and Tempest. Ya the system has its flaws but it has some great games and a lot of homebrew games. I just wish my parents didn't throw away my Jaguar box when they moved years ago.
@retrobirdgaming I’ve been following your channel for a while, and I’m totally thrilled that you’ve made a whole video on the Jaguar! I enjoyed it as always. Thank you!
Very happy to hear that!
Rayman looks absolutely awesome on your Jaguar + CRT combination
And when we needed him the most, he returned. As for the Jaguar, it had more than enough power to compete with anything that was out at the time. But poor design and poor programming lead to mediocre games.
Great video! Happy to have you back.
I always remember the Jaguar as a less fun 3DO.
Different systems, but I at least had fun with a lot of the 3DO library. I only ever enjoyed like 2 or 3 Jaguar games 😅
the 3DO was never in my price range. Even back in the 00s when the Jaguar was stupid cheap, the 3DO was being sold on eBay for 300+. Hard to get into a system when it's always expensive.
@@Fools_Requiem 3DO that expensive? I usually see it online for around $200 CAD, sure it doesn't typically have all the necessary stuff (missing a controller or cables) but it's at least more affordable than the Jaguar these days.
@@koolaid33 Sure, it's cheaper than the Jaguar NOW. But it sure wasn't 15 years ago.
3DO's library is still not worth the price. Just about every game worth playing on the 3DO is playable somewhere else.
@@corey2232 the 3DO at least had more than 3 good games unlike the Jaguar 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@Fools_Requiem"playable" is a stretch. Ports of 3do games always ended up with tons of playability issues or are expensive on the alternate hardware
Obviously, the Jaguar is better than the 16 bit systems, because the Genesis and SNES never ask you "WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO FLY?"
Kkkk nunca .me mostra um jogo do Jaguarão melhor que dk,crono trigger .zelda .kkk jamais
1:34
@@fabianarias6786 basquete kkk sério isso. Kkkkk.cara só americano joga isso .brasileiro prefere super formation soccer 94 futebol.e eu estava falando de jogos .quer comparar basquete com crono trigger kkk ? Fala sério man
The Prince of Potassium. The Banana Brother. It’s the beast himself…Retro Bird!
I have to say that Tempest 2000 is a fantastic game for the Jaguar. I still have my Jaguar, Tempest 2000 and Trevor McFur and the Crescent Galaxy game that I bought back in 90’s!
Great choices! Here are some other Jaguar exclusives or semi-exclusives I love:
- Attack of the Mutant Penguins (ported to PC but no other consoles)
- BattleMorph (more advanced and exciting than Cybermorph)
- BattleSphere (kind of a Star Raiders 2000, if you will)
- Cybermorph (hey, it's fun!)
- Defender 2000 (does for Defender what Tempest 2000 did for Tempest, if not as successfully. Once you get in the zone it's really fun.)
- Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands (the Jaguar sure got a lot of tank games but this one is the best semi-realistic looking one)
- I-War (a really great tank maze shooter somewhat reminiscent of Namco's Cyber Sled but with Tron style visuals)
- Iron Soldier and Iron Soldier 2 (great mech games with amazing destructible environments that hold up pretty well)
- Missile Command 3D (there are three games here and both the 3D and Virtual modes are pretty neat)
- Power Drive Rally (one of my favorite isometric racing games ever and totally distinct from its 16 bit predecessors)
- Ruiner Pinball (GREAT tables hurt but not totally ruined by the fact that the flipper action has no finesse at all)
- Skyhammer (incredible Descent-like mission shooter with the most impressive graphics on the system)
- Towers II (really fun dungeon crawler with an amazing new remaster)
- Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding (much better than the SNES version with greatly improved framerate and much more superscaling going on)
- Zero 5 (a weird 3D shooter with several different playstyles, some of which are kind of like a rhythm game)
There's a lot of really solid homebrew too, from RPGs to Metroidvanias to shmups to platformers. And a stellar port of Rescue on Fractalus that is a real must-play.
@@KeenRetroGamesalso the upcoming Mortal Kombat 1 jaguar port
@@SRC267 I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. Even if it's finished, it can likely never be sold.
@@KeenRetroGames it works on a real jaguar
@@SRC267 I know, but "works" and being good are two different things, and selling it on a cart is a whole other thing.
I feel like the Jaguar is one I wish I could go back in time to tell myself to buy on clearance. Then I’d have to go back in time again a few years later to tell myself not to trade it in. Then I’d have to go back in time again a few years past that to tell myself really, don’t trade it in. The third time I would get there too late and have to say, “You fool!”
Seriously, though, I passed on a Jaguar a few years ago because it was $150, and I kind of wish I could revisit that.
Back in the day I was so into the Jaguar that my mom made me a birthday cake in the shape of the console, haha. I was so starved for Jaguar games that I wasted $60 on Checkered Flag. What a waste that was! I even had the Jaguar CD; Blue Lightning was good. Alien vs Predator and Doom were my favs. I even enjoyed Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy which a lot of people hate on for some reason.
That 32+32=64 bit thing is a myth. The Jaguar actually contained 5 processors spread across 3 chips - "Tom" contained a 64-bit Object Processor, a 64-bit Blitter and a 32-bit GPU. "Jerry" contained a 32-bit DSP. The final processor was a 16-bit Motorola 68000 (the same processor inside the Mega Drive/Genesis). So the Jaguar DID actually have 64-bit components, and COULD actually process 64-bit instructions. But it's this weird hybrid of processors: two 64-bit, two 32-bit and one 16-bit, that causes much of the debate. Some say that the presence of 64-bit processors as well as the fact it used a 64-bit memory architecture makes the system as a whole 64-bit, while others say that because the 32-bit and 16-bit processors exist, and because they all worked in parallel, it can't be considered a true 64-bit system.
It really reminds of the TG-16 which was kinda weird. At least that had a decent run however before NEC seriously devolved a gen later.
I knew it had 5 processors overall, but like I said in the video, the two 32-bit ones being added together to equal 64 was just Atari's explanation (whether it makes sense or not). From what I understand, a lot of developers just relied on the 16-bit Motorola processor since that was easiest for them. In any case, all the research I did stated that the Jaguar could not process 64-bit instruction sets (at least not in the way later 64-bit consoles could). But I honestly don't know what to believe at this point. The internet is littered with tons of seemingly well-informed explanations that all differ slightly.
@@RetroBirdGaming Atari didn't get 64 by adding 32+32 together, as I said. The Jaguar did indeed have 64-bit components in it and that's where they got it from (interestingly, when the Saturn initially launched in Japan, Sega DID try to say it was 64-bit by adding 32+32). And yeah a lot of developers used the 68000 as the main CPU even though that wasn't the intention (it was only supposed to be used to boot the system, read the controller inputs, and distribute tasks to Tom and Jerry to do the real work). The complexity of the hardware meant they often didn't have the time or budget to learn how to use it properly, as they needed to get all 5 processors working together (and this was the early 90s, when multicore processors were generally only found in big servers).
Welcome back Retro Bird.
Two comments:
On the Sega hold music during the Sega Saturn era when you called 1-800 USA Sega, they had a blurb if you've been on hold long enough that says "If you did the math the way Atari suggests, using their own system for ranking it, the Saturn would be a 128-bit system.
Second was I know it's just started to bring up the nationality of Nintendo and Sega versus Atari. Before 1983, Sega was an American company. Sega was always an East meets West company. In 1983 they just got rid of the Western part.
That would explain a lot of things in my 4J Conspiracy Theory on my own URL. One sentence summary of the website: the Japanese have been enforcing left-handed joysticks as an industry standard ever since the Americans swept the pre-crash video game tournament competitions. (The ones that were fictionally recreated in the movie Pixels). The Japanese manufacturers blamed it on ambidexterity that was used on Midway And it spread like wildfire in America with arcades modding their machines to be ambidextrous in America.
I own a Jaguar. Got it off of eBay with 10 games back in 2003. Probably paid like 60 bucks for the whole thing.
Atari's biggest mistake was not providing GOOD dev kits to developers. They rushed release, and focused on a NA release more over PAL (even though Europe loved Atari systems). The system launched with 3 games. It took 4 months for the system to get a 4th game. Another month for the 5th. Then, another 4 months before more games came out. Atari published the vast majority of games on the system, meaning they got very little third-party publisher support.
The controller is fine, but it really needed the shoulder buttons the pro version got later on.
The games are a mixed bag. There is nothing that truly truly stands out as something that you want to drop 600 dollars on the system to play. AvP is the best exclusive, but it has not aged well. Super Burnout is limited in content. Wolfenstein and Doom are better than other ports of the time, but not better than PC. The Jaguar ports of Cannon Fodder, Val d'Isere, Pitfall, and NBA Jam are likely the best versions of those games, but they're not worth getting a Jaguar for and all have perfectly fine versions on other consoles. Rayman on the Jag is a novelty as it was developed for thr Jag, but ended up getting updated versions on the Saturn/PS1/and PC. It's like Tomb Raider on the Saturn. It's a fun novelty being the first version of the game released, but might not be the best version. Tempest 2000 is good, but you need a better controller for it. The Jag CD has notoriously poor build quality and has become excessively expensive and most games are FMV trash anyway.
Also, some of the best games for the system are expensive. Over 90 bucks for a loose copy of NBA Jam.
There's fun to be found, but it's going to cost you, and you'll likely find it somewhere else for cheaper and almost just as good if not better.
NBA jam could have had clean lines on the floor if the blitter was used for it like on AtariKarts. To sad that Flare was so hell bent on having two scalers in their hardware instead of one good one.
I will say though, like 6 face buttons, I think the number pad is a good idea looking back. I remember in magazines at the time I was thinking “why so much buttons?” But they’ve got their place. Not every game needed them, that simple. I like the concept at least
I'd have traded them all in for two shoulder buttons.
You make some of the best videos man! I know how hard writing and editing episodes can be and I appreciate all your hard work!
Thanks for the kind words. I really enjoy making videos and it's always nice to hear that people are enjoying them!
I think what really did the Jaguar in was Atari lying about it's hardware capabilities and making it out to be way better than it really was. I wish it had worked out, at least we might still have another console manufacturer in the market to compete with others
Thanks retro bird for rekindling my interest in retro games. :)
Wonder why Rise of the Triad was never ported. It's right in the sweet spot of what the system could run smoothly.
Atari Jaguar is a very interesting console. It could have been great with its advanced hardware. I'm an Atari fan. We could have seen games similar to playstation or saturn Quality.
Retro Bird, you 100% deserve to Donkey Kong!!
So a technical footnote if you're ever wondering what the 32X, Jaguar and 3DO had in common it's that they were three consoles that tried to make it through the era of 3D gaming without dedicated 3D graphics hardware. The 3D games on the 32X are rendered entirely by the two Hitachi SH-2 CPUs and the 3DO did everything in a 12.5 MHz ARM60 (very PC-like in that way) and the Jaguar's "Tom" chip was essentially a CPU for graphics in that it included MMX-like instructions intended to help with 3D transformations (but the game developers still had to actually write all the polygon-drawing software). This is what separated the Saturn, Playstation and N64 from these earlier 3D console attempts - they had specific dedicated hardware for drawing 3D graphics.
The 3do has cell . The SegaDSP in the Saturn turned out to be slower than just using the two SH2 known from 32x . Sadly Tom has no MMX instructions. All JRISC instructions do max one operation per cycle. The CISC instructions need multiple cycles. The blitter uses vectors similar to MMX, but accepts no instructions. Instead it is controlled by a “state machine” (see manual). I swear everytime someone mentions “state machine” they are up to no good. Only exception was C64 sprite crunching and the rotation encoder text book example.
Technically speaking, Jaguar had dedicated graphics processor (Tom) plus blitter. Main CPU (68000) supposedly would just control execution of Tom & Jerry. In fact, this paradigm, which is now normal (GPU rendering) is what bothered many developers back in the day. Regular PCs would do the rendering for games like Doon on their main CPU.
3do did not do everything on the ARM lmfao it had the CEL processor (dual corner engine) and a math coprocessor for graphics
@@aleksazunjic9672 TOM is the name of the chip. It contains independent processors. A big speed bump is that these processors don't utilize their proximity for more speed. There seems to be a shortcut between GPU and blitter, but I know no benchmark.
Developers struggled because the 10 years CPU from the Atari ST struggled with the game logic of more than 8 sprites in a 2d game. 3d collision detection and path finding AI is impossible. Only stupid cars in OutRun. Empty games like pitfall.
@@ArneChristianRosenfeldt Well, any graphics cards today (Nvidia or AMD chip) contains multiple processors. For example, GTX 1650 contains 896 CUDA cores, 56 texture units, and 32 ROPs. In a way, Tom was predecessor of this paradigm .
10% up vote rate compared to view count. My boy, Retro Bird. Those are some good metrics that reinforce solid work
Great! Glad you have a Jag! One game thats not much talked about is Breakout 2000. While not graphically stunning its alot of fun..but its $$. Homebrew community is very active too and worth checking out. Great video!😊
As a kid I was always in awe of the hype train on the Jaguar and the Saturn (and Virtua Boy for that matter). Sucker for a console that had no chance I guess. That's why I had a Lynx instead of a Game Boy. Still to this day I've never played on a Jaguar, bucket list looking mighty full
To a fellow banana lover, just wanted to bring to your attention there is such a thing as banana water! I randomly found it at a store near where I live. It was great! Would definitely recommend
Yes!!! Thank you for showcasing the old Jag. It’s a must have for anyone who has already got the Turbografx, Saturn, Dreamcast, and is now looking to take the next step into the unknown. Its older buddy, the Lynx, is cool too!
Welcome back. you DO deserve to Dahnkey Khaaaawng
I was missing your friday's videos, glad to see you are back!.
Also quite interesting to hear about the Jaguar, personally I only knew the console due by the Angry Videogame Nerd video and also because it has an exclusive game of Bubsy (yeah, that infamous bobcat but well... I love the franchise 😂).
It was a 32 bit system masquerading as a 64 bit system. However, Rayman, Alien vs. Predator (and for some reason no one mentions one of the (if not the best) port of Dragons Lair on the Jaguar CD. My younger brother is the only person I've ever known who owned a Jaguar. Aside from the port of Dragons Lair on the Jaguar CD; you could play music CDs and make interactive light shows that changed to specific button inputs. Far more interactive than anything that came out in the PS1, and every other console put out afterwards.
But I think we can all do without the calculator controller. Welcome back!
The Panasonic 3DO was very interactive too.
Who needs clean dishes? Link to the Past takes precedence over all.
I enjoy watching your videos while im making breakfast on Saturday mornings.
Good seeing the bird back! And hail to Sega Master System!
It's so crazy that the cheaper systems had the best games, as that's where the demand was. I knew as many kids with Jaguars as I knew of families who drove Jaguars. Zero!
The console wars is one of the greatest things to happen on earth.
What the fuck, really? That's the best thing you think humanity has done? Christ!
I was very excited to see this video in my subscription feed. I’m happy to see you back!
I'm happy to be back too!
Retro Bird is back!!!!!
We're so back baby! Great video!
Jeff minter(tempest 200) lives round here, I sold him his dreamcast
happy to see you back, i kind of got scared something might have happened, ouff lol
Haha. Always be sure to check my community posts. I keep everyone updated on what's going on with my schedule :)
@RetroBirdGaming cool!!
Getting up on a Saturday morning with nothing to do but to watch a new Retro Bird episode like it's a Saturday morning cartoon is a very relaxing way to start the weekend :)
Thanks for the very entertaining videos. Your channel is criminally underappreciated, imo ❤
Edit: Does Rocket Knight Adventures Resparked for the Switch count? It's the only way for me to play it and I think they did a good job with the collection.
Also, still waiting for the two hours video on why the DK mine carts are one of the best things in video games ever ^^
That absolutely counts for playing Rocket Knight. The main reason I'm glad they released it is so more people have ways to play it! And still waiting for my opportunity to make that mine cart video!
I've never played Jaguar. I didn't grow up with it. Didn't know anybody with one. The good games (like Rayman or Wolfenstein) can be played on other consoles. Interesting seeing it here though.
Oh god the shame and guilt is real 😢 it sucks. I do love the Jaguar and it's quirks great video!
What a great video! I'm from Greece and sadly, the console was being given away in the mid 90's with newspaper coupons! BTW I'm always a believer that it actually was 64 bit, due to the 64 bit data bus. But as Tremiel Jr. , the boss of Atari at the time said, "the Jaguar can be 16, 32, or 64 bit". Not a great idea to be ambiguous.
JRISC instructions are 16 bit. The manual talks of an “instruction queue” which is used to break down 32 bit SRAM words and ?64 bit DRAM words? But what is a queue? It has a write and a read pointer pointing into a small SRAM . With one additional pointer this could be a sliding window. And we would need to allow branches within this window. Then small loops would be cached (scan string), small IF would be fast like predicates on ARM2.
Welcome back!!!!!
I tried with the Jaguar. I just could never get into it. I think it was powerful and had great potential. There just weren’t many games that I felt were worth getting. On top of that, the controller was awful!
I agree it was powerful & had more potential.
Agree not many games were actually good, BUT I really liked the controller, especially the pro-controller with 6 buttons & 2 shoulder buttons. Very comfortable.
@@goldenheartOh admittedly, I never came across a 6-button.
@brichan1851 it came out near the end of its life. Most people didn't get it, which is a shame. Only thing it was missing after that was an analog stick.
Welcome back my retro brother! We missed you! 🥳 I hope you cover the Sega CD someday!
I bought mine with my paper route earnings at the most '90s electronics store to ever exist - Incredible Universe. I remember walking past a crowd of older kids playing a Neo Geo demo unit on a big screen. It was so busy they even had a couch! Imagine walking past that scene to find the Jaguar demo unit running Lemmings. A humiliating omen...
Still, I bought AVP and Doom with the console, so I've never regretted the purchase, but for the rest of its games, the Jaguar's then-new ownership experience was a frustrating cycle of anticipation, disappointment, and trade-in. Jaguar's not-too-fun library was a hard lesson that a console is only as good as its games, not its 64-bit promises or VR dreams.
It was a bitter pill, so Atari didn't fool me twice with that CD add-on. Even with the PlayStation I held out for more games before jumping in, and I stuck with that skeptical approach for the rest of my time on consoles. I was Jagpilled, lol.
Finally I let go of all my Jag stuff to a collector only last year, all the packaging intact, faded price sticker still on the box. It had its moments, but its awful and ugly games are so easy to recall, while I struggle to name what 5 games I had kept. So, glad to have owned it, but can't say I'll miss it.
I've never been able to find a Jaguar. I've wanted one for a long time, but I've never even seen one in person. Always thought it would be worth checking out, at the very least.
theres ONE practical use for a Jag and it is Rayman. The game has better music on Playstation, sure; but enemy triggers are different, bosses are different, jumping is easier, and overall its much more fair and in line with a retro 2d platformer as apposed to being one of the most frustrating games of all time. Most people ignore the port for its bad music.
Yeah, it feels way different from the Saturn and PS1 versions to me.
Rayman was great. Pitfall 3D was also really good. Doom was the best port until the Playstation version came out. The Theme Park port also good. But 6 good games won't keep your console alive 😢
The best Wolfenstein port has to go to the Jag though it appears
You put yourself up to quite the task here bird. To continue your genuine enthusiasm and positivity along with your passion for video games, as you slog through to support a rightfully ridiculed and in mist cases hated console that is almost entirely left as a small footnote in video game history.
Great video! Glad you’re back!
Hey! Another awesome video! Did you upgrade your camera?
I did! Thanks :)
@@RetroBirdGaming awesome the image quality is sweet!
Snes and Genesis absolutely destroys the Jaguar in a 2 on 1 handicap match
love the content retro bird !!!!!
Streamers are the bridge between games and making money. Something we dreamed of in the 90's.
Welcome back! Hopefully, you were able to use some of your time off to Donkey Kong!
Ive wanted a Jaguar since the early 90s. But in 93 we got a sega CD instead. Now theyre super rare and ezpensive. I plan to add it to my collection at some point. Love your videos retro bird!
I scored a Jaguar a very long time ago at a tag sale or something for like $20. Two controllers, three games, no box, controller overlays, etc.
I would love to get my hands on Doom or Wolfenstein for Jaguar or even NBA Jam too. Then there's Alien vs Predator... Unfortunately I don't have any of those. I have Iron Soldier, which is kinda like Mech Warrior, Kasumi Ninja I think, pretty terrible fighting game, and the last game I have is so bad I don't remember anything about it.
There were some really impressive looking indie games for Jaguar on display at PRGE (maybe you saw them). Especially the 2D games, did not look like anything that could exist on the Genesis or SNES.
The 3D games though, yeesh..
I still don’t want one but I appreciate it and it was definitely fun to finally play one.
Isn’t it funny how everyone claims to miss sprite rotation and colors on genesis, but no 2d game on Android not Jaguar rotates sprites or has lots of colors.
I really like this content producer. He still seems to love the games.
The Jaguar was two 32-bit RISC processors driving a 64-bit graphics pipeline (object processor, blitter, memory path, etc). ATARI was in no position to sustain a console at tgat time and didnt even get along well with the ATARI arcade company.
So glad to have you back buddy
I got an Atari Jaguar back during 2010 for only $100 with 12 games and three controllers (one of them a six button controller). While there are some Jaguar games I ended up loving, I had the WORST first impression in history as the first three games I played were Kasumi Ninja (it's HORRIBLE), Double Dragon 5 (it's EXTRA HORRIBLE) and Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tales (ULTRA TERRIBLE!!). That was NOT a good first day. LOL. Luckily, my second day went 100% better with GREAT Jaguar games like Ultra Vortek (Great game. Yes, it's a Mortal Kombat type game like Kasumi Ninja, but unlike Kasumi Ninja which plays like pure ca ca, Ultra Vortek is actually FUN) and Brutal Sports Football (this is a lot of fun. Yeah, it looks like a 16-bit game, but it's pure fun) and Alien vs Predator (this is an awesome game).
After that....
On day three, I had one heck of an experience with two basketball games on Jaguar. One was NBA Jam (which is one of the greatest sports games ever AND it works really nicely with the Jaguar controller since the Jaguar controller makes it really easy to push other players if you lay it semi flat while pushing the buttons) and the other was Whit Men Can't Jump (which is freaking HORRIBLE beyond belief, perhaps the worse basketball game I have ever played).
Then....
Day Four, I still had four games left. At this point it's occurring to me that when it comes to Jaguar games, the game is either going to be really, really good or really, really terrible. This day delivered on that as I played Club Drive (it's freaking HORRIBLE), Ruiner pinball (this is an incredible amount of fun. Ruiner Pinball is easily the best pinball on Jaguar and overall just REALLY fun) and Cannon Fodder (looks like a 16-bit game, but it is pure joy to play)
and...
Supercross 3D (this is the WORST game on the Jaguar and I blame this for being the final nail in the coffin for the original Atari when this game released during December 1995 in direct competition with Playstation's Ridge Racer and Sega Saturn's Daytona USA. The frame rate of Supercross 3D on an actual Jaguar runs at 5 frames per second. I'm NOT kidding, it's 5 freaking frames per second and the controls are insanely terrible and the tracks in the game looks like ca ca).
After that,
About a few months of playing my 12 games, I ended up getting tons more games.
When it comes to ports, the Jaguar ports are MUCH better than SNES and Genesis ports (for example, Troy Aikman football on the Jaguar is MUCH better on the Jaguar compared to the SNES and Genesis versions. It plays better and looks better on Jaguar).
However, as a whole, the entire library is a VERY mixed bag of really great games mixed with some really terrible games.
Of all the Jaguar games I own (I own 38 of the cartridge games), 50% of them are really fun while the other 50% are ca ca.
I don't think I own any other consoles with that much of a split in quality when it comes to software.
Suoercross 3d seems to have no viewing distance or LoD. Just like 9 static meshes. I blame Atari for not supplying a fluid demo with this basic case of 3d. Moro Cross devs devs should only had to implement physics.
It would be good to do a top 10 games for each console. I love playing the games from your videos.
Welcome back Mr. Bird.🐦
I like your gameplay setup. Cool lighting and cinematography!
Thanks!
You don't deserve to marathon Donkey Kong!
I'd actually really like to get a Jaguar one day, but the prices for one in Canada are just absurd. The typical price you see here is around $700 CAD for a console, controller and the cables. The games aren't even that expensive, but the fact the game barely sold makes it very expensive up north. Coupled with the lack of great titles (or games at all), and I just can't find any excuse to save up that much money for it. For that price, I could buy a brand new PS5, and that's got more games that I want to play than the Jaguar, and everyone knows the PS5 has no games, so that says something.
If the Atari Jaguar is 64-Bit, then my PC with an RX-6650XT is 128-Bit...because the RX-6650XT uses a 128-Bit memory path.
9:44 One of the earliest computer games - Sandy Douglas' OXO, 1952 - used a rotary phone as a controller.
Also, search for Typhoon 2001, awesome fan remake of Tempest 2000.
I've owned a Jaguar three times. Last one got sold about six years ago and I don't miss it. I know there's a fair bit of homebrew on the Jag, but I find the scene much less exciting than the Vectrex and 2600. I don't know how, but I seem to have an official scart lead still in my possession.
glad you’re back
Great video. I hope I get to play a jaguar someday -just to say that I did at least once. Lol