Jaguar Top 5

[Sabertooth]

For a console that is so often maligned, I personally have no problem finding Jaguar games that I still enjoy playing. Even many of the bad games have a "so bad its good quality". What are the Jaguar games that you consistently go back to? In your view, what games still offer something to gamers nearly 20 years after Jaguar's demise? Which games are good enough to make your Jaguar Top 5?

 

Here is my list:

 

Club Drive

Checkered Flag

Double Dragon 5

Supercross 3D

Blackout!

[Justin]

Here's my list:

 

1. Cybermorph
2. Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy
3. Atari Karts
4. Raiden
5. Tempest 2000

[Sabertooth]

Ok, so maybe I was having a bit of a laugh with my first list.

 

My real top five as they stand today are:

Tempest 2000

Zero 5

Missile Command 3D

Skyhammer

Rayman

 

There are obviously other games that I'd include in a "Top 10" or "Top 15" but I find that limiting it to five really makes you think about it.

[Sabertooth]

Its cool to see Hoverstrike on two lists as it is actually a pretty decent game. Much like Wolf 3D, it used to make me woozy when I was younger. I think this was due to the bouncing of the hovercraft. Now I quite like it. I generally play it on CD.

Edited December 6, 2015 by atarilbc

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Wow...it's hard to pick just 5.  Let's see...

 

1. Tempest 2000
2. Cybermorph
3. Iron Soldier
4. Baldies (CD)
5. Raiden

There...I think that does it.  Honorable mentions:

 

• I*War
• Myst (CD)
• Hover Strike (I have had cart and CD at one time and CD is better)
• Flashback
• Wolfenstein 3-D
• Doom

[Sabertooth]

@justin & kamakazi20012 - Interesting choices. You wouldn't often see Cybermorph or Baldies listed but both are, in my view, criminally under appreciated games. Its great to see them represented on your lists!

 

Raiden nearly made my list too but I felt that between Zero 5, Tempest 2000 and MC3D I had enough thumb punishing arcade action represented. If I had a second player with me, it would definitley be there.

 

I've been seeing a lot of love for Hoverstrike and i-War lately. Could it be that these have become the Jaguar's sleeper hits 20 years on?

[Atari 5200 Guy]

You also have to remember that the Jaguar was doing something not done on console before.  Everyone had to start somewhere with learning how to develop for the Jaguar and not everything went as planned.  I mean, Nintendo and Sega's machines were battling it out trying to deliver 16-bit arcade experiences and exclusive titles in a 2D fashion.  The Jaguar, on the other hand, was native capable of delivering, for its time, stunning 3D capabilities.  That was unheard of then.  Even PCs were struggling in that department.  So if you don't understand something what do you do?  Which is why I feel that, as Bakerman has mentioned, the media and public dogged the Jaguar as much as they did.  

 

I*War is a fun 3D experience and Cybermorph is a good shoot 'em up game.  I spent hours on Cybermorph when I got my Jaguar.  You don't have a timer so you can explore.  I do wish the environment were a little bit brighter but all the game elements come together nicely.  Not bad for a game that was to be demonstration of some of the thing that Jaguar could do.  So, I agree with Bakerman, I*War and Cybermorph could very well be Jag's sleeper titles.  I'm sure there are others as well. 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Opps...Hoverstrike was suppose to be Jag's sleeper title.  Well...I guess it can be there with Cybermorph and I*War as well

[Justin]

@justin & kamakazi20012 - Interesting choices. You wouldn't often see Cybermorph or Baldies listed but both are, in my view, criminally under appreciated games. Its great to see them represented on your lists!

 

Raiden nearly made my list too but I felt that between Zero 5, Tempest 2000 and MC3D I had enough thumb punishing arcade action represented. If I had a second player with me, it would definitley be there.

 

I've been seeing a lot of love for Hoverstrike and i-War lately. Could it be that these have become the Jaguar's sleeper hits 20 years on?

 

 

These were the games I grew up with. I never thought they were bad, I thought they were awesome! I had received one of the very first Jaguar systems in the Fall of 1993 before they went on sale across the country. At that time there were few games available, but what I had I loved dearly.

 

Jaguar felt very underground, like a well-kept secret that only awesome people had figured out. I had already been collecting 2600 and 7800 and had a Lynx, which meant I was used to having to hunt down games wherever I could find them (story here) and figure out on my own what games were good. In those days the hunt was half the fun!

 

Back then there wasn't a social media mob of bratty selfie-taking video game bloggers and corrupt disgusting video game critics beating me into submission with the ideology that Jaguar was to be loathed and laughed at. In the early days I played the games I had and for the most part I absolutely loved them.

 

Cybermorph in particular felt like magic that first morning I brought the Jag home. I had loved Star Fox on Super Nintendo but Cybermorph took it to a new level for me. It did feel slightly unfinished, I wished there had been more music and more action-oriented objectives to be achieved in the game. But the ability to circumnavigate an entire planet rather than fly in a straight line along a predetermined path was wonderful. I was also impressed with Skylar’s ability to actually speak, it had usurped the nonsensical horn-like “Charlie Brown’s Mom’s voice” of the StarFox characters. I was not disappointed and nobody was there to instruct me that I should’ve been.

 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

These were the games I grew up with. I never thought they were bad, I thought they were awesome! I had received one of the very first Jaguar systems in the Fall of 1993 before they went on sale across the country. At that time there were few games available, but what I had I loved dearly.

 

Jaguar felt very underground, like a well-kept secret that only awesome people had figured out. I had already been collecting 2600 and 7800 and had a Lynx, which meant I was used to having to hunt down games wherever I could find them (story here) and figure out on my own what games were good. In those days the hunt was half the fun!

 

Back then there wasn't a social media mob of bratty selfie-taking video game bloggers and corrupt disgusting video game critics beating me into submission with the ideology that Jaguar was to be loathed and laughed at. In the early days I played the games I had and for the most part I absolutely loved them.

 

Cybermorph in particular felt like magic that first morning I brought the Jag home. I had loved Star Fox on Super Nintendo but Cybermorph took it to a new level for me. It did feel slightly unfinished, I wished there had been more music and more action-oriented objectives to be achieved in the game. But the ability to circumnavigate an entire planet rather than fly in a straight line along a predetermined path was wonderful. I was also impressed with Skylar’s ability to actually speak, it had usurped the nonsensical horn-like “Charlie Brown’s Mom’s voice” of the StarFox characters. I was not disappointed and nobody was there to instruct me that I should’ve been.

 

 

Hehe...The first time I played Cybermorph I spent hours on that game trying to figure it out.  I beat it but I couldn't tell you now how I did nor do I remember.  Too many games have happened since then.  I also feel that Jaguar was very much under the radar.  A serious game at that time would have discovered some how.  If it wouldn't have been for that ad I got in the mail I wouldn't have known about it.  

 

I agree about Skylar...the voice was like "Wow!" when I first heard her speak.  It was especially funny when I would bump into things.  OK...this is driving me nuts...I MUST play Cybermorph now!  Be back after I learn to fly.  Long live the Jaguar!

[Atari 5200 Guy]

You know, Jaguar was the only way I found to play Myst.  I spent hours upon hours with that game trying to solve it.  It took me months to figure that game out.  I drew maps, highlighted and noted objects like keys and stuff, and jotted down how to solve the puzzles within the game.  I was hooked.  I didn't have a PC that could touch that game so the Jaguar was the only way I found to play that game...and it was a lot of fun!

 

Raiden is just an awesome shoot 'em up for the system.  It's a shame that there wasn't more like it on the system.  No, they weren't 3D, but the system could have been one heck of a 2D power house.  There are lots of Jag games I didn't get to try simply because I couldn't find them nor afford them when I did.  Highlander CD wasn't too bad but I kept getting stuck.

[DegasElite]

Here is my Personal Top Five Jaguar Games List:

 

1. Doom

2. AVP

3. Myst

4. Tempest 2000

5. Dragon's Lair

 

These are my most favorite Jaguar games of all time. I put Doom on top because, although AVP is absolutely spectacular (and it shows), Doom has more levels: twenty-three, to be exact. Plus, I understand that T2K is towards the bottom, but this is really not an undercut to the game. Actually, I absolutely cherish that game. Dragon's Lair is there for the almost spot-on cel animation. There is a problem, however: Cinepak does not do justice to Dragon's Lair graphically (it really needed the MPEG cartridge released and needed MPEG compression to stand out). Plus, Dragon's Lair is actually very challenging because you are using a different way of controlling the game that makes it "inter-reactive", so to speak. I also like it because I like FMV games. That is my two cents.

 

Thanks.

Edited April 6, 2017 by DegasElite

[Video 61]

For a console that is so often maligned, I personally have no problem finding Jaguar games that I still enjoy playing. Even many of the bad games have a "so bad its good quality". What are the Jaguar games that you consistently go back to? In your view, what games still offer something to gamers nearly 20 years after Jaguar's demise? Which games are good enough to make your Jaguar Top 5?

 

Here is my list:

 

Club Drive

Checkered Flag

Double Dragon 5

Supercross 3D

Blackout!

 from a  dealers point of view, i used to do computer shows, they were massive in size, filling up floors of convention centers. in those shows everything at that time were being displayed, pc's, macs, 3d0, ect.

 

 but i set up two jags on 32 inch stereo tube t.v.'s, and popped raiden in, and turned up the volume. i had every jag game out in display, along with of course all atari platforms.

 

 with both t.v.s roaring, in poured the kids from the level i was on, and coming fast from all levels. there were two lines forming for each jaguar, that stretched to the stairways and elevators, around all sorts of other dealers.

 

 i had two controllers for each machine, and the kids could play two player similtaneos action. in most cases these kids were total strangers. they played with such intensity, i was amazed, finally atari had something that blew others away.

 

 it was so bad that other people running displays were shouting to get me to turn the machines off, i had to turn down the volume a bit, but not so much, it was not bad. it was like the children were hypnotzed. i finally had to time their play, so that the hundreds standing in both lines could play.

 

 i even tried other tiles like A.V.P. and tempest, the kids right away balked after a few seconds, and demanded that both machines would be running raiden.

 

 this lasted from friday afternoon, till sunday evening, in a metropolitian area of about 3.5 million people. this is what jack blew. i even met a few programmers that had been fired by jack, they knew me, and said this one will fail to, i was hoping they would be wrong, but in the end they were right.