Jaguar CD questions

[mailman187666]

I recently just picked up a jaguar at a classic games store near me. I know what kinds of games are out for the cartridge based part of it but is there anything good for the Jag CD that makes buying one worth it? i would like to pick one up, but if all it has is Myst and Dragon's Lair, I don't think it would really be worth it....can anyone help me out on this one?

[Trebuken]

It has a couple of games that people enjoy, (Battlemorph, Dragons Lair, Space Ace) and has Iron Soldier II, which can be pricey. It also has the only Highlander game I know of, even if it's no good..no excitement really on the Jag CD...

Later,
Trebuken

[mailman187666]

yeah the highlander game was one i was lookin' at but i didn't know if it would be any good or not. I take it that its not so great. I'd like to try it out just for the hell of it because I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to mediocre games and can still have fun with them. I guess I'll just have to look into it a bit more before i decide to drop any kind of loot for it. If anybody else has anything to add, please let me know.

[NoahsMyBro]

When I used to spend a lot of time online following the Jaguar scene, I found that there is very little love or appreciation for the game Highlander online.

HOWEVER, when I actually loaded it up and played it myself, I enjoyed it a lot. Different Strokes for different folks, ya know?

At some point in the game I got stuck and haven't revisited the game in years, but I really liked the early part of the game that I played.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

When I had one I loved if for no other reason than the built in VLM which is truly amazing still to this day. It totally outshines the all the other vizualization programs I've seen on computers.

But then, I managed to find a Jag CD at a thrift store for quite a bit less than it would have cost on eBay or some place like that. Maybe if I'd paid $100 or $200 or whatever they go for, I wouldn't have been happy with just the VLM.

The games certainly don't cut it. Battlemorph is way better than Cybermorph, but still not really a good game. Highlander is horrendous, mostly because it's so insanely hard to control, like Resident Evil on heroin (though I actually found myself playing it a lot and came quite close to beating it...so maybe I liked it more than I thought...). Blue Lightning is like some kind of joke. Dragons Lair is Dragons Lair. Vid Grid...isn't much of a game really. Baldies is kind of fun, but should have been a cart and certainly isn't worth getting the system for in any case.

The one thing that might be worth getting a Jag CD for is the homebrew releases, which may start coming out on CD instead of cart now. It was just as I was selling my Jaguar that the Jag CD encrytpion stuff was being discovered, so I didn't follow it all, but I think it's been cracked and now homebrew Jag CD games can be produced--for much less than cartridge games obviously. There's also the Black Ice White Noise proto that I always really wanted to try out even though it was nowhere near a complete game. Does anyone here know if that can be played directly now that the CD encryption key is known or does it still require the enabler cart (built into BattleSphere Gold and I think Songbird sold one too)?


...word is bondage...

[T2KFreeker]

Hmm, you see what I mean? People keep trying to point out all of the things that was bad on the Jaguar CD unit. There are quite a few home brew games for the system that are awesome, including an Arcade Perfect version of Gorf, Painter was sweet. Iron Soldier II is also an excellent game, and Highlander is a very good game after you figure out the controls, whjich isn't so hard if you are into games like Resident Evil and Alone In The Dark. Theer are actually games still being made for the unit. I am currently working on a shmup for the Jaguar CD called Metro Blaster, so if you really want great info on the Jaguar, check us out at:
http://jaysmith2000.ipbhost.com/

Seriously, that is where all the information on this unit is at, period!

[Ponyone]

If you have the money to burn, buy one for no other reason than it makes the sleek Jaguar look even sexier.

Like a sexy space craft full of sexiness.

[CRV]

Like a sexy space toilet full of sexiness.

Fixed.

[T2KFreeker]

Like a sexy space toilet full of sexiness.

Fixed.

An, the old toilet joke. Not to sound rude, but at least the system had some curves unlike some other systems that have released in the past, like the top loading NES, talk about ugly?

[Shaggy_Arcade]

The Jag CD has had it's share of criticism but there are some nice titles for it, as small as it's library is. I'll just go over each one briefly and what I think about it:

BattleMorph : the much better sequel to CyberMorph. You don't have to go around collecting pods for everything, this is more mission based. Better graphics than the original, great soundtrack, and there is more to explore such as the underwater and tunnel areas.

Iron Soldier 2 : It might be hard to find and I'm not sure what the price is for it but it's worth it. Sequel Iron Soldier, this one has more missions, more weapons, enemies and a much better graphics engine (with plenty of texture mapping). Good soundtrack as well.

Gorf: If you like the original arcade Gorf, this is spot on. Not easy to find though.

World Tour Racing: If you like racers, this one is decent. It's better than Checkered Flag - more tracks, better controls, better graphics. Like IS2 it may be hard to find however.

Vid Grid - if you don't have it already, this is a cool puzzle game where you piece music videos together.

Dragon's Lair/Space Ace/Braindead 13 : out of the Readysoft releases for the Jag CD, Braindead 13 is the best.

Baldies : decent strategy game with 100 levels. It can be a lot of fun at least.

Primal Rage: Except for the bad loading times (I'd say that this has the longest of any Jag CD game) this is a good translation of the arcade title.

Highlander: Somewhat like Myst with 3D characters running around each scene. The combat system isn't very good (this game can be fun if you use the cheats, but a game obviously shouldn't rely on cheats to be entertaining) but it can be ok if you stick with it. I haven't played it in ages though.

Soul Star : This game was never officially released but it has found it's way around the Jag community. It's a shooter, perhaps you're familiar with the Sega CD version. This one plays the same although it looks better. The only issue with the copy that has made the rounds is that there is a bug which can cause the game to crash at a certain point. Some have been able to get past it however and enjoy the rest of the game.

Hover Strike : Hovercraft/tank game. Go around, blow stuff up, complete objectives. Just like the cart game but with better graphics, more missions and a few other minor differences.

DIAM Jag: New homebrew release, a short puzzle game where you move a ball around to collect gems. Some people are reminded of Chip's Challenge when they play it. It's a free download, so no complaints there.

JagMind/Ocean Depths - I have not tried these so I can't say. JagMind is a puzzle game.

Black ICE/White Noise - this is also a free download, it's an unfinished game where you wander around a huge city as a hacker looking for jobs. I created a strategy guide covering what can be done - there's not much to do, but it's interesting to check out nevertheless.

Painter: many compare this to Qix although the gameplay is a tad different. I think of it being closer to Amidar myself. Simple graphics but a lot of fun.

Jaguar Extremist Packs - released by Jason Smith a while back, these are no longer available but may show up on eBay from time to time. There were three of them, each one including about three betas or demos of games or tools that were in development for the Jag CD.

Hopefully coming in the future (I say hopefully as you never know, but these are projects that have been discussed or announced):

Mighty Frog : a remake of Q*Bert with some extra stuff

Gorf Pluz : 2D update of the original Gorf

Gorf 3D : 3D update of the original Gorf

Metro Blaster: 2D shmup

Paddle Baddles: several 3D remakes of Atari 2600 games that used paddles.

New 3D pinball game by Eclipse (may be on cart)

Eerievale : survival/horror game

More projects from Jagware (who made DIAM Jag and another puzzle game called Atomix), including the just announced Project Apocalyspe (2D shmup)

2 Rumored Tron projects

Frontier: Elite II - conversion of the ST game. I'm not sure if this will be finished and offered on a CD or cart, let's hope so

And who knows what else we'll see in the future! :)

[walter_J64Bit_]

Jag CD :rocker:

[classicvidgamer]

Gorf alone makes owning the JAG CD worth it for me. But then again that was one of my favorite arcade games back in the day. This one is extremely faithful to the arcade version as it has all 5 missions. (Most console conversions were missing the Galaxians mission.)

Iron Soldier 2 is great. Contains CD music and cinemas that are missing from the cart.

Vid Grid is a lot of fun when you are challenging a friend. If you are playing by yourself you may get bored. I was surprised how fun this puzzle game was. Simple but addictive.

World Tour Racing is much better than Checkered Flag just don't expect anything like Ridge Racer or Daytona USA. Still fun.

Soul Star is cool. Very similar to Sega CD version. Prototype.

Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands - I liked this game though the controls take some getting used to.

I personally love checking out unreleased games whether they are complete or not. The Jag CD has lots of unfinished games. Some more playable than others.

Varunas Forces
Caves of Fear
American Hero
Black Ice: White Noise
Native (shootemup)

[j_factor]

If you can get one cheap, it's worth picking up just for the Virtual Light Machine, which is the built-in audio CD player. That thing is awesome. Battlemorph is also great, if you liked Cybermorph.

I still need to try the Jag CD versions of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. The 3DO ports were really disappointing; I wonder if the Jaguar ones have the same problems?

[Shaggy_Arcade]

If you can get one cheap, it's worth picking up just for the Virtual Light Machine, which is the built-in audio CD player. That thing is awesome. Battlemorph is also great, if you liked Cybermorph.

I still need to try the Jag CD versions of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. The 3DO ports were really disappointing; I wonder if the Jaguar ones have the same problems?

Don't bother with Space Ace. There are a few points where the timing is off for the button presses. I have tried with this one a few times and it just wasn't that great. Dragon's Lair is good though, although I'm not sure how it stacks up to the 3DO version

I can't believe I forgot about the VLM. That's one of the best parts to owning a JagCD! :)

[Steve W]

I always liked Highlander, but it really pissed me off for the first day I had it. But I stuck with it, and eventually locked my brain into the controls of the game (which aren't all that easy to learn) and managed to finish it. Then I played it again to get to the secret hidden temple of the Rubber Chicken God. :D