Knuckles' Chaotix (Sega 32X) James & Mike Mondays 

I had these EXACT same issues with my 32X as a kid. I swapped out 2 or 3 32X units and spent hours on the line with Sega Tech Support. I found out years later that there are two ribbon cables inside the 32X that have the habit of popping off slightly. You can access them by taking the top shell off. I would highly recommend James try popping that off and making sure the 2 ribbon cables are pressed down firmly. Once I did that, my copy of Chaotix worked flawlessly on my Model 2.

I don't think the Genesis can't handle this much blast processing.

It was always hard to play Knuckles Chaotix on my 32X. The slightest nudge of the system or cartridge would freeze the game(sometimes deleting the game saves). Plus you have to play with the wires to make colors look right. But the game was always fun for me when it works. I recommend reading the game manual to understand some of these controls/story/design choices.

Maybe the 32X would work if James hadn't shot an arrow through it on a pyre :P

It's not the Genesis or the game, it's the 32x you had problems with. There's a ribbon cable inside the 32x that becomes dislodged that will cause the problems you're talking about.

There's nothing like James and Mike in the middle of the night.

this game basically just looks like the 90s exploded and someone put the aftermath on a sega 32x cart.

I'm so glad you guys started J&M. Throughout the series, you've fully distinguished the real James apart from The Nerd, when previously much of the fanbase didn't even know he was playing a character.

Haha I remember that time in the 90s when adding "X" to anything was cool.

The colors look blown out--Did the footage look like that on your guys' end?

"Was there a Cheerios game?" No but there was a Chex Cereal game. Chex Quest. You guys should play that.

This might be one of those times where it's better to use an Emulator.....

Would like to see you guys play Sonic 3.

The colors are off

Mighty was actually an original concept drawing for the main character for the Sonic games before they settled on a Hedgehog.

James and Mike and Knuckles Mondays

Sega overdosed on acid and made a sonic game.

This game makes me feel like I'm running a 104 degree fever and doing drugs. It's so fucky.

This looks like a Sonic game on acid.

I used to play the hell out of this game when I was young. I remember this was the reason i begged my parents to buy me a 32X. Good to see it on Cinemassacre, I kinda wanna learn how to speedrun it now LOL.

I have no idea wtf is going on

The colors are off Mike. Everything is more pinkish. I noticed you mentioned Sonic near the end of the video, so when you guys played it must've looked normal. Maybe a capture card glitch

I don't normally comment on stuff but I played this game to death as a kid and I have to say it never looked so awful as it does in this video - the saturation on the TV is WAY TOO HIGH and it's SO blurry!!! This was clear and beautiful when I played it (and any footage you see online or screenshots these days shows super clear imagery). I don't understand why it looks so degraded in this video but I hope you guys know it doesn't look this bad generally!

9:00 IIRC that thing that you're doing where your partner character jumps to the front of the screen, that's basically the developer's "fix" for an issue that would occasionally happen where your partner would get stuck in an area where you can't pull them back - or sometimes they outright disappeared if I remember right. Hitting that button manually forces them back with you.

3:54 they start playing the game

Chaotix Credit Card

This is the most 90's thing I've ever seen, if you could play a trapper keeper, this is what it would look like :P

"10 out of 10" - Norman Bates

Damn it Processing, why are you being so Blast?!

Definitely works with model 2's - I've hooked it up with a few variations of it, including audio modded units, RGB/S-Video output, etc. Either James' model 2 is defective, or one of the power adapters is underperforming.

"If you're a serial killer you'll like this game", they said. Board James, is that you?

Man, hooking up that 32x sure sounded... Chaotix! Keep up the good work, James and Mike!

James get the Sega trio charger it's really good for 32x, CD and Genesis

I wish they would've played the co op mode.

I remember having to send off my Mega Drive model 1 and 32X mushroom together to be fixed after buying the 32X. When I got them back they mostly worked together. Occasionally I'd have issues but nothing like you guys. My copy of this game worked fine 80% of the time.

Sonic CD is like a 90s rave party. Chaotix is like a fever dream.

Some HDTV's don't support the old 240 resolution anymore. I had the same problem plugging my NES into my Vizio. It only accepts a 480i signal or higher.

I always wanted this game.

Thanks for not being too hard on this game. You guys should give it another try after you understand the controls better. For instance calling your partner to your position (that costs ten rings) is almost never needed. When you understand the rubber band mechanics better, you can slingshot your way through levels efficiently. There are many situations where you can pick up your partner and toss them up, then slingshot your way above them and keep alternating. In the time stages, you needed to have both characters standing on the switch. I recommend choosing Espio the Chameleon because he can move along walls kind of like Grant from Castlevania 3. You generally want to avoid the heavy bot and bomb bot in the Combi Catcher.

this game has an excellent soundtrack

I love the new thumbnail art. Whoever did that needs a high five.

most sonic games have a 10:00 min level timer, the count down was letting you know you were at 9:50

3:26 The frustration is so relatable in this picture. That's rated somewhere between losing your tv remote and having to unplug and replug your one, cheap ass hdmi cable every time you switch between devices.

Trivia: Knuckles Chaotix is based on a canceled Sonic game called Sonic Crackers. Sonic Crackers and Knuckles Chaotix have the same ring-band mechanic-type gameplay.

Why are the colors on the capture so messed up?

why are knuckles anf mighty color distorted i guess since knuckles is pink he has the super emerald

oh baby that purple tint is like daggers on my eyes

You need the expander piece on the side of your genesis. The 32X came with an expansion adapter that actually plugs into the side of the genesis where the sega cd would normally plug into

Knuckles Chaotix felt more like Sega was checking off a list of "cool" special effect features to show off the capabilities of the 32X rather than focusing on a good game. Not good, not bad, it was just a weird game. - Rotating wireframes - True 3D special stages with horrible clipping that makes them nearly unplayable - Mode 7 style special stages - Secondary character scaling larger/smaller over the screen - Etc The problem was it was just distracting how overused it all was.

I've always wanted to play this game. Knuckles has been my favorite since Sonic 3.

17:00 speaking of games that come in a cereal box. i would love to see you guys play Chex Quest!

rofl thanks for taking the time hooking all that up, props for figuring out the TV issue omg

I had a Genesis model 1 from 1991 until 2001. I sold it to be able to buy a PS2 at launch. While I still like playing with my good old PS2 very much, to this day... I fucking regret having sold my beloved Genesis....

Did James finally cutoff his sideburns?

I did some research on the issue and the issue seems to be the VA4 variant of the genesis model 2. The VA4 is a 3/4 motherboard model (you can see the heat shield through the vent on the bottom doesn't completely cover the vent) and the VA4 will have square cutouts in the heat shield visible from the bottom. Earlier models like the VA1, VA1.8, etc work fine.

I hope you guys keep doing these shows, it really does brighten an otherwise dull Monday.

This game's aesthetics really stand out, even compared to the other Sonic games, and that's something! I wish more 2D platformers were as imaginative and weird as this one.

The color is off.

As a fan of Knuckles Chaotix I'm glad to be lumped in with leatherface

You guys should play Chex Quest...its a doom clone but its a cereal based game.

is the color off?

Oh man I love this soundtrack!!

There needs to be a James & Mike Podcast on RU-vid & SoundCloud

Such an underrated game. I wish we could get a re-release

Mike I will build you a time machine and send you back to 1980s

I want to get this game! I love the art style. It's so coooool.

awesome, classic video game played this at a neighbor's house when I was 12 in 1996

"I've got 800 wires shoved up my ass." -32X

Any chance of a James and Mike Monday with Sonic 3 & Knuckles? I thought I heard you guys said you were going to play it soon after the end of the JMM episode of Sonic 2. Either way, love the work guys.

it looks like an early version of sonic heroes...looks fun.

I wish you guys would still do James & Mike Mondays.

This game actually looks super fun

Tbh sega should port this game way more , it really underrated and fun

It's like a friggin' escort mission. The worst kind. You cannot even ditch the sucker, cause you're permanently attached to him. Oh, the nightmare.

Pressing A is a recall for your partner character to bring them back to you from wherever they are. B can also be used to grab and throw your partner, which is useful in certain situations, especially when bouncing around on springs. Each character also has a special ability: Knuckles can climb walls and glide, Mighty can cling to walls and wall-hop, Espio can run on walls and ceilings, and Vector can air-dodge and climb, if I remember correctly.

PRO TIP!!! - I had this SAME freezing issue back in the 90's. Happened with a few games - Tempo and Knuckles Chaotix. Chaotix I returned to Toys R Us a bunch of times because of it. BUT I grew skeptical that this many copies of the game were actually broken. I took another look at my Gen 2/32x setup and decided to mess around. I came to the conclusion the issue was caused by the 32x shifting or wobbling just ever so slightly. When I popped the game in, and then started to just move the Genesis enough to rattle the 32x a tiny bit, it froze - I'm talking miniscule movements which were even caused by moving the controller cable attached to the Genesis slightly. I remember getting this fixed by removing the spacer between the 32x and the Genesis, and possibly also the electromagnetic shield plates. At that point the 32X was making better contact inside the Genesis and stopped freezing on me. Might be why the Gen 1 model works better with this game than the Gen 2 model - installation on there didn't require you to use that spacer. Hopefully this helps you out!

Guys please play Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze! Its insanely hard but super fun. I dare you to beat the "K-Levels! ;)

I love the colour palette in this game

James & Mike is the best segment of Cinemassacre

14:15 "I just think it's funny to play as a- ...What the f*ck?"

i would think that they would clean their cartridges and systems as the contacts can become dirty. Wouldn't that be something if the guy that created that save is watching this video, thinking "i saved there in the game i had", but obviously no way of knowing that it was his cartridge, or he could be dead..........

i think i remember playing this when i was little, but the colors were different...i think that even when it's working for you guys, the color palate is being weird. i definitely remember a sonic game with that weird rubber band thing, but it wasn't all neon like this.

would love to buy one of the copies James bought. Lost mine due to burglary.

And that's why Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the best Sonic game. Wonder why they didn't do that instead?

looks like a bad acid trip

I've always wanted to play this so bad

So this is what its like to play a game on acid.

The game was originally suppose to star Sonic and tails. But much as I remember. Since I never played it. That there was something wrong with the game that didn't work out. So they change it. They change sonic model to the armadillo. Tails model still in the game. But as a bug. and you have to do a debug mode to get it. I think the game freezes if you have tails along.

Interesting. I have a model 2 Genesis with a 32X and I've never had problems with Chaotix. It was always one of my favorite games for the console.

LOL!!! I like how Mike felt like he had to clarify the fact that it was the console that had 800 wires up its ass. no shit Mike hahahaha. I love cinnemassacre.

am i the only one loving how retrowav this looks? reminds me of menus in sonic cd reedition. i would like to play other sonic games with this style

this game was one alot of drugs.

That Armadillo that basically looks like Sonic was actually one the many designs for Sonic before they decided to go with the hedgehog drawing.

I immediately laughed when James got heavy.

I Love this Game Why Sega Did Not make a Remake of This Game? (Door Into The Summer)

Now You should do Mortal Kombat 2 for 32X If You have it

Knuckles' Chaotix: No Dorks Allowed

I can't believe u didn't say that setting up this video was 'chaotic'!! :D

This is AVGN material for sure !!!

The game looks extremely frustrating to play just looking at it.. the rubber band thing just looks like a huge hindrance