The History and the Games of the Sega 32X - documentary 

One aspect of being a youngest child, i reaped the rewards with video games. I was born in 85 and grew up with a NES. Also had my older brother and sisters Atari 5200 and 7800's. I still remember seeing Sonic for the first time inside a local Walmart. My parents had joined a summer bowling league at an AMF house in 92. The team that finished first, each member got a Genesis. With my brothers being older and having jobs of their own. They bought the Sega CD from Blockbuster, when they were selling some of their former rental units off. Then the same brother bought a 3DO and then finally the 32X when it came out. All my friends had SNES's so they always wanted to come over my house. Playing MK2 on the 32x blew away the 16 bit ports. We played a lot of Virtua Racing, NBA Jam TE, Star Trek, Star Wars, Cosmic Carnage. I even really enjoyed Doom cuz our computer couldnt run it. We had a shareware for Wolf 3D and i had a friend a few houses up that had Doom so i had gotten a taste. I enjoyed it as a kid even though it didnt compare to the pc version. Then...since we had a CD and 32x, my brother had Night Trap. Me and my friends had always heard rumors it turned in to a porn once you got far enough in, but we werent very good lol. We loved playing Slam City and Fahrenheit. Just felt so above what everyone else was playing at the time. Still have a lot of love for these consoles. Please do a second part to this video!

BOB BARTLETT is the mysterious unknown host in WWF Raw. He was one of the first host featured on the initial episodes of RAW, and fits the character profile.

22 years later and Penny Arcade's pronouncement that Kolibri is "arguably the finest hummingbird-based shooter available on the 32x' has truly stood the test of time.

The mystery commentator from the WWF Raw game is Stephanie Wiand. She was around when Todd Pettengill worked for them and she was there for less than I year.

18:00 That's probably Stephanie Wiand, Her and Gorilla Monsoon used to do some of the Coliseum Video exclusive matches i think.

It's a joy to relive nostalgia with you Patman. Thank you for content and history lessons.

Just in time for Sunday brunch :) I do appreciate the effort of compiling all of this gameplay video and information about the history also the way you effortlessly present It in an entertaining way. Another great video 😁

My anecdotal 32x story. Had only a sega genesis. Grandma bought me sonic for the 32x. She tried, love you grandma.

I always appreciate your videos and the hard work that you put into them, thank you for posting this. I wish that all that effort went in to Sega's overall ecosystem at that time.

Only 40 games developed? Wow. According to Wikipedia, there were over 50 additional games but were never released. Some of them ended up on the Saturn, but most were just canceled.

YES!!! Definitely do another another part! To me add-ons is soo interesting to cover and you do a great job. Very entertaining..😂

Playing Virtua Fighter always made you feel like you were fighting on the moon

Star Wars Arcade is still a bona-fide hit. What an awesome conversion

Another excellent video, I would love to see part 2!

Been waiting for this. Thank you

Keep up the awesome work good sir. Love the videos !

5:16, 5:36 that hair though

Japan wanted the Saturn, SOA would insist Saturn was too expensive and wanted to stick to the Genesis. 32x/Neptune/Jupiter was the compromise and that is why the hardware was developed by SOA's Joe Miller.

Owning the Genesis, CD expansion AND a 32X was a great way to trip a breaker every time the whole Frankenstein monster was powered up.

I loved virtua fighter on my 32x in the day. I had doom, virtua racing and fighter, metal head, star wars arcade... and thats about it

Thanks for the video Patman

Another superb documentary Patman. I think if they did Outrun for the 32x it might have sold a few more units, but with Saturn on the horizon it didnt stand a chance.

The Sega was doing weird a rapid fire of hardware releases between 94 and 95, in April of 94 they released the Sega CDX(Genesis, Sega CD, and "portable" CD player all in one that the 32X didn't fit well), the 32x in November, and the Sega Nomad(portable Genesis) in 95. These with the looming release of the Saturn(they had teased before the US release of the 32x) sunk Sega's console viability. This boondoggle of rapid fire planned obsolescent hardware made people worry about the long term viability of the Saturn in the US market and left the Dreamcast looking like a desperate last gasp.

Plz do a part two...btw your vids are amazing!!!!!

My brother had the Sega CD, I think he skipped the 32x and we both got Saturn's for Christmas. I always think about how much money we were throwing at Sega only to have basically abandon their system a year or so later.

I’m really stoned and your videos are prefect while I’m high!!

Givro, the developer of Cosmic Carnage/Cyber Brawl and Mazin Saga also apparently made a 3 Vs. 3 fighter for the arcade called Burning Street. Published by Tecmo, Burning Street was only location tested in Japan and seems to be lost media at this point. Given the look of Cosmic Carnage/Cyber Brawl, it would have been interesting to see what Burning Street was like.

Love the Patman Sega parody opening. Nice work

Always said from Day 1 that even though I was impressed with the 32X, I also thought it was a dumb idea for it would have been better to create a Mega CD Elite/Pro/2/Next/Prime that combined all the 32X stuff but with more colours, better CPU, better sprint manipulation chips, better sound chip and more memory. If they did that, phased out the Mega CD and released the unit 2.5 years prior the launch of the Sega Saturn it would have been perfect. Heck, I remember saying all this when I learned about the 32X in "Mean Machines Sega" magazine. If they played their cards right, they would have been able to relax on the Saturn launch to release a superior machine after learning more about the Playstation instead of rushing it out. We would have gotten something much closer to the Model 2 as a result (A model 1.75 machine) instead of the rambled rushed out execution that only a select few can unleash that was done to the Sega Saturn. Oh man. WhY am I on this rant train again? I've been on this rant and what they should have done train over 20 years ago.

I still own my Sega 32X & WWF Raw is my favorite game I own to go back & play. These style of wrestling games are all nostalgia for me along with Rage in the Cage on Sega CD. Loved this rundown of the 32X! The mysterious woman on commentary? I always assumed it was legendary female wrestler/manager "Scary" Sherri Martel. This game came out right as she made the jump to WCW

Thanks for the video!

Great history of the 32X, PatmanQC! I remember back then, waiting for some must-play 32X games and long term support before considering it, but not enough showed up and Playstation stole all its potential. I was hoping for a lot of Arcade ports, but sadly not enough. After Burner looks great and runs like the arcade on 32X however. Thanks!

Played Star Wars for months lol. Great video as always.

Awesome thanks 👍 great work Sir

I actually debated getting a 32X or more specifically a Neptune so I could catch up on all the Genesis games I missed out on (I had a Turbo Duo in the 16 bit years) and enjoy the "Next Generation of Gaming", but when that was cancelled I ended up just getting a Saturn instead. I kinda sorta made the right decision since I didn't miss out on much from the 32X, and now I'm going to be selling my Saturn library of games for a pretty penny since the collectability on those games (like Panzer Dragoon Saga, Magic Knight Rayearth, Shining Force III, etc.) has gone through the roof.

Thanks Patman 🎉

I had the Sega 3d LCD shutter glasses for the Sega Master System. My God the we're tight on the head. They were ok but the experience was just that, ok, not great. I had four titles for the glasses: Space Harrier, Outrun, Missile Command and Zaxxon, which, I Believe, is exactly half of the bloody library that the add-on supported. Every one of the games was underwhelming and I just ended up playing the non-3d iterations that were also included on the supported SMS cartridges. Thanks for the great content young lad.

I remember seeing the 32x on clearance in Kmart for $29.95. Damn! I should've bought all of them.

Very interesting video 👍👍

Great video

I almost got a Genesis.... but I was saving for an Amiga 500. :) The rest is computer history....

Amazing video as always. I do think sega should invested in more new software and no in another add on. Maybe some enhanced cartridge as the snes ones, if they could shrink down the costs. Anyway, all this stay on the past. And I'm really impressed you could play and like the spider man game, i simply can't enjoy the gameplay and visuals when i tried myself. Good video Pat!

My brother bought the 32x (still has it to this day). At the time, the only games he was able to play on it were rentals- finding 32x carts on sale was very difficult. It was the first gaming platform that made me realize games sold the system- not the hardware. Yes, we did also have a CD add-on and had everything hooked up. The final unit looked like a monstrosity. There was a barely noticeable hissing noise from the unit, when it was turned on. There were too many parts, creating some kind of electronic resistance. In the end, it was put in a glass case and hasn't been used in over 25-years.

The woman in WWF RAW at the announce table is Stepanie Wiand. She was a backstage interviewer and i think producer in the mid 90s for WWF.

That’s sensational sherry, she was announcing in the mid 90’s of the wwf

Raspberry pi has no problem with emulating the 32X… problem is most if not all these games aren’t worth playing!

I was the target demo for this stuff and I had completely forgotten how over the top and sort of disturbing a lot of the marketing and adverts for games were back then

I skipped this video by accident because the thumbnail looked like it was posted by SegaLordX and I've already watched him talk about the 32X, so I thought ANOTHER video by him on it that was 34 minutes was overkill. Then I saw it was Patman and clicked immediately ..... 3 weeks later.

Looks good. I'll watch later.

Nice truth in advertising for Night Trap!

I hate to be "that guy", but the villains in Night Trap are vampires, not aliens. Also, I think you were a little harsh on Doom. Sure, it's not perfect, but you have to remember it was rushed to market. A lot of titles for the 32X were. I'd hardly call it one of the worst ports when the 3DO exists. Overall, great video! Kinda wish those planned ports of Darkstalkers and AvP made it to fruition. And whatever Castlevania: The Bloodletting was gonna be.

16:25 It looks like you're fighting Wes Studi in this match... no doubt since he was pretty popular as the bad guy indian in Last of the Mohicans and Dances with wolves and at the height of his career at about this time.

I enjoyed my 32X and the few games I had for it, but, in the end, I felt duped by Sega and that I'd have gotten more bang-for-my-buck elsewhere. Thanks for the trip down memory lane; I never knew most of the details!

Thanks! I think it’s Sherri on commentary in the WWF game.

My sincere opinion about the 32X is, it could have worked if it came our later as a cost effective addition to the Genesis. And I mention this because in 1996 i was 12 years old and i came from a working class family. Thus no way we could have afforded any of the systems from that generation, not even the $299 PlayStation 1. And oddly enough, i got my first job at 15 working part time at a flea market stall next to my brother who was working another stall. With that we ended up going halfsies on a Super Nintendo that came packed with Killer Instinct. And i don't remember how much it ot cost us but it couldn't have been more than $100 in 1999. Bear in mind that year the Dreamcast was already being prepped for launch, Sony was gearing up for thr PS2 and rumors were floating around that Microsoft might enter the console arena. So you can imagine how many people were dumping their 16 bit consoles. That being said, if Sega had not bit the bullet and released the Genesis bundled with the 32X after say, 1997, i would have bought it. I got to play a few Saturn games including Virtua Fighter and Panzer Dragoon and i would have loved to play those on a 32x, even if the quality wasn't up there with the Saturn. But as usual Sega jumped the gun unlike Nintendo who at least had the virtue of being patient and not getting rid of their older systems. And thats how Nintendo won us over. Edit: now I'm remembering th Sega Neptune which was essentially a beefed up Genesis or 32x. If Sega has maybe released that instead of a 32x.

When you mentioned you would get to doom, I thought you were going to mention the homebrew version. It fixes all the issues with the retail one.

It wasn't a misstep to me. I loved it. =)

I'm not sure I'd call the 32X "ill-conceived." They really should've sustained it as the 32-bit system for people who can't afford a Saturn or PlayStation. Not everyone had $400+ to spend on new hardware. The biggest problem though was that way too many of the games just felt like 16-but titles. I remember seeing many of the games and being like, "Isn't this supposed to be 32-bit?" Only a few titles, like Star Wars Arcade, felt next-gen. It would be interesting to know how things might have been different once the developers really learned how to take full advantage of the hardware. Sadly, the system was killed off before it was even allowed to get to that stage.

The Starpath Supercharger was released in August of 1982. The intellivoice was released "summer" of 82, whatever that means. Star Raiders, which requires a specific controller was also released in this time frame, Sept of 82.

Definitely would love to hear about more of the game's and your personal take on whether they were any good or not. I really enjoy the overall feel of your channel. You come off as friendly, and conversational while still being knowledgeable without seeming as though you are lording it over people.

A part 2 would be nice =)

Part 2 please ❤

I had this. I called it the super nintendo attachment for my genesis.

I was working at Best Buy in late 1996 when they slashed the price of the 32x to $19.99; that was enough to finally persuade people to open their wallets and clear out the inventory. Up to that point they were piled up at the end of a lower shelf collecting dust, not far off from the big bargain bin that housed the 3D0 games that nobody wanted.

Ohh just in time for Sunday dinner.🤘😆🤘

To quote MAD Magazine...more like 32 Ecch! I think that might be Sensational/Scary Sherri Martel on commentary next to Gorilla. Not sure, but it does look a little like her.

34:29 It's 2023 and that gag is, unfortunately, no longer a gag. In 2023, a man with a mustache in a woman's swimsuit is a woman!!! If you say otherwise, it's off the gulag. Would love to see another highlighting more 32x games. Also, the Doom Reloaded modern hack. It looks pretty good and I'd like to hear your take. Great video.

Please do a video on Namco's Time Crisis series

I still have my Sega CD. It was my first in home CD player and I ended up adding real speakers to it and an equalizer at some point. I was a little kid and it was my first time playing with a sound system.

I scraped together the money to buy a 32X when it first came out. At that time, it didn't come with a game, so I had to spend more for a game, and after I bought it, I found out the hard way that I also had to buy a cable to connect it to the TV because I had the original Genesis model and the 32X used the cable that came with the second Genesis model. I had made several calls to (800) USA-SEGA in the month before I made the purchase, and the people on the phone said that (1) it wouldn't come with a game because they thought it was unfair to include a game that not everyone will like and (2) it would be compatible with the original Genesis model (no acknowledgment of the cable issue). The biggest zinger to me in this video was the picture of the box that had the "includes Doom" message on it. I didn't know they had ever done that.

"Just stick it in your Genesis!" ...that ad was a lie! Not one ad showed the A/V cords and extra power supply mess 32X was..... I didnt even know 32X required that stuff until I got a 32X for like $10 on eBay and went to hook it up....The ads made it look like the hookup was as simple as a Game Genie!

I count my 32x as a console rather than a add on as it comes with a different library of games but it doesnt work with out a megadrive so what should it be classed as?

The TI-99/4A also had a speech synthesizer, along with a bunch of add ons as well. May have been earlier than the Intellevision, not sure.

Got a 32x christmas 95 with star wars and virtua fighter it was SO awesome

Even if Night Trap was a good game and you had the 32x and a CD drive, there is still a major problem you cannot get over and that is the single speed CD ROM. 150k is simply not enough to fill a screen with full motion video, especially at a full 256 colors (8bpp). Uncompressed, a 1 full frame of video would require 71,680 bytes. We haven't added any audio yet. At even just 30FPS (as opposed to 60), it requires over 2megabytes per second. Even with compression and a smaller screen window (lower resolution video) simply does not allow 30fps at decent color depth. All of the FMV games for the PC require a double speed drive and it absolutely will not work with a singe speed drive. I was a fan of Dragon's Lair and even with a large cache, a single speed drive will not run the game. I upgraded to a double speed drive to play Dragon's Lair. So it was always going to be a very choppy affair. Even with a relatively smaller window, only 64 colors and really high compression (adding artifacts), the genesis couldn't offer FMV at anything other than a low frame rate. I believe Dragon's Lair, Space Ace and other FMV games on the Sega CD topped out at 10fps. Dragon's lair and Space ace are pretty good showings given the hardware.

Patman, I think it’s Stephanie Wiand in WWF Raw as the mystery announcer.

Definitely do a 2nd video with another slate of games including Mortal Kombat 2, Shadow Squadron, Zaxxon's Motherbase, Blackthorne, NBA Jam:TE, NFL QB Club, Primal Rage & Knuckles Chaotix. Including some of the game magazine reviews of these games from the time would be cool. I think if Sega had taken some more time with more thought, they would've aborted the 32X idea, put the Genesis hardware in the Saturn & had a cartridge slot to also be able to play Genesis games & developers could still develop games for it if they wanted. I also wonder if they could've used the Genesis processor as a co-processor when developing Saturn games to cut down on load time. I think if they had gone that route & it had been able to work, the Playstation might never have become the force it has. It also may have made Nintendo re-think the design of the N64 to include the SNES hardware inside for backward compatibility. Now that would've been cool

@PatmanQC - History of arcade game documentary Did you know, there's a code in Cosmic Carnage where you get to play the true version of that game Cyber Brawl?

my buddy was so pumped for the 32x, and then spent it's life cycle only plays Knuckes Chaotix... he was jealous of my 3do. Man that's sad to think about on both counts

Good vid

@ Patman, could that mystery announcer be Jimmy Hart?

More please!

6:50 in light of how the 32x performed vs. The Nintendo Wii as a comparison point, this was a critical mistake to say. Add-ons do not sell like new consoles.

Have you read the Sega Leaks that came out in the last couple of days? It’s like reading the captions log of the Titanic! In 1995 Sega was trying to support 4 different counsels, just pure madness.

5:16 That is a man who definitely isn't going bald.

Erm.... Cosmic Carnage's excuse plot was you're on a prison ship and there's only one escape pod...

Project Jupiter sounds like a better idea than the 32x. Similar to mid gen refreshes of today. New 3DS. Oled Switch PS4 pro Xbox one x

Greetings from Poland! :)

Oh hell yes!! We bought this just to play DOOM. aha. Good times!! 😅

Those 3D glasses sucked, I had them as a kid. I never got them to work. They looked cool, we pretended to be the Terminator with them but we never used them to play the 3D games the Master System had.

RU-vidr Stop Skeletons From Fighting is also a Doom fan, he's done many videos on the various ports of the game

Bought my 32x back in 1997 at Ames Department store when they marked it down to $20 and it came with Doom. I originally passed on the Saturn but finally bought one of the white Japanese models a few months ago for $100. And uh Boxing rings aren't called Squared Circles. They say that in professional wrestling because amateur wrestling matches take place on mats inside a circular ring. Therefor professional wrestling rings are known as "squared circles". But it's not called that in boxing because boxing doesn't take place in a circle on any level. In WWF Raw on the 32X, the other announcer with Gorilla Monsoon is Vince McMahon.

I remember this and my friend was not happy with the add on and ditched his Genesis over it. Saturn was a great unit.

I don't agree with your assessment of the 32X's hardware. Particularly with the amount of polygons it can display at once. In 1994 it was one of the strongest home based machines when pushing polygonal based graphics. It was more capable than the 3DO and on par with the Jaguar. Finally, I would like to address the 32X port of Doom. When it released in 1994 it was seen as a technical marvel. Finally, Doom could be experienced on a home console featuring most of what made the game incredible. Bashing Doom on the 32X is a very modern phenomenon and often done by people who were not around to experience it when it was new. I know you were around PatmanQC...I'm guessing you've forgotten? At any rate, you got skills my friend. You can tell you know how to play these games. Nicely done and good video. Addendum- The 32X was definitely a huge failure despite how well received Doom was. I myself bought a Jaguar for Doom in 1994 because I couldn't find a 32X in stores (sold out everywhere).

“The roster features 13 of your favorite wrestlers such as Luna Vachon, Lex Luger and The 1-2-3 Kid”. Lmaooooo. Was anyone else disappointed that the developers somehow forgot to add The Goon and TL Hopper? Or, as you mentioned Mantaur? I believe Iron Mike Sharpe was too busy taking an 8 hour shower to be featured in the game.

17:43 Jerry Lawler looks like he's stroking out

I remember renting this at blockbuster and not being impressed at all, and it takes a lot to impress me WOW. THAT DOG HAS A PUFFY TAIL...COME HERE PUFF

I can remember getting a 32x at a very young age. It would never work for me, I had a model 2 Genesis. After many tries, I couldn't get it to work and I believe I got rid of it. Many years into the future, I would come across the avgn. I watched his vid on the 32x and boom, figured out the problem I had so many years ago. I simply configured the av cords incorrectly. I would take another stab at the system years later and found success! At 1st though, I had only sound.

I think it's the fabulous Mula sitting down at ringside😂😂

Oh no 32 times the garbage......can't wait. Popcorned up and yes sir Im a need a beer for this one