DON’T PANIC

The Jaguar was released by Atari in 1993, intended to compete with SNES and SEGA’s Genesis/CD combination. Produced by IBM  based on Atari’s designs, the Jaguar holds the distinction of being the last major console to be produced in the United States. Atari hyped the system immensely, and they did a good job of making people expect something totally different from what they got.

Because the Jaguar didn’t sell very well, it’s hard to convince people that it was actually not a bad system. Video game journalists took shots at it because it was failing and unpopular; they tried to please their readers (most of whom being SEGA and Nintendo fans) and were a lot harder on the Jaguar than they would have been if they didn’t have to depend on fanboys of other systems for revenue. Because so few people have played the Jaguar, the majority will go along with what they heard in EGM, GameInformer, and GamePro. Video game magazines are their only window into a system they’ve never experienced for themselves because the Jaguar was dead before the Internet was commonplace in people’s homes.

So, the first thing we’ll talk about is aesthetics and ergonomics. Here we have the Jaguar system:

I happen to like the system, both because I like the design itself and because I’m a guy who appreciates a cartridge based system. Hardware-wise, it’s pretty simple. The lack of a dust cover on the cartridge slot irks many gamers (myself included), which is why many people leave cartridges in the system all the time. If the slot gets too dusty, you’re liable to get the “Red Screen of Death”, which is much less serious than it sounds. The screen will go red on startup and the game won’t work until the slot is properly cleaned. And anyone who has owned a cartridge system knows all about cleaning slots. There is a simple on/off switch and not much else. An interesting note is that the power LED light will NOT come on without a game in the system, leading many people to incorrectly assume their systems are broken. On the back you have the power adapter input. A note to all potential Jaguar owners: NEVER use any adapter for the Jaguar except the one that comes with it (or the Jag CD, which I’ll get to later). A Genesis adapter will fit in the hole, but it will also fry your system. Moving on, the system has an RF output jack on it, which I recommend you avoid at all costs. The quality of the RF signal on the Jaguar is among the worst I’ve ever seen. Use composite cables. They usually come with the system. The cables connect directly to an exposed piece of the PCB hanging out the back of the system.

Listening to all these hardware quirks, you’d likely assume that the Jaguar was cheaply assembled. And you’d be right. The systems hold up well in that they usually work great, but it’s pretty obvious that Atari was short on funds producing these things.

Now we’re going to move on to the controller (!):

What you see there is the standard controller, which comes with the system. There is also a Pro Controller, which is the same except it has shoulder buttons and three extra face buttons (think Saturn controller, except with the number pad). This controller gets a LOT of undeserved hate. It looks wonky and stupid, but looks can be, and indeed are, very deceiving. It’s very comfortable to hold, and the keypad is actually not a feature unique to the Jaguar as anyone who gamed in the early 80s can tell you (Atari 5200, Colecovision, Intellivision, etc). While the pad is generally not used for gameplay, it does have some very nifty uses. It can be used to quickly change weapons, quicksave to a dedicated slot, navigate menus without scrolling, and manage inventory among other things. Games making use of the keypad often came with overlays (see below) that let the player know what each key did.

Above: the Jaguar controller overlay used for Doom. Very useful.

The most important thing to remember about the Jaguar controller is that it’s comfortable to hold. It essentially functions like a Genesis controller. The d-pad is responsive and large and the buttons take just the right amount of pressure to compress. It may be ugly, but it gets the job done.

The Jaguar’s hardware is somewhere in between the SEGA 32X and the PS1, probably just below the 3DO in the grand scheme of things. And this is where the Jaguar becomes the butt of many jokes. Atari hyped this as a “64-bit” game console with power like the world has never seen, when in reality it was pretty underwhelming. It’s just not a very powerful console from a technical standpoint. Which is not to say that there aren’t good-looking games on it, because there clearly are:

But be warned, because there are also some absurdly ugly games.

So now we’re left with the most important part about any console: its game library. The Jaguar has a small library, but it is not without its thrills. If you like early FPS games, look no further than the Jag. I maintain that to this very day, there has never been a better console version of Wolfenstein 3D. Alien Vs Predator is also outstanding. And Doom plays better than any other console version of it, but it lacks music due to space constraints, which is an extreme bummer. But since you can link up more than one Jaguar and play Doom online, clever gamers simply play the Doom soundtrack on their PCs while playing the game. It works fine.

Rayman is another Jaguar game that is available on other platforms. The Jaguar version has some features the others lack, and also lacks some features the others have. I own the game for both Saturn and Jaguar, and I see them as different enough to warrant purchasing twice.

Tempest 2000 was ported (read: butchered) to Saturn and PS1 as Tempest X. Trust me when I tell you that the Jaguar version is the way to go. The game itself is outstanding in every sense of the word. Addictive gameplay, beautiful art, great music, precise control, and great replay value. Other good SHMUPs for the system include Total Carnage, Raiden, Defender 2000, and Missile Command 3D.

A short list of other notable games includes Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tales, Ultra Vortek, Breakout 2000, Attack of the Mutant Penguins, NBA Jam, Atari Karts, Hover Strike, Iron Soldier, Battlesphere, Cannon Fodder, Cybermorph, Pitfall, Zoop, Zool 2, Theme Park, Super Burnout, and some good pinball and sports games among others.

There are a LOT of good games for the Jaguar, but there are just as many awful games. So if you ever buy a Jaguar, make damn sure to do some research before every purchase.

A nice thing about the Jaguar is that Atari released it to the public domain when it died, so companies and independent gamers still develop for it. Some notable posthumous releases include Worms, Total Carnage, GORF Classic, and Zero 5. The system enjoys a very active and dedicated community that still develops games, holds high score contests, and discusses the system regularly.

Along those lines it is important to mention the Atari Jaguar CD. Released shortly before the system died, it only has a few notable commercial titles (Primal Rage and Myst among them). The nice thing about the Jag CD is that it’s much easier to develop for and it gives the system some extra “kick”, making it a favorite target for homebrew developers. Make no mistake; there are still LOTS of indie games available on cartridge form, but they’re a lot easier to produce and purchase for the Jaguar CD. This increase in indie development has driven up the price of the system considerably, making it a sought after collector’s piece. The Jaguar CD requires a separate power adapter and is inserted into the Jaguar’s cartridge slot. It has its own slot to allow you to keep playing regular cartridges, so you can keep it hooked up all the time.

To wrap things up, I would recommend the Atari Jaguar to anyone reading this review, because I know that people on this site are open-minded gamers who would be willing to give it a chance. A good price to pay for a loose Jaguar console would be 50 dollars. You can sometimes get them for 40, but don’t count on it. 60 dollars is about the upper limit to pay for a console on its own, but if it comes with extra controllers or games then go for it.

Overall, here’s how I break it down:
Build quality: B+
Controller: B+
Library size: D-
Library quality: B
Aesthetics: A
Community: A
Collectibility: A+
Overall: B+

2 Comments »

1. A solid review. Although I’m not a big fan of the Jaguar, as you know quite infamously, it did have the best versions of most of the multi-platform titles at the time (e.g. Cannon Fodder). Exclusives like Alien Versus Predator as well as Tempest 2000 are sought after quite commonly now as well.

   Sadly in terms of long terms video gaming it lacked the ability to pump out the polygon numbers that the Playstation, Saturn and even the N64 were capable of and features goraud shading was a deinite no-no for the system. Considering the price tag though and the market at the time, I don’t believe that was Atari’s intentions (hence the “Do The Math” ads). Ultimately that might’ve been the reason why it was a failure.

   I’d have to say though, despite the bad press it has, the Atari Jaguar is a machine of intrigue. Many gamers are now noticing it better as a hardcore games machine than a failed jump to the next generation that critics saw it as.

   Comment by LoOpY — August 3, 2009 @ 8:26 am

2. Update to earlier post: it turns out the Jagaur could do Gouraud shading, my bad :P

   Comment by LoOpY — August 3, 2009 @ 8:33 am

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