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[ShirAhava]

A Sonic JPRG (or any genre) based on SATAM was all I wanted at the time.

An amazing 32x Sonic game would have been a waste the 32x was a lost cause no matter what with SEGA at war with itself smh

2 and 3 hung out right there with Mario.

Sonic 1 made Mario feel like an 80s relic overnight

2 and 3 came out when Sonic was bigger than Mickey Mouse and stomped on 2d Mario's grave

Sonic 3 vs DKC was the talk at the time....2D Mario was finished, outclassed, outmatched by a superior mascot

Mario 64 was as good as it was because it had to be

 

[SF Kosmo]

Sonic 1 made Mario feel like an 80s relic overnight

2 and 3 came out when Sonic was bigger than Mickey Mouse and stomped on 2d Mario's grave

Sonic 3 vs DKC was the talk at the time....2D Mario was finished, outclassed, outmatched by a superior mascot

Mario 64 was as good as it was because it had to be

Yeah people forget that Super Mario World was such a mis-step. It arrived late and played things very very safe. It was a game that, for the most part, could have been made in NES with some downgraded visuals.

And it's main competition, Sonic, was something clearly next gen that made SMW look quaint by comparison. In many ways SMW was a bit of a step down from Mario 3. Which doesn't make it bad or disliked, but it was a mis-step that opened the door to more competition than Nintendo has faced before.

I don't know if I would say DKC was the superior game but it was definitely superior use of the hardware and a game that played to the strengths of the SNES in ways SMW didn't. Yoshi's Island as well.

 

[Unknown?]

The market tolerated far jankier early 3D platformers in the years leading up to Mario 64, man. If you had a time machine to send SRB2 back to 1994 or 1995 when 32X was a thing, it would have blown minds, because the standard bearer wasn't Mario 64 or even Crash Bandicoot, it was Jumping Flash and Bug.

Yup. This would have been all the rage because anything 3D was hailed as amazing back then while 2D was shat on. Even if it had been on Saturn. Everyone loved the Sonic Jam 3D level and wanted more despite it being small and slow paced.

 

[Sub_Level]

Any further support for the 32X just means the Saturn is an even bigger failure in America than it already was. Cannibalization. A Sonic game for Saturn could have made a difference, along with more marketing support from Sega of America and better localization efforts to get more of those damn fourth chaos emeralds JP-only games.

Still in third place behind N64 and PS1? Yeah, there's still no answer to Zelda or Final Fantasy and the Saturn hardware still has issues with 3D. However, it would have been more of a proper three-way fight than a slaughter. Saturn could have gotten a version of Gex 2: Enter the Gecko, need I say more?

 

[BlackTron]

Sonic 1 made Mario feel like an 80s relic overnight

2 and 3 came out when Sonic was bigger than Mickey Mouse and stomped on 2d Mario's grave

Sonic 3 vs DKC was the talk at the time....2D Mario was finished, outclassed, outmatched by a superior mascot

Mario 64 was as good as it was because it had to be

Sonic would likely have overtaken my Nintendo fandom if not for Yoshi's Island and Mario RPG, but those two games ensured Nintendo was not going away for me.

 

[ShirAhava]

Sonic would likely have overtaken my Nintendo fandom if not for Yoshi's Island and Mario RPG, but those two games ensured Nintendo was not going away for me.

Yeah and Chrono Trigger which had me as a Genesis kid foaming at the mouth for the SNES for the first time

 

[BlackTron]

Yeah and Chrono Trigger which had me as a Genesis kid foaming at the mouth for the SNES for the first time

Yeah, there were other SNES games for sure, but narrowing in on Nintendo first party.

 

[Ecotic]

The only 'what if' scenario I can think of that could have saved the 32X is if the Saturn had been a 64-bit 1996 release, and then the 32X would have been Sega's only 32-bit effort, and it would have had 94 and 95 to itself. With two holiday seasons of Sega giving it the big push, then maybe people would have felt they got their money's worth (and that perception that would have mattered more than sales in regards to Sega's future).

I'm still not sure though, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2 blotted out the sun back in 94 and 95 on the 16-bit front, and the Playstation would have been out.