Fantavision gamecard11/30/2023 ![]() FantaVision started life as a tech demo rather than a full-fledged game, and so from the outset It was meant to emphasize some of the PlayStation 2's new capabilities. But why was this a launch game?įantaVision showcased the PS2's graphics capabilities. In my experience, it is also quite challenging. It is unquestionably a unique puzzle game, one that would still standout against the deluge of puzzle games released in the age of smartphone gaming. Racking up points and chains will carry you on to the next level. In each level, you must do this well enough so that time doesn't expire. The basic premise of the game is to catch fireworks flares as they ascend, match them in groupings based on color, and detonate them to create a fireworks display that chains into other flares. the Nintendo 64), it seemed an especially dangerous proposition for a console that was positioned as a stop gap measure and, in the buildup to launch, had promised much more from the start.Īside from being an especially interesting launch day choice for Sony, FantaVision is an unusual game in its own right. the Master System) and would happen again (e.g. Still, though launching with two games had happened before (e.g. Today, both Doom and Star Wars Arcade continue to be held in (relative) high regard as some of the stronger titles for the 32X, with especially the latter showing off its technical capabilities more than many other titles would ever do. Earlier that year, for example, the acclaimed Super Star Wars series on the SNES had concluded its run with the release of Return of the Jedi. In terms of the IP selection, these are two solid launch games that made a lot of sense in 1994 when both Star Wars and Doom were still extremely popular franchises that were guaranteed to garner sales. Despite the boasts found in Sega Visions, when the system actually hit store shelves it did so only with two titles: Doom and Star Wars: Arcade. With the already-out-in-Japan Saturn hanging over Sega of America, Visions' 32X coverage would continue to be sporadic in subsequent issues of the magazine throughout the system's short life. It seems, at the most crucial moment for promoting the system, Sega Visions itself pulled back to focus on late-era Genesis and Sega CD titles. Gone entirely from this issue are boasts of the system's price or upcoming library. Importantly, the 32X was the only Sega system to not feature any reviews, so subscribers were left with only hopeful previews to give them impressions of the quality of the games that had already been talked up in the previous issue. Instead of highlighting the system in the issue that likely would have been arriving in Visions subscribers' mailboxes around the time of the 32X's release, the staff of the magazine relegated 32X coverage to sneak peaks of four games, two of which were already released. Hitting the holiday season, the 32X launched in November 1994 in the US and Europe and in December in Japan (a few weeks after the Saturn's launch there). Sega of America had the most control of this message in the pages of Sega Visions, which they used to promote the 32X for several issues before its debut. If you could sell the product well to readers in the pages of EGM or GamePro, you had a real shot to get them into the store on launch day. Like other consoles of its era, much of the buildup and hyping for the console occurred in the pages of gaming magazines. Even if gamers and analysts were skeptical of the systems prospects from the start, it is still interesting to think about how Sega tried to market and launch the 32X in and against this context. The sordid tale of the 32X has been covered many times on many other gaming websites, so this entry will attempt to do something a little different and specifically examine the official build-up and launch of the console. launch, it was almost destined to have a short life from the start. Released in November of 1994, a little less than a month after the release of the Sega Saturn in Japan and a little less than a year from that system's U.S. Confusingly marketed as something of a stop-gap enhancement for the Sega Genesis prior to the release of the Sega Saturn, the console was seen by many to be over priced and under-powered. ![]() The 32X, to many, represents the first tragic misstep in the long-running decline of Sega. Nonetheless, it has its own library of games, was marketed and sold much like a system, and has a distinct set of features that distinguish it from other pieces of gaming hardware. The 32X, of course, is not even a "proper" console in the traditional sense as it is technically an add-on like the Sega CD before it or like other peripherals before and since which have been tied to a primary system (the Atari Supercharger, Nintendo 64DD, etc.).
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