Atari Jaguar Specs:
Who knows where the Atari© Jaguar will end up in the grand scheme of gaming consoles? Its launch started out as a controversial release with the competition arguing whether or not it truly was a 64-bit system. It had two 32-bit processors running in parallel which still is being argued as of today whether it’s a true 64-bit system. Purest don’t agree with this claim and think it should be a 32-bit plus system. I personally think it’s perfectly acceptable to file it in the 64-bit category. But to deal with the controversy lets settle this debate with a compromise. Let’s make it a 48-bit system. Even with a compromise it won’t make many people happy.
Atari© launched this system with high expectations of its performance. It was released as a cartridge based system (later on a CD-ROM expansion was released). Atari© was secretive prior to its launch about this system. Apparently Atari© was developing in parallel, two home console systems. It was working on a 32-bit system (Atari Panther) as well as the 64-bit system (Atari Jaguar). Ultimately the 32-bit system was scrapped and they decided to proceed with the more advance 64-bit system. It was touted that it would have many third party programmers to develop games for this system. This eventually would prove to be untrue. Only a handful of games were available for release at its launch. This lack of third party support hurt the sales of Atari©. It eventually had its production terminated in 1996 after a short run. Many people don’t realize that IBM was manufacturing the Jaguar system. The release of the Sega Saturn and the Sony Playstation did not help the matter either. Under developed games were released for this system and difficulty programming for this system was its ultimate demise. The true 64-bit advanced technology was never fully realized in this system.
It’s a shame that this system didn’t smoke the other systems like it was predicted it was going to do hands down. At its release it was competing against mere 16-bit machines. Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis were its initial competitors and on paper it was going to be much more advanced.
Accessories:
- Atari CD-ROM expansion unit
- Atari Jaguar Base Unit
- Jaguar Pro Controller
- Jaguar Team Tap
- Jaguar Memory Track Cartridge
- Atari Jag Link Interface
- CAT Box (ICD)
- Atari Skunk Board.
| Review index for Jaguar: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alien Vs. Predator | Atari | 1994 | A- | |||||
| Atari Karts | Miracle | 1995 | D | |||||
| Attack of the Mutant Penguins | Sunrise Games | 1995 | F | |||||
| Baldies (CD) | Atari | 1995 | D- | |||||
| Battlemorph (CD) | Atari | 1995 | B | |||||
| Blue Lightning (CD) | Atari | 1995 | D- | |||||
| Brain Dead 13 (CD) | Readysoft | 1995 | D | |||||
| Brutal Sports Football | Telegames | 1994 | B- | |||||
| Bubsy | Atari | 1994 | D | |||||
| Cannon Fodder | Virgin | 1993 | B+ | |||||
| Checkered Flag | Atari | 1994 | F | |||||
| Club Drive | Atari | 1994 | F | |||||
| Cybermorph | Atari | 1993 | D | |||||
| Defender 2000 | Atari | 1995 | C+ | |||||
| Dragon's Lair (CD) | ReadySoft | 1995 | B- | |||||
| Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story | Virgin | 1994 | F | |||||
| Evolution: Dino Dudes | Atari | 1993 | F | |||||
| Fight For Life | Atari | 1995 | F | |||||
| Flip Out! | Atari | 1995 | F | |||||
| Highlander (CD) | Atari | 1994 | F- | |||||
| Hover Strike (CD) | Atari | 1995 | D+ | |||||
| Hyper Force | Visual Impact | 1995 | B | |||||
| I-War | Atari | 1995 | D | |||||
| Iron Soldier | Atari | 1994 | B | |||||
| Iron Soldier 2 (CD) | Telegames | 1996 | B | |||||
| Kasumi Ninja | Atari | 1994 | D- | |||||
| Missile Command 3D | Atari | 1995 | B+ | |||||
| Myst (CD) | Atari | 1995 | D | |||||
| Pinball Fantasies | Atari | 1995 | B- | |||||
| Pitfall | Activision | 1995 | D | |||||
| Power Drive Rally | Atari | 1994 | A- | |||||
| Primal Rage (CD) | Time Warner | 1994 | C+ | |||||
| Protector SE | Songbird Productions | 2002 | A | |||||
| Raiden | Atari | 1993 | A- | |||||
| Rayman | Ubi Soft | 1995 | A- | |||||
| Ruiner Pinball | Atari | 1995 | A- | |||||
| Sensible Soccer | Telegames | 1995 | B | |||||
| Skyhammer | Songbird Productions | 1999 | B+ | |||||
| Soccer Kid | Songbird Productions | 2000 | B- | |||||
| Space Ace (CD) | ReadySoft | 1995 | F | |||||
| Super Burnout | Virtual Xperience | 1995 | A | |||||
| Supercross 3D | Atari | 1995 | F | |||||
| Syndicate | Bullfrog | 1994 | D- | |||||
| Tempest 2000 | Atari | 1994 | A- | |||||
| Theme Park | Ocean | 1995 | B | |||||
| Trevor McFur In The Crescent Galaxy | Atari | 1993 | C | |||||
| Troy Aikman Football | Williams | 1994 | F | |||||
| Ultra Vortek | Atari | 1995 | B+ | |||||
| Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding | Atari | 1994 | C | |||||
| Vid Grid (CD) | Atari | 1995 | C- | |||||
| White Men Can't Jump | Atari | 1995 | F- | |||||
| Wolfenstein 3D | Atari | 1994 | B+ | |||||
| World Tour Racing (CD) | Telegames | 1996 | C+ | |||||
| Zool 2 | Gremlin | 1995 | A- | |||||
| Zoop | Viacom | 1995 | B | |||||
The Atari Jaguar controller. (Notice the ability to use overlays over then numeric pad)
The Atari Jaguar CD unit.
Atari JAGUAR CAT BOX
Example of the manual
Example of the CD game cover
Interesting Accessory Links
