Atari Jaguar 101: A Beginner’s Guide

Presented by Fastbilly1 and Ack

The RetroGaming 101 series is aimed at gamers who are just starting out in the classic gaming scene or are curious about an older console that they don’t know much about yet. Those of you that are especially knowledgeable about the featured machine, I encourage you to add any information that you think would be beneficial into the comments section. If you are new to the featured console, and still have questions, you can also use the comments section and I will do my best to help you out.

World renown for its videogame consoles, arcade titles, and PCs, Atari released a beast in 1993 known as the Jaguar. Pitted against the likes of the Super Nintendo, Turbographix 16/PC Engine, and the Sega Genesis, the Jaguar roared on to the scene and changed video game history.

Background

Released November 18th 1993 in the United States. It was supported by Atari until late1996 right before Atari was bought out by Hasbro.

Created by Flare Technology, a British company of former Sinclar engineers, to make a cost effective console more powerful than the Genesis/Megadrive and Super Nintendo.

Was designed in tandem with the Atari Panther (a system to compete with the Saturn and Playstation). Since the Jaguar was ahead of schedule, the Panther was scrapped and the Jaguar was released.

Historical Impact

Atari’s final foray into the home console market

A dual 32 bit console that was touted as the first 64 bit console on the market

First enhanced ports of several PC titles – Wolfenstein 3D

Is the basis for COJag – the Jaguar based arcade platform. Famous for Area 51 and Maximum Force.

Strengths

Graphical Powerhouse – At its release in 1993 there was no equal graphically on the market.

– At its release in 1993 there was no equal graphically on the market. Color Palette – Barely noticeable on the included coax connector, however if you upgrade to Svideo it is a night and day difference. Rayman is the benchmark most Jaguar fans use.

– Barely noticeable on the included coax connector, however if you upgrade to Svideo it is a night and day difference. Rayman is the benchmark most Jaguar fans use. Active Homebrew Community – To this day there are still new released Jaguar titles.

– To this day there are still new released Jaguar titles. Jaguar CD – Using a modified Audio CD format, Jaguar CD games could be up to 790 megabytes in size. A huge stepup from its competition and staved off piracy for many years. It also looks damn cool.

– Using a modified Audio CD format, Jaguar CD games could be up to 790 megabytes in size. A huge stepup from its competition and staved off piracy for many years. It also looks damn cool. Region Free – During boot the Jaguar would determine which screen size and frequency to use for the games based on the consoles region and apply them accordingly. In simpler terms, a PAL copy of Atari Karts will play fine in a NTSC-U Jaguar.

Weakness

Price – Originally retailing at $249 it cost almost double its biggest competition – the SNES and Genesis/Megadrive

– Originally retailing at $249 it cost almost double its biggest competition – the SNES and Genesis/Megadrive Controller – While it offered an array of options for developers and players, few games used them and they often used a print out sheet that was easily lost.

– While it offered an array of options for developers and players, few games used them and they often used a print out sheet that was easily lost. Cartridge – Most will see this as a Strength but the cartridge was one of the downfalls of the console. In 1991 Sega had released the Sega/Mega CD and in 1993 both the 3do and the Amiga CD32 were released. CDs were going mainstream and by opting to have CD’s as an expansion through the Jaguar CD, Atari effectively shot themselves in the foot with high cartridge prices.

– Most will see this as a Strength but the cartridge was one of the downfalls of the console. In 1991 Sega had released the Sega/Mega CD and in 1993 both the 3do and the Amiga CD32 were released. CDs were going mainstream and by opting to have CD’s as an expansion through the Jaguar CD, Atari effectively shot themselves in the foot with high cartridge prices. Reliability – The Jaguar itself was fairly reliable, but the CD addon is renowned for its poor construction. Early Jaguars have a “hissing problem” the cause is up to debate and it is merely annoying.

– The Jaguar itself was fairly reliable, but the CD addon is renowned for its poor construction. Early Jaguars have a “hissing problem” the cause is up to debate and it is merely annoying. Jaguar CD – Unreliable and very hard to repair.

– Unreliable and very hard to repair. Atari – Atari promised the moon and, after the crash of 1983, many were skeptical. Some retailers refused to stock the console outright.

Hardware

Main Unit Five Main Processors in three chips Tom – 32 bit Risc operating at 26.6mhz – Primary Jerry – 32bit RIsc operating at 26.6mhz – handled sound and controls Motorola 68000 – operating at 13.3mhz -managing load between the processors – though many games use this as the main processor.

2 Megabytes of ram on a 64 bit bus

JagPEG compression algorithm allowed realtime decompression, giving equivalently 50 megabytes (400 megabits) of storage space on a 6 megabyte cartridge.

Max resolution – 800×576 at 24 bit “true” color Jaguar CD 2X CD-ROM

VLM (Visual Light Management) Software – created random lightshows for boot up and when playing audio cds.

20,000 units produced

Games released up to 2005 – the last title released was a port of arcade classic Gorf

Official Accessories

Standard Controller

Controller Overlays – Many games featured a controller overlay for the numpad. These keys were used for anything from inventory management to save game functions.

Pro Controller – adds X,Y,Z, and shoulder buttons L and R. All are remaps of keys on the numpad. Because of this, some later games were designed for the Pro Controller over the standard one.

Teamtap – Four (4) port Multitap

Memory Track Cartridge – memory card for CD games

JagLink – link two consoles together – only used for Air Cars, Battlesphere, and Doom Evil Unleashed. – RJ11 (telephone) cable and DSP adapter

Comlynx cable – link your Jaguar and Lynx

Third-Party Accessories

LapCAT – Arcade Stick. Available in both left and right hand versions

PRO-Stick – Arcade Stick. Has a controller port on it so you can use the numpad on a controller.

JAGLink 2 – a JAGlink dongle that supports daisychanning. Fully compatible with existing JAGLinks/titles.

Rapid Fire Controller – Fanmade Rapid Fire Controller now mass produced

J.J.J. Game Controller – Arcade Stick

CyberMAXX 2.0 – Virtual Reality helmet

I-Glasses – Video goggles

Catbox – third party perpherial that featured:

Composite,svideo, and RGB video out

Stereo/Mono Audio out

Two powered headphone jacks with volume control

RJ11 (telephone) and RS232 (serial) communication ports

DSP Through connector – for Comlynx adapter.

SCATbox – A Catbox like device that supports up to 128 Jaguars in LAN

Game Library

Here’s a few of the stand-out titles from the Atari Jaguar library — they are the first games to check out if you obtain the console.

Tempest 2000

Created by the Jeff Minter, Tempest 2000 utilized the powers of the Jaguar to recreate the arcade experience from the ground up. 100 stages, 6 different powerups, and a multitude of different enemies, all on a psychedelic rollercoaster ride with techno music pounding in your ears. Almost universally applauded as the best game on the console. And to show how much of an arcade fan Jeff Minter is, there is a hidden option for a rotary/dial controller, which an official one was never released. To rectify this, fans have made their own (link to instructions at the bottom of the page). Don’t be mistaken, all ports of Tempest 2000 have issues. The Jaguar version is still the best version, and because of that, still commands quite a price on the secondhand market.

Shop for Tempest 2000 on eBay

Shop for Tempest 2000 on Amazon.com Aliens vs Predator

As the fourth released Aliens Vs Predator game, the Jaguar entry set the style for all following titles in the series. Gone are the beatemup stylings of the SNES, Gameboy, and Arcade titles before it. What was given to the player was a choice between playing one of the three races and a very well polished first person shooter experience. Given that it uses 2d sprites in a 3d plane (aka the Wolfenstein 3d Effect), it aged poorly, however this is the definitive Jaguar FPS and one of the best FPS games pre 1995.

Shop for Aliens Vs Predator on eBay Rayman

Best looking game on the console. Ubisofts 2D platformer really pushed the 2D powers of the console and it can only be described as pretty. The game was also release on the Playstation and Sega Saturn, so it isn’t an an exclusive, but it’s still one of the Jaguar’s showpieces.

Shop for Rayman on eBay Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods

Based off the Cartoon of the mid 90s, this Jaguar CD title features full voice acting (with the entire tv show cast), fmv clips from the show, and a fairly decent challenge. It is not the most well known title for the console, but it is quite solid – Sadly, since it is based off the tv show, no Sean Connery…that and it has tank (aka Resident Evil) controls.

Shop for Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods on eBay

Emulation

Affordability

As of the time of this writing you can obtain a Jaguar on eBay for about $80.

A working Jaguar CD will easily run you about $250+ on eBay.

Games vary from $1 to $70, with most in the $10-20 range.

AV Connections

Coax – default

Composite

Svideo – a must buy

Hardware Hacks