We had some good times with it back then, but even as children we knew it wasn’t quite like a Sonic game. Being the obsessive Sonic fans that me and my friends were, we dove headfirst into Knuckles’ Chaotix with extreme vigor. I got Knuckles’ Chaotix, Motocross Championship, and Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes starring Fred Couples (thanks mom. But a few rare folks got their hands on the 32X at a low price of $20 in late 1995 when just about all of them were being liquidated. In fact, they were abysmal considering the investment. But what good is a system without good games? A lesson Sega apparently didn’t learn when they released the Saturn, but anywho… Sonic Team released Knuckles’ Chaotix in March of 1995, a few short months after the release of the 32X itself. With the Sonic series sort of running out of steam and the Sega Saturn just on the horizon, the 32X was released as a sort of stopgap to keep Sega’s main asset (Genesis) alive. How could I be more ambiguous? “The system sucks but be sure to check out a game on the system that’s sort of good…?” Doesn’t make much sense, right? Well let me lay some backstory on you, talk some about the ups and downs of Knuckles’ Chaotix, and then we’ll figure out if it’s worth your time. Truth be told, the 32X is a giant piece of crap, but there are a few games on it worth investing some time, and Knuckles’ Chaotix is one of them… sort of.

First you have to get it to even turn on, then you have to pray that it doesn’t freeze on you after an hour of gameplay. If you’re at all familiar with this mushroom addition to the Sega Genesis, then you know damn well that the little machine freezing is only half the battle. For the first time in 2 decades I was able to get my 32X to go the distance without freezing. The absolute weirdest thing happened to me today… My Sega Genesis 32X decided to work! Albeit a little screwy at times, but it lasted long enough for me to play through Knuckles’ Chaotix for the first time since 1996.

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