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Hello and welcome to this great site. You will find lots of other sega enthusiasts here.
Cool pictures. I particularly like the wall decoration of giant sized consoles. Where did you get them?

Rayman is among the best games on the system when it comes to visuals.  It has more colors and even detail than many of the other versions.  Conan may have been another excellent example of what the big cat could do. 

Indeed, in fact Rayman on the Jaguar used more than twice the colour palette used on the Playstation. I’ve read of others who think Conan could have been amazing on the Jag. Just a shame there isn’t more footage.

...but that may just be because the team behind it knew how to take advantage of the hardware.  After all, not many Jaguar games did.

That’s very true. Some of the best looking games are all down to the programming.

Looks great for any Pac-Man fan 👍🏻

The Conan game looks awesome but I am suspect of that, That game looks a league above anything ever seen on the Jag, its missing so surely you have to question the authenticity?

As for the rest of that video, its great, I need to make contact with the creator, and I will be renewing some old interviews to cover some of the content in this video.

All over interviews will be done in the name of preservation from now on.

I’ve seen the Conan footage before and some discussion on it. Personally, I don’t like it and I fail to see what is so system pushing about it, but then I like shiny graphics if you follow my meaning. Soul Star for example, is much more appealing to me. I would be very interested in any conversation you manage to have with him as he seems to be a great researcher.

I agree with you.  Truly amazing to see all these titles that were in development.  That Conan game looked awesome and it did show off what the system could pull off when programmed properly.  It's unfortunate the code was lost.

So much of the Jaguar’s history is unfortunate. I understand all the competition, secrecy, espionage etc back in the 90’s but why so much is still held back after all these years is beyond me. If only I were a millionaire, I’d change the face of gaming history forever 🙈

Yes, it is almost amazing that the Jaguar is seeing so much interest and sales, now that so many ports are being created. I’ve expressed an interest in purchasing this title, looks good.

I’m really into this series. It is fascinating just how much development was going on during the Jaguar’s short commercial life. I remain amazed at how and why some developers to this day refuse to talk about the Jaguar. What a crazy world video gaming is. Thanks for posting Trek 👍🏻

Getting to the bottom of the hidden ramp quickly with your hat is just way too much like hard work with a controller !

Ah yes, level 3. That trick is quite difficult, the hardest of the three. I used to try and get in the bottom right corner and jump as the ramp starts to lower. You can’t see a lot with the annoying tree and you have to stay calm whilst being lifted and then navigating the hidden ramp. I more often as not would work my way through the levels to get to the third warp on level 5 rather than keep dying whilst trying that warp. Very satisfying when you can pull it off mind you.

So, I still wish CC for the 8-bit got hacked for true trak-ball control. 

With you on that one 👍🏻

Ok, I’ve found the answer that was confusing me. The trackball manual talks about compatible games and that if they do support true trackball control, then the game manual should state this. Ergo, you seem correct in that Crystal Castles was not programmed for the trackball. I share your frustration. The only saving grace is that Missile Command was compatible as this is referenced specifically in the trackball manual (available from Atari Mania). I’ve uploaded a picture of the section which refers to the “J” and “T” selections. I’m glad we’ve solved the mystery but this explains my disappointment when I did get a trackball and it was only playable in joystick mode for Crystal Castles. I don’t know how many other games have true trackball compatibility but I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on trying it with Missile Command.

Found the manual online.  It doesn't mention trak-ball control anywhere (Crystal Castles XE Game Manual).  So, my guess is that it only supports trak-ball control in joystick mode.

Ok, that is odd. I mean, I’m not too surprised if it is simply mapped to the joystick because Atari often took the easy route out. However, I do remember reading something about this. Hmm, thinking on the official trackball unit had a switch underneath it that you could move tojoystick mode. Or something like that. It sounds a bit odd but I remember reading that only a small handful of games were trackball compatible. Sorry I wasn’t more help, it is a frustrating issue.

Is it true trak-ball mode or just a trak-ball controller in joystick mode?

good question. All I can tell you is I remember reading the manual for the XL/XE version and it is explained in there. If you can find a scan of the manual, it will hopefully answer your question. I know, it was the reason I spent many years searching for an Atari trackball.

Great series. There were a number of titles mention that I’ve never heard of and how on earth he managed that level of research is amazing. Very nice to see a number of good games were due on CD and this is the first time I’ve fully understood the J00x references. Thanks Trek, love it.

Loved CC. Sadly its just not so much fun with a controller - so all the versions on consoles just get frustrating.

The arcade version was designed for a trackball and the 2600 version just doesn’t cut it for me. The 8-bit version was an excellent conversion which I recall being trackball compatible. It’s a very good version of CC. However, I’m going to obtain an arcade cab with the original version installed and a proper trackball. Expensive, but the best way to play CC.

I don't know if you're aware, but several 2600 games have been hacked to have true trak-ball control.  Unfortunately, CC is not among those because it would require a complete rewrite of the game code to be able to implement true trak-ball control for it.  I was so disappointed when I learned that.  I wish someone did hack the 8-bit version to use the trak-ball, though!

I’m going back a long way but I’m sure the XL/XE version was trackball compatible. In fact now I think about it BTB of The Jag Bar did a video of all three versions with his kids and they used trackballs, at least on the 8-bit and arcade machine he has.

Oops, sorry Shadowrunner, I did a smite, I thought it said smile 😐