Jaguar CD - Honeymoon Review

Very solidly built.  Ignore any comments that the case is flimsy or
that it doesn't mesh exactly with the Jaguar64 console.  Mine fits
perfectly, making the combo look like a single unit.  And the JagCD
looks a lot more like the saucer of the _Enterprise_ from the original
Star Trek series than the _Voyager_, IMHO.  The combo looks more like
the _Defiant_ from Deep Space Nine.

Ignore any comments that the JagCD causes the Jaguar64 to overheat by
sucking too much juice through the cartridge port.  The JagCD has its
own power supply which, incidentally, is interchangeable with the
Jaguar64 power supply.  They must have had me in mind when they
designed this thing, as I always get cords mixed up!

Says it's a double-speed drive right on the box, BTW

Included stuff:

_Vid Grid_
I like this one a lot more than I thought I would.  It's basically a
jigsaw puzzle, except that the puzzles are real-time music videos.  I
don't care for most of the groups they chose, so I just turn down the
sound for those.

It starts with simple 3x3 puzzles, then progresses to 4x4, 5x5, and
even 6x6.  Sometimes the whole video is played upside down.  Sometimes
individual pieces are mirror images that you have to flip back around.
There's a Perfect mode, where if you try to put a piece where it
doesn't belong, the whole puzzle gets scrambled again.  Hardest for me
are the puzzles where you can't pick up and drop the pieces, but
rather must slide them around.

The intro is probably my favority FMV sequence of any I've ever seen.

Playing this CD in my car CD player gives me access to a single 20
second track, which is some guy saying that this CD is intended for
the Jaguar and isn't an audio CD.

_Blue Lightning_  
This air/ground combat game would be okay as a cartridge release, but
aside from the FMV segments and in-game music, there's just no reason
why this had to be on a CD.

That aside, it's a fun little game that I've probably played more than
any other CD so far.  The controls are sensitive and responsive,
almost too much so my clumsy fingers.  And the different planes handle
differently, which also takes some getting used to.

Playing this CD in my car CD player gives me access to a single 3
minute track, which sounds like the music from the FMV intro.

_Myst Demo_
The screen elements are well-defined.  All the pics are well-rendered.
Music is cool.  Access time is a little slow but acceptable.  And...
I hate it.  Just doesn't do anything for me at all.  I just can't see
the appeal of it, and I won't be buying it.

Playing this CD in my car CD player gives me access to a single 2
minute track, which sounds like the music from the title screen.

_Tempest 2000 Soundtrack_
Weird doesn't begin to describe it.   The MODs floatiing around just
don't do it justice.  I don't even generally like this type of music,
but it's been playing in the car on every trip I've made this week.

_VLM_
Opinions vary, but as far as I'm concerned, hook up a bigscreen TV,
fire up the VLM, drop in a CD, and you can sell Jaguars and JagCDs all
day long just for the VLM.  Don't even tell them it plays games.  Just
let them buy the lightshow!

From simple geometric shapes to Frutopia gone bad, from fountains for
fireworks, the VLM has something that goes well with any type of
music, if you can find it among the 80 other options.

Sensitivity and responsiveness to the music varies.  Some options are
suited best to quite slow movements, others to hard driving rock.  In
any case, the amount of stuff moving around on the screen at one time
is an incredible testament to the computational power hidden away
inside the Jaguar64.  Jeff Minter is a god!

--- ScanMail 0.70

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