Well hey! Look at that – it’s time for another entry into the Last Official Release series. Within, I explore the final games to be officially released on your favourite consoles. I’ve pretty much run out of ‘major’ consoles from the 5th generation and below to cover (a full list of previous articles can be found below) so, let’s now instead take a look at some more obscure systems.
Today, the Atari Jaguar is in the spotlight. Released around the world starting in the November of 1993 in the US, the Jaguar was marketed as being the very first 64-bit gaming console. It would turn out to be seemingly less powerful at rendering 3D visuals than some of its 32-bit contemporaries, however – the PlayStation and the N64 especially, and was also quite difficult to program for thanks to its unique architecture. Compounded by a lack of third-party support and Atari’s reluctance to promote it (likely due to a limited budget) it’s no wonder that the poor Jaguar had a short and troubled life.
Only 250,000 units were sold before its unsurprising discontinuation in 1996. Ultimately, it was the last console that Atari would ever release. This article is all about the games, though, so let’s investigate which of the mere 56 licenced titles was to be the last. Europe kicked things off with Fight for Life. Developed and published by Atari themselves, Fight for Life was a fighting game in full 3D – much like Virtua Fighter. Very similar to an unreleased PS1 game called Thrill Kill, it included undead occupants of Hell fighting it out to be given a second chance of life.
Reviews were highly mixed; while some liked the visuals and animation (at as far as what the Jaguar was capable of producing anyway) it was universally considered to have slow, unresponsive controls as well as being quite boring overall. If for some reason this sounds like the game for you, it can currently be had (as of writing) for about $50US.
It was only the last game in Europe, however, with the true final release not seeing the light of day until a few years later. On the 15th of May, 1998 Telegames (who supported the console for a little while longer after Atari gave up on it) released a version of the original Worms. This particular port is nothing special – just your run of the mill Worms gameplay – but as it was the last game can be a bit difficult to come by. Prices vary wildly too; as of typing, there are two complete, in box listings for the game on eBay. One is $125US while the other is $250US, so make sure you shop around if you’re after a copy.
Previously, on The Last Official Release:
Virtual Boy – 3D Tetris (1996)
Sega Saturn – Undefined Japanese Game (2000)
Intellivision – Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball (1989)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System – Metal Slader Glory: Director’s Cut (2000)
Sega Genesis – Frogger (1998)
Sega Master System – Mickey’s Ultimate Challenge
Game & Watch – Mario the Juggler
PS1 – Schnappi: 3 Fun-Games
N64 – Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3
Game Gear – The Lost World: Jurassic Park
NES – The Lion King
Atari 2600 – Klax
Game Boy – Shikakei Atama o Kore Kusuru: Kanji/Keisan no Tatsujin
Dreamcast – Karous
Growing up while the fifth generation of consoles reigned supreme meant that Brendan missed out on much of the 80’s and early 90’s of gaming the first time around. He either lacked the cognitive ability to play them, as naturally, he was a baby - or he simply didn’t exist yet. Undeterred, Brendan started a blog called Retro Game On in 2011. This followed his exploits as he collected and played everything he could get his hands on no matter what the release date. While RGO is mainly YouTube focused these days concentrating on video reviews and historical features, the itch to do some old fashion writing never went away. More recently, Brendan has been a staff writer for the gaming website, GameCloud, mostly focusing on the indie gaming scene in his locale of Perth, Australia.
