Keep in mind, this is NOT a police simulator. As a result, the fall of 1996 saw the release of a number of Saturn titles, notably Virtua Cop 2 and Dragon Force. Despite the still strong sales for the Genesis/Mega Drive, thanks to low price point and an enormous library of stand-out titles, the Saturn was the system that Sega wanted to push. Sega was putting all its eggs into their 1995 launched, 32-bit console basket, the Saturn. By late 1996, even the two Genesis/Mega Drive add-ons that were meant to be a stop gap between generations, the Sega/Mega CD and the 32X, were in the process of being discontinued.

Sure, the Genesis/Mega Drive was still out there, but it was not Sega’s future. The fall of 1996 was a promising time for Sega. In a synergistic twist to match the latest gaming release, Tomb Raider also received a film reboot in 2018. In addition to the numerous sequels on a variety of computers and consoles, this original title even spawned a film franchise in the early 2000s starring Angelina Jolie. 23 years later, Tomb Raider is still a relevant gaming franchise, with the most recent entry released on consoles and computers in 2018. This Core/Eidos action-adventure puzzler gave players everything they could want in a modern 3D style game. Similar to Doom had been a few years before it, Tomb Raider was a cross platform smash and would kick off another long-running franchise. In addition to the aforementioned consoles, Tomb Raider was also an enormous PC hit. Let’s just hope that most Lara Croft fans kept their admiration for her polygonal gams at a platonic level. The graphical power behind these systems provided a sense of realism gamers had never experienced before. If you were a 15 year old boy in 1996, you could maybe thank (or curse) the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn’s polygonal 32-bit graphics for gaming related hormone surges. All angular breasts, legs for days, full pouty lips and an unwavering sense of adventure, Lara became the first significant gaming “pin-up” star.

While Crash the wise cracking Bandicoot was a fun, edgy (but not too edgy) cartoon character, a much more teen and adult-friendly, titillating heroine would also see the light of day around the same time. Lara Croft had a body that wouldn’t quit….unless the power was out. Crash may have retired his platforming shoes for a set of go-kart wheels, but the Crash franchise of racing games continues to go strong with a recent release, Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled, available on modern consoles in 2019. The overwhelming success of this title spawned several PlayStation sequels before Crash branched off onto handhelds and into kart racing games. So what are some of the notable new games that owners of the PlayStation and Saturn would have to look forward to in the fall of 1996? How about two of the most innovative and influential gaming series that originated in the 32-bit era, Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider? Crash Bandicoot was a 3D-polygonal platformer and PlayStation exclusive where you play as the titular marsupial running and jumping around a lush island environment, fighting mutated island creatures and saving your sweetheart, Tawna, from the clutches of the evil Dr. However, it was the 32-bit systems, the Sony Playstation and to a much lesser extent, the Sega Saturn, that were actually dominating sales figures. The former Ultra-64 was now finally seeing the light of day in North America and Europe and die-hard Nintendo fans were as excited as Luigi on National Siblings Day. On the other end of the spectrum, you had Nintendo’s latest shiny new toy, the Nintendo 64. On one end of the gaming spectrum, you had the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis still out there, releasing titles for their long running consoles. Sure, the Atari Jaguar was the possibly the first 64-bit console, but I was never very good at math anyway. Depending on what platform you were spending your time with, you could have still had both feet firmly planted in the 16-bit era or you could choose to look towards the future with the release of one of the first 64-bit consoles. The fall of 1996 was a strange time to be a video game fan.

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