The 32X, also called Super 32X in Japan, Sega Genesis 32X in North America, Sega Mega Drive 32X in the PAL region, and Sega Mega 32X in Brazil, is an extension of the Mega Drive, the fourth-generation video game console from Japanese manufacturer Sega. Developed under the code name Mars, it increases the power of the Mega Drive by transforming it into a 32-bit system and thus serves as a transitional console until the release of the Saturn. The 32X uses its own game cartridges independently of the Mega Drive and has a game library of forty video games.
Unveiled by Sega in June 1994 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the 32X was presented as a low-cost option for gamers looking to move into 32-bit video games. Developed in response to Atari's Jaguar and to alleviate the Saturn's development problems due to competition from the PlayStation, the 32X was first conceived as a full-fledged console. Then, due to the suggestions of Sega of America's director of research and development, Joe Miller, and his team, the console was converted into an extension of the Mega Drive to make it more powerful. The final machine has two 32-bit processors and a 3D graphics processor. In order for the 32X to be available on the market for its scheduled release date of November 1994, its development and games were rushed. However, the 32X failed to attract game developers and consumers due to the simultaneous release of the Saturn in Japan. Sega's efforts to rush the 32X to market did not allow developers to design games in a timely manner, which reduced the expansion's game library to forty games, which also could not take full advantage of the 32X's capabilities, nor the Mega Drive's. By the end of 1994, the expansion had sold 665,000 copies. After successive price cuts in 1995, the 32X was stopped being sold at the beginning of 1996.
The 32X is considered a commercial failure. The reviews from observers were positive during the presentation and the marketing of the expansion and underlined its attractive cost and the better technical capabilities of the Mega Drive. After only a few weeks of operation, the specialized press changed its mind and issued negative opinions on the 32X project and the strategies implemented by Sega, as well as on its games, which were unable to fully take advantage of the 32X's hardware capabilities. Twenty years after its release, the video game community has a rather negative assessment of the 32X, due to its limited game library, its early and simultaneous release with the Saturn, and the fragmentation of the Mega Drive market that resulted from this extension.