Codenamed "Project Mars", it was designed to expand the power of the Genesis and serve as a transitional console into the 32-bit era until the release of the Sega Saturn.

Though the 32X was conceived as a new, standalone console, at the suggestion of Sega of America executive Joe Miller and his team, it became an add-on for the Genesis and made more powerful.

The 32X failed to attract third-party video game developers and consumers because of the announcement of the Saturn's simultaneous release in Japan.

[4] By early 1994, Sega had started to become concerned about competition from newer, more powerful 32-bit consoles, such as the Atari Jaguar and the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.

"[5] During the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1994, Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller took a phone call in his Las Vegas hotel suite from Sega president Hayao Nakayama, in which Nakayama stressed the importance of coming up with a quick response to the Atari Jaguar.

One idea mooted by the Japanese team, referred to by former Sega of America producer Michael Latham as "Genesis 2",[8] was an entirely new independent console.

[2] This would have been a new Genesis model with an upgraded color palette and some limited 3D capabilities thanks to integration of ideas from the development of the Sega Virtua Processor chip.

[2] With Miller pushing for his American team to create the system,[2] the 32X was designed as a peripheral for the existing Genesis,[8] expanding its power with two 32-bit SuperH-2 processors, the same as those that would be used in the Saturn but with a lower clock speed.

[9] In another account, Bayless claimed that Franz began designing the 32X on a hotel notepad, drawing two SH-2 processors with separate framebuffers.

Shortages of processors due to the same 32-bit chips being used in both the 32X and the Saturn hindered the development of the 32X, as did the language barrier between the teams in Japan and the United States.

Promoted as the "poor man's entry into 'next generation' games", 32X was marketed for its US$159 price point as a less-expensive alternative to the Saturn.

"[1] In response to these comments, Sega executive Richard Brudvik-Lindner pointed out that the 32X would play Genesis games, and had the same system architecture as the Saturn.

[8] In August of that year, GamePro highlighted the advantages of the upcoming add-on in its 32-bit processors and significantly lower price, noting that "[n]o doubt gotta-get-it-now gamers will spend the big bucks to grab Saturn or PlayStation systems and games from Japan.

"[14] Edge was more critical, questioning if the 32X was only there to fill in as a stopgap for the Christmas season in the US and Europe, and referred to the Japanese release as a "PR exercise and quick money maker [rather] than a serious bid to get the machine into every home".

[14] Despite Sega's initial promises, only six games were available at its North American launch, including Doom, Star Wars Arcade, Virtua Racing Deluxe, and Cosmic Carnage.

Although Virtua Racing was considered strong, Cosmic Carnage "looked and played so poorly that reporters made jokes about it".

Top developers were already aware of the coming arrival of the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation, and did not believe the 32X would be capable of competing with any of those systems.

According to Bayless, "games in the queue were effectively jammed into a box as fast as possible, which meant massive cutting of corners in every conceivable way.

[24][26] In order to convince the press that the 32X was a worthwhile console, Sega flew in journalists from all around the country to San Francisco for a party at a local nightclub.

Over the first three months of 1995, several of the 32X's third party publishers, including Capcom and Konami, cancelled their 32X projects so that they could focus on producing games for the Saturn and PlayStation.

The 32X contains two Hitachi SH-2 32-bit RISC processors with a clock speed of 23 MHz,[1][3] which Sega claimed would allow the system to work 40 times faster than a stand-alone Genesis.

[7][40] In a separate review, IGN's Levi Buchanan praised the 32X game Shadow Squadron as superior to Star Wars Arcade.

[41] Retro Gamer writer Damien McFerran, however, praised Virtua Fighter as "the jewel in the 32X's crown",[2][42] and GamesRadar+ named Knuckles' Chaotix as the best game for the system.

[25] Doom for the 32X received near-perfect reviews,[49][50][51][52] but was later criticized as inferior to versions for the PC and the Atari Jaguar, with missing levels, poor graphics and audio, jerky movement, and windowed gameplay.

[58] A review in Next Generation panned the 32X for its weak polygon processing, the tendency of developers to show off its capabilities with garishly colored games, and its apparent function as "simply a way of grabbing extra 1994 mind and market share while waiting for Saturn".

"[47] Retrospectively, the 32X is widely criticized as having a shallow library with a lack of support and a poor idea in the wake of the release of the Sega Saturn in Japan.

"[25] Retro Gamer's Damien McFerran offered some praise for the power increase of the 32X to offer ports of Space Harrier, After Burner, and Virtua Fighter that were accurate to the original arcade versions, as well as the add-on's price point, stating, "If you didn't have deep enough pockets to afford a Saturn, then the 32X was a viable option; it's just a shame that it sold so poorly because the potential was there for true greatness.

Allgame's Scott Alan Marriott states that "[e]very add-on whittled away at the number of potential buyers and discouraged third-party companies from making the games necessary to boost sales.

All in all, if you were one of the unlucky souls who completely bought into Sega's add-on frenzy, you would have spent a whopping $650 for something that weighed about as much as a small dog.

Bayless believed firmly that the 32X served as a warning to the video game industry not to risk splintering the market for consoles by creating add-ons, and was critical of the Kinect and PlayStation Move for doing so.