Sega 32X

The Sega 32X, codenamed Mars during development, is a hardware add-on to the Sega Mega Drive created by Sega. It is the second of two major add-ons for the system, the other being the Sega Mega-CD, and was released worldwide in late 1994.

The 32X was designed to extend the Mega Drive's lifespan by giving it significantly more powerful 32-bit processing and texture-mapped 3D polygon capabilities. It was thus seen as a logical upgrade to the 16-bit processing and 2D capabilities of the Mega Drive and its main rival, the Super NES. The 32X was succeeded by the Sega Saturn (except in Japan, where the Saturn arrived first).

In the interests of simplicity, Sega Retro uses a simplified "Sega 32X" name for the unit, though the official name differs depending on regions of the world. In Japan and Korea, it was distributed under the name Super 32X (スーパー32X), in North America, the Genesis 32X, in Europe, Australia and Asia, the Sega Mega Drive 32X and in Brazil, the Mega 32X.

For information, see Sega 32X.