I remember this console getting quite a bashing when it launched, and probably for good reason. At the time it was released, the rumours were already flying around about Sony’s Playstation and the Nintendo Ultra 64, these were the next generation super consoles. In comparison, the CD32 really didn’t offer much above what the home computers were already capable of. This was mainly due to the fact that the CD32 was for all intents and purposes, simply an Amiga 1200 in a smaller package.
Back in the day one of the main sources of video game news in the UK was a TV show named Bad Influence. In one of the episodes they did their preview of the Amiga CD32 and they really didn’t have anything good to say about it. They demonstrated its power by showing off the game ‘Diggers’. This resembled something you would easily find on a 16-bit computer/console of the day.
Moving forwards, the game catalogue for the CD32 didn’t get much better. There just didn’t seem to be any major system selling titles. Most games were just standard Amiga titles but possibly with a CD Audio soundtrack, and with the Playstation hype train going into overdrive this console had a very short lifespan.
However, if we fast forward to today, as a retro collector the CD32 has become an awesome little machine. Once paired with a Terrible Fire TF330 accelerator with a compact flash adapter, a keyboard and a mouse, all of a sudden we now have an upgraded Amiga 1200 in a small footprint and access to the entire catalogue of A500, A1200 and CD32 games. This grey box has now become my go-to machine for anything Amiga related.
For anyone that hasn’t seen one before, the TF330 is a card that plugs into the expansion slot on the back of the CD32. It gives the CD32 an MC68EC030 CPU running at 50Mhz which is much faster than the original 020 processor found in this machine. We all get the benefit of 64MB of Fast Ram and an onboard IDE connector allowing for a hard drive or with an adapter, a compact flash card. So loading this thing up with a huge selection of Amiga titles using WHDLoad becomes a fairly simple task. With the Kipper2K board also fitted it allows for the TF330 to sit neatly inside the console and also offers a PS2 port to plug in an external keyboard.
A couple of other accessories I fitted were the wireless mouse adapter which allows for a standard USB wireless mouse to be connected and a 9pin joypad adapter I made up which allows for Sega Megadrive controllers to be attached. I actually use this with an 8bitdo adapter which means I can use Bluetooth gamepads on the CD32. So now I can sit back on the sofa and enjoy pretty much any Amiga/CD32 game without having to have any cables running to the console.
So for anyone looking to get into the Amiga and has limited space, I really think this is a great solution!
Catalog Information
| Number in collection | 1 |
| Hardware Condition | Excellent |
| Box Condition | N/A |
| Modifications and Accessories | KTRL Gamepad, Wireless mouse adpater, Sega Joystick Adapter (Custom made), 8bitdo Sega bluetooth reciever and 8bitdo Joypad, TF330 Accelerator |
| Comments |
Be the first to comment