If you want to know why the 32X failed here's your answer. Did Sega for a second even consider that a great Sonic the Hedgehog game could have turned the 32X into a success story? Sonic CD was a smash hit by Sega CD standards. The Saturn wasn't getting a 2D Sonic game, fans of the series just might have kept the Genesis/32X combo around if Sega gave them a reason.
Nope. Instead we have a sequel to Sonic & Knuckles (although some would call it a "spin-off") that utilizes an indescribably annoying tether system where you control two characters at once. It takes frustrating game control to a whole new level. You spend at least half your time trying to get the characters unstuck when then end-up on separate platforms. I'll always salute great innovations in video games, but whoever "innovated" the tether should never be allowed near a design session again. It sucks all the fun out of the game, leaving you to look at the graphics and wonder what could have been.
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