View Full Version : Happy Birthday Sega Mega Drive (Genesis)!
Squidbot
10-29-2008, 07:06 AM
The Sega Mega Drive, or Genesis to you colonial types ;) , is 20 years old today! Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=269562) have an excellent article up about the lovely little black box.
Man, 20 years. I loved my Mega Drive, and it was a robust little bugger. I once spilled an entire glass of red wine in the cartridge port and the damn thing still worked after it had dried out (Try that on your 360 ;) ). I fondly remember Streets of Rage, Road Rash and Jungle Strike amongst the great titles on that console, and let's not forget my all time favourite; Flashback.
Gorvi
10-29-2008, 07:08 AM
I really enjoyed my Genesis, though it never got nearly the love the SNES got. It did let me play Flashback, though, so it wins major points for that.
MalReynolds
10-29-2008, 07:08 AM
Holy hell i remember playing that system SOOO much
TrackZero
10-29-2008, 07:12 AM
At the time, I was no Genesis fan at all. Still to this day, the first thing I think about when I remember that console is the ~100-200ms delay in hitting a button to it reacting on screen (which someone did confirm and explain to me why at some point, but I can't remember the details). Though I also do have fond memories of going into Radio Shack after school to play Sonic on their demo machine for hour long runs (the owner didn't mind, and no other kids seemed to realize it was there). God speed Megadrive. ;)
EternalGamer
10-29-2008, 07:52 AM
I was a Genesis convert. Nintendo was my favorite company and I got a SNES first. But, a few years later, after I got a Genesis, I realized how many hidden gems the system had. And no, not Sonic (which was always inferior to Mario), but stuff like Landstalkers, which, after you got used to the isometric perspective, was actually a superior game to Link to the Past. Or Shining Force, which was the first strategy RPG I ever played and one that still holds up. For many of the great SNES series, there were Genesis counterparts that were on par or superior: Gunstar Heroes easily outclassed Contra 3, Streets of Rage blew Final Fight out of the water, and Thunderforce 2-4 were vastly superior to Gradius or R-Type.
It always seemed to me is that the problem Genesis had was that many of the core gamers were still big Nintendo fans and stuck with that brand. While Genesis got the casual audience of sports fans and people who wanted MK games with blood. This led to their being a lot of fantastic games on the system that, had they been on the SNES, would have garnered a lot more reknown.
TrackZero
10-29-2008, 08:24 AM
Streets of Rage blew Final Fight out of the water, and Thunderforce 2-4 were vastly superior to Gradius or R-Type.
Yeah, I can agree with the rest. But I'll be cold cold in my grave before I think SoR was better than Final Fight, or watch anyone talk shit on Gradius III. ;)
Gorvi
10-29-2008, 08:27 AM
Yeah, I can agree with the rest. But I'll be cold cold in my grave before I think SoR was better than Final Fight, or watch anyone talk shit on Gradius III. ;)
SoR was better than Final Fight. Fact. ;)
But you're right on Gradius, nothing beats that. The Genesis did have Hellfire, though, and that game kicked my ass back when I was a kid.
Squidbot
10-29-2008, 08:34 AM
SoR II = Best side scrolling beat em up EVEAH! This is science fact, and if you disagree then you are a terrorist.
MachEnergy
10-29-2008, 08:44 AM
I had to go to friends houses to play their SNES's, so my Genesis got exclusive love from me while at home. A whooooooooole lot of love. I have fond memories of renting the SegaCD and the 32X units for it. Ground Zero Texas freaking blew me away as 10 year old. I wonder how many other people can boast they own a Sonic 3 cartridge with every save file completed with all Chaos Emeralds....
My later goal was to max out Sonic 3 & Knuckels' save files, but there are too damn many!! I mean, shit!
muddi900
10-29-2008, 08:51 AM
My genesis is the only system I never had to replace. In fact, I think it still works, I gave it away to my cousin!
biosc1
10-29-2008, 09:50 AM
Listen to 1Up's Retronauts podcast. The last few episodes have been around recalling the Genesis/Mega Drive.
Great trip down memory lane.
Lots of great memories...I was a Genesis man before I was a SNES boy. So many great action games (Sonic), fighting games (Final Fight, Streets of Rage) and RPG's (Shining Force).
Heck, I even imported a Sega CD for it (the one that went underneath) and played a crapton of Dark Wizard!
I loved my Megadrive, my top game picks for it are:
Revenge of Shinobi
Streets of Rage
Hellfire
Gynough (Wings of War) - Still amazing graphics after all these years
ESWAT - totally different game to the arcade and superior in every way.
LongStepMantis
10-30-2008, 01:23 PM
That makes me feel old. I wasn't even that young when I got mine. It really doesn't seem like it's been almost 20 years since the first time I played Sonic 1. Jeebus.
Warsong, Master of Monsters, Kid Chameleon, Splatterhouse 2, Crusader of Centy, Phantasy Star 2, Shining Force, I could go on for days.
roboninja
10-30-2008, 01:43 PM
Landstalker, D&D:Eternal Sun, Shadowrun, Eternal Champions...so many great games. I even replaced both my controllers with the new 6-button versions, just to play Eternal Champions without getting arthritis.
biosc1
10-30-2008, 02:45 PM
So many great games...just listening to the latest episode of Retronauts and they mentioned the Sega CDX (http://www.vidgame.net/SEGA/cdx.html). So, unfortunately for my wallet, I decided to look up what that was...and....oh...my....I want one!
Unfortunately, they run about $200-$400 :(
http://www.vidgame.net/SEGA/Sega/Genesis/segacdx.jpg
LongStepMantis
10-30-2008, 02:51 PM
So many great games...just listening to the latest episode of Retronauts and they mentioned the Sega CDX (http://www.vidgame.net/SEGA/cdx.html). So, unfortunately for my wallet, I decided to look up what that was...and....oh...my....I want one!
Unfortunately, they run about $200-$400 :(
http://www.vidgame.net/SEGA/Sega/Genesis/segacdx.jpg
As awesome as that would be, the price and the fact I already have a Genesis means I would be paying solely for a Sega CD...and there just aren't enough games for it I'd want. I never went for FMV games, and that accounts for around 80-90% of the system's line-up.
Dark Wizard, Popful Mail, Shining Force CD, and possibly Lunar are the only games I'd want. :(
TrackZero
10-30-2008, 03:03 PM
That makes me feel old. I wasn't even that young when I got mine. It really doesn't seem like it's been almost 20 years since the first time I played Sonic 1. Jeebus.
Well, unless you were in Japan, it wasn't 20 years ago. Sonic on the Genesis only came to North America June 21st, 1991. Sooo....17 years ago, give or take. Actually, it only came out on Megadrive in '91 in Japan as well.
LongStepMantis
10-30-2008, 03:41 PM
Well, unless you were in Japan, it wasn't 20 years ago. Sonic on the Genesis only came to North America June 21st, 1991. Sooo....17 years ago, give or take. Actually, it only came out on Megadrive in '91 in Japan as well.
Phew. I was starting to think I'd aged a little extra when i wasn't looking. ;)
So it's probably been about 16 years then, which makes much more sense according to my memory.
General Chaos and Toe Jam and Earl are all it took for me to fall in love with my Genesis.
Disgustipated
10-30-2008, 03:49 PM
SoR II = Best side scrolling beat em up EVEAH! This is science fact, and if you disagree then you are a terrorist.
Agreed. Streets of Rage is WAY better than Final Fight. Final Fight feels too cheesy.
TrackZero
10-30-2008, 10:16 PM
Agreed. Streets of Rage is WAY better than Final Fight. Final Fight feels too cheesy.
Excellent review skill there. Nice and subjective. ;)
Also, I suppose it depends if you're talking about Final Fight on the Genesis or SNES. I was talking about SNES. Checking the Genesis shots, it looks like the colour pallet was borked. But whatever, they're both great games, probably comes down to preference.
Everyone vs Dinosaurs
10-31-2008, 12:57 AM
Genesis was my first system every, and to this date, my favorite.
Shit, Golden Axe was pretty damn fun.
KamaItachi
10-31-2008, 01:10 AM
The Megadrive started my long, long love affair with Sega. Then Sega got fat, stopped putting out and didn't take as much care of itself than it used to.
But those good few years were bliss.
ToeJam and Earl, Streets of Rage, Dune, Sonic, Shining Force, Gunstar Heroes, Desert/Jungle Strike, Sparkster. Good stuff.
Swanky
10-31-2008, 02:15 AM
Glad to see some Toejam and Earl mentions. I mean, that game had some pretty phat beats. I'll miss those rocket skate launches off the edge of the world. Phantasy Star 4 was alright and so was Ristar (whose cute factor was so through the roof it induced vomiting after prolonged exposure).
Rylos
10-31-2008, 02:33 AM
I grew up as a SNES lad (bought it originally for port of SF2:WW), but my best friend had a Megadrive, so it was like having the best of both worlds! We'd swap consoles all the time or rent a couple of games from the video store and then sleep over at others place.
Highlights for me (besides the obvious Sonic games) were Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage 1 & 2, Wonderboy in Monster World, James Pond and a stack of others. Man...those really were the good ol' days!
Jackel
10-31-2008, 02:44 AM
As a kid, back when I used to have luck, I won a Sega Genesis, Sega CD, 10 games, and a 28" tv all from a cereal box contest.
Favorite games were Toe Jam & Earl and NHL 95. I still have it stored away and I bring it out occasionally when I feel like playing some retro games.
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