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Japan release: October 29, 1988
American release: September 15, 1989 (nationwide)
UK/Europe release: November 30, 1990
Japan Mega Drive commercial - 1988
American Genesis commercial - 1989
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best game ever for the best system ever
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My first console ever <3
Well Genesis, whatever.
This seems like a good thread to tell Melf thank you for such a wonderful Genesis/Megadrive site. Definitely a great site with TONS of quality content. Keep up the great work !
Thanks for the kudos!
We're commemorating this event over at Sega-16 with three features and a video archive update, so be sure to head over and check 'em out. The first feature is a look back at the role Altered Beast played in showing the public what the Genesis was about.
Damn, 20 years and still kicking. Two new games are coming for it this December, and a demo of the Rick Dangerous port was recently released too.
While I don't think much of Sega now they were my favorite company growing up ever since I beat the arcade Space Harrier back in '86 (the nice hydraulic seat version!). I picked up a Master System immediately with the home version of Space Harrier and became a Sega fan. The Genesis is my favorite console of all time and I went nuts when I hooked it up for the first time and fired up..yes.. Space Harrier 2 :)
I sold my NES to get a Genesis and a friend of mine got a snes around the same time. It wasn't instant love I have to tell you. I wanted to play Mario more than Sonic. But I did eventually fall in love with my Genny.
Though I had great love for Sega from the Master System days; when it was time to move on to another system, my cheapness kicked in and I bought a Turbografx instead of the Genesis (Hey, I had $100, which was enough for just the Genesis with no games, or the Turbografx with Keith Courage and enough cash left over for another game...which was Victory Run).
My friends had Genesis so I was able to play a lot of the games anyway. Sonic, Herzog, Golden Axe, and Thunder force III were mainstays.
I didn't have a Genesis of my own until the Sega CDX came out (the Super Nintendo replaced the Turbo in the interim), and being the nerd that I am I initially refused to buy Genesis games when the CD games would be so much better. I NEEDED THE CD GRAPHICS! The first cart I bought was Gunstar Heroes when Toys R Us had it clearanced to $10. Hundreds of other carts soon followed.
I so loved the Genesis/CD that I followed Sega through the Saturn and Dreamcast days, and never regretted either purchase.
Now Sega is dead to me.
I can't believe it has been almost two decades since I first read about the Mega Drive in magazines. That makes me feel old. At the time the SMS was at its peak for quantity of great games so it felt a little soon to have a successor coming quickly but I understood why Sega needed a next gen system, and I was excited at the prospect of near arcade-perfect versions of games like Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
I remember finally saving up enough money for the Genesis in mid 1990. I loved the TG16, too, but the Genesis was first in line and initially I could just borrow my friend's Turbo before I got my own. While buying the Genesis, the cashier said something like "Are you sure you want this? No one's buying them and it will probably be dead soon." I said I didn't care.
If the Genesis died before Sonic hit, it would still have had an awesome selection of games.
As weird as it is to think that my first real game system is closing in on 20 years, I find it harder to wrap my head around the fact that the Dreamcast has been around for almost a decade.
The Genesis was Sega's best overall. Around the 8-Meg era, it really started to heat up with some awesome games like Strider, Gaiares (it looks almost like a Neo-Geo game IMO and graphically slays a lot of SNES shooters), and Midnight Resistance (graphics compromised maybe a little from the arcade, but the BGM is improved). Thunder Force III and MUSHA really pushed the limits of the 4-Meg cart.
Mega Turrican is one of my favorite platformers on this system. While the Genesis sound chip is seen as limited, Chris Huelsbeck managed to get an amazing soundtrack out of it.
If Sega had added hardware scaling and rotation to the Genesis itself rather than waiting on Sega CD, the Genesis would've gone from a very good system to a great one. That would've meant a better Galaxy Force II, and probably more Sega X/Y Board games making it over.
Melf- great article, and thanks again for Sega-16.