Happy Birthday Sega Genesis - 20 Year Anniversary

[gigadrive32]

Sega Genesis is now 20 years old in North America!

Genesis got a limited release on August 14, 1989 and a nationwide release on September 15, 1989.

It's really difficult to believe it has been 20 years, I feel old now

[Specineff]

Sega seems to have used a MegaDrive cartridge for that photo, as it has the rounded edges with "ridges" typical of most Japanese games. It can probably be explained by the fact that they didn't have a finished American unit by the time they ran the advertisement.

Happy 20 years, Genny/MegaDrive. I'll celebrate it by modding a Genny 2 unit this weekend.

Cheers,

MEGA DRIVE FAN S! ^_~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

It was interesting to learn that Sega lauched it's Genesis console within weeks of NEC's TurboGrfx-16 console. NEC was caught off guard when they pulled that stunt off. With the Genesis' MSRP of $199.99 USD and the TG-16's MSRP of $189.99 USD, it wasn't much difference that a mere ten bucks would make. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[gigadrive32]

Even though the Megadrive-Genesis was a huge improvement over the NES & SMS, the version of Altered Beast produced for the new 16-Bit console which was made in 1988 the same year the console released in Japan, did not live upto the arcade version in graphics. Although it did have one important visual effect the arcade didn't: parallax scrolling. The home version had 4 layers on the first level, 2 layers on all the other levels, while the arcade version lacked parallax altogether.

Still, arcade version looked better in every other area: colors, sprite size & detail, especial effects, etc.

My dream of having an arcade-exact version of Altered Beast at home did not happen until Sega Genesis Collection was released for PS2 a few years ago. It's also on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox360 & PS3, and XBLA.

[handsome_rakshas]

Happy Birthday Genesis!

I'm going to buy Sonic's Genesis Collection tomorrow.

[BIL]

Genesis / MD has a special place in my heart as the original "God System" of my childhood. The Revenge of Shinobi and Strider blew my eight year-old mind. The leap from 8-bit in both sheer scale (mountainside minefield death sprint = iconic) and fine-brush detail (leaves blowing in the wind?! OMG) was striking. Those early system showcases still feel fresher to me than later but less ambitious games.

[gigadrive32]

It was interesting to learn that Sega lauched it's Genesis console within weeks of NEC's TurboGrfx-16 console. NEC was caught off guard when they pulled that stunt off. With the Genesis' MSRP of $199.99 USD and the TG-16's MSRP of $189.99 USD, it wasn't much difference that a mere ten bucks would make. ^_~

Actually, it was Genesis that had the $189.99 price, while TurboGrafx-16 sold for ten bucks more, $199

[PC Engine Fan X!]

It was interesting to learn that Sega lauched it's Genesis console within weeks of NEC's TurboGrfx-16 console. NEC was caught off guard when they pulled that stunt off. With the Genesis' MSRP of $199.99 USD and the TG-16's MSRP of $189.99 USD, it wasn't much difference that a mere ten bucks would make. ^_~

Actually, it was Genesis that had the $189.99 price, while TurboGrafx-16 sold for ten bucks more, $199

I attended the November 1989 Galaxy of Electronic Games expo held at the San Jose convention center (since it was mentioned in the Sept/Oct 1989 issue of GamePro) and they were selling brand new boxed Genesis for $199.99 and brand new boxed TG-16s for $189.99. I heard it straight up from a vendor who was selling them at the expo. Even the staff of the old Video Games & Computer Entertainment magazine fame was there promoting their magazine wares as well. There never was a 1990 Galaxy of Electronic Games expo the following year...I would've gladly attended it again if it was officially announced. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[ZOM]

Happy Birthday Genny!
One of my favorite consoles and home of one of my favorite action RPG of all time: Landstalker!

[Sonic R]

It was interesting to learn that Sega lauched it's Genesis console within weeks of NEC's TurboGrfx-16 console. NEC was caught off guard when they pulled that stunt off. With the Genesis' MSRP of $199.99 USD and the TG-16's MSRP of $189.99 USD, it wasn't much difference that a mere ten bucks would make. ^_~

Actually, it was Genesis that had the $189.99 price, while TurboGrafx-16 sold for ten bucks more, $199

Indeed, it was the same here in Michigan circa 1989.

Cheers to the Sega Genesis. I have always been a fan of the Genesis as well as Sega. I will find some time to enjoy some early Genesis games this weekend with titles such as Truxton, Thunder Force II, Rambo III, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Ghouls & Ghosts, Zoom!, Super Thunder Blade, among some others…

[Herr Schatten]

What's the game on the right of the middle row?

[ZOM]

What's the game on the right of the middle row?

The text below the screenie reads "Hollo Fighter"?
But judging from the screenshot it clearly looks like Super Hydlide to me...

[gigadrive32]

release timeframes for various early Genesis games.

-day one (August-September 1989, at nationwide rollout September 15)
Altered Beast
Super Thunder Blade
Space Harrier II
Tommy Lasorda Baseball
Thunder Force II
Last Battle

very near launch (September-October 1989)
*Ghouls 'N Ghosts
*Super Hang On
*World Championship Soccer
*Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf

a few months after launch but still within 1989 (November-December)
*Forgotten Worlds
*Rambo III
*Golden Axe
*Revenge Of Shinobi
*Zoom!

early 1990
*Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
*Mystic Defender
*Phantasy Star II (U.S. Genesis release was March or April 1990, even though copyright is 1989, it was not out here in the U.S. during 1989 except on Megadrive in Japan!)
*Herzog Zwei
*Air Diver
*Super Hydlide
*Truxton

mid 1990
*Pat Riley Basketball
*Ghostbusters (summer 1990)
*Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (August 1990)
*After Burner II
*Super Monaco GP

late 1990
*Sword of Vermilion
*Thunder Force III
*Strider

[gigadrive32]

Yes, "Hollo Fighter" is indeed Super Hydlide!

[Andi]

www.sega-16.com better come up with something nice this month in celebration...

[szycag]

Is that OUR The Coop that wrote that Viewpoint review? The slowdown in that port is UNBEARABLE, I picked up a complete copy for $5, brought it home and realized it was nearly unplayable.

[ED-057]

Viewpoint ... slowdown

Maybe it needs some 68K overclocking?

[Vexorg]

I've actually still got my Genesis hooked up to the TV in my living room, although the combination of 16-bit graphics on a composite cable and a 32" HDTV doesn't exactly provide the best picture quality. Still, I'll fire it up every so often for another pathetic attempt at not completely sucking at Lightening Force.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

"Your world will never be the same" would have also worked as the final thought after the console officially died.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Nintendon't, MWHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[christyw744]

It seems to me that Sega has been around for longer than 20 years, I guess the though just makes me fill really old.

lol

But away. Happy Birthday Sega!

[Herr Schatten]

Is that OUR The Coop that wrote that Viewpoint review? The slowdown in that port is UNBEARABLE, I picked up a complete copy for $5, brought it home and realized it was nearly unplayable.

I didn't mind the slowdown, it was the controls that made Viewpoint unplayable to me. Does the NG original also have absolute directional movement instead of movement relative to the scrolling playfield like you'd expect in an isometric game?

[Ed Oscuro]

Copied pastas.

I also think the Mega Drive / Genesis is my favorite system overall. Mega Drive yells SEE YOU AT DA PAHTY RICHTA to the SNES. While it took Konami too dang long to get onboard (and with rather funky or ugly games when they finally did, aside from the original Rocket Knight Adventures), other folks were faster to adopt it and it still has a large share of my own "must-have" titles.

Sega's own first-party titles are pretty uniformly superb - Wonder Boy games, E-SWAT, THREE Shinobi titles (all pretty dang legendary), and so on.

It didn't have wacky hardware transparency and funhouse mirror modes like the SNES did, but great games don't need those - and, looking at Axelay on the SNES, or some of the more far-out moments in Super Castlevania IV, they sometimes don't really contribute to great games. Give me the crazy inverted hallway from Bloodlines' last castle instead of holding down the whip button while the room rotates painfully slowly around me. (That said I like flying around in Secret of Evermore, or F-Zero, or Mario Kart, and it has far more utility than the psuedo-3D of Batman & Robin, or Duke Nukem 3D for that matter).

It seems to me that Sega has been around for longer than 20 years,

Yes, considerably longer. Like 1953-ish longer.

Do you talk about "the Google" too?

[BIL]

Give me the crazy inverted hallway from Bloodlines' last castle instead of holding down the whip button while the room rotates painfully slowly around me.

Hell yeah. The dangerous complication of the "fragmented" scene that preceded it was worth a thousand spinny cylindrical backgrounds, too. (And there was blood - not "sweat" goddamnit - profusely dripping from the ceiling! How fitting for a SF vs MD "Castlevania level design mindfuck showdown" !)

[Andi]

For me, the love of Genesis isn't even nostalgia. I grew up with a Super Nintendo. My Mom was a social worker, and I actually gave my Super Nintendo and all my games away to one of her poor client families (keeping my NES) when I was 10 or so. Then, later when I was high school (in the year 2000 or so), I bought a Genesis and was completely converted. Less cute games, better RPGs (I don't really care about Squaresoft), and more PC ports and esoteric titles.

The first games I bought were Shinobi 3, Shadowrun, Biohazard Battle, and Streets of Rage 2 - and that settled it, I was a Genesis fan.

[dtdg]

RKA is the pinnacle of Genesis Platforming.

Sparkster (it's sequel) doesn't have the same spirit as it's older brother.


Shinobi was awesome.

Lightening Force: Quest for the Dark Star is always fucking awesome.

Vectorman was awesome.

NHL 94 was fucking awesome and is referenced at time during Around the Horn whenever they talk about hockey (which it is a few times.)

[gameoverDude]

Is that OUR The Coop that wrote that Viewpoint review? The slowdown in that port is UNBEARABLE, I picked up a complete copy for $5, brought it home and realized it was nearly unplayable.

If I had to choose between the Genesis and PS1 versions of Viewpoint, I'd take Genesis. The Genesis BGM actually does a good if not great job of trying to mirror the arcade, unlike that nearly unlistenable crap in the PS1 version which isn't even based on the arcade tunes. What makes the PS1 version even worse is the massive "warping" frameskips.

Sammy does get a "thanks for trying" from me with regard to this one, but Viewpoint should probably have been ported to Sega CD instead so it could have taken advantage of a faster processor (12.5 MHz) and made fewer cuts to the game itself (yes, some enemies and animation frames are removed on the Genesis). Sadly, 16 Meg and 7.6 MHz didn't quite go far enough here.