What's your opinion of the Mega Drive?

[evil_ash_xero]

I got the Genesis right when it came out, and was just blown away. But after a while I lost interest. So much, that I barely even played games. I think maybe it's early games may have not been as strong as I would have liked. And when the SNES came out, that was about it. I think the only stuff I got after it came out was Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

I probably thought even less of the system as years went on, until the last few, when I discovered games that I had never heard of or had totally missed(because of my SNES obsession, or were import only). I hadn't even played Streets Of Rage II, since I was so let down by the first one(yeah, I knew it was weak...even back then!). I didn't even know Shinobi III existed. How did I miss that? I know I missed TF IV because of that "Lightening Force" crap.
But now, i've gotten into a lot of titles I missed(Ristar, Pulseman, Alien Soldier, Gunstar Heroes, Bare Knuckle II, Shinobi III, Thunderforce IV, etc.), and my opinion is totally different now. I still don't think it was on the same level as the SNES, but I do think it was a great alternative, and had lots of great games. It's a shame I missed out on so many in my youth, but at least it's "new" to me now, which makes it kind of exciting.
Thank you emulation!

It's one of my top 4 systems now.

Anyway, what do you guys think of the old clunker?

[Drum]

Games you didn't mention but ought to play:
Chelnov
Alisia Dragoon
Phantasy Star IV
Bio-Hazard Battle
Gynoug
Devil Crash

Streets of Rage II really isn't that great. Sorry, every time anybody puts that game on a pedestal I have to say this - it's a tic or something.

I like the MD and the SNES about the same. Possibly tilting towards MD as I get older and less patient. Didn't own either growing up, did most of my gaming on PC/friends' Amigas/arcade.

[Ex-Cyber]

Aesthetically I tend to prefer SNES (better palette, more backgrounds, more flexible sound hardware), but Genesis/MD seemed to do better with fast-action kinds of games in general and arcade ports in particular. This might have something to do with having a 68000 CPU and/or the fact that it was made by a company that was very arcade-focused at the time.

[Kakizaki]

Guess I have a tic then because I love Bare Knuckle II, but I think I dig Bare Knuckle III a little bit more.

Beat'em ups are probably my favorite genre and the Bare Knuckle titles are near the top of my list of favorites.

Anyway, I kind of went through a similar phase with the Genesis / Megadrive. I received one as a Xmas gift in 1989. I loved it for a few years but I lost interest in it for multiple reasons - high school, sports, dating, SNES.

I probably didn't get back into the Megadrive until around 97-98. It kind of corresponded with my initial surge into buying Saturn imports. Not sure where I would rank it on my personal list of favorite systems. It might be in the top 5 or 6 for me. Great system for action platformers, run n gunners, beat'em ups, and shooters. But aside from a handful of real standouts in the rpg / srpg arena, I felt the Megadrive was a bit lacking in the role playing department. To be honest, that really didn't bother me as a kid.

[Diabollokus]

I'm a huge sega fan but after playing many SNES games via emu I think, Nintendo had the better product. I still rate thunderforce 4 as a contender for greatest hori shmup of all time.

It had some truly great games dynamite heddy in particular stands out in memory. The sonics were brilliant, I spent much of 1995 playing sonic 3 & knuckles. Revenge of shinobi is still amazing, Streets of rage 2 is still my favourite side scrolling beat-em up. Phantasy star 4, shining force 1 and 2 are great games aswell.

Probotector/contra hard corps, landstalker, Alien 3, Eswat and shadow dancer worth playing aswell.

First game I ever played was hellfire back in 1991, been playing shmups since I was 6.

[drauch]

Don't listen to Drum. He hates Streets of Rage because he got beat up in a street fight and has bad taste in video game music.

One of my favorite systems, and yeah, same thing happened with me. Got the Genny when it came out and loved it, but eventually upgraded to the SNES since I was young and stupid and graphics were 4 life. SNES is my favorite system, yeah, but some of my favorites are on the genesis:

-Kid Chameleon
-Splatterhouse 3 (favorite game on the system)
-Ports of Valis before I knew about Turbografx/PC-Engine, etc
-Castlevania: Bloodlines
-Rambo III
-Golden Axe II & III
-General Chaos

And I mean, tons more, and tons of stuff I still haven't played. And yeah, all the essentials (Sonics, Streets of Rage, Shmups, Phantasy Star, Shining Force, etc)

[louisg]

SNES has a few games of exceptional quality that not many Genesis games match. SNES is tops for "console-style" long play games like Super Metroid, and the general console quality I think is better: Cleaner video outputs, the sound doesn't distort like crazy-- of course you have to keep in mind that the Genesis was way earlier and was pretty damn cheap price-wise. In many ways, it blew the crap out of something like the Amiga, which was the ace at the time and much more expensive.

The Genesis has a lot of really good fast action games that the SNES can't quite pull off. It really is probably the speediest of the 16-bit consoles in the strict number-crunching sense, and the style of the games tended to be really quick and arcadey (Sonic vs. Mario being a good example).

I think too that if you mostly remember the earlier games that you've missed the middle period where both companies were upping the ante. A lot of the games in the first few years were good, but the ones later seemed much bigger (in a graphical/feel sense), much much more polished, and with better use of color. The system went from being a NES competitor to a SNES competitor within that time, and it shows!

[ED-057]

I ♥ YM2612

SNES sound has its advantages, although it seems to be devoid of high frequencies. But I really like FM synthesis.

Phantasy Star, Sonic, and Langrisser games. Thunderforce and various other shmups. Sub Terrania. SF2CE with a proper 6-button controller. It was a good system.

[mesh control]

My dad got a genesis when it launched (I wasn't born yet) and gave it to me when I finally was old enough to game. I kept it until 2000 when it died and the Playstation 2 came out. I spent most my time playing cruddy games like Primal Rage, football games and a Mario Andretti racing game. So I never got to play any of the staples of the console. I picked up a model 1 a couple months ago and I've finally been able to wade through the classics.

Current favorites:
-Granada
-Twinkle Tale
-Herzog Zwei (sometimes I love it, other times I hate it)

Neo Myth MD flash cart is one of the best purchases I've made in the last few months.

[mrsmiley381]

I liked the system as a kid, but now I really don't play mine any more. It's gotten to the point where I'm selling nearly every game I own for it. However, I had my fun with Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Sonic, and all sorts of stuff. Maybe I just played so much I burned out. As far as Sega goes I've always preferred the Dreamcast.

[KBZ]

If you're into games like Final Fantasy, Earthbound, Metroid, etc, you probably wont prefer the Genesis. Those aren't really my cup of tea, so I generally prefer the MD with SoR2, Rocket Knight Adventures, Thunderforce 2-3-4, MUSHA, Shinobi III, and plenty more in that line. Only rpg I can enjoy is Shining Force if that counts. I've been through a few sessions of the Phantasy Star games trying to get some background from all my hours of PSO. But I'm often left falling asleep just as I do for any rpg these days.

I'm usually caught between DC and MD when picking a #1 console.

[BrianC]

the general (SNES) console quality I think is better: Cleaner video outputs, the sound doesn't distort like crazy-- of course you have to keep in mind that the Genesis was way earlier and was pretty damn cheap price-wise.

I disagree a bit here. The "High Definition Graphics" Genesis systems were actually better quality in general than later Genesis 1s, most Genesis 2s, and Genesis 3s. In many cases, the sound distortion was from a poor use of the sound chip. Super Street Fighter II is a good example of this. For some good examples of Genesis sound, check out Gauntlet IV, Batman, Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2, Revenge of Shinobi, Shinobi III, Super Fantasy Zone, Thunder Force III, Thunder Force IV, Sonic 1-3, and a few of the Toaplan games like Fire Shark.

I like the system quite a bit myself. Lots of great games from both the west and east on the system. I think I prefer it a bit over the SNES, but the SNES has lots of great stuff too.

[Specineff]

Underrated, under-used, and a bit under-powered.

Not as custom-built as the SNES, but damn if some games didn't pull some stuff the SNES couldn't.

[Bloodreign]

I hated the Genesis growing up, I was a Nintendo kind of guy, that is until I got my first unit in 1999 or so. It took me awhile to really warm up to it even then, but 100 games collected later I find it a superb piece of hardware. Sure it didn't have the greatest sound, but with the right game programmer, beautiful music could be made from the Genesis. Games like Darius II sounded splendid, Rainbow Islands Extra though watered down and with a lower color palette, didn't suffer. Stuff like Shinobi III is just fist pumping adrenaline rushing enjoyment, Championship Pro AM is pretty nifty as well and Konami even dished out some nice software for the system. Stuff like Contra Hard Corps, Castlevania Bloodlines, Rocket Knight Adventure, and it's not as well liked sequel Sparkster just make the system stand out for quality games.

I own an SNES as well, and have nearly 100 games for it, I like what I've played of it as well, and I feel having both systems, I can't lose.

Edit: BrianC mentioned Fire Shark sounding great on the Genesis, I second that, the quality is very near the arcade.

[Obiwanshinobi]

On such occasions somebody usually brings up the CPU thing, Blast Processing™ and 68000 heart on fire, but my recent hogging of 8-bit and 16-bit consoles libraries (via emulators) left me under impression that MD wasn't technically all that superior to its direct competition (just look at things Compile squeezed out of each system). It's the only (!) console of the era I have no fetish towards whatsoever (okay, I'm not counting the Amstrad GX4000 in).
Having said that, MD's library is rock-solid all around. The likes of Rocket Knight Adventures, Monster World IV, Twinkle Tale, Shining Force, Chelnov and Musha Aleste rock the socks off. The number of decent Mega-CD games is also respectable, considering how ill-fated that add-on was.
Oddly enough, I'm not that much into the MD shmups (being spoiled by MAME and all that).

[louisg]

the general (SNES) console quality I think is better: Cleaner video outputs, the sound doesn't distort like crazy-- of course you have to keep in mind that the Genesis was way earlier and was pretty damn cheap price-wise.

I disagree a bit here. The "High Definition Graphics" Genesis systems were actually better quality in general than later Genesis 1s, most Genesis 2s, and Genesis 3s. In many cases, the sound distortion was from a poor use of the sound chip. Super Street Fighter II is a good example of this. For some good examples of Genesis sound, check out Gauntlet IV, Batman, Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2, Revenge of Shinobi, Shinobi III, Super Fantasy Zone, Thunder Force III, Thunder Force IV, Sonic 1-3, and a few of the Toaplan games like Fire Shark.

I like the system quite a bit myself. Lots of great games from both the west and east on the system. I think I prefer it a bit over the SNES, but the SNES has lots of great stuff too.

Yeah, my Genesis 1 is a little later. The distortion I'm talking about isn't just bad patch design, but it's a lot of distortion in the low end, sounding like a bad amp or something (and can be heard in games like Streets of Rage, or any time a "soft" melodic instrument is played, or any time it tries to fade out a sound). I got a Genesis 3 recently and it's much cleaner. It's also possible that the older model 1s had higher quality components than the later model 1s or 2s, because my model 1 is the one with the "licensed by sega" BIOS screen. No complaints about the sound technology in general; I love FM tunes!

On such occasions somebody usually brings up the CPU thing, Blast Processing™ and 68000 heart on fire, but my recent hogging of 8-bit and 16-bit consoles libraries (via emulators) left me under impression that MD wasn't technically all that superior to its direct competition (just look at things Compile squeezed out of each system).

I think Compile is one of those rare cases on the SNES where they just really knew their shit (also, those guys were pulling off similarly busy games on stuff like the Master System). My impression of that system, just judging from the quality of the games, is that it was more challenging to program a game that handles a lot of moving objects than on a Turbo or Genesis. The poor processor was only a few mhz!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Well, on the Super Famicom, there was that Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie game and on the American SNES, there was that Metal Wariors game. Technically rather jaw-dropping stuff if you ask me.

[Ganelon]

First, full disclosure that I started with an MD. It's pretty clear that MD games focused on the experience more than longevity. As an example, MD RPGs are often nowhere near as long as SFC RPGs. Many early games are also noticeably less polished but that's expected.

Quantity-wise, the library doesn't match what the SFC has to offer and most multi-platform games are superior on the SFC. I own well over double the number of SFC games. But I have more favorite MD titles than SFC's genre equivalents. Langrisser II over Der Langrisser. PSIV over FFV. The Story of Thor over Seiken Densetsu 2. BKIII over FF3. S3&K over SMW2. Gaiares over Macross SV. If it wasn't for Gundam Wing Endless Duel, it'd be a clean sweep for MD.

So yeah, both systems are awesome and I'd have a hard choosing between them.

[Elixir]

I love the MD, I'd say it's my favourite console ever. Megadrive was my main console while growing during the 90's. Although I started with an Atari Fountain Tunix (I still have the box somewhere), by that time (1990) the SMS and MD were already out. I eventually managed to get a SMS and MD shortly after.

I also really like the MD's sound in comparison to the SNES.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_LY7r8P3ns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOXYyOh5Ep0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3u4499JdUI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQQP4I9w8Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8kws_TU6gg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0zPf6KbnrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbEfadBoE70

This is what I think of when I think of the Megadrive. Of course, this is only to name a few.

[BrianC]

Yeah, my Genesis 1 is a little later. The distortion I'm talking about isn't just bad patch design, but it's a lot of distortion in the low end, sounding like a bad amp or something (and can be heard in games like Streets of Rage, or any time a "soft" melodic instrument is played, or any time it tries to fade out a sound). I got a Genesis 3 recently and it's much cleaner. It's also possible that the older model 1s had higher quality components than the later model 1s or 2s, because my model 1 is the one with the "licensed by sega" BIOS screen. No complaints about the sound technology in general; I love FM tunes!

yeah, I read that Genesis 3 has better sound than many Genesis 2s, but lacks stereo, which is why I feel HDG Genesis 1s have the edge (though the stereo is only through the headphone jack). I read at sega 16 that late non HDG Genesis 1s are worse than some Genesis 2s. I have to check to see if it was graphics or sound, though. According to the sega 16 forums, the Genesis 1s with HDG and the BIOS screen are still high quality.

Quantity-wise, the library doesn't match what the SFC has to offer and most multi-platform games are superior on the SFC. I own well over double the number of SFC games. But I have more favorite MD titles than SFC's genre equivalents. Langrisser II over Der Langrisser. PSIV over FFV. The Story of Thor over Seiken Densetsu 2. BKIII over FF3. S3&K over SMW2. Gaiares over Macross SV. If it wasn't for Gundam Wing Endless Duel, it'd be a clean sweep for MD.

So yeah, both systems are awesome and I'd have a hard choosing between them.

I have more Genesis games than SNES and I disagree about multiplatform games. I found it to be more of a case by case basis. Many EA titles are better on the Genesis. I noticed games ported from SNES to Genesis tend to make poor use of the FM and make poor use of colors. Games using the GENS sound driver usually have much better music on SNES (Earthworm Jim being an exception). Mortal Kombat II is one Genesis game that makes me sad. It could have been better than SNES, if it wasn't for the missing moves (no low punch even with 6 button) and sound bites. But the games that take advantage of the Genesis tend to run smoother and have more action.

Personally, I prefer SMW2 over S3&K, but that's just me. Both are sweet games, though.

[kernow]

My thoughts are 'not as good as the super nintendo and doesn't have any cave games'

[Stormwatch]

doesn't have any cave games

Indirectly, it does: the Mega Drive has several Toaplan ports.

[Skykid]

Streets of Rage 2.

[kernow]

doesn't have any cave games

Indirectly, it does: the Mega Drive has several Toaplan ports.

Not directly enough, no DFK black label I'm afraid.

[Mortificator]

But I have more favorite MD titles than SFC's genre equivalents. Langrisser II over Der Langrisser. PSIV over FFV. The Story of Thor over Seiken Densetsu 2. BKIII over FF3. S3&K over SMW2. Gaiares over Macross SV.

That's an interesting way of looking at it, in terms of nearest equivalent game. I think you have to massage the matchups to get things in the Genesis' favor, though. If you're going to compare the premier RPGs for each system, then Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium shouldn't be paired with Final Fantasy V, but FFVI or Chrono Trigger, and it doesn't look so hot next to them.

I also like Langrisser II better than Der, but the main tactics RPGs for each platform are Shining Force and Fire Emblem.

It takes two Sonic carts to rival one Mario.

Choosing Secret of Mana as Beyond Oasis' competitor also feels like match-fixing, when it could go up against Seiken Densetsu 3 or Terranigma or Zelda.

The Bare Knuckle games were better than the SNES Final Fights, but they're a joke compared to Capcom's arcade brawlers. Fighters were another genre where consoles were in arcades' shadows, but the SNES had better ports when it counted (SFIIT and MKII).

Contra III is better than Hard Corps, but to be fair, Bloodlines is better than Super Castlevania IV.

What else goes together? For a robot with various weapons, I'd pick Mega Man X over Vectorman. For Assault Suits, I'd pick Valken over Leynos. For blowing crap up, I'd pick Super Bomberman 5 over Mega Bomberman. For side-scrolling exploration, I'd pick Super Metroid over Blaster Master 2.

The Genesis had better ninja games, though. Shinobi III stomps Hagane.

[Stormwatch]

If you're going to compare the premier RPGs for each system, then Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium shouldn't be paired with Final Fantasy V, but FFVI or Chrono Trigger, and it doesn't look so hot next to them.

I'd give Phantasy Star IV the edge over Final Fantasy VI, because I love the space opera setting and the anime-style panels.

Choosing Secret of Mana as Beyond Oasis' competitor also feels like match-fixing, when it could go up against Seiken Densetsu 3 or Terranigma or Zelda.

Beyond Oasis is still a very strong contender. I actually disliked it back then, but now I realize that I was expecting the wrong things from it. When you learn it's from the makers of Streets of Rage 2... it just makes sense. It's an action RPG with a brawler's soul.

The Bare Knuckle games were better than the SNES Final Fights, but they're a joke compared to Capcom's arcade brawlers.

Streets of Rage 2 beats any Capcom brawler (and Streets of Rage 3 would do it too, if wasn't for the horrible soundtrack). Besides, we're discussing "MD versus SNES", not "MD versus CPS".

Contra III is better than Hard Corps

III is nice, but Hard Corps has a lot more shit going kaboom per second.

[drauch]

Streets of Rage 2 beats any Capcom brawler (and Streets of Rage 3 would do it too, if wasn't for the horrible soundtrack).

Both of those statements are terribly wrong. Soundtrack is killer with some skuzzy raw dance beats just like the STREET really is.

But really, I do love the soundtrack to 3. Streets of Rage 2 is a fantastic game, but to compare it to Capcom's CPS games I think that's going a bit far, especially with the range of unique beat 'em-ups on the hardware.

[Ganelon]

I have more Genesis games than SNES and I disagree about multiplatform games. I found it to be more of a case by case basis. Many EA titles are better on the Genesis. I noticed games ported from SNES to Genesis tend to make poor use of the FM and make poor use of colors.

You disagree that for every multiplatform game better on the MD, at least 3 others are better on SFC? EA is one of the few exceptions here. Normally, it's just as basic as trimming down the colors, which make the MD ports inferior.

That's an interesting way of looking at it, in terms of nearest equivalent game. I think you have to massage the matchups to get things in the Genesis' favor, though. If you're going to compare the premier RPGs for each system, then Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium shouldn't be paired with Final Fantasy V, but FFVI or Chrono Trigger, and it doesn't look so hot next to them.

The issue here is that you're assuming I agree with the general public. I compared FFV because that's my favorite traditional RPG on the SFC. I think CT is close but that FFVI is quite a bit off. I don't see eye to eye with the general consensus and since I have both more experience than and my thoughts preceded most internet reviews, it's not like I'm going with/against the bandwagon either.

Same thing with the SRPGs and ARPGs (I think Langrisser II and The Story of Thor are by far the best of their genre for 16-bit cart systems). I just mentioned S3&K because it gels as a game with the same platforming mechanics; I'd probably take Sonic 2 as well.

I like Bare Knuckle II and III more than most Capcom beat-em-ups, esp. the SFC ports. Sometimes, I don't want to perform combo after combo; and that's almost necessary the further you go into Capcom's timeline. And there's a lot of style and interesting features in BKIII. I agree that the MD is lacking in good fighters though. There's very little I like outside of Eternal Champions.

I like Hard Corps and Bloodlines much, much more than Contra III and CVIV. The originality in the MD titles really shines for me and I've advocated them back when few others cared about the games online. Many of the rest of the comparisons I don't have a personal interest in (well, Rockman certainly outmatches Vectorman). I do think SFC has more good games at every genre than MD; the MD library being small is probably its biggest fault.

[Rob]

There were more than a few notable Gen & SNES multi-platform games? The lack of those is what makes these systems still interesting.

Every SNES RPG is 16-bit Blue Dragon, btw.

[Drum]

Streets of Rage 2 beats any Capcom brawler (and Streets of Rage 3 would do it too, if wasn't for the horrible soundtrack).

I just bit my tongue clean off.

Every SNES RPG is 16-bit Blue Dragon, btw.

Lufia 2.


Top ten of each system, go!

(not in any particular order)

Megadrive:

Gunstar Heroes
Sonic 2
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Chelnov
Gynoug
Bio-Hazard Battle
Thunder Force IV
Alisia Dragoon
Dynamite Headdy
Phantasy Star IV

SNES:

Yoshi's Island
Super Metroid
Spanky's Quest
Kirby's Dreamland 3
Gourmet Sentai
Cybernator
Lufia 2
Tetris Attack
Jaki Crush
Demon's Crest