Sega Genesis: 20 years later, and it still has what they don't.

cj iwakura

Time for the Sega fans to reminisce about the golden age.



For the US, it all began on August 14th, 1989.




Well, my favorite system of theirs is still the Saturn, but I wouldn't have gotten interested in Sega if it wasn't for their most popular console ever.

So play some awesome 16-bit games.

Me, I'll likely break out one of the finest shmups ever:



M.U.S.H.A., aka Musha Aleste.



Not only a great game, but it had an awesome animated intro, especially for its time.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqOAaIoJGl4

That's just my preference, though. Feel free to wax nostalgic about what made Genesis special to you.

Some other gems of note:














Oh, and I guess some of you might know this guy:



At least as he used to be known.

jeddy lee

This doesn't depict the greatest genesis game, the x-men.

Dunxco

I just hugged mine because of this thread. Will boot up Sonic 3 & Knuckles tomorrow for a clear run.

Now I have to delete a 100% clear save file for it.

Edit: This game ate much of my childhood:

s3rial one

That has to be some of the crappiest box art I've ever seen. We're talking Mega Man bad.

That said, PS4 was one of my favorite games ever. Every bit the equal of FF6 and Chrono Trigger.

I remember it cost like $100 when it first came out, and my mom harping at me for blowing a huge chunk of my birthday money on it.

BlitzAce1981

cj iwakura wrote: »

So play some awesome 8-bit games.

Genesis was 16-bit... and geez I'm being pedantic today. I feel like I should have a warning message flashing on my posts saying "PEDANT ALERT".

Back on topic, EA, BRING BACK ROAD RASH.

cj iwakura

That was terrible of me and I feel awful, fixed!

And Road Rash CD was my favorite, but don't make me go Sega CD on this thread, because I own more games for it than I do for the Genesis. :P

Dunxco

Are we allowed to say that this was when EA threw out good games? Like Road Rash and James Pond 2/3?

TwilightPrincess

Sega Genesis: 20 years later, and it still has what they don't.

a crappy gamebase?

Jubal77

Saddler

The Genesis had its own unique and cool style, particularly in the early years. So many arcade ports that missed the mark in different respects, but were nonetheless impressive. And PC ports from Psygnosis. And Star Control.

For the later years, Sonic 3 is king.

Mugenmidget

I was gonna throw up an AWESOME live game stream of Genesis classics on Justin.TV but the weird video signal the Genesis produces messes with all of my capture cards to some extent. :-(

I'll just throw out mentions for a few of the games I planned to play:

-Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen (EXCELLENT 4 player fighter)
-Tiny Toons: ACME All-Stars (great 4 player soccer action, recommended by Sixfortyfive)
-Pirates! Gold (one of the best versions of Sid Meier's Pirates!)
-The Punisher (good port of the Capcom arcade game)
-Street Fighter 2 Special Champion Edition (SF2 Turbo on SNES looked/sounded better but the 6 button Genesis pads were nice for this game)
-Master of Monsters (cool turn-based strategy game)

P.S. if anyone knows a good capture card to use with the Genesis I would love to get one.

maximumzero

Did anyone else have Alisa Dragoon?

There was always something unique and otherworldly about the game for some reason:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS-8Yigx7x0

Fatty McBeardo

I lurved my Genesis. As a child of the NES it felt like a natural progression, despite being a different company's product. I never got into the console wars with my friends, I think we had a fairly even split of Genesis and SNES and we'd swap systems for the weekend a lot.

Star Control was my favorite Genesis game, hands down.

Rohan

For the launch of the CD32, Commodore posted a billboard advert right outside Sega's London offices that read, "Commodore does what takes Sega ages." Brilliant play on the Sega Ages campaign. Sega were furious but could do nothing about it.

maximumzero

Rohan wrote: »

For the launch of the CD32, Commodore posted a billboard advert right outside Sega's London offices that read, "Commodore does what takes Sega ages." Brilliant play on the Sega Ages campaign. Sega were furious but could do nothing about it.

This reminds me of the billboard Sega put up with the kid sticking his tongue with a line similar to "Sorry to hear about your shortages this holiday, Sony."

Unfortunately it was all for naught.

Fatty McBeardo

The failure of the Dreamcast makes me angry.

Angry. It should have led the way to the next generation.

maximumzero

Fatty McBeardo wrote: »

The failure of the Dreamcast makes me angry.

Angry. It should have led the way to the next generation.

I agree. Whole-Heartedly.

The VMU was revolutionary. There was so much that could be done with, and Sega did stuff with it that Nintendo and Sony with their GBA/DS/PSP connectivity still haven't touched for some reason.

Graphically I think the Dreamcast could have held it's own throughout the entire generation. Remember how great textures on the Dreamcast looked compared to the equivalent PS2 titles?

Henroid

My biggest issue with people who hate on the Genesis is when they talk about it's "shitty" sound quality. Ys 3: Wanderer's From Ys would like to have a huge fucking word with you. Because on the SNES the soundtrack is cut short (songs are shorter in length!) and doesn't sound as metal as the Genesis version. I realize the Sega sound system was different, but it doesn't equate to bad.

Also this OP doesn't have enough praise about the Sega Channel.

Amikron Devalia

I loved every sega system with so much passion, they were one of the most interesting game devs as well, and had a group of awesome devs that they published for, games that deserve mention in this thread:

Shining Force 1, 2, CD, and 3 (though the US only got 1/3rd of the game) - I don't really even have to describe the birth of the SRPG. (well the birth of cool ones at least)

Phantasy Star 1-4 - All were amazing, but 4 was one of the best RPGs I've ever played, great story, awesome gameplay, cool innovations for its time, and simply beautiful.

Panzer. Dragoon. Saga. - I don't even have words for how awesome this saturn game was. Discs full of awesome. I would probably have a heart attack if Sega announced a sequel to Saga for 360.

There are Many, many more, but those are standouts above all others as simply amazing games, and all had great stories, something many games lack nowadays.

edit: On sound quality, one simply has to listen to Welcome to the Machine, from the surprisingly really fucking creepy, Ecco The Dolphin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ils-NolTIAg

Saddler

Those little Genesis 3's that Majesco was making were kind of interesting.

Amikron Devalia

Those are pretty cool.

Charlie_Foxtrot2

Let us leave the failure of the Dreamcast for another thread, alright?


Almost all 16 bit Sonic game were awesome (except for Blast.)


RKA and Sparkster were awesome.

Yeah, Sega was the shit, son.

Also Sega Channel was fucking awesome. I wish I could've gotten involved with it.




Also:




Also Lightening Force: Quest for the Dark Star has the rockinest option menu music ever.

maximumzero

Saddler wrote: »

Those little Genesis 3's that Majesco was making were kind of interesting.

I almost bought one of these when K-Mart was clearancing them for $50 way back when.

I regret not doing so.

Sixfortyfive

Henroid wrote: »

My biggest issue with people who hate on the Genesis is when they talk about it's "shitty" sound quality. Ys 3: Wanderer's From Ys would like to have a huge fucking word with you. Because on the SNES the soundtrack is cut short (songs are shorter in length!) and doesn't sound as metal as the Genesis version. I realize the Sega sound system was different, but it doesn't equate to bad.

Also this OP doesn't have enough praise about the Sega Channel.

People hate on the Genesis chip simply because a lot of 3rd party games did sound worse on it than they did on the SNES. It was less versatile in some manners and just different in others. It doesn't help that a lot of the official retro compilations have lackluster sound emulation either.

Sonic, Streets of Rage, Ristar, and other 1st party games can really show what it's capable of audio-wise. And every once in a while you run across a 3rd party game that was designed for the Genny first and actually sounds better on it than the SNES because of that (Earthworm Jim).

maximumzero

I'm reading on Wikipedia that the Model 2 Geneis had worse sound output than the Model 1. Is this true?

Amikron Devalia

Amikron Devalia wrote: »

edit: On sound quality, one simply has to listen to Welcome to the Machine, from the surprisingly really fucking creepy, Ecco The Dolphin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ils-NolTIAg

Just in case you missed it. This whole game and its sequel had awesome music, and the CD version changed it up a bit as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIkzOSEykaE

The_Scarab

Let's play (read) Comix Zone!

Act 1
http://i29.tinypic.com/2yukal5.png

Act 2
http://i32.tinypic.com/160a6gh.png

Act 3
http://i30.tinypic.com/2h66pev.png

Yellow Ranger

I bought my little Genesis 3 at Wal-Mart years ago for $29.99 on clearance. Best value ever. I had a Genesis already but you just can't pass that up.

Henroid

The quality isn't as good as the chiptune I have, but check it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq2wGS-tqRQ

That game was pretty bitchin' too. I still play it on occasion with no knives to start and on the hardest difficulty. I can make it to the last stage before blowing nuts.

Also I just found this on YouTube and it's pretty rad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiDKlUFCk4Q

maximumzero

Okay so the CDX is kinda awesome looking and I want one now

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Sega_Multi_Mega.jpg

jothki

So how 'bout those Sega consoles spending most of their time a half generation behind their competition?

Amikron Devalia

maximumzero wrote: »

Okay so the CDX is kinda awesome looking and I want one now

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Sega_Multi_Mega.jpg

The CDX was awesome. It also had many uses, which was nice. Plus, its barely bigger than an old CD player. BUT IT PLAYS GENESIS GAMES!

The_Scarab

jothki wrote: »

So how 'bout those Sega consoles spending most of their time a half generation behind their competition?

The Dreamcast had cross platform online multiplayer. It was ten years ahead of everyone else in that regard.

Raiden333

Some of my favorite genesis games:



This game was awesome. Basically a slightly more grown up, isometric Zelda. Some of the puzzles were insane.



Playing this game on a 6-button controller was mind-blowing. You could control your char and the bike separately.



Possibly the best Disney game ever made.

Henroid

Something else from my childhood, which I had a strategy guide to be able to beat!



Edit - Beat'd.

Amikron Devalia

Ranger X was the best! Thank you for reminding me of that, I am going to dig out my cart tonight.

Saddler

Sixfortyfive wrote: »

Henroid wrote: »

My biggest issue with people who hate on the Genesis is when they talk about it's "shitty" sound quality. Ys 3: Wanderer's From Ys would like to have a huge fucking word with you. Because on the SNES the soundtrack is cut short (songs are shorter in length!) and doesn't sound as metal as the Genesis version. I realize the Sega sound system was different, but it doesn't equate to bad.

Also this OP doesn't have enough praise about the Sega Channel.

People hate on the Genesis chip simply because a lot of 3rd party games did sound worse on it than they did on the SNES. It was less versatile in some manners and just different in others. It doesn't help that a lot of the official retro compilations have lackluster sound emulation either.

Sonic, Streets of Rage, Ristar, and other 1st party games can really show what it's capable of audio-wise. And every once in a while you run across a 3rd party game that was designed for the Genny first and actually sounds better on it than the SNES because of that (Earthworm Jim).

The Genesis was one of the last major systems to have a good "chiptune" sound. SNES was more like the beginning of modern sound.

Henroid

Also this comic needs posting in this thread. It's like the best one ever.

Amikron Devalia

Classic. I wish I could lime the comic somehow.

Sixfortyfive

maximumzero wrote: »

I'm reading on Wikipedia that the Model 2 Geneis had worse sound output than the Model 1. Is this true?

It is. The sound chips themselves are effectively identical, but there's something about the different resistors they're connected to that alters the Model 2 in some subtle fashion. Genesis audio is really finicky.

And yes, Ranger-X is pretty awesome. More awesome music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3yoo_g0KYk&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYpyDf7GXeA&fmt=18

My childhood Genesis collection is a mish-mash of many hits and misses. I was prescient enough to see the value in Ranger-X, Gunstar Heroes, Pirates Gold, and a number of other titles well before they attained any significant recognition, but I was also so into the Sonic craze that I fell for C-list mascot platformers like Bubsy and Awesome Possum. Oh well, you take the good with the bad I guess.

The weird thing about being an ex-16-bit console warrior is that I still have instinctively negative reactions to various SNES quirks. Like, whenever I see Mode 7 effects that aren't masterfully utilized, I just think to myself "Sprites aren't supposed to do that!" I didn't play Mario World from start to finish until a couple years ago, and every time I whomped one of the Koopa kids and the sprite stretched all funny like I just sort of laughed to myself, much in the same manner that I laugh at next-gen brown and excessive light bloom. It just looks so pointless sometimes.

Henroid wrote: »

Also this comic needs posting in this thread. It's like the best one ever.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2009/20090520.jpg

That's a fucking terrible comic.

"Dur hur the Genesis only had Sonic games and nothing else."

Yellow Ranger

There were a TON of different Genesis counsels released. The CDX is awesome and way stylish looking, but it’s not even the only all in one unit.

The JVC Wondermega/Xeye is a licensed product and has a Genesis cart slot and a Sega CD. I’ve been thinking of picking one up on eBay because I never had a Sega CD.



But the best part is on the back. Stereo av plugs and S-video out. Very nice.