- What is your favorite game on this system?

Probably would have to be Castle of Illusion. I was big into video games, and the Genesis specifically, up until about 92-93. When TJ&E came out, it was hailed as a showpiece for the Genesis graphics & sound, but I thought COI had already accomplished that with it's fantastic soundtrack & beautiful imagery. Up until then, many Genesis games just sounded dark & burbly to me, and only a few had truly standout graphics, but COI brought out the best of the Genesis. Plus, it was a genuinely fun game.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Mystic Defender: Strange yet addicting
Ghostbusters: Far removed from the movie, but quite fun
ESWAT: A vast improvement on an arcade game that I thought was only so-so
Ghouls & Ghosts: Damn near arcade perfect, right down to the last frustrating bits.
Sonic: When this game came out, it screamed 'killer app' so loudly that even the diehard Nintendo fans were coming to the Sega camp. The split screen in Sonic 2 showed that there was more graphic gusto in the Genesis than everybody had thought. Too bad the effect wasn't used more often.

I originally got out of the game market before any of the red-box games were released, so I'm constantly discovering new & amazing Genesis games. I was blown away by Gunstar Heroes after I played it for the first time a few months back.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I remember my friends and I being pretty impressed/amused with the Sports Talk games. Partially because of all the different things the announcer would say, and partially because of the little goofs it would make.

I was pretty infuriated by Fantasia & Sword of Sodan (mainly due to the ponderous controls), although I still played 'em 'till I beat 'em. I also felt a bit cheated by the Sega CD. For the system that was supposed to be the SNES killer, it sure didn't look as good as it's pictures. I received a Sega CD for Christmas the year it came out, but few months later, I sold everything and started paying more attention to girls.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I was with my parents, picking out a new Master System game in Toys R' Us when I saw a kiosk set up demoing Altered Beast. I just stared at it for like 10 minutes... The control pad was curved, like a scimitar, with 3 whole trigger buttons. Then I stared at the box art, reading the words, "16-BIT CARTRIDGE" over and over again. The price tag seemed unreachable, but the 16-BIT mantra haunted my subconscious

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Had it, sold it, now I own about 15 of them. Game room has a model 2/sidecar Sega CD/32X, and a model 1 & piggyback Sega CD modded for S-Video (makes a huge difference). Still looking for an x'eye & laseractive.

- How many games do you have for it?

153 Genesis, 66 CDs, and 7 32x games. 170 empty boxes, 224 surplus manuals.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I remember constantly fighting the Genesis vs SNES holy wars during high school. Half of my friends for one, half for the other, and periodically there'd be some random stoner kid for the TG16, but he never counted.