Memories of the Sega Genesis

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I thought I'd start a "reflection thread" concerning an iconic console: the Genesis (Mega Drive). This is for those of you who are old enough to remember.

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?

What were the first few games that you owned?

What were your impressions of the system at that time?

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

Anything else you'd like to add ...

[Push Upstairs]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?

It was an x-mas present, x-mas 1992 actually, and I remember being excited to have something newer than my NES to play.


Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?[/B}

I got it with the release of Sonic 2. I fell in love with Sonic 2 earlier that summer when I read Gamepro/EGM and they showed pics of the corkscrews in first level.

[B]What were the first few games that you owned?

I had Sonic 2 only for awhile, I think I got Road Rash 2 a few months later. I had a (spoiled) friend at the time whose parents always bought him games and RR2 was one he ended up bringing over.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?

I was impressed with the graphics. Considered my previous gaming experiences were almost exclusively NES, 2600, and an Apple //c.

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

Had an NES since 1990. But being tired of playing it, along with the games drying up lead me to consider the Genesis. Along with those previously mentioned game screenshots.

[pseudonym]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?

My brother and I got it for Christmas in 1991 I think.

What were the first few games that you owned?

Sonic 1 at first, then Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic/Knuckles, Ecco The Dolphin, NHL 94, 95, Mutant League Hockey, Dynamite Headdy, Castlevania Bloodlines, and Action 52. I never owned that many at the time, but I have some fond memories of these games.

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

I owned an NES since 1987, when we got the Genesis, my older brother tended to hog it, so I was stuck with my NES for awhile.

[Steven]

I think eventually, this topic should be moved to "Classic Discussions" :)


What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?

My friend's house. Still remember it was 1989 and before Denny opened the Altered Beast box he asked me if I thought the game cartridge was "big or small." Since Genesis was supposedly the new powerful machine in town, I figured the carts must be HUGE. He opened it and boy was I in for a shock! LOL

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?

It came with Sonic I THINK, so it must have been later, right? I think we got the Genny circa 1991. Honestly, I can't remember anymore. I know we didn't own it in '89, MAYBE '90 but I seem to recall it coming with Sonic. Then again, wait a second, now I remember my brother buying the first Madden football game at Toys R Us and getting the free GamePro issue along with it. So we bought the Genesis in 1990, and Sonic later individually when it came out. Wow, what a memory rush.

What were the first few games that you owned?

Madden, Sonic... hmmm, I don't know why it's hard for me to remember the Genesis library my brother and I had. I can vividly recall our NES and SNES libraries, but the Genesis is a blur to me. I loved it too. We rented a lot of games for it though. We never owned Streets of Rage (my best friend Nelson had it), Golden Axe, and such. Hmmm.

]What were your impressions of the system at that time?

Loved it. Altered Beast blew me away with its arcade like graphics and sound (I was 6 at the time, lol)

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

NES

Anything else you'd like to add ...

My brother and I loved our Genesis, but once we bought the SNES in late 91 or '92, we pretty much favored the SNES. Then in '94, the SNES completely pulled away in our household. In 2006 I attempted to revive my Genesis passion that I once had by repurchasing the system and 130 games. I gave it my best, but for whatever reason could not get back into the games. I decided it was best if I sold it all away to another gamer who would play and appreciate the Genesis, so I did. Not a very popular decision with Genesis fans, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I have no regrets and although I still regard the Genesis fondly and consider it a good system, it's one of those things that will just have to remain in the past for me. I'll always have the memories.

[scottw182]

I didn't own a Genesis until a couple years ago. My only memories of it are playing it at friends houses a few different times, enjoying Sonic pretty well, but mainly thinking about how much better the SNES was.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I remember playing it the first time at a friend's house. We played Golden Axe together. We had a blast, and I remember being mipressed witht he graphics and sound (particularly the "conk, conk" sound it makes when you are hitting an enemy with the bottom of your weapon. When I left his house that night, I knew I had to have a Genesis.

So I got it for Christmas. I believe it was the first Christmas after it came out.

It came with Altered Beast and I played it to death. The sound quality was unlike anything I'd ever heard. Unfortunately, I didn't see that many games released over the years that had the sound quality of Altered Beast. At least until thost sportstalk games came out.

I also used to prank call friends by calling them up, playing the sound clip the said "rise from your grave," then hanging up. It was even more funny if their parents answered.

[Marriott_Guy]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?
I was in high school at the time, working two jobs along with obligations to the various sports I participated in. I believe I bought this at an Electronics Boutique store at the mall. I do remember my hand shaking as I passed over my hard earned cash to the store clerk. But once I had the Genesis box in my arms, the twitching gestures that I continued to exude were born of excitment and anticipation. In fact, I do recall that I had to give the package over to my buddy Drago to carry since I thought I might drop it!

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?

I purchased this when it was initially released.

What were the first few games that you owned?

I can't remember exactly what were the first games I owned, but I did love the Desert Strike series as well as PGA Tour Golf. I was fortunate that my buddy (Drago) worked at a record company and had access to a professional shrink-wrap machine. If we picked up a dud like Joe Montana Football, off to the warehouse to put this back into shape and then over to Toys R Us to do an exchange.
NOTE: I was young and stupid at the time and do not condone this type of activity at all.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?

I thought the graphics were truly remarkable and the audio pretty much blew me away. I still remember to this day the sound bite "Arise from your grave" from Altered Beast. Still a classic line IMHO.

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

I had the NES at the time, and was quite partial to the Castlevania series (along with everyone else) along with Tecmo Super Bowl, Blades of Steel and the like.

Anything else you'd like to add ...

I was kind of fascinated by the volume slider and headphone jack, though I have to admit I never really utilized these features at all. Looking back, I have to say that this system above all others probably got the most play during my high school years.

[Steven]

Hey Marriot Guy, I notice a great writer when I see one, and you're certainly that! Just curious, whatever happened to your friend Drago? Do you still see him around and keep in touch? Is he still into games?

BTW, I posted a couple comments just now on your website. My first time seeing it. Good job with it!

[Ricochet]

My friend down the street got one real early. He had a big screen and I was AMAZED by titles that neither I nor anybody else gives a shit about nowadays. Super Monaco GP was one; I remember thinking all the controls and panels looked super-complicated. He also had Techno Cop, which seemed really violent (read: awesome) back then. We rented Castle of Illusion and that was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and pretty much secured the fact that I'd be begging my parents for one.

[Compute]

My sister's boyfriend was the first to get it, and I can still vividly remember going over there to play Altered Beast on his DIY projection TV. At some point he picked up Junction, then Columns, then Alexx Kidd..then SONIC. First time I played sonic..man that was insane. I never really got into Altered Beast until years later, Junction sux (imo), Columns I didn't really like until just a few years ago. The game I wanted at that time more than any other was Hard Drivin'. That or Michael Jackson's Moonwalker.

We didn't get a Genesis until eh, Christmas 1993. It was a Sam's Club bundle with a MegaFire controller (3 button turbo AND auto won me MANY bouts on WWF Raw lol) and Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing, which to this day fuels my hatred for boxing games. Pack-in was Sonic 1, although there was a coupon to send in for free Sonic 2 which I promptly LOST before it could be sent in :(.

The first time I played a Genesis it didn't ring as anything much different to me, I was only like 7 or 8. It was not until we had our own that I realized how much more cool it was than the NES.

[Marriott_Guy]

Hey Marriot Guy, I notice a great writer when I see one, and you're certainly that! Just curious, whatever happened to your friend Drago? Do you still see him around and keep in touch? Is he still into games?

BTW, I posted a couple comments just now on your website. My first time seeing it. Good job with it!

Though not truly deserved, thank you for the kind words Steven. I just got done reading your comments on the "Best Time For Gaming (http://videogameconsolelibrary.com/blogs/mg/?p=395#comments)" article - great thoughts and thanks for sharing! I wasn't aware of your site before your post - I will hop on it later this evening and take a tour.

Yes - I am still in touch with my old friend, though we have not had the opportunity to indulge in a serious gaming session in quite some time. This is primarily my fault and one that I need to rectify. He is actually mentioned in a number of my articles - we have shared many great gaming moments in the past beginning with Football on the TI-99/4A way back in 1980.

[Steven]

Though not truly deserved, thank you for the kind words Steven. I just got done reading your comments on the "Best Time For Gaming (http://videogameconsolelibrary.com/blogs/mg/?p=395#comments)" article - great thoughts and thanks for sharing! I wasn't aware of your site before your post - I will hop on it later this evening and take a tour.

Yes - I am still in touch with my old friend, though we have not had the opportunity to indulge in a serious gaming session in quite some time. This is primarily my fault and one that I need to rectify. He is actually mentioned in a number of my articles - we have shared many great gaming moments in the past beginning with Football on the TI-99/4A way back in 1980.


Heh, sounds good. Yeah, my old best buddy Nelson is also mentioned several times throughout my website. As I read about Drago all I could think about was my childhood best friend Nelson, lol. I'll link ya next time I update my site.

Anywho, carry on the Genesis discussion. Sorry to sidestep on the thread like this. Just to get it back on track, I have fond memories of Fighting Masters. I used to love that game so much. Played it about four years back, and oh my goodness, what a crappy game. It was fun when you were 7 though...

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I also want to mention the overall design of the Genesis. It looked very sleek (and still does). I thought it was "totally cool" with the all-black exterior and the stereo volume knob, the Altered Beast artwork on both the game and case. This stuff appealled very nicely to a young teenager.

http://www.freewebs.com/tfpgroup/FWThumbnails/genesis01.jpg

[Marriott_Guy]

Another great experience I remember was playing Forgotten Worlds with my 'posse'.
Great thread by the way Orion - it is bringing back many fond memories.

[todesengel]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?
I got my Genesis christmas of 1992, was at a Toys R Us and saw Sonic running on the demo kiosk and that helped make my decision on what 16-bit system to get.

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?
Mine was the Sonic the Hedgehog bundle.

What were the first few games that you owned?
Sonic 1 and about a week later I got Sword of Sodan at a yard sale. I eventually got Street Fighter 2 and Golden Axe and those were my first 4 games.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?
I thought it was pretty amazing, Sonic was the fastest game I had played at the time and the small Genesis carts tripped me out since I was used to the size of NES carts.

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?
Had an NES since christmas of 1989.

[jb143]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)?
I grew up with an NES. I knew of the Genesis but didn't really know anyone with one. It was known as a system for the "rich kids" at my school. Eventually I did play Sonic and was exited about trying a controller with 3 whole buttons. I was a bit dissapointed that they all just made you jump. That was pretty much my only experience untill college(about 2002 or so) when I bought one at Goodwill and have been slowly collecting games since. It's now the system that I have the largest collection for and probally play the most.

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?
Much later. See above.

What were the first few games that you owned?
Sonic 2, Aladdin, Flashback

What were your impressions of the system at that time?
I really should have read all the questions before answering the 1'st :p

[Blanka789]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?
I didn't get one for myself until 2000 or later. I had played them at my friends' houses and fell in love with the machine, but couldn't convince my parents to buy me one. By the time they purchased me a new console, it was a PSone.

What were the first few games that you owned?

When I bought my Genesis from FuncoLand (I miss that store), I picked up Battletoads, X-Men, Mortal Kombat 3, and Sonic The Hedgehog. Hours of fun ensued.

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

I already had an NES that my cousin had given me when I was younger that I played on pretty old TV. It didn't have RF inputs, only the prongs (UHF?). It had knobs for volumes and channels, and I seem to remember that sometimes the picture would display only in black and white. It was 13 inches of heaven as far as I was concerned.

[PentiumMMX]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?
I remember playing it at my grandmother's house; being blown away by how damn fun Sonic 3 & Knuckles was and how smoothly the game ran. It wasn't a Christmas gift, though; she bought it so I, along with my cousins on that side of the family, would have something to do when we came to visit.

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?
My grandmother bought it at an auction in 2002, and it was properly given to me in 2004 (I being the only one who still played with it by then). I was late to the party, as usual

What were the first few games that you owned?
Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Street Fighter II, Barney's Hide & Seek Game, and some other assorted games.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?
I was blown away by how awesome Sonic 3 was, and for the fact it was possible for me to enjoy something that wasn't on a Nintendo console (Keep in mind I was a die-hard Nintendo fanboy back then)

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?
I didn't have either of those systems at the time, but I had my N64

Anything else you'd like to add ...
I still love me some Sega Genesis; having plenty of great games, and being able to find some of those games for next-to-nothing (Aside from stuff like Shining Force II and Phantasy Star IV, which are always pricey). I may have been late to the party and had grown up with full 3D games, but that doesn't mean I didn't love the Genesis any less.

[nebrazca78]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?


Yes it was a Christmas present. My Dad had this awesome method of setting a spending limit and then taking my brother and me to the mall so we could get whatever we wanted. We combined our spending limits and got the Genesis with Sonic 1 built in. Christmas of 1991.

What were the first few games that you owned?


We owned only Sonic 1 for a long time. Genesis games were being rented everywhere (unlike SMS) so we rented games every weekend. Pit-fighter and Two Crude Dudes were the first two I remember renting.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?


It was absolutely amazing. Play of any other console stopped immediately. At that age newer systems completely invalidated older ones when they came out. Genesis took over SMS which had taken over NES which had taken over Atari 7800 which had taken over one of those moronic systems with 11 different types of "Pong".

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?


Both plus Atari 7800 and Commodore 64.





One additional thing, game selection at local stores used to suck. Years later when I found out both Genesis and SNES had over 700 games in their U.S. libraries alone I was shocked. It would have been nice to have access to all of the games like we do today with eBay.

Somehow Devil Hunter Yohko made it to Lincoln, Nebraska circa 1994. That was nice.

[Demon_Attack82]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?
For x-mas I got a Genesis 2 with the Sonic2 pack-in...

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?
X-mas 1992 or 1993 can't remeber which

What were the first few games that you owned?
Sonic 2, Sub Terrainia, Beavis&Butthead, Bubsy (I never understood why people hated it), Chakan The Forever Man...always rented whenever I could, loved renting Shining Force 2(I beat it using someone elses save)

What were your impressions of the system at that time?
Loved it...wanted the 32x and the Sega CD too but mom wouldn't buy me another system

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?
No we were kinda poor....I had a 2600 and that was it and had to play NES & whatnot at friends houses or rent the systems.

[Dire 51]

An entire chapter of my book Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman is devoted to my first experience with the Genesis. For those of you that have read my book, my answers here are like an extra bit of commentary on that chapter. The Genesis is still one of my all-time favorite consoles; in fact, mine is hooked up right now and being played (semi)regularly.

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?
I remember being absolutely wowed by my friend Quincy's Genesis, which I saw for the first time in the fall of '89 (described in full in MoaVC). My brother and I got our first Genesis about six months later, and Altered Beast was all we had to play for a solid week, until Quincy came to visit and sold me his copy of Space Harrier II.

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?
As I said, we got ours about six months after release. Sonic had been briefly mentioned in EGM at this point, I think, but there was no indication of how big it was going to be. In fact, I think they referred to it as a Wonder Boy-style game.

What were the first few games that you owned?
Space Harrier II, Super Thunder Blade, After Burner II, The Revenge of Shinobi, Shadow Dancer, ESWAT: City Under Siege, Ghostbusters, Burning Force, Batman, Air Diver and Target Earth in that first year.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?
The arcade had finally, truly come home.

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?
An NES, yes, but no SMS (we did, however, have an Atari 7800). When we got our Genesis, they had a special offer where you could send in the proof of purchase and get a Power Base Converter with one Genesis game or two SMS games. We opted for the PBC and Genesis game - Super Thunder Blade, which I wanted because I was right in the middle of that holy-shit-Space-Harrier-II-is-awesome-and-I-want-more-games-like-it phase.

Of course, once we got the PBC, we started hunting for SMS games at the local flea market and at whatever toy stores were still carrying them. My first buy was Space Harrier - go figure. LOL

[Haoie]

Oh Sonic, how we miss your glory days!

[buzz_n64]

Oh Sonic, how we miss your glory days!

There are still good Sonic's out there. It's America's favorite fast food drive in. :D

[Dirkfunk]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?

Seeing it the first time: Sears' "Gift Book" catalog. They had a big picture of Tyris Flare's final magic (The giant, screen chewing dragon. . . yeah). I almost peed.

Playing it for the first time: Our local "Mr. Movies" rental store rented the systems out. My Mom and Dad rented one for my birthday. . . I think it was 1991. I had played Golden Axe in the arcade before. I remember renting it, and being floored by how close to the Arcade version it was. I don't remember the other games we rented. . . it didn't matter. I loved the Genesis.

My uncle then got one. He lived with my Grandma, He was a young uncle. I would go with my Dad to my Grandma's. . . he's drink Pabst, I'd go play Genesis in the Basement. NHL Hockey and Sonic the Hedgehog were the best games my uncle had. He also had Star Flight, which was entirely too complicated for me at 6 or 7 years old. Later on he picked up Road Rash.

On a side note: My family moved our Christmas celebration to my Uncle's house around 1995. Every year up until 2004 my cousin and I would win the Stanley Cup in NHL Hockey (with the Minnesota North Stars). I miss those times.

Getting it: I think I got a model 2 for Christmas in 1994. I got a SNES in early 1992, for the birthday after renting the Genesis and since I was 7 years old, I couldn't go out and buy another system. I loved both systems equally.

What were the first few games that you owned?
Hmmm. . . for the most part I rented games. I remember getting WWF Royal Rumble from my Grandma that same Christmas. The system came with Sonic 2.

I believe I owned either Real Deal Boxing or Greatest Heavyweights. I bought cheap games. I had Shadow Dancer and Moonwalker (I was an MJ nut when I was a kid). I got both of them at Funcoland.

I don't remember owning much for the system before getting rid of it. I remember renting both Toe Jam and Earl games quite a lot. My sister and I used to love playing those. I remember renting Gunstar Heroes, Shinobi 3, Revenge of Shinobi, Contra Hard Corps, Virtua Racing (it was more expensive to rent from my local rental shop than other games), Mutant League Hockey and more.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?

I was stunned that anything could look better and be more advanced than the NES. . . since that was the only system I knew of at the time.

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

I had a NES. I wasn't aware Sega had a system prior to the Genesis.

The 16 bit era cemented my interest in gaming. The console wars back then were so cool to watch. The games actually differed between the systems.

Though I had a SNES first, and I like the SNES. . . I LOVE the Sega Genesis. There is something about the Arcade feel of the Genesis that was amazing at the time. . . and I sit here, 20 years after it's initial release, still in awe of how great some of the games are on the system.

I have too many stories about the Genesis. What a wonderful system. I think I want to be buried with all of it's variations and Altered Beast.

[Icarus Moonsight]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?

Not a present. Funny thing involved here; I saved to buy my Sega consoles and got my Nintendo consoles as gifts. Might have been a contributing factor to my preference for Sega stuff, as it was a different type of gratification to enjoy something earned rather than something given. SMS was the first console I bought with my own money. Genesis was the second. I really wanted to play SoR 2, and when that pack-in console option was offered, I went all-in.

Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?

I know Sonic was out when the SoR 2 Genny was released... Not sure exactly when that was really. Sonic was not much of a factor for me. Despite being Sega-hard, I prefered Mario for plats. I really wanted a Genny at launch... 190 bucks was way out of scope of affordability to a 10 year-old.

What were the first few games that you owned?

SoR 2 (of course)
X-Men
Golden Axe
Golden Axe 2
Thunderforce 3
Bonanza Bros.

What were your impressions of the system at that time?

"Is this love... That I'm feeling? Is this the love... That I've been searching for? Is this love... or am I dreaming?"

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

Yes to both.

Anything else you'd like to add ...

Genesis and Error rules!

[runinruder]

I purchased a Genesis pretty soon after it first came out. I'd bought a TG-16 first, and I already owned an NES, but the Genesis was getting a lot of support, and it had a number of games that I wanted. Some of my early favorites were Thunder Force II, Phantasy Star II, and Castle of Illusion.

So I acquired the system early on, but it wasn't until quite a few years later that I really got into it, when I had the chance to play some excellent games (such as Elemental Master, El Viento, and Wings of Wor) that don't get as much attention as the "big-name" titles.

Now, it's one of my favorite systems. Games like Phantasy Star IV, Lightening Force, and Shinobi III remain among the best in their respective genres.

[chrisbid]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog? Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

the first time i played it was sometime in 1989. my cousin owned a master system, and had rented a genesis from the local game store. when we got to his house they were nearly finished with forgotten worlds. the music of that game blew me away. i also remember playing altered beast and comparing it to the master system version.

i had always pined for a master system, but we ended up getting an nes. now the genesis was out and my nes was looking even worse. shortly after the snes was released, one of those traveling supersales at the cincinnati gardens had a booth that offered a new snes in exchange for 20 nes games. we took that deal, but the game library was pretty limited. the exciting games were on the genesis.

so i saved up my money, and in mid 92 i bought a model 1 sega genesis. it included a copy of soinc 1, and i got a copy of sonic 2 as a mail in rebate free gift. i ended up trading in the rest of my nes collection to get more genesis games. it became my personal favorite, while the snes mostly gathered dust.






What were the first few games that you owned?

sonic, sonic 2, columns, strider



What were your impressions of the system at that time?

the genesis was the cool system. the snes was the kiddie system. the sega cd oozed cool and cutting edge, and i got a model 2 in 1993. arcade games, sports games, uncensored mortal kombat, it represented everything the nes and snes did not

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

One common theme I'm noticing is that there is a point where we all "had to have it" in regards to the Genesis. For many of us, this was the first time we had ever seen a 16 bit game, and we were amazed by the leap in technology from 8 bit graphics. Of course, NES was still fighting with nice releases such as Super Mario 3, but I think most kids could see where video games were headed after playing some Genesis.

I don't remember the early TV advertising for the Genesis, but I do remember a lot of hype in the magazines. It seems Sega's marketing department deserves a lot of the credit for the success of the Genesis. It was definately launched better than the SMS was (at least in the US). Someone on this thread mentioned they didn't even know about the SMS at the time. I suspect this was true for a lot of youths.

Of course, the game support was strong as well. There was quite a variety of games in the early days, including just about every major sport (basketball, baseball, football, tennis), beat em ups, puzzles, shooters, etc.

I think the early Genesis days in 1989 should serve as a model for how a console should be rolled out. You can also make the case that Sega's success in the year 1991, with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, serves as a model for running the "middle years" of a console.

[allyourblood]

This might be a long story, so feel free to skip it, but here goes:

The first time I played a Genesis was in 1990 -- I had seen it before then, but never got the chance to play one. My cousin had rented one from Blockbuster along with some games. Until this point, I had only ever played Atari, NES, and SMS (outside of an arcade, anyway). My jaw nearly hit the floor when I saw how detailed the graphics and sound were. I was blown away by just about everything the Genesis offered: those weird, small cartridges, the awesome-looking controllers with the extra action button, the sleek and aggressive console, the quality of the games themselves. My uncle had connected the headphone output to the home stereo, so the loud and powerful sound being cranked out also made an impact on me.

It didn't age well, but my cousin and I thought Sword of Sodan was just about the coolest game we'd played in some time. The weird ambient sound effects, gore and "big" graphics won us over, despite the awkward controls. I can't recall the other games we rented at the time, but I was equally impressed.

After having played on that rental system for 2 days straight, I had to have my own. I was still very much "into" my NES, but the Genesis clearly surpassed it technically in every way; going without just wouldn't do. My 11th birthday was coming up (this was in 1991), and I decided that, finances and parental approval all willing, the Genesis was what I would like to receive. My dad decided it would be funny to fool me into thinking he and my mom were purchasing me a new bicycle instead. While making every effort to remain polite and grateful, I reminded him several times over a 2-3 week period that a bicycle would not be a good investment. My old bike worked fine and a Sega Genesis was a much more suitable gift for a soon-to-be 11-year old. His response was to keep up the charade until the "big day":

That afternoon, after spending the past few hours playing with friends and having a great party, it was cake and present time. Finally, my parents told me that my gift was waiting for me out in the driveway. Suspecting that my (not so) subtle hints had fallen on deaf ears, I swallowed hard and followed my dad outside, with my friends in tow. He lead us out behind the car and said, "It's in the trunk; you're going to have to help me assemble it. I thought that'd be fun." The wind finally and completely gone from my sails, I opened the trunk, lifted back the blanket inside and nearly fell over when I saw it: A brand new, gorgeous, factory-fresh Sega Genesis with Altered Beast included, in that ridiculously big black box!

I can remember shouting out loud; nothing in English (or any other spoken language); more of a huge, "AAAAHHHHHH!", followed by an equally hearty "NO WAY!". I shot what was likely the world's biggest (and most appreciative) grin known to man in my Mom and Dad's direction and gleefully raced past them into the house, with my merry band of friends right on my heels.

I can still remember distinctly, removing each component from the styrofoam inside, breathing in that intoxicating "new stuff" smell, and setting to work getting everything plugged in. I also will never forget the still-haunting and dark intro music to Altered Beast, and the classic opening line: "Rise from your grave!". I believe we completed the game about 4-6 times before we decided we needed a new challenge. My mom revved up the station wagon and we raced to the nearest video rental store, where I brought home Strider and (if I remember correctly) MERCS.

I did wonder how I ended up with the Altered Beast pack-in and not the brand new Sonic the Hedgehog version, but before I could ask, my dad explained: When shopping for the system, the clerk at Toys R Us mentioned that the Genesis was being sold with two different games. He said that while the Sonic pack-in was newer, if my dad bought the (older) Altered Beast system, a mail-in rebate for a free copy of Sonic the Hedgehog would be included. Being the thrifty guy he is (something passed on to me), he went for the latter choice. Waiting for Sonic to arrive in the mail was an exercise in almost saintly-patience on an 11 year-old's nerves, but when that box showed up on my doorstep, there wasn't a happier kid for miles around. Mario's 16-bit self was just about peeking around the corner at this point, but from this day forward, for a long time, Sonic was it for me when it came to video games and exciting characters.

I could go on, but I almost literally wouldn't know where to stop! The above basically kicked off a life-long enjoyment of the Sega Genesis which still continues today.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

That's a great story allyourblood. I think we can all relate to it. You mentioned the smell of the new stuff, and that reminded me how much of a sniffer I was. I think I smelled the inside of the Altered Beast case a hundred times. Probably not healthy, but it smelled pretty good.

That must have killed to wait for Sonic to come through the mail!

[kupomogli]

What do you remember about getting a Genesis (or playing it the first time)? Was it a Christmas present?


Did you get it when it came out, or later, as it became popular along with Sonic the Hedgehog?

What were the first few games that you owned?

What were your impressions of the system at that time?

Did you already own a NES or SMS at the time?

I never owned the Genesis. I actually owned the SNES but about 1992 or 93 my best friend ended up getting a Genesis which is how I came across playing it. We'd both play SNES games but most of the multiplayer games we'd end up playing we played on the Genesis.

I know when he first owned the system he had Streets of Rage, Pit Fighter and Sonic. Later got games such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2, Aerobiz Supersonic, and Rocket Knight Adventures, among others. I can tell you those three games got a fair bit of time put into them though.

I later played the Genesis at my cousins who owned the Sega Channel. I played Phantasy Star 2 earlier, but never played 3 and 4 and saw them on the Sega Channel. PS3 I played a small bit and then tried PS4 which I played to the end. It did suck you could only save on one game or the data was erased for the previous game, but eh, whatever.

Anyways. It wasn't until a few years ago where I broadened my playability of Sega Genesis games and honestly the system easily stands on par against the SNES. Not as good as the SNES, definitely, but it's also a major competitor.

My best friend also owned the Sega CD which I technically think is one of the best systems created. If only it didn't have such poor support, the system would have lasted much longer.

[The 1 2 P]

I have lots of fond memories about playing my Genesis. Firstly, the commercials for it and Sonic were cool enough to make me ditch the Nintendo brand for awhile. I loved playing the Sonic The Hedgehog games(1-3) while using maps from a magazine to navigate the levels to find all of the secret rooms. I also had lots of fun playing Spider-Man(the greatest Spidey video game ever made at the time), TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist and Mortal Kombat 1-2.

The Genesis was Sega at their best back in the day. However, years later I would find out that the Saturn and Dreamcast were just as good systems....provided you like importing.

[KHELVIN]

I had never planned on owning a genny, but my cousin needed cash, (some times it PAYS to have drug addicts for family) and at 25 bucks I couldn't pass on it. It was the series one console and its best feature was that I could put my ear phones in and not wake my sleeping parents. Sadly he had but one game, Chaken the forever man, good but not great. I However quickly traded some Magic the Gathering cards for both Shining Forces, and fell in nerd lust with the system. And with rentals like Shadowrun, Phatasy Star IV, and Castlevania Bloodlines, I became a 13 year old hermit for one magic summer.
Later in life when I needed cash myself (NON drug related) I sold nearly my whole collection of games.... all but the genny and Sega cd. Somehow even with the threat of losing my car, I couldn't bare to part with them, and they remain my only games and consoles I still own from my childhood.