What were the Genesis launch games?

[Anthony1]

Which games originally launched with the Sega Genesis?


What games were avail for the Genesis in it's first 6 months?


Also, if anybody can answer the same 2 questions for any of these systems (Turbo, NES, SNES), that would be sweet.

Or if there is a link to a page somewhere that has this info.

[Ruudos]

Altered Beast was the original pack-in game with the Genesis.

I can't tell you the launch games, I'm guessing Last Battle is one, and Mystic Defender, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

[grayejectbutton]

According to the book 'High Score'...

..."Sega launched Genesis a day early, beating NEC to the punch, shipping seven titles (two more than promised), including arcade hits Altered Beast and Golden Axe, as well as Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf, and three others."

Unfortunately, it doesn't specify what the other 3 games were. After Burner, perhaps? Super Hang On?

[kainemaxwell]

Afterburner was one them and Herzog Zwei was too.

[YoshiM]

Ummm boy o boy let's see.

Super Thunderblade was available pretty early on. Revenge of Shinobi. Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle. Ghouls n' Ghosts. Phantasy Star II. I THINK Forgotten Worlds was out kinda early (or was it in 1990?). Rambo III maybe. Truxton. Wonder Boy in Monster World. World Championship Soccer. Zoom! Uh, Joe Montana Football was pretty early I think.

That's what I can think of off the top of my head.

[Retro Pro]

Golden Axe definitely wasn't a launch title.

I am not entire sure of the accuracy of the ones I'm about to list, but I'll give it a shot (I do know for certain that Golden Axe wasn't one).

- Altered Beast (came w/ system)
- Last Battle
- Super Thunder Blade
- Revenge of Shinobi
- Ghouls N Ghosts
- Rambo III
- Truxton (not sure)
- Forgotten Worlds
- Tommy Lasorda Baseball (not sure)
- Super Hang-On
- Mystic Defender (not sure)
- World Championship Soccer
- Arnold Palmer Golf (not sure)
- Space Harrier

The above list may not be completely accurate, but other titles mentioned as launch titles in this thread that DEFINITELY weren't are: Herzog Zwei, Phantasy Star II (that came out almost a year later), Alex Kidd, After Burner, Wonder Boy in Monster World, Zoom, Joe Montana Football (I think that actually came out AFTER Madden).

[gwaine]

I received a Genesis the first XMas after it came out and I had Thunderforce II and Ghouls N' Ghosts so those are some early ones. http://www.genesiscollective.com/ShowGames.php is a great site for game info and release dates.

[grayejectbutton]

Golden Axe definitely wasn't a launch title.

I am not entire sure of the accuracy of the ones I'm about to list, but I'll give it a shot (I do know for certain that Golden Axe wasn't one).

- Altered Beast (came w/ system)
- Last Battle
- Super Thunder Blade
- Revenge of Shinobi
- Ghouls N Ghosts
- Rambo III
- Truxton (not sure)
- Forgotten Worlds
- Tommy Lasorda Baseball (not sure)
- Super Hang-On
- Mystic Defender (not sure)
- World Championship Soccer
- Arnold Palmer Golf (not sure)
- Space Harrier

The above list may not be completely accurate, but other titles mentioned as launch titles in this thread that DEFINITELY weren't are: Herzog Zwei, Phantasy Star II (that came out almost a year later), Alex Kidd, After Burner, Wonder Boy in Monster World, Zoom, Joe Montana Football (I think that actually came out AFTER Madden).

I know the book "High Score" has some errors in it, but, to be frank, I would still trust Rusel DeMaria's assertions over yours. He states that Golden Axe was a release title... unless anyone has some proof otherwise, I will stand by it.

[Gunstarhero]

Golden Axe was a launch title. One of my high school friends got a Genny on release day. He went on to steal all the games available within the first month from a store called AMES. He got these:

-Rambo III
-Golden Axe
-Space Harrier II
-Super Thunder Blade
-Pat Riley Basketball
-Tommy Lasorda Baseball
-Ghostbusters
-Forgotton Worlds
-Alex Kidd
-Buster Douglas Boxing
-Super Hang-On
-Last Battle

The only one I could be wrong on is Ghostbusters. The rest of those I'm positive were within the first month of release, because I reaped the benfits of playing them then. He didn't have Truxton, but I think that was in the first month too.

[digitalpress]

I'm positive that Revenge of Shinobi wasn't a launch title, because I too bought the system on launch day and remember waiting a few weeks for it to come out. It may have been a month after the launch, and came out around the same time "Zoom" did.

Golden Axe I wish I could remember! I had the game when it came out but I DON'T remember playing it with that first batch of games (which included Super Hang-on, Tommy Lasorda, Ghouls n Ghosts and Altered Beast). I think I would have jumped on it right away if it were a launch title but I could be mistaken.

Here's what I've got, I'm certain of these.

Altered Beast
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Last Battle
Pat Riley Basketball
Rambo III
Space Harrier II
Super Hang-On
Super Thunder Blade
Tommy Lasorda Baseball
World Championship Soccer

Uncertain:
Buster Douglas Boxing
Forgotten Worlds
Ghostbusters
Golden Axe

[Gunstarhero]

Looking at this list, you can see that the Genesis easily has the best launch line-up in the history of games, thus far.

[digitalpress]

Looking at this list, you can see that the Genesis easily has the best launch line-up in the history of games, thus far.

"Easily"... ?

Hmm.

As good as it was, I thought Dreamcast had a better US line-up at launch, game-for-game.

AeroWings
Air Force Delta
Blue Stinger
Flag to Flag (Sega CART)
House of the Dead 2, The
Hydro Thunder
Monaco Grand Prix
Mortal Kombat Gold
NFL 2K
NFL Blitz 2000
Pen Pen Tricelon
Power Stone
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Sonic Adventure
Soul Calibur
TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat
Tokyo Extreme Racer
Trickstyle

[Neil Koch]

Golden Axe was NOT a launch title.

IIRC, the launch titles were

Altered Beast
Tommy Lasorda Baseball
Last Battle
Arnold Palmer Golf
Super Thunder Blade
Pat Riley Basketball
Space Harrier II

[Retro Pro]

I know the book "High Score" has some errors in it, but, to be frank, I would still trust Rusel DeMaria's assertions over yours. He states that Golden Axe was a release title... unless anyone has some proof otherwise, I will stand by it.
Believe what you want, my friend. ;) The book is wrong and so are you - Golden Axe was NOT a launch title.

Kind of an ignorant and arrogant statement to make anyway when you don't even know who I am. I'm not saying I'm anyone famous (I'm not), but you don't know that for sure.

Anyway, some people mentioned Pat Riley Basketball. I'm pretty sure that wasn't a launch title, as I remember getting it after the Genesis came out. Buster Douglas Boxing definitely wasn't one either.

Isn't there an official list somewhere so we can clear this up once and for all? :)

[grayejectbutton]

I know the book "High Score" has some errors in it, but, to be frank, I would still trust Rusel DeMaria's assertions over yours. He states that Golden Axe was a release title... unless anyone has some proof otherwise, I will stand by it.
Believe what you want, my friend. ;) The book is wrong and so are you - Golden Axe was NOT a launch title.

Kind of an ignorant and arrogant statement to make anyway when you don't even know who I am. I'm not saying I'm anyone famous (I'm not), but you don't know that for sure.


I don't think it's arrogant for me to trust a book rather than trust you. Indeed, it seems rather arrogant of YOU that you expect me to believe you over what I read in print, especially since you have been unable to offer any proof. I've always hated the Genesis anyway, so it doesn't really make much difference to me what the launch titles were. In fact, it's quite possible that I've never even played Golden Axe; I was merely informing people as to what the book stated. Of course, it may not be correct, but again if you can't offer proof then I don't see that you have much of a case right now...

[digitalpress]

Anyway, some people mentioned Pat Riley Basketball. I'm pretty sure that wasn't a launch title, as I remember getting it after the Genesis came out. Buster Douglas Boxing definitely wasn't one either.

I think you're right about that too. I didn't *own* Pat Riley at launch but in retrospect was wondering if that was because I just didn't WANT to own it, possibly because I already owned TG-16 "Takin' It To the Hoop", virtually the same game.

I can't find any source to verify this stuff. Amazing that we have to work on our own recollections. Things just were not documented this well in 1989.

[Retro Pro]

I don't think it's arrogant for me to trust a book rather than trust you. Indeed, it seems rather arrogant of YOU that you expect me to believe you over what I read in print, especially since you have been unable to offer any proof. I've always hated the Genesis anyway, so it doesn't really make much difference to me what the launch titles were. In fact, it's quite possible that I've never even played Golden Axe; I was merely informing people as to what the book stated. Of course, it may not be correct, but again if you can't offer proof then I don't see that you have much of a case right now...
I do not wish for this to become a flame war between us over such a silly topic, so I'll merely say this:

I hardly think it's arrogant to point out that you believing a book that you've already admitted has factual errors instead of a Sega fan who had a Genesis at the time (me) who still has one is more than a bit ridiculous. I remember that I didn't buy Golden Axe with the Genesis. I definitely would've bought it at launch if it was out then because it looked awesome, but I DID buy it when it came out, again because it looked awesome. When you're a kid (as I was at the time) and you're waiting for the next big hot game, trust me, you tend to remember it.

You on the other hand don't even like the Genesis, yet you are so quick to presume that an already factually suspect book is more accurate that someone who's been a diehard Genesis fan since the day it came out? Kind of preposterous if you ask me.

You want proof? I could probably dig up a site if I try hard enough, but why should I bother? It'll be that site's word against your book's, so nothing will be solved.

You admittedly hated the Genesis and may not have even PLAYED Golden Axe, so I'm certainly not going to go out of my way to prove or disprove anything you may want to believe from some book when it doesn't matter to you either way. If you were there, loved the system, and played the games, it might be a different story. If you would rather believe your book over a gamer who actually experienced the system and its games, go right ahead - I'm not going to be able to change your mind. :)

[Retro Pro]

I think you're right about that too. I didn't *own* Pat Riley at launch but in retrospect was wondering if that was because I just didn't WANT to own it, possibly because I already owned TG-16 "Takin' It To the Hoop", virtually the same game.

I can't find any source to verify this stuff. Amazing that we have to work on our own recollections. Things just were not documented this well in 1989.
Man, I figured if anyone would be the definitive source on these things, it'd be Digital Press. If you guys don't even know for sure, I think we're S.O.L. here. ;) I'll try to do some digging of my own, but I doubt I'll be successful.

Speaking of Genesis launch games, I just picked up Super Thunder Blade (cart-only). I never had it, but I remember it looking like an interesting game when it first came out. Hopefully it WAS good and still holds up well.

[Gunstarhero]

Well, I was able to find the release date for Golden Axe. According to MobyGames.com it was released on December 23, 1989. Not a release title, I concede I was wrong in it being a release title. Looks like its about 3 months after launch. I would consider anything within the first month a launch game.

It's hard to find exact days of release for games, most of the time all we have are the 19xx copyright years to go on.

[digitalpress]

Speaking of Genesis launch games, I just picked up Super Thunder Blade (cart-only). I never had it, but I remember it looking like an interesting game when it first came out. Hopefully it WAS good and still holds up well.

Umm.... uh oh.

{translation: it stinks}

[YoshiM]

Well I did find an ad in a scanned issue of VG&CE that was released close to the Genesis release date. Here's the link:

http://dinosaur-act.ath.cx:8000/mags/vgce/vgce_89-11/jpg_vgce_1989-11_016.htm

and


http://dinosaur-act.ath.cx:8000/mags/vgce/vgce_89-11/jpg_vgce_1989-11_017.htm

[Anthony1]

Thats interesting, looking at that old advertisement.

The only thing is, how many times have we seen advertisements for a bunch of games around a systems launch, and there is always one game that never ends up coming out.

Remember the back of the first Playstation box? It had that picture of John Madden Football on the Playstation. That game never came out. Of course Madden did come out on the PS1 the next year, but the first year it never came out, and NFL Gameday ended up stealing the show.


By the way, does anybody have their Sega Genesis box, the one from 1989? I'm curious as to what picture is on the back of the box. If anybody could take a picture of it and post it here, that would be cool. It would be interesting to see what they had on the back of the box.

[ApolloBoy]

Hmm...

The Altered Beast cart in that ad looks like a Japanese Megadrive cart...

[Retro Pro]

Yeah, those ads don't really prove much. For example, what the hell is Hollo Fighter?! ;)

[CRV]

Yeah, those ads don't really prove much. For example, what the hell is Hollo Fighter?!

It looks a lot like a Hydlide game, probably Super Hydlide?

I have scans of a press release I got from another site, but I don't think it'll help much (it says 25 games will release by Christmas and talks about some of the highlights including the aforementioned Hollo Fighter).

[Dire 51]

Yeah, those ads don't really prove much. For example, what the hell is Hollo Fighter?!

It looks a lot like a Hydlide game, probably Super Hydlide?

Bingo. I don't know why Sega didn't release Hollo Fighter like they planned to, but it turned up later under the Seismic label as Super Hydlide.

Regarding launch titles... I can definitely tell you that James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing, Pat Riley Basketball, Ghostbusters and After Burner II weren't launch titles. All of them came out quite a bit later.

[ApolloBoy]

OK, I've found out a way to tell apart 1989 and 1990 games simply by looking at their labels. Here's a label of a game released in 1989...

http://www.genesiscollective.com/Genesis/CartFront/Space%20Harrier%202%20(CLF).jpg

And here's one from 1990...

http://www.genesiscollective.com/Genesis/CartFront/Pat%20Riley%20Basketball%20(CLF).jpg

Now, spot the differences.

[Dire 51]

Sega did that with the box covers too. Whereas the early titles had "16 BIT CARTRIDGE" spelled out in plain text at the bottom of the cover, later they switched it so that it was an extension of the Genesis logo. It happened sometime in 1990.

[NE146]

I know the book "High Score" has some errors in it, but, to be frank, I would still trust Rusel DeMaria's assertions over yours. He states that Golden Axe was a release title... unless anyone has some proof otherwise, I will stand by it.
Believe what you want, my friend. ;) The book is wrong and so are you - Golden Axe was NOT a launch title.

Isn't there an official list somewhere so we can clear this up once and for all? :)

Not to dig up old topics but this is on my mind at the moment due to it being discussed at the AA boards. And I will second (or is it third/fourth) that Golden Axe was NOT a release title.

The first time I saw Golden Axe was at the San Jose Convention Center where a beta of it was being displayed (it was some kind of videogame convention.. I wish I remembered the name of it). Anyway, by that time I had a Genesis and had conquered Ghouls and Ghosts (which was on display too). So I showed my skills at it for a bit, but basically passed it by.. having already owned and beaten it. Rather I spent the majority of my time with the crowds that were enthralled by Golden Axe :D It was amazing how close it was to the arcade.

Anyway it took a couple of weeks for it to come out later. That is for sure.

Shinobi came out a couple of weeks after the Genesis launch as well.

[Leo_A]

Since he also asked for SuperNes launch titles, I believe those would be:

Super Mario World
Pilotwings
F-Zero

[davec]

Yeah, those ads don't really prove much. For example, what the hell is Hollo Fighter?!

It looks a lot like a Hydlide game, probably Super Hydlide?

Bingo. I don't know why Sega didn't release Hollo Fighter like they planned to, but it turned up later under the Seismic label as Super Hydlide.

Regarding launch titles... I can definitely tell you that James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing, Pat Riley Basketball, Ghostbusters and After Burner II weren't launch titles. All of them came out quite a bit later.


Man, talk about a blast from the past. I had forgotten all about Super Hydlide. Truthfully, it was a pretty disappointing title, really tiny bland graphics but I did play it a lot. But for the life of me I can't remember if I finished it or what happened to the darned game.

[pookninja]

i remember getting a genesis at kay-bee around the time it first came out.(me and my best friend that it was called sega genius,so we felt like morons asking for the sega genius,then getting corrected by the sale clerk,my mom was laughing at me while she was paying for it :embarrassed: ) i got the genesis system,last battle,and tommy lasorda baseball.then the next month,after i collected my paper route money ,i remember buying thunder force 2 and ghouls and ghost(best genesis game ever).i think revenge of shinobi might of came out right after x-mas of that year,because i wanted that game for x-mas,and i remember my folks not being able to get it(maybe it was just sold out?)to me,that was a really great time in video games.almost all of those first genesis games were great games.

[WCP]

I just started to get into the idea of playing the earliest Sega Genesis games. I did a search for Genesis launch and turned up this thread. It's a shame that something like release dates are so hard to verify as being correct or not. I'm guessing by the time we got to the Playstation 1, release dates are probably pretty accurate, because you can go back and look at some of the earliest internet posts, to probably get an accurate idea. With systems prior to the PS1, there is probably always going to be debates about which games were actually out, and which weren't.

We have these memories burned into our heads about which game came out when, but sometimes we are completely wrong, even though we would swear up and down that we HAVE to be right. People 20 years from now collecting Xbox 360 and PS3 and Wii games probably aren't going to have this problem. They will have tons of information on the web that will prove the exact order of game releases.


Anyways, I'm interested in knowing the "true" chronological order of the Genesis games that hit the USA in 1989, and even early into 1990. I just think that was a facsicnating period of time in the Genesis lifespan. The games that came out then seem that much more retro to me, than Genesis games that came out in 1993, 1994 or 1995. It's almost like two completely different game systems.

The only pseudo fact that I can add to this old discussion, is that Pat Riley Basketball wasn't a launch game. I know that it came out after launch. How do I know this? Because I got my Genesis a day or two AFTER Pat Riley was released, and I know the Genesis had already been available at least a month, at that point in time. It would be cool to find out the actual time period that Pat Riley did come out, cause then I would know exactly when I first hopped on the Genesis bandwagon.


There is a thread on Sega-16 where they were arguing about which games actually launched with the Genesis. I think the conclusion was that these were the actual launch games:

Altered Beast
Space Harrier II
Super Thunder Blade
Thunder Force 2
World Championship Soccer
Tommy Lasorda Baseball
Last Battle


Those 7 games are supposedly the accurate launch list. According to a guy on Sega-16:

"About 3 weeks after the Genesis launched, Ghouls 'N Ghosts came out. A few more weeks after that, Revenge of Shinobi was here. It was well over a month and a half after the Genesis launched before Revenge of Shinobi came out. Same with Super Hang-On which came at around the same time. I have no clue when Alex Kidd came out, but I know it wasn't at launch. Having Alex Kidd at launch would have sold maybe 1 or 2 more Genesis's. There's no way Afterburner 2 came out in January of 1990. That was before I ever even rented my first Japanese Mega Drive game (Herzog Zwei which would come to the US a couple months later). I purchased the Japanese version of After Burner 2 which works perfectly on the Genesis despite people saying it doesn't. I had it for well over a month before I saw it in US stores. Air Diver came LOOOOOOOONG before MUSHA"

[Rickstilwell1]

Release dates are always confusing because different sources often specify different dates. And you never know what those sources are referring to. Some of those dates could be dates it was available for pre-order. Others could be dates that items were expected, which don't account for possible shipping delays. Some dates could be the dates the items were shipped, but not the dates they arrived in stores. I've seen sources state that launch titles for games sometimes shipped the day before the actual console did, and they both got put on store shelves on the same day though. Then finally, you have the day that the item appeared on a store shelf for the first time.

With all these different possible dates that could be used, it just gets confusing. The main reason I have been working on a personal chronology list is to establish association between media. If I want to put myself through a time machine for an evening of fun. I can for example, watch the first couple episodes of Doug and Ren & Stimpy, then put in the first album by PM Dawn or Metallica's self titled album and turn on a game of Super Mario World for Super Nintendo. It all came from the window of August 1991. And what a great lineup of media to revisit and associate with each other. Maybe some people didn't see or afford these items till September or even till that Christmas but the point is that these things coincide with each other.

Also, just because an item wasn't on your favorite store's shelf on X date doesn't mean it wasn't in fact already available at a different store in a different town in a different state at that time. Just because you didn't have access to it doesn't mean it didn't exist yet. Retail stores are funny like that where they only choose to stock certain games that they think will sell. For example if you exclusively bought games at Target, there are a lot of new games you could never find there because they just don't carry everything. Same goes for music cds, their selection of music cds is very narrow. They carry the brand new Matchbox 20 album, but I sure haven't seen the new Motion City Soundtrack album there.

[BlastProcessing402]

Also, just because an item wasn't on your favorite store's shelf on X date doesn't mean it wasn't in fact already available at a different store in a different town in a different state at that time. Just because you didn't have access to it doesn't mean it didn't exist yet.

That's a great point. Back in the olden times, stuff just came out when it came out, it was different for different stores and different areas and so on. Other places might not get it for a few days, weeks, or sometimes even months. It wasn't really until events like Mortal Monday or Sonic Twosday that there really seemed to be a concentrated effort to get games out in every store everywhere on one specfic date.

[sparf]

That's a great point. Back in the olden times, stuff just came out when it came out, it was different for different stores and different areas and so on. Other places might not get it for a few days, weeks, or sometimes even months. It wasn't really until events like Mortal Monday or Sonic Twosday that there really seemed to be a concentrated effort to get games out in every store everywhere on one specfic date.

There is also the issue that Nintendo will be having with the Wii-U from my cursory glances. Companies advertise a system using not only "launch" titles but also "launch window" titles. Which in the case of the Wii-U I think is like within 6 months of the system's release.

[BydoEmpire]

.."Sega launched Genesis a day early, beating NEC to the punch, shipping seven titles (two more than promised), including arcade hits Altered Beast and Golden Axe, as well as Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf, and three others."Golden Axe was not a launch game, neither was Revenge of Shinobi. A friend of mine got a Genny right at launch and I remember going into Toys R Us more than a month later hoping to get Golden Axe, but it wasn't out yet. Revenge of Shinobi was new, though it wasn't available on launch day (to my knowledge, could be wrong).


Also, just because an item wasn't on your favorite store's shelf on X date doesn't mean it wasn't in fact already available at a different store in a different town in a different state at that time. Just because you didn't have access to it doesn't mean it didn't exist yet.That's a good point, but in this case (Golden Axe) I don't think it accounts for the time difference. Of course, my memory isn't perfect. If anyone actually bought Golden Axe on launch day I'd be happy to know.

[Rickstilwell1]

Golden Axe was not a launch game, neither was Revenge of Shinobi. A friend of mine got a Genny right at launch and I remember going into Toys R Us more than a month later hoping to get Golden Axe, but it wasn't out yet. Revenge of Shinobi was new, though it wasn't available on launch day (to my knowledge, could be wrong).

That's a good point, but in this case (Golden Axe) I don't think it accounts for the time difference. Of course, my memory isn't perfect. If anyone actually bought Golden Axe on launch day I'd be happy to know.

I wonder how long Japan had the Mega Drive and more specifically the game Golden Axe before we had the Genesis? They usually got most things before we did, with just a few exceptions here and there, including games we got that they never did.

[WCP]

Golden Axe was not a launch game, neither was Revenge of Shinobi. A friend of mine got a Genny right at launch and I remember going into Toys R Us more than a month later hoping to get Golden Axe, but it wasn't out yet. Revenge of Shinobi was new, though it wasn't available on launch day (to my knowledge, could be wrong).


Supposedly, this list has the 7 launch games:

Altered Beast
Space Harrier II
Super Thunder Blade
Thunder Force 2
World Championship Soccer
Tommy Lasorda Baseball
Last Battle


Revenge of Shinobi supposedly arrived about 5 weeks after launch, sometime during October


I'm trying to do some more research, to try to get a month by month release breakdown for 1989.

[FieryReign]

I thought Rambo 3 and Mystic Defender were launch games too?

[WCP]

I thought Rambo 3 and Mystic Defender were launch games too?

Yeah, that's the thing. If you do ten different searches on the Genesis launch games, you'll end up with ten different lists. Some lists will have Arnold Palmer and Golden Axe as launch games, some will have Ghouls 'n Ghosts as a launch game. It would be cool if some official document from Toys R Us, or Sears or Montgomery Wards or someting like that turned up on the net and had the actual release date for the store, and the price, etc, etc. Some type of inventory sheet or something.

[DeseoParadise]

Altered Beast and Sonic

[DaddyMulk]

There is a thread on Sega-16 where they were arguing about which games actually launched with the Genesis. I think the conclusion was that these were the actual launch games:

Altered Beast
Space Harrier II
Super Thunder Blade
Thunder Force 2
World Championship Soccer
Tommy Lasorda Baseball
Last Battle
[/I]"

I agree 100% with everything on that list except for World Championship Soccer. That one was a 1989 release in the U.S., but was not available at launch (I'm thinking Nov/Dec, along with Super Hang-On, Mystic Defender, Rambo III, and a few others). Ghouls 'n Ghosts was definitely October, 1989; I was psyched to buy it after weeks of nothing but 1-player Altered Beast.

In defense of this list, I have a USA Today write-up on the Genesis launch lineup (dated August 24, 1989), which includes reviews of all games on the list except for WCS. I'll try to scan and upload it later this weekend.

[WCP]

I agree 100% with everything on that list except for World Championship Soccer. That one was a 1989 release in the U.S., but was not available at launch (I'm thinking Nov/Dec, along with Super Hang-On, Mystic Defender, Rambo III, and a few others). Ghouls 'n Ghosts was definitely October, 1989; I was psyched to buy it after weeks of nothing but 1-player Altered Beast.

In defense of this list, I have a USA Today write-up on the Genesis launch lineup (dated August 24, 1989), which includes reviews of all games on the list except for WCS. I'll try to scan and upload it later this weekend.

I read somewhere else that Soccer wasn't a launch game, and did come a few weeks later, so you might be right about that. Would love to see that article.

[Rickstilwell1]

What's funny is that the OP didn't limit the question to just launch day titles but also wanted to include titles that came in the "launch window" months. They wanted launch day titles first and then a list of ones that came right after. So it's kind of funny how people talked back and forth over the years about which ones don't count.

[DaddyMulk]

Okay, here's the USA Today article I spoke of earlier. Quick, hunt these now thirtysomething kids down on the Internet and see what's become of them! :)

58395840

[hasnopants]

WCP, I as well have an interest in this 89' US release lineup. The previous post is a pretty definitive picture of what games were released at launched but post launch up until the end of 89' the order gets hairy. I have been working on a list too and I was curious how much progress you have made. I have been finding the advanced search in google groups to be useful for scouring old threads from usenet.

My current list:

Launch Games

Altered Beast 1989/08/14
Last Battle 1989/08/14
Space Harrier II 1989/08/14
Super Thunder blade 1989/08/14
Thunder Force II 1989/08/14
Tommy Lasorda Baseball 1989/08/14
Sega Genesis with Altered Beast 1989/08/14

Post-Launch 89'

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf 1989
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle 1989
Ghouls'N Ghosts 1989
World Championship Soccer 1989
Super Hang-On 1989/9/04
Rambo III 1989/11/06
Forgotten Worlds 1989/11/17
Mystic Defender 1989
Revenge of Shinobi, The 1989/12/02
Truxton 1989
Golden Axe 1989/12/22
Zoom 1989

Has anyone considered just asking Sega of America to check out their archives and possibly provide us the release lists for 89'? Perhaps they might still have that information in their computer systems or files?

Anyways, this is fun project....the internet does not have the definitive answer to this and it is very interesting to stumble across something like this nowadays for me. :)

[WCP]

Unfortunatenly, having a truly accurate account of which Genesis games were available in 1989 is a difficult task. I've searched through every usenet post from that time frame , for various key words. These posts seem to provide the most accurate information. For example, there are some things that are absolute fact:

1. The Genesis "did" launch earlier in certain markets. It didn't reach San Francisco until sometime in September. A guy posted on September 13th that it finally arrived at Toys R Us in the Bay Area. (it may have arrived as early as the 10th, but definitely not before that) It was available in LA and New York in mid August of course..

2. The system launched with 6 games: Altered Beast, Space Harrier II, Last Battle, Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Thunder Force II and Super Thunder Blade.

3. The seventh Genesis game to arrive was Ghouls n' Ghosts. As to exactly when it did arrive, it was definitely sometime in early October in the markets that didn't get the Genesis till mid September. As for LA and NY, and the markets that got the Genesis early, I'm not sure if they had to wait all the way till early October or not. You would think the game would arrive at the same time nationally. So, I'm still thinking early October.

4. Golden Axe and Alex Kidd weren't available till late January 1990.

5. The best evidence would suggest that Revenge of Shinobi was actually an early January 1990 game. A guy on usenet claimed "he just got it" on January 16. Other posts have people complaining about Shinobi still not being available in early January.

6. Besides the first 7 Genesis games already talked about, these games also arrived in 1989: World Championship Soccer, Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf, Super Hang On, Rambo III, Mystic Defender and Forgotten Worlds

7. Truxton most likely was available in late December 1989, but there is a slight chance this game came out super early in January 1990.


World Championship Soccer - most likely October

Super Hang On - most likely October

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf - most likely October

Rambo III - most likely November

Forgotten Worlds - November / December

Mystic Defender - November / December

Truxton - December / January 1990 (extremely late December, if it was even available in 1989. There is a usenet post from Jan 15 1990 where a guy says that Kay B. Toys and Toys R Us had both said that Truxton wasn't out yet)

Revenge of Shinobi - January 1990 (sometime between Jan 5th and Jan 16th)

Golden Axe - January / February 1990 (usenet guy got it on Feb 1st, but may have arrived a few days before then)

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle - January / February 1990 (appears this was available Jan 28th, but could have arrived Feb 1st)



That's the extent of what I've researched. I wish I had an exact chronological order list, but unfortunately, it's hard to find accurate info on 1989 Genesis.

[hasnopants]

Ok, great WCP. I think that we can generally agree that the launch lineup is correct now. From my research I will tend to agree with what you have found so far. I think the best approach, at least the one I am taking, is to take one game at a time until there is definitive proof of a launch date, or week at least. I agree with what you have said, and have ordered them the way you have mentioned them. I think that there are a few that may have hit in 89 so I kept them on the list just in case, under the possible 90' launches. I am going to work on trying to get a firm release date on Ghouls'N Ghosts now. I will report back.


Sega Genesis 89' US Release List

Launch Games

Altered Beast 1989/08/14
Last Battle 1989/08/14
Space Harrier II 1989/08/14
Super Thunder blade 1989/08/14
Thunder Force II 1989/08/14
Tommy Lasorda Baseball 1989/08/14
Sega Genesis with Altered Beast 1989/08/14

Post-Launch 89'

Ghouls'N Ghosts 1989/10/01
World Championship Soccer 1989/10/01
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf 1989/10/01
Super Hang-On 1989/10/01
Rambo III 1989/11/01
Mystic Defender 1989/11/01
Forgotten Worlds 1989/11/01


Possible 90' launches

Alex Kidd 1990
Golden Axe 1990
Revenge of Shinobi, The 1990
Truxton ` 1990
Zoom 1990

[hasnopants]

Ok, I did a list up to Phantasy Star II. I gave up on exact dates (hah!). Here is what I have so far, in the order I believe is correct. I am unsure about the final few games for 89'. (which month they came out in) Please help if you can!

Sega Genesis 89' US Wave 1 Release List

Launch Games

Altered Beast ][ Launch Game
Last Battle ][ Launch Game
Space Harrier II ][ Launch Game
Super Thunder blade ][ Launch Game
Thunder Force II ][ Launch Game
Tommy Lasorda Baseball ][ Launch Game

Post-Launch 89' (August 15-Dec 31, 1989)

Ghouls'N Ghosts ][ August - September 1989
World Championship Soccer ][ September 1989
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf ][ September 1989
Super Hang-On ][ September 1989
Rambo III ][ 1989
Mystic Defender ][ 1989
Forgotten Worlds ][ 1989

Early 90'

Revenge of Shinobi, The ][ December - January 1990
Truxton ` ][ December - January 1990
Golden Axe ][ January 1990
Zoom ][ January - Febuary 1990
Alex Kidd ][ January - Febuary 1990
Zoom! ][ Febuary - March 1990
Phantasy Star II ][ March 1990

[WCP]

You know, it's weird, because I just can't find much info on Zoom! . Zoom! could have been a December 1989 game. I just don't have any specific evidence on it. The only thing that lends credence to it is certain Genesis advertisement in one of the magazines of that time frame. I'm pretty sure I saw it in an ad that had every single game of 1989 in it (the ones that are for sure 1989 releases). Of course, there were also ads that showed Super Hydlide and Golden Axe and Shinobi, and none of those games were available in 1989.. Super Hydlide was advertised as "Hollo Fighter" at the time. Pretty sure Super Hydlide didn't come out till like March or April 1990. I'm about 95 percent positive that Shinobi wasn't available in 1989. I think it was a very early January game. I think we need to just consider it a January game until we are proven otherwise. Shove It! - The Warehouse Game and Herzog Zwei were also early releases. March or April. I think it was April, but I'll have to double check.

[hasnopants]

So I was looking through the December 89' issue of EGM tonight and there is a two page spread (page 42 and 43 I believe) with a list of games for purchase used and new. I think its reasonable to assume that this issue was written in November. Here is the list:

6023

Alex Kidd!! I think we can chalk that up as a 89' release now! Also, what the HECK is "Basketball"?!? All other games were expected. Another interesting portion of the ad was the top right corner:


6024

All of those are sort of expected. I find it funny they listed Hydlide Special and "Hallow" fight. (Hollo fighter?) Hah. Also the Telegenesis. But what is interesting is that Super Shinobi and Golden Axe...we can assume..had not released prior to the printing of this Ad (November 89'?) I would imagine thats expected. Next I plan on looking at the January issue of EGM and making comparisons/contrasts. One last thing...Wheres Truxton, Zoom, and Mystic Defender? They are not mentioned at all! Back to research ;)

[FrankSerpico]

I'd be willing to bet by Basketball they mean the aforementioned Pat Riley title

[hasnopants]

Thats what I was thinking too. It seems pretty early to be talking about it but IIRC it was released shortly into 1990 in Japan...just took many months to get Pat Riley's likeness slapped on it and translated. I think it released in late 1990 in the U.S.? I also thought they might be talking about Lakers vs Celtics? Idk...

[FieryReign]

That list was from a mail order company similar to funcoland back in the day. They often listed games that weren't released yet(sometimes never released at all). So that would not be a good source for info you're looking for.

They also listed "Golf", which was most likely Arnold Palmer. I remember getting Alex Kidd in 89. It was one of the cheaper games retailing for $39.99, along with the soccer game. I picked up Revenge of Shinobi the day after Xmas 89, so it definitely dropped in 89. Anyone who says differently is full of garbage. Forgotten Worlds came out in January 90.

[WCP]

I remember getting Alex Kidd in 89. It was one of the cheaper games retailing for $39.99, along with the soccer game. I picked up Revenge of Shinobi the day after Xmas 89, so it definitely dropped in 89. Anyone who says differently is full of garbage. Forgotten Worlds came out in January 90.

No disrespect intended, but I'd personally take usenet posts from late 1989 and early 1990 over your memory. Alex Kidd was not available in 1989, if usenet posts are to be believed. The best data suggests that Alex Kidd was released around January 28th 1990. If you can find some actual proof of it coming out in 1989, I'd love to see it. Unfortunately, as much as we think we remember things perfectly, we don't. There are several different usenet posts from late January and early February 1990 that suggest that Kidd either arrived in very late January, or early February. I can't find anything that puts in anywhere near 1989.

As for you buying Revenge of Shinobi the day after Xmas, I'm not so sure about that. I can't say for certain that it didn't happen, but usenet posts suggest that Shinobi was an extremely early January game. People were calling Toys R Us and Kay bee Toys every single day, asking them , "Do you have Revenge of Shinobi? " . There is a usenet post from January 16th were a guy says that he "just got" the game, and there are other usenet posts from early January with people wondering when the game will finally come out. Now, I will still admit that there is slight chance the game still made it out in very late December, but you'd think there would have been usenet posts much earlier than January 16th with somebody claiming that they finally got it.




Also, in regards to the magazine advertisments with the companies that buy and sell used games, it's not really a good idea to read too much into any of that information. There is some stuff that you can gleam from it, if you look at like 6 or 7 months of the info in a row, and see how their lists have changed. You can get "somewhat" of an idea of what games were out at that time, and which ones weren't, but you can't take one month of their ad and read much of anything into it at all. They probably put used prices of games in the mags months before they even had them, because they were probably expecting to receive those games at any time, and with the lead time of magazines, they had to try to predict what they would offer for used copies of the latest games. They know that some kids will be buying games, playing the hell out of them for a week or so, and then never wanting to play them again, so they would premptively list a used price for a game, even though they've never even received the game new yet, because they are hoping that kid that finished the game in a week will mail it in to their store, and they want to have that used price in there, because of that lead time, and how long mags can sit on store shelves.

[FieryReign]

To hell with your usenet posts. I picked up Shinobi the day after xmas 89. Don't call me a liar, I have very vivid memory and remember that christmas very well. Where were you in 89? Still in your daddy's ballsack? You probably get your info from wikipedia.

[WCP]

To hell with your usenet posts. I picked up Shinobi the day after xmas 89. Don't call me a liar, I have very vivid memory and remember that christmas very well. Where were you in 89? Still in your daddy's ballsack? You probably get your info from wikipedia.


First, I didn't say it was totally impossible that it came out in 1989, I'm just saying it wasn't likely. I will admit this, if it did come out in 1989, then it might have actually arrived the day after Xmas, because looking at the 1989 December Calender, the day after Xmas fell on a Tuesday, so it's conceivable that stores actually got it in then. Still, with people on usenet looking for the game basically every single day, and then not finding it till almost January 16th, makes it seem like a January release was more likely. Unfortunately, we don't have any 100 percent complete, iron-solid information to go by in regards to this. Most of the information out there is purely conjecture, and based on peoples memories, and as good as we think our memory is, often times we are very much off the mark. For example, I thought for sure that I bought a Genesis in March of 1990, but later discovered that I didn't actually buy it till August of 1990. for about 20 years of my life, I would have sworn up and down that I "knew" that I bought my Genesis in March of 1990. Come to find out, that it was actually sometime during August. It's just another example of how we can think we are certain about something in our past, and then we look up more detailed information on it, and realize that our memory has failed us.

Again, I'm not saying I have 100 percent proof the game wasn't available in 1989. It's possible that it didn't reach certain parts of the country till January 16th, and where you lived, it arrived earlier.


Still, if your only proof is your memory, well, I know that you're absolutely certain of it, but time and time again, people have been certain of things, and then discovered that they were off the mark.


You probably get your info from wikipedia.

Actually, wikipeida is probably the WORST possible place to try to get accurate information from.

[segagamer]

Ok, I did a list up to Phantasy Star II. I gave up on exact dates (hah!). Here is what I have so far, in the order I believe is correct. I am unsure about the final few games for 89'. (which month they came out in) Please help if you can!

Sega Genesis 89' US Wave 1 Release List

Launch Games

Altered Beast ][ Launch Game
Last Battle ][ Launch Game
Space Harrier II ][ Launch Game
Super Thunder blade ][ Launch Game
Thunder Force II ][ Launch Game
Tommy Lasorda Baseball ][ Launch Game

Post-Launch 89' (August 15-Dec 31, 1989)

Ghouls'N Ghosts ][ August - September 1989
World Championship Soccer ][ September 1989
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf ][ September 1989
Super Hang-On ][ September 1989
Rambo III ][ 1989
Mystic Defender ][ 1989
Forgotten Worlds ][ 1989

Early 90'

Revenge of Shinobi, The ][ December - January 1990
Truxton ` ][ December - January 1990
Golden Axe ][ January 1990
Zoom ][ January - Febuary 1990
Alex Kidd ][ January - Febuary 1990
Zoom! ][ Febuary - March 1990
Phantasy Star II ][ March 1990


Actually, these 3 games were released on the same day in late 1989. I know because I bought all 3 on the day of release. IIRC, I think they were released in November 1989.

Mystic Defender
Revenge of Shinobi, The
Truxton

[WCP]

Actually, these 3 games were released on the same day in late 1989. I know because I bought all 3 on the day of release. IIRC, I think they were released in November 1989.

Mystic Defender
Revenge of Shinobi, The
Truxton

pics of the receipt, or it didn't happen :)


just kidding.