Games that did and did not launch with the Sega Genesis in September 1989

[parallaxscroll]

Years ago there was a thread asking what games launched with the Sega Genesis. Most of the true launch games were listed, a few were not, and some people insisted some games like Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Pat Riley Basketball, Herzog Zwei, Phantasy Star II, After Burner and Ghostbusters were at launch, when they were in fact not.

Genesis had two launches in the U.S. - A test market launch in New York City and L.A, on or around August 14th, 1989 and a nationwide launch in mid September 1989.

I can't really speak about what was out for the test launch since I didn't see it, I've only read about it online years after the fact.

I can tell you what games were out in September for the nationwide launch, going by memory of the actual roll out that I remember. I lived in the Chicago suburbs at the time. Toys R US and Babbage's in Niles, IL. is where I bought systems & games.

These are the Genesis titles that were available day one, at the places I bought games and for the most part, nationwide, on or around September 15th 1989:

actually out at launch

*Altered Beast (packed in with the Genesis for $189)
*Space Harrier II
*Super Thunder Blade
*Last Battle
*Tommy Lasorda Baseball
*Thunder Force II



within days or weeks of launch / upto a month after launch

*Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Oct 1989 ?)
*Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf (Oct 1989 ?)
*World Championship Soccer (Sept - Oct 1989)
*Super Hang-On (Oct 1989)


over 1 month after / several months after / well after launch

*Forgotten Worlds (Nov 1989)
*Rambo III (Nov-Dec 1989)
*Zoom! (late 1989 or very early 1990)
*Golden Axe (December 1989, ~3 months or so after nationwide Genesis launch. Golden Axe was most definitely NOT a launch game, nor was it out within a few weeks of launch, or even a month after. I pretty much do remember seeing it at TRU in December, before the new year. IIRC it was LATE in December. Golden Axe was the most significant Genesis game actually released in 1989, since after launch. If the english version of Phantasy Star II for Genesis had actually made it out in 1989 (it did not) then that would've been the most important game for Genesis of 1989, but Golden Axe took that position.
*Revenge of Shinobi (December 1989 ~ January 1990) I don't remember for sure the actual month it was released. I'm pretty sure it was Dec or Jan. I know wasn't a launch title though. It wasn't out in Oct. and probably not Nov. either. According to Gamefaqs the Japanese version, Super Shinobi, wasn't out until early Dec 1989 and it obviously came out at least shortly before the retitled Genesis version.

*Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (sometime in late '89 or early '90)
*Mystic Defender (late 1989 or early 1990)
*Truxton (late 1989 or early 1990)
*Phantasy Star II (March or April 1990, 6-7 months after launch)
The big one! Phantasy Star II was not out until sometime early 1990...Even though copyright 1989 is on the title screen, box and manual. The Japanese Mega Drive version of PSII came out about a year earlier, in March 1989, which was before Genesis launched here, and before most gamers including myself even knew the Genesis existed! I got my Genesis in April 1990. I bought PSII soon after that, also April 1990. My reciept for PSII says 4/17/90.
I know I did not see PSII in TRU or Babbages until after I got my Genesis. For me that puts it at mid April 1990. That's the best I can do. during those months I visited TRU and Babbages usually once a week, and not more than 2 weeks would go by at most between visits. It is possible PSII came out a little bit earlier than mid April 1990, but not by much. Maybe other parts of the country got it earlier, but that was still early 1990. Just for fun I did a narrowed-down usenet search on google groups. People were talking about PSII as if it had been released , and as if they had it, in March 1990, and not before that. Amazingly, Phantasy Star III came out in Japan in April 1990, about the same time that we got PSII !! (if only a month later) We would not get Phantasy Star III in the U.S. until about the middle of summer 1991.
*Herzog Zwei
(about the same time as Phantasy Star II, maybe shortly before. I first saw Herzog Zwei in April 1990)
*Air Diver (probably March-April 1990 but as early as Jan-Feb)
*Super Hydlide (about the same as Air Diver)
( I noticed Herzog Zwei, Air Diver, Super Hydlide on April 17 at TRU. IIRC, I had not been there for a few weeks. The TRU flaps/cards for the game boxes of these 3 were all lined up together. This was the same day I bought Phantasy Star II)
Pat Riley Basketball (early or mid 1990)
Ghostbusters (summer 1990)
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (August 1990)
After Burner II (August ~ September 1990, about a year after launch)
Super Monaco GP (around the same time as AfterBurner II)
Buster Douglas Knockout Boxing (late summer, early fall 1990. This was one of the first games used in Sega's "Genesis Does" campaign)
Sword of Vermilion (fall 1990)
Thunder Force III (fall 1990)
Strider (November 1990, more than a year after launch)

any corrections, additions are welcome.

[Dreamc@sting]

I'm almost 100% positive that Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was a launch title in August in '89 - August 14th to be exact

[parallaxscroll]

I'm almost 100% positive that Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was a launch title in August in '89 - August 14th to be exact

That sounds right. That's the test launch in a few cities.

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was one of the first 4 MegaDrive games released in Japan, so it makes sense that it would be a launch game for Genesis.

[RASTAN]

I could've swore the horrid LAST BATTLE (Hokuto No Ken 2) was available at the same time that Rambo III, Golden Axe and Revenge of Shinobi were in late 1989. It was about that time I would see that montage commerical for the Sega Genesis, where'd you'd see about 4 seconds of Revenge of Shinobi, and like 2 seconds of "Last Batte" [of Kenshiro doing a jump kick]. Other than that, I'd say this list is spot on. I remember I kept driving the people at the Lackland Air Force Base AAFES BX nuts with my weekly "do you have it yet?" requests for Golden Axe, Shinobi and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Only back then I didn't understand that bothering the stocking personnel wouldn't make games come out faster. , I was 11 back then so...

[Dreamc@sting]

I could've swore the horrid LAST BATTLE (Hokuto No Ken 2) was available at the same time that Rambo III, Golden Axe and Revenge of Shinobi were in late 1989. It was about that time I would see that montage commerical for the Sega Genesis, where'd you'd see about 4 seconds of Revenge of Shinobi, and like 2 seconds of "Last Batte" [of Kenshiro doing a jump kick]. Other than that, I'd say this list is spot on. I remember I kept driving the people at the Lackland Air Force Base AAFES BX nuts with my weekly "do you have it yet?" requests for Golden Axe, Shinobi and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Only back then I didn't understand that bothering the stocking personnel wouldn't make games come out faster. , I was 11 back then so...

Last Battle was definitely out at launch, and the only reason I remember this was because my cousin got a Genesis for Christmas in '89 and his dad went to the August launch to pick it up. He got it along with Thunder Force II, we played the hell out of both those games Christmas night

[parallaxscroll]

I could've swore the horrid LAST BATTLE (Hokuto No Ken 2) was available at the same time that Rambo III, Golden Axe and Revenge of Shinobi were in late 1989. It was about that time I would see that montage commerical for the Sega Genesis, where'd you'd see about 4 seconds of Revenge of Shinobi, and like 2 seconds of "Last Batte" [of Kenshiro doing a jump kick]. Other than that, I'd say this list is spot on. I remember I kept driving the people at the Lackland Air Force Base AAFES BX nuts with my weekly "do you have it yet?" requests for Golden Axe, Shinobi and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Only back then I didn't understand that bothering the stocking personnel wouldn't make games come out faster. , I was 11 back then so...

Thanks for your post man. I am very certain Last Battle was a launch game. Whereas Rambo III, Revenge of Shinobi and Golden Axe were not. Rambo III might have been out as early as October 1989 (if not Nov-Dec) but that's still after launch. Golden Axe I know was not until December. Revenge of Shinobi was not around any sooner than Nov 1989, maybe as late as Dec '89 or Jan 1990. I'm also certain that Michael Jackson's Moonwalker came out much later, not until well into 1990.

, I was 13 when Genesis launched in the U.S. and I was 14 when I got mine in spring 1990 (April). My memory is pretty good, though not perfect ^__^

What's really funny to me now is, at the time the MegaDrive launched in late 1988 in Japan (something I learned years later), I had no idea, at 12 years old, that Sega had another console.


Now for a trip down memory lane:

I had my Atari 7800 in 1988 and was trying to get a Sega Master System. I didn't get the SMS until my birthday, Feb 1989, and still I did not know of the existance of the MegaDrive/Genesis. I learned of it during early summer 1989. By that time I had SMS and was getting more & more games, and I would call 1-800-USA-SEGA every day or so. I found out about this new thing called "16-bit" and "Genesis" on one of the recorded messages left by one of the female staff at SoA for that hotline! I had no idea what Genesis or 16-bit meant. All I knew was that it was something new. I didn't even know it was a new system. It could've been that I had thought it was a new game, lol. I really didn't get it.

However all would become crystal clear soon after (with days or a few weeks) when I tagged along to do the grocery shopping with my mom one day that July at the Jewel-Osco supermarket. I checked the magazine isle as I always did (I had been getting a few issues of Video Games & Computer Entertainment so I knew about the PC-Engine with its games on cards and R-Type).. I saw this new magazine that day, Electronic Gaming Monthly. (This would be issue number 2)... It had previews for the new systems coming out including the Genesis, that *thing* I had just recently heard about from Sega's line, lol. So I learned Genesis was a totally new gaming system beyond my Master System! It looked so awesome as did the games.





I looked at the TurboGrafx-16 also, the other new system coming out, realized that it was actually the PCE I read about in VG&CE earlier. I had to have one of these new systems!

Within a few days or weeks of getting EGM and understanding that a new wave of systems was about to come out in a few months, and before school started (8th grade Junior High for me!) I struck a deal with my dad after showing him the Genesis & TurboGrafx -- He would buy me either one of my choice if I kept my grades at an average of a B+ with no single grade lower than a C+ (lol) for 2 quarters of the year. I often wonder what other parents & kids did as far as things like that, back then. I had not done so well in 7th grade, my first year of Junior High school. I now had a REASON to do better, heh! So over the next 5 months or so, I worked hard at doing well in school. I managed to achieve this goal in the first 2 quarters which ended in early 1990. Before I got my 2nd report card, I was not sure if I had done well, I was preparing to go "all out" in the 3rd quarter if I did not have that B+ average. However, my 2nd RC was GOOD, I had made it, YES! I was so excited that winter day (imagine running home from school through the snow as happy & excited as you have EVER been! ) I had the grades needed. It would still be awhile before my dad actually bought the Genesis, about 3 months, which explains why I didn't get Genesis until April 1990, lmao.

Oh gawd all of that sounds funny to me now, and I am sure it sounds silly to you guys. Heh I am almost embarrassed I wrote that. Anyway, that's how I found out about, and got, Sega Genesis.

[parallaxscroll]

BTW I realized after looking at that other/old thread that there are no good tricks AFAIK for telling apart Genesis launch titles from non-launch titles, or even 1989 releases from 1990 releases. It was mentioned that the 1989 games had "16-Bit Cartridge" on the box covers, and this was changed in 1990. While that's true, some of those games didn't actually come out until well into 1990 (i.e. Phantasy Star II).


Also, the earliest magazine print ad does not help either:



Soccer (World Championship Soccer) and Super Hang-On were not exactly launch games, although they were both near-launch. Rambo III certainly wasn't launch. most interestingly, "Hollo Fighter" (WTH? lol ) came out in March or April 1990, retitled Super Hydlide.


A better way of estimating the real release (though still not exact) is looking at what issue/month the games were reviewed in EGM.

i.e Truxton, Zoom, Revenge of Shinobi and Golden Axe are all reviewed in
EGM Number 8 (March 1990) which would've been in mail boxes that February, and actually written a month or two in advance (Dec-Jan).

Mystic Defender and Phantasy Star II were reviewed in EGM Number 9 (April 1990). That magazine would've been in mail boxes in March, and written in Jan-Feb. Looking at the PSII review at the top it says release: 3/31/90. so according to that end of March 1990. Now, PSII was actually an older game, completed development before most of the others since it had been released in Japan in Mega Drive all the way back in March 1989 according to everything I've read -- That is well before the U.S. Genesis launch.

Air Diver - Herzog Zwei - Super Hydlide
(3 games that I saw together when I went to buy PSII at TRU in mid April 1990. Those 3 I had not seen in stores before) were reviewed in EGM number 10 (May 1990). The magazine would've been in our hands probably that April, yet written in Feb-March.


The best way of knowing release is going by your memory or someone else's memory. modern websites like Wikipedia and Gamefaqs are often right but DO make mistakes all the time. So do fan sites. That's why someone's memory that's really really good & sharp, is best.

You can also pretty much figure out stuff by searching Dejanews
(i mean Google Groups) Usenet archive and using the Advanced Search . Then narrow down a timeframe (Return messages posted between) i.e. say the span of 1 or 2 months and put in the name of the game you want to see, if it was talked about by anyone in any discussions. Usually a game isn't mentioned much, if at all, if it had not been released yet during the timeframe you're searching. You can basicly see that Phantasy Star II isn't out in the U.S. in late 1989 at all. PSII is mentioned once in 1989 because someone knew PSII was coming and it was already out in Japan. Though it's not really talked about (much) in Jan or Feb 1990 (only mentioned 3 times) but by March-April 1990, people are talking about PSII a lot, asking questions, comments, etc because it's been released

Genesis Golden Axe is only mentioned once in all of 1989, it isn't even out at the time. Even when I know it was released, sometime in late December, it still isn't talked about. It's not until early 1990 that people have started talking about it, further proving it wasn't released at or near Genesis launch.

[Dreamc@sting]

Are you sure the Mega Drive came out in late '88 in japan? I can swear it was early '89, around january or february

[parallaxscroll]

Are you sure the Mega Drive came out in late '88 in japan? I can swear it was early '89, around january or february

Yes.

Although I was not there at the time, everything I've read says Mega Drive came out in late October (or early November) of 1988. Almost exactly 1 year after NEC released the PC-Engine in October 1987.

The Japanese Mega Drive launch games were Super Thunder Blade and
Space Harrier II. Followed shortly by Altered Beast a few days or weeks later in Nov 1988 and Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle in early 1989.

[heybtbm]

I was just about to reply how interesting this thread was until I came across an error. Forgotten Worlds was not a US launch game. It was released in late November/early December 1989 in the US. It's always possible that it was released at different times across the US. Who knows. I do know that after waiting a whole month after release, I finally purchased it on December 26th, 1989.

[Dreamc@sting]

You are correct, after doing some research, Forgotten Worlds was released November 17th 1989

[parallaxscroll]

I was just about to reply how interesting this thread was until I came across an error. Forgotten Worlds was not a US launch game. It was released in late November/early December 1989 in the US. It's always possible that it was released at different times across the US. Who knows. I do know that after waiting a whole month after release, I finally purchased it on December 26th, 1989.

Cool, I think you shook my memory a bit and I think you're right. Now that I think hard, I don't remember Forgotten Worlds being there at launch in September. I'll change my original post to reflect that.

Okay, EGM reviewed Forgotten Worlds and Rambo 3 in issue number 6 (January 1990). That issue would've probably been out in December, written in November. It makes sense. On Usenet archive, FW not mentioned as if it had been released at or near launch. It's only mentioned as a future game. people don't talk about it until January. That's not an accurate way to figure out the release date but it IS okay for helping to back up someone's memory of it not being out at launch and a Nov-Dec release. edit: Gamefaqs shows 11/17/89

I pretty much remember there being a total of 9 Genesis games out at launch (September nationwide, which includes me in the Chicago area) if you counted the free, packed-in Altered Beast. So if Forgotten Worlds is removed and Alex Kidd is in back, that's 9 games.

Thanks for the correction.

[Flashback2012]

You know, I could absolutely swear that both Herzog Zwei and Super Hydlide both came out before Phantasy Star II. I got my Genesis system almost at launch. I remember my dad taking me to Toys R Us to buy one and I paid with ALOT of rolled coins and I remember my dad didn't have to help me with very much of the cost (I think less than $20 to help cover tax).

Not but a week or so after that I remember being in Children's Palace and I picked up Revenge of Shinobi, Herzog Zwei, Phantasy Star 1 for SMS, and I think Last Battle as well (been so damn long, I remember the first three games clear as day but I could swear I bought 4 games that day). Herzog was definitely a game that sold me just on the cover artwork.

Anyway, in regards to Super Hydlide...I was an avid reader of EGM and I saw the pics for Phantasy Star II. My little brother and I were diehard fans of PS1 and right around the month it was supposed to come out we happened to be at the mall. I went into Electronics Boutique looking for it but the clerk said that it hadn't been released yet. Being a kid with money burning a hole in his pocket, I spied the box for Super Hydlide and purchased that to "tide" me over till PSII came out. I remember seeing both Super Hydlide and Air Diver on the wall and remarking how they didn't look uniform with the rest of the cases on the wall. I remember calling around constantly till PSII came out and got it from the same EB that I got Super Hydlide from.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Damaramu]

Sigh. This thread is making me feel mighty nostalgic. *fires up Genesis*

[parallaxscroll]

You know, I could absolutely swear that both Herzog Zwei and Super Hydlide both came out before Phantasy Star II. I got my Genesis system almost at launch. I remember my dad taking me to Toys R Us to buy one and I paid with ALOT of rolled coins and I remember my dad didn't have to help me with very much of the cost (I think less than $20 to help cover tax).

Not but a week or so after that I remember being in Children's Palace and I picked up Revenge of Shinobi, Herzog Zwei, Phantasy Star 1 for SMS, and I think Last Battle as well (been so damn long, I remember the first three games clear as day but I could swear I bought 4 games that day). Herzog was definitely a game that sold me just on the cover artwork.

Anyway, in regards to Super Hydlide...I was an avid reader of EGM and I saw the pics for Phantasy Star II. My little brother and I were diehard fans of PS1 and right around the month it was supposed to come out we happened to be at the mall. I went into Electronics Boutique looking for it but the clerk said that it hadn't been released yet. Being a kid with money burning a hole in his pocket, I spied the box for Super Hydlide and purchased that to "tide" me over till PSII came out. I remember seeing both Super Hydlide and Air Diver on the wall and remarking how they didn't look uniform with the rest of the cases on the wall. I remember calling around constantly till PSII came out and got it from the same EB that I got Super Hydlide from.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Most if not all of your story seems to make sense. That said, the games you mentioned, none of them came out at launch (September 15, 1989) or even within a month of launch, except for Last Battle which was a launch game.

Super Hydlide, Herzog Zwei and Air Diver could have all come out a few weeks or even a month or so before Phantasy Star II, as you said you remember. Not only did those 4 games miss launch, they also missed 1989 altogether in the U.S. (not talking about Japan). Those 4 games came out between Jan and April 1990 without a doubt. That's 4-7 months after launch, and 6-7 months after launch in the case of Phantasy Star II which released in late March or April 1990 for sure.

The 3 others (Super Hydlide, Herzog Zwei, Air Diver) came no sooner than Jan 1990 and as late as early April 1990. That still means Phantasy Star II could've been released weeks if not a month or so later. I recieved my Genesis in early April 1990, then I got my Phantasy Star II on April 17 which was within days or at most, a few weeks of its real in-store release date.

Now looking back on Usenet archives, because of the flare-up of discussion there about Phantasy Star II starting in March 1990, that makes me think it did come out in March. There was a few weeks during March and April 1990 that I did not visit either TRU or Babbage's. That leaves a bit of a "blind spot" for me with regard to knowing the precise actual dates that those 4 games reached store shelves. I am pretty sure Herzog Zwei, Air Diver and Super Hydlide did not even make it out by Jan or Feb. I am thinking early to mid March (if not early April) and for Phantasy Star II, mid to late March (if not early to mid April). but without a doubt not in 1989.

Revenge of Shinobi released no sooner than Dec 1989, even in Japan, so that's at least somewhat more than 2 months after launch. I'm pretty sure ROS came out Dec 1989 or Jan 1990, so that is between 2 and 4 months post-launch.

I think I've got things down fairly accurately, and much better than most of the stuff in that old thread I linked to. Some of the posts there were WAY off the mark, with people getting things wrong by roughly year.

[diskoboy]

I guess I'm the only one who was pissed that Sega canceled the Tele-Genesis.

Thats one of the main reasons I wanted the damn thing.

I got my Genny on November 12, 1989. It was my birthday present. I also got Ghouls N' Ghosts and Thunder Force II.

I was so cracked out on G&G, it was disgusting...

[Rob2600]

Years ago there was a thread asking what games launched with the Sega Genesis. Most of the true launch games were listed, a few were not, and some people insisted some games like Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Pat Riley Basketball, Herzog Zwei, Phantasy Star II, After Burner and Ghostbusters were at launch, when they were in fact not. ... any corrections, additions are welcome.

Why not just look up each game on Wikipedia.org or Mobygames.com? Mystery solved.

[boatofcar]

Why not just look up each game on Wikipedia.org or Mobygames.com? Mystery solved.

Because those two sites are never, ever wrong.

[parallaxscroll]

I guess I'm the only one who was pissed that Sega canceled the Tele-Genesis.

Thats one of the main reasons I wanted the damn thing.

I got my Genny on November 12, 1989. It was my birthday present. I also got Ghouls N' Ghosts and Thunder Force II.

I was so cracked out on G&G, it was disgusting...

I was disappointed about Tele-Genesis also. The Japanese version came out (Mega Modem) and Sega even had a primative network for it there. but it was pretty much useless and a total failure from what I've read.

Why not just look up each game on Wikipedia.org or Mobygames.com? Mystery solved.

Like I said, you CANNOT always rely on any website. The release dates listed on Wikipedia.org, Mobygames.com and even Gamefaqs.com are often WRONG.

[Steven]

Oh nevermind, Dynamite Duke came out in 1990. For some reason I thought it was an 89'er