I got into the Genesis really early. Got it Christmas 89. Came with Altered Beast, and I chose Last Battle and Super Thunder Blade as my other games to get with the system. Yeah none of them are great games, but for the time they blew away anything my NES and C64 could do.
Oh, you don't know of the Sega Genesis? The first major 16 bit game console, which in general was a Commodore Amiga 500 computer sans keyboard, but with twice the on screen colors for normal gameplay, and a controller with start and 3 action buttons, later 6?
Oh go here and come back then you silly uneducated person you, this a fond memories thread dangit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_genesis
Once a shop rented Genesis games for a few months I got to play Golden Axe, Ghouls & Ghosts, and the holy Phantasy Star 2. (Remember video stores kids? Remember INDEPENDENT video stores? My favorite was Act 1 Video in Jewett City CT.)
I foolishly traded in a ton of NES games that year to help fund my birthday games purchases of Phantasy Star 2 and Super Hydlide. I actually completed both of them, though the latter needed a magazine hint guide. Pretty much my last 3 years of high school involved getting as many RPGs as possible so the few Genesis ones on top of the NES and C64 library. They might have been ehh games, but getting Secret of the Silver Blades, Sword of Vermillion, and Dragon Warrior 2 made for a long amount of RPG playing. Which was sort of why I didn't really have much of a Genesis player network. Everyone either had an NES, or one guy had a TG16. (Which in its Duo form kicks ass, but the original system with no CD paled in comparison to the Genny.) Later on a few people did get them, but when asked about games I would list off my Phantasy Stars and my Valis 3s, and Populous, and my Star Controls. Then a pause. "But what SPORTS games do you have?" Which was NONE, though later on I would grab Madden 92 used for like 10 bucks. I eventually got the CD V2 and the 32X (And even the Nomad eventually!) when in the Navy which allowed for a great for the time rendition of Virtua Racing & Virtua Fighter, and the CD had some fun titles like Silpheed, Dark Wizard, Lunar (where upon playing it the first time had my friends demand me turn that nancy shit off. THE FOOLS!), Jurassic Park, Terminator, and even Time Gal which is like the only FMV game I have ever actually enjoyed playing. Overall I never really fit into the Genesis gamer crowd both RL, and now the online group. I never liked Sonic or Snatcher. Never cared about sports games. Never played the cartoon show titles. It was mostly RPGs and arcade/computer ports. Since the Genesis pretty much was an Amiga 500 without a keyboard. I know, I know. I am a Genesis heretic even if my beloved system from 89 is still in perfect working order and sits with the CD and a handy Power Base Convertor (for Master System love) on top of the barely working 1987 19" cable ready but with VHF/UHF screws TV set downstairs. And now a pictorial comic of my Genesis collection. Because I love my Genesis. I loved Sega. We didn't love Sega quite enough though.
(Ooops, its the Power Base Converter, not Convertor. Oh well!)
Its hard to really put into words how much good fun I had with my Genesis. It was mostly solo play in a really bad time in my life, but it provided multiplayer fun in the Navy when things changed. Sure the graphics and sound (I always had a set of minispeakers plugged into mine. They aren't in the picture as I use them with my iPod Touch when I want to listen to podcasts before bed sometimes. ) were amazing and the THREE WHOLE ACTION BUTTONS (later 6) provided the best arcade type control you could get for quite some time, but it wasn't just that. The Genesis, especially the early years had this certain indie feel to it. Go back and play stuff like Mystic Defender or Phantasy Star 2. Heck, pretty much everything through 91. There is a certain "something" those games had Sega made or not, that even the later games didn't have even if they were still awesome titles. Just looking over it all makes me want to take a day out to just play Genesis games on an actual Genesis. No emulation or game collection on the PS2 or 360. Just a proper Genny, the slighty tinny stereo sound out of the mini speakers, and barely any light coming out of my bedroom window. Maybe a classic rock station on the radio, and I think we have a recipe for a good day of gaming.
I should look into an S Video cable for mine so I can play it on the 32" HDTV instead of the ancient 19" SDTV whose top lines are dying out.
Games I still want to get: Quackshot, Beggar Prince, Alisia Dragoon, Rise of the Dragon, Eye of the Beholder, D&D Warriors of the Eternal Sun, Ranger X, Gairaes, Target Earth, the Thunder Force series, Truxton, DJ Boy, Atomic Robo Kid, and Syd of Valis. (Plus games ported from the Amiga, which as I have mentioned, the Genesis might as well have been a cheap console version of. One with more control buttons.)
Sadly most of those aren't gonna be put on Wii Virtual Console or a retrogame collection so whenever I have some cash I need to visit Ebay.
So if you have the chance on an off day, give a Genesis or some of its game a whirl. There are PS2, PS3/XBox 360/PSP collections plus some of the titles if you like paying more for less on Wii Virtual Console.
Kind of wish I had some sick time available. I'd call out tomorrow and maybe see how far I can get on Landstalker. I will finish it eventually. Course it would be easier to just buy the Wii VC version (no save battery to worry about!) and play, but then that's hours of work missed and more money spent.
Was so much easier to game as a kid and teenager, wasn't it?
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