The Sega Genesis was released on August 14, 1989 as the follow-up to the Sega Master System. While the Master System was unable to attain widespread popularity in North America due to the overwhelming dominance of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega was looking to fare better in the 16-bit generation. The Genesis was marketed to older gamers, promised near-perfect ports of Sega’s popular arcade titles, catered to sports fans, and was released a full 2 years before Nintendo’s 16-bit console. The Genesis dominated the early years of the 16-bit generation, but its market share was slowly eroded by the Super Nintendo in an epic console war that spilled out onto the schoolyards of America. The releases of the Sega CD and 32X were meant to enhance and extend the life span of the Genesis, but neither were the success that Sega had hoped for and both diluted the company’s focus on their core product. Sega all but dropped support for the Genesis when the Saturn was released in 1995, and this abandonment of their customer base is often cited as a reason for the subsequent lack of consumer confidence in Sega’s hardware. The Genesis had a 6 year active life span and sold over 30 million consoles worldwide.
Fans of Nintendo’s home consoles were treated to top-quality pack-in games during the 8- and 16-bit years. Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and Super Mario World are among the best games on their respective systems, and were included with the systems to add extra incentive to purchase the console. Even Sega’s own 8-bit home console came … Read more
Released in Japan as a licensed game based on “Fist of the North Star,” Last Battle is the weakest link in the Sega Genesis launch line-up. A side-scrolling punch-and-kick action game, it’s similarity and inferiority to Altered Beast leave it out in the cold. The game has some sort of plot, but the introductory text … Read more
As a launch title on the Sega Genesis, Tommy Lasorda Baseball has the distinction of being the first sports game on a system known for its sports games. It was also the first example of Sega paying big bucks for a celebrity endorsement, as they later did with Pat Riley Basketball, Joe Montana Football, and … Read more
Clearly the best game available on launch day for the Sega Genesis, Thunder Force II is a shooter that was ported over from the Japan-only Sharp X68000. While the original Thunder Force, which was only released in Japan on a variety of home computer platforms, was comprised solely of free-roaming levels, Thunder Force II oscillates … Read more
Another Sega Genesis launch title, Super Thunder Blade is a poorly-executed port of a decent arcade shooter. Combining both rail-style and vertically-scrolling levels, you pilot a helicopter while shooting at and avoiding fire from both air and ground-based enemies. While this may sound awesome in theory, the game loses it in the execution. The controls … Read more
Created by prolific Sega game designer Yu Suzuki, Space Harrier II was one of six Sega Genesis launch titles, and was a port of a popular arcade title of the day. The game is a rail shooter and feels like a combination of 3D Worldrunner (NES) and Panzer Dragoon (Sega Saturn). Your job is to … Read more
Although not a launch title, Pat Riley Basketball does hold the distinction of being the first hoops game on the Genesis. As was the case with other early Sega sports games, PRB has no license and used the notoriety of one name to help sell cartridges. The game features 2 modes, a single exhibition game … Read more
Although it had previously appeared on various home computer systems, the Genesis version of John Madden Football marked the first appearance of the franchise on a home console. While other football games like the Tecmo Bowl series and Joe Montana Football were taking the arcade-style approach with bigger plays and more scoring, the Madden series … Read more
While the original Streets of Rage was certainly an excellent game in it’s own right, this sequel was not only the pinnacle of the series, but one of the best games on the Sega Genesis. Streets of Rage 2 maintains the same basic feel as the original, but every aspect of the game has been … Read more
When I was a kid, the word on the playground was that while the Super Nintendo could display more colors, the Genesis had better sound. Few games demonstrate the console’s superiority in that category better than Streets of Rage. With a brilliant techno soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, also known for scoring ActRaiser, The Revenge of … Read more
When reviewing Mega Turrican, the obvious comparisons to be made are between this game and both the original Turrican and Contra: Hard Corps. Mega Turrican is what the first Turrican should have been. The game is actually the third in the series, as Turrican II was only released on select home computer systems. The game … Read more
Turrican is a run-and-gun shooter in the vein of Contra or Gunstar Heroes, that was ported over from the Commodore Amiga. The game has a plot, but (as is usually the case) it isn’t important. Your character is a bio-engineered life form that looks a lot more like an android, or at least like Robocop. … Read more
Caesars Palace is a casino/gambling game that features 8 games – scratchers (more on those later), slot machines, video poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, keno, and horse racing. The horse racing game immediately caught my eye because you don’t normally see that in a casino-based video game. You can look at the stats for each horse … Read more
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday is a science fiction-themed turn-based role-playing game developed by Strategic Simulations, a company known primarily for it’s “Gold Box” series of computer games based on the world of Dungeons & Dragons. You begin the game by creating a party of 6 characters, choosing their race and class and rolling their … Read more
Often times, ports of classic arcade titles either include nothing that updates the game or change the game so much that the fun of the original is lost. Ms. Pac-Man for the Genesis does an excellent job of recreating the arcade experience at home while adding several new options that make the game an upgrade … Read more
Joe Montana Football was intended to be the first football game available on the Genesis, but due to various development problems the game was released one month after John Madden Football. Developed by Electronic Arts, the game was not meant to be a direct competitor to their own Madden franchise. Rather, Joe Montana Football provides … Read more
Although Welltris was the official sequel to Tetris, Blockout seems like more of a logical extension of the classic puzzle game. Blockout features a top-down view of a 3D well. As with Tetris, Blockout pieces are made up of smaller cubes, and the object of the game is to clear completed levels made up of … Read more
When Sonic The Hedgehog was released in 1991, it almost immediately replaced Altered Beast as the pack-in game for the Genesis. The game was developed to take the Super Mario Bros. series head-on and shares a number of similarities with that franchise. Both are platform games that involve the player collecting items, receiving power-ups, and … Read more
Polygames and EA stepped it up even further for the next release of PGA Tour Golf on the Genesis. The graphics have been further refined, and the player animations are now digitized video of the players’ actual golf swings! This gives the game a new look that really sets it apart from the previous titles. … Read more
This game starts off well enough, by which I mean that it has a nice looking menu system, but once you get past that and into the game itself, PGA Tour 96 falls apart fast. The developer was obviously a bit overzealous in trying to push the PGA Tour series into the future. The environments … Read more