Sega Genesis 20th Anniversary: A Week Later

Remember The Bad Ole Days?

Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of the Sega Genesis console. The first console I helped by with my own money with the use of odd jobs and random tasks.

More gushings after the jumper...

I guess if we are speaking on terms of when the Genesis was released on American soil then January 2009 would be it's 20th birthday. Coming from an impoverished neighborhood my mom was more concerned with keeping food on the table as opposed to some expensive square box that would "rot my brain". Luckily I had a great gift for gab and super grades to go along with. The problem would be the money necessary to buy a machine that clearly did what my trusty old Nintendo didn't. Mowing lawns, bagging leaves, and the biggest money-getter; selling candy between classes. It took three years, but I raised enough money to buy the Genesis. My mom, seeing the tenacity, goes half with me...I'd still like to think she was a little impressed by how much of a young, entrepreneur her son was turning into.

Hmm...pretty sure this is a newer version of the Genesis Classic

I remember playing Sonic the Hedgehog a ridiculous amount of hours with my mom and eventually my little sister. There was time we would set aside out of our day, after she would get off of work and after my homework was finished; we'd play at least an hour. Something strange began to happen with the Sega Genesis, that my young and maturing brain did not notice with my then, dust collecting NES. The games I was playing were showing up in many more commercials and magazines than ever. I would watch Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon when I was working on my homework, then when mom came home, I'd play Sonic. If it were a weekend I would go the arcade and play some Altered Beast at the arcade with some friends. That same arcade was connected with a dollar movie theatre that [at the time] showed releases of popular movies of the past five or six months. A bit of a stretch from today's dollar matinees.

Imagine Streets Of Rage, But With More Suck...

Imagine seeing Batman Returns, going to an EB or K B Toys to then buy a 60 or 70 dollar game that didn't quite live up to what you saw in the movies. I would have been better off watching Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfieffer 40 more times...it would have been cheaper.

Having a friend or two with a Blockbuster membership also helps a lot too. By the time games like Predator 2, Toe Jam & Earl and Streets of Rage 2 hit on the Sega Genesis. Super Nintendo, or the more superior console, was making inroads with Super Mario World, Super Punch-Out and Virtua Racing.

I'm not sure if this is fan art or what was actually rendered by Sega...wow...just wow

 Sega may have been the inferior machine, but hell I didn't have enough money for both a Super Nintendo.  Sure I had friends that had both or just the SNES, but I would champion the Genesis.  It is unfortunate that I would later champion the Sega CD and subsequently the CDX...i know...sad. 

Revenge of Shinobi

Revenge of Shinobi and the Streets of Rage series, for me, one of many shining gems that utilized the awful sounds that the Genesis would normally produce, but these designers and technicians were able to see something special in the canned sound system that is the Sega Genesis.

One of the greatest shooters...ever

Biohazard Battle, a game which til this day, I am surprised there has not been another iteration or a revival in favor of. This game had a very simple concept: Kill Anything Moving. Very short game, but visually I had not seen any other shooter on the Genesis within earshot to this kind of gameplay.  Virtually impossible to beat by yourself [you'd have to memorize every turn and shot in order to survive a complete level].

It was SUPPOSED to combine all of the good things in SFII & Turbo...

Okay...there were some stinkers. Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition most notably was one of the saddest displays of, "Hey we know the SNES can do this, but can it suck!?" Truthfully, I loved SFII:SCE, but this was BEFORE I played SFII Turbo on the SNES.  When I did play the SNES version, tears welled up. Games like Ballz, Talespin, Shaq Fu all found their way into my collection and all of which managed to disappoint my mom. She was the one spending money on these eventual dust collectors. But to cap off this craptastic-fest of awful games that I've not only played, but still own...It would be a tie between Power Instinct and Primal Rage.  The reason these two games are special for me would be because they both prove that if it was a fighter or in an arcade...I'd buy it...I didn't think anything was awful, that is until me or my mom would shell out 60 dollars. I would act as if this was a show piece to my friends and I would be surprised as to how fast they would leave, post-berating me with insults.

Honorable Mentions: Ultimate MK3, Sonic Spinball, Cosmic Carnage [32X], Batman Returns, Bubsy [most annoying soundtrack ever!], WarpSpeed, Mighty Max, Captain America & The Avengers, World Heroes, Samurai Showdown, Spiderman, Buster Douglas: Knockout Boxing, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Rise Of The Robots

And The Winner Is...

Ranger-X won my heart.  It had a killer soundtrack, really loud explosions and really awesome level design. I loved how the levels introduced themselves with what would only be considered now a piss-poor attempt at immersing the player in a 3-dimensional environment.

Honerable Mentions: Ecco the Dolphin, Madden 95, NBA Jam: TE, The entire MK Series, Sonic 1-3 and Sonic & Knuckles, X-Men, Eternal Champions, Cool Spot, the Road Rash Series, Vectorman 2, Earthworm Jim, Rock & Roll Racing, Shinobi III, Sunset Riders, M.U.S.H.A., NHL '96, Mutant League Football, Aladdin, Contra: Hard Corp

Let Us Celebrate The Bitter & The Sweet