NeoGAF

My boss / friend co-owns this site - useful if you're looking to find out info about Japanese Megadrive stuff:

http://megadrive.me/

during my formative gaming years I had a genesis and my older brother had a SNES. I was lucky to experience both worlds.

Some of my favorites:

Phantasy Star 4 (my first jRPG)
Zero Tolerance (my first FPS)
Eternal Champions
Shining Force 1 + 2
Shining in the Darkness
Sword of Vermillion
B.O.B.
Earthworm Jim 1 + 2
Micro Machines

EDIT: criminally underrated... Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra Hard Corps

Megadrive is still my favourite system ever. Got it at UK launch and eventually exchanged it for a SFC because I was so desperate to play Super GnG, Mario etc so all my memories of great Megadrive games are from the early catalog, by the time Sonic 2 had come out I was in Nintendoland, but it's still the Megadrive I have the most fond memories of and did get one later so I could play some of the later games I missed.

Originally Posted by KDash31987

Yeah, that's why there's a "Shang can morph to" option in the game. Hah.

Or at least, I remember there being one. I haven't played it in a year or two, but I'm pretty sure there was one.

Edit: Just put the game on real quick, and yeah, I was right. There's three options: Anyone, Opponent, and No One.

Good looking out, I have to play this again.

The Megadrive is probably my favourite console ever. It had some awesome games such as:

- The shinobi games: specifically Revenge of Shinobi
- Sonic (my favourite was number 2, but all Megadrive incarnations were great)
- James Pond 2
- Desert Strike
- Streets of Rage 2
- Road Rash
- Aladdin
- Mickey Mouse World of Illusion

And more

I've always had a lot of respect for the Genesis. It had some of the better arcade-to-console ports of its time, and had quite a bit of quirky franchises (still have to get Ecco the Dolphin someday), along with a solid library.

that Shinobi 3 gif is so smooth...and damn, PS4 is a fine JRPG to start with!

Originally Posted by stewy

I feel like this is an appropriate place to post this.

i'm gonna spend several nights at work going through these, thanks man!

Originally Posted by antun

http://i.imgur.com/u4RmxUr.jpg?1

i said goddamn

Originally Posted by ezekielpacman

There is nothing rose tinted about that work of art!

you're right, i should sit down & play that one again sometime. no reason it shouldn't hold up!

Originally Posted by VirtuaMuser

Wow, I've never seen that tagline before. Odd.

Originally Posted by VirtuaMuser

.

"Don't make the sun laugh at you"

Ah yes the Japanese versions always had these very peculiar quotes on the packaging. Some of them were good, I like the one on Sonic CD.

UPDATE: Japanese boxart for Sonic CD, quote below the title.

Don't give up on the sun

Are we posting collections now? Here's mine. A bit out of date (This is from August of last year) but it's most of it. Also, that carpet is dirty! Glad I moved...

Genesis:


Sega 32x:


Sega CD:


Some stuff I forgot:

mine was finding the Christmas present that would change everything, opened the box and hooking it up and playing that altered beast (then carefully putting back), then later playing joe montana football over friends house and playing streets of rage 2/3 with wife (then girlfriend) best console ever for me :)

goddamn, so jelly of ya'lls collections...damn

Originally Posted by BosSin

"Don't make the sun laugh at you"

Originally Posted by DrFunk

Don't give up on the sun

it even says blue sky!♥

Model 1 Genesis + Model 1 SCD + Power Base Converter looks like some kinda war fortress or something

Man, I need to grab my Genesis CD 32X monstrosity from my parents house and start playing some stuff again. All I have is an RF adapter. Is composite the best I can do without modifying it?

Originally Posted by Quackula

Model 1 Genesis + Model 1 SCD + Power Base Converter looks like some kinda war fortress or something

exactly what i had! you gotta put a game genie in, plus sonic & knuckles, then another cart for the full effect. bonus points for spy vs spy in the card slot!

Originally Posted by ascii42

Man, I need to grab my Genesis CD 32X monstrosity from my parents house and start playing some stuff again. All I have is an RF adapter. Is composite the best I can do without modifying it?

You can do RGB, but you need to either have a TV with Scart inputs or some stuff to convert the signal to component to use it.

I just bought Sonic 3 & Knuckles on GMG/Steam yesterday (also the Sonic CD PC "remake"). Time to show some tribute to the mighty Megadrive !

Originally Posted by VirtuaMuser

Ah the MegaDrive/Genesis... wouldn't be where I am today, or be the person I am today, without that console. Life changing to say the least, this was where my love for gaming began.

For me, and a lot of people, it was very much Sonic the Hedgehog that changed my life, in particular Sonic & Knuckles, amazing cartridge that turned Sonic 3 into the most diverse and richest Sonic game ever, and added new life to Sonic 2 and the first one even. Earliest example of an expansion pack on consoles I think, and one that worked so beautifully.



For me the Genesis was largely about Sonic, I played all the 4 main Sonic games endlessly and still do. Also enjoyed Streets of Rage, Earthworm Jim, Dynamite Headdy, Shadow Dancer, Castlevania Bloodlines, Gunstar Heroes, Decap Attack and numerous others.

UPDATE:

I only got to play this for the first time last year, but Monster World IV is amazing and looks gorgeous even today. One of the most beautiful looking 16bit games ever produced, amazing use of colors and slick animation, the soundtrack was excellent too.

The Sonic & Knuckles headmorph logo is iconic to me.

Oh good, a Mega Drive love-in thread <3

I have really fond memories of getting mine - I was a C64/NES kid before the 16-bit generation came along and, as my dad was friends with a guy that ran a Sega-only (MD, MS, GG) rental shop, he ended up getting what I later found out was an Asian Mega Drive for me for Christmas of either 90 or 91, along with a Japanese Sonic 1 and Altered Beast. Having access to a region-free system really came in handy when getting the US versions of the likes of Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Ecco for future birthdays as well.

In terms of the playground, I was a complete Sonic and Sega fanboy, but I did get to appreciate the best of the SNES as most of my friends owned that instead. Still, swapping consoles for the weekend or during the summer was good, but could never wait to get my MD back :)

I'd try and list favourite games, but honestly there are too many. Standouts from off the top of my head would be playing Sonic for the first time (and seeing it in shop windows the Christmas Eve before I got it for myself), the hype leading up to Sonic 2, the hundreds and hundreds of hours my friends, brother and I put into FIFA 94, 95 and 96, the great licensed games, renting classics like Streets of Rage over and over again and so on.

So yeah, I'm a multi-platform guy these days, but Sega will always have a special place in my heart because of the Mega Drive. No regrets about being a Mega Drive kid over a SNES one :)

I recently got a Model 1 Genesis and some RGB stuff. It's nice! Pretty hilarious how much better it sounds than the clone systems out there.

Been using a Game Genie as my region lock workaround, seems to be the way to go.

Originally Posted by PepsimanVsJoe

Yeah, almost if not all of the games that are actually region-locked(such as Pulseman) simply require a Game Genie code to play. Game Genies tend to go for around a buck or two.

Yu Yu Hakusho is the big one that doesn't work that way. Sucks.

Originally Posted by PepsimanVsJoe

Yeah, almost if not all of the games that are actually region-locked(such as Pulseman) simply require a Game Genie code to play. Game Genies tend to go for around a buck or two.



Oh wow...that does suck.

Sadly I wasn't able to get my Phantasy Star 1 MD edition to work with the Game Genie. Not that I don't already have the game in every other single format you could think of, but still...

Man I love the Genesis. Up there with SNES and PS1 as one of my favorite systems ever. Mr IrishNinja you need to really play Landstalker, Warsong, and Crusader of Centy.

Been playing a bit of Star Odyssey, you know that game which was supposed to be released way back in the early 90's, whose translation languished without release for years until Super Fighter Team licensed it. It's pretty good if you like real early RPGs, it's very inspired by Phantasy Star 2 and has some cool monster design and (slightly) animated sideview battles.

Wasn't a bad console, I was disappointed by the lack of straight arcade ports but some of the original games like stuff by Technosoft were great. I thought the console went to shit around the time Sonic came out.

edit: 2x post, sorry

Shadowrun for the Genesis was is amazing. I still love playing it! So ahead of its time.

Speaking of "HIGH DEFINITION GRAPHICS", many people don't know (and I've seen it disputed) that Sega produced an S-video cable for the Genesis in the US. An official, 1st-party, Sega branded cable. I've seen it, brand new in a store, back in the early 2000's, and I've spoken with a few others who actually have one. I don't - I didn't buy it at the time, not knowing it was so rare.

I love me some Sega Genesis!!

Originally Posted by drugstore_cowboy

Wasn't a bad console, I was disappointed by the lack of straight arcade ports but some of the original games like stuff by Technosoft were great. I thought the console went to shit around the time Sonic came out.

Well jesus, I actually didn't think the system came into its prime UNTIL Sonic.

The early Genesis stuff really doesn't hold up nearly as well. So many games were attempts at porting arcade titles and the like which just didn't translate well.

Ah well, opinions and all that.

Originally Posted by Leondexter

Speaking of "HIGH DEFINITION GRAPHICS", many people don't know (and I've seen it disputed) that Sega produced an S-video cable for the Genesis in the US. An official, 1st-party, Sega branded cable. I've seen it, brand new in a store, back in the early 2000's, and I've spoken with a few others who actually have one. I don't - I didn't buy it at the time, not knowing it was so rare.

I could have sworn you had to modify the Genesis to get svideo out, though

Originally Posted by Tain

I could have sworn you had to modify the Genesis to get svideo out, though

Nah, I ran s-video on a stock US Model 2 system before I converted to the True Path of RGB.

great system heres my rat nest of a collection

Originally Posted by Genesis Knight

Nah, I ran s-video on a stock US Model 2 system before I converted to the True Path of RGB.

You know what, s-video is actually better than I think a lot of people seem to think.

I've been running RGB on my CRT for a while now, but I recently picked up an XRGB Mini. I tried s-video first while waiting for a proper adapter and, after comparing, I'm kind of stunned by how close they really are when pumped into a good video processor. RGB is definitely better but the difference is shockingly small.

Composite, however, is just awful and nearly unusable.

Sorry but that MK1 port was a steaming pile of rubbish. I had the SNES version because it looked better and my friend got the Genesis version because of the blood. I didn't care all that much for the Genesis fatalities because they looked kinda butchered and crappy, most notable is Sub Zeroes spine rip where the victims severed head didn't even face the screen. Sub Zeroes SNES fatality and Raidens fatality were a total upgrade in my book.

The worse offense in the Genesis version was not only the awful filter but the lack of sounds. Where was the announcer? and that music.....

Originally Posted by dark10x

You know what, s-video is actually better than I think a lot of people seem to think.

I've been running RGB on my CRT for a while now, but I recently picked up an XRGB Mini. I tried s-video first while waiting for a proper adapter and, after comparing, I'm kind of stunned by how close they really are when pumped into a good video processor. RGB is definitely better but the difference is shockingly small.

Composite, however, is just awful and nearly unusable.

Yeah, on a CRT s-video is a good choice. On a plasma, though, the difference between RGB and S-video is pretty huge.

Although it makes a bigger difference in different games. Joe did a cool comparison ages ago on Sega-16.

http://www.sega-16.com/2006/03/seein...o-connections/

Originally Posted by DouglasteR

R-Types

R-Type never made it to the Genesis, you're thinking of the PS1 version. Curious that it came out on pretty much every other format though.

Japanese Mega Drive games had some of the best cover-art.

Originally Posted by Argyle

Really? I'm with Tain on this one as there's no support for S-video on the pinout, are you guys sure?

Genesis (or any other retro console, really)->RGB SCART cable->RGB SCART/YUV Component transcoder->Component to HDMI->monitor

That chain is exactly what I use to great success on a Panasonic plasma tv. It's that SCART/YUV transcoder that's all over eBay.

And I might have had the s-video running from the 32x now that I think about it, but I definitely had s-video.

Super Mario All-Stars was one thing, but this was the real 16-bit cartridge compilation king as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by Rickenslacker

Super Mario All-Stars was one thing, but this was the real 16-bit cartridge compilation king as far as I'm concerned.

What's the max amount of data that a Genesis cartridge can hold?

Originally Posted by boutdown

What's the max amount of data that a Genesis cartridge can hold?

There's not really a limit, IIRC. Pier Solar had the largest cart at 64 MEGS. I think the largest normal Genesis game was Super Street Fighter II at 40 MEGS. Most were around 12 MEGS, with some RPGs and such clocking in at 24 - 32 MEGS.

MEGA POWER!

My two teenage brothers got one on christmas day. (i was only a wee nipper)

I distinctly remember a golden axe and altered beast marathon. I also remember much later on traipsing around all the rental shops with them trying to get hold of Mortal Kombat when it first came out.