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[Theslammer]

"Welcome to the Next Level."

Previous threads:

Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom (1985)
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (1989)
Super NES (1991)
Nintendo 64 (1996)
Sega Dreamcast (1999)
Sony Playstation 2 (2000)
Game Boy Advance (2001)
Microsoft Xbox (2001)
Nintendo DS (2004)
Playstation Portable (2005)
Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)
Sony Playstation 4 (2013)

A system that, in some ways, felt ahead of its time as it allowed you to upgrade your console as if it were a PC. It certainly seemed like something I wasn't supposed to have... so I didn't have it! Most of my Sega CD exposure was honestly from this:

I saw stuff like Sewer Shark with real people being used in videos, and my mouth dropped.

That said, being young, I never really knew when consoles were releasing, so I didn't know when Sega CD launched, just that it was available. And looking back, I don't think I missed out on tons, though it would have been neat to have played Sonic CD back in the day. It certainly looks better overall than the 32X, and it launched with Night Trap, which is one of the weirdest games to me because so many people think it's bad, but it was popular enough to resurrect this year as an anniversary edition.

I'm pretty sure I would have been terrible at the game had I played it when the system launched. I may very well be terrible if I play it now. =P

Black Hole Assault
Chuck Rock

Cobra Command
INXS: Make My Video
Marky Mark: Make My Video

Night Trap
Sega Classics 4-in-1
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
Sol-Feace

Sewer Shark

Japanese launch: December 12, 1991

Heavy Nova
Sol-Feace

European launch: April 19, 1993

After Burner III
Cobra Command
Road Avenger
Sega Classics Arcade Collection
Sol-Feace

 

[kitsuneyo]

I was super excited for Mega CD, I lied to myself about how amazing its graphics would be (despite seeing the crappy-looking FMV), I loved how it looked under the MD... but when it arrived, there was no way I was wasting a Christmas or birthday present on it.

 

[Team Andromeda]

After the Saturn, it's my fav system. Road Adv made my jaw drop when I 1st saw it, Lunar was (and still is) incredible. But my fav moment was getting the import copy of Batman Returns and seeing the scaling and rotation one would expect in a SEGA or TATIO coin up on a home system.

Love the Mega CD

 

[Exis]

I got one for Christmas that year, 300 bucks but came with three games and a CD+G disk. Discovered Information Society from that disk.

 

[120v]

as a kid it seemed like something everybody talked about but nobody had.

 

[Theslammer]

as a kid it seemed like something everybody talked about but nobody had.

That's how I remember it. xD~~

Maybe it was hard to convince the parents, or maybe we were satisfied with the Genesis. I don't remember.

 

[RIK]

this one totally compensated for the medicore launch titles.

 

[Waluigilicious]

Born in 89, a gamer since a very young age and I have no idea what this console really is.

 

[Theslammer]

Born in 89, a gamer since a very young age and I have no idea what this console really is.

I mean, did you at least know about it, or are you just confused as to whether it's own thing or an add-on or where it fits in the generations?

 

[Švejk]

Why not use a pic of the launch version, OP? Not sure which version launch worldwide, but in the US, it was the bottom loader.. Man, that thing was was smexy att.

 

[Pachinko]

I wanted one so bad to play sonic CD back in the day. It was absurdly expensive for what it was though , compared to the price of just getting a genesis or a Snes. Vast majority of playtime was trying out sewer shark at a blockbuster video in the early 90's.

 

[TheMan]

Wanted this so badly, but looking my back, I'm glad my parents didn't waste the money.

 

[120v]

That's how I remember it. xD~~

Maybe it was hard to convince the parents, or maybe we were satisfied with the Genesis. I don't remember.

i think it was one of those things, like, you *think* you want ("omg CD-ROM technology") but when it came down to brass tacks the software never really closed the deal

and of course there's the matter of parents not wanting to throw another couple hundred on the gamebox little johnny just got. but ultimately i think it was a little ahead of its time (in a not so good way)

 

[Ceallach]

I got a Sega CD way late when they were being sold at KB toys on clearance for $29.99. Unfortunately it was a Sega CD 2 on a Model 1 Genesis. Picked up a new one last year as well.

I like Sol Feace and Snatcher is one of my all time favorites. Some great rpgs as well
The Lunar duology, Dark Wizard, Shining Force CD, I had a goof time with Keio, Panic!, Popful Mail, Rise of the Dragon, I all had fun with.

That launch lineup is kinda garbage though

 

[ResidentDante]

this one totally compensated for the medicore launch titles.

I have very little experience with the Mega CD, but I just Youtube'ed this game. Man I would have loved that back in the day!

 

[Nauren]

I turned 14 the day this launched and it was one of my favorite systems ever.

 

[Theslammer]

Why not use a pic of the launch version, OP? Not sure which version launch worldwide, but in the US, it was the bottom loader.. Man, that thing was was smexy att.

I borrowed the one from Wikipedia. =P

But I'm not as familiar with this system, so I assumed that was it. I'll search for the launch version and put it into the post.

i think it was one of those things, like, you *think* you want ("omg CD-ROM technology") but when it came down to brass tacks the software never really closed the deal

and of course there's the matter of parents not wanting to throw on another couple hundred to the gamebox little johnny just got. but ultimately i think it was a little ahead of its time (in a not so good way)

Yeah, that's what I think the combo is. CDs really did seem like technology so advanced that I couldn't grasp it. =P

It wasn't like future CD-based systems like the PS1 which the software to support it.

 

[cireza]

Very impressive system. A lot of fantastic games on it. Not talking about the FMV ones obviously, even if there are a few that are pretty fun. Especially Road Avenger, love it, and Night Trap.

Otherwise, the Mega CD was sort of a "Dream 16 bits console" to me. It expended in everyway possible what the MegaDrive could do, while still being definitely stuck in its 16 bits roots. Which is perfectly fine by me. I love the look of those 16 bits games with the reduced color palette and pixel-art.

No more ROM size limitation, great quality music in Red Book.

The PC-Engine had the same kind of upgrade.

I wish that more games were actually available in English for both systems.

On Mega-CD, I have Lunar I & II, Shining Force, Snatcher, Final Fight, Road Avenger, Sonic CD, Dune, Popful Mail, Robo Aleste, Keio Flying Squadron to name a few...

 

[suddenlyissoon]

Sega CD will always be my favorite console ever. It was big, dumb and slow by my God did I ever love it. I remember one summer where I spent every waking moment for days trying to beat Tomcat Alley.

Plus, it gave me one final gift when I sold it last year and got nearly $250 out of it.

 

[Docpan]

I can remember seeing the Sega CD at my friend's place not long after launch. Sewer Shark literally blew my fucking mind, and that's no exaggeration. FMV on a game console was some serious next level shit, and it made the Genesis seem frankly 'cooler' than the SNES.

And then I played Sonic CD. Not sure how long that was after launch but it was a pivotal moment The intro. The bright graphics. The time travel and redbook audio. I was fucking sold and it was a sense of utmost urgency.

I remember physically attaching the unit to my model 2 Genesis for the first time and feeling like I was creating a weapon of mass destruction. The combination of the 16-bit Genesis and the 16-bit Sega CD meant, in my mind, that a true 32-bit powerhouse was being formed right in front of my eyes.

The fucking boot screen with that futuristic music. (I believe it was the bios 1.1 or 1.2 theme, the cooler one). Sonic Boom!


..... And then I beat Sonic CD.That was about all she wrote for the system. In my eyes.

The other two games I got on day 1 were Tomcat Alley and Midnight Raiders. Both FMV games, the novelty ended up wearing off pretty fast.


Tomcat Alley, a game about jetfighters, had a decent amount of interactive segments. I actually finished that one.

Midnight Raiders just fucking sucked. I think it was about a group of anti terrorists or something. At any rate, the concept was long stretches of poorly acted scenes followed by short difficult bursts of "on rails" shooting segments. If you fucked up that would be the end of it, meaning having to watch the fmv segments from the start. By the time I shelved this game, I was done with fmv games for good.

Other notable games I played during the Sega CD's short lifespan:

Wing Commander. This one was cool because it was an actual game, but incorporated voice acting and cutscenes in a smart way. I loved betraying my teammates mid-game and murdering them in cold blood in the far reaches of space. Slylu, I would then return to home base alone, watching my playable character give a souless farewell speech with a devilish grin on my face as their corpses would be shot out of the cargo bay in their space caskets. What can I say? I was a sick kid.

Earthworm Jim Special Edition. I liked gross out shit in those days. Fungus, ooze, and and boogers were all the rage in the 90's and Earthworm Jim fit right in. I had already beaten the SNES version but I wanted to double dip because in those days CDs were just way fucking cooler than carts.

That was sort of the story of the Sega CD's life as it floundered into obscurity. Nothing but 'definitive edition' versions of cart based games. This, however, lead to a personal issue for me and I'm sure for others as well: the cd format was still new and as a result any scratch of any kind would often render the game completely worthless. The cases were also conplete shit and the discs would come out of the spindle. After a game or 2 of scratched disappointment, the cart version became the ultimate preference and by that point the Sega CD was pretty much dead.

 

[Crankshaft]

I knew one kid in school that had one. He would try to boast, "I've got a Sega CD, it's so awesome". Other kids would say, "Shut up that thing sucks!"

Years later I walked into a Electronics Boutique (before they became EB Games - I guess Boutique was just too crazy of a word) they had the Sega CD on clearance for some crazy low price like 40 bucks or something. I try not to impulse buy too much but I nabbed it.

I quickly purchased both Lunar games, Vay, Eternal Champions, Final Fight and Shining Force CD. I'm definitely happy I picked one up.

 

[DryvBy]

My parents bought me one in 1994. Did anyone play that Sherlock Holmes FMV? I learned that people eat monkey brains from that game.

 

[Ceallach]

I borrowed the one from Wikipedia. =P

But I'm not as familiar with this system, so I assumed that was it. I'll search for the launch version and put it into the post.



Yeah, that's what I think the combo is. CDs really did seem like technology so advanced that I couldn't grasp it. =P

It wasn't like future CD-based systems like the PS1 which the software to support it.

Well, even the PC-Engine CD-ROM, which predated the Sega CD, had a much better library.

Ys series, a ton of Neo Geo ports, Street Fighter, Valis series, Wonder Boy, Sega ports, Cosmic Fantasy series, Emerald Dragon, ton of anime games, Might & Magic, R-Type, Darius, Exile 1 & 2, Lemmings, Gradius, Double Dragon, Bonk, Super Zonk, Rondo of Fucking Blood, MegaTen, Puyo Puyo, Chi Aniki, Princess Maker, etc etc

 

[Clockwork]

I didn't get a Genesis or Sega CD until right after the model 2's came out. It is still one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.

It's funny because I actually liked the Digital Pictures games (heck yeah, Ground Zero Texas!).

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

There was a music store at the outlet mall we used to go to when I was a kid. I remember they had a Sega CD for $35 and games were pretty cheap; $1 to $10 for most. This was a little after the Playstation came out. I remember because my mom told me my cousin got a Playstation and since we were poor I was able to convince her to get me the Sega CD. Only had three games, Sonic CD, Sewer Shark, and Compton's Encyclopedia. I kinda regret trading it in a few years later.

 

[KormaChameleon]

A Sega CD thread and no mention of Snatcher!? You guys disappoint me.

 

[Theslammer]

I can remember seeing the Sega CD at my friend's place not long after launch. Sewer Shark literally blew my fucking mind, and that's no exaggeration. FMV on a game console was some serious next level shit, and it made the Genesis seem frankly 'cooler' than the SNES.

And then I played Sonic CD. Not sure how long that was after launch but it was a pivotal moment The intro. The bright graphics. The time travel and redbook audio. I was fucking sold and it was a sense of utmost urgency.

I remember physically attaching the unit to my model 2 Genesis for the first time and feeling like I was creating a weapon of mass destruction. The combination of the 16-bit Genesis and the 16-bit Sega CD meant, in my mind, that a true 32-bit powerhouse was being formed right in front of my eyes.

The fucking boot screen with that futuristic music. (I believe it was the bios 1.1 or 1.2 theme, the cooler one). Sonic Boom!


..... And then I beat Sonic CD.That was about all she wrote for the system. In my eyes.

The other two games I got on day 1 were Tomcat Alley and Midnight Raiders. Both FMV games, the novelty ended up wearing off pretty fast.


Tomcat Alley, a game about jetfighters, had a decent amount of interactive segments. I actually finished that one.

Midnight Raiders just fucking sucked. I think it was about a group of anti terrorists or something. At any rate, the concept was long stretches of poorly acted scenes followed by short difficult bursts of "on rails" shooting segments. If you fucked up that would be the end of it, meaning having to watch the fmv segments from the start. By the time I shelved this game, I was done with fmv games for good.

Other notable games I played during the Sega CD's short lifespan:

Wing Commander. This one was cool because it was an actual game, but incorporated voice acting and cutscenes in a smart way. I loved betraying my teammates mid-game and murdering them in cold blood in the far reaches of space. Slylu, I would then return to home base alone, watching my playable character give a souless farewell speech with a devilish grin on my face as their corpses would be shot out of the cargo bay in their space caskets. What can I say? I was a sick kid.

Earthworm Jim Special Edition. I liked gross out shit in those days. Fungus, ooze, and and boogers were all the rage in the 90's and Earthworm Jim fit right in. I had already beaten the SNES version but I wanted to double dip because in those days CDs were just way fucking cooler than carts.

That was sort of the story of the Sega CD's life as it floundered into obscurity. Nothing but 'definitive edition' versions of cart based games. This, however, lead to a personal issue for me and I'm sure for others as well: the cd format was still new and as a result any scratch of any kind would often render the game completely worthless. The cases were also conplete shit and the discs would come out of the spindle. After a game or 2 of scratched disappointment, the cart version became the ultimate preference and by that point the Sega CD was pretty much dead.

Thanks for sharing this! I love when users give their history with these systems, when they first saw their games, all that jazz.

The "cool" factor I remember all too well.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

I liked Sewer Shark and I'm not afraid to admit.

 

[Laws00]

A system that had tremendous potential and showed what the future of CD based games could do.

Library of games ok at best to me at least. Yes I know about Lunar, Popful of mail, snatcher, sonic cd, etc.

Also here is a picture of my system with the 32X hooked up

 

[Mihos]

Shining Force CD, Dark Wizard, and 3rd world war could have been the only games that ever came out for it and I would have been happy.

I still love my Sega CD and still play it often.

 

[Waluigilicious]

I mean, did you at least know about it, or are you just confused as to whether it's own thing or an add-on or where it fits in the generations?

I know the name Sega CD and a game called Sonic CD exists but that's about it. I only know of this from internet forums at a much later date. At the time I had never even heard about it. I have no idea if it's an add on or it's own thing or anything like that.

 

[BTails]

I absolutely love my Sega CD. One of my dad's coworkers had one, which meant that Dad had to go out and buy one for us because I wanted it so bad. We ended up getting the Model 2, which came with Sewer Shark as a pack-in. Model 1 Genny + Model 2 Sega CD, the ultimate combo!

I still love my Sega CD, and play it quite often. Recently I ran through Snatcher for probably the 15th time, and have been playing The Terminator, which has such a kickass soundtrack.

 

[Ceallach]

A Sega CD thread and no mention of Snatcher!? You guys disappoint me.

I mentioned Snatcher.

However I forgot to mention Space Adventure Cobra, another of my favorite Sega CD titles.

 

[Docpan]

I absolutely love my Sega CD. One of my dad's coworkers had one, which meant that Dad had to go out and buy one for us because I wanted it so bad. We ended up getting the Model 2, which came with Sewer Shark as a pack-in. Model 1 Genny + Model 2 Sega CD, the ultimate combo!

I still love my Sega CD, and play it quite often. Recently I ran through Snatcher for probably the 15th time, and have been playing The Terminator, which has such a kickass soundtrack.

I mean, did you actually play Snatcher at time of release? I never saw it in stores and never knew anyone who ever played it. As far as I know, the vast majority of the internet just bootlegged it on emulators a decade after the fact.

The only reason I even knew it existed was because it got a lot of coverage in Gamepro magazine with a full walkthrough and glowing review. But I never saw it in stores even once

 

[BTails]

I mean, did you actually play Snatcher at time of release? I never saw it in stores and never knew anyone who ever played it. As far as I know, the vast majority of the internet just bootlegged it on emulators a decade after the fact.

The only reason I even knew it existed was because it got a lot of coverage in Gamepro magazine with a full walkthrough and glowing review. But I never saw it in stores even once

I didn't play it at time of release, no. Though I remember seeing it for rent in a local movie store, they had a bunch of Sega CD games, I was probably one of the few people that actually rented them.

I played it first probably around 15-16 years ago after becoming a huge MGS fan and searching out everything Kojima. I definitely played it on original hardware though.

Spoiler

Back then, it took FOREVER to download a Sega CD ISO... And they were quite hard to find, but there were groups and boards that traded...

 

[CannonFodder52]

However I forgot to mention Space Adventure Cobra, another of my favorite Sega CD titles.

Legendary game

 

[cireza]

A Sega CD thread and no mention of Snatcher!? You guys disappoint me.

I mentioned it...

 

[DrFunk]

Got a Sega CD2 with Sewer Shark - didn't have any idea what I was doing but enjoyed it nonetheless

Sonic CD is still bae

 

[dragonyeuw]

Man I was looking at Earthworm Jim SE and the Terminator last night on ebay, ironically, and holy fuck those are like $150 games now?! And I was bitching 5 years ago when they were a third of that price.

 

[sibarraz]

Is sad that western developers killed the perception of the fmv technology by releasing crappy videos instead of using it like it was intended with anime like cutscenes

 

[Team Andromeda]

A Sega CD thread and no mention of Snatcher!? You guys disappoint me.

Because for me they were many better games on the Mega CD. I liked Snatcher by liked Rise of the Dragon far more, never mind games like Dracula Unleashed, Wing Commander, Batman Returns, Battlecorps. XJ220, Lunar 1 and II, Popfulmail and also the best versions of Sensible Soccer and NHL 94.

Loved the Snowboard sections to Cliffhanger too. Fab system so overlooked

 

[jcjimher]

I had it but I only bought and played two games: Sonic CD and Final Fight. In retrospect, I think I should have bought a SNES instead, but at that time that felt like heresy!!! (I honestly didn't know anyone with both consoles as a kid).

Objectively speaking, it's a decent system with a passable amount of good games, much better than 32X for sure.

Despite that, I've thought for a long time that Sega made a mistake in how it approached the system. They added an extra CPU and dedicated hardware, and focused on exclusive content like it were a separate system.

Instead, I think they should've gone for a simple CD reader with lots of RAM, to ease the porting of cartridge games and leveraging the cost advantage of CDs in a moment when games were going to get really expensive because of cartridge costs.

Imagine enhanced ports of key releases like Streets of Rage II, Street Fighter or Shinobi, with slightly better rendition of the soundtrack (not an all-new OST) through CD audio, and some extra intros or cutscenes. For almost half the price of the regular release. Maybe compilations of older 4 or 8 meg cartridges for cheap. They could even have done the Sonic & Knuckles lock-on with no extra hardware (and get Michael Jackson music!).

That would have been a bigger success than what it was, and maybe a key advantage against SNES.

 

[theultimo]

I have a jvc xeye that I have had since launch.

playing fmv games and stuff like popful mail and sonic cd with cd audio and hardware rotation was mind blowing at the time. it really felt like the next level of gaming unlike a super fx title.


i still play Sega CD games to this day. working on best times for lords of thunder currently.

 

[NeoZeedeater]

Launch was disappointing, and the lack of colour made live action FMV super grainy (they improved it a bit later, though). And even the compilation of previous cartridge games wasn't as good of a deal as it should have been due to the awful new voices and load times added.

It did become a great system, and still remains underrated. Snatcher, Sonic CD, Lunar series, Batman series, AH-3 Thunderstrike, Time Gal, Road Avenger, Robo Aleste, Shining Force CD, Heart of the Alien, Mansion of Hidden Souls, Final Fight, Rise of the Dragon, etc.. all impressed me. If you missed out on it, you didn't properly experience the 16-bit era.

Since the 16-bit era, I also bought the Japanese system and enjoyed Night Striker and the Sega Games Can compilations.

 

[uncledonnie]

It feels weird to say but this is maybe the the most memorable console launch for me. Part of that is nostalgia to be sure -- my brothers and I received the Sega CD as a Christmas present and as a young kid that was a really huge deal. But also it represented such a sea change with regard to the type of software that was generally made for consoles, and I don't mean just the FMV games either. Sega gets a lot of credit for being ahead of the curve with regard to things like online play but I feel like the Sega CD is another great example of that. They pushed the envelope there far more than anything that was done with the PC Engine CD.

 

[Theslammer]

Legendary game

Is that a bad translation on the left or what the line was supposed to say?

 

[CannonFodder52]

Is that a bad translation on the left or what the line was supposed to say?

Yea, I think it was supposed to be legs. It's good though

 

[Ensoul]

My cousin bought this on December of 1992 and it looked interesting. Of course the $300 price tag was scaring me off. I ended up hitting a scratch ticket for $500 bucks a month or so later so I drove to Toys R us and picked the thing up.

There was some decent game for it notably, for me anyway, was:
Dragons lair
Lunar,
Willy beamish (an impossible game to finish)
Space ace
Rise of the dragon
Monkey island.
The Terminator

Overall though it was probably not worth the $300.00 I paid since it just didn't have a very long life cycle.

 

[Waylon Drums]

I still want one of these, all these years later. The little kid who was secretly so jealous of Genesis players is...still kinda jealous.

 

[Brandon F]

Was an early adopter and it was one of the first machines I bought with my own money.

Became a whore for the FMV and QTE games(Cobra Command, Road Avenger, Sewer Shark, Ground Zero Texas, Night Trap, etc...) but sadly never once had seen Snatcher in store to purchase. Wanted a copy so bad, but it just didn't seem to exist, or the stores near me never placed any orders(it did have a tiny print run).

-Lunar 1 released not long after my love affair with jRPG's began with FF4(2 US) and it was truly a highlight of the console.

-Jurassic Park gets special mention for having a crash bug that prevented progression at a certain point. The soundbyte loop that was coincided with the crashes became a longtime quote among my friends.

-LOVED Willy Beamish and other Dynamix adventures on the thing. They were HORRENDOUS ports with insane loading, constant crashes, save issues, terrible performance, downgraded visuals, and other nonsense. But those games were so good(eventually replayed them on PC).

-Batman Returns was impossibly difficult, but those CD exclusive car segments were incredible looking.

-Fuck Gamefan for hyping WonderDog. Looked incredible in their issue pictures(and their review scores were GotY worthy), but the game was total garbage.

I shifted back to the SNES during the Play It Loud! campaign as their lineup was pretty incredible, eventually selling my entire library of CD and Genesis games/hardware for the Saturn surprise launch. But 1992 and 1993 were dominated by Sega CD in my gametime.

My parents bought me one in 1994. Did anyone play that Sherlock Holmes FMV? I learned that people eat monkey brains from that game.

Pretty sure I recall Consulting Detective being a pack-in game at launch(Sol-Feace as well if I'm recalling right). I played it but didn't love it. (I did like the Dracula game that studio later released though). Also a demo disc came bundled with the system too, but I can't recall what was on it.