The Sega Genesis was Sega's offering into the revolutionary 16 bit world of video gaming. The Master System was becoming obsolete and Nintendo was outselling Sega with a wider variety of games. Sega decided to develop a new system that took advantage of larger games, more colors, advanced graphic effects, and high quality stereo sound. The unit was high priced at first but die hard gamers flocked to buy it to play arcade quality games like Altered Beast and Golden Axe. One of the great decisions Sega made was to sell an adapter that allowed Master System owners to still be able to play all their original Master System games. Sega succeeded in winning the attention of discerning gamers everywhere. In Japan and Europe, it was the Mega Drive. In America, it was called the Genesis. It was an appropriate title for a new system that beat all existing systems flat.

After the release of Nintendo's Super NES, however, Sega's Genesis started feeling the ravages of age and obsolescence. Still a great gaming system, Sega tried to extend its life with upgrades and cutting edge technology such as the Sega-CD, and the 32X addition. They failed, miserably. The CD-ROM unit was an excellent addition, however late. Only a few high quality games really took full advantage of the CD music and storage capabilities, and most consumers were left in the lurch with the announcement of the Sega Saturn. The 32X came altogether too late to save the Genesis, with only a very few games released for it. Sega hyped it up with id Software's DOOM and Virtua Racing, but consumers still felt burned about the whole SegaCD deal so it never got very far.

During its lifetime, the Sega Genesis was the platform for a multitude of games, many of them now classics that set the standard for modern 32 bit titles. Features like smooth sprite animation, multiple scrolling backgrounds, and excellent music brought home gaming closer than ever before to the arcade.

Sega's 16 bit titles are still popular, thanks to Sega releasing a handheld unit that plays original Genesis cartridges, dubbed 'Nomad'. Alas, Sega did not continue their tradition of backward compatibility, and did not produce an adapter for the Saturn that would allow Genesis cartridges and SegaCDs to be played on the new system.

Nowadays, Genesis units can be bought at new and used game stores nearly everywhere for a paltry $5-$25 depending on the New/Used status of the unit. The SegaCD and 32X units can be purchased for $20 each, and most games are anywhere from $1-$30 for newer titles.

Just recently, gaming enthusiast programmers have developed incredible software that allows the user to actually play original Genesis games on their PC, in all their original glory. Emulators, as they are known, translate the instructions in the original ROM data to PC-usable instructions so the game runs properly on the computer. Software that emulates the Sega Genesis is in a bit of a greyish area however, because Genesis games still retain copyrights and it is illegal to distribute the rom images (a data file copied from the cartridge). While I don't condone illegal activity like this, if you are determined enough, you can probably find them on the internet somewhere. ;)

Reviews - Click to go look at RETROARCADE.COM's review database for Sega Genesis games.