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[MikeMyers]

Sega CD/Mega CD Appreciation Thread of Welcome to the Next Level

Released: Dec 12, 1992 (JP), Oct 15, 1992 (US), 1993 (EU)
Media: CD-ROM, CD+G
CPU: MC68000 @ 12.5 MHz
Sound: Ricoh RF5C164

Released in the early 90's, the Sega CD (also known as the Mega CD) was an add-on for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive to serve as an answer for the PC-Engine's CD add-on. The Sega CD has met with a mixed reception over the years. Some have argued the Sega CD was the beginning of the end for Sega as a hardware manufacturer, while others have argued it helped developers a head-start on how to develop for the CD format. Either way, the Sega CD has its gems and its place in gaming history.

Notable titles

No franchise defined Sega during the 16-bit era more than the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Sonic CD introduced a time-traveling element where Sonic could travel through time and save his friends from Mecha Sonic. The time-traveling element helped push level exploring, giving Sonic more of a platforming feel. However, the time traveling can be ignored in favor of just going really fast, one of the main appealing features of the Sonic franchise. The game also debuted Amy Rose, one of the most iconic Sonic characters.

Due to using CD as a format, the Sega CD could offer FMV's. Developers could create games that served as interactive movies, which was something not common prior to the Sega CD. A perfect example of a FMV-based game is Night Trap. The game gathered much controversy for its content, which revolved around a bunch of young girls being pursued by vampiric-type beings. The controversy of this game, alongside the Sega version of Mortal Kombat, have been cited as the reason the ratings system for video games even exists.

Originally developed for the MSX2 and PC-88 computer platforms in Japan, Snatcher was one of the earliest exports to the West of the Japanese Visual Novel genre. Originally directed by Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear fame, the adventure takes it's plot and visual cues from popular science fiction films of the 1980's, specifically Blade Runner and The Terminator, with just a dash of Cold War era paranoia thrown into the mix. The Sega CD version was based on the Japanese-exclusive PC Engine CD version of the game, which added a third act to the game that did not exist in previous versions. Despite positive reviews and gorgeous hand-drawn pixel artwork throughout, the game received dismal sales upon its release, leading to it's now cult-classic status and current high price on the video game after-market. It's hard boiled characters, cyberpunk retro futurism and deft English translation and voice acting make a strong case for video games as a interactive narrative medium, and is truly one of the standouts on the Sega CD system. A must-play.

One of the most notable supporters of the Sega CD was Working Designs. Working Designs brought Japanese-centric games to the US as niche release. Their works on the Sega CD would include Lunar: The Silver Star, Lunar: Eternal Blue, Popful Mail, and Vay. They would remain loyal Sega supporters until Bernie Stolar replaced Tom Kalinske as Sega of America's CEO, but that is a story best left told for another day.

When the Sega Genesis first debuted in the US, Sega of America boasted about the Genesis superior hardware with their Genesis does what Nintendont campaign. Nintendo would later release their own 16-bit console in the US, but thanks to the Sega CD, Sega could do what Nintendont again. Final Fight CD is a perfect example of this. When it first showed up on the SNES, the game had to remove a character and remove co-op due to hardware limitations. When the Sega CD version debuted, it was much more faithful to its arcade counterpart, thus demonstrating the Sega CD's powerful hardware at the time.

See Also:
Sega Master System appreciation thread of SegaScope 3D!
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Appreciation Thread of HIGH DEFINITION GRAPHICS
Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread
Sega Dreamcast - Appreciation and Emulation Thread

____

Thoughts?

 

[A Black Falcon]

I still think you should mention Silpheed, since it's one of the systems' most technically impressive games -- it has a FMV background during gameplay, with polygonal ships on top of that, some interactive elements in the "background", voice samples during play, etc.

Of course, for technical accomplishment the other thing to mention are the mostly Western games that make the best use of the system's scaling and rotation hardware. Core Designs' Battlecorps, AH-3 ThunderStrike, Jaguar XJ-220, and best of all SoulStar are great examples of this, along with Malibu/Clockwork Tortoises' work on Batman Returns (driving levels), Cliffhanger (snowboarding stage), and best of all The Adventures of Batman & Robin, along with a few more (Hook's added scaler stages...).

I'll include the tech, but not the sales part, since that seems to range depending on source. Opening image is great. Will add in.

The numbers in the Retro Sales Age thread (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=981407) are 2.24 million worldwide for the Sega CD, with a regional breakdown of 400k in Japan and 1.84 in the US + Europe. The last US/EU breakdown is early '94, when it was, if those numbers are accurate (you never know), 1 million in the US, 320k in Europe, and 380k in Japan. After that Japanese sales flatlined, but it sold another half a million in the West, surely mostly in the US.

Of course, that number doesn't include LaserActive, CDX, or Wondermega/X'Eye numbers, but those would be in the tens of thousands each at most, from everything I've heard.

I still think it's unnecessary, but perhaps mention Mega CD in the title (the name it was first released as, likely sold the most as, and was released in the majority of territories as).

Or you could name it for the system which a majority of systems sold use. You know, the Sega CD. (Just like how there are more Genesis systems sold than Megadrives.) Of course mentioning both names works too.

Edit: also, it's the console whose games have by far the worst disc rot of all. Only one I've seen disc rot on myself.

Yeah, I have definitely seen more "I can see light through the disc" issues with the SCD than any other system I have. I made a thread about this on Sega-16 fairly recently: http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showth...it-Rot-quot-Worse-than-other-CD-platforms-Why It's worth a read for the replies on the subject.

 

[MikeMyers]

I still think you should mention Snatcher, since it's one of the systems' most technically impressive games -- it has a FMV background during gameplay, with polygonal ships on top of that, some interactive elements in the "background", voice samples during play, etc.
.

It is on there.

I'll guess I'll add in sales. Funny how it has a 10% ratio to the Genesis. I never knew anyone with one, and pretty much all my friends had a Mega Drive.

 

[A Black Falcon]

It is on there.

Why did I say Snatcher? I was talking about Silpheed.... bah.

I'll guess I'll add in sales. Funny how it has a 10% ratio to the Genesis. I never knew anyone with one, and pretty much all my friends had a Mega Drive.

Under 10% in the US. It was close to 10% in the US in 1994, but surely dropped after that as the Genesis continued to sell but the Sega CD faded after mid '95. And in Europe, even in early '94 it was maybe a bit under 5%, like half the rate of the US -- 320k of 7.2 million (EU) vs. 1 million of 11.85 million (US), numbers as of early '94, Sega-produced hardware only. The Mega CD didn't do as well as the Sega CD did in the US. The European release was later than the US release, and didn't catch on to the same degree. Also of course the Genesis in the US had a lot more sales than the MD in Europe, but the SCD was certainly more popular here than in Europe. And even here, most Genesis owners didn't get one. Under 10% is not a huge attach rate, really... it's not awful for an addon, but the vast majority didn't get one.

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Still, its the only console add-on from that era that had any real success (and has a legacy to back that up)

 

[ResidentDante]

Thoughts?

Very good! Just one thought though, and it's not disregarding your great work in any way: But should we split the Mega Drive and Mega CD into separate threads? Is there really enough talk going to keep 'em both active? Maybe we should add your Mega CD info into the OP of this thread? Maybe change the thread title a little too. Just a thought!

This is without the top shell and shield. The grey block in the middle, with the two blue and red strokes, is the connector for the Megadrive. The chip right under it is the oh-so-difficult-to-remove BIOS ROM. Source.

Bahhh, I edited out my answer. Thanks for the info! I guess they ended up using a MD1 sized motherboard inside the MCD2 too. I presumed they used a MD2 sized one, and made it stacked under the laser, much like you mentioned, making it like a portable CD player size.

Considering this, I'm kind of impressed they shrunk them all into the Mega CDX portable device.

 

[Awakened]

Still, its the only console add-on from that era that had any real success (and has a legacy to back that up)

PC Engine CD did really well in Japan. Has lots of great shmups, Falcom games and one of the best Castlevanias.

 

[D.Lo]

Still, its the only console add-on from that era that had any real success (and has a legacy to back that up)

Um... Famicom Disk System and PC Engine CD both hard much higher sales. PCE CD (including combo systems) like had something over 50% attach rate, and Famicom Disk the same for the time it was supported.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Um... Famicom Disk System and PC Engine CD both hard much higher sales. PCE CD (including combo systems) like had something over 50% attach rate, and Famicom Disk the same for the time it was supported.

No, the Sega CD outsold the Turbo/PC Engine CD. It was somewhat close by the numbers we have, but the SCD clearly won. The FDS did sell better, though -- 4.44 million total, all in Japan of course. But the FDS isn't a 5th-gen platform, so it's not directly comparable, and the Satellaview didn't sell anywhere near SCD or TCD numbers, and nor did the 32X.

Still, its the only console add-on from that era that had any real success (and has a legacy to back that up)

That's absolutely true in the US and Europe, but in Japan the Turbo CD (PC Engine CD) sold well. Going by NEC's numbers about a quarter of PCE owners bought a CD addon drive (1.92 million PCECD sales, half Duo-line systems and half CD addon drives, and 3.92 million PC Engine-line HuCard systems). Of course in the US the Turbo CD sold horribly (maybe 20k CD addon drives and some number of tens of thousands of Duos is a fair guess, versus 700k or less TG16s), but it did do well in Japan.

Still though, the Sega CD is indeed the most successful addon of the generation. It outsold the Turbo CD worldwide by over 300 thousand systems, based on the numbers we have. The Turbo CD has more total game releases than the Sega CD, though, interestingly.

 

[MikeMyers]

Hmm, I''ll think about adding that in.

Hard to say if the Sega CD was a success or not. Sega of America from that time seemed to like it, not so much Sega of Europe.

 

[D.Lo]

Still though, the Sega CD is indeed the most successful addon of the generation. It outsold the Turbo CD worldwide by over 300 thousand systems, based on the numbers we have. The Turbo CD has more total game releases than the Sega CD, though, interestingly.

PCECD has a 50% attach rate in Japan, that's much more successful as an attachment as the Mega CD was anywhere. Even when you add in the pitiful international sales of the TG16, PCE CD has a much higher attach rate to the platform internationally.

FDS also had something like a 50% attach rate for the 3-4 years games were released for it, but it was dropped due to piracy and no longer being needed because cart of cheaper rom chips. And I think two years earlier than the release of the PCE CD (and Mega Drive - FDS and Mega Drive games, and even Mega CD games, were on the shelves together 1988-1990) counts as the same era, though it was obviously for a much more dominant platform.

Both were much more successful add-ons, relative to their platforms.

 

[ResidentDante]

Hmm, I''ll think about adding that in.

Hard to say if the Sega CD was a success or not. Sega of America from that time seemed to like it, not so much Sega of Europe.

Tom Kalinske seemed to be positive to the Mega CD. He said he didn't regret that in hindsight compared to the 32X and Saturn. He said it gave developers a great opportunity to learn the CD format, preparing for the next generation where it would be mandatory.

I really like that Sega gave you a built-in save flash for both the Mega CD and Saturn, in addition to letting you use a memory card. Can't think of more of a bummer as a kid receiving a system for Christmas with a game and not a memory card and not being able to save. Like "that other system" did.

Then again built in flash memory probably just added to production costs.

 

[D.Lo]

I really like that Sega gave you a built-in save flash for both the Mega CD and Saturn, in addition to letting you use a memory card. Can't think of more of a bummer as a kid receiving a system for Christmas with a game and not a memory card and not being able to save. Like "that other system" did.

It's battery isn't it, not flash?

But yes, the point stands.

 

[ResidentDante]

It's battery isn't it, not flash?

But yes, the point stands.

Yeah, my bad! Flash memory is memory not requiring power to keep data I guess.

 

[MikeMyers]

Tom Kalinske seemed to be positive to the Mega CD. He said he didn't regret that in hindsight compared to the 32X and Saturn. He said it gave developers a great opportunity to learn the CD format, preparing for the next generation where it would be mandatory.

I really like that Sega gave you a built-in save flash for both the Mega CD and Saturn, in addition to letting you use a memory card. Can't think of more of a bummer as a kid receiving a system for Christmas with a game and not a memory card and not being able to save. Like "that other system" did.

Then again built in flash memory probably just added to production costs.

Funny thing is, that other system would have been Sega's 32-bit console had Kalinske had his way.

Granted, Sega would have been more successful had they merged with SCE, but I doubt I'd enjoy it as much. No arcade-perfect Xmen vs SF.

 

[IrishNinja]

Tom Kalinske seemed to be positive to the Mega CD. He said he didn't regret that in hindsight compared to the 32X and Saturn. He said it gave developers a great opportunity to learn the CD format, preparing for the next generation where it would be mandatory.

i was a huge fan of Tom's even before Console Wars, now he's like a hero. granted, there's details that don't line up from old interviews, but man Yamauchi & co really made him look great in comparison.

I really like that Sega gave you a built-in save flash for both the Mega CD and Saturn, in addition to letting you use a memory card. Can't think of more of a bummer as a kid receiving a system for Christmas with a game and not a memory card and not being able to save. Like "that other system" did.

Then again built in flash memory probably just added to production costs.

haha, i was totally a victim of this! got a PSX, spent hours in Resident Evil 1 and took for granted that there'd be something on board to let me save, since Sega always did...was so pissed!

 

[Armoured Priest]

i was a huge fan of Tom's even before Console Wars, now he's like a hero. granted, there's details that don't line up from old interviews, but man Yamauchi & co really made him look great in comparison.



haha, i was totally a victim of this! got a PSX, spent hours in Resident Evil 1 and took for granted that there'd be something on board to let me save, since Sega always did...was so pissed!

Hell, even the TurboDuo had some on board memory for saves...though I seem to recall that the original CD attachment didn't, you had to buy another add on. I will freely admit I could be totally wrong on that one. I have a turboduo, so its a non-issue for me.

As I mentioned in another thread, those first few months of the PS1, memory cards were scarce. I knew going in I needed one, but when I bought my PS1 (in early 96), there weren't any memory cards to be had.

Sega was the only one consistent in Generation 5...even with the N64, some games required the memory card, and others had save on the cart.

 

[Khaz]

Sega was the only one consistent in Generation 5...even with the N64, some games required the memory card, and others had save on the cart.

There were memory cards for the N64? This is ridiculous for a cartridge console. Let's save 10c, yay!

 

[KC-Slater]

There were memory cards for the N64? This is ridiculous for a cartridge console. Let's save 10c, yay!

The margins were too thin on the carts for 3rd party developers, as it was. They probably thought, "screw it!"

 

[IrishNinja]

As I mentioned in another thread, those first few months of the PS1, memory cards were scarce. I knew going in I needed one, but when I bought my PS1 (in early 96), there weren't any memory cards to be had.

this! to follow up: i walked my ass (day after christmas i wanna say) to best buy, toys r us and a few spots, only found a mad catz (or the like) memory card...sure enough, i started over, played a while & went to save...and it didn't work.

only went with first party ones from then on, one mega memory card aside (which too failed). what a racket.

There were memory cards for the N64? This is ridiculous for a cartridge console. Let's save 10c, yay!

haha yup! i wanna say i used mine for Mario Kart, forget what else? they sold em as giving you the ability to take your game saves with you...but i thought that's what the cart was for!

 

[blast processed]

There were memory cards for the N64? This is ridiculous for a cartridge console. Let's save 10c, yay!

Yeah, I never understood this either & games that don't save to the cart or to the card used passwords or nothing at all.

Games that use passwords:

Army Men: Air Combat
Charlie Blast’s Territory
Doom 64
GEX: Enter The Gecko
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: The Adventures of Sub-Zero
Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X Traction
Quake
Quake II
Vigilante 8

Games that have no form of saving:

Batman: Return of the Joker
Clayfighter 63 1/3
Clayfighter: The Sculptor’s Cut
Dark Rift
Elmo’s Letter Adventure
Elmo’s Number Journey
Jeopardy!
Knife Edge: Nosegunner
Mace: The Dark Age
Magical Tetris Challenge
Monster Truck Madness
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt
South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack
Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals
War Gods
Wheel of Fortune

Full list created by this guy here

 

[Armoured Priest]

this! to follow up: i walked my ass (day after christmas i wanna say) to best buy, toys r us and a few spots, only found a mad catz (or the like) memory card...sure enough, i started over, played a while & went to save...and it didn't work.

only went with first party ones from then on, one mega memory card aside (which too failed). what a racket.



haha yup! i wanna say i used mine for Mario Kart, forget what else? they sold em as giving you the ability to take your game saves with you...but i thought that's what the cart was for!

I waited about two weeks for Software Ect to get a PS1 card one in (they were the first to get them in, I'd have bought the cards from whomever). Also, I though I got a bad card...turns out the first Kings Field game (yes, I know, its actually the second one, but it was the first one I the US) didn't have a 100% stable save coding...I lost a couple of saves. Same with the PS1 version of the 1st Discworld Game.




I did buy a Mad Catz N64 mem card, and that thing was flaky as hell. Even had problems with the official Nintendo ones. Only time Nintendo had finicky hardware, was kind of annoying at the time.

 

[IrishNinja]

ya'll need to get into this Streets of Rage cover thread

 

[MikeMyers]

You guys think Silpheed should be mentioned, since ABF suggested it?

If not the Mega CD thread will be posted tonight.

 

[IrishNinja]

Silpheed is a really amazing looking game for its time, and does some really cool stuff (think it's playing FMV as the background or something?), Gamefan sold me on it & i totally dug it for that in the day

but it's not a noteworthy title, really. we can pick it apart in another post to be honest. i think what you've got up are solid choices, though i personally would be tempted to at least reference the Night Trap controversy, for historical purposes. again though, it's a footnote so it's fine if you don't!

the good thing about OP's is you can always update em (thank fuck, as the 645-written Upscaler thread OP is a thousand times better) - later on, i think some mention of regions, cartridge RAM backup, etc might be worth adding but what you've got works as a starter, man.

 

[MikeMyers]

I thought about adding the NT controversy, but wasnt sure how to word it.

 

[cj_iwakura]

You guys think Silpheed should be mentioned, since ABF suggested it?

If not the Mega CD thread will be posted tonight.

I think so. It's a phenomenal game, especially for its time.

And regarding NT, I'd say in brief that it is pretty much the reason the ratings system exists, thanks in no small part to Nintendo making up false claims about its content(they said you are the bad guy, when in actuality you're STOPPING the Augers).

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/nighttrap/nighttrap.htm

There is a prevalent conspiracy theory that Nintendo purposefully started it all, motivated by a need to get back some of the market share they had lost to Sega. There's a lot of evidence to support this; Sega HAD taken a large market share from Nintendo and continued to enjoy runaway sales; Sega's version of Mortal Kombat WAS more popular because it has not been censored; Nintendo WOULD produce the highly edited videos of Night Trap used by Congress and videos comparing their version of Mortal Kombat to Sega's; Sega WAS outright attacked by Nintendo's Howard Lincoln and Liebermann during the hearings and Sega DID suffer the most, especially their Sega CD, in the months that followed. But there is no proof. Liebermann claims to have found out about Mortal Kombat from his Chief of Staff.

 

[MikeMyers]

I thought Mortal Kombat led to the ratings system?

 

[cj_iwakura]

I thought Mortal Kombat led to the ratings system?

It was both, see above. Heh, I remember watching the hearings unfold on TV. I was pissed.


I loved Night Trap even back then, and I knew how full of it those claims were. They never even let the creators speak.

 

[MikeMyers]

Ah. I see. Yeah I'll add that in.

Almost thought about adding MK CD, but I think Final Fight fits in better.

 

[blast processed]

I thought Mortal Kombat led to the ratings system?

It was the main reason for the hearings in December 93. Night Trap was brought up as another example.

 

[IrishNinja]

yeah, MK CD is fun for the add but i still think it's not a good game - same graphics, wrong music in some levels (i wanna say), shang tsung loading times etc

wish i still had the cardboard box for my copy of night trap...it's a piece of history! and damn, cj tore it up on that one.

 

[Version 3.0]

Yeah, I never understood this either & games that don't save to the cart or to the card used passwords or nothing at all.

Games that use passwords:

Doom 64

Doom 64 has passwords, but will also save to the memory pak if you have one.

 

[MikeMyers]

Updated NT.

Will post thread in about half hour in gaming section. Not at my laptop right now.

 

[MikeMyers]

thread made

 

[A Black Falcon]

Silpheed is a really amazing looking game for its time, and does some really cool stuff (think it's playing FMV as the background or something?), Gamefan sold me on it & i totally dug it for that in the day

but it's not a noteworthy title, really. we can pick it apart in another post to be honest. i think what you've got up are solid choices, though i personally would be tempted to at least reference the Night Trap controversy, for historical purposes. again though, it's a footnote so it's fine if you don't!

the good thing about OP's is you can always update em (thank fuck, as the 645-written Upscaler thread OP is a thousand times better) - later on, i think some mention of regions, cartridge RAM backup, etc might be worth adding but what you've got works as a starter, man.

No, I think the system's top technical accomplishments are noteworthy, and on the top of that list are Silpheed and SoulStar.

Mentioning regions is a good idea though, considering that playing legit import games on a Sega CD is difficult -- it requires a flash cart or very rare converter cartridge, or hard-mod. Or just burn a CDR copy of the game with the region code changed to your region.

Yeah, I never understood this either & games that don't save to the cart or to the card used passwords or nothing at all.

Games that use passwords:

Army Men: Air Combat
Charlie Blast’s Territory
Doom 64
GEX: Enter The Gecko
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: The Adventures of Sub-Zero
Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X Traction
Quake
Quake II
Vigilante 8

A lot more N64 games than this have optional passwords, actually -- lots of Midway have have that. And indeed, in all of the games you list here, and all of the others, the games also support memory cards for saving. The only N64 games I know of that save ONLY via passwords are Charlie Blast's Territory and Monster Truck Madness 64.

Games that have no form of saving:

Batman: Return of the Joker
Clayfighter 63 1/3
Clayfighter: The Sculptor’s Cut
Dark Rift
Elmo’s Letter Adventure
Elmo’s Number Journey
Jeopardy!
Knife Edge: Nosegunner
Mace: The Dark Age
Magical Tetris Challenge
Monster Truck Madness
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt
South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack
Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals
War Gods
Wheel of Fortune

Full list created by this guy here

Most of these are right as far as I know, but no, Monster Truck Madness 64 has password save, so that one shouldn't be on this list.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

The memory card situation on the N64 was absurd, but at least some developers utilized it well. Perfect Dark in particular allowed you to save anything to either the cartridge or the memory card, and thus also allowed you to copy saves between cartridges via the memory card. That's the kind of obvious-sounding shit that should be standard system-wide, but I can't remember any other game that actually did it.

 

[D.Lo]

We need a 'general retrogaming thread for people who have every console' for discussions like this.

 

[A Black Falcon]

The memory card situation on the N64 was absurd, but at least some developers utilized it well.

How is it absurd? It's far better to have most third party games require a memory card to save, as is the case on the N64, than to have them mostly use passwords and such as it is on the GBC and GBA! The N64 isn't the DS, all games were not going to have saving in them; things would have been more GBA than DS without memory cards, I'm sure. And that would be bad.

Perfect Dark in particular allowed you to save anything to either the cartridge or the memory card, and thus also allowed you to copy saves between cartridges via the memory card. That's the kind of obvious-sounding shit that should be standard system-wide, but I can't remember any other game that actually did it.

There are a few other games that do this, but not too many. One that I know does offhand is Ogre Battle 64. Hold down Start when you turn on the system to make the menu appear. (Holding Start on power on is of course how you get into each games' "delete a file on a controller pak" menu, if the game in the system has controller pak support of course. Whether this menu only lets you delete from card 1 or from all 4 depends on whether the game supported more than slot-1 cards or not. )

There is one big problem with memory cards on the N64, though, and that is that there is no built-in way to copy a file between cards. It really is a complete pain that Nintendo somehow didn't think of it, the PS1 and Saturn both have this functionality! You can get around this with a Gameshark, or some other backup devices, but come on, it should have been a default feature.

We need a 'general retrogaming thread for people who have every console' for discussions like this.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=555654 ?

 

[Teknoman]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=555654 ?

Dead on.

 

[Khaz]

I just remembered an old VHS that I got in a magazine, around the time the 32X went out. It's a demo of games on the Megadrive, the Mega CD, and the 32X. I remember watching this a lot when I was a child, especially since I didn't even had a Megadrive at the time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YdSyuHzn1w (not my video)

 

[womp]

I remember buying Snatcher new the day of release from Electronics Boutique back in the day, I recall them having TWO copies in stock. I also remember selling it along with Lunar 1 and 2 and Popful Mail on eBay back in 1999 or so. I think it sold for $65.

Trust me, seeing the prices for these games...The pain is there now. But at the time, I needed some new tires for my car.

That said, I still have my mint copy of Robo Aleste and my Road Avenger, Time Gal and a few other stragglers. Sold $19.99 MUSHA last year though for $220 which helped me purchase a new PC. When I was younger I always had and collected the odd ball games that none of my friends were interested in. They all had the NHL's, Sonics, Madden's and common games while I was sucked into buying up games like Phelios, El Viento, Fire Shark, Rolling Thunder 2, Dynamite Duke, Moonwalker, Mystic Defender etc.

Sadly many, including the boxed Sega CD model 1 I had gotten for Christmas of 92, are missing due the flood in my parents basement.

I may end up selling my collection at some point. So much of my Sega collection I had is already gone as it is that it depresses me.

 

[MikeMyers]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone here actually have a Segazord/Tower of Power?

 

[Teknoman]

Snagged Master of Monsters and Mercs at a Flea Market today. Had no idea Mercs is essentially "2 games in one" with the original mode (was only expecting it to be an arcade port or something). MoM on the other hand, it'll take some time. I like the idea behind it, and the ost is pretty cool (aside from having to essentially set up the idea soundtrack) but complete lack of story for a turn based strategy game is completely alien to me.

That and it didn't have the manual so I had to look up what everything did lol. Its got a help menu button, but I'm not sure how to use it. Its also strange that you can move your main leader character away from your castle base, and that you can just pick what stage you want to play on from the outside (its got two campaigns, both featuring different maps / difficulty).

 

[televator]

I found Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle in a local shop. I hope it's good!

Anybody have some impressions?

 

[Armoured Priest]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone here actually have a Segazord/Tower of Power?

I used to. My Model 1 Sega CD crapped out, though. I only have a couple of model 2s now. Still have the 32X and a model 1 Sega Genesis, though.

 

[thomasos]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone here actually have a Segazord/Tower of Power?

How are we defining that? If it's just a model 1 Genesis, a model 1 Sega Cd, and a 32X, then yes, I have one (all launch units, actually).

 

[stewy]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone here actually have a Segazord/Tower of Power?

I do. The drive is gone in my model 1 Sega CD and my model 1 Genesis has an issue with the left sound channel. I've got replacements coming for both. Should hopefully be here tomorrow.

 

[theSlacker]

I have the version of it without the cancerous mushroom shaped tumor on the top.

 

[Morfeo]

I think older Sega games don't fit the type of design that gets rewarded in 'greatest' lists though.

Sega's best games are mostly arcade fun - unambitious in the 'art' of gaming type ideas, but finely tuned instruments for entertainment (and in arcades themselves often technical achievements too).

I mean, SOR2 is great, best beat em up of the generation. But it's not 'brilliant genius' like say Link to the Past.

Not to say that type of stuff doesn't have high value either, it's just not the type of value that gets recognised when trying to think of 'true greats'.

Havent been keeping up with the thread for a few days, but just wanted to say that I really agree with this. Nintendo gets somewhat shafted for this these days too, since none of their games tell stories and create the kind of experiences as stuff like Journey, Walking Dead or Last of Us do. But Sega of course even more so, and thus never appears on best of lists unfortunately

IGN is doing a list like this these days, and I think the last one they made back in 2006 or 2007, had Sonic 1, Gunstar Heroes, Phantasy Star 4 and Shining Force 2 from the Mega Drive. Nothing from Master System/Game Gear, Nights and Panzer Dragoon Saga from Saturn, and Soul Calibur from Dreamcast. So pretty weak Sega-lineup there too, but at least better.