I know this is gonna be a big one. Mega Drive / Genesis was my favourite console growing up, and still is. Excited to watch, thanks Greg. 😄

After the hand me down Atari 2600 kicked the bucket, my parents bought me a Sega Genesis with the pack-in Sonic. I loved my Genesis, and thankfully had a friend with an SNES to try out those games too.

I'm a 99 Kid, but I didn't miss the 16-bit era. We had a SNES (or rather 3) because I have older siblings. Well, I think that's the reason. We also had a disc which contained a Mega Drive emulator. It had an MS DOS coloured Symbol. As well as, like all the games on it. You could copy it to the PC. Now, I know that's rather piracy. But look at me now. Being a big Sonic fan. Bought Sonic Mania on launch twice. I became a big SEGA fan and a customer to them because of that disc. Because I found Sonic so cool. That impacted my life so much. And I'm glad SEGA understands this. That's how they made Sonic Mania. My favourite game. Thanks for sharing your story. I always find it very interesting hearing different perspectives, especially since you were actually there and on the scene.

You got me, boss. I bought my Genesis as soon as I saw one in 1989 with Thunderforce 2. Just plugging in headphones and getting a taste of the stereo sound put it way above my Master System. I loved the controllers (3- button) and the red ABC lettering was on them and just how the D-pad had all 8 directions. And a 'Start' button. I think I got Ghouls and Ghosts a month later, Revenge of Shinobi around Christmas and mail ordered Phantasy Star 2 for early 1990. The cases for their games had real art (not weird pictures of simple explosions or mimicked graphics, like the Master System releases) and the black covers with the silver grid looked pretty striking. Sega had got me hooked on 16 bit and it was hard to go back to 8 bit. It was a great time for gaming.

Shining in the darkness is to this day one of my favourite games of all time. It cemented my love of RPG's. I can remember how hyped I was when EGM had a preview of Shining Force. Other fond memories are of my brother and his friend playing full best of 7 playoffs with 20 minute periods on NHLPA 93, NHL 94 and then full seasons on 95, with me sitting behind them watching and cheering.

I'm older than you, so the phasea you describe in your youth were for me transposed to Atari 2600, Atari 800, and Atari ST. I was living in Japan for part of that time, and had two friends with Famicoms, and it looked intriguing to me, but I never had one or a Super Famicom or a Master System or Genesis. A college roommate had a Genesis, so I saw a tiny bit of that, but I have pretty bad ADHD and was at the time abstaining from owning video games, trying to get through college and my first job after, both of which taking all the focus I could possibly muster. I didn't come back into gaming until the Dreamcast prices were slashed and I was lured back by foraging the bargain bins.

I had a Sega Master System as a Christmas present but I bought my Genesis with my paper route money.

Oh man this one hits in the feels. I had an "in" with a rental shop too (my dad owned it LOL) and have such great memories of picking up Streets of Rage with my buddy (whose parents ran a pizza place so free pizza too!) and beating 'em up all night long. What times.

As for memories, I grew up in a village with a rental shop that only rented out Nintendo based games, so Genesis and TG16 weren't especially present among my friend groups. Since you could only rent those games and being away from any major retail stores to buy games, most of us stuck to Nintendo. The owner of the shop was an avid gamer herself back then too, so what would usually happen was you had to wait for her to finish playing a new game before it would end up in the store. One of her sons was a good friend of mine in my class and many of us would be constantly asking him when his mom was finished with a new game so we could rent it. This was particularly true when she had Super Mario Bros. 3, everyone was clamoring to be the first to reserve it!

Thunder Force III, Castle of Illusion, Moonwalker, and Forgotten Worlds, Golden Axe, and Strider-what a time! Thanks for sharing these stories-really brings us back!

I initially had zero interest in the Genesis and was happy with my NES, until two things happened: 1) Strider was released in my local arcade and quickly became my favorite game (and I didn't like the radically different NES port), and 2) I picked up the July 1990 EGM in my local mall and saw under their International Outlook section that they were porting the arcade version of Strider to the Genesis. That cinched it; that fall, I rented a Genesis (as you did) with Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi and Moonwalker to test it out and was blown away by the games. I got my Genesis that Christmas, and the next day when the malls opened, I went out and bought Strider and played it to death. What a wild period of gaming to grow up in, when everything was a huge leap from the previous gen!

I first saw a Genesis at my local mall. Apparently Sega had been doing a mall tour and I just happen to be there, I had no idea what a Genesis was but fell in love playing the demo of Altered Beast. I don't remember when my parents bought me one, but it came with Altered Beast packed-in, so it was pretty early on.

I had a NES as a kid but wanted the Genesis as soon as it came out. It's what I asked for Xmas 3 years straight. The Sega CD added to the desire of getting one. Ended up get a SNES over the Genesis for Xmas of 1994. I got Final Fantasy 2 and Zelda from a friend which push me to get the SNES. Then in early 1996 I got a model 1 Genesis from my cousin who bought a PSX. Mostly used it for 32x and Sega CD games. Got a new CDX in later 1996 for $100 and sold the model 1 around the same time. Spent most of 1996-2000 buying 3DO, Jaguar, Sega CD and 32x games out of bargain bins.

Ahhh good times. :)

Great vid! Memories of renting the Genesis at this little video store on the Bedford highway, Bridgeview grocery I think? I was a Master System kid so I was able to convince my parents to buy the Gen due to the ms converter.

I was a huge Spider-Man kid so I got my Genesis around whenever that game came out. Summer 91, I think? Maybe 90? Man, that game was awesome. I also loved Sonic 1&2, Ghostbusters, and MK1.

I had both a TurboGrafx-16 and a Genesis. I enjoyed buying and playing games on both. I don't remember renting any games, so it was pretty much what I bought that I played. Even though the TG-16 wasn't as popular, I did know at least one other person with one. I loved R-Type (better than the SMS version I had also owned), Neutopia, Blazing Lazers, and more. Not so much the Keith Courage pack-in though. As for the Genesis, I had the original version with the Altered Beast pack-in. I loved that, Phantasy Star 2, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, but believe it or not while I didn't hate Sonic by any means, I never enjoyed it as much as other games and eventually traded it to someone else. I also loved Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the SMS, but not so much its Genesis sequel. There were other games too of course on both systems, but I think I'll leave it here.

For those that like to read: The Mega Drive, as it was called here, arrived in stores in the latter half of 1990 i believe. Most of the gaming kids i knew had an NES at the time and one had a Master System. The kid with a Master System, his dad owned a movie/game rental shop and asked him why they didn't offer any NES. He said they used to offer NES consoles (and games) for rent, but the consoles broke down to often and went completely with Sega. The TurboGrafx-16 was never released here. Neither was the Neo Geo AES, but could be imported at least through one store at the time. Anyways, the Mega Drive got released and was on display in a few stores. We were in early puberty, around 11 years old, so of course we'd walk to the inner city to see it in action with our own eyes. The games being shown off early on, i remember being Altered Beast, The Revenge of Shinobi and Moonwalker. Most of us thought the games looked pretty cool, especially Shinobi. One of us suddenly showed the hardcore Nintendo fan he was, crapping on the new console anytime he heard someone talk about it. The following year came Sonic The Hedgehog and Streets of Rage, the main two reasons i wanted to go with Sega after the NES. Sonic looked very wild and advanced, with all the curves and loopings throughout the stages. I got the console the next year with the Sonic pack-in, in 1992, after my school grades being considered good enough. Around that time the SNES got released as well. It didn't matter, Double Dragon II was my most played NES game and Streets of Rage was the perfect follow-up to that. Streets of Rage II even more. We didn't have loads of money, but i did get a few more games during the following years. Can't remember the exact order, but Castle of Illusion, Sonic 2, Ecco The Dolphin, Streets of Rage II and one that was a bit of a weird choice in hindsight, James Pond II: Codename Robocod. Some magazines were raving about that game, not realizing it was aimed at the youngest audience, i fell for the freedom the magazines told it had. It's not a bad game and Castle of Illusion is also considered a game for the younger audience. Still, they did that Disney vibe right. Most games i played were rentals, a great alternative my dad came up with, instead of buying new games all the time. My mom and dad divorced when i was about 2 years old and from a certain age on, i would stay at my dad's place during the weekends. It was my stepdad who got me into gaming however, with him introducing home computer systems to our home. It started with a ZX Spectrum, then an MSX2, and finally an Atari ST by the end of the 1980's. His own dad owned a Commodore 64 and an MSX2 later on i believe. I did get to play games on those home computer systems, greats like Knightmare, Metal Gear, Barbarian, International Karate Plus and Captain Blood for example, but it was time for my own gaming console at some point. Most of my friends already had an NES, and one a Master System lest not forget. So one random, regular day, my stepdad came walking into the house with an old second hand Atari 2600, wooden front panel and all. Plus some kind of action something cartridge, with multiple games on it. Me and my younger brother would play all those games as much as we could, showing we had a real interest. I brought it with me when i visited my dad. He really didn't understand it at first, looking while i was playing and asking what this crap is supposed to be. Until one day during the evening. My mother called while i was playing a game called Space Jockey and asked for me on the phone. I told my dad i was playing for the high score, a little lie, and he needed to continue for me. After i was done talking to my mother, he wouldn't hand me the joystick! It didn't take too long before the NES was brought in as well. It was the one with the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo cartridge pack-in. Luckily, i got a pretty sweet selection of games within about three years. Again, i can't remember the exact order, but both Double Dragon 1 & 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Wrath of the Black Manta and The Adventures of Bayou Billy are the games i clearly remember owning. Finishing Bayou Billy was hell, and Double Dragon II was not only my personal favorite on the system, it was my dad's favorite as well. Anyways, back to the Mega Drive. Me and my dad would rent games and movies every weekend. I got to play so many great games this way, like Dune: The Battle for Arrakis, Mutant League Football, Flashback, Road Rash II, Desert Strike, Zero Tolerance, Ghouls 'N Ghosts, Skitchin', Thunder Force IV, Toejam & Earl, Streets of Rage 3, Pit-Fighter, Cyborg Justice, The Revenge of Shinobi, Taz-Mania and more. I also got to borrow games sometimes, from friends, like the first Streets of Rage. This era showed my dad games were getting more advanced, fast. Some had a SNES, some had a Mega Drive, and a few had both, or even more. I knew one who even had the Sega-CD, next to owning a SNES. Have to admit, he was one of the first, of our group, that started delivering newspapers as a first-time job. At first i was not sure if i made the right choice by going with Sega, but as time went on, it became clear it was the right choice. I got to play great SNES games like Street Fighter II, Turtles In Time and Super Smash TV at friends, but was ultimately convinced it wasn't a "better" system. For me at least. In hindsight, my dad could have liked the SNES as well i think. I remember him renting Landstalker, for the Mega Drive, and he really got into that one, with me only taking controls when he faced difficult jumps. I wasn't much into RPG's/adventures at that time, with a few exceptions, and really only got into those on PC, starting with Baldur's Gate in early 1999. Then again, we both were big beat 'em up fans and nothing topped the Streets of Rage games, plus the Mega Drive introduced us to loads of other genres, like real-time strategy and first-person shooters. This went on till about early 1995 and was a great time! A lot of other great titles i didn't get to play until many years later, when i started collecting games again. Games like Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen, Contra: The Hard Corps, Castlevania, Atomic Runner Chelnov, Dragon's Fury, Beyond Oasis, Ranger-X, Musha and many more. I have stopped collecting old games and even sold a bunch, but i'm down with this home brew thing happening now and if the quality is there, it's the only physical games i buy these days. This was the story in short really, with still lot's of games not mentioned. Have to add that i do buy games digitally, only for PC.

My only experience was watching my cousins play Sonic (or Sonic 2) once or twice, and being told that I wasn't allowed to play, too. That was basically it until Sega went third-party and released compilations on hardware I owned. 😕 Yeah... Anyway! Good video.

Fantastic video man! These kinds of videos of people's memories of video games have to be my favorite.

As always, thank you for recording this history!

Great video. I followed a similar path in my gaming journey growing up, but once the SNES came out I played a lot more of it and missed out on a lot of the great later Genesis titles. I tried to wait for the Super Nintendo to come out but Sega hooked me after I played Phantasy Star II at a friend's house. I also bought mine when they had that offer with all the freebees, like I think I bought the Altered Beast bundle but mailed in the coupon and got some other extras. I thought it was like a game, controller, and the Power Base Converter, but I could be wrong. Batman was the 2nd game I ever imported for my American consoles (Super Mario 3 was the first). I saved up and bought a Super Nintendo at launch. I did kinda become a bit of a Nintendo fanboy at that point but I could still appreciate the difference in games as you pointed out and that Sega just did some things better like sports games.

I never bought a Genesis. Only Sega console I bought was the Dreamcast, traded that for a Cure concert ticket. I do remember my friend in elementary having one and thinking Altered Beast looked really cool. Almost bought one for Castlevania Bloodlines (after playing that game on the Castlevania collection I kind of wish I did). My fondest memory of the Genesis was Mortal Monday, when after high school my buddies and I went over to my friend’s house who had the Genesis. I brought over my SNES, and we had tournaments of MKII all night long. Epic.

Yes I love SEGA I'm a SEGA kid.

i knew about the NES, everyone did lol, that was my first system, and luckily my cousin had a Genesis, we freaking loved playing it when we went to his house.. and I had 1 friend that had a master system.. we didn't even know what it was at the time lol.. this was in Pennsylvania/NJ area.. where is Halifax? Virginia?

I remember really wanting a Genesis when it launched, between Sonic and Garfield; I was big into both but only ever partook of the Sonic cartoons at the time. We were a generation behind in the consoles, and were effectively Nintendo-first so I've never owned a Genesis, but I had a friend with one; somewhat the opposite of you. How could you not mention Garfield?! :P

Were you thinking of Dragonlance maybe?

Greg, you mentioned you read many of the young adult swords and sorcery novels. Did you ever read Piers Anthony stuff like Xanth or Incarnations of Immortality ?

Bro, please show footage of the games ya talk about. You want it you can get it. Just needs more eye crack😅

Always fascinating to hear others' stories of how people get started. Here in the UK the Mega Drive got a good headstart on the SNES and it made a huge difference. It was playing Streets of Rage on a friend's console that sold it to me and I begged for one for Christmas that year! You are spot on, Streets of Rage is objectively better than Final Fight.

The Genesis was better than PCs in 1990., fluid, great graphics and sound, monaco and others looks straight up like arcade games., till the Neo geo came up, the Genesis really looked like, arcade games at home and better than PC games for sure