For those curious, the music at the opening title is from Midnight Resistance for the Genesis. It's called Kao Kao Kao. The music in the closing section is Theme of Simon from Castlevania Bloodlines. And I can't believe I need to write this, but this was a look at the final officially licensed games at retail. Of course it doesn't cover the indie and unlicensed releases since. I mean the entire setup and tone made that abundantly clear, but I'll say it again for those that are somehow still confused.
@FullyFocused 11In here, the official company for distributing Sega consoles since the 1980s continues to sell Genesis (here called Mega Drive) and Master System officially in stores, you can usually find a Genesis next to a PS4 and Xbox One on the shelf.
@@laylaw3447 Tec Toy re released the Mega Drive a few years ago, in the classic altered beast packaging of the very first model. The hardware is not the same as the original consoles because some components are not available anymore but for all intents and purposes it's a brand new Sega Mega Drive.
I really appreciate the hard working mother comment. My mother bought me a genesis, Sega CD, PS1, N64, and Dreamcast. Now that I’m a parent I understand fully how much she sacrificed to do all of that. She’s been gone over a year now and it’s the little things I think about and smile.
My mom drove to 6 different Wal-Mart's to find me an n64 it took the better part of 2 days and a lot of driving in rural areas but it was found and I got Mario 64 and it was the best Christmas I ever had. I still thank her for it to this day. I'm sorry your mom has passed that is so very sad to hear but she obviously loved and wanted you to be a happy kid so like good moms do they sacrificed for their kids.
@@99Vood99 It's not surprising cause Frogger was also recently released on PS1 at the same time, it's obvious they made the SNES and Genesis versions to promote the PS1 game (as all games share the same box art) since that one is different from the arcade as it was a 3D adventure rather than a one screen 2D overworld arcade game.
True arcade ports are still appreciated. In general the originals are often seen as the best. Take Pac Man for instance.. The original is a golden classic compared to the 3D ps1 game Pacman World.
Nice retrospective of the last days of the Genesis, while I still remain a Sega fan it’s more of what they used to be rather than what they’ve become because by then I had moved on from Sega and to the N64 having sold my PlayStation which I absolutely regretted.
My family got our Genesis around that same time but it was at a yard sale along with two NES and games for the systems. I was 4 years old at the time and that purchase was my introduction to gaming with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 still being my favorite video game of all time.
Already had the genesis, but this is right around when 32xs and model 2 Sega CDs were going on clearance, so yeah we got those then! Discovered VF2 online back in the early emulation days and was like, "they made one for Genesis?"
The final days are one of the best times to get a console. Tons of great games, games on discount, and some of the best games come out at the end, since developers have figured out the hardware really good, and since tons of people own the console towards the end, publishers know they can make some money with good sales. Of course, however, there is always shovelware towards the end.
The only console I know to be solid to the end was the neo geo pocket color. And man it was awesome yet sad at the same time. Also thats sonics first debut with Dimps software.
I recived my Xbox 360 for Christmas 2016 when I was 8, and I still play it to this day because the usedgames at game stop are like at 10€ each (I live in Italy)
Bought a new Saturn for $50 then bought Shining Force III, Panzer Dragoon Saga, MKR and Burning Rangers the day they dropped brand new $50 each. MKR felt like it came out so late even compared to those others. Filled it in with tons of great games like Guardian Heroes from rental shops at around $10 each. Got Street Fighter Collection and Puzzle Fighter for $10 each brand new at Sears. The only games I paid a lot for were those 3 late releases and some imports. Vast majority of US Saturn collection got for $5-10.
@@Sinistar1983 - The beginning WAS the end for NGPC in America...it was on store shelves for around a whole MONTH before being clearanced out where I grew up, and the only games that I ever saw being sold for it was a small handful of release titles.
Hi ! I'm born in 1985 and sega/nitendo was part of my childhood. Thanks for your works on the sega side ! It is very impressive how much deep you can dig in the subject to create video with quality and interesting content.
Nah, I got that one instead of the new Nintendo 64 one christmas, the loading is REALLY bad, like comparing MK trilogy on 64 to the loading Shang Tsung on Ps1....
@@chosento2988 Sorry about the fire. But you know....Katrina made me realize how ungrateful I was as a kid. We still complained of not having anything to play when we had the Genesis, PS1, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and the Ps2!!! It's true that sometimes you don't know what you've had until it's gone. Oh well. My family and I made it out alive and we are well now. Praise God.
I remember 1996 end of year holidays I made a new friend who also owned a Mega Drive and just got Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Together with 2 of my other friends we all sat and played it. I had played it before but my new friends passion for the game and determination to master it was infectious and suddenly we were all hooked. We arranged a sleep over at one of the other friends house which his parents allowed after I said we can camp out the back so we don't disturb their peace. I brought over my parents 8 man dome tent plus my Mega Drive, TV and also rented another copy of UMK3. With an esky, 2 cartons of coke the 4 of us sat up playing until the sun started to rise. After few hours sleep we all separated to go home in the morning for a proper meal, grab some extra snacks, then returned for round 2. The first night we played a lot of 2 on 2 and 8 player tournament mode. The 2nd night we focused on learning to master chain combos and special moves for 2 chosen characters. As a result for a brief moment of my life I was actually really good at Mortal Kombat. Easily crushing other casual players and MK fans. Only those 3 childhood friends who I shared that experience were a challenge. But those skills didn't transfer so well to the other consoles. The control pads weren't as good as Sega's 6 button controller, that was made for fighting games.
I deeply regret getting rid of my Genesis after getting a Saturn. In those days, I didn’t foresee myself getting a sense of nostalgia. In 1998, with the Saturn on its last legs, I felt the need to switch to PlayStation and give my Saturn away. It wouldn’t be until April 1999 when I threw a hissy fit over a PlayStation game I rented one weekend that I decided I wanted my Genesis back. I got it back, but by that point, the person I gave it to only had 2 games left: Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. I had to re-buy all my other games over many years!
@@frimm1750 When I got my Genesis back in 1999, the guy I originally gave it to only had Sonic 2 and 3 left, but I rebuilt my collection over the years since and got many more games as well! The only 2 games I had as a kid but still haven't re-added to my collection are Golden Axe 2 and Winter Challenge!
@@adultmoshifan87 good for you, man! glad to know. if i'm not mistaken, i got my first and last console (sega mega drive, obviously) in 1996. and i only have about a dozen games, more or less. they are: TMNT, Tiny Toon, Rambo 3, Column (my mom used to play it a lot), Super Volleyball, Flicky, Flinstone, Ariel Mermaid (my sister ask for it), Sonic The Hedgehog, The Adventure of Batman & Robin, Aladdin, Toy Story, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. i think that's it. and i got 2 left, i dunno where the rest of 'em, i don't remember. hahaha
Yeah, I regret getting rid of my NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Mega CD, Gameboy, N64, Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2 x2, X-Box, DS Lite and Wii. I had a PS3 that I wasn't fussed about. I wish I had appreciated them as much back then as I do now.
Not only is it wild to think these games came out the same year as Symphony of the Night and Final Fantasy VII, but also only one year before the Dreamcast's Japanese launch
Hell yes! The Lost World is awesome. Last Genesis game my dad and I ever got. I was always playing the Saturn version and he would always play this one. Never understood until I discovered those boss battle sequences. So much more fun than the 32 bit version.
@@eskanda3434 Haha... I guess it's all about what name you're used to. I grew up in Denmark, and there it was called Megadrive. (I didn't even know until 7-8 years ago it was called Genesis in North America.) It's also called Megadrive in Japan where it was first released.
final days of genesis selection in stores was the same as the turbografx 16 store selections at its peak in my town. i thought to myself, welcome to my world sega fans hahaha,
I remember a local music store that also sold computer games had a couple of Mega Drive (and even MegaCD 32x games) stashed in a corner for yearrrrrs after the platform had disappeared. There was another local shop that also had a bargain bin absolutely full of to the brim of copies of a Mega Drive game called Zoop! They just couldn't shift them.
@@demonsty Saturn was your spiritual successor for a TG16 fan. Great games nobody knew about, some of the best left in Japan, then the US releases become crazy expensive collector items fueled by the gamers who passed on it originally.
What made virtua fighter special was the fact that it was the first 3D fighting game ever made, and that is what made it unique (at the time). Releasing a 2D virtua fighter is totally pointless.
@@ArpeggioPegasus My point is just because it started off as a 3D fighting game doesn't mean that 2D Virtual Fighter is pointless. There is a point to it all. It's so that anyone who had a Genesis, but didn't feel like upgrading to the Saturn would get a chance to play VF2, & the Game Gear couldn't handle 3D, so they had to compromise.
Oddly I've literally only seen it once in the wild around my town in the last 20 years....and that was about 10 years ago. I saw a CIB copy when Genesis games were still really cheap, but it had some sun fading so I didn't pick it up. Literally never even seen a cart only copy ever since. Probably would have seen one at a comic con but just didn't bump into it.
@@TRJ2241987 Universal studios refer to the franchise as Jurassic World now. Jurassic Park is the legacy to the original doomed park in the current canon.
I still have my printed catalog of Genesis releases circa 1996/1997. Amazingly, Game Gear was still being supported as well. IMO both Genesis and SNES put up some really good competition in Xmas 1996 against their next gen competitors.
1996 was an amazing time in gaming. Not only were Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider monumental, but Sonic 3D Blast and Super Mario RPG definitely kept the old systems feeling fresh. I spent a lot of 1996 playing through Beyond Oasis and Earthbound. I got a Playstation in the Summer, and N64 for Christmas. Those were the days.
@@TRJ2241987 Agreed, I think 96-98 (with the peak at 98) were probably the best years in gaming history and haven't been topped since. Even the 3DO got Captain Quasar in 96. It was goodness all around :)
There was some kind of serenity during the 16 bit era, i mean... Devs were still dropping titles (some amazing) years after the "prime time" of those consoles and good homebrews still drop.... TODAY! Nowadays, it comes out, you consume, next year, next console, repeat!
The greatest memory I have of the final days of the genesis was, even though I had a PlayStation and an N64, I was still playing NHL 96, 97 and 98 on the genesis!
I got my Genesis when I was 11 in 1996 for Christmas the pack in title was Sonic spin ball, and the last game I got for my Genesis for Christmas in 97 I believe it was was NBA 98 because they come out a few months prior to the new actual year but I played so much of that game because I was a bulls fan and the Bulls were the team at the time, hundreds of hours I spent as a 12 year old playing that game
The 16 bit age and Arcades are the Golden Age of videogames. I am glad there are still new Genesis, SNES, Neo Geo, and Dreamcast games being made today.
Underrated Genesis games during the twilight years of the Sega Genesis. NBA Hangtime where the San Antonio Spurs took on the Sacramento Kings, with Sean Elliott and David Robinson vs. Tyus Edney and Brian Grant, Ultimate MK3 where Rain and Stryker fight in Scorpion’s Lair, New England’s Drew Bledsoe getting sacked by Green Bay’s Reggie White in NFL 98, Philadelphia’s John LeClair scoring two goals (one of which was assisted by Paul Coffey and Eric Desjardins) in NHL 98, etc.
Surprisingly they were re-releasing it multiple times on compilations, virtual console and Steam. Last baffles me the most. Why they did that instead of just releasing PC port again since it can be modded into running on modern hardware easily. Or porting VF5FS which is already a linux game (arcade version). Talk about it being a cash grab 13 years later.
@@wexenhex I think you have it exactly right. *If* you can accept it as a 2D game. The game is synonymous with 3D and the 2D version even though it might not have been what they were going for feels like a cash grab. I remember seeing it here and there and thinking what is this?! This isn't a virtual fighter game. how dare they.
The Lost World was clearly someones use of their single idea... Every stage is a different take on the same thing, which happens to be a sort of neat visual effect for the Genesis... Would had been neat for sure if more devs could have mastered things like this earlier on, mixing it naturally into games in far more cohesive ways.
I remember getting a Genesis in the fall of 1998, I was 5 years old. I had an asthma attack in October 1998 and they had a Nintendo 64 in the hospital room that I played Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 on all night before going home at 4:30 am. I begged my parents for a video game system and they got me the Genesis very soon after, had to be within a couple weeks, along with Eternal Champions, Justice League: Task Force and Williams' Arcade Classics. I was ungrateful for it. We lived in a single-wide trailer with a living room extension built on, the whole thing had to be 1,000 square feet, and we had a 1984 Lincoln Town Car and a 1977 International Scout for vehicles. My mom was a 28-year-old nurse working exhausting hours on the floor, she even had to work Christmas one year, and my dad was 30 and working at an office supply store. 24 years later, I feel bad for my reaction to the Genesis, they really were doing the best they could do. My mother and father have been nothing but blessings for my entire life, we're very close to this day. For Christmas 1998 (which was also my 6th birthday), I got a Nintendo 64, which was traded in about 5-6 months later for a PlayStation 1. I remember those days playing stuff like 1080 Snowboarding, Mario Kart 64, and later Crash Bandicoot 2, 3, Warped, and Bash, Bushido Blade, and Driver 1 and 2 with my mom (and sometimes my dad). I'll never forget those memories, that kept going over the years - we played Crash 4 together in 2020-2021! Also, the numerous classic video games I collected from age 13-19 - what other mother has bought their son a Casio Loopy? Unfortunately, adulthood came on me and the video game money got replaced by monthly payments on a 2008 Honda Accord sedan which saved my mom's life a year later. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for seatbelts and airbags. July 8, 2022 4:15 am
I bought a Sega Megadrive when it launched in Europe (September 1990), I remember going to the local toy shop with my father. There was a large CRT at the entrance of the shop, showing off Golden Axe and Altered Beast. I was blown away by such graphics and music, my father's Commodore 64 was all I had to play. Once returning home I plugged the Mega Drive, and I started playing. My eyes opened in amazement. I played on it for around 6 years, before jumping on the Playstation bandwagon and abandoning Sega. I still regret that choice, but at least I had a great childhood
Probably worth mentioning that Majesco rereleased a bunch of Sega Genesis games in 1998 including some other titles from Konami such as Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra Hard Corps.
@@Pyponesan Yep. Cartridges are distinct having lower quality labels and something on the back about them being made in Mexico if I remember correctly.
Ok thanks a lot! i had Always Wonder what's the difference between those two editions. There are no reference to 1998 on the box and at the begining of 2000 i was able to find sealed one it was weird for me, now i understand. ( Also the Book inside is black and white).
I was living in Colombia in 95-96. During those years, I couldn’t find any genesis consoles or games anywhere. No ads on TV or radio either. In my eyes, the genesis and Sega had just “disappeared” off the face of the earth...so I thought. I wasn’t aware that games were still coming out. I didn’t have a computer back then so I couldn’t search online to see what was happening within the Sega world. Computers were a luxury back then and not everyone owned one. I wish I had played all those late genesis releases that I missed such as vectorman, comix zone, Jurassic World, etc... I missed a lot due to my lack of knowledge at the time. I gave up on gaming at that point, but in 2010 I become interested in gaming again. I started buying old games, old consoles and everything I regretfully missed as a kid. Anyway, this has become my favorite channel. I’m impressed with all your work. This is the best channel for those who are passionate about Sega’s hardware and software. Keep up the great work👏🏻 Rant is over!
Those 2 new characters had the most complex design. The drunken kungfu master would have been hard to make fluid in 2D, along with Lion's praying mantis ways. So I guess it made sense to skip on them. The music and stage design is all very VF2 so remix never came to mind but you never know..
Your parting comment was exactly what happened to me. After such a lengthy delay between Sega consoles, I switched over to Sony. I have been with Sony since then.
Japan's MD market may have closed out earlier in '96 but it went out with what I'd argue is easily the systems best dungeon crawler, Madou Monogateri I (an excellent fan translation is available). Lord Monarch (from '95) is also beyond compare, it's practically perfect in every way IMO (the fan translation for this one is also incredible). Playing more new "AAA" games on Genesis / MD in 2021 than I ever did as a kid hammers home how alive this system is.
As a toddler we had NES and it was awesome then when SNES came out of course i wanted that because i was already a Mario and Zelda etc fan so when I got a Sega for Christmas a few years later i was bummed out and ungrateful about it but looking back it was technically the better console as growing up I'd appreciate sports games and the Sega owned that department. I'm still a Nintendo kid but I respect the Sega Genesis
To be hornest, once i saw those 32bit systems on the market in 1995, i knew that videogames would be never the same again, in fact my whole was starting to change in that year as well.
Being more of an SNES fan I really appreciate how great the old Genesis sports games really were. Both systems kind of limped along the final year. I remember Killer Instinct for the SNES was a shell of itself but not as bad as the 2D Virtual Fighter shown here. Still the Genesis had all kinds of unique awesome games.
It seemed like the SNES was the "woke" console at the time (of course that word had a different meaning 30 years ago, lol) but looking back at things like leaving the Blood out of Mortal Kombat or taking the prostitutes in the red dresses out of Sunset Riders because a parent might complain was weak. Sega didn't give a shit and gave us the arcade version offensive or not. As for sports games, I agree the Genesis had great sports titles that seemed to play more fluently than the SNES. Maybe that "blast processing" was real thing and not a sales gimmick, lol.
I feel like Genesis "Virtua Fighter 2" is criminally underrated. Today, people just look at it as a weird backward port of a graphically compelling title, but back in 1997, my "too broke for a Saturn" self was absolutely thrilled to finally get to play Virtua Fighter, even if it was on my Genesis. It is also one of the first brand-new games I remember saving up and buying with my own money from my first job. As a fighter, it's lightning-fast, controls well, is fairly balanced, and looks and sounds great for a 16-bit game. I would actually put it up there with the very best fighters on the console in the way it plays. Gamers today who are willing to appreciate Genesis VF2 for what it is rather than dismiss it for what it isn't will discover a game that's much better and richer than they probably think.
Holy CRAP, that Lost World game is the most incredible looking Mega Drive game I’ve ever seen, how the heck did they pull that off!? I’m stunned! And I’ve never heard of it before ever even though it’s so astronomically good looking!
I actually really like the genesis version of virtua fighter. The sound, while a bit rough, is pretty damn close to the saturn version. And you cant deny the graphics. The stages and backgrounds are all well done, and the scrolling in some of those stages is incredible. Those late sports titles have some amazing graphics too. Not a sports game person, unless its very arcade like, but i cant deny that.
I think the days of the final days of consoles are ending, as passionate programmers make new games for older consoles. I think we're gonna see the end of the generation mindset and think at the genesis, saturn etc. as just to different hardware that allows you to do different things.
This is one of your best videos in my opinion. I was a DIEHARD Sega fan, and I grew up with the Genesis, by the time the Genesis was finishing it's life, I was onto the 3DO and Playstation, and never even thought once bout how my favorite console as a kid spent it's final days. Would love to see you do a video like this for the Saturn, and Dreamcast as well. Keep up the awesome content man. You're the greatest.
Virtual Fighter 2 on the Genesis is excellent if you never played the original! My niece and nephew loved it. And played it more than Stret Fighter on the Megadrive mini
Joe Miller admitted that they had Virtua Fighter for the SVP, but the company didn't want to confuse it with the 32X and Saturn ports. If only SoA had been allowed to release the $49.99 SVP/SH-2 add on instead of the $160 32X, think of how gaming history could've turned out differently. What kept most people away from the 32X was its hefty price tag and short life expectancy. The SVP was already out in 1994 in Virtua Racer, and people were asking for it.
Ah so many memories! Being a mid ‘80s baby, I still remember my first interaction with the Sega Genesis. I was at my best friend’s house and back then you were usually either a Sega or a Nintendo household, but he was in the small elite that had both the Genesis and the Super Nintendo. I was drawn more to the grungy and very ‘90s “Welcome to the Next Level” ads that Sega pitched, so when my parents gave us the blessing to get a home system, my sisters and I opted for the Genesis. I think they were just tired of putting down that $100+ deposit to rent the system and a game from Blockbuster Video for the weekend. We got our Genesis at FEDCO when the Genesis 2 had just come out.
I remember being shocked finding out its production had ceased. I was still on Sega Channel and my neighbor had 32X, I thought Genesis was top of the line and in its prime. But when I got N64 I forgot all about 16 bit and ma canceled my Sega Channel subscription with my blessing. I skipped the 32 bit era completely, since Genesis kept me busy the whole time.
The Sega Genesis/Megadrive market lasting as long as it did is only marred by the Saturn market dying out so quickly. Here in the Netherlands I only knew one guy personally who had one. It wasn't until the Dreamcast launched that I realised the Saturn existed at all and I had missed a generation of Sega hardware and software. Thankfully I own the full lineup of Sega hardware now and thanks in no small part to this channel I have become a huge fan and still enjoy it frequently.
Not having more titles on the Dreamcast that weren't arcade games was my biggest fail for them. I absolutely love the Dreamcast and still play it to this day, but it needed more titles to sink real time in.
@@licentiousdreams I personally believe that keeping the Saturn alive longer, and giving the Dreamcast more time in development, likely would have helped your cause as well as mine.
@@HV0103 sonic 3D was epic “Throughout the first years of our lives we were forced not just to internalize a few aspects of capital, but to build up a structure of internalizations. As our capacity for coherent natural self-regulation was systematically broken down, a new system of self regulation took its place, a coherent system, incorporating all the aspects of self-repression. We participated in capital’s ongoing project of colonization by colonizing ourselves, by continually working at the construction of a unitary character-structure (character armor), a unitary defense against all drives, feelings, and desires which we learned were dangerous to express. In the place of our original transparent relations to our world, we created a structure of barriers to our selfexpression which hides us from ourselves and others.”Jay Amrod and Lev Chernyi, “Beyond Character and Morality: Towards Transparent Communications and Coherent Organization.” Howard J. Ehrlich ed. Reinventing Anarchy, Again (San Francisco, California: AK Press, 1996), 321 snapchat: omalone_1
Bittersweet "official" end to a such powerhouse of a console. That being said there is no denying the lasting legacy of the Genesis/Megadrive and that's something to celebrate for decades to come.
Sure someone has already said it but virtual fighter did get an svp chip game. It was supposed to be a part of the series with Daytona and another game I forget at the moment. I’m not actually sure how far in development it got but we saw the 32x version of virtual racing against the svp chip virtual racing so I wouldn’t have held my breath on how good it would have been!
I remained loyal I bought both saturn and dreamcast. Of course I ended up buy a Playstation when the price dropped. I was a big time gamer back then, now I am 45 and I just watch my boys 16, 9yrs old play. I rarely play nowadays.
The best thing about that port is the sound. Just don't use the noise channel of the SN76489, and leave the YM2612 totally disused, and you're left with 3-channel Frogger AY PSG :)
@@ExtremeWreck It doesn't, the Master System uses the SN76489 and versions of the ZX Spectrum uses an AY-3-8912. The Master System does use the same sound chip as the BBC Micro, though!
Sonic 3D Blast (or Sonic 3D Flickies' Island as it was called in my country) is unironically a great game. It really is. It's hard to get used to the controls, sure, but once you do, it becomes an amazing romp. All these really interesting looking levels, different level theme ideas that the other sonic games never used. Like it's not just the same old tropes. Well it has some, like an ice level. But then there's the level that combines clowns and factories, a clown factory. I love it Seriously once you're good with the controls it becomes really fun to _blast_ through it all in one day (pun intended). Just a really fun playthrough, once you know how to solve certain puzzles. To get all the chaos emeralds, some of the later ones are like going through a maze trying to find it. It's tricky but once you know the solution you can get it very quickly This game just gets too much hate. It was a big part of my childhood just like the 2D sonics were Oh and Sonic 3D Blast has literally the best sonic level music of any sonic game, on one of the levels. Rusty Ruins zone 1. Genuinely one of the best songs I've ever heard. One of the best songs ever written. I've been meaning to do a cover of it with real instruments and add lyrics to it, for years, I should get round to it. Here's a link to a youtube video of the rusty ruins song: th-cam.com/video/jtK0I5ZtKFw/w-d-xo.html
Also got a unofficial directors cut by one of the original developers on the game in 2017 which fixed some of the major issues of the game and added some new content like a once scrapped enemy and a time attack.
Great video .I think the megadrive and snes were the best systems we have had,well for me anyway. The hardware was pushed in so many ways from the early titles. Developers like travellers tales and many others found ways of pushing it do all the things originally not possible
It plays nice. Anyone who is good at the original 3D game will catch on fast. Has the same moves and pacing. I picked it up cheap and still get some fun out of it. Also just as challenging, and more complex than mortal kombat.
My favorite Sega platform was the Dreamcast because their fighting game library was untouchable. Genesis was my first system though (2600 and NES were dad's) and I remember it fondly (mostly because of Gunstar and SOR) while I have very few memories of my Saturn except that we sold it so I could get the Dreamcast....poor Saturn.
@TheGamingCasanova When taken as a whole, with imports especially, the Saturn has a rather impressive fighting library for sure, I was just too uninformed at the time to understand how Japanese games could play on a US Saturn. Which is a bummer since I lived in Japan at the time and recall being severely disappointed my newly purchased X-Men: COTA wouldn't work.
I found a bin full of Castlevania: Bloodlines and some bass fishing game for 90 cents at a toy store around this time. I picked up a Castlevania but man I'm kicking myself for not scooping up the whole bin of carts, lol.
I remember the following year, 1999. When stores like Blockbuster were having fire sales of their rental stock of the 16-bit games, and I ended up with a copy of Virtua Racing for....$20.00, prolly shoulda held onto that.
There was a brief period when Best Buy had a clearance barrel of sealed SNES and Genesis games for $6. Very quickly it degraded into a barrel half full of Zoop and Shaq Fu.
I had never played Jurassic Park on the Genesis/Megadrive and DAMN! Those visuals are fucking impressive! They would've blown me away if the younger me had played it back in the day.
I was born in 1990 and Sega Genesis was my first system I rented games for it and played it constantly loved the library it had my fondest memories of it are from its later years like: vector man 1 and 2, toy story, Jurassic Park rampage edition, Sonic 3 and knuckles, streets of rage 3 they really utilized that system well imagine if the Genesis launched with some of these games like that Jurassic Park game you showed people would have had totally different expectations from the system like thinking it was a 3D machine expecting something more akin to the Saturn from the Genesis lol late release games are interesting in that way in that it's like early next gen games a preview of what's to come
Pinocchio’s graphics absolutely blew me away as a child. I played that game and only that game for probably 6 months. Mannn, what a shot of nostalgia that was seeing it here. Thanks man, keep up the great work!
A bittersweet video indeed- I had fully made the jump to the Saturn by mid 1995, and only bought a single 16-bit title in that year (on December 8th- Phantasy Star IV). Although the Saturn would go on to become my favourite console of all time, there's no denying that the Genesis/Mega Drive reamins a truly iconic console.. and to see it fizzle at the end is a real shame. I do remember seeing most of the 1996/1997 titles for sale here, but sadly had no interest in buying them with my shiny new box under the TV. But goddam... Jurassic World looks incredible.
I’m only 23 years old but I grew up on the genesis/snes. I inherited my old mans model 1 genesis (my favorite console design of all time) and my older brother of 11 years snes when I was around the age of 6 or 7 in maybe like 2003. My brother had a GameCube and my cousins had a ps2. Both of which I was only able to play if I was the only one home (so pretty much never). But man I’d play road rash/sonic/mortal combat/more than not on the genesis and donkey Kong country 1&2/Mario kart/pitfall/power rangers on the snes. Great and simple times I miss so much that formed my taste for these older consoles/games. Over the years Ive tried to collect when I can! So far I have nearly every console from the nes up to ps4/Xbox one with a couple dozen game for each console and I love introducing my friends to games of the past!
Sega Genesis is the best video game ever by a mile! Its incredible game library will always have a special place in my heart... Fortunately, we still got releases from time to time.
My favorite gaming console ever. The Genesis was the first system that was actually mine and I got it on my 5th birthday in 1993. So many great games and so many memories.
In '95, I was completely focused on Sega CD and SNES. The Lunar games, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, and Chrono Trigger blew away the early PS1 RPGs. Plus instant classics like Gunstar Heroes, DKC, Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid and all the older games I'd missed like Shining Force II and Dragon's Fury.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 I was in totally different mind set back then. I didn't get the appeal of RPGs, only liked action RPGs. I would look at egm at the grocery store for latest news on PS and N64. The wonder of these new systems was all I could think about.
You know what’s crazy too I’ve remember genesis games being sold at toys R Us from the year 2000 and beyond. At the time I was like 10 and genesis games were still popular even while the Saturn was out. I’ve got a copy of Castlevania Bloodlines for less than $5 at that timeframe lol 😆
Same! I specifically got Castlevania Bloodlines for $7 and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PS1 around the same time for $20. Toys R Us used to have lots of cool stuff after the 16 bit era was over.
The Lost World will always have a special place in my heart as it was one of the last games i played on the genesis before getting my PS1. I know this is strictly sega but Mega Man X 1,2, and 3 also have a special place as well for being the final games i binged on my SNES before the PS1 as well.
The port of Virtua Fighter 2 was actually very good. If you were a player of VF2 and used to put quarters on the cabinet in the arcades then this 2D version carried the mechanics and timing of it over incredibly well. They 2D’d the game but it still was easy to pick right up for a VF2 vets.
The Sega Genesis/Megadrive was hands down my favourite console back in the day. Even today I prefer playing all of the retro classics rather than a PS5 or Xbox. Every game takes me back to my childhood and brings back some fond memories. Thank you so much @SegaLordX for giving me the encouragement to start my own channel and for bringing us this incredible content every week. You’re the best 👍🏻
For those curious, the music at the opening title is from Midnight Resistance for the Genesis. It's called Kao Kao Kao. The music in the closing section is Theme of Simon from Castlevania Bloodlines.
And I can't believe I need to write this, but this was a look at the final officially licensed games at retail. Of course it doesn't cover the indie and unlicensed releases since. I mean the entire setup and tone made that abundantly clear, but I'll say it again for those that are somehow still confused.
Paprium review when!
That opening song is awesome
Midnight resistence's soundtrack is really great!
I love all of your videos mate. Very nostalgic. Thanks :)
From the uk.
Best console ever hands down
The final days of Genesis here in Brazil have not yet arrived.
@FullyFocused 11In here, the official company for distributing Sega consoles since the 1980s continues to sell Genesis (here called Mega Drive) and Master System officially in stores, you can usually find a Genesis next to a PS4 and Xbox One on the shelf.
@@ointerpretegeek4865 are new games being made for it?
I thought only the master system was still sold
@@laylaw3447 Tec Toy re released the Mega Drive a few years ago, in the classic altered beast packaging of the very first model. The hardware is not the same as the original consoles because some components are not available anymore but for all intents and purposes it's a brand new Sega Mega Drive.
I don‘t know if that‘s because of some type of economic reasons, but either way that's actually pretty awesome.
I really appreciate the hard working mother comment. My mother bought me a genesis, Sega CD, PS1, N64, and Dreamcast. Now that I’m a parent I understand fully how much she sacrificed to do all of that. She’s been gone over a year now and it’s the little things I think about and smile.
Same here. I think back on how hard my mother worked to get me this stuff and it makes me miss her and wish I wasn’t so unappreciative at the time.
Same here
My mom drove to 6 different Wal-Mart's to find me an n64 it took the better part of 2 days and a lot of driving in rural areas but it was found and I got Mario 64 and it was the best Christmas I ever had. I still thank her for it to this day. I'm sorry your mom has passed that is so very sad to hear but she obviously loved and wanted you to be a happy kid so like good moms do they sacrificed for their kids.
My condolences
Yeah, i retread some of these games and consoles, help bring back memories that help me have more appreciation for everything she did for me.
SEGA and Nintendo: "Okay, boys, let's go out with a bang!"
Majesco: "Nah. Frogger."
Yeah, kinda sad to hear that Frogger was the last game released on both systems. :(
@@99Vood99 It's not surprising cause Frogger was also recently released on PS1 at the same time, it's obvious they made the SNES and Genesis versions to promote the PS1 game (as all games share the same box art) since that one is different from the arcade as it was a 3D adventure rather than a one screen 2D overworld arcade game.
True arcade ports are still appreciated. In general the originals are often seen as the best.
Take Pac Man for instance.. The original is a golden classic compared to the 3D ps1 game Pacman World.
@@Lightblue2222 Couldn't disagree more. Pac-Man World is an excellent game.
@@atrocity3010
Agreed. The second world game was definitely the best three is definitely where things fell off big time.
Nice retrospective of the last days of the Genesis, while I still remain a Sega fan it’s more of what they used to be rather than what they’ve become because by then I had moved on from Sega and to the N64 having sold my PlayStation which I absolutely regretted.
The final days is when I got the Genesis. Back then toy stores were trying to get rid of them, so we got a model 2 Genesis for $40.
My family got our Genesis around that same time but it was at a yard sale along with two NES and games for the systems. I was 4 years old at the time and that purchase was my introduction to gaming with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 still being my favorite video game of all time.
Already had the genesis, but this is right around when 32xs and model 2 Sega CDs were going on clearance, so yeah we got those then!
Discovered VF2 online back in the early emulation days and was like, "they made one for Genesis?"
Way cool! I got a Sega 3 from Toys-R-Us for around $25. :)
I started gaming on the Genesis in 1999/2000. Still in my top 3 consoles ever!!!
The final days are one of the best times to get a console. Tons of great games, games on discount, and some of the best games come out at the end, since developers have figured out the hardware really good, and since tons of people own the console towards the end, publishers know they can make some money with good sales. Of course, however, there is always shovelware towards the end.
The only console I know to be solid to the end was the neo geo pocket color. And man it was awesome yet sad at the same time. Also thats sonics first debut with Dimps software.
I recived my Xbox 360 for Christmas 2016 when I was 8, and I still play it to this day because the usedgames at game stop are like at 10€ each (I live in Italy)
Yup, I just got a PS4 as a hand-me-down. I can get triple A games for $10 like TLOU
Bought a new Saturn for $50 then bought Shining Force III, Panzer Dragoon Saga, MKR and Burning Rangers the day they dropped brand new $50 each. MKR felt like it came out so late even compared to those others. Filled it in with tons of great games like Guardian Heroes from rental shops at around $10 each. Got Street Fighter Collection and Puzzle Fighter for $10 each brand new at Sears. The only games I paid a lot for were those 3 late releases and some imports. Vast majority of US Saturn collection got for $5-10.
@@Sinistar1983 - The beginning WAS the end for NGPC in America...it was on store shelves for around a whole MONTH before being clearanced out where I grew up, and the only games that I ever saw being sold for it was a small handful of release titles.
Hi ! I'm born in 1985 and sega/nitendo was part of my childhood. Thanks for your works on the sega side ! It is very impressive how much deep you can dig in the subject to create video with quality and interesting content.
Jurassic Park lost world was the kind of game that shows what can be done when you re coding down to the metal.
Yup 3d levels. Wish capcom released sfalpha2 for it like snes though
I haven’t seen such impressive graphics on a stock snes, this game simply puts the snes mode 7 into shame.
Nah, I got that one instead of the new Nintendo 64 one christmas, the loading is REALLY bad, like comparing MK trilogy on 64 to the loading Shang Tsung on Ps1....
To be honest, I thought the 3D sections shown here were arcade footage!
@@SegaDream131 doesn't it stop before every fight or something?
I still have my original Genesis that I got for Christmas 1989.
Still works fine.
Same here! I still have it hooked up to a CRT. Mine was 1990. Those model 1s are tanks.
@@visionop8
Agree.
The model 2 and 3 are fakes....lol
I lost my Sega and all the games during Katrina. :(
That fn sux ... Sorry to hear that. I lost alline in a house fire in '89.... I feel your pain indeed
@@chosento2988 Sorry about the fire. But you know....Katrina made me realize how ungrateful I was as a kid. We still complained of not having anything to play when we had the Genesis, PS1, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and the Ps2!!!
It's true that sometimes you don't know what you've had until it's gone. Oh well. My family and I made it out alive and we are well now. Praise God.
The Genesis was my first console and inducted me into the ever expanding universe of gaming.
Same! My first "real" Console, after the Game Boy (Which has awsome Games too!)...
Yup me too. I can remember my parents picking me up from school with the sega in the backseat
introduced me to docking! nothing quite like the 32x sega cd genesis
@@jhonviel7381 01:24 'legendary ultimate
I remember 1996 end of year holidays I made a new friend who also owned a Mega Drive and just got Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Together with 2 of my other friends we all sat and played it. I had played it before but my new friends passion for the game and determination to master it was infectious and suddenly we were all hooked.
We arranged a sleep over at one of the other friends house which his parents allowed after I said we can camp out the back so we don't disturb their peace. I brought over my parents 8 man dome tent plus my Mega Drive, TV and also rented another copy of UMK3.
With an esky, 2 cartons of coke the 4 of us sat up playing until the sun started to rise.
After few hours sleep we all separated to go home in the morning for a proper meal, grab some extra snacks, then returned for round 2.
The first night we played a lot of 2 on 2 and 8 player tournament mode. The 2nd night we focused on learning to master chain combos and special moves for 2 chosen characters.
As a result for a brief moment of my life I was actually really good at Mortal Kombat. Easily crushing other casual players and MK fans. Only those 3 childhood friends who I shared that experience were a challenge. But those skills didn't transfer so well to the other consoles. The control pads weren't as good as Sega's 6 button controller, that was made for fighting games.
I deeply regret getting rid of my Genesis after getting a Saturn. In those days, I didn’t foresee myself getting a sense of nostalgia. In 1998, with the Saturn on its last legs, I felt the need to switch to PlayStation and give my Saturn away. It wouldn’t be until April 1999 when I threw a hissy fit over a PlayStation game I rented one weekend that I decided I wanted my Genesis back. I got it back, but by that point, the person I gave it to only had 2 games left: Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. I had to re-buy all my other games over many years!
what i have left from my genesis are only 2 cartridges..
TMNT and Tiny Toon
i used to have so many :(
@@frimm1750 When I got my Genesis back in 1999, the guy I originally gave it to only had Sonic 2 and 3 left, but I rebuilt my collection over the years since and got many more games as well! The only 2 games I had as a kid but still haven't re-added to my collection are Golden Axe 2 and Winter Challenge!
@@adultmoshifan87 good for you, man! glad to know.
if i'm not mistaken, i got my first and last console (sega mega drive, obviously) in 1996.
and i only have about a dozen games, more or less.
they are: TMNT, Tiny Toon, Rambo 3, Column (my mom used to play it a lot), Super Volleyball, Flicky, Flinstone, Ariel Mermaid (my sister ask for it), Sonic The Hedgehog, The Adventure of Batman & Robin, Aladdin, Toy Story, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
i think that's it. and i got 2 left, i dunno where the rest of 'em, i don't remember. hahaha
@@frimm1750 1989 to 1996
Yeah, I regret getting rid of my NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Mega CD, Gameboy, N64, Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2 x2, X-Box, DS Lite and Wii. I had a PS3 that I wasn't fussed about.
I wish I had appreciated them as much back then as I do now.
Not only is it wild to think these games came out the same year as Symphony of the Night and Final Fantasy VII, but also only one year before the Dreamcast's Japanese launch
01:44 4 player ?
Borderlands 2 and Far Cry 2 were released the same year as Fez.
@@meanmole3212 That's so weird to me, Fez seems like this old indie classic, but Borderlands 2 still feels pretty new xD
Hell yes! The Lost World is awesome. Last Genesis game my dad and I ever got. I was always playing the Saturn version and he would always play this one. Never understood until I discovered those boss battle sequences. So much more fun than the 32 bit version.
The final days of the Megadrive hasn't arrived yet. I'm still playing mine from time to time.
Pretty sure the Mega Drive is still getting new releases in Brazil thanks to TecToy, so it's technically not dead yet.
I agree
I've been playing the Genesis alot more lately thanks to the Mini.
@@eskanda3434 Haha... I guess it's all about what name you're used to. I grew up in Denmark, and there it was called Megadrive. (I didn't even know until 7-8 years ago it was called Genesis in North America.)
It's also called Megadrive in Japan where it was first released.
Not to mention the slew of new homebrew games. Xenocrisis, Tanglewood and Paprium being my three top picks for the aggressively impressive coding
I remember being really sad when blockbuster narrowed down the genesis titles to a couple and then finally none
Would have been a great time to buy the titles you loved though.
final days of genesis selection in stores was the same as the turbografx 16 store selections at its peak in my town. i thought to myself, welcome to my world sega fans hahaha,
I remember a local music store that also sold computer games had a couple of Mega Drive (and even MegaCD 32x games) stashed in a corner for yearrrrrs after the platform had disappeared. There was another local shop that also had a bargain bin absolutely full of to the brim of copies of a Mega Drive game called Zoop! They just couldn't shift them.
@@alexsutton85 haha I remember all the consoles trying to hype that zoop game so much. They tried to make it bigger than Tetris
@@demonsty Saturn was your spiritual successor for a TG16 fan. Great games nobody knew about, some of the best left in Japan, then the US releases become crazy expensive collector items fueled by the gamers who passed on it originally.
What made virtua fighter special was the fact that it was the first 3D fighting game ever made, and that is what made it unique (at the time). Releasing a 2D virtua fighter is totally pointless.
Then why was there a Game Gear game?
@@ExtremeWreck what even is your point ?
@@ArpeggioPegasus My point is just because it started off as a 3D fighting game doesn't mean that 2D Virtual Fighter is pointless. There is a point to it all. It's so that anyone who had a Genesis, but didn't feel like upgrading to the Saturn would get a chance to play VF2, & the Game Gear couldn't handle 3D, so they had to compromise.
There's a Director's Cut of Sonic 3D Blast where one of the devs from the og team fixed many of the issues the original game had. Worth checking out.
From what I've heard, Virtua Fighter 2 for the Genesis sold really well and it's on the mini because of that.
Oddly I've literally only seen it once in the wild around my town in the last 20 years....and that was about 10 years ago. I saw a CIB copy when Genesis games were still really cheap, but it had some sun fading so I didn't pick it up. Literally never even seen a cart only copy ever since. Probably would have seen one at a comic con but just didn't bump into it.
Genuinely impressed with those Jurassic World graphics
I'm impressed that calling it 'Jurassic World' is wrong, yet somehow right at the same time
Yet another title that would've been cool on the mini console
@@TRJ2241987 Universal studios refer to the franchise as Jurassic World now. Jurassic Park is the legacy to the original doomed park in the current canon.
me too. genesis could do tons are very impressive effects, and multi jointed bosses, etc. it's cpu was OP. seems like it was 24 bit not 16 bit
Yeah, me too. Amazing graphics for the Mega Drive.
I still have my printed catalog of Genesis releases circa 1996/1997. Amazingly, Game Gear was still being supported as well. IMO both Genesis and SNES put up some really good competition in Xmas 1996 against their next gen competitors.
1996 was an amazing time in gaming. Not only were Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider monumental, but Sonic 3D Blast and Super Mario RPG definitely kept the old systems feeling fresh. I spent a lot of 1996 playing through Beyond Oasis and Earthbound. I got a Playstation in the Summer, and N64 for Christmas. Those were the days.
@@TRJ2241987 Agreed, I think 96-98 (with the peak at 98) were probably the best years in gaming history and haven't been topped since. Even the 3DO got Captain Quasar in 96. It was goodness all around :)
@@TRJ2241987earthbound baby
There was some kind of serenity during the 16 bit era, i mean... Devs were still dropping titles (some amazing) years after the "prime time" of those consoles and good homebrews still drop.... TODAY! Nowadays, it comes out, you consume, next year, next console, repeat!
Genesis is still going strong, Xeno Crisis just came out last year
What about Paprium?
Just ordered a copy of xeno crisis. Can't wait to play it
@@xmaverickhunterkx why soo expensive... I mean... Man! That IS expensive!
Paprium came out two weeks ago.
WaterMelon has another game in the works possibly also.
Man being a sega fan sense I was a kid I love the channel and content you put on it! Keep up the channel my man glad I found it
The greatest memory I have of the final days of the genesis was, even though I had a PlayStation and an N64, I was still playing NHL 96, 97 and 98 on the genesis!
I got my Genesis when I was 11 in 1996 for Christmas the pack in title was Sonic spin ball, and the last game I got for my Genesis for Christmas in 97 I believe it was was NBA 98 because they come out a few months prior to the new actual year but I played so much of that game because I was a bulls fan and the Bulls were the team at the time, hundreds of hours I spent as a 12 year old playing that game
The 16 bit age and Arcades are the Golden Age of videogames. I am glad there are still new Genesis, SNES, Neo Geo, and Dreamcast games being made today.
so many golden ages, video games are the best
Underrated Genesis games during the twilight years of the Sega Genesis. NBA Hangtime where the San Antonio Spurs took on the Sacramento Kings, with Sean Elliott and David Robinson vs. Tyus Edney and Brian Grant, Ultimate MK3 where Rain and Stryker fight in Scorpion’s Lair, New England’s Drew Bledsoe getting sacked by Green Bay’s Reggie White in NFL 98, Philadelphia’s John LeClair scoring two goals (one of which was assisted by Paul Coffey and Eric Desjardins) in NHL 98, etc.
VF2 on the Genesis was ok, but let's not kid ourselves it was a cash grab.
Surprisingly they were re-releasing it multiple times on compilations, virtual console and Steam. Last baffles me the most. Why they did that instead of just releasing PC port again since it can be modded into running on modern hardware easily. Or porting VF5FS which is already a linux game (arcade version). Talk about it being a cash grab 13 years later.
@@shadowflash705VF5FS is in Yakuza 7
@@shadowflash705 weird isn't it. Barely any Saturn ports, but tons of Genesis on Steam. where's Clockwork Knight?
It was a great port! One of the best fighters on the system if you accept it as a 2D game. OST still rocks too
@@wexenhex
I think you have it exactly right.
*If* you can accept it as a 2D game.
The game is synonymous with 3D and the 2D version even though it might not have been what they were going for feels like a cash grab. I remember seeing it here and there and thinking what is this?! This isn't a virtual fighter game. how dare they.
Ain't nothing final! They still making new homebrew games for Sega Genesis keeping it alive! 👏😃
The Lost World was clearly someones use of their single idea... Every stage is a different take on the same thing, which happens to be a sort of neat visual effect for the Genesis... Would had been neat for sure if more devs could have mastered things like this earlier on, mixing it naturally into games in far more cohesive ways.
Although Virtua Fighter 2 for Genesis was never released in Japan it was however released in South Korea
Sega Lord X: ... and I WILL catch you next time!
Me: LOL no you won't!
...
Me the next time: DAMMIT!!
For show!
Hes just so positive hes like na brah you WILL be back 😂😂
I remember getting a Genesis in the fall of 1998, I was 5 years old. I had an asthma attack in October 1998 and they had a Nintendo 64 in the hospital room that I played Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 on all night before going home at 4:30 am. I begged my parents for a video game system and they got me the Genesis very soon after, had to be within a couple weeks, along with Eternal Champions, Justice League: Task Force and Williams' Arcade Classics. I was ungrateful for it.
We lived in a single-wide trailer with a living room extension built on, the whole thing had to be 1,000 square feet, and we had a 1984 Lincoln Town Car and a 1977 International Scout for vehicles. My mom was a 28-year-old nurse working exhausting hours on the floor, she even had to work Christmas one year, and my dad was 30 and working at an office supply store. 24 years later, I feel bad for my reaction to the Genesis, they really were doing the best they could do. My mother and father have been nothing but blessings for my entire life, we're very close to this day.
For Christmas 1998 (which was also my 6th birthday), I got a Nintendo 64, which was traded in about 5-6 months later for a PlayStation 1. I remember those days playing stuff like 1080 Snowboarding, Mario Kart 64, and later Crash Bandicoot 2, 3, Warped, and Bash, Bushido Blade, and Driver 1 and 2 with my mom (and sometimes my dad). I'll never forget those memories, that kept going over the years - we played Crash 4 together in 2020-2021!
Also, the numerous classic video games I collected from age 13-19 - what other mother has bought their son a Casio Loopy? Unfortunately, adulthood came on me and the video game money got replaced by monthly payments on a 2008 Honda Accord sedan which saved my mom's life a year later. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for seatbelts and airbags.
July 8, 2022 4:15 am
I am pretty sure that The Lost World was the last Genesis game I got new. Pretty sure I got it for Christmas.
06:10 I'm confused ?
I picked up a genesis mini and have played it more then my current consoles. Now I'm gonna have to buy the real deal again.
The Sega Channel was my shopping list for Sega Genesis games , I'm glad I experienced it at my friends house.
I bought a Sega Megadrive when it launched in Europe (September 1990), I remember going to the local toy shop with my father. There was a large CRT at the entrance of the shop, showing off Golden Axe and Altered Beast. I was blown away by such graphics and music, my father's Commodore 64 was all I had to play. Once returning home I plugged the Mega Drive, and I started playing. My eyes opened in amazement. I played on it for around 6 years, before jumping on the Playstation bandwagon and abandoning Sega. I still regret that choice, but at least I had a great childhood
Probably worth mentioning that Majesco rereleased a bunch of Sega Genesis games in 1998 including some other titles from Konami such as Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra Hard Corps.
IS that the reason behind the "cardboard" box version of Bloodlines ans Hard corps?
@@Pyponesan Yep. Cartridges are distinct having lower quality labels and something on the back about them being made in Mexico if I remember correctly.
Ok thanks a lot! i had Always Wonder what's the difference between those two editions. There are no reference to 1998 on the box and at the begining of 2000 i was able to find sealed one it was weird for me, now i understand. ( Also the Book inside is black and white).
I was living in Colombia in 95-96. During those years, I couldn’t find any genesis consoles or games anywhere. No ads on TV or radio either. In my eyes, the genesis and Sega had just “disappeared” off the face of the earth...so I thought. I wasn’t aware that games were still coming out. I didn’t have a computer back then so I couldn’t search online to see what was happening within the Sega world. Computers were a luxury back then and not everyone owned one.
I wish I had played all those late genesis releases that I missed such as vectorman, comix zone, Jurassic World, etc... I missed a lot due to my lack of knowledge at the time. I gave up on gaming at that point, but in 2010 I become interested in gaming again. I started buying old games, old consoles and everything I regretfully missed as a kid.
Anyway, this has become my favorite channel. I’m impressed with all your work. This is the best channel for those who are passionate about Sega’s hardware and software. Keep up the great work👏🏻
Rant is over!
The fact VF2 is missing the new characters makes me think they began development thinking it would be VF Remix
Those 2 new characters had the most complex design. The drunken kungfu master would have been hard to make fluid in 2D, along with Lion's praying mantis ways. So I guess it made sense to skip on them.
The music and stage design is all very VF2 so remix never came to mind but you never know..
Your parting comment was exactly what happened to me. After such a lengthy delay between Sega consoles, I switched over to Sony. I have been with Sony since then.
Japan's MD market may have closed out earlier in '96 but it went out with what I'd argue is easily the systems best dungeon crawler, Madou Monogateri I (an excellent fan translation is available). Lord Monarch (from '95) is also beyond compare, it's practically perfect in every way IMO (the fan translation for this one is also incredible). Playing more new "AAA" games on Genesis / MD in 2021 than I ever did as a kid hammers home how alive this system is.
As a toddler we had NES and it was awesome then when SNES came out of course i wanted that because i was already a Mario and Zelda etc fan so when I got a Sega for Christmas a few years later i was bummed out and ungrateful about it but looking back it was technically the better console as growing up I'd appreciate sports games and the Sega owned that department. I'm still a Nintendo kid but I respect the Sega Genesis
To be hornest, once i saw those 32bit systems on the market in 1995, i knew that videogames would be never the same again, in fact my whole was starting to change in that year as well.
Being more of an SNES fan I really appreciate how great the old Genesis sports games really were. Both systems kind of limped along the final year. I remember Killer Instinct for the SNES was a shell of itself but not as bad as the 2D Virtual Fighter shown here. Still the Genesis had all kinds of unique awesome games.
It seemed like the SNES was the "woke" console at the time (of course that word had a different meaning 30 years ago, lol) but looking back at things like leaving the Blood out of Mortal Kombat or taking the prostitutes in the red dresses out of Sunset Riders because a parent might complain was weak. Sega didn't give a shit and gave us the arcade version offensive or not. As for sports games, I agree the Genesis had great sports titles that seemed to play more fluently than the SNES. Maybe that "blast processing" was real thing and not a sales gimmick, lol.
Man, the sound effects in those sports games really bring back memories. Great time back then.
I feel like Genesis "Virtua Fighter 2" is criminally underrated. Today, people just look at it as a weird backward port of a graphically compelling title, but back in 1997, my "too broke for a Saturn" self was absolutely thrilled to finally get to play Virtua Fighter, even if it was on my Genesis. It is also one of the first brand-new games I remember saving up and buying with my own money from my first job. As a fighter, it's lightning-fast, controls well, is fairly balanced, and looks and sounds great for a 16-bit game. I would actually put it up there with the very best fighters on the console in the way it plays. Gamers today who are willing to appreciate Genesis VF2 for what it is rather than dismiss it for what it isn't will discover a game that's much better and richer than they probably think.
Holy CRAP, that Lost World game is the most incredible looking Mega Drive game I’ve ever seen, how the heck did they pull that off!? I’m stunned! And I’ve never heard of it before ever even though it’s so astronomically good looking!
I actually really like the genesis version of virtua fighter. The sound, while a bit rough, is pretty damn close to the saturn version. And you cant deny the graphics. The stages and backgrounds are all well done, and the scrolling in some of those stages is incredible. Those late sports titles have some amazing graphics too. Not a sports game person, unless its very arcade like, but i cant deny that.
Thanks for making this, have been waiting for such a video quite a while now.
The final days of retro consoles always fascinate me.
For all fighting they did with each other, the Genesis and the Super Nintendo both had the same froggy death.
Ironic.
At least the Genesis got the fun arcade original, Super Nintendo got a crappy remake that had no music.
I think the days of the final days of consoles are ending, as passionate programmers make new games for older consoles. I think we're gonna see the end of the generation mindset and think at the genesis, saturn etc. as just to different hardware that allows you to do different things.
03:55 wish I played that
This is one of your best videos in my opinion. I was a DIEHARD Sega fan, and I grew up with the Genesis, by the time the Genesis was finishing it's life, I was onto the 3DO and Playstation, and never even thought once bout how my favorite console as a kid spent it's final days. Would love to see you do a video like this for the Saturn, and Dreamcast as well.
Keep up the awesome content man. You're the greatest.
Virtual Fighter 2 on the Genesis is excellent if you never played the original! My niece and nephew loved it. And played it more than Stret Fighter on the Megadrive mini
Joe Miller admitted that they had Virtua Fighter for the SVP, but the company didn't want to confuse it with the 32X and Saturn ports. If only SoA had been allowed to release the $49.99 SVP/SH-2 add on instead of the $160 32X, think of how gaming history could've turned out differently. What kept most people away from the 32X was its hefty price tag and short life expectancy. The SVP was already out in 1994 in Virtua Racer, and people were asking for it.
Ah so many memories! Being a mid ‘80s baby, I still remember my first interaction with the Sega Genesis. I was at my best friend’s house and back then you were usually either a Sega or a Nintendo household, but he was in the small elite that had both the Genesis and the Super Nintendo. I was drawn more to the grungy and very ‘90s “Welcome to the Next Level” ads that Sega pitched, so when my parents gave us the blessing to get a home system, my sisters and I opted for the Genesis. I think they were just tired of putting down that $100+ deposit to rent the system and a game from Blockbuster Video for the weekend. We got our Genesis at FEDCO when the Genesis 2 had just come out.
I remember it's last year the clearest. I was too young to remember anything before 95 but yeah dude I sure miss Sega as a console developer.
I remember being shocked finding out its production had ceased. I was still on Sega Channel and my neighbor had 32X, I thought Genesis was top of the line and in its prime.
But when I got N64 I forgot all about 16 bit and ma canceled my Sega Channel subscription with my blessing. I skipped the 32 bit era completely, since Genesis kept me busy the whole time.
We got ours in 89 also. Despite SNES in 93,played ours until about 96.
It took PS1 to relegate our Genesis.
I'm a nintendo fanboy but i love your videos man,cheers from argentina.
@matt fahringer and?
The Sega Genesis/Megadrive market lasting as long as it did is only marred by the Saturn market dying out so quickly. Here in the Netherlands I only knew one guy personally who had one. It wasn't until the Dreamcast launched that I realised the Saturn existed at all and I had missed a generation of Sega hardware and software. Thankfully I own the full lineup of Sega hardware now and thanks in no small part to this channel I have become a huge fan and still enjoy it frequently.
Killing the Saturn early, rather than actually trying to put out more software, is probably the dumbest thing Sega ever did. 32x included.
Not having more titles on the Dreamcast that weren't arcade games was my biggest fail for them. I absolutely love the Dreamcast and still play it to this day, but it needed more titles to sink real time in.
@@licentiousdreams I personally believe that keeping the Saturn alive longer, and giving the Dreamcast more time in development, likely would have helped your cause as well as mine.
Hindsight is great but the truth is the PS1 was killing the Saturn. The PS2 also had a killer feature that the Dreamcast didn’t... DVD player.
@@HV0103 sonic 3D was epic
“Throughout the first years of our lives we were forced not just to internalize a few aspects of capital, but to build up a structure of internalizations. As our capacity for coherent natural self-regulation was systematically broken down, a new system of self regulation took its place, a coherent system, incorporating all the aspects of self-repression. We participated in capital’s ongoing project of colonization by colonizing ourselves, by continually working at the construction of a unitary character-structure (character armor), a unitary defense against all drives, feelings, and desires which we learned were dangerous to express. In the place of our original transparent relations to our world, we created a structure of barriers to our selfexpression which hides us from ourselves and others.”Jay Amrod and Lev Chernyi, “Beyond Character and Morality: Towards Transparent Communications and Coherent Organization.” Howard J. Ehrlich ed. Reinventing Anarchy, Again (San Francisco, California: AK Press, 1996), 321
snapchat: omalone_1
@@omalone1169 ??
Bittersweet "official" end to a such powerhouse of a console. That being said there is no denying the lasting legacy of the Genesis/Megadrive and that's something to celebrate for decades to come.
Sure someone has already said it but virtual fighter did get an svp chip game. It was supposed to be a part of the series with Daytona and another game I forget at the moment. I’m not actually sure how far in development it got but we saw the 32x version of virtual racing against the svp chip virtual racing so I wouldn’t have held my breath on how good it would have been!
I always thought Genesis’ final days produced some of their finest work. Peter Gabriel was missed, but that didn’t stop them.
The "Final Days" of the Sega Genesis have yet to come!
There still are new games coming out :D
@@sloppynyuszi Yeahhh!!!!
Hear hear,Sega forever .
@@oxogood9018 🎶 SEGA!!!!! 🎶
Xenocrisis baby
I remained loyal I bought both saturn and dreamcast. Of course I ended up buy a Playstation when the price dropped. I was a big time gamer back then, now I am 45 and I just watch my boys 16, 9yrs old play. I rarely play nowadays.
I always thought Frogger had an enhanced version too. Guess I assumed it because of the cover
That and the PS1 version used the exact same title, wording and everything
The best thing about that port is the sound. Just don't use the noise channel of the SN76489, and leave the YM2612 totally disused, and you're left with 3-channel Frogger AY PSG :)
@@RWL2012 I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW THE MASTER SYSTEM HAD THE SAME SOUND CHIP THE ZX SPECTRUM HAD!!!
@@ExtremeWreck It doesn't, the Master System uses the SN76489 and versions of the ZX Spectrum uses an AY-3-8912. The Master System does use the same sound chip as the BBC Micro, though!
the SN is effectively an AY but with an extra channel dedicated to noise.
I was too poor to get the Playstation so I had to settle with the Sega Genesis as a kid. Good times.
Sonic 3D Blast (or Sonic 3D Flickies' Island as it was called in my country) is unironically a great game. It really is. It's hard to get used to the controls, sure, but once you do, it becomes an amazing romp. All these really interesting looking levels, different level theme ideas that the other sonic games never used. Like it's not just the same old tropes. Well it has some, like an ice level. But then there's the level that combines clowns and factories, a clown factory. I love it
Seriously once you're good with the controls it becomes really fun to _blast_ through it all in one day (pun intended). Just a really fun playthrough, once you know how to solve certain puzzles. To get all the chaos emeralds, some of the later ones are like going through a maze trying to find it. It's tricky but once you know the solution you can get it very quickly
This game just gets too much hate. It was a big part of my childhood just like the 2D sonics were
Oh and Sonic 3D Blast has literally the best sonic level music of any sonic game, on one of the levels. Rusty Ruins zone 1. Genuinely one of the best songs I've ever heard. One of the best songs ever written. I've been meaning to do a cover of it with real instruments and add lyrics to it, for years, I should get round to it. Here's a link to a youtube video of the rusty ruins song: th-cam.com/video/jtK0I5ZtKFw/w-d-xo.html
Also got a unofficial directors cut by one of the original developers on the game in 2017 which fixed some of the major issues of the game and added some new content like a once scrapped enemy and a time attack.
Great video .I think the megadrive and snes were the best systems we have had,well for me anyway.
The hardware was pushed in so many ways from the early titles. Developers like travellers tales and many others found ways of pushing it do all the things originally not possible
I like this two 16bit-Consoles with Cartridges more than the "new" ones... Better Games plus nice Childhood-Memories!
Still play my model 1 that I bought in 91! Plus I have a 112 games in one cart, 2 6button controllers and the Menacer! Sega rules!
As someone who couldn't afford a saturn or PlayStation I really appreciated Virtua Fighter 2. Played the crap out of it
It plays nice. Anyone who is good at the original 3D game will catch on fast. Has the same moves and pacing. I picked it up cheap and still get some fun out of it.
Also just as challenging, and more complex than mortal kombat.
My favorite Sega platform was the Dreamcast because their fighting game library was untouchable. Genesis was my first system though (2600 and NES were dad's) and I remember it fondly (mostly because of Gunstar and SOR) while I have very few memories of my Saturn except that we sold it so I could get the Dreamcast....poor Saturn.
@TheGamingCasanova When taken as a whole, with imports especially, the Saturn has a rather impressive fighting library for sure, I was just too uninformed at the time to understand how Japanese games could play on a US Saturn. Which is a bummer since I lived in Japan at the time and recall being severely disappointed my newly purchased X-Men: COTA wouldn't work.
Virtua fighter 2 on the Genesis still has the great gameplay and AI Im playing on the mini with the six button controller I think it’s great
The last game I recall on the Genesis was NHL 98. My brother came home with it one day and had no idea Sega was still making games for it.
I found a bin full of Castlevania: Bloodlines and some bass fishing game for 90 cents at a toy store around this time. I picked up a Castlevania but man I'm kicking myself for not scooping up the whole bin of carts, lol.
I remember the following year, 1999. When stores like Blockbuster were having fire sales of their rental stock of the 16-bit games, and I ended up with a copy of Virtua Racing for....$20.00, prolly shoulda held onto that.
There was a brief period when Best Buy had a clearance barrel of sealed SNES and Genesis games for $6. Very quickly it degraded into a barrel half full of Zoop and Shaq Fu.
@@not2tired I bet you that latter one must've been there for at least 5 years.
I had never played Jurassic Park on the Genesis/Megadrive and DAMN! Those visuals are fucking impressive! They would've blown me away if the younger me had played it back in the day.
I was born in 1990 and Sega Genesis was my first system I rented games for it and played it constantly loved the library it had my fondest memories of it are from its later years like: vector man 1 and 2, toy story, Jurassic Park rampage edition, Sonic 3 and knuckles, streets of rage 3 they really utilized that system well imagine if the Genesis launched with some of these games like that Jurassic Park game you showed people would have had totally different expectations from the system like thinking it was a 3D machine expecting something more akin to the Saturn from the Genesis lol late release games are interesting in that way in that it's like early next gen games a preview of what's to come
Virtua Fighter 2 looks really good in my opinion and it's an obvious wink at the Saturn.
Pinocchio’s graphics absolutely blew me away as a child. I played that game and only that game for probably 6 months. Mannn, what a shot of nostalgia that was seeing it here. Thanks man, keep up the great work!
I would love to see you review VR Troopers for the Sega Genesis.
It was the ONLY Saban brand show to get a video game outside of Power Rangers
A bittersweet video indeed- I had fully made the jump to the Saturn by mid 1995, and only bought a single 16-bit title in that year (on December 8th- Phantasy Star IV). Although the Saturn would go on to become my favourite console of all time, there's no denying that the Genesis/Mega Drive reamins a truly iconic console.. and to see it fizzle at the end is a real shame. I do remember seeing most of the 1996/1997 titles for sale here, but sadly had no interest in buying them with my shiny new box under the TV.
But goddam... Jurassic World looks incredible.
The final days of the genesis is when the sun goes supernova.
So, never?
We'll have found another sun by then.
Sol can't go supernova, it doesn't have the mass.
The sun will turn into a Red Giant. It will never supernova.
paprium came out in 2020. beautiful game
I’m only 23 years old but I grew up on the genesis/snes. I inherited my old mans model 1 genesis (my favorite console design of all time) and my older brother of 11 years snes when I was around the age of 6 or 7 in maybe like 2003. My brother had a GameCube and my cousins had a ps2. Both of which I was only able to play if I was the only one home (so pretty much never). But man I’d play road rash/sonic/mortal combat/more than not on the genesis and donkey Kong country 1&2/Mario kart/pitfall/power rangers on the snes. Great and simple times I miss so much that formed my taste for these older consoles/games. Over the years Ive tried to collect when I can! So far I have nearly every console from the nes up to ps4/Xbox one with a couple dozen game for each console and I love introducing my friends to games of the past!
Sega Genesis is the best video game ever by a mile! Its incredible game library will always have a special place in my heart... Fortunately, we still got releases from time to time.
My favorite gaming console ever. The Genesis was the first system that was actually mine and I got it on my 5th birthday in 1993. So many great games and so many memories.
In 1995 I was completely focused on ps. I thought everyone was like that back then bc tech advanced so rapidly.
In '95, I was completely focused on Sega CD and SNES. The Lunar games, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, and Chrono Trigger blew away the early PS1 RPGs.
Plus instant classics like Gunstar Heroes, DKC, Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid and all the older games I'd missed like Shining Force II and Dragon's Fury.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 I was in totally different mind set back then. I didn't get the appeal of RPGs, only liked action RPGs. I would look at egm at the grocery store for latest news on PS and N64. The wonder of these new systems was all I could think about.
You know what’s crazy too I’ve remember genesis games being sold at toys R Us from the year 2000 and beyond. At the time I was like 10 and genesis games were still popular even while the Saturn was out. I’ve got a copy of Castlevania Bloodlines for less than $5 at that timeframe lol 😆
Same! I specifically got Castlevania Bloodlines for $7 and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PS1 around the same time for $20. Toys R Us used to have lots of cool stuff after the 16 bit era was over.
@@InstrumentalArtistry I guess I wasn’t the only one to remember shit like that 😂💯👍🏻👊🏼🤙
SEEGGGGAAAA!!!
The Lost World will always have a special place in my heart as it was one of the last games i played on the genesis before getting my PS1. I know this is strictly sega but Mega Man X 1,2, and 3 also have a special place as well for being the final games i binged on my SNES before the PS1 as well.
Silvio santos mega drive bundle,official by tectoy/sega
The port of Virtua Fighter 2 was actually very good. If you were a player of VF2 and used to put quarters on the cabinet in the arcades then this 2D version carried the mechanics and timing of it over incredibly well. They 2D’d the game but it still was easy to pick right up for a VF2 vets.
I still play NHL 94!😆🙌🏽
I was 17 Christmas, the year nba live 98 released, I had a choice of buying a atrari jaguar for 50$ or nba live 98 for ps1.....I got nba live.
If only Sega released the Dreamcast in the US first.
If Sega only released the same killer Japanese games for the Saturn in the U.S. instead of only in Japan.
@@mrlaidback83 if only the game gear wasn't such a battery basher
@@Sinistar1983 also Sega probably shouldn't have wasted time and money with the 32x
@@mrlaidback83 I know, I'm usually an advocate for strange hardware. But that was ridiculous both in design and production.
Wouldn't have saved Sega, everyone knew a knew more powerful PlayStation and Nintedno console were coming.
The Sega Genesis/Megadrive was hands down my favourite console back in the day. Even today I prefer playing all of the retro classics rather than a PS5 or Xbox. Every game takes me back to my childhood and brings back some fond memories. Thank you so much @SegaLordX for giving me the encouragement to start my own channel and for bringing us this incredible content every week. You’re the best 👍🏻
The Sega genesis is number one. 😀👍🎮