...I've been waiting for the September Console of the Month for a little bit now. The Genesis is perhaps my favorite Sega console and definitely in the running for my favorite console of all time. Coming off of a 7800, for Christmas '89 my parents gave me a choice between the Genesis and TurboGrafx, having experience with the SMS I went for the Genesis and never looked back (not that the TG16 isn't awesome though). Even though the initial launch games were kind of shallow, I had a blast playing through Altered Beast until I was gifted copies of Columns, Moonwalker, and Castle of Illusion. Those were followed up w/ESWAT, Final Zone, and the original Sonic. I was having an amazing time, by '91, Blockbuster had started renting Genesis games and my parents stopped buying and started renting. I was never a fan of this, but it gave me an opportunity to try a pretty good amount of the popular games, classics like Streets of Rage, Toe Jam & Earl, Shinobi III, Mystic Defender, Street Fighter II SCE, Aladdin, Cool Spot, Earthworm Jim and so many others.
...during the 16-bit era I poured through issue after issue of EGM and Visions looking for the next game I needed to check out. The Genesis just holds so many great memories for me. I find that Genesis games have a certain look and feel to them that I just enjoy. As for that trademark Genesis Yamaha FM synth sound, I utterly adore it, to the point that I still listen to a ton of Genesis OSTs weekly. I know a lot of people think that the Genesis has poor sound quality, but it's really about the developer behind the music. Games like Thunder Force III/IV, Streets of Rage 1-3, The Revenge of Shinobi/Shinobi III, M.U.S.H.A, Cool Spot, Ecco, Aladdin, Elemental Master, and quite a few others show what the YM2612+Z80 could really do in capable hands. Other than the 32X debacle, there isn't anything I can say I really don't like about the console. Imo, the 3 and 6 button controllers were awesome. Plus, I even enjoyed the Power Base convertor and Sega CD, access to some fun 8-bit Sega goodness and quite a few CD based gems, it was a great time. There's no doubt that the SNES is a great console, but for me the Genesis is just special. It's home to the first game I ever bought w/my own money, I took it w/me to college, and when I finally got back into classic gaming it was the platform I started with, and the one that I've leaned the hardest into. I even buy Genesis consoles when I come across them at yard sales, I have 3 Model 1s including my original '89 console and two Sega CDs...I just feel like they all need a good home
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
...I currently have 111 games in my Genesis library and still growing. Though it's sort of difficult w/some of the more desirable classics (Crusader of Centy, Elemental Master, Ristar, and etc) are sort of pricey, I get an imperfect fix from the Genesis Mini consoles and the tons of various Genesis compilation discs that Sega released. From enjoying those excellent commercials, buying my first game ever, to sitting around during summer breaks and playing Sonic and Final Zone while eating a bowl of Triples, and now working through the games I missed...I just have so many great memories around Sega's 16-bit powerhouse.