How's Your Sega MegaDrive/Genesis Gaming Going On?

[Gunstar Green]

Nintendo is still in the hardware market and making well-received sequels to their classic series. Sega isn't still in the hardware market and most of their classic series are either dead or have received sequels that range from good to mediocre slumming (looking at you, hedgehog).

As time went on Nintendo's fan base has only grown while Sega's has dwindled. It helps the SNES that most of its heavy hitters are well known games that are widely considered classics while the strength of the Genesis rests in stuff that's more obscure today.

There's a lot of great stuff beneath the surface of both when you really start digging.

But it could be worse for the old Genesis in terms of its modern popularity. It could be the Turbografx 16.

[GSZX1337]

I don't think it's that Racketboy doesn't care about the Genesis as much as the Super NES, it's just that we can't seem to get any momentum in this thread. Perhaps you and I can work to fix this.

[mas]

Yeah we can hit this thread hard. @gunstar green, I know what your talking about. People love Nintendo and the games. Everyone knows of sega but sega put out all those compliations over the years. And since Nintendo didn't do that people are buying either on vc or play the original hardware. Sucks for me since I got back into these systems but in a way its good I get the choice of getting a cheaper route. Perfect example my retro store has ultimate mortal kombat 3 for the snes at 20.00. The genesis version is at 10.00. Looks like my genesis library is about to bulk up.

[pierrot]

The Genesis is very nearly my favorite console. I just don't have a great deal of interest in these "How's your _____ Gaming Going?" threads. They seem superfluous, and a bit silly to me.

[mjmjr25]

The "how's it going" and "name your top" threads are miserable. BUT, when you can develop a focused offshoot thread - that is cool. The DC threads we have going now are pretty active, fun, and informative.

Here's why I don't love GEN/MD. Some games are ported better, some are ported worse. For me, SNES/SFC had better console exclusive titles. However, my primary reason has always been a physical reason. The SNES cart is bigger and feels more substantial than the GEN cart. The SFC cart is prettier, sturdier and just cooler than the flimsy MD cart.

Stupid reasons, YES! Some of my reasons nevertheless? Yes :/

[Gunstar Green]

Like most consoles the strength is in the exclusives. I hate when any discussion of the two consoles gets bogged down in "which one had the better port of what" because in this day and age when I have both that's kind of irrelevant to me.

And if we're going to argue design... well... I feel like I must do some defending in this, the thread of Genesis.

The Mega Drive/Genesis 1 is a sexy, jet black piece of 80's tech. The Genesis 2 is also nice and sleek.

The US Super Nintendo is an ugly gray and purple shoebox. I don't know what the hell they were thinking. The SFC and European SNES is nicer, but still kind of bland.

I do like the weight of the SNES carts, but I also like the minimalistic black carts of the Genesis. I don't like the pointless grooves in them that only seem to exist to get dirt and dust in them when purchased second hand.

The JP Mega Drive carts have some more bells and whistles in their design but I honestly don't care for them. They're a little gaudy. I actually kind of like the EA carts. They feel solid and have that weird yellow tab.

I hate the SFC and Euro carts completely. They're rounded which makes them hard to stack and they have no end labels. Total bullshit.

And then we have awesome plastic clamshell cases versus paper boxes, 'nuff said.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The black plastic of the Genesis carts is flimsy and cheap. Can't stand it. Even worse than Mattel Atari carts. The 8mm screws are a pain in the ass. Lots of Genesis cart labels (especially newer ones with ESRB ratings) become mottled like old Activision Atari labels. Bad news.

Somewhat related to SNES vs. Genesis I guess, but I started playing The Lost Vikings on Genesis immediately after playing the SNES version. I don't think I've ever played the SNES and Genesis versions of the same game back-to-back like this before.

[Gunstar Green]

The plastic on the JP Mega Drive carts feels more durable, but they're just weird looking to me. I guess because it's not what I grew up with.

At least the black plastic doesn't run the risk of turning piss colored.

[pierrot]

At least the black plastic doesn't run the risk of turning piss colored.

Truer words have never been spoken.

I've never really felt like Genesis carts were ever flimsy, personally. Certainly not in comparison to any other console's cartridges, at least. (Aside from maybe N64 cartridges. Those things are built like brick shit-houses.)

I only have an SFC now, and haven't owned an SNES since I was 11; so I can only really speak to the SFC, but I feel like I'm playing with a toy with that thing. It plays a fine game, but everything about its design looks and feels primitive and childish to me. Playing games on the SFC makes me feel like a werid-o playing with baby dolls; Playing games on the Genesis makes me feel like a dude with a jet-pack blasting off to my volcano fortress, which houses my fleet of Lamborghinis with anti-land-shark harpoons mounted on the sides, and a projection display in the wind shield for the Genesis console mounted in the dash.

Yeah—

[Hobie-wan]

I do like the weight of the SNES carts, but I also like the minimalistic black carts of the Genesis. I don't like the pointless grooves in them that only seem to exist to get dirt and dust in them when purchased second hand.

But JP MD carts have dust collecting grooves on them and the Genesis model 1 also has dust collecting grooves.