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All Roms > Genesis / Megadrive Roms
| The Sega Genesis / Megadrive |
The Sega Genesis or Mega Drive was a 16 bit, fourth generation home gaming console that was released in Japan in 1988 and North America in 1989. It was set to compete with Hudson Soft’s TurboGrafx-16 and debuted at a launch price ten dollars lower than expected in order to undersell its competition. The 8 bit NES was also in the picture, but was beginning to show its age. Superior to the NES is both sound and graphic display, Genesis games made a good showing and looked like Nintendo was finally going to be pulled from the gaming throne between the work of the Mega Drive and the TurboGrafx.
The system saw a stronger than average launch because of the carefully selected Mega Drive games available for the system right out of the gates. Ports of arcade hits, such as Altered Beast and the immortal Golden Axe did a good job of showing how powerful it was. Sonic the Hedgehog was introduced in 1991 and the little blue whirlwind became an easily recognized mascot to compete with Mario. To make things even better, the library of Mega Drive games was drastically expanded, since the machine was made to be backwards compatible with the Master System by use of a very simple add-on device.
When the Genesis (the name was changed due to trademark conflicts in North America) hit the United States, Nintendo realized that it had its hands full. Even though Sega was relying on other game developers, such as the sports titles from Electronic Arts, to keep people pumped about its console, its machine was simply more powerful and fresh than the NES. The Super Famicom was already up and running in Japan, but America was still wallowing in the old. Because of the Genesis, the SNES came to be…Nintendo not wanting to give up its hold on the market.
The Mega Drive went on to become the fifth rated home gaming system of its time and Genesis Roms are popping up everywhere. With literally 1000 titles available, it is not wonder that Mega Drive Roms are so prevalent in today’s retro culture. |
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