Happy 20th Birthday Genesis: To be this good takes AGES
Have you heard? As of August 14 The Sega Genesis is 20 years old, Whoooo! If it were a young adult i’d give him a beer with a cheap card depicting 8-bit footballers before trailing off into rant about how it’s time for him to move out the basement and get himself a proper job. He’s old enough to take care of him self. Of course this is ignoring the fact that in terms of technology, the Genesis is practically a senile old crone.
Yes its a sad fact the average gaming console has about the same life expectancy as a gerbil, but I’m ignoring something even more important. Back in Ol’ Blighty the Sega Genesis, now called the Mega Drive, was released November 30, 1990 which means for me, the Mega Drive is only 18!
Of course, I’d say to the imaginary teenager/granny personifying the Mega Drive in my head, this doesn’t mean you can sit around in your parent’s basement doing nothing, but it might mean giving your free bus pass back.
Leaving the shape shifting apparitions that haunt my imagination alone for a few minutes lets look at what the Mega Drive has given us over these years.
The Mega Drive was initially released in japan October 28, 1988 and the release date for North America was soon announced but it would face stiff competition from the massively popular NES but it wasn’t until it release un Europe, where Master System had already been popular, did the Mega Drive finally take off.
Yes, there were many reasons for the Mega Drives success, the games were compatible with a lot of the arcade machines at the time, the Master system had already sown the seeds of future enterprise and the advertising campaign was genuinely entertaining and often full of Innuendo and adult humour but personally I blame the Mega Drive’s success on one thing.
This guy.
Don’t pretend you don’t know who he is. This erinaceinae cerulean, more famously known as Sonic the Hedgehog, first appeared to us in 1991 donning his trademark red shoes and white gloves, has been running faster than any other Hedgehog (and most other creatures as well for that matter) for almost two decades now. Sure, he’s looking a bit more tired than he used be and his nemesis can’t even remember his own name but even Forrest Gump would agree, 18 years is very impressive.
Sonic has appeared in over 65 games the most recent being Sonic Unleashed and Sonic and the Black Knight but don’t forget about the other classics that Mega Drive has bought us, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Streets of Rage, the list goes on. Luckly somebodys managed to to collect 40 of these classic games and put them on DVD.
