Console Debate #12 Sega Genesis/Mega Drive

[fox | 1,667]

[Vectrex28 | 366]

I simp on the PC Engine and I prefer the SNES, but the Megadrive has a few decent games as well. I really like Thunder Force 4 and my 6-Pak multicart for it.  Also Xeno Crisis is prolly my favourite game for it and easily my favourite homebrew so far

[Homer | 17]

The arcade vibe of the Genesis is what really makes it great.  Playing games like Golden Axe, Strider, Gauntlet IV, Road Blasters, Super Hang-on and Forgotten Worlds really brings the arcade experience home. 

[DefaultGen | 5,403]

Flip flopped between 7 and 8 and went 8. It's got its own personality and tons of exclusives, so it beats anything modern. It's got a good controller, so it beats anything super vintage. It's hard for to justify a lower score if 5 is average. My only issues with it are that I don't like how platforming feels with big cartoony 16-bit sprites and it doesn't win against the SNES, which is all my brain really wants to compare it to, not every video game console.

Edited January 22, 2021 by DefaultGen

[Sumez | 2,950]

It's not quite a SNES, but it's got the same sweet place in time and a nearly comparable game library to go nuts in. So much great stuff.

9/10 no doubt

Edited January 22, 2021 by Sumez

[Strange | 1,700]

I grew up with SNES and tried Genesis in my adult years and I’ve come to realize I like the Genesis more than the SNES. I like the graphics, the style of games, the sound chip, and when it comes to collecting, the cases. Nothing against SNES, I still love that system, just preference. 
 

I gave it a 9 because I dwell on decisions too much and I don’t really know what my 10/10 console really is. But it’s in my top 3 for sure.

Edited January 22, 2021 by The Strangest

[Maartenvdz | 10]

I gave it a 10, this generation + the NES and PCE are the best consoles ever made in my book.

It’s not the GOAT though, the other consoles in this category I would all rate slightly higher.

[PII | 1,885]

Gave it an 8.5  Things may have changed a bit in the last year or so, but in the last several years I've always felt a little surprised that it wasn't more popular with the vintage gaming crowd.  If you've got a NES and you've got a SNES, why in the hell haven't you got a Genesis?  Once, when I was in a game store I tried to ask a guy working there something Genesis related and he immediately cut me off with: "Sorry, but I grew up a Nintendo kid."  I kind of wanted to explain to him that gaming companies are not religions...

I had a SNES first and it will probably always be the Genesis's fate to be compared to SNES in spite of the fact that it is its own machine with it's own flavor.  The arcade look and feel is great but I've played a number of games in which I cannot tell the difference between background and foreground objects very well.  Also, even in games with great graphics ie. Castlevania Bloodlines, I'll always notice a lack of ability to smoothly blend colors for a gradual change.  It's nit-picking, I know , and generally not a bad thing but rather a part of what gives the Genesis its own style, but sometimes there'll just be something in the otherwise great graphics that goes.. clunk.  The floor in the pic for example, totally distracts me from what is otherwise a fantastic piece of eye-candy.  Maybe its just me, but that's my opinion.  

The edgy sound chip is really cool albeit unsuitable for a more symphonic sound and has a grating quality after a while.  I was playing Lion King a while back which I played a lot on the SNES as a kid and playing some part on the 2nd level over and over and after a while it was like sandpaper on my eardrum and it's not even dissonant or raucous type music.  It strikes me as a matter of low input sensitivity, but I'm uncertain if that's even applicable.  It sounds incredible enough to make me feel like I'm a part of the action when I play Demolition man though, or a hundred other games that have that fast rough Genesis quality.  Blast processing was just a pr buzzword but it was a significantly faster machine than the SNES and some games (like Demolition Man) needed that to be great.

I like the controller a lot, especially how its top surface is contoured and allows the thumb to glide easily over the 3 "fire buttons."  D-pad is good, but not great.  Sound can easily be output by way of a standard headphone jack to better monitors than the tv.

And of course a wide a selection of games.  I always get excited when I've got something new for it that I know is gonna be a good one.

[AstralSoul | 502]

Was always a Nintendo kid but I always had a soft spot for Sega. I never got own a Sega console sadly, especially back in the day where most people could only get one or the other. It's not quite SNES level of greatness but it's close. Easy contender for one of the best consoles of all time. 9/10 for sure.

[Br81zad | 629]

Gave it a 7. I was a SNES kid. I didn't have many opportunities to play the Genesis growing up, just once in awhile at a friend's house. I never have liked the 3 button boomarang. Not the feel of it, or the fact that it was so restrictive in input options. The 6 button is much better, but still not as good as the standard SNES controller.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

It's a great console. I really liked the exclusive arcade ports and the 6 button controller is one of the best. I'd put it below the SNES, but it's still an 8/10 for me. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Bearcat-Doug

[cj_robot | 542]

9/10 Love the Sega Genesis. This is probably not a popular opinion, but I rate it just as high as the SNES, and I found the two consoles to be perfect complements to each other.

So many great games, and an amazing amount of variety in the library. Has some games that I believe an argument could be made that they're the very best in their respective genres (Streets of Rage 2, Lightening Force, Contra: Hard Corps).

[themisfit138 | 523]

9/10 @cj_robot pretty much summed up my opinion on Genesis. I actually just played through Golden Axe yesterday. Sega had more of an arcade machine feel to it.  

[Hammerfestus | 3,840]

8.  It was an excellent console.  I have far more memories playing the Genesis vs the SNES.  Blast Processing.

[croagunk | 798]

I really enjoy the Sega Genesis. The graphics are really nice and the music tends to be good as well. There is a real arcade quality to the games that Super Nintendo couldn’t quite master.

[mbd39 | 2,020]

Iconic, classic, great. Unfortunately it's gotten the reputation of being just Sonic and sports games, but it has a super diverse and deep library.

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

9/10

Possibly a top 5 console.  Definitely a top 10.  Well over 100 titles worth owning.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

6 hours ago, Maartenvdz said:

I gave it a 10.

It’s not the GOAT though

 

[Splain | 2,569]

What are the obvious top 10 Genesis/MD games? I didn't grow up with a Genesis/MD so I've only started dabbling in recent years. What are the Zelda, SMW, and Chrono Trigger of the library?

[Br81zad | 629]

Also, I just wanted to throw in here, Altered Beast is trash and Golden Axe is boring

[DefaultGen | 5,403]

Just now, Br81zad said:

Also, I just wanted to throw in here, Altered Beast is trash and Golden Axe is boring

Right on

[Webhead123 | 675]

9/10 at least.

It was (and is) an amazing freakin' console with a killer library of games. While I was first-and-foremost a Nintendo kid growing up, I actually got a Genesis + Sega CD as a birthday gift in '94, although it always played second-fiddle for me behind the SNES. Back then, I only ever had about 3 or 4 games for it, plus about 3 on the Sega CD, so I wasn't exposed to much of its library. Because of that, I didn't appreciate until the last 10 years or so just what incredible titles the console had to offer.

With the benefit of really exploring the console as an adult, it is definitely much tighter competition for the SNES than gave it credit for in my youth. What I really appreciate about it (and something that is almost entirely lost with modern gaming) is that even though it technically competed for market share with the SNES, it is such a distinct experience from Nintendo's offering. The graphics, sound and even style of many of its games are just uniquely "Sega" and that helps make it stand out as worthy of owning and playing. Likewise, the controller is unique and a solid one, although the d-pad isn't perfect and I personally find the button-layout of the SNES a better fit in the long run.

It's host to not only some fantastic arcade ports of the time but also a number of amazing platformers, beat-em-ups, RPGs and even racing games.

[Webhead123 | 675]

11 minutes ago, Splain said:

What are the obvious top 10 Genesis/MD games? I didn't grow up with a Genesis/MD so I've only started dabbling in recent years. What are the Zelda, SMW, and Chrono Trigger of the library?

There are dozens upon dozens of titles worth exploring on Genesis but if you want a quick and dirty list of 10 "killer apps" for the console, here's a list to get you started:

Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage 2, Phantasy Star IV, Shinobi III, Beyond Oasis, Lightening Force, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Musha, Road Rash 2, Castlevania: Bloodlines

That's good for a start.

[Sumez | 2,950]

25 minutes ago, Br81zad said:

Also, I just wanted to throw in here, Altered Beast is trash and Golden Axe is boring

That's well known. The system also has Streets of Rage 2, though.

[Nintegageo | 582]

9. I debated an 8 as I am not sure that I consider this Sega's greatest console though it is a awesome one.