Video Game Consoles are in almost every home these days. While today the big three are Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and the Nintendo Wii, there are many other consoles from years gone by. Some were state of the art wonder machines in their time and some were little more than a box that collected dust on top of your TV set.
If I had to pick a favorite game console, I’d have to go with the Sega Genesis. This 16 bit machine was first manufactured in 1988. Production lasted through the late 1990’s and sales totaled over 20 million units in North America. The Sega Genesis was the console that went to war with Nintendo. In the late 1980’s the NES was the dominant video game console. Sega launched a full frontal assault at Nintendo in a battle for the home video game market. While both were quite successful, the Sega Genesis seemed, in my opinion to capture the more serious gamers of the time.
There was a great catalog of games and the graphics, for the time were spectacular. From fighting games, to racing games, to the old side scrolling action games, the Sega Genesis was a great machine. In a time before first person shooters, this console was the height of gaming. There was no online play, there was no body count, but almost every kid wanted one.
The paddles for the machine came with a stock a direction pad and three buttons. You could buy the upgraded control paddles which had six buttons opening up new moves or controls on certain games. This was an amazing leap forward from the old joystick and button days of the Atari 2600.
Sonic The Hedgehog was the game that really put the Genesis on the map. This speedy little varmint was a blast to play. Sometimes the little hedgehog would get rolling so fast you could hardly keep up. Your heart raced as you sped through the levels collecting rings along the way. Your heart also sank when you hit a spike or a bug and lost all your rings. Who would have imagined this funny little creature would be capable of beating Dr. Robotnik.
Another landmark game for the Sega Genesis was Mortal Kombat. This is the game that may have kicked open the door for all the graphic, blood soaked games we are used to in modern consoles. Mortal Kombat was the fighting game of all fighting games. The special moves, the combinations, and most of all, the fatalities were a challenge to master. Each of the seven characters had a different set of moves. Most people picked a character and stuck with it. That was their guy, or girl in the case of Sonya Blade.
My personal favorite game was Disney’s Aladdin. This game was a side scrolling action game based on the Disney movie. The graphics on the game were amazing. It was really an extension of the movie itself. You would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a screen-shot of the movie and a screen-shot of the game. Your goal was to race through the various levels jumping, running, and throwing apples at the bad guys. The game was challenging enough to keep you wanting more but not so hard that you would give up easily.
With so many titles to choose from the Sega Genesis offered hours of entertainment. The variety of games was great and the console was easy to operate. It’s no wonder that there are emulators and ROMS for Genesis games allowing you to play all of your favorites on your PC. I still enjoy dusting of the old Genesis and giving Dr. Robotnik a run for his money.