On October 29th, 1988 - Sega released this little console into the Japanese market:

This is the Sega Mega Drive. American gamers might know this as the Sega Genesis. Either way, it was the start of something wonderful. Granted, the console never really took off in Japan, but in the West, it was absolutely huge.

I can't say that I had some personal experience with the console. I never owned one (I had a SNES), but when I would play a Mega Drive, I was hooked. There was always something cool to play that I couldn't get elsewhere - one of which you'll learn about in a moment.

To celebrate, here's a look at some of the greatest games you can ONLY play for the Mega Drive/Genesis.

Sonic 2. Sega's finest achievement, and arguably THE game for the Mega Drive. Still holds up exceptionally well today. Every time I hear the Emerald Hill Zone music, I go back to 1994 when I first played the game for the first time at my cousins place...and I can still remember it vividly.

Another legendary game. In something that hasn't really been duplicated since, in order to play the most expansive Sonic game yet, you needed to own a copy of Sonic 3 (great game) and Sonic & Knuckles (still aiight). By fusing them together, you got the ability to save the game in the Sonic & Knuckles levels, play as Knuckles in Sonic 3 and if you owned Sonic 2, you got this:

Not a hack folks. This is the real deal. And hey, it's a game so nice, why not post it twice?

THE TOWER OF POWER! Yes, the Sega add-on crisis was a big reason as to why the system slowly died. What you're looking at is a Mega Drive, with a Sega CD, with a 32X, with a Power Base Converter (which allowed the user to play Master System games), a Genesis Cleaning System, a Game Genie, TWO copies of Sonic & Knuckles, and finally - a copy of Sonic 3. Wow.

Kid Chameleon - basically a platformer where you play this kid tasked to defeat an evil computer system that has locked in all that who have played it. The kid could become a Samurai...and other things....yeah, I know. It's been a while since I've played it - but it's a rad game. It features close to 100 levels, so you know you're in for the long haul...

Sega didn't have the support of Squaresoft or Enix back in the day, but when it came to RPG's, Sega could hold their own. Shining Force was a great example of this - it's a fun turn based strategy game, developed by the team that would later be known as Camelot...who really need to make a new Mario Golf/Tennis game.

Fine game - absolutely recommended.

Here's Phantasy Star II. Regarded by many as being one of the greatest RPG's of all time - thanks in no part to a great storyline which was not only fourth wall breaking, but also featured the Aeris twist a good few years before Final Fantasy VII. Hard game, but worth checking out. The other two Phantasy Star games on the console are also worth a look.

The late Genesis-era Vectorman (as well as its sequel - Vectorman 2) were interesting little games that deserve mention. The character design was really something (basically your character was a series of balls and shapes), and you could transform into a variety of forms to help you progress throughout the game. Really underrated, definitely worth checking out.

Altered Bea...actually, wait...no.

Arguably one of the two games that really justified the purchase of a Sega CD (the other being Sonic CD), the Sega CD version of Hideo Kojima's Snatcher is the only time the game was ever released in English. Has a great story that combines elements of Blade Runner & The Terminator, as well as shows off a few fourth wall breaking moments - which would later become more and more prevelant (and awesome) in later Kojima games.

OH YEAH. Comix Zone, one of the most unique brawlers you'll ever play. The entire game takes place in a comic book world - complete with panels that you'll be moving through, speech bubbles, scene descriptions and more. Short game, but really neat. The fighting system is also cool.

REVENGE OF SHINOBI! How awesome was this game? Aside from the fact that it's such a fun game to play, it's also the only game that has Godzilla, Spiderman and BATMAN as bosses. Not making that up either. Well...at least in earlier versions (Godzilla and Batman were changed slightly). Spidey remains, and only because there had to be copyright clearance from Marvel...oh well. For many gamers, this was their first chance to beat the crap out of Spiderman...the first of many...

Hell yeah, Streets of Rage 2. Regarded as being one of the finest brawlers ever made, the game combined fantastic gameplay with wonderful visuals and an awesome soundtrack. Not convinced? Get the game and play with a buddy. Then you'll realize just how awesome it is...

(Now why couldn't we get it on a compilation disc again? That excuse about the violence is pathetic...)

That's all for now. I'm off to go play some Mega Drive. You should too.

Later.