A glorious tribute to one of the greatest yet most underrated video game systems ever.
Thus, the Sega Genesis, being my first system, has been the system I'm most interested in. Learning about its bare knuckle brawl to the end with the Super Nintendo, reading and watching their in-your-face, we-really-hate-Nintendo ads, and playing the amazing, glorious, stupendous, and sometimes Shaq-Fu (i.e. atrocious) games.
It's really a very well-rounded testament to a very well-rounded system. You have your platformers, i.e. Sonic, Kid Chameleon, and Ristar. You have your beat-em-ups, i. e. Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Shinobi, and Comix Zone. You have your puzzler, i.e. Columns. You have your RPG's, i.e. Phantasy Star. You have a traditional fighter in the good, but heart-breakingly obsolete Genesis version of Virtua Fighter 2. And last and least you have Flicky. Yeah, I've never heard of anyone who really, truly likes Flicky.
However, while very well-rounded and packed to the brim with classics, it does leave a little to be desired... foremost is Streets of Rage. I can't figure out why Streets of Rage isn't on the disc... it's not like it's any more violent than Golden Axe. The collection also could've used some of Yu Suzuki's classic arcade titles, such as Space Harrier, Outrun, After Burner, or Hang-On. I also think that Sega owns the rights to Gunstar Heroes, and if that is so the case, then it's absence is startling. And last but not least, Sega had a couple of great first-party sports titles that could've rounded out the package well, especially with a good racing title. And I'm sure people would've loved to have seen Sega buy out the (surely dirt cheap) rights to Zero WIng, just for kicks.
The interviews leave a bit to be desired, unfortunately. It's strangely more targeted towards a "Look what we can do NOW" orientation, than what is more expected and accepted in a "Gee, we sure were cool back then" type deal. However, it more than makes up for this with Zaxxon being in the extra features... who doesn't like Zaxxon!? The Genesis is the most underrated system of all time, and people don't seem to understand that the Super Nintendo's superior market share on The Genesis really wasn't that iron-handed. The Genesis had a higher market share in the U.S. for two and a half years, and brought the Super Nintendo from a 95% market share to a 35% market share. It's an underdog story that people seem to kick aside because Sega messed with their money-chugging best friend Nintendo, and that's just unforgivable to them. But lemme' tell you friends, the Genesis was much more than a short-lived nuisance. These games are truly grade-A classics and should be held in such high regards as Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, and Star Fox themselves... except for Flicky... that's just trash.