Sega Genesis - Legacy and Revival

Legacy and Revival

The Sega Genesis and Mega Drive has often been considered among the best video game consoles ever produced. In 2009, IGN named the Sega Genesis the fifth best video game console, citing its edge in sports games, the better home version of Mortal Kombat, and stating "what some consider to be the greatest controller ever created: the six button". In 2007, GameTrailers named the Sega Genesis as the sixth best console of all time in their list of top ten consoles that "left their mark on the history of gaming", noting its great games, a solid controller, and the "glory days" of Sonic The Hedgehog. In January 2008 technology columnist Don Reisinger proclaimed that the Sega Genesis "created the industry's best console war to date", citing Sonic The Hedgehog, superior sports games, and backwards compatibility with the Sega Master System. GamingExcellence also gave the Sega Genesis sixth place in 2008, declaring "one can truly see the Genesis for the gaming milestone it was". At the same time, GameDaily rated it ninth of ten for its memorable games.

A number of Mega Drive games have been released on compilation discs. These include Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Gems Collection for PS2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube; Sega Genesis Collection for PS2 and PSP and most recently Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (known as the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection in PAL territories) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which also supports Achievements/Trophies for various actions across all games and graphic smoothing. Some versions do feature slight emulation issues, such as sound problems on the Sega Genesis Collection. However, the more recent compilations have save states which work exactly like the save states on computer emulators in that they will save the exact point and conditions that the game was in when a player saved it. The usage of these states do not disqualify a player from acquiring a trophy/achievement in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, as it is a supported game feature.

During his keynote speech at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that Sega was going to make a number of Genesis/Mega Drive titles available to download on the Wii's Virtual Console. These games are now available along with other systems' titles under the Wii's Virtual Console. At launch the 16-bit Sega games available on the North American Virtual Console were Altered Beast and Sonic the Hedgehog. In Europe Ecco the Dolphin and Golden Axe were also available in addition to the titles available in North America. There are also select Mega Drive titles available on the Xbox 360 such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2.

On May 22, 2006, North American company Super Fighter Team released Beggar Prince, a game translated from a 1996 Chinese original. It was released worldwide and was the first commercial Genesis game release in North America since 1998. On December 3, 2008, Super Fighter Team released Legend of Wukong, another translation of a 1996 Chinese game. Like Beggar Prince, it released worldwide and was the second North American commercial release since 1998. On November 13, 2010, Super Fighter Team announced Star Odyssey at the Retro-gaming Connexion event in Crégy-Lès-Meaux, France. Originally released in Japan under the title Blue Almanac, the game was slated for release in the US and even advertised in several print magazines, but ultimately the release was cancelled. Super Fighter Team acquired a license from current IP holder Starfish-SD Inc. in order to make an official English release of the game finally possible. It was released on June 22, 2011, exactly twenty years after the June 22, 1991 release of Blue Almanac.

On September 1, 2008, WaterMelon released a demo of Pier Solar and the Great Architects; the game was later released in December 2010. It is not only the first commercial role-playing video game specifically developed for the console since 1996, but also the biggest 16-bit game ever produced at 64 megabits, as well as the only cartridge based game to optionally utilize the Sega CD with a special enhanced soundtrack and sound effects disc. In their 100th blog post, WaterMelon announced that Pier Solar is about to have another production run, and will begin shipping new copies of the game in October or November 2011.

In Brazil the Mega Drive never ceased production, though Tec Toy's current models emulate the original hardware. The latest version, called "Mega Drive Guitar Idol", comes with two six-button joypads and a guitar controller with five fret buttons. The Guitar Idol game contains a mix of Brazilian and international songs. The console has 87 built-in games, including some new ones from Electronic Arts, originally cellphone games: FIFA 2008, Need for Speed Pro Street, The Sims 2 and Sim City. In 2008 Chinese company ATGames produced a new Mega Drive compatible console. It features a top-loading cartridge slot and includes two controllers similar to the six-button controller for the original Mega Drive. The console has 15 games built-in, and is region-free, allowing cartridge games to run regardless of their region of origin. ATGames also produces a handheld version of the console. Both machines have been released in Europe by distributing company Blaze Europe. Mitashi, a consumer appliance manufacturer in India, released a version of the Mega Drive called Game-In Xtreme, with a few built in games. Even though the name 'Mega Drive' has never been mentioned, it plays 16-bit Mega Drive cartridges. In North America during 2009, ATGames released two new officially licensed Genesis consoles: the Firecore and the Gencore. In addition to that, two new officially licensed Genesis portables also made their debut; the Retrogen, and the Genmobile. The Firecore can play newly developed "Truecolor" games. All the consoles ship with twenty official Genesis games built in (with the exception of the Retrogen which, instead, is shipped with twenty homebrew games).