This video was available early to CGQ Patrons and channel members. Please consider supporting the show by following one of the links below. Thank you!!! Patreon: www.patreon.com/cgquarterly Channel membership: bit.ly/2WkqAWu
Really good job on this video. I got my Genesis in 93'-94', and didn't know of more than half of these titles. You didn't even bring up Sonic. If I had to pick the best games for the system, I'd say Castlevania: Bloodlines and Phantasy Star IV, though I love PS II storyline.
@7MGTESupraTurboA oh, I thought it was a release title because my Genesis came with it (original model with headphone jack and volume) and also for a free copy of Sonic 2 by mail in, which came within a months time. i was a happy kid.
@7MGTESupraTurboA go easy on him, ok. He was just a little kid when the Genesis was first released ;) I think it's very cool that CGQ tackled a non-launch year. Would love to see more of it, after the systems had been out a while and were at their peak.
Thanks mate. A 44 yr old middle aged gamer from Sydney Australia. Just bought Sega HD flashback, I having fun buying Sega games off eBay. Lethal Enforcers is my fav with Street Fighter CE. Thanks mate.👍💻
It's a shame that hes not doing radio broadcasting or professional voice overs. Hes got one of the most amazing voices ever and its surprising that big networks havnt picked him up yet.
Bruh, you totally didn't even have blast processing..My Genesis processed by BLASTING! Bro, It blasted to process..lol You remember those commercials? Look, NONE of us had any idea what the hell "blast processing" was, but bet your ass we bragged about having it haha 😂
@@mike04574which system being better is all subjective and it doesn’t matter anymore what matters is both systems are great and represent the greatest period in gaming.
Love these vids, and mostly agree, but I strongly disagree on the assessment of Sword of Vermillion. It was a great RPG for its time. It was one of the first games with a battery backup and multiple save slots. The battery was guaranteed for 5 years, but mine was still working when I sold it in 2018. It took about 25 hours to finish -- unheard of at that time. The music is still the best of any RPG I've played. But the best aspect was that the battle scenes weren't just pick spell, push button. You had to fight them, and earn your way through. And there were a few surprises in the storyline. I thought it was better than Phantasy Star and PS2, but not better than PS3 or the legendary PS 4.
I always thought Sega was cool, it had some great graphics and games, but I HATED the controllers. They felt so bulky and cumbersome in comparison to NES and SNES. Even the smaller Sega controllers still just felt weird to me. I am sure they were made for larger hands due to the demographic though so I don't hate on Sega for it. I remember playing Batman and Robin non stop when I was young on Sega but I only knew of a single person with a Sega and they only had the generic games like Sonic and Knuckles type games so I never really got exposure to the system.
In a way I fee Like sonic ruined Sega in the sense of everyone associated the Sega name with only sonic. Forgetting they had all these grist games before it.
@@fatalvision2 Sega gets too bad of a reputation for a lot of things. Sonic, the Sega cd (Only because of the FMV games...which weren't even anywhere near the majority of the library, also forgetting it had some AMAZING games. Now...32x was crap but even Nintendo had some flop systems too. (The Virtual Boy, etc.) they did some really, really good stuff.
You always do such a wonderful job of capturing what it was like back then in your narrative and the use of video game magazines and their advertisements and reviews. Very well written, informative and descriptive. And FUN. Great job, as usual, CGQ!
So happy to see another one of these videos out. You can tell the time and effort you put into these, and it doesn't go unnoticed. Your videos are a big reason why I got back into playing old video games. Needless to say you're easily one of the best classic video game youtubers out there. Keep up the great work dude!
1990 was a hell of year for games that year not just from the Genesis ike SMB 3 from the NES, Bonk's Adventure for the TG16 to just name a few. Theres was a charm about those early Genesis games I loved that I cant really explain, just gotta play it to know what I mean. One of my favorites that year was Castle of Illusion. Such a great game that I felt it was slept on because it was a Disney game & its Mickey Mouse. Love that game as a kid & still do to this very day. Also I loved how Sega use the black grid template for all the box art which they end up changing in '93 or '94 I think when the new model of the Genesis was releasing
Good stuff. My 1990 top 20 based on the US dates: Thunder Force III Herzog Zwei Ghostbusters Fire Shark/Same! Same! Same! Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi ESWAT: City Under Siege/Cyber Police: ESWAT Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse Target Earth/Assault Suit Leynos Burning Force Columns Trampoline Terror! Klax Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Zoom! Mystic Defender/Kujaku Ou 2: Geneijou Shove It! ...The Warehouse Game/Shijou Saidai no Soukoban After Burner II Zany Golf Granada Phantasy Star II, Whip Rush, Hellfire or Strider/Strider Hiryuu
Herzog Zwei is in my top 5 all time. I bought it from one of the guys that I used to sit with at lunch when I was a sophomore in HS, all of us had Master Systems and we all got the Genesis the Christmas when it was released. (Kinda interesting that all of us had Sega consoles instead of Nintendo and we didn't realize that when we started sitting together at lunch.) In any case one of the guys said he got this new game over the weekend and was going on about how he hated it. I happen to have $20 in my pocket and told him I'd buy it from him for the twenty I had if he hated it that much. Next day I had Herzog Zewi in my hands... Similar to how the original Phantasy Star changed my idea of what video games could be, this game made me realize how awesome strategy games could be and even more so when playing against another player. I played this game like mad and over the summer our friend from down the street would come over regularly and play this game for hours. (Best $20 I ever spent.) Even all these years later you can still pick this up and it is just as fun to dive into or play against someone. The game play, music and visuals are all excellent. P.S. Awesome video as well.
Herzog Zwei is my #1 Genesis game. The game was misunderstood and hated when it came out as the strategy genre was brand new. While EGM did give it abysmal scores upon its release, they later included it in their top 100 and top 150 games of all time. Hopefully it will come out on the switch next year (Sega AGES lineup).
I know you don't upload much, but much like the Gaming Historian.. I can appreciate the effort you put into your videos. They are very insightful. I grew up in the early 90's so I'm in my late 20's. I always considered myself a pretty hardcore kind of gamer but thanks to people like you guys, there are tons of things I didn't even know back then. I just think gaming history is really cool.
I've heard some youtubers claim that you need to keep up a constant uploads schedule and release something at least once a week to grow your channel and keep your audience, but CGQ manages to get hundreds of thousands of views on these types of videos in spite of them coming out once in a blue moon. Proof that quality over quantity can work, even on youtube.
@JamezMorriz 1134 The Master system and the genesis are still relevant in Brazil because there’s high import taxes which make modern systems really expensive. The PS4 there is the equivalent of over $1000, and SEGA has a official supplier over there, bypassing import taxes. But these Genesis and Master systems don’t play cartridges. A lot of them are plug and play systems with built in games. One system even had a special audio chip, a guitar, and a guitar hero style genesis game that even had All Star. I just learned it from this video, I’m American. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MU29Wqg_BVo.html
Columns is so much better than Tetris, for me at least. Simpler and easier to control. That was indeed Malibu from American Gladiators in the Genesis Does ad.
That was one of the FASTEST hours ever. In ‘90, I was still a C64 user for the most part, until I got an NES for Christmas. While I knew of the Genesis, thanks to video game magazines, I was a staunch Nintendo fan for the next couple of years- which was my loss. That said, it’s been great to get into the Genesis as an old man and play many of the games mentioned here for the first time over the last few years. The music and sound always stand out to me; they have a unique quality to them, similar to how the TG16 has its own sound... and I’ve definitely learned to appreciate it more instead of frowning on it and saying that the SNES “just sounds better”. You put a ton of work into this episode and it’s greatly appreciated. I had a blast watching it and taking my own trip down memory lane.
I read your comment and I became when I realized you didn't know the joys of blast processing..I mean...Come on.It was BLAST PROCESSING! It was a process where the processor would process by BLASTING! So, you has blasts everywhere..Just processing and blasting, blasting and processing. It's no big deal, and I don't like to brag, but I'm basically an expert when it comes to blast processing and blast processor components...haha You remember those funny ass commercials? None of us had any idea what the hell "blast processing" was, but bet your ass we bragged about having it..lol
As a child of the late 80’s-early 90’s, this video is a nostalgia bomb! And it’s really well-made too! I’m going to sign up to support this channel on Patreon, thanks for the quality work!
Man, I rented and played SO many of these games, that I had completely forgotten about until seeing this video! Technocop, for example. Wow. Thanks for the memories.
I remember going to the store to buy Alex Kidd for the Genesis, but ended up looking at and instead purchasing Phantasy Star II. The "6 MEGA" sticker on it got my attention. Best decision ever. And.. they HAD to include that book because otherwise those dungeons (mazes) would have been frustrating as heck to navigate without a map.. going up and down all those floors.
That's how much money you'd need to pay for a full game these days, $60 plus the $50 season pass, add on microtransactions, cosmetics, and "time-savers." Gotta love modern gaming!
I traded a copy of Joe Montana football for a copy of golden axe in the mid 90s and my mom got mad at me for “giving away my games” and made me get it back and return golden axe. I was not happy.
I pumped so many quarters into the Golden Axe when I was a kid, Forgotten Worlds also, which was much more fun to play in the arcade with the special spinner knob. I later got both of those games for my Genesis, in am very grateful for when I grew up.
Shadow Dancer is underrated, it's quite different to the other Mega Drive Shinobis. It's more of a quick arcade experience but the gameplay is awesome I think, especially when it comes to learning the unique behavior of each enemy type and how to dispatch each type of Ninja, which is very tactical and satisfying. It's the one I go back to the most. Plus the music is excellent and the dog is fun too.
I always really enjoyed fighting the ninja enemies in Shadow Dancer. They had a varied move set and were tricky to take down. Yeah, fighting them did feel tactical in a way. They were impressive enemies for the time of release and the best part of the game, IMO.
@@Zeffarian Indeed once you have learnt the behaviour of each ninja type, countering their moves with well-timed slashes / jump kicks and predicting where they will land to avoid them is one of the best things about the game, never gets old. I usually play it on hard with non-shuriken now for the ultimate challenge. The original Shinobi 1 arcade is similar and well worth playing on MAME etc, although the arcade Shadow Dancer is not quite as good
a fantastic and professional documentary. solid production values and always great to see gameplay rather than still images. highly recommend any retro game fan to watch this.
You're saying it wrong. It's not six mega bits. It's *SIIIIIIIIXXXXXXXX MEEEEEGGGGGAAAAA BIIIIIIIITS!!!* At least that's what years of watching Game Sack has taught me. Awesome video. Though funny enough at the start when you mention where gaming was at in the beginning of 1990 it's easy to see why some people went for the Turbographx 16. I knew a few people who did so I got to experience it with them and it still pains me that it did so poorly, but watching this it's easy to see why that two year period before the SNES came out was dominated by Sega. They were firing on all cylinders.
This was a great video. It really took me back. One small correction: Golden Axe & Revenge of Shinobi were released in the U.S. on the same day. I know because I'm (unfortunately) old enough to remember. I made my mom call Toys r us almost every day for weeks asking them if they were in stock yet. Finally, they were released and we went down and got them. What an amazing couple of games those were.
You made her call every single day for 2 weeks?? Haha 😂..That is kinda awesome..I was the same way with a few games and I have truly awesome memories of my mom taking me to pick up a new game..Best times of my childhood!
I really missed watching your videos! Its been a while! Absolutely love the content you are making. Your narrating is top notch and I really feel well informed about what it was like to have a Genesis in 1990. I was born that year so my Genesis was passed on to me when the N64 came out. One of my favorite consoles ever was my Genesis. I defiantly will be going back into this catalog .
That was great! I love these looks at releases by year, especially because I always learn about a game I either hadn't heard about or wouldn't have otherwise looked at. I couldn't afford gaming magazines back in the day, so outside of 'news' from other kids at school, I really wasn't plugged in to what was going on and trips to TrU and the like to see what was out were rare. After watching this episode, I feel compelled to try Phantasy Star II, Hellfire, and Shadow Dancer (Granada's been on my list for a bit) since I either didn't know much about them or hadn't heard of them. I know these 'long form' and 'in depth looks' take a lot of time and effort, so I just want to reiterate that these episodes are always appreciated as is the time and effort it takes you to painstakingly craft them.
In the nineties, there was one thing we all were crazy for - arcade perfection. Truxton was one of the first shooters to give us that, and I believe that's why it sold so good - it was finally like having a coin-op at home!
Another great video. On top of your meticulous research and excellent speaking voice, I can't give enough credit to the quality of your writing. The final product is a labor of love that's well worth the wait between uploads.
I really appreciate your balance and honesty in these videos. E.g Your comments about Strider, I completely agree, but it seems like in the retro gaming community there is a tendency to overhype virtually every game, so it's actually really good to identify the titles truly worth playing today. So also for that reason I love your channel, as you present the videos in a completely unbiased documentary style, but then we also get a bit of your own commentary/opinion which keeps it feeling personal and actually more informative as a result.
To be fair, Strider was a never-seen-before kind of game. Those graphics, animations, the ambience, the gravity-based gameplay, and the feel of a cinematic adventure (stage 2 is notable in this department since you start by fighting wolves in a plain, then you get into a base, fight a giant gorilla mech, get to the roof by climbing the walls and using ciruclar elevators, fight a jet-pack guy on the roof then run down a minefielded snowy slope, ending it with a huge jump to reach some electrical outdoors facility, get to its highest point then have to jump from small airship to small airship until you reach a huge battleship where the stage boss awaits (three karateka girls). All this is in a single stage, with a seamless change of tone and musics throughout. The feel of exploration was incredible, the sky changes color throughout because you start the stage at dawn and end it at dusk. Yeah, the game is not perfect but it was ground-breaking at the time. It made me daydream a lot (I was 10 I think) and made the hero, Strider Hiryuu, the coolest video game hero ever at the time. Now that I think about it, Strider is like "what if Star Wars : Jedi Fallen Order was a genesis 2D game", without the Metroidvania element. You have the same feeling of traversing amazing environments while on a grand action-packed adventure. And that OST
Had a lot of fun with the Genesis. Got it a launch, had to beg my mom , telling her it could be my younger brother and i both Christmas gift. Firing up Altered Beast for the first time blew us away. Many nights of playing Golden Axe coop was a blast.
@Mr.splinter sub While it is true that the SNES used various chips and mappers in some games to do more complex visual tricks. The SNES out of the box could do many different graphics modes (not just mode 7) and could have more colors on (depending on the mode used). The addtional chips in cartridges did give more power to the SNES. However the SNES out the box *was* graphically powerful in its time. I would not call the SNES a frankenstien mess... (Please elaborate I am curious what you mean by that) I would give that description to the Genesis with all the addons attached with a mess of 3 power supplies. It is so stupid looking (expecially the 32x) that I can't help but smile at it. The hardware definately gave the graphics and sound for the games got a boost, but not enough *great* games were made. Perhaps if more games were made... But hey I got off track. The most important thing to consider was not how potentialy powerful either console was, but rather how progrmmmers and artists used the hardware. Hardware is only as impressive as the software that runs on it. That is why I love the Genesis and the Super Nintendo, they had great games that used the hardware in cool ways. link to SNES games that use additional chips (I am not sure if it is comprehensive) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_NES_enhancement_chips Information on the Genesis graphics megacatstudios.com/blogs/press/sega-genesis-mega-drive-vdp-graphics-guide-v1-2a-03-14-17 Information on SNES graphics modes m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5SBEAZIfDAg.html
I am mesmerized every time I watch an episode of CGQ, one of the greatest game channels here on RU-vid. Tons of interesting information regarding old consoles and games and their respective histories made this channel not only fun, but cultural important as well. Long Live, CGQ! Best wishes from Brazil!
Wow! I don't remember this promotion at all. I got Super Monaco GP via a free game promotion in 1990. All the other games you could pick from were sports titles or Columns. I love Super Monaco GP, but I wish I could have got Truxton!
Genesis was my favorite system. I'll never forget playing Castle of Illusion and the many shmups released for the system. It was my favorite era in gaming. The Genesis just had a certain darker atmosphere in its games that I just loved, for example in Streets of Rage, when you're walking down that alley in the slums and trash is blowing by, wow.
I appreciate Sega now more than I did when it was out. Esp for all the arcadey games and pick up and play, which I have more time for. Back then though, I wanted long games like Zelda, Secret of Mana, etc...
Truxton was and always will be one of my favorite games ever!! So happy to see you talk about it. I feel it's a game that not alot of people know about.
Sega Genesis is so underrated it's criminal. It's value in the collector market is puzzling, it's got the most collectable boxes and art. To me, it's the king, I still have my launch console.
@@moviemetalhead Yeah, it is. But Genesis had a much better library. Also, seeing as I was already an adult when I bought these I definitely have first hand experience. Where you even a gleam in your dad's eye at that point. I was working in the industry during this era, so I know what's what.
@@Gorilla_Jones I love how you assume I'm a kid and don't know what I'm talking about. I was 8 when the Genesis came out. And this is coming from someone who grew up on Nintendo. Seeing as how it was part of the console wars(which I lived) it was NOT underrated. It was at the forefront.
Great video, really brings back memories. Also has gotten me interested in some of the Genesis’s early releases that I might not have been interested in.
Hard Drivin gets so much hate on the Genesis... considering the hardware, it's an amazing port that is extremely playable despite the choppy, boxy graphics. I mean really, a 3D polygonal racer with proper physics, drifting, etc, on a 7 MHz Genesis? Give credit where credit is due!
On the Phantasy Star part where it is showed the villain, a brazilian ad can be seen, and it says with big letters "It lasts 3 months". That's a funny selling point, specially for the time.
