Exactly 20 Years ago, came out Megadrive.

[Adol]

On 29th October (midnight here in France) 1988,came out one of the most fantastic video game systems ever created: Megadrive, from Sega.
20 years already!
And a lot of memories for everyone,huh?

[JAPJAC]

Happy Birthday Megadrive!

I remember waiting in Shekhana London for the first shipment of Japanese machines into England and walking away with the 12th and last one they got that day (500 quid poorer). I was so happy, going from a 48k Spectrum to that was the biggest leap ever.

Not many people in England had one so early on as you can see here! Here`s me rubbing shoulders with Julian Rignall with my Altered Beast highscore as printed in C&VG and some Complete Guide to Consoles. The funny thing was that I later knocked him off (not in that way) his Thundeforce 2 score and enjoyed reminding him years later at the Mean Machines offices but did think it was mint that he was honest enough to replace his score with one from a 11 year old school boy at the time. Respect. Taking a picture of the score with an analog camera, waiting for the film to be used up, having it developed, sending it in with a cover letter by post, waiting for the magazine to hit the shelves, we are talking weeks! Wonderful memories:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL10/875035/15554311/334623906.jpg

I used to love my MD but then the SFC came out and made it look very silly in nearly every genre from that day on. It was fun whilst it lasted and my favourite MD game ever is the second one I ever got; Thunderforce 2.

I got this book recently, I just `picked it up` from the shelf in a newsagents. It`s really good, please `pick it up` from your newsagents if you can:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL10/875035/15554311/336926685.jpg

Some of the Sega guys are having a MD celebration drink this weekend which I am looking forward to.

Cheers Megadrive!

[Leon Retro]

Happy Birthday Megadrive!

I remember waiting in Shekanna London for the first shipment of Japanese machines into England and walking away with the 12th and last one they got that day (500 quid poorer). I was so happy, going from a 48k Spectrum to that was the biggest leap ever.


Here`s me rubbing shoulders with Julian Rignall with my Altered Beast highscore as printed in C&VG and some Complete Guide to Consoles. The funny thing was that I later knocked him off of his Thundeforce 2 score and enjoyed reminding him years later at the Mean Machines offices. Wonderful memories:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL10/875035/15554311/334623906.jpg

I used to love my MD but then the SFC came out and made it look very silly in every genre from that day on. It was fun whilst it lasted and my favourite MD game ever is the second one I ever got; Thunderforce 2.

I got this book recently, I just `picked it up` from the shelf in a newsagents. It`s really good, please `pick it up` from your newsagents if you can:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL10/875035/15554311/336926685.jpg

Cheers Megadrive!

Happy Birthday Mega Drive

I was late to the party - because I didn't have one until 1991. I went to a Console Fair in London for my birthday - and bought a Japanese machine with Sonic1, Castle Of Illusion, and Wrestle War.

Sonic was a revelation. The visuals, speed, music, everything was perfect and still is.

Castle Of Illusion offered a magical Disney experience - with it's breathtakingly detailed visuals - and brilliant sound.

Wrestle War was also pretty good.


6months later - I was bought a SuperFamicom for xmas - and it went on to dominate my gaming life; even though the MD still offered the odd thrill now and then.


With reference to your post, JAPJAC. One of my best friends bought his first import SuperNintendo from Shekanna in Tottenham Court Road. It was a shop you could rely on.

I was also a big fan of Julian Rignall, because he loved consoles, shoot 'em ups, and just came across as a nice guy, who loved gaming with a passion. My brother got his autograph at a GamesMaster show; which is a good memory.

The MD is a classic machine - and I enjoy it even more now, than I did in the early 90s. For me... the machine still offers a lot of fun, with it's range of classic games that cover all genres. It's a console that has it's own vibe - and any retro fan should own one.



It's not rare, expensive, or even hardcore, but.. it is my favourite Mega Drive game. Sonic1 Rocks!

[Yakumo]

happy Birthday Mega Drive! i remember only too well when it came out. I sold everything I had worth selling just so I could aford one from those adds in the magazines. 450 pound with 3 games I paid!! happy but poor days. back then you really did put everything you had in to a game just to get the value out of it. Even crap like Altered Beast was played to death.

Yakumo

[JamesBelsey]

I got my imported Megadrive when Castle of Illusion came out. Sold my Atari ST and all the bits that went with it and ordered the Megadrive from some mail order outfit in Liverpool.

I think a week or so went by without it turning up, but with them insisting they had sent it. Eventually the parcel arrived at my door, slightly battered and horribly mis-addressed, but there it was

I later found out that it only turned up at all because a friend of mine's father worked at Royal Mail, and had heard about it being missing, found it and brought it to my house!

Anyway, after that I have nothing but fond memories of the machine, picking up Sonic a few days before release from Boots, playing Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure etc. etc. We also had a video rental store near us that rented imported games, which was great, ah, good times.

Eventually sold the Megadrive to a friend and got myself a Super Nintendo, but always wished I had the money to keep both.

James.

[vanpeebles]

Superb machine I remember getting mine for Christmas, the one with Sonic included. Great times, cracking machine with some superb games. Streets of Rage 2 is still the scrolling beat em up of choice to this day.

[Skull Commander]

I loved the megadrive. I used to play it regular at my friends house. I was astounded by sonic, streets of rage, revenge of shinobi and road rash.

I eventually plumped for the snes, but that didn't stop me swapping with my megadrive owning friends, so we could all play the best games.

Since then I'v owned a couple of megadrives, and still enjoy the games through compilations and download services.

I raise my glass to the Megadrive. Happy birthday!

[CMcK]

20 years! Makes me feel old. I didn't own an MD until the PAL Sonic bundle came along but I used to play on my mates imported system. Couldn't wait to get my own.

I was really impressed with the early titles like Altered Beast, Last Battle, Space Harrier etc. Almost seems laughable now being impressed with Altered Beast! I was quite fortunate that my boss in Clydesdale (electrical retailer for those too young to have heard of it) let me take games home from work on a Saturday to play over the weekend. When a game cost two weeks wages that was a real boon. (Apologies to anyone who bought a game from that store. It may, technically,have been second hand. And that Mega-CD with the copper staples in the packing was a special edition. Ahem.)

The MD was a big leap from the MS and the controller was fantastic. The design of the console was great. Even now it doesn't look dated at all.

I think the MD probably even more than the PS2 was the system that showed the greatest improvement in the quality of games over it's lifetime.
Compare the earlier games to later titles like Gunstar Heroes, Red Zone, Ranger-X and Pugsy you wouldn't even think you were looking at the same system.

It's a shame that Sega still aren't in the hardware business anymore as the combination of in house hardware and software developers produced so many outstanding titles.

Wonder if any of the present generation systems will still be working in twenty years time?

[Soundwave]

Wow has it been that long already???

I remember my mum bought a PAL Megadrive from her friends son for my Brother.
We were lucky because for not much more than £100 we got the Altered Beast pack with a convertor cart Jpn Import Strider & Jpn Batman: The Movie

Was an awesome sight to behold & VERY quickly replaced the NES & Master System we had at the time.

Loved it sooo much
My mate had an import machine & we were regularly lending each other games, still remember the first time I saw Saonic on our VG stall in Pitsea Market.
Looked amazing.
My most treasued game though will always be Gynoug
Was the first game I bough for the machine & to this day I still play it on my brothers machine.

Love the MD I feel the need to dig it out again tonight then for some proper nostalgia

Happy Birthday my friend

Neil

[Kieran76]

My first import was a Megadrive with E-SWAT and it was the first console I bought with my hard earned cash. I was 12 or 13! Makes me feel old.

[Duddyroar]

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL10/875035/15554311/334623906.jpg

God magazines were poorly produced back then weren't they? I can hardly make out the name at all...

I got my Japanese MD for Christmas 1989, along with ESWAT, Golden Axe, Super Monaco GP, Thunderforce II, After Burner II and the LEGENDARY Herzog Zwei. It was, and still is, the best Christmas I have ever experienced.

[Baseley09]

The deffinitive 16bit console.

[capcom_suicide]

I missed the first batch, and Adams world sorted me out a few months later. Nov '89 I think.

I got a JAP machine with Ghouls N Ghosts and Alex Kidd.

To this day I still play GnG at least once a month and still think the Megadrive version is the most playable of all.

Fantastic machine, fantastic memories.

[vanpeebles]

The Megadrive has such a wide range of titles too. Plus you can't beat having a mk1 with the mk1 MegaCD looks the biz. Such a high quality range of games.

[randombs]

Well this is a bit freaky and coincidental - right now I'm playing SOR on my PSP and had the main forum list open and spotted this Megadrive thread

I was jealous of my MS/NES-owning mates (gold Zelda cart!?!?) as we just had our Amstrad CPC464, but then one evening my dad had secretly bought an MD for us from the Loot (UK machine, £60 with Altered Beast, E-Swat and one pad). This was around the end of 1990 I think, although to be honest it's a bit hazy. I'm pretty sure the first proper game my dad bought for the MD was Madden '92 (US) and then we got Sonic and Castle of Illusion (also US), but again I could've sworn we bought Sonic when it was pretty new (after the five-star review in Sega Power). Bah, I just don't know anymore!

I still remember the day we got SOR though (along with a second joypad), that was something special.

Nowadays MD gaming sessions for me are just full of nostalgia. I'll rarely (if at all) play - or even try - an MD game that I hadn't played when I owned mine. So games like Ristar and Gunstar Heroes (although I did buy a US GSH cart off eBay recently) just don't interest me, despite their critical acclaim.

I'm a Sega Boy through and through. I've got Megadrives (six of them for modding which I never got round to doing), a Saturn and DC, and last week I got a Mega Jet from work, and I hope that even though I've completely given up on the current gen (sold my PS3 a few weeks ago after finishing MGS4, haven't had a 360 since the Spring) for now at least, I'll always be playing these old Sega games for years to come.

I'm not really bitter about what happened to Sega, as that's life, and as long as there are TVs with scart sockets I'll be plugging Sega consoles into them