History Platform / SegaGenesis

* TakeThat: The Genesis's ad campaign in America took hearty pot-shots at Nintendo, whether it was comparing Genesis Blast Processing (represented as a drag race car) to a broken down ice cream truck with VideoGame/SuperMarioKart playing on it, or having an ad comparing Nintendo to a bloodsucking mosquito because they charged 10$ more for certain games on the SNES. Heck, their original slogan was "Genesis does what Nintendon't!" They even took snipes at the UsefulNotes/{{3D0}} in later ads, with one ad having both it and the SNES cremated on screen.

* TakeThat: The Genesis's ad campaign in America took hearty pot-shots at Nintendo, whether it was comparing Genesis Blast Processing (represented as a drag race car) to a broken down ice cream truck with VideoGame/SuperMarioKart playing on it, or having an ad comparing Nintendo to a bloodsucking mosquito because they charged 10$ more for certain games on the SNES. Heck, their original slogan was "Genesis does what Nintendon't!" They even took snipes at the UsefulNotes/3D0 in later ads, with one ad having both it and the SNES cremated on screen.

** Sega aimed their console more towards the older game crowd, and was much less strict with censorship than Nintendo was with their games (and not to mention a contrast from Sega's more genial [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]). As if to drive home that they weren't bluffing, instead of a colorful, kid friendly platformer like AlexKidd being the consoles advance man, the systems first pack-in game, ''Altered Beast'', is a arcade beat-em-up, featuring gore, violence and nightmarish content that would ''never'' have been allowed on the NES. This would be followed up with games like ''Techno Cop'' (which showed blood spraying from enemies and victims you shot, ''including children'') and hyper gory horror games like ''Splatterhouse 2'' & ''3''--for wary parents, they included a meager Parental Advisory warning on those certain games. Their port of Mortal Kombat also kept the arcades beloved blood and gore intact (albiet you needed a cheat code to turn them on), unlike the heavily censored SNES port. Their advertisements likewise had a very abrasive, "in-your-face" attitude (and an occasional penchant for innuendos and raunchy humor) that staunchly contrasted Nintendo's more wholesome image, and weren't above making [[TakeThat mean spirited snipes at the competition.]] Ironically, Sega briefly started their own rating system, the Videogame Rating Council, to combat bad PR from the fallout of games they released like the uncensored port of VideoGame/MortalKombat and VideoGame/NightTrap (amusingly, the Mortal Kombat port got an MA-13 rating from them due to the gore needing a code to unlock, while the Sega CD version, which had the gore uncensored off the bat and needed a code to turn the gore ''off'', got an MA-17 rating instead). It was quickly phased out in 1994 in lieu of adopting the ESRB rating system.
** Even their advertisements were a big contrast from Nintendo's; they took the 90's "in your face" punk culture and cranked it up to a very aggressive level, also including [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar adult innuendos and in-jokes]]. They loved taking snipes at their competitors like Nintendo either.

* TakeThat: The Genesis's ad campaign in America took hearty pot-shots at Nintendo. After all, "Genesis does what Nintendon't!"

** Sega aimed their console more towards the older game crowd, and was much less strict with censorship than Nintendo was with their games (and not to mention a contrast from Sega's more genial [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]). As if to drive home that they weren't bluffing, instead of a colorful, kid friendly platformer like AlexKidd being the consoles advance man, the systems first pack-in game, ''Altered Beast'', is a arcade beat-em-up, featuring gore, violence and nightmarish content that would ''never'' have been allowed on the NES. This would be followed up with games like ''Techno Cop'' (which showed blood spraying from enemies and victims you shot, ''including children'') realistic fighting games like ''Pit Fighter'' and ''Splatterhouse 2'' & ''3''--for wary parents, they included a meager Parental Advisory warning on those certain games. Their port of Mortal Kombat also kept the arcades beloved blood and gore intact (albiet you needed a cheat code to turn them on), unlike the heavily censored SNES port. Their advertisements likewise had a very abrasive, "in-your-face" attitude (and an occasional penchant for innuendos and raunchy humor) that staunchly contrasted Nintendo's more wholesome image, and weren't above making [[TakeThat mean spirited snipes at the competition.]] Ironically, Sega briefly started their own rating system, the Videogame Rating Council, to combat bad PR from the fallout of games they released like the uncensored port of VideoGame/MortalKombat and VideoGame/NightTrap (amusingly, the Mortal Kombat port got an MA-13 rating from them due to the gore needing a code to unlock, while the Sega CD version, which had the gore uncensored off the bat and needed a code to turn the gore ''off'', got an MA-17 rating instead). It was quickly phased out in 1994 in lieu of adopting the ESRB rating system.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Sega aimed their console more towards the older game crowd, and was much less strict with censorship than Nintendo was with their games (and not to mention a contrast from Sega's more genial [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]). As if to drive home that they weren't bluffing, instead of a colorful, kid friendly platformer like AlexKidd being the consoles advance man, the systems first pack-in game, ''Altered Beast'', is a arcade beat-em-up, featuring gore, violence and nightmarish content that would ''never'' have been allowed on the NES. This would be followed up with games like ''Techno Cop'' (which showed blood spraying from enemies and victims you shot, ''including children'') realistic fighting games like ''Pit Fighter'' and ''VideoGame/Splatterhouse2'' and ''VideoGame/Splatterhouse3''--for wary parents, they included a meager Parental Advisory warning on those certain games. Their port of Mortal Kombat also kept the arcades beloved blood and gore intact (albiet you needed a cheat code to turn them on), unlike the heavily censored SNES port. Their advertisements likewise had a very abrasive, "in-your-face" attitude (and an occasional penchant for innuendos and raunchy humor) that staunchly contrasted Nintendo's more wholesome image, and weren't above making [[TakeThat mean spirited snipes at the competition.]] Ironically, Sega briefly started their own rating system, the Videogame Rating Council, to combat bad PR from the fallout of games they released like the uncensored port of VideoGame/MortalKombat and VideoGame/NightTrap (amusingly, the Mortal Kombat port got an MA-13 rating from them due to the gore needing a code to unlock, while the Sega CD version, which had the gore uncensored off the bat and needed a code to turn the gore ''off'', got an MA-17 rating instead). It was quickly phased out in 1994 in lieu of adopting the ESRB rating system.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Sega aimed their console more towards the older game crowd, and was much less strict with censorship than Nintendo was with their games (and not to mention a contrast from Sega's more genial [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]). As if to drive home that they weren't bluffing, instead of a colorful, kid friendly platformer like AlexKidd being the consoles advance man, the systems first pack-in game, ''Altered Beast'', is a arcade beat-em-up, featuring gore, violence and nightmarish content that would ''never'' have been allowed on the NES. Their port of Mortal Kombat also kept the arcades beloved blood and gore intact (albiet you needed a cheat code to turn them on), unlike the heavily censored SNES port. Their advertisements likewise had a very abrasive, "in-your-face" attitude (and an occasional penchant for innuendos and raunchy humor) that staunchly contrasted Nintendo's more wholesome image, and weren't above making [[TakeThat mean spirited snipes at the competition.]] Ironically, Sega briefly started their own rating system, the Videogame Rating Council, to combat bad PR from the fallout of games they released like the uncensored port of VideoGame/MortalKombat and VideoGame/NightTrap (amusingly, the Mortal Kombat port got an MA-13 rating from them due to the gore needing a code to unlock, while the Sega CD version, which had the gore uncensored off the bat and needed a code to turn the gore ''off'', got an MA-17 rating instead). It was quickly phased out in 1994 in lieu of adopting the ESRB rating system.

** LighterAndSofter: Their biggest breadwinners ended up being their most family friendly titles ([[BadButt albeit with a light streak of 'tude]]), namely the first two SonicTheHedgehog games and the Disney Aladdin video game. VideoGame/CastleOfIllusion was another early hit for the system that completely contrasted the consoles edgier image. And to hit this trope home, Sega even released a Series/{{Barney|AndFriends}} game. For the records, there were no Barney games for other consoles.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: While Sega was much more lenient with what content could be included in their games, they did draw the line at outright nudity. When the computer game ''Stormlord'' was ported to the Genesis, Sega forced Razor Soft to give the fairies clothing (in the original game, they were nude). Oddly enough, ''Mystic Defender'', an early game for the console, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar had a very brief bit of female nudity at the end.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Sega aimed their console more towards the older game crowd, and was much less strict with censorship than Nintendo was with their games (and not to mention a contrast from Sega's more genial [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]). As if to drive home that they weren't bluffing, instead of a colorful, kid friendly platformer like AlexKidd being the consoles advance man, the systems first pack-in game, ''Altered Beast'', is a arcade beat-em-up, featuring gore, violence and nightmarish content that would ''never'' have been allowed on the NES. Their port of Mortal Kombat also kept the arcades beloved blood and gore intact (albiet you needed a cheat code to turn them on), unlike the heavily censored SNES port. Their advertisements likewise had a very abrasive, "in-your-face" attitude (and an occasional penchant for innuendos and raunchy humor) that staunchly contrasted Nintendo's more wholesome image, and weren't above making [[TakeThat mean spirited snipes at the competition.]] Ironically, Sega started their own rating system, the Videogame Rating Council, to combat bad PR from the fallout of games they released like VideoGame/NightTrap.

* {{Bowderlize}}: While Sega was much more lenient with what content could be included in their games, they did draw the line at outright nudity. When the computer game ''Stormlord'' was ported to the Genesis, Sega forced Razor Soft to give the fairies clothing (in the original game, they were nude). Oddly enough, ''Mystic Defender'', an early game for the console, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar had a very brief bit of female nudity at the end.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Sega aimed their console more towards the older game crowd, and was much less strict with censorship than Nintendo was with their games (and not to mention a contrast from Sega's more genial [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]). As if to drive home that they weren't bluffing, instead of a colorful, kid friendly platformer like AlexKidd being the consoles advance man, the systems first pack-in game, ''Altered Beast'', is a arcade beat-em-up, featuring gore, violence and nightmarish content that would ''never'' have been allowed on the NES. Their port of Mortal Kombat also kept the arcades beloved blood and gore intact (albiet you needed a cheat code to turn them on), unlike the heavily censored SNES port. Their advertisements likewise had a very abrasive, "in-your-face" attitude (and an occasional penchant for innuendos and raunchy humor) that staunchly contrasted Nintendo's more wholesome image, and weren't above making [[TakeThat mean spirited snipes at the competition.]]
** LighterAndSofter: Ironically, their biggest breadwinners ended up being their most family friendly titles ([[BadButt albeit with a light streak of 'tude]]), namely the first two SonicTheHedgehog games and the Disney Aladdin video game. VideoGame/CastleOfIllusion was another early hit for the system that completely contrasted the consoles edgier image. And to hit this trope home, Sega even released a Series/{{Barney|AndFriends}} game. For the records, there were no Barney games for other consoles.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'': The ''other'' flagship platformer for the Mega Drive, and second-best selling Mega Drive game at 6 million units.

'''Sega 32X''': Originally conceived as the ''Neptune'', a cartridge-based 32-bit system to go with Sega's later CD-based system, the ''Sega Saturn'', the add-on boasted two 32-bit processors and primitive 3D graphics capabilities, and was marketed as an opportunity for consumers to get a head start on the 32-bit generation. Unfortunately, both consumers and developers knew that the superior Saturn was just around the corner (even though Sega themselves believed the 32X and Saturn could co-exist, with casual gamers gravitating towards the cheaper 32X while the Saturn was reserved for the hardcore crowd), and titles for the add-on were few and far between. Some previous Sega CD games were also re-released on the 32X to take advantage of the system's improved processing.

* ''Disney/TheJungleBook''

* The console has a 16/32-Bit [[UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit Motorola 68000]] runs at 7.68 [=MHz=] (varies per region). The 16-bit part was prominently used as a marketing point over the 8-bit NES. Its arithmetic and logic unit is 16 bits wide, but its registers are 32 bits wide. This CPU used microcode to emulate 32 bit instructions in hardware slower than a full 32 bit processor, but faster than emulating the 32 bit instructions in 16 bit software.

* The console has a 16-Bit [[UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit Motorola 68000]] runs at 7.68 [=MHz=] (varies per region). The 16-bit part was prominently used as a marketing point over the 8-bit NES.

** Sixth channel can be used a software mixing channel for PCM

* PolygonCeiling: Towards the end of its life in the mid-nineties Sega attempted to create (at least the illusion of) 3D games on the system, such as with ''Sonic3DBlast'', ''Vectorman 2'', certain levels in ''[[Franchise/JurassicPark The Lost World]]'', the WesternAnimation/ToyStory video game, and others. While the graphics were ambitious for a 16-bit system, the gameplay tended to suffer as a result. Virtua Racing managed to break through it thanks to using the Sega Virtua Processor chip to allow real time 3D graphics, but the added cost of this chip (which skyrocketed the game's cost to 100$) kept anymore games with the SVP from being made.

* ''KnucklesChaotix''

** ''VideoGame/James Pond 2: Codename [=RoboCod=]''

* ''VideoGame/AfterBurner''

* ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Remix'': '''Very''' close to the arcade original in terms of gameplay, and with some sweet extras that other console versions lacked. A fan-favorite of both 32X owners and ''Virtua Fighter'' fans.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The system was never a huge success in Japan compared to the Main/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem and the Main/PCEngine (the Turbo Grafix-16 in Japan), but it was ridiculously popular in the rest of the world, especially North America and Europe. In fact, the Mega Drive outsold the SNES in countries like the United States and United Kingdom, thanks to being released two years before the SNES, promoting it as a more "edgy and cool" system, and the critical and commercial success of the Main/SonicTheHedgehog games. In fact, the only reason the SNES was able to outsell the Mega Drive in North America during the dying days of the 16-bit era was thanks to the release of VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: One of the 32x commercials had a Mega Drive [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything laying on a bed as the 32x came down]]. "Alright, bay-bay..."

* ProductFacelift: The Mega Drive went through the most redesigns of ''any'' video game console in history--first, there's the model 1, which also has a link port (meant for the cancelled Sega Meganet) in the very, very earliest models, the more famous, streamlined model 2 Mega Drive, the Sega CDX which was a clever (but expensive) hybrid of the Mega Drive and Sega CD, the JVC [=X'Eye/Wondermega=] which was similar in concept to the CDX and also had enhanced sound capability (and a $500 price tag to match), the Model 3 Genesis from Majesco (Never released outside of North America), which was as big as the ''controller'', and then there's the Sega Meganet/The Sega Nomad, both of which are literally portable Sega Mega Drive consoles! There is even a licensed version of the Mega Drive, first released in Europe, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Ey5zKKldY AtGames Sega Mega Drive 20-in-1 Game Console]], which contains 20 games built into the console and has RegionCoding fully unlocked, is even smaller than the Model 3 Genesis, and has unofficially been dubbed the "Model 4 Genesis". This version made it to the United States shortly thereafter, and comes packed with 80 games.
** There were ''two'' different types of Mega Drive controllers. The first is the classic three button Sega Mega Drive controller, and the second is a six button Mega Drive controller enhanced for fighting games such as ''Street Fighter'' (called a ''Sega Fighting Pad 6B'' in Japan). Then theres the official Arcade Pad versions of those controllers (same button layout, but with gumball joysticks and turbo options). That's not even counting the Sega Menacer, a light gun peripheral which is Sega's answer to the Super Scope for the SNES, and the Sega Activator, which had clunky controls and ultimately failed to catch on.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Sega aimed their console more towards the older game crowd, and was much less strict with censorship than Nintendo was with their games (and not to mention a contrast from Sega's more genial [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]). As if to drive home that they weren't bluffing, instead of a colorful, kid friendly platformer like AlexKidd being the consoles advance man, the systems first pack-in game, AlteredBeast, is a arcade beat-em-up, featuring gore, violence and nightmarish content that would ''never'' have been allowed on the NES. Their port of Mortal Kombat also kept the arcades beloved blood and gore intact (albiet you needed a cheat code to turn them on), unlike the heavily censored SNES port. Their advertisements likewise had a very abrasive, "in-your-face" attitude (and an occasional penchant for innuendos and raunchy humor) that staunchly contrasted Nintendo's more wholesome image, and weren't above making [[TakeThat mean spirited snipes at the competition.]]

* RegionCoding: Averted. The Mega Drive/Genesis was notable for not only being region-free early through the console's life, but even after region-locked games was introduced, it was found that the console can easily be modded because Sega made it so that changing the region of the console was as easy as moving some jumpers around on the motherboard, and thus it was trivial to mod the console just by soldering in some switches one can procure at most hobbyist outlets. You may still need to mod the case if you have a Japanese Mega Drive however (due to Japanese cartridges being of a slightly different shape), and a world-multi TV may be needed for out of region games.