Ur Sega Fandom Entry Point?

[高野和泉]

Did U started in the Arcades or the Consoles? Which title/&-or hardware converted U? Got any anecdotal story U wanna share?

Sega for me was on the console. I'd play the genesis and thinking it was way cooler than the SNES(tho I'd deny it at the time) my family had. Tbh, most likely cuz I had a limited library and I'd get bored beating super mario world for like the hundredth time and my cousin had quite the library cuz their household was a 6 figure income with both working parents. So the mega-drive was basically their babysitter...kinda. Haha.

I remember being truly enthralled when I saw my cousin played this game (Without ever knowing the name):


Sadly, I never got a chance to go at it. But I did played the remakes years later completely by accident. Since I never knew the plot nor its title.

 

[shadowman16]

The Mega Drive was my entry point, with Sonic the Hedgehog I believe. I definitely remember being wowed by Sonic when watching Games Master back in the day and had to play it. Loved Shadow Dancer as well but my MD catalogue was limited to Sonic 1-3 & Knuckles and a few other third party games. I've filled in those gaps throughout the years though.

Sonic 2 probably still remains my favourite MD game, definitely my favourite Sonic game. Its got a ton of fantastic levels, music and just the right level of challenge. Plus I love the legend behind the game - Hidden Palace and the other cut levels. Its just a fascinating game to read about all round.

I never got a Saturn at launch though. I wanted one for the 2D fighters but I ended up with a Playstation instead. I own two Saturns now - a PAL one for Sega games and a Japanese one for imports (mainly Capcom ones). Its probably one of my favourite consoles ever - aside from Capcom's output I just love Panzer Dragoon Saga. Best RPG ever.

The Dreamcast though is still perhaps my most beloved console ever. On the one hand it has some excellent Sega games - Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 (especially 1, that just has a lot of nostalgia for me), Headhunter (super under rated), Jet Set Radio (gorgeous graphics and perfect soundtrack), Crazy Taxi (super addictive and got me into Bad Religion - thanks Sega!) and of course Shenmue 1 and 2 (two of the best games of all time). On the other hand you also had the mountain of arcade shoot em up and fighter ports like the Saturn. Capcom especially heavily supported them, we got Street Fighter 3, Marvel Vs Capcom 1 and 2 (arcade perfect basically), Capcom Vs SNK 1&2, Rival Schools 2 (Project Justice), Heavy Metal Geomatrix, Tech Romancer, Power Stone 1&2, Cannon Spike, Spawn... Yeah, another big part of my love for Capcom is tied to Sega's awesome grey box.

These days though Sega to me is basically Yakuza. Well, that and M2's awesome ports as of late (Virtua Racing is amazing). To me, aside from Shenmue, Yakuza is basically the best thing Sega has put out, I've put 1000's of hours into that series now, and I'm still impatiently waiting for the releases next month of Judgment and RGG5 for the PS4!

 

[Zoyous]

The first Sega game I encountered as a little kid was Monaco GP. Not Super Monaco GP, but the original Monaco GP, which I saw in a small game room in a hotel. This was probably around 1981 or 82. Soon after that I started going to an arcade somewhat regularly, because it was a few doors down from the grocery store that my mom shopped at. She'd sometimes give me 50 cents or a dollar and let my brother and I run over there to play games. It was a really exciting time because new arcade games were coming out seemingly every week and you could easily see how the technology was advancing rapidly. So in quick succession I saw a lot of Sega games like Frogger, Turbo, Zaxxon, and SubRoc 3D come out. During this era, we had an Atari 2600 at home. Well, if you know your timeline, you know that this flurry of activity was soon followed by the North American video game crash in 1983. In short order, you could find bins of brand new 2600 games for a dollar or less. My brother's interest shifted to the Apple IIe computer and for a couple of years that was where I did most of my gaming. Fast forward to 1987 and I was excited to see video game consoles making a strong comeback. I remember trying to decide which one to ask for, for Christmas that year. I spent hours staring at the tiny screenshots in the Sears and JC Penny catalogs. I had a soft spot for Atari since I cut my gaming teeth on the 2600, but I could easily see that it wasn't really on the same level as the NES and Sega Master System. By this time I was very familiar with Sega's latest wave of incredible arcade games, like Hang On, Out Run, and After Burner, and I realized that they'd be coming out on the Master System, so that's what I went with. Although the Master System wasn't as popular as the NES in the US, I was fortunate to have two other friends who also had Master Systems, so between the three of us we coordinated our game purchases and borrowed each other's games a lot, so we got to experience a good chunk of the SMS library. I also had a friend with an NES, and although we would quarrel a bit about which was the better system, we also traded systems sometimes to play those other games as well. A lot more fun than the vitriolic console wars bile that passes for discourse on much of the internet these days!

After that, I got a Genesis soon after it came out in '89... then I sold it to get money for a ticket to the first Lollapalooza in '91, and didn't get another console until the Dreamcast, although I still read gaming magazines and played at gaming kiosks in stores whenever I could.

 

[BlueMue]

My Uncle had a Master System, that was the first glimpse of Sega I ever got. Have little memory of this time, I was 4, 5, maybe 6 years old then. Just know from later talk that he had games like PitPot and Ghost House.

At one point he replaced it with a Mega Drive that came with Mega Game I and Sonic the Hedgehog. I played those games on and off when I got a chance, still don't have much memories of that either.
Everything only really kicked off when he sold me that very console and the games some time later. When the subject of Sonic is brought up I like to state that I play the series since 1991 but it could've been later that he got the system and when I got it especially. Buying that thing could've been late into 92, maybe even somewhere 93. What I do know is that I played the system for many weeks before I got wind that there is a Sonic 2, from a youth magazine left on the sidewalk of all places.

 

[9dragons]

My love for Sega started rather late. In the early 90s I was a Gameboy only user, and Sega was not very common in General in my neighborhood. All Kids I knew had a SNES and not a Mega drive. In fact I cannot remember even one kid that was pro Sega. if they were gamers they all had Nintendo stuff. Did hear about the Mega Drive and the Game gear in TV advertisments though but was not that impressed. At least I cannot remember that I was. My first home console was the n64. Then I got the Playstation. Did read a bit about the Saturn in gaming mags though but as the gaming mags did not report about it in a very postive way I was not interested. So you can see I did not care about Sega at all at this Point. This changed when I read about the Dreamcast in the Magazines. The Reports sounded great and it had so many interesting games.

I enjoy playing the Dreamcast to this day. It was one of my favourite consoles of all time. The DC Was also my first and only Sega console for many many years. Recently I got interested in the Saturn as well. It is a lovely console and not as bad as the gaming media did portray it back then. I really wish I had a Saturn when it was commercially relevant.

Sooner or later I will also get a Mega Drive and a Master System to explore the earlier Systems of Sega.

I find the old Sega really fascinating and it also a pity I never gave Sega a Chance till the Dreamcast. As we all know today the gaming media is not always right. It was bad luck that I was listening to the magazines that much and all my favourite gaming mags back then were more pro Nintendo in the SNES days and later then pro Sony. The never gave the Saturn a fair Chance. Same goes for the Dreamcast.

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

The first videogame I ever played was Golden Axe on the Genesis; I sucked at it lol, while my sister (or my uncle, who owned the Genesis) would play as someone other than Ax-Battler (who's my guy). He also got the Sega CD in 1993.

Then, it was all arcade, with Super Hang-On, MK, Tekken in the latter years, VF, etc. but the Genesis was the source of almost all of my gaming from 1992-2001. Then got a Saturn that year and a DC in 2005, SMS in 2006, SG-1000 in 2008, GG in 2009.

Hate Ninty. Don't care for early Sony (aside from Tekken/SC) and I've played any Xbox console for a total of MAYBE 2 hours, in my life. Have the PS3 and PS4 for Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku (and Binary Domain).

Golden Axe kicked it off though!

 

[danielmann861]

First ever console I had was a Master System Model 1 (the one with the card reader). I used to play Alex the Kid; Wonder Boy; Outrun and the Sonic the Hedgehog Master System port on it all the time until I eventually got a Mega Drive II with NBA Jam years later.

I was always a SEGA kid. I had a Master System; I had a Mega Drive II; I had the Sega CD and 32X (when retailers were trying to desperately get rid of them; my parents picked them up on the cheap); I had a Game Gear.

I got a Mega Drive II with NBA Jam one Christmas and NBA Jam became my life. I played the hell out of the Mega Drive. Mortal Kombat; Street Fighter 2; NBA Jam; Sonic 2; Road Rash; Streets of Rage and the list goes on and on. I loved the hell out of that little black box.

I was way into Virtua Racing; Virtua Fighter; Daytona USA and Virtua Cop at arcades. We used to go to the cinema often and cinemas would usually have arcade games in the lobby so that just further fueled my Sega obsession.

I wanted a Sega Saturn because I was obviously a Sega kid and it felt like the natural progression. However my parents were smart enough to see the writing on the wall that the Saturn was on its way out and bought me a PlayStation instead. Not that I'm complaining; the PlayStation was incredible, but deep down, I was always a little bummed about not owning a Saturn.

Then the Dreamcast came along. I was given the option of either a Sega Dreamcast or a PlayStation 2 in 2000 as a Christmas gift. I went with the Dreamcast because the Dreamcast just had more games I was interested in at that time.

I was fascinated by Shenmue and what I was seeing in gaming magazines at the time. I was hooked on Virtua Fighter 3 at arcades so having Virtua Fighter 3 at home made sense. I loved the ever living hell out of Crazy Taxi and played it non stop for months on end.

The Dreamcast may have only lasted a year and a half, but at the time, it had the better selection of games between the two and was far cheaper.

I ended up getting the PS2 after MGS 2 and GTA 3 came out (first console I ever bought with a pay check from work)

But yeah, I've always been a Sega kid ever since I can remember. Maybe it was growing up in Australia. I've noticed with a lot of Americans that I talk to; they seemingly have huge nostalgia for Nintendo and I put that down to the NES being huge in America.

Where as for me; I don't remember the NES being as popular here in Australia and everyone I knew were Sega kids through and through. I wouldn't say I hate Nintendo but I do feel like I just don't have anywhere near as much love for Nintendo as I do for Sega (or even Sony) and I think a lot of that does have to do with the fact that it was never a platform I owned as a child. My first Nintendo console was literally the Gamecube which I bought after I started working at a local cinema.

I owned almost every major console Sega put out in that time period. I loved their arcade games to death. Virtua Fighter 2 remains one of my absolute favorite games of all time.

So yeah, I've always been a Sega guy.

 

[高野和泉]

I hope Sega end up putting the game(s) that converted U guys in the Mini.