by Jon Greene

Created on: May 26, 2011   Last Updated: May 30, 2011

Japanese arcade and console developing giants Sega were long involved in some of the most influential games of the twentieth century. The Sega Megadrive remains one of the most iconic consoles of all time and had some truly genre defining titles. There were other consoles too, with Sega’s first serious foray into the console market, the Master System, being a success. Although the Saturn and Dreamcast failed to live up to their predecessors, they still produced some great games.

So where to begin? Alex Kidd in Miracle World was a hugely popular release in 1987 and established the character of Alex Kidd as the mascot of Sega. This enjoyable Sega Master System platformer brings a tear of nostalgia to many an older gamer as it was built into the Sega Master System II. The classic (and still running) RPG series Phantasy Star was also established on the Sega Master System and set the precedent for futuristic RPG games. 1989 saw the release of one of the great games of the generation, Golden Axe. This side-scrolling hack ‘n’ slash was a huge arcade hit and was then ported to the Sega Master System. Golden Axe is still immensely fun today, as the player controls characters that wield colossal weapons and cast devastating spells as they set loose upon wave after wave of enemy hordes.

1990 saw the PAL release of the Megadrive (or Genesis as it was also known) with some games featuring pop-culture icons such as Castle of Illusion Starring Micky Mouse and Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. And, in the following year Sega’s biggest star received his debut. Sonic the Hedgehog was Sega’s answer to Nintendo’s Mario and became a firm favourite with fans. Ever since then he has been Sega’s mascot and continues to grace console gaming to this day. The  spiky blue hedgehog is a character that many gamers have grown up with, along with a host of his kick-ass companions; Doctor Robotnik; Knuckles and (the slightly less kick-ass) Tails. Sonic’s arrival hailed Sega’s success as a global gaming force, and the Megadrive would go from strength to strength with a number of hit titles including, Streets of Rage, Echo the Dolphin and Virtua Racing.

To keep up with the release of Sony and Nintendo’s  PlayStation and N64 respectively, Sega developed the ill-fated Sega Saturn. Whilst there were a few great titles by Sega such as, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Striker, House of the Dead and Sega Rally Championship, the Saturn could not compete with the might of its counterparts. With one last roll of the dice in the console market, Sega brought out the Dreamcast. Once again, a few fantastic titles were not able to save the fate of this console as the release of the PS2 and Xbox would over shadow Sega’s console. Phantasy Star Online was one of the first console MMOs and the Shenmue games also impressed. Crazy Taxi was another arcade game that bridged the gap and succeeded on the Dreamcast and games such as Chu Chu Rocket, Jet Set Radio and Virtua Tennis are remembered fondly by fans.

Ultimately Sega had a poor end to the twentieth century, but fortunately they have continued making great console games and have a library of impressive titles. What is sure is that games developed by Sega were as important and generation defining as those by any of the other big companies. Their legacy will live on in the current market, and most importantly in the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere.

Learn more about this author, Jon Greene.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.