I had a lot of fun playing some Sega Genesis games on the Archive.org library, especially considering that I am a big fan of the machine in general. This is a fun time to talk about the reasons to buy one console vs. another, especially considering that this generation of video game systems is the only one where there was no clear winner; worldwide sales between the SNES and Genesis were nearly identical, whereas in every other generation one console dominates — NES, PS1, PS2, etc. I think that back in those days, the games were the distinguishing features of the console. Nearly every good game of the era was exclusive to its respective console; the only big-name multiplatform games I can think of off the top of my head are Street Fighter II, NBA Jam, and some of the later EA Sports games like NHL 94. Back then, if you liked slower one-time experiences like role-playing games and adventure titles like Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda, you got a Super Nintendo. If you were big on action games and replayable arcade-style titles like Sonic and the Shinobi series, you went with the Genesis. Developers also tailored third-party titles to each console’s respective strengths, adding to this dual nature. Nowadays, I feel that this is no longer what sets game consoles apart from one another. Almost every big name game is mutliplatform these days, either appearing on all 3 platforms or skipping the Nintendo one. I would say this started after the Dreamcast was discontinued; since then, games like Grand Theft Auto, the NBA 2K series, Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim, Fortnite, and many more have appeared on PlayStation and Xbox and often PC as well. The hardware specs between the PlayStation and Xbox machines are nearly the same as well — the naked eye can’t tell the difference on sight between the two like back in the PS1/N64/Saturn days. I don’t play very many modern games and don’t own a current system, but if I had to pick the most important considerations when choosing a format in the modern era, I’d probably go with price and brand loyalty.
In terms of actually playing the games, I started off with one of my favorites, the original Sonic game. I think the game plays just as well today as it did back then, with wonderful graphics and sound and phenomenal level design that makes the game a blast to play even though I’ve completed it dozens of times.
I played a bit of Shinobi III as well, but the game is a bit hard to play on a keyboard. It is, however, a very fun action game that always keeps the player engaged with the protagonist’s limited ammo and the high difficulty. One Genesis game that I really like that was not found in the archive selection is ToeJam and Earl, which is a two-player game featuring randomly generated levels like we discussed in class. The screen splits when the players move apart, and the two players work together to find all of the ship pieces and get the alien protagonists back to their home planet of Funkotron. My friends and I play this game here at school regularly, and always enjoy it due to the gameplay, humor, and music.
I tried some PC DOS games, as well. I enjoyed Wolfenstein 3D and thought it was cool to play a first-person shooter with just the arrow keys and mouse buttons, aiming on a flat plane. I’m not the biggest fan of having dogs as enemies, though the game’s fast-paced action is certainly enjoyable.
Overall, I’m a big fan of games from this era and really enjoyed playing some of these titles.
CSE 40850 - Eddie Brady 