Welcome to the 16 bit era (Sega Megadrive)

Member Name: shuttlex

Product:	Sega Megadrive
Date:	06/01/08 (174 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: First 16 bit console released, arcade like graphics, Sonic

Disadvantages: poor sound, build quality, 2 revisions

Released in Japan in 1988, and then later released in the UK in 1990, the Sega Mega Drive was one of the pioneering 16 bit consoles. The first game I happened to come across running on the Mega Drive was Strider. With its arcade like graphics, faced paced visuals and multiple enemies on screen this game immediately caught my attention. One could clearly see the difference between the 8 bit and 16 bit consoles.

I became a great fan of the Sega Mega Drive, a system I thoroughly enjoyed at the time especially with games such Sonic the Hedgehog.

While the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo were both 16 bit consoles, the games suited to each system varied due to the difference in specifications. On one hand the architecture of the Mega Drive was more arcade like since Sega had a whole catalogue of games available to port to the console. This included classics such as Space Harrier, After Burner, Golden Axe and many others. For this reason the Mega Drive was quite fast, especially in comparison to the SNES. On the other hand the SNES had a wider availability of colours, better sprite handling and improved sound chip.

The SNES was always praised for its arcade like Street Fighter 2 ports. When ported to the Mega Drive the game ran faster although overall graphics didn't quite match up. Sonic the Hedgehog made very good use of the Mega Drive's ability to render games at a very fast pace, something that the SNES could not do. The Sonic franchise was probably the main reason for the overall success of the Mega Drive in Europe.

The Mega Drive went through several revisions. The control pad initially released only had three buttons and soon became outdated. As a result it was replaced with a 6 button pad. The second revised unit itself was known as the Mega Drive 2 although it was exactly the same console just with a different shell. Overall the build quality of the Mega Drive perhaps didn't quite match up to the SNES.

There was also the 60hz problem. PAL systems were crippled to run slower at 50hz in order to sync with the slower refresh rate. However this could be overcome by opening the console and cutting one of the circuit connectors with a knife. Unfortunately this procedure also made it incompatible with the MEGA CD add on since it was no longer recognized as PAL territory although I never tried the US version.

Although I initially just had a Mega Drive, I eventually owned both consoles when the SNES was later lowered in price. The Mega Drive and SNES provided a different experience since they were designed with different games in mind. However since the SNES had the Square RPG's, the SNES was probably a better overall console.

Summary: First 16 bit console released