Did you own a Sega Genesis/Megadrive instead of a SNES? What was the reason you went this route? Do you regret it?

[nogoodnamesleft]

I owned a sega master system when i was young (my parents bought it for me, i chose it between the NES) but i absolutely loved my time with the NES also. A few friends of mine had the NES and i was the only one with an SMS so we would share our consoles.

I remember the day where my parents said i could get either a MD or a SNES and my god it was such a tough decision but i went with the MD pack with:

Mortal Kombat
Sonic 2
Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle
Columns

I had an absolutely amazing time with the thing and i dont regret it in retrospect, but it always did sting that i didnt get the SNES with mario all stars bundle. Also had a close friend who i would play SNES with thankfully, but i missed out on a lot of great games

Nowadays i buy most systems but man those decisions as a kid felt life altering :)

What about you?

 

[ciddative]

Never owned a Megadrive, I was a SNES kid but managed to borrow a MD from a mate.

Looking back I made the right choice

 

[Brazil]

My first console was a Master System, which my parents bought for me. There wasn't really much of a question here in Brazil back in the day - Sega platforms were cheaper, fully localized, and they even had games that had been altered to include popular Brazilian characters.

 

[Distantmantra]

My parents got me a Genesis for Christmas the year Sonic 2 came out, I didn't have a say in it. It was the Costco bundle with Sonic, Quackshot and an extra controller. My godfather got me Tommy Lasorda Baseball and I used Christmas money to get Sonic 2 and Streets of Rage 2. My best friend had a SNES so I still got to play all the big games.

 

[Turbocharge]

My brother and I saved up to buy a Mega Drive after we played Sonic 3 at a demo booth (in Boots* of all places). Never regretted it for a moment. Nintendo's first party output has never really interested me beyond Mario Kart.

* Boots, for those not from the UK is a chain of Pharmacies.

 

[IDreamOfHime]

Yes because I live in the UK and that's just what you did. Never had FOMO until Street Fighter came out and I got a SNES soon after.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

I had both. I got my Genesis in mid 1990 and my SNES in early 1992. The only reason I didn't get the SNES in November 1991 when I got birthday money is because I read magazine reports of faulty launch consoles.

Both were and still are awesome. The revisionist history floating around in the past decade claiming the Genesis/Mega Drive didn't compare is pretty gross. Some people really need to let go of their fanboy biases and just enjoy exploring the libraries more.

And I got a TurboGrafx within a year or so after the SNES. At least I got to borrow a friend's TG16 before that in 1990-1991.

 

[chairhome]

My dad was in the navy and I remember him bringing home a Mega Drive before I even really knew what it was. Thought it was pretty cool to play Altered Beast, Revenge of Shinobi and GnG before most of my friends. I don't remember asking for an SNES but really enjoyed playing it when my dad picked it up. SF2 really cemented my love for gaming though.

 

[aisback]

Family got it me

 

[PucePikmin]

Yes.

Seems funny to think about it now, since I'll rabidly play any new Mario platformer, but back then, 11-year-old me was just unexcited by Super Mario World. It just looked like Mario 3 with marginally better graphics. Zelda: LttP didn't excite me either, because I didn't like the NES Zeldas as a kid (I didn't become a big fan of the series until OOT). Meanwhile, I'd played Sonic on a friend's Genesis, and I was...into...it. I was a Blast Processing true believer.

I came around on the SNES later due to stuff like Donkey Kong Country and Star Fox and eventually bought a used one. That said, I still consider myself a Genesis kid first and foremost. Don't regret it at all.

 

[onpoint]

When I was a kid the Genesis was just seen as "Cooler" and I wanted to play Sonic. So that's what my mother got us.

Honestly, I don't regret it. I feel like I spent a lot of time with games I might not have otherwise tried because it was the system we had. Ecco the Dolphin, Chakan, Shining Force Kid Chameleon, the list goes on. I think it widened my horizons as someone who initially grew up on NES to experiences not tied to Nintendo properties and systems.

And I can go back and play the SNES stuff today.

 

[Eblo]

gotta go fast

 

[Clive]

I'm convinced that it was my parents who made the choice somehow. I was very happy with it at the time but I definitely feel the SNES library was stronger in retrospect. That didn't bother me back then though. I didn't have money for all the Mega Drive games I wanted even.

 

[NuclearCake]

Had both thanks to my older brother basically getting every game and console he could get his hands on.

The perks of having siblings.

 

[QisTopTier]

Streets of Rage 2 was the shit and from that alone I never would have picked an snes over the genesis growing up

Gun star heroes and the shining force games were awesome too

 

[Bradford]

I had a Genesis and a Saturn but never personally owned an NES.

The answer as to why? My mom liked genesis and saturn games and bought the systems for herself.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

I enjoyed, especially sonic and the sega channel. We were poor AF at this time so I had a Genesis 94-97, tho I do think I would've enjoyed more of the SNES library more at the time

 

[SharpX68K]

I owned a Genesis a year and a half before I owned the SNES. I ddn't regret either..

 

[litebrite]

I owned a Genesis because I read a lot of gaming magazines and determined it was the better next gen console than the Turbografx-16 plus it came out before SNES.

 

[offshore]

Bugged my mum and dad all year for PlayStation... got to Xmas morning, ran downstairs and there was a huge wrapped box and little me thought "it's my PlayStation!!" Opened it, it was a Mega Drive.

So that's why I went that route :P

 

[Bing147]

I had both. My step dad had a Genesis/Sega CD and my father bought us a SNES for Christmas one year. I played a lot of both, though I slightly preferred the Genesis, though that may have just been because it was my step dad's and he played it a lot so my time with it always felt more limited (not in an extreme way or anything, I found time to play it and had some of my own games for it), which meant I treasured it a bit more. I could play SNES whenever I wanted as my step dad almost never played it except for once in awhile playing with us kids. (He loved his NES but didn't really get into a Nintendo system again outside of handhelds (he had a GBA and a DS though I don't think he played the DS that much and on GBA he mainly just played the Castlevania games) until the Switch, though he did get really into Animal Crossing on our Gamecube for a time) It also didn't hurt that we had games like Phantasy Star 2, Phantasy Star 4, Shining Force, Shining Force CD, Sonic, Streets of Rage, Gunstar Heroes...

 

[Sprat]

Megadrive.

Only ever met one person at that time who had a snes everyone had the megadrive

 

[arcadepc]

i had an NES and my cousins had a Master System. I had played and watched some games and would not mind having one instead. But with Sega arcades nearby I never felt the urge to get a Mega Drive, except maybe for Castlevania Bloodlines

 

[Afrikan]

I eventually owned both...but got the Genesis 2nd for Mortal Kombat (blood obviously), and the Amazing Sonic games.

As well as the Terminator shooting game.

 

[werezompire]

I got a SNES soon after it launched around when LttP came out (April 1992). I got a Sega Genesis + Sega CD to buy Lunar: Eternal Blue in maybe 1996 or 1997? At that point, the Genesis was well on its way out so prices were really low. It worked out as the best of both worlds - got to play all the amazing SNES games as they came out and then I was able to catch up on the Genesis & Sega CD library for really cheap later.

 

[julian]

I was a Sega kid. It wasn't a big deal not to have the other systems because somebody else had them. I was the Genesis/Saturn/Dreamcast guy.

 

[lazygecko]

Me and most of my circle of friends had a Gen/MD. Rented a SNES a couple of times to play a few of the biggest titles like SMW, ALttP and MMX. This just made the SNES look all the more exotic in my eyes and I was constantly enticed reading about the games I never got to play in the magazines. I think at the time I would have preferred to own a SNES. This whole supposed dynamic of using fanboyism to rationalize your choice (or choice given to you by your parents) was never really a thing for me.

Now decades later when I've had the opportunity to exhaust most of the essential titles as well as the cult classics that I missed on both systems, I can say it was more a case of the grass being greener on the other side, and my preferences lean slightly towards the Genesis library.

 

[Huey]

my brother really pushed for a genesis, and I was pretty young to know the difference. I think it was cuz we had played sonic and Fantasia at our cousins house and had our minds kind of blown.

was a sega fanboy for all the consoles subsequent, until they folded. Only thing I missed out on was Sega CD (not for lack of wanting one), even had a 32x. Regret nothing - they were (and to some degree remain) a wonderful and unique company and shaped much of the modern landscape. Loved being along for the ride.

 

[Tolby]

The Snes did not exist where I live.
I didn't miss out much, the old "PAL" region never got any of the good games.

 

[Grimmy11]

My first console was a Master System, then a Multi-Mega

Man I wish I still had that bad boy. I don't think I asked for either. I think I asked for the Saturn and I remember pleading for the Dreamcast lol. I was a Sega kid all the way. I only knew one person who had a Snes, I did enjoy Mario All-Stars and Street Fighter 2 turbo but never had any regrets or wishes that I'd gone the other way. I have great memories from playing those machines.

 

[andymcc]

I got the Genesis in 1989 and the SNES in 1991. Still prefer the Genesis (as I did then too).

 

[Goddo Hando]

was a genesis kid myself, over the snes and have no regrets. i chose it over the snes for the sports titles initially

even till this day I prefer the genesis/md libary over SNES. SNES had higher highs with the 1st party stuff and RPG's, but the genesis had way more short arcade-type titles that i tend to play more nowadays, whenever i go retro

 

[Anth0ny]

It was a hand me down. played the hell out of it.

I always wanted a SNES too because my friends had it

that's why I never understood console wars: i always thought everything was cool and just wanted everything

 

[ghostcrew]

Was Mega Drive first in our household because UK. I eventually got a SNES but not until about 1994 when I got a very cheap one from the Ad Mag.

It was just all Mega Drive here. Sonic, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, After Burner 2 etc. Everyone had one or wanted one. We had come from the Master System so just made sense.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Got the Mega Drive because that was just what came to me second hand. Even then, I had friends with a SNES and others with the various micro computers or PC so despite not being well off and not having my own 16-bit console until 96-97 or so I got to experience a broad range of what was on offer.
That said, I still consider myself a Sega kid.

 

[Dache]

I was a total Sega kid because I loved Sonic. It, the Mega Drive and Sega in general formed a core part of the types of games I enjoy today so I don't regret it at all. I had friends and relatives with Nintendo and Sony consoles, so I never felt like I missed out tbh. I played a lot of Mario growing up too, just less of it.

 

[Dragonyeuw]

I purchased both with hustle job money as a teenager and never got into console war bullshit. I dont even remember preferring one over the other back then. The irony of the 16 bit wars with people taking a side is that, retrospectively, both consoles warranted being owned moreso than todays HD twins that share like 80% of the same library and more or less do the same thing. Not only did the SNES and Genesis have very unique philosophies to their exclusives, but many games sharing the same name were published by different companies and offered entirely different takes on those IPs.

 

[Voytek]

I did. Sonic and Spiderman sold me on it. No regrets. I had a blast with the Genesis.

 

[brinstar]

I had both, so the console wars meant nothing to me. I definitely leaned more SNES as I started getting into RPGs but early Sonic and Treasure games had an iron grip hold on my brain!

 

[RecRoulette]

My dad bought a Genesis when it first came out, so we were a Sega family. I loved the Genesis and never really felt like I was missing out on anything on SNES aside from Diddy's Kong Quest.

Then again I would only get a new game for my birthday and Christmas, so there was way too much of the Genesis library I never played until the PlayStation came out and Genesis games were in the bargain bin at Walmart

 

[Tailzo]

I got a Mega Drive because of Sonic, and I don't regret it. Mario was never as fun as Sonic for me and my friends :)

 

[Caped Baldy]

Yes, but for the life of me I can't remember why. If I had to guess, it was probably cheaper by the time the SNES was released, right?

Do not regret. I've gone back and played the SNES exclusives and I really don't feel like I missed out on much. Sonic, Vectorman, Zero Tolerance, Ecco, Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck, Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt... these are such unique games and sometimes it feels like I'm the only one who remembers them. It's like a fever dream and nostalgia combined lol.

 

[Bonfires Down]

We nagged our parents to get a Mega Drive after seeing Sonic. Do I regret not having a SNES instead. Yes, very much so.

 

[Sheng Long]

Loved my Genesis. I did get a SNES later, but I still preferred my Sega. Likewise with the Saturn and Dreamcast.

 

[monx]

I was a Genesis gamer, not by choice though. Loved Sonic and Vectorman the most. All in all, I still preferred the SNES and wish I had that instead. Parents got me the N64 afterward and I was the happiest kid around.

 

[Sword Familiar]

I was a SNES kid, but a friend had an MD so I got to play some games from that system as well. Also I rented one a couple of times. Always preferred the SNES, and still do, but I've come to appreciate a lot of the MD library a lot more lately.

 

[andymcc]

I think there is enough genre variety with both the Genesis and SNES that, especially if you were younger, having only one of the two would have been pretty OK.

If I was young enough to be a kid for the next gen and only had a Nintendo 64.... I would have been very upset. lol

 

[Sixfortyfive]

I had a strong case of Mario fatigue in 1991 and was ready to move onto the new hotness.

The SNES didn't really come into its own and shine until a few years later imo.

 

[Novocaine]

I had a Megadrive. I was 10 so my parents bought it for me. I think I managed to convince them on it because Sega were so aggressive with price, the SNES was much more expensive. Ended up getting an MD2 with Sonic 2, Columns, Alex Kidd and Jurassic Park.

I'm happy I had it in the end, I got the better version of Mortal Kombat, and I had the 6 button pad I could also use for SF2 SCE. At the time I liked Sonic more than Mario.

Both my best friends had a SNES so I got to play Mario and shit anyway. And I also had a gameboy.

 

[Lueken]

My dad bought me a Sega Genesis :). My babysitter's family had an SNES, so I played some Nintendo things there.

My taste back then was pretty much sports and fighting games. Didn't feel like I was missing out on anything at time. Looking back, I don't think much would have changed if I had an SNES instead of Genesis outside of playing more Super Mario World/Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball.