The sound of a newborn world: The Sega Genesis | Segaiden 88

The 16-bit era begins here!*

Six years of 8-bit software across the SG-1000, Mark III, and Master System turned out to be a practice session for this: the most powerful video game console in the world at the time of its American launch in August 1989. Sega finally managed to bring true arcade power home for the living room set, more or less. This is the closest anyone had come to achieving ’80s gaming's holy grail of "arcade-perfect experiences" since the early Famicom days in Japan.

The Genesis had its shortcomings, sure, but at the time of its debut its visuals and music absolutely demolished any other home gaming experience available outside of maybe the Amiga (and a fraction of the cost of a maxed-out home computer). This is the machine that cemented Sega's legacy as one of gaming's most important creative forces... though admittedly it would take a while to find traction. That story begins here.

*I mean, yes, I've already made videos about Super NES, and Intellivision was a 16-bit console. But let's not get bogged down in details. They didn't call it "Genesis" for nothin'.

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Genesis footage captured in RGB from real hardware, Analogue Mega Sg, and MiSTer FPGA. Upscaled via Framemeister and RetroTink 4K.