Twenty years ago today, Sega released in Japan what was to be the most successful console in the history of the company. While the Sega Master System had only really taken off in Europe, the Sega Mega Drive, later renamed the Sega Genesis for its North American release, took the western world by storm. While it may have stayed a distant third behind the Super Famicon and NEC's PC-Engine in Japan, in North America the console fought Nintendo to a standstill, and in Europe it consistently outsold all competition, cementing Sega's place as a top-tier console manufacturer...until they went and screwed it all up.

I didn't get my Sega Genesis until 1994, picking it up at a MediaPlay in Roswell, Georgia, mainly because it was bundled with the excellent game based on Disney's The Lion King. That system is still very much alive to this day, holding a special place in my heart as the first game console I purchased for myself as an "adult", sparking the realization that I could spend a massive percentage of my income on video games and still afford cheap frozen food, a practice I continue to this very day. Thanks a lot, Sega Genesis, and happy birthday!

Send an email to Michael Fahey, the author of this post, at .