Am I The Only One Who Miss Sega?

[ElectroPunk68]

am i the only one who miss sega haha? alot of the games now don't keep my attention like the older games. i have the genesis, game gear, saturn, nintendo, and ps1. i love my streets of rage on sega. it was my first game and everything still works. i never get bored. what old games do you all miss? 

[DaveMMR]

Sega's still around.  They just don't make hardware anymore.  All the same games that used to be on Sega machines can now be found on Nintendo's, Microsoft's and Sony's hardware (though not always across all three).  I love the Dreamcast, but I think it's better this way.     

BTW, Streets of Rage is a great game until you actually sit down and play it for 15 minutes.

[versapak]

Sega's still around.  They just don't make hardware anymore.  All the same games that used to be on Sega machines can now be found on Nintendo's, Microsoft's and Sony's hardware (though not always across all three).  I love the Dreamcast, but I think it's better this way.     

BTW, Streets of Rage is a great game until you actually sit down and play it for 15 minutes.

Nope


All the great Sega games are only found in the past. They have not made much of any notable quality since leaving the hardware biz, and I doubt they will again since they are now just a branch of Sammy.


[EDIT]

Oh yeah...

Yes...

Yes, I do miss them.

When they were making games for their own systems there was a definite special something that no longer exists.

[DaveMMR]

Sega's still around.  They just don't make hardware anymore.  All the same games that used to be on Sega machines can now be found on Nintendo's, Microsoft's and Sony's hardware (though not always across all three).  I love the Dreamcast, but I think it's better this way.     

BTW, Streets of Rage is a great game until you actually sit down and play it for 15 minutes.

Nope


All the great Sega games are only found in the past. They have not made much of any notable quality since leaving the hardware biz, and I doubt they will again since they are now just a branch of Sammy.


[EDIT]

Oh yeah...

Yes...

Yes, I do miss them.

When they were making games for their own systems there was a definite special something that no longer exists.

Have you not played Panzer Dragoon Orta?  Virtual Fighter 4 (I haven't played 5)?  Fairly recent (within the past few years) titles by Sega.  Oh, and how can I forget one of my favorite PS2 games - "Rez" (also for Dreamcast - but I think import only).  I also happened to enjoy Super Monkey Ball - even if a little aggravating. 

The fact of the matter is, Sonic games began getting weaker long before Sega left the hardware business and Streets of Rage was fun back in the day, but is now a tad repetitive after we've been introduced to more sophisticated game play. 

Maybe you just prefer older games to newer ones, in which case that's fine.  I too think that I prefer the more simplistic titles to the latest 60-hour fetch-quests that litter the console scene with "me-too" gameplay.  But, I'm sorry, Sega still brings a good game to the table.   They're not "gone".   

[shmokes]

I never was a big Sega fan.  I thought, and still think, that Sonic the Hedgehog is a terrible game.  Everything about it rubs me the wrong way, from the character design to the sound effects (god, the sound of all the rings exploding out of you every time you get hit is like nails on a chalkboard), to it not being fun.  At all.  I feel this way about most Sega games and always have, even when I was a videogame-obsessed little kid.  I just never got Sega, I guess.  I am a huge fan of Virtua Tennis for Dreamcast, and I had a blast with Sega's fishing games for that system, though the music and sound was as obnoxious as they could possibly make it, much like the music and sound in Monkey Ball and most all of their games.  Anyway, I don't miss them, though I did love the Dreamcast.

[versapak]

Have you not played Panzer Dragoon Orta?  Virtual Fighter 4 (I haven't played 5)?  Fairly recent (within the past few years) titles by Sega.  Oh, and how can I forget one of my favorite PS2 games - "Rez" (also for Dreamcast - but I think import only).  I also happened to enjoy Super Monkey Ball - even if a little aggravating. 

The fact of the matter is, Sonic games began getting weaker long before Sega left the hardware business and Streets of Rage was fun back in the day, but is now a tad repetitive after we've been introduced to more sophisticated game play. 

Maybe you just prefer older games to newer ones, in which case that's fine.  I too think that I prefer the more simplistic titles to the latest 60-hour fetch-quests that litter the console scene with "me-too" gameplay.  But, I'm sorry, Sega still brings a good game to the table.   They're not "gone".   

Didn't care for Panzer Dragoon Orta. On rails shooters just aren't my cup of tea, unless they involve a lightgun for some reason.

Rez is a ported Dreamcast game.

Super Monkey Ball was an arcade title that was developed before Sega's console hardware exodus.

Virtua Fighter 4... It is a fighter in a long running series. The core gameplay has been in place for years.


It is not that I think they are total crap. They do put out some ok titles still (I loved Outrun 2).

It is just that without their own hardware to develop on, Sega has lost their voice. The creativity and originality that truly made the Sega name strong just isn't there anymore.

[geomartin]

I bought into the Saturn, the Game Gear, and the Dreamcast.  Though I miss Sega, I don't miss the heartache attached to the way these systems were abandoned in thier prime.  I still use my Dreamcast with regularity, but the Game Gear and Saturn have not seen the light of day for some time.

[Howard_Casto]

I never was a big Sega fan.  I thought, and still think, that Sonic the Hedgehog is a terrible game.  Everything about it rubs me the wrong way, from the character design to the sound effects (god, the sound of all the rings exploding out of you every time you get hit is like nails on a chalkboard), to it not being fun. 

OMFG?  I totally agree with you?  Sonic was a pitiful attempt by sega to out-do mario and it worked for a time, not because sonic was a better game, but because the sonic character was edgier (which delights stupid children to no end) and they invented a fake technology called "blast processing" that made stupid youngsters think the geneis was more powerful than the snes, when actually, the opposite was true.  Sonic goes fast, the problem is, he's like controlling a bullet.... a drunk bullet... with one hand.  The key to a good platformer is for the controls to be very tight.. something sonic never had.  The random, generic monsters and more silly guest characters than a mega man game didn't help either.  Sonic isn't showing it's age because it's getting worse, it's just the gimmicky marketing wore off.  Sega and it's consoles were all flash and no substance.  The general public is real slow to pick up on this, but once they do, they drop you like a sack of bricks.  Kind of reminds me of sony actually.  Expect to see a similar post about sony 5-10 years from now.    

I will say I enjoyed Sonic and the secret rings though... probably the only sonic game I played to the end.  It still pales in comparison to a comparable nintendo title though.  And that is sega's real issue... they are a poor man's nintendo. 

They do/did make great arcade titles though.  The reason is they like to make ride-on games and lightgun games.  Those games are really simple and don't have to be great, as long as the controls are fun.  I think they will do well on the wii because of this. 


I don't miss them as a console manufacturer at all.  The only decent console they ever made was the dreamcast, and unfortunately, that was too little, too late as the public had already been burned by 3 horrible consoles/console add-ons from sega.  (32x, sega cd, sega saturn).  Sega sometimes hits the mark, but it is seldom.  A mid-level, third-party developer is just about where they always needed to be, so I think their current position is just right for them.  Good sega software will always be around, mostly because of their strong arcade presence in japan, which funds their console projects.  I don't hate sega by any means, they just were never at the caliber of nintendo.

So no, I don't miss a genesis with it's puny dithered version of Mortal Kombat which required a new controller that people bought because even though the snes version was arcade perfect, it painted the blood grey.  I don't miss pleople soing on and on about how the genesis had more sports games when most sports games suck anyway.  I don't miss sega coming out with a 200 dollar add-on to the crappy genesis not once, but twice and convicing people it would improve the system when they were just glorified drives that, not unlike the playstation, only added storage capacity and still suffered from inferior graphics.  People remember the dreamcast, but they seem to forget about all the crap the poor sega fanboy's had to put up with to get to the dreamcast. 

[shardian]

So no, I don't miss a genesis with it's puny dithered version of Mortal Kombat which required a new controller that people bought because even though the snes version was arcade perfect, it painted the blood grey.  I don't miss pleople soing on and on about how the genesis had more sports games when most sports games suck anyway.  I don't miss sega coming out with a 200 dollar add-on to the crappy genesis not once, but twice and convicing people it would improve the system when they were just glorified drives that, not unlike the playstation, only added storage capacity and still suffered from inferior graphics.  People remember the dreamcast, but they seem to forget about all the crap the poor sega fanboy's had to put up with to get to the dreamcast. 

I personally loved the MK games on a standard 3 button genesis controller. Of course, people with small, skinny thumbs probably didn't. I could own all of the combos in MK3 because of the brilliant use of the three button system. Now, street fighter is a game that sucked with a 3 button controller. You had to hit start to toggle between kick functions and punch functions. I did have a six button controller for that.

[tommy]

I never was a big Sega fan.  I thought, and still think, that Sonic the Hedgehog is a terrible game.  Everything about it rubs me the wrong way, from the character design to the sound effects (god, the sound of all the rings exploding out of you every time you get hit is like nails on a chalkboard), to it not being fun. 

OMFG?

  

[DaveMMR]

Have you not played Panzer Dragoon Orta?  Virtual Fighter 4 (I haven't played 5)?  Fairly recent (within the past few years) titles by Sega.  Oh, and how can I forget one of my favorite PS2 games - "Rez" (also for Dreamcast - but I think import only).  I also happened to enjoy Super Monkey Ball - even if a little aggravating. 

The fact of the matter is, Sonic games began getting weaker long before Sega left the hardware business and Streets of Rage was fun back in the day, but is now a tad repetitive after we've been introduced to more sophisticated game play. 

Maybe you just prefer older games to newer ones, in which case that's fine.  I too think that I prefer the more simplistic titles to the latest 60-hour fetch-quests that litter the console scene with "me-too" gameplay.  But, I'm sorry, Sega still brings a good game to the table.   They're not "gone".   

Didn't care for Panzer Dragoon Orta. On rails shooters just aren't my cup of tea, unless they involve a lightgun for some reason.

Rez is a ported Dreamcast game.

Super Monkey Ball was an arcade title that was developed before Sega's console hardware exodus.

Virtua Fighter 4... It is a fighter in a long running series. The core gameplay has been in place for years.


It is not that I think they are total crap. They do put out some ok titles still (I loved Outrun 2).

It is just that without their own hardware to develop on, Sega has lost their voice. The creativity and originality that truly made the Sega name strong just isn't there anymore.

Even if some of those titles originated on Sega hardware, they still thrive on long past the Dreamcast's death.  And even if you don't care for Panzer Dragoon or Rez (yes a ported DC title, you'll have an easier time finding it on PS2), they still represent a small selection of quality titles.

I still think a lot of people look back at the Genesis with rose tinted glasses.  There were a lot of great games, but I don't see any quality dip in recent titles compared to the golden oldies. 

And yeah, Sonic grew tiresome after the third installment. 

Sorry, I love that Sega is no longer restricted to their own hardware (most of which, user-base wise, failed - save perhaps for the Genesis).  I think now they have a little more freedom and their games find a wider audience.  And c'mon --- would something like this have been possible in early 90's?

[versapak]

Even if some of those titles originated on Sega hardware, they still thrive on long past the Dreamcast's death.  And even if you don't care for Panzer Dragoon or Rez (yes a ported DC title, you'll have an easier time finding it on PS2), they still represent a small selection of quality titles.

I still think a lot of people look back at the Genesis with rose tinted glasses.  There were a lot of great games, but I don't see any quality dip in recent titles compared to the golden oldies. 

And yeah, Sonic grew tiresome after the third installment. 

Sorry, I love that Sega is no longer restricted to their own hardware (most of which, user-base wise, failed - save perhaps for the Genesis).  I think now they have a little more freedom and their games find a wider audience.  And c'mon --- would something like this have been possible in early 90's?

No, they didn't live on long after the dreamcast's death.

They were carried over from that time, and released not long after. That is my point. It is that time, and the games made then, when Sega was great.


They no longer have a platform of their own to cater to their own style of originality and creativity. Those games that you mentioned were fueled by that environment, and none are even recent Sega titles, so I am confused as to the point you are trying to make.

Sega has not made anything substantial lately.

I'm not claiming that everything they ever made for their own consoles was great, but they sure made a lot more in general, and there were was a lot of greatness to be found within that.

[DaveMMR]

No, they didn't live on long after the dreamcast's death.

So basically you're saying these games stopped being good once the Dreamcast ceased production even though we weren't playing them on a Dreamcast (save for Rez, possibly)

They were carried over from that time, and released not long after. That is my point. It is that time, and the games made then, when Sega was great.

The original poster was referring to, I assume, classic Genesis games.  I brought up examples of games made within the last decade (some fairly recent) that are of a high caliber and more or less on par with the classics that are remembered for being quite enjoyable. 

They no longer have a platform of their own to cater to their own style of originality and creativity. Those games that you mentioned were fueled by that environment, and none are even recent Sega titles, so I am confused as to the point you are trying to make.

Sega has not made anything substantial lately.

And I'm confused what you mean by "fueled by the environment".  What environment?  They're video games - not icebergs. 

And to say they have LESS freedom and creativity now is to say that having to stay afloat with hardware that's not selling somehow and still have the ability to concentrate on quality titles is somehow liberating.  As I said before, a wider audience as a third-party company without the albatross around it's neck that is hardware allows them to develop better software (and since the Wii came out, no more spending $200 on maracas for Samba De Amigo - win, win!)

I'm not claiming that everything they ever made for their own consoles was great, but they sure made a lot more in general, and there were was a lot of greatness to be found within that.

Besides Streets of Rage, the proponents of "Old Sega" have not provided me a list of games that are considered Sega's best that today's releases can't compare to - gameplay-wise.  Keep in mind we're not speaking of the preference for the classics in general as opposed to today's more complex affairs.  It's strictly "old Sega is good, new Sega is bad".  The mention of the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat (which was Midway, distributed by Acclaim for the home systems) using three buttons on a Genesis pad and Street Fighter II (Capcom), using the six button affair, do not count.

Oh and having "a lot more [software] in general" is not always a good thing.  I think Atari 2600 and that whole video game crash nonsense could prove that one.

I'm not a Sega fanboy (that went out the window along with my $300 spent on the Sega CD) but I just think that, with the exception of Sonic, they still make fine games and the loss of the precious Dreamcast is actually a bit of a blessing.   

[versapak]

I never said good games stopped once dreamcast ceased production.

I said that they stopped making great games once they weren't developing for their own hardware. There were ideas that were started during the life of the dreamcast and some finished shortly after, but I consider those the product of the "Sega" environment.


The environment I am talking about is the one where Sega was developing games for their own hardware. The hardware that was developed for their style of games. It was their own hardware so they knew it inside and out.


I have always been a huge Sega fan, and games like Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star Online (not the crappy rehashes or subpar PS Universe), Samba De Amigo, NFL 2k, Shenmue, Panzer Dragoon Saga, NiGHTS, Virtua Tennis, Toe Jam & Earl, Shinobi, and tons of great arcade titles that they brought home, but they have lost me with the stuff they have been making these days.


There isn't really much sense in arguing the point, as we clearly just have different tastes. I am disappointed in what they have produced recently. That was the only point my long winded crap spewing was trying to make.


I did love Super Monkey Ball, and it was literally the ONLY reason I even owned a gamecube. I also loved Outrun 2.

I am sure there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Game making isn't as focused these days as it was when they could just focus on their own console, and the costs have certainly sky-rocketed, but I guess there is still something there. Eventually time will compress all their good titles into a closer span, as is always the case with nostalgia. Looking at a list of all that Sega has done, there has always been some crap. Every developer has to shovel some.

[shardian]

The NHL hockey games ('93, '94, '95 to be exact) were kick ass awesome and I've never played a hockey since that I have liked even nearly as much.

Versapak mentioned Phantasy Star, that game was BRILLIANT on the Sega master system. I'm not saying that SEGA owned everyone, as a matter of fact, they produced quite a few stinkers. They also had the misfortune of letting 3rd parties put out total crap under exclusive rights. That just made them look worse.

Of course my opinion probably shouldn't count much - I actually liked Eternal Champions.

[Malenko]

Of course my opinion probably shouldn't count much - I actually liked Eternal Champions.

so did I, I even had the SegaCD version!

Also, Shenmue  sucked, that was like the dumbest highest budget game ever.

Alot of the games I remember playing on the genesis that werent on SNES were games like Mutant League Football , Mutant League Hockey, Herzog Zwei and games specifically by sega are umm...

(I am including 32X games since I owed one of those too!)
Shinobi, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racing, Space Harrier, Streets of Rage, Alexx Kidd, Toe Jam and Earl, and well thats all I can think of, Im 28 now and I placed that hot mess well over a decade ago.

WELCO
METOT
HENEX
TLEVEL


lol

[ChadTower]

Isn't Sega still making arcade hardware?

[versapak]

Isn't Sega still making arcade hardware?

I'm not sure what their current state is.

I remember talk of new hardware for House Of The Dead 4, and the fact that it was NOT going to be Xbox 360 based, but I haven't been following modern arcade stuff much. They are now a part of Sammy, who has the Atomiswave arcade hardware that I am sure they want supported.

I miss arcades.

[ChadTower]

I really like the pins they made in the 90s, too.  Good stuff, some of those titles.

[AtomSmasher]

I wasn't sure which games Sega was responible for in the past few years, so I decided to check their site.  Heres their games listed by release date:  http://www.sega.com/games/allgames.php?sort=date

On the top of the list I see a few games I'm looking forward to, but are not released yet: Space Seige, Universe at War, and Nights:Journey of Dreams.  Further down the list, it looks like Sega is responsible for the Total War series, which is are really good RTS games.  They don't seem to have many great games in the past few years, but there are quite a few good games.  Of course, if we're talking about games actually developed by Sega and not just published by them, the list of good/great games drastically shrinks.

[SavannahLion]

I miss Atari more than I miss SEGA. I knew the Jaguar was way ahead of its time, but never got the loving it deserved. That's just me though.

The whole fanboyism thing really irks me though. Whenever I read crap getting spewed out about system X over Y and the whole this sucks, that sucked and it sucked kind of makes me want to ditch the whole gaming scene entirely. Who gives a ---fudgesicle---? It's about the games, not the consoles.

I wrote this big huge message before I realized what my point was. It's about the games. Everything else is just fluff and marketing ploys. Give me the games and the console(s) to play them on. I don't care how the companies do it and I don't care which console it gets released on as long as I don't have to bend over and take it up the ass.

[shmokes]

Well . . . that sounds lovely, but it doesn't change the fact that hardware is important.  It's not coincidence that some systems have better games than others.  There are games that can be done on Wii, for example, that simply cannot be done on the 360 and vice versa.  The same goes for the Playstation versus Nintendo 64.  The fact is, some consoles sucked.  Look at the Sega Game Gear.  Look at the original Playstation controller.  And some consoles could be good, but weren't properly supported, like Dreamcast.  Look at the Virtual Boy.  Am I not justified in saying that system sucked?  There are almost no games for it.  It sucked.

[boykster]

I miss them mostly for the nostalgia factor.  I loved my genesis, gamegear, and dreamcast.  Don't tell me it "wasn't as good" as the PS1 or whateve nintendo had at the time....I LIKED my game system and played games on it, rather than writing treatises on why one game system was better than the others.

I dug my gamegear for COLOR gaming on the go.  sure it was simply a miniature sega master system (somebody even released an adapter so you could play the old carts on it) with a tiny lcd screen and very limited battery life, but darn it, I loved that handheld. 

I also miss my intellivision.....

[geomartin]

I remember giving the Jaguar a good once over when it launched.  I just could not bring myself to buy it after trying to play it in the store on that fugly controller.  Awkward as heck to use!

[shardian]

I remember giving the Jaguar a good once over when it launched.  I just could not bring myself to buy it after trying to play it in the store on that fugly controller.  Awkward as heck to use!

But you could play the crappy fighting game with the Scot who lifts his skirt to shoot fireballs out of his...oh nevermind.

[ChadTower]

Look at the Virtual Boy.  Am I not justified in saying that system sucked?  There are almost no games for it.  It sucked.

I love the VB, still play it, and own the entire domestic collection + a good % of the Japanese library.  The VB was truly innovative and is a lot of fun.  It's problem was that Nintendo killed it too soon because of internal shifts in the corporation.

FYI, there is a VB flash cart about 95% completed and going on the market soon (hopefully).  Can't wait.  There are a couple Japanese games I have never played because they're super rare and hundreds of bucks to get.

[DaveMMR]

Look at the Virtual Boy.  Am I not justified in saying that system sucked?  There are almost no games for it.  It sucked.

I love the VB, still play it, and own the entire domestic collection + a good % of the Japanese library.  The VB was truly innovative and is a lot of fun.  It's problem was that Nintendo killed it too soon because of internal shifts in the corporation.

Oh and the rampant headaches and eye damage to users might have killed it too.     I really know little about VB games but I know even just playing the demo at Blockbuster was killing my eyes and back.  I know ChadTower loves it and I don't begrudge him that but the truth is that the Virtual Boy didn't suck because of the games - it was just an overall poor, rushed design.  No disrespect to Gunpei Yokoi, may he rest in peace. 

I went through my whole spiel on how Sega is a better third-party company than a first-party one, but I think if I were to miss a system it would be my old Colecovision.  It was pretty amazing for it's time - especially considering you can buy an adapter to play Atari 2600 games too!  Nowadays I can't enjoy it as much when you can easily play arcade perfect ports (via emulation) of games Coleco did their best to translate to their console.  But just for the nostalgia, it was a fun little system.

[ChadTower]

I've logged hundreds of hours on the VB and have never, not once, gotten a headache from it.  Neck ache, yeah, but I stopped using that stupid stand as soon as the fulcrum broke on it (which was almost immediate).  You just lay on your back and balance the thing on your face.  Works really well that way and is more immersive.

[shmokes]

I actually really liked the VB    But it makes for a good whipping boy for the point I was trying to get across.  And it was, of course, a complete and utter failure.

[shardian]

I've logged hundreds of hours on the VB and have never, not once, gotten a headache from it.  Neck ache, yeah, but I stopped using that stupid stand as soon as the fulcrum broke on it (which was almost immediate).  You just lay on your back and balance the thing on your face.  Works really well that way and is more immersive.

I played the tennis game on the VB at a store for an extended period and got a major headache.

[ChadTower]

I'm not saying no one does... lots of people say they do.  When I injured my back I played VB probably 20 hours over 4 days without an issue.  It was one of the only things I could do comfortably that week.

[shardian]

I'm not saying no one does... lots of people say they do.  When I injured my back I played VB probably 20 hours over 4 days without an issue.  It was one of the only things I could do comfortably that week.

Have you ever seen a website that is black with red text? That crap messes with your eyesight. And you looked at floating bright red moving objects on a pitch black background for 20 hours over 4 days? and without eyestrain, nausea, or headaches? Wow.

[ChadTower]

I was on some heavy duty drugs.  Maybe that's why.