Former CVG and Official Nintendo Magazine scribe Chris Scullion turns to the dark side for his third comprehensive unofficial encyclopedia, taking us on not only the entire Western catalog of SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis, but the Mega CD and the 32X.оформить редит с плохой редитной историей
This chunky 285-page hardcover tome is laid out the same way as Scullion’s NES and SNES encyclopedias, with each game gaining a minimum quarter-page and just one screenshot. More renowned games (Sonic, Earthworm Jim 2, Ecco, Streets of Rage 2, Snatcher, etc.) are given on half a page, allowing a more detailed look and a glimpse of their development.
An anecdote accompanies each entry, although in some cases this is just a cheat code, which is understandable. We doubt there is much to be said about Super Volleyball when it comes to interesting facts.
Every game officially released in the US and Europe is covered, as well as the casual unlicensed game (hello again, Action 52) and the double pack. To clarify, Telstar and OziSoft have bundled older Mega Drive games into 2-in-1 budget packs, resulting in some special combinations. All of SEGA’s Mega Game builds are also covered, some of which were only available in hardware bundles. SEGA has posted a surprising amount of them, and Scullion manages to find something instructive to say about each.
Each entry gives a brief rundown, detailing the plot (if applicable) and an overview of the features. It would have been easy to turn the entries into mini-reviews, but to his credit, Scullion cleverly avoids doing so. Sometimes the fact that something was universally criticized by 90s critics is mentioned, but it rarely delivers its own verdict.
All three systems also have a multi-page intro, detailing their history. These are well documented – we had no idea that SEGA had so little software ready for the Japanese launch of the Mega CD, which only included two titles. In fact, the Mega CD section was the most fascinating system to read. So many of its most interesting titles only arrived in the United States and as a result have overtaken the British gaming press.
We also forgot how many lazy Mega Drive ports the Mega CD receives – seeing each entry broken down helps to see the big picture of the platform, as a whole, in a whole new light. As for the 32X, we’ve always championed it as having a small but oddly alluring lineup. If you’re unfamiliar with the failed add-on, you’ll know everything by the time you hit the index.
As someone more than familiar with the Mega Drive library, it was a pleasure to find it peppered with knowledge, such as SEGA Sports’ NFL 97 heading to Saturn and skipping the Genesis, back to the 16-bit console which follows an. When it comes to sports games, in particular, it’s clear that Scullion has gone out of his way to make each entry an interesting read – a task much harder than it looks.
I think it’s fair to say that most reviewers, especially those who grew up with the Mega Drive, could “wing” much of this encyclopedia – there are many well-known Mega Drive games out there, most of them have been reissued dozens of times. Still, there’s no evidence to suggest that Scullion just made his way there – every entry is well documented, making it clear that it took a while to play through and discover each title covered with a point. unjaded view.
Complete and insightful, it’s fascinating to see the famous Mega Drive catalog laid bare and scrutinized.
The SEGA Mega Drive & Genesis Encyclopedia (RRP £ 30) is available now from Pen & Sword.
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