16-Bit Books: Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works

If you haven’t heard by now, an incredible book on the Genesis has just been released by the fine lads over at Read-Only Memory. Its Kickstarter campaign successfully ended in December of 2013, and copies finally arrived in October, much to the joy of Genesis fans everywhere. The Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works is an incredible piece of reading that no Segaphile will want to be without.

Filled with concept and cover art, game logos, and a ton of other goodies, the collection is a love letter to Genesis fans. It’s filled with some incredible artwork and diagrams and several gate-fold images, and the selection of high quality images runs the gamut of Genesis history. There is an excellent forward by design legend David Perry, and author Keith Stuart’s massive retrospective on Sega is filled with quotes from Sega alumni from all three major regions. It’s great to see how personalities from throughout the company’s history all came together to pay it tribute.

Undoubtedly, the main draw is the more than two dozen interviews with Sega developers,particularly the under-appreciated Japanese heroes of the era. Besides the mainstays like Yu Suzuki and Yuji Naka, there are also interviews with rarely heard-from personalities like Noriyoshi Ohba (Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Revenge of Shinobi) and Kotao Hayashida (Alex Kidd in Miracle World/Enchanted Castle, Phantasy Star). The interviews are very engaging and really fun to read, and the only negative point about them is that they’re not longer! Still, this is by far the largest collection of interviews with Sega developers in a single volume, and the information included is sure to keep you rooted to your seat.

Read-Only Memory’s description of the book sums it up quite nicely:

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works is the definitive retrospective of the console, featuring development and concept illustrations for Sega’s best-loved game franchises, original developer interviews and previously unseen hardware production plans. Much of the visual material – drawn from the Sega of Japan archives – has never been released before. Alongside the illustrated history is ‘Arcade Perfect’, a written history of the console and its legacy by Guardian Games Editor Keith Stuart, which features the voices of Sega executives and industry luminaries – including the company’s founder David Rosen, its president Hayao Nakayama, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske and many more. The book opens with a foreword by legendary developer David Perry, on the console that catalysed his career.

I’ll sum up my feelings with this video. It gives a look at the book that can’t be conveyed by mere words.