Taito had a a string of releases for the Genesis, and it often seemed like every arcade game the company put out eventually found its way onto Sega’s console. Unfortunately, some ports were better than others, and a few, like Thunder Fox, took a major hit during the transition. Truth be told, there’s actually very little thunder in this version. In fact, compared to the coin-op original, the Genesis port sounds more like a rumbly tummy than anything else. Sigh… such were the things gamers had to live with at the time.
Author: Ken Horowitz
California Games
Epyx scored a series of hits in the late ’80s with its Games series, and the California edition was ported to every console ever conceived by man. Ok, maybe not that many, but it sure does seem like everyone had a chance to play California Games, no matter what console or computer they had. The Genesis got a port of its own, courtesy of Ecco wonder group Novotrade, but what could have been the best version of all turned out to be a major letdown. After spending time with this one and seeing all the lost potential, we think someone at Novotrade deserved to be smacked in the head with a solid steel footbag.
Sega Legends: Michael Jackson and Sonic 3
For years there have been persistent rumors that Michael Jackson composed the music to Sonic The Hedgehog 3 but was fired when his child molestation scandal became public news. Over time, many people have gathered what they believe to be conclusive evidence that the King of Pop was indeed working for Sega, and they even suggest that he used the music that was rejected in compositions for his later albums.
Now, after a year of research and communications with almost a half dozen people from Sega of America management as well as those who were directly involved with the game, Sega-16 has compiled all the available evidence from both sides – those who think MJ was hired and those who don’t – and we’ve come up with what seems to be the most probable scenario.
Interview: Ellen Fuog (Kaneko VP of Sales & Marketing)
When the Genesis launched, it lacked something its rival, the NES, enjoyed in spades: third party software. Due to Nintendo’s strict licensing agreements, companies that published on the NES were forbidden to release games on competing hardware, and this left Sega’s new machine with a big problem. Thankfully, the U.S. court system put an end to this practice, and the support slowly began to pick up. During the dry period, however, a few small companies jumped at the chance to pick up the slack left by bigger publishers like Konami and Capcom. Among them was Kaneko, which was a staunch supporter of the little black box. Sega-16 spent some Q&A time with former Kaneko VP of marketing, Ellen Fuog, and she shared her insights on what it was like to be at a small publisher at the dawn of the 16-bit era.
Saint Sword
A Genesis exclusive, Saint Sword seemed to be more impressive in the box then plugged into the console. Taito missed the boat with this one in a big way, failing to take advantage of the excellent transformation dynamic. What it instead gave us was a generic action slasher, with some morphing tossed in for good measure. Even so, Saint Sword is playable and might be worth looking into.