Sega Genesis
The Sega Genesis, known as the in regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit home video game console developed and sold by Sega. The Genesis was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released the console as the Mega Drive in Japan in 1988, followed by North America as the Genesis in 1989. In 1990, the console was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Ozisoft in Australasia, and Tec Toy in Brazil. In South Korea, the systems were distributed by Samsung as the Super Gam*Boy and later the Super Aladdin Boy.
Educational games in the Sonic series
"Sonic the Hedgehog" is one of the bestselling video game franchises ever, selling over 80 million units for the combined series as of 2011. The original game, a side-scrolling platform game, was developed by Sonic Team in Japan. Released by Sega in 1991, it greatly increased the popularity of the Sega Genesis in North America and established Sega as Nintendo's main rival in the console market. With the game's popularity, the series began to expand into other genres. While "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" began development in late 1991, the Manchester-based Tiertex Design Studios began to work on an educational video game set in the "Sonic" universe called "Sonic's Edusoft" for the Master System. "Edusoft" was made using sprites ripped from the original game. Despite having been nearly finished, it was canceled. The game was not licensed by Sega, but the company did express interest in it and could have potentially published it jointly with US Gold.