List of Sega Genesis games
The Sega Genesis, known as the in regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit video game console that was developed and sold by Sega. First released in Japan in 1988, in North America in 1989 and in PAL regions in 1990, the Genesis is Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. The system supports a library of more than 700 games created both by Sega and a wide array of third-party publishers and delivered on ROM cartridges. It can also play the complete library of Master System games when the separately sold Power Base Converter is installed. The Sega Genesis also benefited from numerous peripherals, including the Sega CD and Sega 32X, several network services, and multiple first-party and third-party variations of the console that focused on extending its functionality. The console and its games continue to be popular among fans, collectors, video game music fans, and emulation enthusiasts. Licensed third party re-releases of the console are still being produced, and several indie game developers continue to produce games for it. Many games have also been re-released in compilations for newer consoles and offered for download on various digital distribution services, such as Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Steam.
Sega
For the North American market, where the console was renamed Genesis, former Atari executive and new Sega of America CEO Michael Katz developed a two-part approach to build sales. The first part involved a marketing campaign to challenge Nintendo head-on and emphasize the more arcade-like experience available on the Genesis,with slogans including "Genesis does what Nintendon't". Since Nintendo owned the console rights to most arcade games of the time, the second part involved creating a library of recognizable games which used the names and likenesses of celebrities and athletes. Nonetheless, Sega had difficulty overcoming Nintendo's ubiquity in homes. Tasked by Nakayama to sell one million units in the first year, Katz and Sega of America sold only 500,000.As Sega sought a flagship series to compete with Nintendo's Mario series, and a character to serve as a company mascot, artist Naoto Ohshima designed "a teal hedgehog with red shoes that he called Mr. Needlemouse". This character was renamed Sonic the Hedgehog, creating one of the best-selling video game franchises in history. The gameplay of "Sonic the Hedgehog" originated with a tech demo created by Yuji Naka, who had developed an algorithm that allowed a sprite to move smoothly on a curve by determining its position with a dot matrix. Naka's prototype was a platform game that involved a fast-moving character rolling in a ball through a long winding tube; this concept was fleshed out with Ohshima's character design and levels conceived by designer Hirokazu Yasuhara. Sonic's blue color was chosen to match Sega's cobalt blue logo. His shoes were inspired by Michael Jackson's boots, and his personality by Bill Clinton's "can-do" attitude.