So, who actually owned/ played the originals of...

[-Mark-]

Well, given this week's release of the Sonic CD port, it got me thinking a bit.

Sure, the Mega Drive itself was massively popular, and it's fairly safe to assume that most Sonic fans over the age of fifteen got into the series through the classic games. But anyway! Whether that's actually the case or not, that's beside the point.

Similarly, it's also fair to say that, due to the relative failure of their consoles since means that a number of Sonic games have ended up relatively obscure. I am, of course, talking about the originals for Sonic CD and Chaotix in particular, as well as the actual arcade versions of Sonic the Fighters and SegaSonic the Hedgehog.

So, 'fess up everybody; who here actually owned a Mega CD and/ or a 32X? I don't mean now, as I'm sure many of us have since gone back and bought them anyway; I mean who here, honest to goodness actually grew up owning them as a kid? Similarly, who actually managed to play the respective arcade games actually in an arcade?

I never had a Mega CD or 32X as a kid (still don't, actually), so my first experience of Sonic CD was the PC version, and I've only ever played Chaotix through emulation. Seeing as I live in London and actually managed to visit SEGAWorld a few times whilst it was open, means I actually have played the arcade machines for both Fighters and SegaSonic.

...for that matter, I have no real idea how widespread the Game Gear even was, back in the day. Oh, and who actually had a Multi-Mega? Anyone? D:

[Sami]

My first experience of CD was Gems Collection. I have the original version of everything else. My bundled "NOT FOR RESALE" copy of Adventure is probably sitting in my Dreamcast right now, actually.

Never played Chaotix, don't plan to. Never played the Game Gear games for more than two minutes, don't plan to. Etc.

Basically, the only Sonic games I haven't bothered playing are the ones that are so bad/weird I wouldn't want to anyway.

[-Mark-]

Well, I was basically talking about the originals of the more obscure ones, so... yeah. D:

[Soniman]

I still want to play R and Fighters

[LoseR]

My first experience with Sonic was on the Gamecube with SA2B, and I've never even touched a Sega console... Also, I played SADX on the Gamecube.

My first experience of the Genesis games were on Sonic Mega Collection. Sonic CD on Gems Collection. Nowadays though, I emulate classic Genesis/MegaCD/32X/Game Gear/etc games on my computer whenever I feel like playing them...

I plan on buying Sonic CD for PSN eventually though.

[Your Vest Friend]

I didn't even own any of the more mainstream ones aside from Sonic 1-3K (and even then, I only owned Sonic 3 for a short time since we'd borrowed it off a family friend). Didn't start owning stuff around the time it came out after them until Mega Collection+ (Ironic, much?)

Edited December 17, 2011 by VEDJ-F

[sonfan1984]

I've never owned a CD or a 32X so I've never got to play Sonic CD until 2005 and Knuckles Chaotix I still never played it before.

[Chooch]

I'll admit it. I didn't own either. I played Sonic CD for the first time on a Mega CD (same with Chaotix on the 32X), but I never actually owned them myself.

I don't actually regret not getting the attachments tho'. Personally, I don't think CD and Chaotix are worth it.

[batson]

Well i did grow up with Sonic CD, but i owned it on PC (good ol' Windows 95) and not on the Sega CD (which i never owned). But even though i didn't own the game untill two years after it came out, and even then did not own it on the console it was originally released on, i still consider myself to belong to the exclusive "those who played Sonic CD when it was new" club. I mean come on, two years isn't that long, right?

As for Chaotix though, i still haven't played it. Im pretty sure i will someday, but that day is sure taking it's sweet time to come (i guess im just not all that interested in it since i usually hear it's pretty bad).

[Winston]

I've never played CD, and I still haven't (Has to wait until the 20th). I've also never played R or Fighters, and I want to get my hands on them as well.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Christmas-Hedgehog

[Pauuul]

I was 16 so wasn't quite old enough to experience the megadrive, the first ever sonic game I played was SA2B for the gamecube

[Danj86]

Hang on, I'm trying to upload my memories, but everything looks hazy.

I remember owning a Sega Master System (Old man!?) and a Game Gear, that would years later mysteriously disappear. And we never did find out what happened to it... I think we had the Sonic 1 & 2 of both those systems.

I clearly remember the Sega Saturn and Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Jam & Sonic R, as well as Fighters Megamix. (It had Bean & Bark as playable characters)

And the DreamCast, with Sonic Adventure 1, 2 & Shuffle.

I remember finding a Mega CD years later. About the time the DreamCast was going down. And managed to find a slightly faulty Sonic CD. So I did get to play it before Gems, but couldn't really fully appreciate it...ironically, I couldn't really fully appreciate it on Gems either...

I never did own a 32X though...

[eXtaticus]

For me, it's MAME, Kega Fusion and Nebula's Model 2 Emulator as far as the more obscure classics are concerned; never had the money or need for the original copies of most of the games that appear on those consoles, and seeing as I don't have a Saturn, I'll probably end up emulating Sonic R rather than screwing around with my PC version enough to make it actually work.

Everything Dreamcast and onwards I currently own or have once owned the original copies of, barring Sonic 4 and the Wii exclusives (which were by and large complete and utter shite anyway, so it doesn't really matter) - and I'm not about to shell out for a 32X just to play Chaotix when Kega is a single click away, or a Mega CD just to play Sonic CD when the numerous ports of it are all vastly better. And facing facts, those two consoles are fairly useless aside from those games anyway - and you'd have to be an obsessive completest to even do so much as consider purchasing one. Having said that, however, the MegaDrive looks at least 20% cooler atop the original Mega CD, so if you have an obnoxiously large budget to spend on menial cosmetic improvements for your aged consoles, then it would make sense to get one from a purely superficial standpoint. The 32X is fuck-ugly AND functionally redundant, though...

Owning a Game Gear nowadays is something that I find particularly pointless, too; although anyone would look awesome on the bus or tube wearing a puffy jacket with rolled-up sleeves, a digital Casio watch, and a pair of cheesy sunglasses while listening to a cassette Walkman and playing a Game Gear, it's not something that I'd call a practical gaming solution. Portable consoles should be portable, and if you have to be tethered to a wall socket or a briefcase full of batteries all day long, then the console is not portable - and that's ignoring the fact that it's massive and heavy, and that most of the Sonic games available for it are either garbage or on the Master System.

Really, the only consoles that Sonic has graced that are still worth owning are the more well-known and mainstream ones; the MegaDrive because of its extensive library of other classic titles and their relatively wide availability, the Dreamcast as a result of its ability to play pirated games out of the box, the fact that it can be played in progressive scan using the VGA box and its current status as a cult homebrew favourite, and the current-gen systems because they're, well, not quite as defunct as the older ones. Ideally, of course, the PC would be the platform of choice for most Sonic fans, and although that sounds odd seeing as there were no mainstream Sonic released for it between Heroes and Generations, it aces the consoles as far as emulation is concerned.

And if you've bought a genuine Model 2 or System 32 arcade machine to play the two arcade titles, then I pity you. I really, really do.

Edited December 17, 2011 by eXmastaticus

[No more]

I have a mega CD but I've never been able to play it

[Chili Dawg]

I'd played Sonic 1 and 2 on a Genesis a few times, but for the most part I didn't get into any of the classics until they were on Nintendo systems. The Genesis games on Mega Collection, CD, R, etc. on Gems, and a few of the Game Gears through SADX.

Edited December 17, 2011 by ChilliDawgTheOtherReindeer

[Shyanne Firefox]

My first experience with Sonic was on the Genesis. I played Sonic 2 and went on from there.

I've never played CD or R, but I've played Fighters in Discovery Zone's arcade section...when it still existed. (I feel old saying that)

[JezMM]

The only "rare" Sonic game I played the original of was the Master System version of Sonic 2, which I only very recently learned was Europe exclusive (hence explaining why everyone thinks of the cruel Game Gear version when Sonic 2 8-bit is brought up).

I am absoloutely positive I played Sonic CD on a Mega CD briefly when I was young at a distant relatives' house, but I never owned it.

[SuperStingray]

My elementary school had Sonic 2 for the Genesis and I once played Adventure at a demo kiosk in Toys R Us. Other than that, only ports.

[Tornado]

I had a Sega CD as a kid (Mk. I front loader. My dad bought it for Jurassic Park and Monkey Island), but I didn't own Sonic CD on it. I didn't get Sonic CD until I got the PC version in 1998.

My cousin had a 32X and Knuckles Chaotix, but he didn't get either until his birthday in February of 1996, and at that point he had gotten the money together to get a Saturn, so we always played that instead.

I did, however, have a Game Gear, and I did have Sonic Chaos for it. I also had a Game.Com and the awful version of Sonic Jam that that wretched handheld got.

And facing facts, those two consoles are fairly useless aside from those games anyway - and you'd have to be an obsessive completest to even do so much as consider purchasing one.

I have more games for my X'Eye now than I did for the Dreamcast when I still had one that worked.

Edited December 18, 2011 by ChristmasJack

[azoo]

Sonic 1 - 3K on Genesis. I even have Sonic Spinball to go with it. Never had the luck to have either the original Sonic CD or a Sega CD. I do have a 32X (sadly without Chaotix) though.

I own Sonic R and 3D Blast on the Saturn, and I own both Sonic Adventures on the DC.

[batson]

...for that matter, I have no real idea how widespread the Game Gear even was, back in the day. Oh, and who actually had a Multi-Mega? Anyone? D:

To be honest, im not sure i even knew those consoles existed back in the day. From what i remember, pretty much the only stationary consoles that people (or at least little kids, like i was at the time) ever talked about in the early 90's was the Super Nintendo and the Mega Drive. Like, if you said you had a video game system the first thing anyone asked was "Sega or Nintendo?" and everyone understood exactly what specific consoles were being refered to. And im pretty sure Gameboy was the only handheld console that even existed in most peoples minds. It sure was in mine.

Edited December 18, 2011 by batson

[Pawn]

I had (and still have somewhere) a Game Gear and a 32X. I played most of the Sonic games on the GG but really only spent a lot of time on Triple Trouble. As for Chaotix, I loved that game. Years ago I tried to play it again but for some reason my 32X refused to cooperate. I bought another copy of Chaotix but it wouldn't play that either. It's weird because it ran some Star Wars game ok.

As for the Mega CD, I missed out on that since money was pretty tight back then.

[The Man On The Inside]

So I had a hand-me-down mega drive (and master system) with Sonic 1. My friends had Sonic 2 (one friend even had an imported Genesis model 2) Once my parents rented Sonic 3 from blockbuster video (whomever previously had it had unlocked Super Sonic!)

Then one christmas (must've been 1996) I got S&K, but nothing to lock on with (didn't know about blue sphere!). I had a friend who had a Mega CD (I didn't even know these existed until I saw one) and of course Sonic CD. We would play Streets of Rage and World of Illusion together, as well as try and complete Sonic CD each time I went over (trying to get to Stardust Speedway if not just to hear its music -JP of course). He also had a game gear but gameboys and pokemon really ruled the roost from my experience.

Eventually my cousin flat-out gave me her entire stash of Mega Drive games, among them was S2. One day (must've been 1997 or something, long after release) my parents bought a cheap second-hand copy of sonic 3. So I played the classics in the 90's, when they were the hot thing From DC onwards i've had pretty much all of the main games as and when they were new.

[Solkia]

Hell, I WISH I had a Sega CD.

32X? I'll pass.

[leemour84]

back in the day I only owned the MEGA DRIVE never had the CD or 32X (of which 2-3 years ago I bought the 32X on ebay with CHAOTIX)

My first experience with CD was with the GEMS Collection along with FIGHTERS, Sonic R I played on the SATURN, I basically owned all the major SEGA console except GAME GEAR I played those games on the collection as well.