The Sega CD, known as Mega-CD in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, October 15, 1992, in North America, and April 2, 1993, in Europe. The Sega CD plays CD games and adds hardware functionality such as a faster CPU and graphic enhancements such as sprite scaling and rotation. It can also play audio CDs and CD+G discs.
In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles, more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era, began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics' PC Engine. Though NEC released the first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets: the Sega Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Cartridge-based handheld consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy (1989), Atari Lynx (1989), Sega Game Gear (1990) and TurboExpress (1990).
Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog or Knuckles the Echidna in their quests to save Angel Island; Sonic tries to stop Doctor Robotnik from re-launching his orbital weapon, the Death Egg, while Knuckles scuffles with Robotnik's minion, EggRobo. Like previous Sonic games, players traverse side-scrolling levels at high speeds while collecting rings and defeating enemies.
Raiden is a 1990 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and published by Tecmo in Japan. The game's story takes place in the year 2090, when an alien species known as the Crystals invaded Earth. Players assume the roles of the Vanquish Crystal Defense pilot duo, taking control of two state of the art Fighting Thunders aircraft to defeat the Crystals and save the Earth.
Earthworm Jim 2 is a 1995 run and gun platform video game and the sequel to Earthworm Jim, and the second and final game in the Earthworm Jim series developed by original creators Doug TenNapel, David Perry, and Shiny Entertainment. It was released in late 1995 and early 1996 depending on region and video game console, initially being released for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, before being ported to other platforms.
Flashback, released as Flashback: The Quest for Identity in the United States, is a 1992 science fiction cinematic platform game developed by Delphine Software of France and published by U.S. Gold in the United States and Europe, and Sunsoft in Japan.
Revolution X is a shooting gallery video game developed by Midway and released in arcades in 1994. The gameplay is similar to Midway's earlier Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but is themed around the band Aerosmith. The oppressive New Order Nation regime and their leader Helga have abducted Aerosmith, and players use a mounted gun to control onscreen crosshairs and shoot enemies. The members of Aerosmith are hidden throughout the game's international locales and must be found in order to receive the game's true ending.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1993 video game released for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Game Boy, Master System, Sega CD, Game Gear, MS-DOS, and Amiga. It is based on the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula which in turn is based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Most versions are platform games. The Sega CD and Amiga releases are beat 'em ups, and the MS-DOS version is a first-person shooter. The Amiga version was released in 1994 for North America and Europe. A CD-ROM version for MS-DOS compatible operating systems was released in 1995.
The Sega Genesis, also known as the Mega Drive outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as the Mega Drive, and in 1989 in North America as the Genesis. In 1990, it was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Ozisoft in Australasia, and Tectoy in Brazil. In South Korea, it was distributed by Samsung Electronics as the Super Gam*Boy and later the Super Aladdin Boy.
Power Piggs of the Dark Age is a 2D hack and slash platform game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Titus Software. It was released in 1996 for the Super NES in North America, and in the PAL regions the following year. A Sega Mega Drive version was planned but never released.
Batman Forever is a beat 'em up video game based on the film of the same name. Though released by the same publisher at roughly the same time, it is an entirely different game from Batman Forever: The Arcade Game. The game was followed by Batman & Robin in 1998.
Road Blaster (ロードブラスター) is an interactive movie video game developed by Data East featuring animation by Toei Animation, originally released exclusively in Japan as a laserdisc-based arcade game in 1985. The player assumes the role of a vigilante who must avenge the death of his wife by pursuing the biker gang responsible for her death in a modified sports car. The game would later be ported to a variety of home formats such as the MSX and Sharp X1, Sega CD, LaserActive, PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The Sega CD and Mega-LD versions were released outside of Japan under titles of Road Avenger and Road Prosecutor respectively.
Bomberman '94 is a video game from the Bomberman series which was developed and published by Hudson Soft for the PC Engine and released on December 10, 1993, in Japan. It was later re-developed by Westone and re-published by Sega as Mega Bomberman on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994 in other areas. The PC Engine Bomberman '94 was later released outside Japan through the Virtual Console and the PlayStation Network.
NHL '94 is an ice hockey game by EA Sports for the Genesis, Super NES, and Sega CD, as well as the first release for the PC (DOS), simply titled "NHL Hockey", without the "94" in the title. The game is officially licensed from the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association, and was the first game in the series to have both combined licenses. The third game in the NHL series media franchise, it was released in September 1993 for the Sega Genesis and November 1993 for the Super Nintendo. NHL '94 launched to critical acclaim, and it has since been referred to as both the greatest sports game of all time as well as one of the best games ever made.
Judge Dredd is a side-view action video game released for the Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear and Game Boy originally released in 1995. The game is based on the 1995 film Judge Dredd, which was itself an adaptation of the Judge Dredd strip from 2000AD.
Brett Hull Hockey '95 is an ice hockey simulation video game released in January 1995 for multiple platforms; including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and personal computers running DOS.
Super Troll Islands is a platform game based on the license of bright-haired toys known as Troll dolls. A Sega Genesis version was planned but never released.
Disney's Aladdin is a platform game based on the 1992 film of the same name developed by Virgin Games USA. The game was released by Sega for the Sega Genesis on November 11, 1993 as one of several games based on the film, including another game that was released in the same month by Capcom for the Super NES.
Timecop is an American science fiction franchise about a police force that regulates time travel, set in the near future. It started as a three-part story titled "Time Cop: A Man Out of Time", in a 1992 Dark Horse anthology comic, which inspired the 1993 TV series Time Trax and 1994 film Timecop starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film was a box office success, and inspired a video game for SNES, a single-season ABC TV series, three novels, and a sequel in 2003.
