Early V.S NEW

[Damon Plus]

I'd say 88-92 are the early years, while 93-97 (or 98, or whatever) were the later years.

I think 1992 was a big change in how Sega games felt. Just look at Toe Jam and Earl 1 and 2. The first one is from 91, the second one from 93, and just look how do they feel.

1992 was a mix of "early" and "later" games. Sonic 1 (1991) has an early feel, while Sonic 2 (1992) looks more modern but still has that feeling, and Sonic 3 (1994) changed a lot in graphics, level designs and such. Same can be said about the Streets of Rage saga, and the Mickey games, coincidentally with the same release dates.

Gunstar Heroes, Aladdin, Eternal Champions, Flashback, Jurassic Park, Mortal Kombat, Rocket Knight Adventures... All examples of games released in 1993 that look totally different from games in 1991 and before.

1988-1991(Early years)->1992 (Transition year)-->1993-1997 (modern years)

[Aarzak]

You guys could've just split it into the "Pre-Sonic" and "Post-Sonic" era, as with the arrival of Sonic came the Genesis' real jump into the mainstream, the lock-out chip, the next generation of Genesis packaging (still kept the "grid" motif", but the back box-art was much more cleaner and colorful) and a bit down the road the "Sega Scream" ad campeigns and whatnot.

The obscure, "Pre-Sonic" Genesis days reeked of decidedly '80's advertising, promotion and packaging, all while the Genesis was struggling to get it's piece of the pi. Those who were brave and/or into cutting-edge hardware were the ones who ventured towards Sega's new console at the time, playing the waiting game in it's very early years and having to deal with the growing pains and products of undercard, long-forgotten third parties which were the only ones Sega could manage to scrounge up. It was 'dem arcade ports that really anchored the system back then. "Grrr, GRAPHICS, THE ARCADE AT HOME, 8 MEGA POWER, WHO NEEDS AN ARCADE MACHINE!". EGM (before the arrival of the SNES) was the most vocal Genesis supporter out there, awarding it "System of the Year" in their 1990 Video Game Buyer's Guide and of course awarding "Strider" their 1990 "Game of the Year".

Yeah, I'd say the Pre-Sonic era is much more intriguing to me and I like hearing stories and recants from that time...........and the mostly piss-poor third parties and third-party software. Despite that, those third-parties gave it an "underground" aura..or something.

The last eventful year for Genesis ('fall '95-fall '96) is also interesting, as it seems that the Genny turned full circle with barely any third-party support and spotty releases. At the time I was just beginning to play catch-up and knee deep into Genesis, but in the present the system was withering away much faster than the SNES...............should've stocked up on everything Genesis back then. I always wanted one of those Sonic 2 pack-ins.

[Alianger]

".....and the mostly piss-poor third parties and third-party software. Despite that, those third-parties gave it an "underground" aura..or something."

Hell no! The percentage of poor third party software was much higher in the later (post sonic) years of the genesis lifespan when it was flooded with platformers and licensed games.
In the early years, most stuff was made or ported by Sega (nearly all of it above average quality), and the rest of the library was made up mostly of shooters, some of them very good ones like Gaiares, MUSHA, TF2-3, Hellfire and Burning Force.. There were only a few stinkers like Insector X, Atomic Robokid and Heavy Unit.
And even if you dislike the genre there were other good, unique games like Arcus Odyssey, Wonder Boy in Monster World and Herzog Zwei.

I believe the bulk of the crap games early on were the PC ports by EA, games that just didn't work well in a console format. They got it right with Road Rash though. The other developers you could blame (Taito) fortunately didn't make many games.

[B - Mark]

My fav is the early times.

My Genesis / Mega Drive fav games are produced between 1989 - 1994 likes Sonic 1, Streets of Rage Trilogy, Golden Axe and Phantasy Star IV.

[Zebbe]

Hehe, no wonder your early era is so long and good when the last Brazilian game was released in 2002 .