Genesis does what Nintendon't... a slogan that Sega was pushing when they debuted their new console the Genesis during the end of the original NES era. According to Sega, the Genesis did what the NES couldn't, it provided "better" graphics, "faster" speeds and of course "blast processing" to allow their games to out perform the competition.
Design - The look of the Genesis is simple and to the point. The fact that they had to change it's look multiple times during the console's run shows that Sega wasn't happy with the design or needed to cut production costs. Although the simplest and most common version is the Genesis-2 (shown below in the center), the best version was the original (shown on the left). Although it was a little larger, an added headphone jack with volume control was a nice little extra that the other versions didn't have.
Controllers - The controller for the original Genesis was a nice alternative to the NES block-style controller. The Genesis controller was shaped for your hand, the buttons were large and the D-Pad was responsive. Sega later modified the controller to add extra buttons and made it smaller in all aspects. This was to address the extra buttons needed for fighting games, which were very popular during the console's run.
Library Strength - While not as impressive as Nintendo's first party titles, the Genesis had an impressive list of games. Games such as, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Altered Beast made the Genesis a must have for gamers. 3rd party titles available for the SNES were usually available for the Genesis as well and in some cases had exclusive content (Blood in the original Mortal Kombat, Extra Characters in Wrestlemania the Arcade Game and Shaq-Fu).
Collect-ability - The Genesis system is somewhat of a joke when it comes to collect-ability. With 3 different system versions, multiple failed addons and tons of accessories there are tons of Genesis treats to locate, but are any of them even worth finding? One huge plus in collecting the Genesis is that it's games have boxes. That's the main draw for Sega games as a collector. You have a great case with artwork on it to put the games in, which also allowed the instruction books to be saved as well.
Overall - The Sega Genesis was a solid home console in the late 80s/early 90s and held up against it's main competitor the SNES. It's games were very memorable and worth locating/playing to this day. Although there is no such thing as "Blast Processing", the Genesis did provide a fun gaming adventure that no retro gamer should be without.
