Feeling Nostalgic for SEGA

SEGA first pressed play in 1960 and as titans of the gaming world they gave us some absolute classics from the arcade to the console. They brought us the fastest hedgehog in the west, those maddeningly simple coloured bricks (but never a line piece) and a tiny little frog who just wanted to cross the road. We love them all.

Now since we’re feeling a little (okay, a lot) nostalgic for yesteryear recently, we thought we’d take you along for the ride as we relive our childhoods with a run down of the top 10 retro SEGA games of the 90s and noughties! Let’s play.

Frogger (1981)

Although the objective of Frogger is simple, this arcade game gained an enormous following since it first hopped into our lives 40 years ago and became notorious for its fiendishly hard gameplay. Can you get your little green friend across the road, dodging incoming traffic, and THEN across the treacherous and fast-moving swamp? Can you KEEP doing it? Your mission is to get as many frogs to safety as possible. It’s important work. Hours of fun and RIP to all the frogs that didn’t make it.

OutRun (1986)

After racing onto the gaming scene in the mid 80s, OutRun fast became one of the best-selling video games of its time and one of SEGA's most successful arcade cabinets. Living out the fantasy we all have of being a Formula 1 driver, you control a Ferrari Testarossa Spider through the twists and turns of race courses inspired by Monaco and the French Riviera. The game simulated features such as horsepower, torque, gear ratios and tire engineering, making it the closest you could get to a real car experience at the arcade. 3...2...1...GO!

Altered Beast (1988)

A classic ‘beat ‘em up’ arcade game. Set in Ancient Greece, your character has been chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the underworld, Neff. You can use power-ups to change into different magical beasts (like a wolf, dragon, bear, tiger, and golden wolf, the fanciest of all the wolves). Good savage, mystical fun. The usual stuff.

Tetris (1988)

SEGA's 1988 version of Tetris was the game that took Japanese arcades by storm, becoming one of the most commonly known versions of the game. Look, what can we say, it’s Tetris. It’s classic. Iconic. It’s the only reason you can now organise a drawer as an adult. Fun bonus fact: the play pieces are actually called ‘tetrominoes’ which is our favourite thing we have ever learned. 

Golden Axe (1989)

Golden Axe. Winner of most muscular and rippling game characters. Damn bro, how many crunches you doin to get washboard abs like that? Asking for a friend. Designed by Makoto Uchida (of Altered Beast fame), the game takes place in the fictional land of Yuria, a ‘Conan the Barbarian’ style high fantasy medieval world. You have to save Yuria from the evil dictator Death Adder, who also happens to be clutching the Golden Axe in his horrid little hands. We can’t have that.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

SEGA’s company mascot, this speedy blue hedgehog sprinted on the scene and stole hearts as well as gold rings. The biggest question of them all: could you keep up? Fun fact, he was originally going to be called Mr Needlemouse. Glad you stuck with Sonic there, SEGA.

Streets of Rage (1991)

Altered Beast walked so that Streets of Rage could run. Taking on the ‘beat ‘em up’ mantle, Streets of Rage is one of the all-time legendary games in the genre. You either play as Blaze Fielding, Axel Stone, Max Thunder or Eddie "Skate" Hunter, fearlessly fighting to overthrow an evil criminal syndicate that has taken over the city. The stakes are high. The streets are angry. It also features an absolutely killer soundtrack.

Ecco the Dolphin (1992)

Not your traditional video game, Ecco the Dolphin follows a young dolphin named Ecco as he swims across the ocean. You start the game in the aftermath of a huge storm where dear sweet Ecco is separated from his family (Finding Nemo style). In a quest to reunite with his lost loved ones, you swim Ecco across miles of ocean obstacles and into the depths of Atlantis. Proving hugely popular amongst fans in the early 90s, it spawned multiple sequels and made dolphins even cooler.

Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine (1993)

Apart from having the best name ever for a video game, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine is hiiiighly addictive and a lot of fun. The game is a Westernised version of SEGA’s hit Puyo Puyo, but this time with characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. We love a collab, baby. The gameplay is similar to other puzzle games like Tetris and the plot sees the main villain Doctor Robotnik kidnapping residents from Beanville and turning them into robots. Sonic to the rescue.

Football Manager (2004)

If you ever dreamed of being a professional football manager then boy oh boy did SEGA have the game for you. Does exactly what it says on the tin. 

If this hasn’t filled the SEGA video game-shaped gap in your heart, you can view our entire range of SEGA cards here.