A Tale of Two Sonics: How 3D Blast for Sega Genesis Saved the Saturn from Sonic X-treme in 1996
Description: At the crossroads of a New Generation of Gaming, Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog were stuck somewhere between Neutral and Reverse. (Chapter Markers and more below…)
Episode Information
GTV 211 “Blue is Back: A Tale of Two Sonics" Season 11 Episode 9
Original Airdate: October 16, 2026
Produced September 26-October 14, 2026
Recorded at the soundproof booth at work (I think i"m just going to call it "Studio Blue" because the couch in there is blue and I seem to record a lot of Sega videos there.) and edited on my new 15” M5 MacBook Air! (purchased just 2 days before Apple raised the price... by a lot!) Edited and produced with Final Cut Pro and Photopea, which is just like Photoshop but FREE! All paid for with Gainful Employment™ while riding the train to work and home, back and forth, day after day, and lunch breaks too!
0:00 GTV ID: Having a Blast Where Available.
0:04 Introduction: Beyond The Valley of Volcanoes
0:32 Act 1: How Green was My Grove
4:15 Act 2: Puppets in a Panic
9:17 CM 2: The Blue Storm (U.S., 1996)
9:50 Act 3: A Diamond in the Dust
19:51 Act 4: Ruins Left to Rust
Other great SEGA videos by GTV!
For The Record: Altered Beast https://youtu.be/oHRp6jsn_3E
Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/FZcij7XPdzI
Sega SG-1000 Story https://youtu.be/qBDx83UZ1nw
Sega Mega Drive Perfect Guides https://youtu.be/w37sJi4PU_Q
Meet Mr. Sega! https://youtu.be/bkOsNYAx90I
Phantasy Star II 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/4F3LnKYEv-8
Mega Drive Mini Unboxing https://youtu.be/SJ9ec844sh0
Segata Sanshiro https://youtu.be/NBPNcI9OMbk
Phantasy Star III 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/wrQbXEXlabo
The More You Know: Game Gear https://youtu.be/K3bvA41DY4I
Sega Solar System https://youtu.be/nwRy3i1VgMk
The American MegaDrive (aka The Origin of Genesis) https://youtu.be/wta-wGtyuq4
Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/I2MYvgNf9lU
Sonic the 8-Bit https://youtu.be/ct1YjTtd8bE
The Zillion Story https://youtu.be/GV65rKJmlag
A Sonic Adventure https://youtu.be/51cwcqcKiFA
Sonic 2’s Day https://youtu.be/GX6cqZJMEfo
Phantasy Star 35 https://youtu.be/IPSZ6LvQe8g
Magical Hat is Not Zillion 3 https://youtu.be/1ruKUk3GGyE
Sonic Mania Day https://youtu.be/DV3K3Coz1RA
Phantasy Star IV The End of the Millennium: https://youtu.be/5JucGW9iFU8
Sonic 3 & Hedgehog Day https://youtu.be/1x8Sbi0pScs
The More You Know Gaming: Sega Genesis Nomad https://youtu.be/V9UgFz7yfPE
Sega NFL2K5 vs. Madden https://youtu.be/vuXMjTbUnZo
Sonic & Knuckles https://youtu.be/u-pR2RqgU6U
Magic Knight Rayearth https://youtu.be/O5FesW2Sm44
Sega in 1995: The Year of NO Sonic! https://youtu.be/AqkwB-SD0-A
NiGHTS into dreams... https://youtu.be/18kh1M-2Dw8
Partial Transcript
The entire middle chunk of the 1990s will hopefully be remembered for all time as the most influential in video game history. The time span and its effects are too great to pin everything to a single year. The world went from primarily cartridge games with hand-drawn sprites in 2D in 1993 to CD-ROMs with games that moved in 3D, used polygon graphics, had full-screen animation and voice acting as the standard by 1997. And it wasn't Sega or Nintendo who was king of the hill. It was Sony. If there's a gamer out there who went into a four-year coma and missed it all, he'd probably die of shock when he came out of it. Holy [ BEEP ]! Looking back decades afterwards, it's only natural to mark the release of the Saturn and PlayStation as the start of this new era. But that's too simple. While we might remember Saturn Day and “You Are Not Ready,” 16-bit was still running strong in the background with hundreds of games that were still good with hardware prices well under $99. In 1995, as Sega was moving the focus to the Saturn, 2 million Genesis sets went home to happy gamers. It was the bestselling 16-bit system seven years in a row. It was a good thing, too, because the Saturn sold only about 250,000 units that year and was outpaced by the Sony PlayStation almost 3 to one. Everyone will point to their favorite flaws and say, “Aha, see, that’s why.” But regardless, the Genesis was keeping the company on top. In Japan, the scene was reversed. The Mega Drive wasn't too popular, and the Saturn was outselling the PlayStation. In the end, this dichotomy unraveled Sega and all the successes it had built in the early ’90s.
Clips furnished by: RGTV VG b-roll Razor & Zenon, Andrew B, Vampire Robot, Sonic Beyond and Fc Playthroughs Close description
Episode Information
GTV 211 “Blue is Back: A Tale of Two Sonics" Season 11 Episode 9
Original Airdate: October 16, 2026
Produced September 26-October 14, 2026
Recorded at the soundproof booth at work (I think i"m just going to call it "Studio Blue" because the couch in there is blue and I seem to record a lot of Sega videos there.) and edited on my new 15” M5 MacBook Air! (purchased just 2 days before Apple raised the price... by a lot!) Edited and produced with Final Cut Pro and Photopea, which is just like Photoshop but FREE! All paid for with Gainful Employment™ while riding the train to work and home, back and forth, day after day, and lunch breaks too!
0:00 GTV ID: Having a Blast Where Available.
0:04 Introduction: Beyond The Valley of Volcanoes
0:32 Act 1: How Green was My Grove
4:15 Act 2: Puppets in a Panic
9:17 CM 2: The Blue Storm (U.S., 1996)
9:50 Act 3: A Diamond in the Dust
19:51 Act 4: Ruins Left to Rust
Other great SEGA videos by GTV!
For The Record: Altered Beast https://youtu.be/oHRp6jsn_3E
Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/FZcij7XPdzI
Sega SG-1000 Story https://youtu.be/qBDx83UZ1nw
Sega Mega Drive Perfect Guides https://youtu.be/w37sJi4PU_Q
Meet Mr. Sega! https://youtu.be/bkOsNYAx90I
Phantasy Star II 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/4F3LnKYEv-8
Mega Drive Mini Unboxing https://youtu.be/SJ9ec844sh0
Segata Sanshiro https://youtu.be/NBPNcI9OMbk
Phantasy Star III 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/wrQbXEXlabo
The More You Know: Game Gear https://youtu.be/K3bvA41DY4I
Sega Solar System https://youtu.be/nwRy3i1VgMk
The American MegaDrive (aka The Origin of Genesis) https://youtu.be/wta-wGtyuq4
Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/I2MYvgNf9lU
Sonic the 8-Bit https://youtu.be/ct1YjTtd8bE
The Zillion Story https://youtu.be/GV65rKJmlag
A Sonic Adventure https://youtu.be/51cwcqcKiFA
Sonic 2’s Day https://youtu.be/GX6cqZJMEfo
Phantasy Star 35 https://youtu.be/IPSZ6LvQe8g
Magical Hat is Not Zillion 3 https://youtu.be/1ruKUk3GGyE
Sonic Mania Day https://youtu.be/DV3K3Coz1RA
Phantasy Star IV The End of the Millennium: https://youtu.be/5JucGW9iFU8
Sonic 3 & Hedgehog Day https://youtu.be/1x8Sbi0pScs
The More You Know Gaming: Sega Genesis Nomad https://youtu.be/V9UgFz7yfPE
Sega NFL2K5 vs. Madden https://youtu.be/vuXMjTbUnZo
Sonic & Knuckles https://youtu.be/u-pR2RqgU6U
Magic Knight Rayearth https://youtu.be/O5FesW2Sm44
Sega in 1995: The Year of NO Sonic! https://youtu.be/AqkwB-SD0-A
NiGHTS into dreams... https://youtu.be/18kh1M-2Dw8
Partial Transcript
The entire middle chunk of the 1990s will hopefully be remembered for all time as the most influential in video game history. The time span and its effects are too great to pin everything to a single year. The world went from primarily cartridge games with hand-drawn sprites in 2D in 1993 to CD-ROMs with games that moved in 3D, used polygon graphics, had full-screen animation and voice acting as the standard by 1997. And it wasn't Sega or Nintendo who was king of the hill. It was Sony. If there's a gamer out there who went into a four-year coma and missed it all, he'd probably die of shock when he came out of it. Holy [ BEEP ]! Looking back decades afterwards, it's only natural to mark the release of the Saturn and PlayStation as the start of this new era. But that's too simple. While we might remember Saturn Day and “You Are Not Ready,” 16-bit was still running strong in the background with hundreds of games that were still good with hardware prices well under $99. In 1995, as Sega was moving the focus to the Saturn, 2 million Genesis sets went home to happy gamers. It was the bestselling 16-bit system seven years in a row. It was a good thing, too, because the Saturn sold only about 250,000 units that year and was outpaced by the Sony PlayStation almost 3 to one. Everyone will point to their favorite flaws and say, “Aha, see, that’s why.” But regardless, the Genesis was keeping the company on top. In Japan, the scene was reversed. The Mega Drive wasn't too popular, and the Saturn was outselling the PlayStation. In the end, this dichotomy unraveled Sega and all the successes it had built in the early ’90s.
Clips furnished by: RGTV VG b-roll Razor & Zenon, Andrew B, Vampire Robot, Sonic Beyond and Fc Playthroughs Close description