The Sega CD was a brilliant idea in theory. Compact discs were clearly the future of gaming with their huge storage capacity. This allowed for redbook audio and full motion video. Additionally the hardware added some new graphic effects which made it surpass the capabilities of the Super Nintendo. Unfortunately the price was just too high. That didn’t stop developers from releasing a lot of high quality software for the thing. RPGs benefited greatly from the new medium and Gamearts in particular took advantage of this with the Lunar series. It never set the sales charts on fire but this is my favorite add-on hardware.
Official Names:
Sega CD
Sega Mega CD
Release Dates:
JP: 1991
US: 1992
EU: 1993
Power: 16-bit
Media Type: CD
Controller Ports: 2 (located on the Genesis hardware)