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Whoa, remember the SEGA CD? Ah, neither do a lot of people. Some IGN editors sure do though, and now that SEGA's riskiest console is 20-years-old, we decided to look back at our fondest, craziest memories of Sewer Shark, Lethal Enforcers, and Night Trap. You know, the modern classics."Hey! Relaaaax. Pretend it's a game. Maybe it'll even be fun... Shoot the tubes, Dogmeat!"So barks your co-pilot Ghost, a pastiche of '90s machismo and adrenaline, in the SEGA CD pack-in Sewer Shark. Amidst the distorted power chords, rank tunnels, and absurd plot, it's difficult to call Sewer Shark a great game. But I loved it. Playing at around seven years old, my budding gaming skills made a mess of the flying. But the thrill of barreling through corridors infested with vermin and following the nervous orders of Catfish -- a distant relative of 343 Guilty Spark and Wheatley -- made all the deaths worthwhile.And the literal light at the end of the tunnel, Solar City, beckoned me like a far-away paradise. Shining with ocean air and beautiful women. Even though a full run of Sewer Shark took under an hour, I spent far longer in my desperate plunge to beat it. But that ascent from Dogmeat to Beachbum will forever remain in my gamer legacy. For better or worse.- You know when you’re a kid and you want something SO BAD that all you can do is think about it all day long? That was the SEGA CD add-on for me in the early 1990s. I remember staring at it for creepy amounts of time when it was on the cover of Electronic Gaming Monthly. Its front-panel buttons seemed sleek and futuristic. Its retractable-tray CD drive seemed light years ahead of the only other console CD-ROM drive out there, the TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM (side note: doesn’t it seem hilarious now that we used to call them “CD-ROM”s? And do you even know/remember what CD-ROM stands for? I do*, and yes that makes me old).Anyway, as a kid with no job and therefore no income, I didn’t get one for a while. But eventually I saved enough birthday cash and allowance to buy one – except by then it was the far-less-cool, cheaper-to-manufacture, top-loading side-saddle model that sat next to the Genesis. I have fond – if strange – memories of the games. Lethal Enforcers was a popular full-motion video-heavy coin-op light-gun game at that time, so I eagerly purchased the SEGA CD version of Lethal Enforcers II , which came in a big box with a blue and a pink (!) six-shooter light gun. I remember a corridor racing/shooting game called Sewer Shark – I think it might’ve been the pack-in game since it’s something I don’t think I would’ve bought on my own – and strangely, I only remember one thing about it: when you smashed into a wall and died, an FMV cutscene popped up with some actor from the game saying, “They’ll be blottin’ you up with Handy Wipes!”As you can see, FMV was the flavor of the month back in the SEGA CD days. It seemed like a good idea at the time, I assure you.(*TRIVIA ANSWER: Compact Disc Read-Only Memory)- It’s funny how you remember things. I know today that the SEGA CD was terrible, but when I was a kid and had the opportunity to rent the Genesis attachment I was astounded by the leap in technology. For a few weekends I had a chance to rent the add-on for a hefty fee and experience two titles; Sewer Shark and Sonic CD. Yes I recall shooting the orange rats and dodging sewer pipes, but the memories I’m much more fond of include those spent playing the blue blur. Arguably one of the best Sonic games ever created, Sonic CD had time travel, new 3D bonus levels, and it was the first time Sonic could run in place with a figure 8 red blurring of his shoes before speeding off into the world. However what really blew me away was the animated introductory sequence and ending sequence. In an effort to capture these scenes a friend and I figured out how to run the SEGA CD through a VCR and into a television just so that we could watch the animations again and again after we had to return the system. I still have the VHS stored away to this day and remember pausing that tape again and again just so I could draw pictures of Sonic. Sure the platform was a failure, but it created one of those fun childhood experiences that you don’t forget.- I remember the SEGA CD for one reason and one reason only: Lunar: Eternal Blue.This game was simply incredible, and the first RPG I had ever played with voice acting in it. In fact, Eternal Blue had nearly two hours’ worth of voice work, which was unprecedented at the time. Not only that, but thanks to the SEGA CD’s amazing visual and audio capabilities, I remember being treated to some outstanding animated cutscenes and high quality music (I saved the game disc for years just so I could listen to the main theme over and over again).Though Lunar: Eternal Blue didn’t receive quite as much acclaim as its predecessor Lunar: The Silver Star (another SEGA CD gem), it remains one of my favorite RPGs of all time. Hopefully one day it will be introduced to a new generation of role-playing fans, so that they too can experience the magic of the Blue Star.- Conner Dowell was the only boy I knew rich enough to have the SEGA CD. I remember absconding to his game room one after school day, seeing Dracula Unleashed or Night Trap or whatever the hell that system played, and being so happy my parents hadn't bought this device. A pox on thee, SEGA CD. A pox.- I was duped into buying a SEGA CD but didn't learn my lesson about buying stupid add-ons with no games until I bought the 32X. Though I quickly turned back to my SNES, I do have some fond memories associated with the SEGA CD: Figuring out what the heck I was supposed to do in Sewer Shark (follow the screaming robot); listening to Jerky Boys CDs on my first CD player; and beating Dragon's Lair for the first time. A putt putt course near my house in Scottsdale, Arizona had Street Fighter II, Joe & Mac and Dragon's Lair II. Dragon's Lair II looked freaking amazing, but it cost a buck a play, so that's probably why I initially picked up the port of the prequel when it was released for SEGA CD. Dragon's Lair on SEGA CD wasn't bad, and I spent many afternoons and weekends puzzling through the game one trial and many errors at a time -- something that would have seemed totally unaffordable before the SEGA CD.In the fall of ’94, the biggest topic at my school lunchroom table was undoubtedly Final Fantasy III. But when my friends got going about espers and magicite and some evil dude named Kefka, I never had anything to add. Their game sounded cool, sure, but I was a SEGA kid, and I had already discovered my own epic fantasy world to live in.In my fantasy world, the main characters were fully voiced. There were beautifully animated cutscenes that brought the story to life. I could even put the game in my CD boombox to listen to the incredible music while I did homework! From the moment I first saw that intro video, I was hooked. My friends didn’t understand what they were missing:For me, the SEGA CD WAS Lunar and it’s sequel Eternal Blue. These games opened me up to RPGs and proved that the CD medium could be used for more than just cheesy FMVs. They were in good company, too. I sunk hours into exploring Out of This World and it’s SEGA CD exclusive sequel, Heart of the Alien. Keio Flying Squadron opened the door to quirky Japanese shmups. The best Sonic, Snatcher, Flashback, even Tomcat Alley and Mansion of Hidden Souls…I’m sure I sold them all years ago, but every time I go back to my parents house, I secretly hope I’ll find a dusty box in the back of a closet somewhere containing all these deeply nostalgic gaming memories.

Did you own a SEGA CD? Play one at a friend's house? Suddenly realize you read a site largely written by people way older than you? Tell us your favorite SEGA CD memory in the comments below!