Sega Genesis vs SNES: By the Real Numbers

Console wars: Sega Genesis / Mega Drive sales figures vs snes sales figures

North America:
Genesis sales (Aug 1989-2001): 25,639,461 : Genesis 1-3 + Nomad (without considering other console variations nor the Sega CD and the 32 X sales)
Genesis : other licensed console variations (1993-1996): between 100,000 and 200,000 units (estimate). Ref(s): above
Total Genesis Sales (2002-2020): unknown (29 different licensed versions of Sega Genesis released*)
*Sales estimates are only available for one of these 29 versions: Sega Genesis Classic Games Console, two 2016 editions (USA, AtGames, 2016): Around 1,000,000. Reference:
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/atgames-sega-genesis-classic-games-console.
Even considering that the other 25 versions released between 2004 and 2016 sold less than a quarter of the 2016 version in North America, we would have at least more 6,000,000 units.
Genesis: other licensed Console variations (2004-2016): 7,000,000 (estimate)
Total Genesis Sales (1989-2016):  32,539,461 (estimate)
Total Genesis Sales (1989-2020): unknown
Snes Sales in 1991+1992: official 6.9; Corrected sales figures: only just more than 4 million units
Total Snes  Sales in North America (1991-2016): 19,533,930 (16,733,930 corrected)
Sega Genesis vs Snes in North America (1989-2016): 32,489,461 vs 16,733,930
References:
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_games
This firs reference is wrong about snes sales figures in 1991 and 1992:
* "With the Genesis often outselling the SNES at a ratio of 2: 1, Nintendo and Sega both focused heavily on impression management of the market, even going to the point of deception, with Nintendo claiming it had sold more consoles in 1991 than it actually had, and forecasting it would sell 6 million consoles by the end of 1992, while its current US install base at the end of 1992 was only just more than 4 million units. ". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Genesis, with these two references:
CVG Staff (April 14, 2013). "History Lesson: Sega Mega Drive". CVG. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013. Granted, the Mega Drive wasn't met with quite the same levels of enthusiasm in Japan, but in the US and Europe the Mega Drive often outsold the SNES at a ratio of 2: 1.
Schilling, Melissa A. (2006). Strategic management of technological innovation. Indiana University: McGraw-Hill / Irwin. P. 292. ISBN 978-0-07-321058-2. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016.

Brazil:
Total number of licensed Mega Drive console units produced and sold by TecToy in the country (1990-2012): around 3 million
Total number of licensed Mega Drive console units produced and sold by TecToy in the country (1990-2020): around 3,500,000 (3,200,000 until 2016)
Nintendo had a major investment in the country with the merger of two large Brazilian companies (Gradiente and Estrela) forming the company Playtronic. It officially sold Nintendo consoles in Brazil between 1993 and 2002. Mega Drive maintained an 80% market share in Brazil and alone sold much more than all nintendo consoles during these 10 years. The sum of all Nintendo hardware sales in Brazil (including NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and GameCube) was 2 million units, while Mega Drive alone sold about 3.5 million of units.
Reference: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playtronic
Mega Drive was also dominant in the second largest market in South America: Argentina.

The Americas:
Therefore, with corrected numbers, sales of snes in the Americas should not have exceeded 18,000,000 units.
Total Sales Figures in Americas (1989-2016):
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive: over 35,739,461 (estimate not including sales between 2017-2020; only North America and Brazil included).
Snes: 18,000,000 (estimate with correction); 23,350,000 (without correction)

Other regions (outside Americas and Japan):
Mega Drive (Western Europe, 1990-1997), only models 1 and 2: 9,170,000
Mega Drive (Western Europe, 1990-1997), other licensed models: total sales figures unknown
Mega Drive (Western Europe, 1998): unknown sales figures
Mega Drive (Western Europe, 1999-2001), only models 1 and 2: 486,666
Mega Drive (Eastern Europe, 1990-1997): total sales figures unknown (over 100,000)
Mega Drive (Australia by Ozisoft): around 500,000
Mega Drive, New Zealand: unknown sales figures
Mega Drive, Africa: unknown sales figures
Mega Drive other licensed models (Europe and Australia, 2004-2020): unknown sales figures
South Korea (as Super Gam*Boy and later as Super Aladdin Boy, 1990-1993partial): 147,000
South Korea (as Super Aladdin Boy and later as Mega Drive, 1993partial-1999): unknown
"Other" Asia:  total sales figures unknown (over 300,000 - estimate)
Asia: other licensed licensed models (2000-2020): sales figures unknown
Mega Drive (other regions outside Americas and Japan, 1989-2016): 14,716,388 (estimate, not including Mega Drive sales between 2017-2020)
Snes (other regions outside Americas and Japan, 1989-2016): 8,590,000

Total worldwide sales figures outside Japan (1989-2016):
Mega Drive / Sega Genesis: 50,455,849 (estimate without considering Sega CD and 32 X sales)
Snes: 26,580,000 with correction or 31,930,000 without correction

Japan
Mega Drive (Oct 1988 -1995, model 1 and 2): 3,580,000
Other official/licensed models (1991-1996): 468,500
New official/licensed models (2001, 2005): unknown sales figures
Mega Drive: 4,108,500 (sales 1989-2016, estimate, not including Mega Drive sales after 2006)
Super Famicom (1990-2016): 17,600,000

Total sales figures worldwide (1989-2016):
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive: 54,564,349 (estimate)
sfc /snes: 44,180,000 (with correction) or 49,100,000 without correction
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Add-on Sega CD / Mega CD: 6,000,000* 
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Add-on 32 X: 1,230,000*
*not included in the Mega Drive/ Sega Genesis sales figures

More information on Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Sales Figures at:

https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/console-wars-real-sega-genesis-mega.html

The Real and Most Complete Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Worldwide Software Sales Figures:
http://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/console-wars-real-and-most-complete.html

Sega IPs that "inspired" Nintendo's best-selling franchises, but were abandoned by Sega

 Sega IPs that "inspired" Nintendo's best-selling franchises, but were abandoned by Sega:

The success of Sega's franchises could be even greater. Since 1995, Sega of Japan in the war with Sega of America decided to centralize power and focus on the Japanese market. With that in mind, the Japanese CEOs started to devalue IPs that were hugely successful in the rest of the world (outside Japan). Sega could certainly invest more in new games from its classic franchises (imagine how interesting it would be for example a sequel of Altered Beast in the same vein as God of War 3).

Another side of this internal Sega war in 1995 was that some great Sega games from Japan ended up not even being published in other countries.

Here are some examples of Sega's IPs that inspired the best seller Nintendo's Franchises and that were largely overlooked by Sega, while Nintendo released dozens of versions of those games, constantly and endlessly "milking the Cash Cow":

Pulseman (Sega, 1994)
Pulseman is an exclusive Mega Drive game. Although today Pulseman is recognized as a triple-A game, it has received little attention from Sega itself, being released physically exclusively in Japan. As the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive was the best selling video game console outside Japan, Sega missed a great opportunity to popularize Pulseman and after that completely forgot it and never developed a sequel.  This strategic error occurred in the midst of the conflict between the Japanese Sega and Sega of America, which also limited the release of other great games released by Sega for the Mega Drive in Japan at that time such as Monster World IV, The Hybrid Front, Surging Aura, Alien Soldier and Lord Monarch.

The origin of the second best seller Nintendo franchise of all time (Pokémon) was strongly influenced by Pulseman. Most of the staff members who worked on Pulseman received little attention from Sega and would later work for Nintendo creating the Pokémon series, including the designer and director Ken Sugimori, designer Satoshi Tajiri, artist Atsuko Nishida and composer Junichi Masuda. The main character of the Pokémon series (Pikachu) had its electrical powers based on Pulseman's powers. In addition, Pulseman's diagonal attack that serves for locomotion and damage called Voltecker, looks almost identical to that of Pikachu's Volt Tackle in Emerald (GBA, 2004), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, 2008) and in the anime. The design of the main character of Pulseman also influenced several Pokémon characters such as: Remoraid, Xatu, Registroel, Ledian, Bisharp and Rotom from Diamond, Pearl and Platinum (Nintendo DS, 2006 and 2008). Several other characters from Pokémon were also influenced by characters from Pulseman, such as: Mars (Pókemon) vs Beatrice (Pulseman) and Charon (Pókemon) vs Dr Waruyama (Pulseman). The most important object in the Pókemon series, the Poké Ball, also had its design inspired by the game Pulseman, more specifically in the vehicle of the arch-enemy of Pulseman (as can be seen in the photo below).

Pulseman's influence is also strong on the soundtrack of Pokémon games. Many Pokémon game themes are based on Pulseman songs. Pulseman's "Shutdown 1" and the theme of the battle against Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie, in DPP, could be considered simple remixes of the Pulseman's music. Lavender Town and Viridian Forest are examples of songs influenced by Pulseman's soundtrack. 

While Sega forgot Pulseman, Nintendo continues for more than 20 years releasing numerous games, anime, movie and other products based on Pókemon and with many elements inspired by Pulseman. Nintendo recognized the virtues of Pulseman more than Sega itself and re-launched the Mega Drive for the Wii on the Virtual Console in Japan in 2007, and in North America and Europe in 2009.

The first Pokemon games (1996,1998,1999) were also strongly influenced by Sega's Shining Force series (1992,1993,1994) for the Mega Drive and Game Gear. The influence is very evident in the battles and also in the focus on obtaining allies. This strong influence is explained by the love of Ken Sugimori - character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise - for the Mega Drive. According to his own words: "Since I loved arcade games, I was hooked once I saw that the Mega Drive had FM sound and raster scrolling. The Mega Drive got a lot of high-quality arcade ports, and I played them all. If a title came out for multiple consoles at the same time, there was no question about it. I would get the Mega Drive version". 

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulseman

http://www.sega-16.com/2014/02/classic-interview-ken-sugimori/

http://www.nintendoblast.com.br/2015/11/pulseman-pokemon-referencias-mega-drive.html

Pulseman (Mega Drive, Sega, 19994)

Power Drift (Sega, 1988)
This pioneering Kart racing game with a strong sense of humor inspired the Mario Kart series started four years later in 1992. While Nintendo has been continually releasing countless versions, updates and rehashs of that game, Sega has just kept on never releasing a sequel to Power Drift. Worse than that, Sega could easily have released a fairly accurate port of the arcade game for Sega CD or 32 X but it never did. Even stranger is the fact that Sega has authorized a downgraded port for the PC Engine. The first port of the game for a Sega home console only came almost 10 years later on a Sega Saturn with exclusive release in Japan. Sega's original idea of using the mascot in a racing game even predates Power Drift. In 1987, Sega launched the Alex Kidd BMX Trial only in Japan for Master System (Sega Mark III in Japan).

Fighters Megamix (1996) and Sonic The Fighters (1996) 
Both games "inspired" Nintendo to release Super Smash Bros in 1999. While Nintendo has been continually releasing countless versions, updates and rehashs of that game, Sega has just kept on never releasing a sequel for either of its two pioneering games. Worse than that, Sega could easily have released a fairly accurate port of Sonic The Fighters for the Sega Saturn, but never did. It would be easy to expand the cast of "Sonic The Fighters" in new versions to include characters like Ristar, Alex Kidd, Monster World, Opa-Opa, Kid Chameleon, Pulseman, Psycho Fox, Shining Force, Soleil, Dragon Force, Bonanza Bros., Teddy Boy, Flicky, Decap Attack, Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, Samba de Amigo, Toe Jam and Earl. The original Fighter Megamix had 36 characters from Virtua Fighter, Fighting Vipers, Virtua Cop 2, Rent-a-Hero and Daytona USA. Likewise, it would be easy to imagine "Fighter Megamix" sequences including characters from Streets of Rage, SpikeOut, Last Bronx, Yakuza, Shenmue, Eternal Champions, Shinobi / Shadow Dancer, Golden Axe, Beyond Oasis, Phantasy Star, Landstalker, Altered Beast, Black Belt, Alien Storm, Arabian Fight, Guardian Heroes, D.D. Crew, Dynamite Deka, Holosseum, Dark Edge, Jet Set Radio, Segata Sanshiro, Vectorman, E-Swat, Jewel Master, Comix Zone and Space Harrier.

Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (Sega, 1993), Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R (Sega,1994) and Puzzle & Action: Treasure Hunt (Sega, 1995)
Considered the forerunners of the "party games" genre, these three games were the inspiration for 1998's Mario Party. Even the roulette used in the selection of mini-games was reused in Mario Party. These Sega games were based on the Bonanza Bros. universe. while Nintendo's were based on the Mario Bros. universe. While Nintendo has been continually releasing countless versions, updates and rehashs of that game, Sega has just kept Puzzle & Action series restricted to Japan, both on arcade and on consoles (Mega Drive / Mega Drive Mini, Game Gear and Saturn).

Wonder Boy / Monster World

The first Wonder Boy was the source for an inferior clone called "Adventure Island" that had several sequels released for NES and snes.
Wonderboy in Monster World (Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, 1991), with the use of an ocarina by the protagonist, was one of the main inspirations for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64,1998).

While Nintendo continues until today to release and re-launch numerous Zelda games, unfortunately Sega prematurely abandoned all its franchises and action RPG / adventures games like Monster World, LandStalker, Beyond Oasis, Soleil, Light Crusader, King Colossus, Rent a Hero, Sword of Vermilion, Spellcaster, Golden Axe Warrior and Lord of the Sword.

Miyamoto  (creator of Zelda and Mario) recently stated that his children played a lot of Sega Games in the 80s and 90s and that this inspired him to "try harder".

Golden Axe

Battletoads (Rare, 1991) was one of the biggest hits on the NES, which received an improved version for Sega Genesis (after Nintendo's monopoly was considered illegal) and a sequel released for snes and Master System. Everyone knows that the game is obviously inspired by TMNT. However, very few know that the main stages of these games and some enemies were strongly inspired by the middle part of the "Fiend's Path" stage of the game Golden Axe (Sega, 1989).

See also:
The Real and Most Complete Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Worldwide Games Sales Figures:
http://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/console-wars-real-and-most-complete.html

The best-selling video game franchise of all time : after decades the truth has finally appeared!

The best-selling video game franchise of all time

The homonymous list on Wikipedia is wrong. After decades the truth has finally appeared.

In 2018 for the fist time ever Sega announced the sales of its most famous franchise: over 800 million.
http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/ir/library/pdf/printing_annual/2018/ssh_ar18e_web.pdf

http://comicbook.com/gaming/news/ps4-games-playstation-store-sale-psn-august-2020/

Only one year after that first announcement, these sales figures increased significantly, surpassing the 920 million mark, according to Sega's Integrated Report 2019. 

http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/ir/library/pdf/printing_annual/2019/al2019_5_e.pdf

"Sonic the Hedgehog is one of our massively popular series, beloved by users around the world since its launch in 1991, with total sales exceeding 920 million copies." INTEGRATED REPORT 2019, page 55

These figures makes Sonic the Hedgehog the best-selling video game franchise of all time. The second place goes to Mario (including all variations:Super, Kart, Party...) with 639.04 million and in third place the Tetris franchise with 495 million.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises

Even though these new official Sonic sales figures were released almost two years ago, Wikipedia has not yet corrected the wrong information that the Sonic franchise would have sold 140 million units, which was based on an unofficial source.

It is likely that these sales figures from the Sonic franchise, although impressive and already easily guarantee the first place, are underestimated, as Sega apparently does not have the full information on the sales figures of the Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear and Sega CD games officially distributed by third parties during the last 30 years.

Certainly the main stars of the franchise are the Mega Drive / Sega Genesis games, especially the first two games. Unfortunately Sega did not disclose sales of any of the games individually. Probably Sonic The Hedgehog (Mega Drive - 1991) is one of the best selling games of all time if all re-releases are taken into account.  It is also not certain whether these figures took into account the countless collections sold with these games.

The Mega Drive / Sega Genesis has also originated other hugely successful franchises such as Puyo Puyo, FIFA, Madden, NHL, Shining, Stalker, Oasis, Streets of Rage, Road Rash, Strike, Illusion (Castle...), World Series Baseball, NBA Live, NBA Action, Earthworm Jim, Rocket Knight, Toe Jam & Earl, Ecco the Dolphin, Assault Suits, Vectorman (which apparently inspired the almost identical plot of the movie WALL-E), Eternal Champions, Joe Montana, Heroes (Gunstar, Guardians...), Columns, Lunar (CD) and many others. Even considering only Mega Drive sales, many of these franchises easily exceeded the million mark. Unfortunately, the sales figures of these franchises have never been revealed by Sega. Certainly, given the countless re-releases of Mega Drive games in recent decades, it is certain that many other classic Sega franchises have far surpassed the mark of many millions of copies sold. Apparently, due to the multiplicity of publishers responsible for selling/manufacturing the Sega Master System and Mega Drive outside Japan, Sega never managed to divulge the total number of games and consoles sold. This may be the reason for not disclosing the total number of sales for millionaire franchises like Phantasy Star, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, OutRun, After Burner, Fantasy Zone, Altered Beast, Alex Kidd, Shining and many others.

FIFA (282.4 million), Madden (130 million) and Puyo Puyo (27 million) are still among the best selling video game franchises of all time to this day. FIFA is in the seventh place and Madden in the fourteenth.
References: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/10/segas_sonic_the_hedgehog_series_has_shifted_800_million_games_to_date#enlarge-2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises

For Phantasy Star, oddly Sega only released sales of Phantasy Star Online 2 (5 million)
Reference: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/10/segas_sonic_the_hedgehog_series_has_shifted_800_million_games_to_date#enlarge-2

Sega also released sales of the Hokuto-No-Ken series, but oddly did not include the series' Master System and Mega Drive games.
Reference: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/10/segas_sonic_the_hedgehog_series_has_shifted_800_million_games_to_date#enlarge-2

The snes also spawned some multi-platform games, but these games were mostly weak games that were promoted with a lot of hype such as Bubsy, The Tick, Robocop 3, WWF Wrestlemania, Bart's Nightmare, Hook, "Spider-Man and the X-men: Arcade's Revenge", Ultraman, The Death and Return of Superman, ClayFighters, B.O.B. and Weapon Lord.

The Best Selling Game:
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991):
Sonic The Hedgehog originated the best selling video game franchising of all time and probably remains the best-selling game in this franchise to date (even without considering the 8-bit version for Master System and Game Gear).
Although the number of sales of the game is not known, it is considered the record holder in re-releases and most likely it is one of the best-selling games of all time. Below is a list of releases of this game, most of which do not have known sales figures.

a. Bundled on Sega Genesis in North America: Sonic the Hedgehog sold over 15 million units bundled on Sega Genesis (between late 1991 and 1992).

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_note-youtube-48

a.2.  Bundled on Sega Genesis in North America (1993-2020): unknown sales figures

a2. Buldleld with Mega Drive in Western Europe (1991-1994): 6.88 

a.3. Mega Drive console bundles in South Korea during 1992 to 1993: 260,000

a.4. Buldleld with Mega Drive in Brazil: unknown sales figures more than 1 million)

a.5: Buldleld with Mega Drive in other regions (Asia; Japan; Middle East; East Europe; Australia/New Zealand): unknown sales figures

b. Bundled on Mega Drive third party licensed variations (1993-2020, all regions): unknown sales figures
c. Genesis/Mega Drive Cartridges (1991-1999): unknown sales figures
d. Other licensed Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges sold in compilations with other Mega Drive / Sega Genesis Games such as:

d.1: Sonic Classics: unknown sales figures
d.2: 6-Pack: unknown sales figures
d.3: Mega 6 vol. 3: unknown sales figures
d.4: Telstar Double Value Games: unknown sales figures
d.5: 10 Super Jogos: unknown sales figures
d.6: Mega Games 10: unknown sales figures
e. Bundled whit Sega CD: unknown sales figures
f. Mega-Tech: unknown sales figures
g. Mega Play: unknown sales figures
Total Sonic the Hedgehog sales for the original hardware: unknown sales figures
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) sales in other consoles: 
1.Sonic Jam (Sega Saturn, 1997): unknown sales figures
2.Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Game Boy Advance, 2006): unknown sales figures
3.Wii Virtual Console (2006): unknown sales figures
4.iOS (2007) : unknown sales figures

5.X-Box Live Arcade (2007): 482,960 units. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_ref-49
6.Paid mobile downloads in 2008: over 8 million.  Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_note-49
6.2. Paid mobile downloads between 2009 and 2020: unknown sales figures

7.Paid Android downloads between 2013 and 2016: over 500,000 (unknown sales figures).  Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_note-49
8. 3D Classics (Nintendo 3DS, 2013) : unknown
9.Sonic Mega Collection (Game Cube, 2002): unknown sales figures
10. Sonic Mega Collection Plus (PlayStation 2, 2003): 2.3 million
11. Sonic Mega Collection Plus (X-Box, 2003): unknown sales figures
12. Sega Mega Drive Collection/Sega Genesis Collection (PlayStation 2, 2006): unknown
13. Sega Mega Drive Collection/Sega Genesis Collection (PlayStation Portable, 2006): unknown
14. Sonic Mega Collection Plus (PC-Windows, 2007): unknown
15. Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection/Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (PS3,2009): unknown
16. Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection/Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (X-Box 360,2009)
17. Sonic Classic Collection (Nintendo DS, 2010): unknown
18. Sega Ages vol. 1 (Windows, MacOs and Linux, 2010): unknown
19. Sega Forever (iOS and Android, 2017) : unknown
20. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (PlayStation 4, 2018): unknown
21. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (X-Box One, 2018): unknown
22. Sega Ages (PlatStation 4, 2018): unknown
23. Sega Ages (XBox One, 2018): unknown
24. Sega Ages (Nintendo Switch, 2018): unknown
25. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (Nintendo Switch, 2018): unknown
26. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (Steam, 2010-2020): total sales figures unknown. Sega sold over 350,000 Mega Drive/Genesis classic games in only 20 days since launching its Mega Drive and Genesis Hub on Steam on April 28 2016, according to Sega Europe's director of digital distribution, James Schall. Reference: 

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/272850/Sega_mod_hub_launch_sparks_350000_in_classic_game_sales.php

28. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (Steam, 2010-2020): includes Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Spinball, Dr Robotnik and 44 other Mega Drive/Genesis games. total sales figures unknown. Sales: 1,514,485 up to the 1st July 2018 (in other words, 10.601.395 classic Sonic games). Just considering the sales of this collection until this date, these 50 Mega Drive games occupy the fourth position of best-selling Japanese games of all time on Steam (even if counted as one game instead of 50 games). Sonic CD is also in the all time top 100. 

Reference: http://ricedigital.co.uk/the-best-selling-japanese-games-on-steam/

28. Sonic the Hedgehog: Ultimate Bundle (Steam): unknown sales figures

29. Around 30 versions for iOS: unknown sales figures

30. Sega Classics for smartphones:  unknown sales figures

31. Google Play Store (for Android): over 10 million downloads between 06/21/2017 and jun 2020
Total original Sonic the Hedgehog sales (in other consoles): unknown sales figures

31. Sonic the Hedgehog (X-Box 360): 483,000 up to 2011 (Sonic 2: 510,000; Sonic 3: 203,000; Sonic & Knuckles: 207,366; Golden Axe: 268,000; Streets of Rage 2:185,000; Altered Beast: 58,000; Sonic Adventure: 203,000). Reference: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/39713/Xbox_Live_Arcde_by_the_numbers__the_2011_year_in_review.php

32. SEGA Megadrive and Genesis Classics Collection (Direct2Drive): unknown sales figures
33. Sonic Hits Collection: unknown sales figures. http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/05/get-seventeen-sonic-games-on-steam-for-5/

These collections mentioned above usually also contain several other classic Mega Drive / Sega Genesis games, including several Sonic games.

Best-sellers retrogames in Amazon.com (paid games as of August 23th 2020):

#1. Sonic 2 (Mega Drive/ Genesis version) 

#2. Sonic The Hedgehog (Mega Drive/ Genesis version)

#3. Sonic CD (Sega CD version)

They are the only retrogames present in the "top 100 paid".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/mobile-apps/ref=pd_zg_ts_mobile-apps

Sonic The Hedgehog (Mega Drive/ Genesis version) in the forth place in the list of action games (paid games as of August 23th 2020):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/mobile-apps/9408529011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_mobile-apps
Sonic The Hedgehog (Mega Drive/ Genesis version) in the forth place in the list of arcade games and in eighth place in the Sega Classics package together with other 24 genesis games: Sonic 2 , Sonic CD,  Sonic Spinball, The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage 1, 2 & 3; Altered Beast; Golden Axe 1,2 & 3; Comix Zone; Ristar; Beyond Oasis; Decap Attack; ESWAT: City Under Siege; Gunstar Heroes; Dynamite Headdy; Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine; Columns; Bio-Hazard Battle; Alien Storm; Bonanza Bros; Gain Ground (paid games as of August 23th 2020): http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/mobile-apps/9408531011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_mobile-apps

In addition to the classic Sonic games, another big hit is Sonic Dash with over 400 million downloads:

http://www.sonicstadium.org/2020/04/sonic-dash-hits-400-million-downloads-more-content-to-come/

Sega IPs that "inspired" Nintendo's best-selling franchises, but were abandoned by Sega:

The success of Sega's franchises could be even greater. Since 1995, Sega of Japan in the war with Sega of America decided to centralize power and focus on the Japanese market. With that in mind, the Japanese CEOs started to devalue IPs that were hugely successful in the rest of the world (outside Japan). Sega could certainly invest more in new games from its classic franchises (imagine how interesting it would be for example a sequel of Altered Beast in the same vein as God of War 3).

Another side of this internal Sega war in 1995 was that some great Sega games from Japan ended up not even being published in other countries.

Here are some examples of Sega's IPs that inspired the best seller Nintendo's Franchises and that were largely overlooked by Sega, while Nintendo released dozens of versions of those games, constantly and endlessly "milking the Cash Cow":

Pulseman (Sega, 1994)
Pulseman is an exclusive Mega Drive game. Although today Pulseman is recognized as a triple-A game, it has received little attention from Sega itself, being released physically exclusively in Japan. As the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive was the best selling video game console outside Japan, Sega missed a great opportunity to popularize Pulseman and after that completely forgot it and never developed a sequel.  This strategic error occurred in the midst of the conflict between the Japanese Sega and Sega of America, which also limited the release of other great games released by Sega for the Mega Drive in Japan at that time such as Monster World IV, The Hybrid Front, Surging Aura, Alien Soldier and Lord Monarch.

The origin of the second best seller Nintendo franchise of all time (Pokémon) was strongly influenced by Pulseman. Most of the staff members who worked on Pulseman received little attention from Sega and would later work for Nintendo creating the Pokémon series, including the designer and director Ken Sugimori, designer Satoshi Tajiri, artist Atsuko Nishida and composer Junichi Masuda. The main character of the Pokémon series (Pikachu) had its electrical powers based on Pulseman's powers. In addition, Pulseman's diagonal attack that serves for locomotion and damage called Voltecker, looks almost identical to that of Pikachu's Volt Tackle in Emerald (GBA, 2004), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, 2008) and in the anime. The design of the main character of Pulseman also influenced several Pokémon characters such as: Remoraid, Xatu, Registroel, Ledian, Bisharp and Rotom from Diamond, Pearl and Platinum (Nintendo DS, 2006 and 2008). Several other characters from Pokémon were also influenced by characters from Pulseman, such as: Mars (Pókemon) vs Beatrice (Pulseman) and Charon (Pókemon) vs Dr Waruyama (Pulseman). The most important object in the Pókemon series, the Poké Ball, also had its design inspired by the game Pulseman, more specifically in the vehicle of the arch-enemy of Pulseman (as can be seen in the photo below).

Pulseman's influence is also strong on the soundtrack of Pokémon games. Many Pokémon game themes are based on Pulseman songs. Pulseman's "Shutdown 1" and the theme of the battle against Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie, in DPP, could be considered simple remixes of the Pulseman's music. Lavender Town and Viridian Forest are examples of songs influenced by Pulseman's soundtrack. 

While Sega forgot Pulseman, Nintendo continues for more than 20 years releasing numerous games, anime, movie and other products based on Pókemon and with many elements inspired by Pulseman. Nintendo recognized the virtues of Pulseman more than Sega itself and re-launched the Mega Drive for the Wii on the Virtual Console in Japan in 2007, and in North America and Europe in 2009.

The first Pokemon games (1996,1998,1999) were also strongly influenced by Sega's Shining Force series (1992,1993,1994) for the Mega Drive and Game Gear. The influence is very evident in the battles and also in the focus on obtaining allies. This strong influence is explained by the love of Ken Sugimori - character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise - for the Mega Drive. According to his own words: "Since I loved arcade games, I was hooked once I saw that the Mega Drive had FM sound and raster scrolling. The Mega Drive got a lot of high-quality arcade ports, and I played them all. If a title came out for multiple consoles at the same time, there was no question about it. I would get the Mega Drive version". 

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulseman

http://www.sega-16.com/2014/02/classic-interview-ken-sugimori/

http://www.nintendoblast.com.br/2015/11/pulseman-pokemon-referencias-mega-drive.html

Pulseman (Mega Drive, Sega, 1994)

Power Drift (Sega, 1988)
This pioneering Kart racing game with a strong sense of humor inspired the Mario Kart series started four years later in 1992. While Nintendo has been continually releasing countless versions, updates and rehashs of that game, Sega has just kept on never releasing a sequel to Power Drift. Worse than that, Sega could easily have released a fairly accurate port of the arcade game for Sega CD or 32 X but it never did. Even stranger is the fact that Sega has authorized a downgraded port for the PC Engine. The first port of the game for a Sega home console only came almost 10 years later on a Sega Saturn with exclusive release in Japan. Sega's original idea of using the mascot in a racing game even predates Power Drift. In 1987, Sega launched the Alex Kidd BMX Trial only in Japan for Master System (Sega Mark III in Japan).

Fighters Megamix (1996) and Sonic The Fighters (1996) 
Both games "inspired" Nintendo to release Super Smash Bros in 1999. While Nintendo has been continually releasing countless versions, updates and rehashs of that game, Sega has just kept on never releasing a sequel for either of its two pioneering games. Worse than that, Sega could easily have released a fairly accurate port of Sonic The Fighters for the Sega Saturn, but never did. It would be easy to expand the cast of "Sonic The Fighters" in new versions to include characters like Ristar, Alex Kidd, Monster World, Opa-Opa, Kid Chameleon, Pulseman, Psycho Fox, Shining Force, Soleil, Dragon Force, Bonanza Bros., Teddy Boy, Flicky, Decap Attack, Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, Samba de Amigo, Toe Jam and Earl. The original Fighter Megamix had 36 characters from Virtua Fighter, Fighting Vipers, Virtua Cop 2, Rent-a-Hero and Daytona USA. Likewise, it would be easy to imagine "Fighter Megamix" sequences including characters from Streets of Rage, SpikeOut, Last Bronx, Yakuza, Shenmue, Eternal Champions, Shinobi / Shadow Dancer, Golden Axe, Beyond Oasis, Phantasy Star, Landstalker, Altered Beast, Black Belt, Alien Storm, Arabian Fight, Guardian Heroes, D.D. Crew, Dynamite Deka, Holosseum, Dark Edge, Jet Set Radio, Segata Sanshiro, Vectorman, E-Swat, Jewel Master, Comix Zone and Space Harrier.

Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (Sega, 1993), Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R (Sega,1994) and Puzzle & Action: Treasure Hunt (Sega, 1995)
Considered the forerunners of the "party games" genre, these three games were the inspiration for 1998's Mario Party. Even the roulette used in the selection of mini-games was reused in Mario Party. These Sega games were based on the Bonanza Bros. universe. while Nintendo's were based on the Mario Bros. universe. While Nintendo has been continually releasing countless versions, updates and rehashs of that game, Sega has just kept Puzzle & Action series restricted to Japan, both on arcade and on consoles (Mega Drive / Mega Drive Mini, Game Gear and Saturn).

Wonder Boy / Monster World

The first Wonder Boy was the source for an inferior clone called "Adventure Island" that had several sequels released for NES and snes.
Wonderboy in Monster World (Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, 1991), with the use of an ocarina by the protagonist, was one of the main inspirations for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64,1998).

While Nintendo continues until today to release and re-launch numerous Zelda games, unfortunately Sega prematurely abandoned all its franchises and action RPG / adventures games like Monster World, LandStalker, Beyond Oasis, Soleil, Light Crusader, King Colossus, Rent a Hero, Sword of Vermilion, Spellcaster, Golden Axe Warrior and Lord of the Sword.

Golden Axe

Battletoads (Rare, 1991) was one of the biggest hits on the NES, which received an improved version for Sega Genesis (after Nintendo's monopoly was considered illegal) and a sequel released for snes and Master System. Everyone knows that the game is obviously inspired by TMNT. However, very few know that the main stages of these games and some enemies were strongly inspired by the middle part of the "Fiend's Path" stage of the game Golden Axe (Sega, 1989).

See also:
The Real and Most Complete Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Worldwide Games Sales Figures:
http://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/console-wars-real-and-most-complete.html

Complete List of Mega Drive Models officially published by Ozi Soft in Australia (All licensed versions released in Australia)

Australia: (Ozi Soft  licensed by Sega)
Market with a complete dominance of Sega in the 8-bits with the Master System as well as in the 16-bits market with the Mega Drive. In these coutry the snes could only compete for the third best-selling console during the entire 16-bit era.

Mega Drive (hardware) sales figures:
1990-Oct 1994: over 300,000 units (Ozi Soft)
Nov 1994-1997: unknown (Ozi Soft)
Sega Mega Drive II: Toy Story Bundle (Australia, 1995): around 10,000
Total until 1997 (Ozi Soft): unknown (probably around 500,000)
2004-2020: unknown
References:
https://retrocdn.net/images/c/cb/Sega_MegaZone_45_Nov_94.pdf, page 23
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-toy-story-bundle

New Zealand: distributed by Ozi Soft, Mega Drive also achieved great success in New Zealand.
Total: unknown. Reference: https://segaretro.org/History_of_Sega_in_New_Zealand
Sales figures in New Zealand were not considered in this article.

Mega Drive (software) sales figures in Australia:

Total number of licensed games released as cartridges by Ozi Soft: 437
Reference.  https://segaretro.org/Category:AU_Mega_Drive_games
Minimum number of units produced per cartridge: 1,000 copies.

Minimum number of units of cartridges sold by Ozi Soft (VERY underestimated): 437,000.
This are very underestimated figures also without considering that many Australian cartridges came with more than one game, such as: Mega Games I (3 games); Mega Games 6 (6 games); Sonic Classics (3 games); Double Pack cartridges (16 different cartridges with 2 games each and one cartridge with 4 games).
Minimum number of games sold by Ozi Soft (excluding games bundled with the console): 465,000*   *calculations: (437,000 - 20,000)+(3,000+6,000+3,000)+(16*2,000)+4,000
Games bundled with the console:

*calculations: 1990-Oct 1994: over 300,000 Mega Drive units. 14 versions released before Oct 1994, including 6 editions bundled with one game; 1 edition with 1 Mega Drive game plus one Sega CD game; 3 editions with 2 games; 2 editions with 3 games; 2 editions with 4 games. Assuming that all editions sold the same quantity, we have: 150,000 units bundled with one Mega Drive game; 64,286 units bundled with 2 games; 42,857 units bundled with 3 games; 42,857 units bundled with 4 games. Total number of games sold bundled with console: 150,000+(64,286*2)+(42,857*3)+(42,857*4).
Total number of games sold by Ozi Soft bundled with console until Oct 1994 (estimate): 578,571
Minimum number of games sold by Ozi Soft bundled with console after Oct 1994 (estimate): 150,000
Minimum number of games sold by Ozi Soft (estimate): 465,000 + 578,571 + 150,000= 1,193,571


All licensed versions released by Ozi Soft in Australia:

Mega Drive I - First edition. Pack-in: Altered Beast.  Release date: Late 1990

Mega Drive I - Altered Beast + bonus Columns edition.  Pack-in: Altered Beast, Columns (cupon).  Release date: Late 1990
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive I - Altered Beast + Columns edition.  Pack-in: Altered Beast, Columns.  Release date: Late 1990
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive I - Sonic The Hedgehog edition + Two bonus games.  Pack-in: Sonic the Hedgehog, Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle (cupon), Columns (cupon).  Release date: Late 1991
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive I - "Bonus Free Games" edition.  Pack-in: Sonic the Hedgehog, Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle (cupon), Columns (cupon).  Release date: Late 1991
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive II - Sonic 2 edition (first version). Pack-in: Sonic 2. Release date: early 1993.

Mega Drive II - Jurassic Park edition. Pack-in: Jurassic Park, Sonic 2, Columns and Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle. Release date: Aug 1993.
Sales: around 50,000. Reference:
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-iii-jurassic-park-bundle

Mega Drive II - Street Fighter II edition. Pack-in: Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition. Release date: Late 1993.

Mega Drive II - Mortal Kombat edition. Pack-in: Mortal Kombat, Sonic 2, Columns and Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle. Release date: December 1993.
Reference:
Sales: around 10,000. Reference:
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-ii-mortal-kombat-bundle

Mega Combo Pack: Mega Drive + Sega CD. Pack-in: Sonic 2 and Road Avenger. Release date: Aug 1993. Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega-CD_consoles_in_other_regions

Mega Drive II - Aladdin edition. Pack-in: Aladdin. Release date: 1994.

Mega Drive II - Sonic 2 edition (second version). Pack-in: Sonic 2. Release date: 1994.

Mega Drive II - NBA Jam edition. Pack-in: NBA Jam. Release date: Jul 1994.

Mega Drive II - 2 Disney Games edition. Pack-in: The Jungle Book and Aladdin . Release date: Late 1994 (certainly after July 1994).
https://kelamyaus.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/img_9338.jpg

Editions released after the interview of a CEO of Ozi Soft about Mega Drive sales figures until October 1994 (published in Nov 1994):

Mega Drive II - Mega Tech Value edition. Pack-in: none.  Release date: Oct 1994

Mega Drive II - The Lion King edition. Pack-in: The Lion King. Release date: Dec 1994.
References:
https://kelamyaus.wordpress.com/tag/mega-drive/

Mega Drive II - Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Pack edition. Pack-in: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Release date: 1995.
Sales: around 50,000
References:
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-ii-sonic-triple-pack
http://www.powersonic.com.br/games/classicos/sonic_classics.htm
https://www.vgdb.com.br/mega-drive/jogos/sonic-classics/

Mega Drive II - with "32X compatible" written on the box. Pack-in: Columns, Super Hang-On and World Cup Italia '90. Release date: Oct 1994.
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive II - Sega Sports watch edition. Pack-in: NBA Jam. Release date: 1995.

Mega Drive II - Big Six Pack. Pack-in: Columns, Golden Axe, Super Hang-On, Streets of Rage,The Revenge of Shinobi and World Cup Italia '90. Release date: 1995.
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive II - Mega 6. Pack-in: Columns, Golden Axe, Super Hang-On, Streets of Rage,The Revenge of Shinobi and World Cup Italia '90. Release date: 1995.
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive II - Mega 6 version 2. Pack-in: Alien Storm, Columns, Super Hang-On, Super Monaco GP, Super Thunder Blade and World Cup Italia '90. Release date: 1996.
Reference: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_consoles_in_Australia

Mega Drive II with Toy Story.  Pack-in: Toy Story. Release date: 1996.
sales. around 10,000
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-toy-story-bundle

Mega Drive II with Shane Warne Cricket.  Pack-in: Shane Warne Cricket. Release date: 1996.
sales. around 10,000
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-ii-shane-warne-cricket

These figures do not include games sold with other console variations not sold by Ozi Soft, such as:

Amstrad Mega PC (Australia, 1994)

Sega Mega Drive Classic Game Console (Australia, AtGames, 201X)

Sega Mega Drive Flashback HD (Europe and Australia, AtGames, 2017)

Mega Drive Mini (2019)

Complete List of Mega Drive Models officially published by TecToy in Brazil (All licensed versions released in Brazil).

Complete List of Mega Drive Models officially published by TecToy in Brazil (all licensed versions released in Brazil). The most complete list ever published!

Lista Completa de Modelos de Mega Drive publicados oficialmente pela TecToy no Brasil (Todas as versões lançadas no Brasil).

Total number of licensed Mega Drive console unitis produced and sold by TecToy in the country (1990-2020): around 3,500,000

Nintendo had a major investment in the country with the merger of two large Brazilian companies (Gradiente and Estrela) forming the company Playtronic. It officially sold Nintendo consoles in Brazil between 1993 and 2002. Mega Drive maintained an 80% market share in Brazil and alone sold much more than all nintendo consoles during these 10 years. The sum of all Nintendo hardware sales in Brazil (including NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and GameCube) was 2 million units, while Mega Drive alone sold about 3.5 million of units.
Reference: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playtronic

Total number of licensed games released as cartridges by TecToy: 302. Reference:
https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/Tectoy/index.php?title=Categoria:Jogos_para_Mega_Drive&pageuntil=Revenge+of+Shinobi%2C+The#mw-pages

In 2004 Tectoy released the list of best-selling cartridges in Brazil (excluding games bundled with the console):
1. Mortal Kombat 3
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
3. Mortal Kombat II
4. Super Monaco GP
5. Castle of Illusion
6. Ultimate MK3
7. Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II
8. Fifa 97
9. Moonwalker
10. Sonic Spinball
https://www.uol.com.br/start/ultimas-noticias/2004/11/18/mortal-kombat-e-sonic-sao-campeoes-de-vendas-da-tec-toy.htm
Although the number of cartridges for these games sold has never been revealed, all of these games certainly far surpassed the 10,000 units sold, which was the minimum number considered as success and sales by Tectoy (as reported by the director at the company in an interview about the Phantasy Star game. Ref: Book Master System. Ed. Europe).
Other games were successful sales as cartridges, but because they came in bundled versions with the console: Sonic The Hedgehog, Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition, FIFA International Soccer and Virtua Racing and FIFA '95.
Tectoy also released in the first half of 1992, the top ten of the best-selling games in 1991 and in 1992 so far (without order):  Sonic The Hedgehog, Castle of Illusion, Streets of Rage, Quackshot, Toe Jam & Earl, Moonwalker, Strider, Spiderman versus the Kingpin, Fantasia and Dick Tracy.
Reference: https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/Tectoy/Lista_de_panfletos_e_posters
The games Sonic The Hedgehog, Castle of Illusion, Streets of Rage, Quackshot, Aladdin, Super Volleyboll, World of Illusion and Super Monaco GP were relaunched in cartridge form by TecToy in 1998.
Reference: https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/Tectoy/Lista_de_panfletos_e_posters
Even without considering the success of those games we have:

Minimum number of units produced per cartridge: 1,000 copies (probably underestimated). Even the 32X-CD games were made with a minimum of 500 copies in the country.

Minimum number of units of Mega Drive cartridges sold by TecToy (VERY underestimated): (302,000 - 10,000) + 100,000 = 392,000 (very underestimated)

Cartridges with collections officially produced in the country: Sonic Classics (3 games); Sports Games (3 games); 6-Pak (6 games) and "10 Super Jogos" (10 games).

Minimum number of games sold in cartridges by TecToy in the country (VERY underestimated): (302,000 - 50,000) + 100,000 + 12,000 + 10,000 = 414,000 (very underestimated)

Minimum number of software units sold in cartridges by TecToy in the country (VERY underestimated): (302,000 - 50,000) + 100,000 = 392,000 (not considering collections)

Number of games sold by TecToy bundled with the console (1990-1996): around 1 million

Number of games sold by TecToy bundled with the console (1997-2012): 2 million consoles in 16 years. An average of 125,000 consoles per year. To be more conservative in the number of games we will concentrate more sales in the first years of that period.
1997-2002: 1.5 million consoles
2003-2012: (over) 500,000 consoles
2013-2020: 500,000 consoles
1997: 400,000 consoles x 10 games each = 4,000,000 games
1998: 350,000 consoles x 10 games each = 3,500,000 games
1999: 250,000 consoles x 10 games each = 2,500,000 games
2000: 200,000 consoles x 7 games each = 1,400,000 games
2001: 150,000 consoles x 12 games each = 1,800,000 games
2002: 50,000 consoles x 30 games each = 1,500,000 games
Now calculating software units considering the 6-Pak and "10 Super Games" cartridges as one software unit each:
1997: 400,000 consoles x 1 cartridge each = 400,000 software units
1998: 350,000 consoles x 1 cartridge each = 350,000 software units
1999: 250,000 consoles x 1 cartridge each = 250,000 software units
2000: 200,000 consoles x 2 cartridges each = 400,000 software units
2001: 150,000 consoles x 3 cartridges each = 450,000 software units
2002: 50,000 consoles x 30 games each = 1,500,000 software units
To be more conservative in the number of games we as of 2003 we will consider only the classic Mega Drive games released with the consoles, without considering in the calculations the new games never released in cartridge.
2003: 50,000 consoles x 43 games each = 2,150,000 games
2004: 50,000 consoles x 44 games each = 2,220,000 games
2005: 50,000 consoles x 45 games each = 2,250,000 games
2006: 50,000 consoles x 42 games each = 2,100,000 games
2007: (25,000 consoles x 42 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,550,000 games
2008: (25,000 consoles x 42 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,550,000 games
2009: (25,000 consoles x 38 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,450,000 games
2010: (25,000 consoles x 50 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 3,500,000 games
2011: (25,000 consoles x 50 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 3,500,000 games
2012: (25,000 consoles x 50 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 3,500,000 games
2013: (25,000 consoles x 50 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,750,000 games
2014: (25,000 consoles x 50 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,750,000 games
2015: (25,000 consoles x 50 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,750,000 games
Minimum estimate of total Mega Drive games sold by TecToy until 2015 = 41,392,000 games
Minimum estimate of total Mega Drive software units sold by TecToy until 2015 = 28,492,000
2016: (25,000 consoles x 50 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,750,000 games
2017: (25,000 consoles x 22 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,050,000 games
2018: (25,000 consoles x 22 games each) + (25,000 consoles x 20 games each) = 1,050,000 games
2019: (50,000 consoles x 22 games each) = 1,100,000 games
Minimum estimate of total Mega Drive games sold by TecToy until 2019 = 44,792,000 games
(not including Mega Net cartridges)
Minimum estimate of total Mega Drive software units sold by TecToy until 2019 = 33,484,000
(including 42,000 Mega Net cartridges)

Other software sales by TecToy:
Sega-CD: 30,000 units sold, 62 games and 50,000 software units sold
32 X: 16 games (14 cartridges + 2 CDs). 6,000 software units sold
Game Gear: 69 games. Sales well below Dreamcast sales.
Sega Saturn: 104 games. Sales slightly higher than Sega-CD sales
Dreamcast: 31 games. 20,000 console units. Reference: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tectoy
Pico: very rare
Total software sales (Sega-CD+32 X+ Game Gear + Saturn + DC) until 2016 (estimate): 160,000
Master System: 245 games. Partial software units sales until 2015: 33,348,000 (considering only the classic Master System games)
Mega Drive: 302 games. Partial minimum software units sales until 2015: 28,492,000
Mega Drive partial minimum software units sales until '15 including Mega Net cartridges: 28,534,000
 (considering only the classic Mega Drive games)
Partial TecToy-Sega software units sales in Brazil until September 2015: 62 million
Reference: https://www.sega-16.com/2015/11/interview-stefano-arnhold-tectoy/

Total Nintendo software sales in the country (including NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and GameCube): 2,500,000
Reference: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playtronic
Even after at least 10 years after that (in 2012), Mega Drive and the Master System still continued to dominate the video game market in Brazil even against the most recent consoles such as PS2, PS3, X-Box, X-Box 360, Wii and Wii-U:

http://www.uol.com.br/start/ultimas-noticias/2012/07/30/vinte-anos-depois-master-system-e-mega-drive-vendem-150-mil-unidades-por-ano-no-brasil.htm


Complete List of Mega Drive Models officially published by TecToy in Brazil (All licensed versions released in Brazil):

Mega Drive (1) - with Altered Beast (1990-1991)

Mega Drive II - with Sonic 1 (late 1991-early 1993)

Mega Drive II - with Sonic 2 (early 1993)

Mega Drive III - (same model as MD 2 / Genesis 2) - with Sonic 2 (1993-1994)

Mega Drive III - Street Fighter II Edition (late 1993)

Mega Drive III - Mortal Kombat II Edition (late 1994)

Mega Drive III - Virtua Racing Edition (late 1994)

Mega Drive III - FIFA International Soccer Edition (late 1994)

Mega Drive III - Mortal Kombat 3 Edition (late 1995)

Mega Drive III - FIFA '95 Edition (late 1995)

Mega Drive III - with 6 games (1996): 6-Pak: Sonic The Hedgehog (1), Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Super Hang On and Columns

Mega Drive III - with 10 games (May 1997): "10 Super Jogos": Sonic The Hedgehog (1), Golden Axe, The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Super Hang On, Columns, California Games, World Cup '90, Flicky and Super Monaco GP (https: / /segaretro.org/Mega_Games_10)

Super Mega Drive III (1998) - with the same 10 games and joypads with turbo

Super Mega Drive 3 (1999) - Edition with the same 10 games and 2 normal joypads

Super Mega Drive 3 (2000) – “Show do Milhão” Edition, with 7 games (“Show do Milhão”  + 6-Pak).  Reference: https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/Tectoy/Super_Mega_Drive_3_Edi%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Especial_Show_do_Milh%C3%A3o

Super Mega Drive 3 (2001) – With 12 games: Show do Milhão 1 and 2, plus the same 10 Games of previous editions ("10 Super Jogos").

Super Mega Drive 3 (2002) - Edition built-in with 30 Games: After Burner 2; Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle;   Alien Storm;   Altered Beast;  Arrow Flash;   Bimini Run; Bonanza Bros.;   California Games; Columns;    E-Swat;   Decap Attack;  Devilish; Fatal Labyrinth;   Flicky;   Força Alienígena;   Gain Ground;   Golden Axe;   Last Battle;  OutRunners; The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage; Super Monaco GP; Sega Soccer (World Cup Italia ’90); Shadow Dancer; Sonic The Hedgehog; Space Harrier II; Super Hang-On; Super Thunder Blade; Turbo Out Run. Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY8ZK_QKGtc

Super Mega Drive 3 (2003) – Edition built-in with 43 Memory Games: Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle;   Alien Storm;   Altered Beast;  Arrow Flash;   Art Alive!;  Battle Golfer Yui;     Bonanza Bros.;   Columns;   Columns III;   Crystal's Pony Tales;   E-Swat;   Decap Attack;   Fatal Labyrinth;   Fica 1;   Flicky;   Força Alienígena;   Gain Ground;   Golden Axe;   Golden Axe III;    Jewel Master;   Junte 4;   Kid Chameleon;   Last Battle;  OutRunners;   Pense Bem (10 jogos);  Sega Soccer (World Cup Italia ’90); Shadow Dancer; Shinobi III; Sonic The Hedgehog 3; Space Harrier II; Super Hang-On; Super Thunder Blade; Turbo Out Run; Wrestle War;

Reference: https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/Tectoy/Super_Mega_Drive_3_com_43_jogos_na_mem%C3%B3ria

Super Mega Drive 3 (2004) – Edition built-in with 60 Games:  Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle;   Alien Storm;   Altered Beast;  ;   Arrow Flash;   Art Alive!;  Ball Jacks; Battle Golfer Yui;   Bil Bolha;   Bonanza Bros.;   Cadash;  Chase HQ 2;   Columns;   Columns III;   Crystal's Pony Tales;   E-Swat;   Dangerous Seed;   Decap Attack;   Fatal Labyrinth;   Fica 1;   Fire Mustang;   Flicky;   Força Alienígena;   Gain Ground;   Golden Axe;   Golden Axe III;   Growl;   Guerra dos Monstros;   Jewel Master;   Junte 4;   Kid Chameleon;   Last Battle;   Megapanel;   Mystical Fighter;    OutRunners;   Pac-Attack;   Pedreiro Polar; Pense Bem (10 jogos); Phelios; Powerball; Rainbow Islands; Rastan Saga 2; Sega Soccer (World Cup Italia ’90); Shadow Dancer; Shinobi III; Sonic The Hedgehog 3; Space Harrier II; Super Hang-On; Super Thunder Blade; The New Zealand Story; Turbo Out Run; Ultimate Qix; Wrestle War;   https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/Tectoy/Super_Mega_Drive_3_com_60_jogos_na_mem%C3%B3ria

Super Mega Drive 3 (2005) – Edition built-in with 71 Games: Air Hockey;   Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle;   Alien Storm;   Altered Beast;   Anaconda;   Aniversário;   Arrow Flash;   Art Alive!;   Asa Delta;   Ball Jacks;   Batalha Naval;   Battle Golfer Yui;   Bil Bolha;   Bonanza Bros.;   Cadash;   Caiaque;   Canhão;   Cavalos & Peões;   Chase HQ 2;   Columns;   Columns III;   Corrida de Tampinhas;   Crystal's Pony Tales;   E-Swat;   Dangerous Seed;   Decap Attack;   Fatal Labyrinth;   Fica 1;   Fire Mustang;   Flicky;   Força Alienígena;   Gain Ground;   Golden Axe;   Golden Axe III;   Growl;   Guerra dos Monstros;   Jewel Master;   Junte 4;   Kid Chameleon;   Last Battle;   Megapanel;   Mosaico;   Mystical Fighter;   New Zealand Story; OutRunners;   Pac-Attack;   Pedreiro Polar; Pense Bem (10 games); Phelios; Power Ball; Rainbow Islands; Rastan Saga 2; Sega Soccer (World Cup Italia ’90); Shadow Dancer; Shinobi III; Sonic The Hedgehog 3; Space Harrier II; Super Hang-On; Super Thunder Blade; Turbo Out Run; Ultimate Qix; Wrestle War; https://www.vgdb.com.br/consoles/super-mega-drive-3-71-super-jogos-na-mem-ria/

Mega Drive 3 (2006) - Edition built-in with 81 Memory Games. This is the first edition without a cartridge slot. 01 - Academia do Saber; 02 - Acerte o alvo; 03 - Air Hockey; 04 - Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle; 05 - Alien Storm; 06 - Altered Beast; 07 - Anaconda; 08 - Aniversário; 09 - Aquaduto; 10 - Arrow Flash; 11 - Art Alive; 12 - Asa Delta; 13 - Ball Jack; 14 - Batalha Naval; 15 - Battle Golfer Yui; 16 - Bil Bolha; 17 - Bolas e Cores; 18 - Bolhas; 19 - Bombeiros; 20 - Bonanza Brothers; 21 - Cadash; 22 - Canhão; 23 - Cava Cava; 24 - Cavalos e Peões; 25 - Chase HQ 2; 26 - Columns; 27 - Columns III; 28 - Corrida de Tampinhas; 29 - Creature Capture; 30 - Crystal´s Pony Tales; 31 - Cyber Police E Swat; 32 - Dangerous Seed; 33 - Decap Attack; 34 - Domine o Território; 35 - Dominó; 36 - Fabrica de Chocolate; 37 - Fatal Labyrinth; 38 - Fica 1; 39 - Fire Mustang; 40 - Flicky; 41 - Gain Ground; 42 - Golden Axe; 43 - Golden Axe III; 44 - Growl; 45 - Guerra dos Monstros; 46 - Hexágono; 47 - Jewel Master; 48 - Junte 4; 49 - Kid Chameleon;  50 - Last Battle; 51 - Megapanel; 52 - Memória Master; 53 - Mina Terrestre; 54 - Minerador; 55 - Mystical Fighters; 56 - New Zealand Story; 57 - Os 12 trabalhos de Jongo; 58 - Pac Attack; 59 - Palhaços; 60 - Pense Bem ( 10 games); 61 - Phelios; 62 - Power Ball; 63 - Rainbow Island; 64 - Rastan Saga 2; 65 - Senha; 66 - Shadow Dancer; 67 - Shinobi III; 68 - Sonic 3; 69 - Sudoku; 70 - Tangran; 71 - Ultimate Quix; 72 - World Championship Soccer; Reference: https://sega-brasil.com.br/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2003

Mega Drive 3 (2007 and 2008) - Edition built-in with 86 Games. 01 - Academia do Saber; 02 - Acerte o alvo; 03 - Air Hockey; 04 - Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle; 05 - Alien Storm; 06 - Altered Beast; 07 - Anaconda; 08 - Aniversário; 09 - Aquaduto; 10 - Arrow Flash; 11 - Art Alive; 12 - Asa Delta; 13 - Ball Jack; 14 - Batalha Naval; 15 - Battle Golfer Yui; 16 - Bil Bolha; 17 - Bolas e Cores; 18 - Bolhas; 19 - Bombeiros; 20 - Bonanza Brothers; 21 - Cadash; 22 - Canhão; 23 - Cava Cava; 24 - Cavalos e Peões; 25 - Chase HQ 2; 26 - Columns; 27 - Columns III; 28 - Corrida de Tampinhas; 29 - Creature Capture; 30 - Crystal´s Pony Tales; 31 - Cyber Police E Swat; 32 - Dangerous Seed; 33 - Decap Attack; 34 - Domine o Território; 35 - Dominó; 36 - Fabrica de Chocolate; 37 - Fatal Labyrinth; 38 - Fica 1; 39 - Fire Mustang; 40 - Flicky; 41 - Gain Ground; 42 - Golden Axe; 43 - Golden Axe III; 44 - Growl; 45 - Guerra dos Monstros; 46 - Hexágono; 47 - Jewel Master; 48 - Junte 4; 49 - Kid Chameleon;  50 - Last Battle; 51 - Megapanel; 52 - Memória Master; 53 - Mina Terrestre; 54 - Minerador; 55 - Mystical Fighters; 56 - New Zealand Story; 57 - Os 12 trabalhos de Jongo; 58 - Pac Attack; 59 - Palhaços; 60 - Pense Bem ( 10 games); 61 - Phelios; 62 - Power Ball; 63 - Rainbow Island; 64 - Rastan Saga 2; 65 - Senha; 66 - Shadow Dancer; 67 - Shinobi III; 68 - Sonic 3; 69 - Sudoku; 70 - Tangran; 71 - Ultimate Quix; 72 - World Championship Soccer; 73 – FIFA 2008; 74 – Need for Speed: ProStreet; 75 – The Sims 2; 76 – Sim City 4 Deluxe Edition; 77 – Os 12 Trabalhos de Jongo; 78; Fantasy Pinball Reference: https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/Tectoy/Mega_Drive_3_com_86_jogos_na_mem%C3%B3ria

Mega Drive P Portátil (2007): Portable, built-in with 20 games: Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle; Alien Storm; Altered Beast; Arrow Flash; Columns 3; Crack Down; Decap Attack; Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine; Ecco The Dolphin; Ecco Jr; E-Swat; Flicky; Gain Ground; Golden Axe; Jewel Master; Kid Chameleon; Shadow Dancer; Shinobi 3; Sonic and Knuckles; Sonic Spinball. It is also possible to connect to the TV.

MD Play (2008-2018): Portable, built-in with the same 20 games as the “Mega Drive P”. The difference between the “Mega Drive P” is that this new version has 6 buttons instead of 3 and has a SD card to expand the number of games. It is also possible to connect to the TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1h8i4-3OmM

Mega Drive 4 Guitar Idol (2009): built-in with 87 Games. 01 - Academia do Saber; 02 - Acerte o alvo; 03 - Air Hockey; 04 - Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle; 05 - Alien Storm; 06 - Altered Beast; 07 - Anaconda; 08 - Aniversário; 09 - Aquaduto; 10 - Arrow Flash; 11 - Art Alive; 12 - Asa Delta; 13 - Ball Jack; 14 - Batalha Naval; 15 - Battle Golfer Yui; 16 - Bil Bolha; 17 - Bolas e Cores; 18 - Bolhas; 19 - Bombeiros; 20 - Bonanza Brothers; 21 - Cadash; 22 - Canhão; 23 - Cava Cava; 24 - Cavalos e Peões; 25 - Chase HQ 2; 26 - Columns; 27 - Columns III; 28 - Corrida de Tampinhas; 29 - Creature Capture; 30 - Crystal´s Pony Tales; 31 - Cyber Police E Swat; 32 - Dangerous Seed; 33 - Decap Attack; 34 - Domine o Território; 35 - Dominó; 36 - Fabrica de Chocolate; 37 - Fatal Labyrinth; 38 - Fica 1; 39 - Fire Mustang; 40 - Flicky; 41 - Gain Ground; 42 - Golden Axe; 43 - Golden Axe III; 44 - Growl; 45 - Guerra dos Monstros; 46 - Hexágono; 47 - Jewel Master; 48 - Junte 4; 49 - Kid Chameleon;  50 - Last Battle; 51 - Megapanel; 52 - Memória Master; 53 - Mina Terrestre; 54 - Minerador; 55 - Mystical Fighters; 56 - New Zealand Story; 57 - Os 12 trabalhos de Jongo; 58 - Pac Attack; 59 - Palhaços; 60 - Pense Bem ( 10 games); 61 - Phelios; 62 - Power Ball; 63 - Rainbow Island; 64 - Rastan Saga 2; 65 - Senha; 66 - Shadow Dancer; 67 - Shinobi III; 68 - Sonic 3; 69 - Sudoku; 70 - Tangran; 71 - Ultimate Quix; 72 - World Championship Soccer; 73 – FIFA 2008; 74 – Need for Speed: ProStreet; 75 – The Sims 2; 76 – Sim City 4; 77 – Os 12 Trabalhos de Jongo; 78 – Guitar Idol. Reference: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Drive_4_Guitar_Idol

Mega Drive 4 Guitar Idol (2010-2016): built-in with 100 Games and slot for SD card. 01 - Academia do Saber; 02 - Acerte o alvo; 03 - Air Hockey; 04 - Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle; 05 - Alien Storm; 06 - Altered Beast; 07 - Anaconda; 08 - Aniversário; 09 - Aquaduto; 10 - Arrow Flash; 11 - Art Alive; 12 - Asa Delta; 13 - Ball Jack; 14 - Batalha Naval; 15 - Battle Golfer Yui; 16 - Bil Bolha; 17 - Bolas e Cores; 18 - Bolhas; 19 - Bombeiros; 20 - Bonanza Brothers; 21 - Cadash; 22 - Canhão; 23 - Cava Cava; 24 - Cavalos e Peões; 25 - Chase HQ 2; 26 - Columns; 27 - Columns III; 28 - Corrida de Tampinhas; 29 - Creature Capture; 30 - Crystal´s Pony Tales; 31 - Cyber Police E Swat; 32 - Dangerous Seed; 33 - Decap Attack; 34 - Domine o Território; 35 - Dominó; 36 - Fabrica de Chocolate; 37 - Fatal Labyrinth; 38 - Fica 1; 39 - Fire Mustang; 40 - Flicky; 41 - Gain Ground; 42 - Golden Axe; 43 - Golden Axe III; 44 - Growl; 45 - Guerra dos Monstros; 46 - Hexágono; 47 - Jewel Master; 48 - Junte 4; 49 - Kid Chameleon;  50 - Last Battle; 51 - Megapanel; 52 - Memória Master; 53 - Mina Terrestre; 54 - Minerador; 55 - Mystical Fighters; 56 - New Zealand Story; 57 - Os 12 trabalhos de Jongo; 58 - Pac Attack; 59 - Palhaços; 60 - Pense Bem ( 10 games); 61 - Phelios; 62 - Power Ball; 63 - Rainbow Island; 64 - Rastan Saga 2; 65 - Senha; 66 - Shadow Dancer; 67 - Shinobi III; 68 - Sonic 3; 69 - Sudoku; 70 - Tangran; 71 - Ultimate Quix; 72 - World Championship Soccer; 73 – FIFA 2008; 74 – Need for Speed: ProStreet; 75 – The Sims 2; 76 – Sim City 4; 77 – Os 12 Trabalhos de Jongo; 78 – Guitar Idol. ; 79 – Crack Down; 80 – Ecco the Dolphin; 81 - Ecco Jr.; 82 - Golden Axe 2; 83 – Pedreiro Polar; Sonic Spinball; 84. Space Harrier 2; 85 – Super Hang-On; 86 – Super Thunder Blade; 87 – Sword of Vermillion; 88 – The Ooze; 89 – Turbo Outrun; 90. Wrestle War. Reference: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Drive_4_Guitar_Idol

Novo Mega Drive (2017-2020): built-in with 22 games (Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle; Alien Storm;  Altered beast;  Arrow flash; Bonanza brothers; Columns; Collumms III; Comix Zone; Crystal´s Pony Tale; E-Swat; Fatal Labyrinth; Flicky; Gain Ground; Golden Axe; Golden Axe 3; Jewel Master; Kid Chameleon; Last Battle; Word Cup Italia ‘90; Shadow Dancer; Shinobi III and Sonic 3.  It has the same design as the Mega Drive I, slot for original cartridges and a SD card to expand the number of games).

Novo Mega Drive (2018-2019): Sold with 1,311 games*, including variations of the same Mega Drive/Genesis games. It is TecToy's New Mega Drive bilt-in with 22 games, only that it already sold with many more games recorded on the SD card. https://www.shoptime.com.br/produto/1450295221/console-mega-drive-joystick-cartao-sd-com-1311-jogos

Novo Mega Drive – Atualização 2020 (2020): Sold with 1,910 games*, including variations of the same Mega Drive/Genesis games. It is TecToy's New Mega Drive bilt-in with 22 games, only that it already sold with many more games recorded on the SD card. Reference: https://produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-1242122464-sega-mega-drive-classico-genesis-c-1910-jogos-p-entrega-_JM?quantity=1&variation=38084982185

*In these two variations only accounted for the 22 games that came from TecToy for calculation purposes in the present article.

All Models: https://www.sega-brasil.com.br/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5779

See also:
The Real and Most Complete Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Worldwide Games Sales Figures:
http://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/console-wars-real-and-most-complete.html

Console Wars: The Real and Most Complete Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Games Sales Figures !

Console Wars: The Real and Most Complete Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Games Sales Figures !

Even with very incomplete data available for Mega Drive / Sega Genesis, it is very clear that the Mega Drive / Sega Genesis, surpasses snes/sfc in all categories of software commercialization, including:
1. Software sales figures;
2. Attach rate;
3. Revenue;
4. Rentals;
5. On-line game rental or download;
6. Number of games that sold over a million copies.
7. The best-selling game
8. The best-selling franchises

Software Sales Figures:
Sega Mega Drive / Genesis (incomplete data): over 576,161,130 units*
snes/super famicom (complete data): 379,060,000 units
Reference:
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_games
*this sales figures for the Sega Genesis  / Mega Drive are very incomplete. The actual number is much greater than 576,161,130 units, as will be explained further below:

Japan (1988-1995): 57.28 million software units
Western Europe (1990-1997):  146.72 million software units
Western Europe (1998): 162.222 (estimate)
Western Europe (1999-2011): 486,666 hardware units = At least 486,666 software units
North America (1989-1997): 328,254,464 software units
North America (1997): 9 million software units
North America (1998): 10 million software units
Reference:
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_games
Australia (1990-1999): 1,193,571 (estimate)
More info at: https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/complete-list-of-mega-drive-models_14.html
Oceania (other, 1990-1999): unknown
Brazil (1990-2016): 30,284,000 and 33,484,000 (1990-2019)
More info. at: https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/complete-list-of-mega-drive-models.html
Americas (other): unknown
Africa: unknown
South Korea (1989-1999): 469,500 (estimate)
Asia (other, 1989-1999): at least 900,000 (estimate, considering a minimum of 3 games per console)
Japan (2001-2016): average number per console unit: 5.5; total 330,000 software units (estimate)
North America (2004-2016): 7,000,000 hardware units (estimate) and 150,100,000 (estimate considering only built-in classic Sega Genesis games)
Europe (2004-2016):  40,300,000 (estimate considering only built-in classic Mega Drive games)
Australia (2004-2016): 4,150,000 (estimate considering only built-in classic Mega Drive games)
Asia (2000-2016): 9,125,000 (estimate considering only built-in classic Mega Drive games)
Total (1988-2016):  788,081,852
Total (2017-2020): not included in the estimate

Mega Drive / Sega Genesis (1988-2016):  788,081,852 software units (estimate)
snes/super famicom (complete data): 379,060,000 software units


Attach rate (per console):
Sega Mega Drive / Genesis  (even with incomplete data on software sales*):  16
snes/super famicom (complete date): 7.72
*even considering very incomplete sales figures of 576,161,130 software units
Reference:
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_games
Therefore, more than doubling the snes Attach rate. The Attach rate of the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive is considered the second highest of all time, behind only that of the Sega Master System.
Reference:
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Software_tie_ratio
These Attach rates for the Master System and Mega Drive could be even higher considering that the software sales figures of both are incomplete. On the other hand, these very high attach rates are also a sign that Sega's incomplete hardware sales estimates are considerably underestimated.
More information at:
https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/console-wars-real-sega-genesis-mega.html (Genesis/ MD)
https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2013/01/console-wars-true-story-part-1.html (Master System)

Revenue:
Even in its worst year, due to the war between Sega of America and Sega’s Japanese headquarters over the launch of Sega Saturn, in terms of wholesale software revenue in 1995, Sega generated $1.773 billion in the United States, compared to Nintendo's $1.486 billion.
Reference:
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_games

Rentals:
In the United States, Sega Genesis software dominated video game rentals. More than 60% of Sega Genesis game cartridges that were sold were rented first.
Reference:
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_games

Online game rental or download:
The Sega Genesis / Mega Drive was a pioneer in this category and also a world leader in the world market.
Reference:
https://segaretro.org/Sega_Channel
https://segaretro.org/Sega_Game_Toshokan


Sales figures calculation method and why the huge underestimation of Sega Genesis games sales figures:
Sega has never released a total sales figure for hardware or software.
The following data were missing from the source estimate used:(https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_games)

North America (2004-2020): sales in that 16-year period were totally disregarded, precisely a period with high attach rate per console sold.
Western Europe (1990-1998): Only the number of consoles sold was considered as the minimum number of games sold.This number is very underestimated even considering only games sold together with the console (considering only 1 game per console). Below are some examples of versions sold with more than one game in Western Europe. In addition, all cartridges sold were disregarded.
a. Mega Drive with Sonic The hedgehog + Streets of Rage. Sales figures: around 50,000 units sold
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-sonic-the-hedgehog-streets-of-rage
b. Mega Drive with Sonic The hedgehog + 2 games (Super Sonic Offer Edition): around 5,000 units sold. https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-supersonic-offer-bundle
c. Mega Dive II - Mega Games 1 & 2 bundle (6 games): around 10,000 units sold
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-driver-ii-mega-games-1-2
d. Mega Dive II - Big Pack 6 (6 games): around 50,000 units sold
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/big-6-sega-mega-drive
e. Mega Dive II - Mega 6 Pack 6 (France): around 10,000 units sold
f. Sega Mega Drive II Rocket Knight Adventures + Castlevania Bundle: around 50,000 units sold
https://consolevariations.com/variation/console/sega-mega-drive-ii-rocket-knight-adventures-castlevania-bundle
Western Europe (1999-2001): Only the number of consoles sold was considered as the minimum number of games sold.This number is very underestimated even considering only yokes sold together with the console, because in that period many consoles were sold with pack-in with several games: https://segaretro.org/Mega_Games_3
Western Europe (2004-2020): sales in that 16-year period were totally disregarded, precisely a period with high attach rate per console sold.
Japan (2001-2020): sales in that 16-year period were totally disregarded, precisely a period with high attach rate per console sold.
Australia: Sales were completely ignored, even though it was a country where Sega completely dominated the market. The minimum number of games sold by Ozi Soft in Australia is 1,193,571. More information at: https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/complete-list-of-mega-drive-models_14.html
South Korea: Sales were completely ignored, even though it was a country where Sega completely dominated the market. At least 139 licensed games were released in the country.
Brazil (1990-1996):  Only the number of consoles sold was considered as the minimum number of games sold. More information at: https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/complete-list-of-mega-drive-models.html
Brazil (1997-2012): Only the number of consoles sold was considered as the minimum number of games sold, also considering a very underestimated number of bundled games with each console. More information at: https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/complete-list-of-mega-drive-models.html
Brazil (2013-2020): sales in that 8-year period were totally disregarded, precisely a period with high attach rate per console sold.
Minimum estimate of total Mega Drive games sold by TecToy until 2019 = 44,792,000 games
Minimum estimate of total Mega Drive software units sold by TecToy until 2019 = 33,484,000
More information at: https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/complete-list-of-mega-drive-models.html
Other countries (1990-1993-partial): Only the number of consoles sold was considered as the minimum number of games sold.  All cartridges sold were disregarded.
Other countries (end of 1993 - 2020): Sales were completely ignored, precisely a period with high attach rate per console sold.  All cartridges sold were disregarded.

In conclusion: the number of Sega Genesis / Mega Drive games sold is well over 576,161,130 units reported in that reference. Other references available on the internet are even more incomplete.


List of best-selling video games:
Over 60 Sega Genesis / Mega Drive games have far surpassed the mark of one million units sold. As available sales reports are partial and very incomplete, these figures were never properly disclosed on the internet. However, it is possible to at least reach that minimum number of games sold through the number of games sold bundled with the consoles. This considering only the games sold for Mega Drive / Sega Genesis and compatible models from 1988 to 2020. In addition, dozens of these Mega Drive games for 23 years have been sold alone or in compilations for other more recent consoles and PCs and for at least twelve years also on Smart Phones. Since 2016 the Mega Drive games were on sale on Steam and the initial sales figures were over 350,000 games in 2016. Reference:
http://www.seganerds.com/2016/05/18/sega-sold-over-350000-mega-drivegenesis-games-on-steam/


The Best Selling Game:
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991):
Although the number of sales of the game is not known, it is considered the record holder in re-releases and it may even be the the best-selling game of all time.
a. Bundled on Sega Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog sold over 15 million units bundled on Sega Genesis (between late 1991 and early 1993, depending on the region)
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_note-youtube-48
b. Bundled on Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (late 1993-2020): unknown
c. Cartridges: unknown
d. Other licensed cartridges sold in compilations with other Mega Drive / Sega Genesis Games such as:
Sonic Classics: unknown sales figures
6-Pack: unknown sales figures
Mega 6 vol. 3: unknown sales figures
Telstar Double Value Games: unknown sales figures
10 Super Jogos: unknown sales figures
Mega Games 10: unknown sales figures
e. Bundled whit Sega CD: unknown sales figures
f. Mega-Tech: unknown sales figures
g. Mega Play: unknown sales figures
Total Sonic the Hedgehog sales for the original hardware: unknown sales figures
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) sales in other consoles:
1.Sonic Jam (Sega Saturn, 1997): unknown sales figures
2.Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Game Boy Advance, 2006): unknown sales figures
3.Wii Virtual Console (2006): unknown sales figures
4.iOS (2007) : unknown sales figures
5.X-Box Live Arcade (2007): 482,960 units. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_ref-49
6.Paid mobile downloads in 2008: over 8 million.  Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_note-49
7.Paid Android downloads between 2013 and 2016: over 500,000.  Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#cite_note-49
8. 3D Classics (Nintendo 3DS, 2013) : unknown
9.Sonic Mega Collection (Game Cube, 2002): unknown
10. Sonic Mega Collection (PlayStation 2, 2003): unknown
11. Sonic Mega Collection (X-Box, 2003): unknown
12. Sega Mega Drive Collection/Sega Genesis Collection (PlayStation 2, 2006): unknown
13. Sega Mega Drive Collection/Sega Genesis Collection (PlayStation Portable, 2006): unknown
14. Sonic Mega Collection Plus (PC-Windows, 2007): unknown
15. Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection/Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (PS3,2009): unknown
16. Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection/Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (X-Box 360,2009)
17. Sonic Classic Collection (Nintendo DS, 2010): unknown
18. Sega Ages vol. 1 (Windows, MacOs and Linux, 2010): unknown
19. Sega Forever (iOS and Android, 2017) : unknown
20. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (PlayStation 4, 2018): unknown
21. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (X-Box One, 2018): unknown
22. Sega Ages (PlatStation 4, 2018): unknown
23. Sega Ages (XBox One, 2018): unknown
24. Sega Ages (Nintendo Switch, 2018): unknown
25. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (Nintendo Switch, 2018): unknown
26. Sega Mega Drive Classics /Sega Genesis Classics (Steam, 2019): unknown
Total original Sonic the Hedgehog sales (in other consoles): unknown sales figures


The Best-Selling Franchises:
Sonic The Hedgehog originated the best selling video game franchising of all time and remains the best-selling game in this franchise to date:
https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-best-selling-video-game-franchise.html

The Mega Drive / Sega Genesis has also originated other hugely successful franchises such as Puyo Puyo, FIFA, Madden, NHL, Shining, Stalker, Oasis, Streets of Rage, Road Rash, Strike, World Series Baseball, NBA Live, NBA Action, Illusion (Castle...), Earthworm Jim, Rocket Knight, Toe Jam & Earl, Ecco the Dolphin, Assault Suits, Vectorman, Columns, cool Spot, Eternal Champions, Heroes (Gunstar, Guardian...), Lunar (CD), Dynamite Headdy and many others. Unfortunately, the sales figures of these franchises have never been revealed by Sega.
FIFA, Madden and Puyo Puyo are still among the best selling video game franchises of all time to this day.
https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-best-selling-video-game-franchise.html

In addition to originating major franchises, Mega Drive also received original games from other major franchises originating in arcades such as Shinobi  / Shadow Dancer, OutRun, Golden Axe, Space Harrier, Super Monaco GP, Fantasy Zone, Monster World, Rolling Thunder, Splaterhouse, Contra, Mercs, Toki, Moonwalker, E-Swat, TMNT, Tiny Toons, Penguin Land, Teddy Boy among many others and also in franchises originating in other platforms such as Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd, Aleste, Hokuto-No-Ken, Thunder Force, Blaster Master and Castlevania.



More information on Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Hardware Sales Figures at:
https://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2020/07/console-wars-real-sega-genesis-mega.html