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.
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:
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
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).
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
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
