Back in the day, Sega was responsible for making some great games machines. The Master System had been well received, selling by the bucketload - but it was the sleek, black, curvy Megadrive that grabbed the attention of gamers such as myself.

It reigned supreme in the late 1980s and was the company's most successful console. I've already rambled on about some of its top titles; Sonic the Hedgehog, in particular, was among the best - giving Sega a much-needed mascot a la Mario on the Nintendo. Other greats included Toejam & Earl, Streets of Rage, John Madden, Fifa - the list goes on...

Here is the first part of a nostalgic nod towards some of the other greats that kept me occupied all those years ago!

(Photo credit: amrufm)

David Robinson's Supreme Court basketball may not have had an official license from the NBA but it was great fun nonetheless - and knowing very little about basketball back then, it didn't matter to me one little bit that the players and teams were entirely fictional! Great fun.

NHL 94 was perhaps the best ever version of EA's homage to ice hockey. It managed to get me completely engrossed in a sport I've followed ever since, with it's fast-paced play, end to end action and fight sequences! Come on you Maple Leafs!!!

Road Rash was the ultimate racing game. Not only could you rocket about the countryside on the back of a motorcycle... but you could do it while swinging a baseball bat at your opponents' heads. Combining bikes with violence, the recent Lost and Damned DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV brought back many a happy memory of Road Rash on the Megadrive!

I pumped many pound coins in the arcade machines to play Shadow Dancer, the successor to Shinobi. I was over the moon when the white clad ninja leapt onto the Megadrive with his trusty dog.

Atmospheric and fairly scary for a young lad, Alien 3 - although not that faithful to the film - was a great movie tie-in and one of the only ones I ever remember enjoying. Run about the place, climbing ladders and crawling through tunnels to rescue prisoners - while blowing away the acid-spewing aliens.

Agree/disagree with my choices...? Leave a comment.

Click for Part II.