Sega got the jump on Nintendo in the second round, launching their next console — the Sega Genesis — in Japan in 1988, as IGN notes. This put the Genesis in direct competition with the NES, which was on its way out. The Genesis performed well, especially in the Americas and Europe — where it was called the Sega Mega Drive. From a production standpoint, the games released for the Genesis demolished anything available on the NES. The Genesis’ 16-bit capabilities offered a stark contrast to the 8-bit graphics offered by the NES, per Logic Simplified.
Of course, Nintendo had a contender waiting in the wings, and in 1990 the Super Famicon made its Japanese debut. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because the rest of the world knew it as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES (via IGN). This was the era in which the rivalry was at its most contentious. According to Venture Beat, Sega had no qualms about directly attacking Nintendo in their advertisements for the Genesis.
This time around the sales figures would be much closer. Offering popular titles like those in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the Genesis is estimated to have sold 29 million units (per IGN); a massive increase over the Master System. But it wouldn’t be enough to top Nintendo, whose SNES would exceed 49 million units thanks to classic games like “Super Mario World” and “Donkey Kong Country.”
