Sega Club
From Sega Retro
Sega Club was a brand applied to products by Sega of America in the mid-1990s. The aim was to group video games for younger children under the brand, presumably so consumers could spot children's games from a distance. In Brazil, similar branding named Mega Kids was introduced with the same purpose, and was applied to the same games (provided they were released in that region). Brazil would receive an entirely different Sega Club service in the months that followed - one which that could actually be classed as a club, complete with members.
The Sega Club project came into fruition around July of 1994 with the release of Wacky Worlds, but was vastly scaled down from its original intentions - Sega had planned to release a special "Sega Club" edition of the Sega Mega Drive (model 2), Control Pad and Mega Mouse with a colour scheme more akin to PAL variants of the console (and the switch from the Japanese model), but in the end, Sega Club branding was only applied to games. There was, however, a short run on Sega Club branded Six Button Control Pads, though rather than adopting a unique colour scheme, Sega merely sold the smaller-styled Japanese stock and marketed it for "smaller hands".
Several games were released with Sega Club branding; nine for the Mega Drive, three for the Sega Game Gear and one Sega Mega-CD game, Kids on Site. In Brazil, the Sega Master System port of Bonkers Wax Up! also became part of the set. No equivalent system was put in place outside of the Americas, though the majority of these titles were released in other territories regardless. The unreleased Barbie Vacation Adventure was also set to become part of the series.
Sega Club branding was only seen on products released during the latter half of 1994 and during 1995. By the time the Sega Saturn rolled out in North America, the branding was effectively axed, partly due to a defocusing on non-Saturn systems by Sega of America, but also due to the fact that very few (if any) games aimed at small children were released for the new console.
List of Games
Mega Drive
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure (1994)
- Bonkers (1994)
- Crystal's Pony Tale (1994)
- Ecco Jr. (1995)
- Math Blaster: Episode 1 (1994)
- Richard Scarry's Busytown (1994)
- Scholastic's The Magic School Bus: Space Exploration Game (1995)
- Sesame Street Counting Cafe (1994)
- Wacky Worlds (1994)
Mega CD
- Kids on Site (1994)
Game Gear
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure (1994)
- Bonkers Wax Up! (1994)
- Tempo Jr. (1994)
Master System
- Bonkers Wax Up! (1995)
- Crystal's Pony Tale (canceled)