The Super Famicom

"Er, is that it?" The world was a little confused. Nintendo's big cheeses were standing proudly beside what looked like a sandwich toaster. The Sega engineers stifled a titter.

"Just wait till you see the games," came back the answer. Of course! This was what Nintendo were famous for. The On switch was flicked, a hush fell over the crowd, and... Super Mario 3 appeared on the screen. No, hang on, Super Mario World, the screen said. But it certainly didn't look that different to Super Mario 3. This was the game that was going to reclaim the throne for Nintendo?

Luckily there was rather more to the Super Famicom than met the eye. Another launch game, an amazing 3D racer called F-Zero, demonstrated the machine's number two asset: Mode 7 graphics. Its number one asset, meanwhile, was Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's star games designer. With Super Mario World he'd created a game of immense depth that got better the more you played it. 300,000 eager Japanese gamers snapped up the first shipment of Super Famicoms overnight. The Mega Drive crashed and burned in the Far East.

Super Sonic

But elsewhere in the world it was a different story. Renamed the 'Super NES', and with its sandwich toaster lines chiselled into an even less appetising breeze block shape, Nintendo's new machine got off to a slow start in America the following autumn. The SNES wasn't helped by Sega's timely launch of Sonic the Hedgehog, a fast, flashy, easy-to-pick-up game that looked far better - in the shop, at least - than Mario World.

And, seven months later, Europe followed suit. Sega adverts shouted that the Mega Drive was cool, grown-up, a bit dangerous, or something. Given the choice between the sleek, black Sega and the Tupperware Nintendo - sassy Sonic or grinning Mario - Westerners knew who was getting their money.

Nintendo appeared vanquished. Sega's people patted themselves on the back, and raised glasses of sake to a job well done.