My parents and I bought our first console, a Sega Genesis, on Labor Day 1993. I remember being annoyed because my parents had promised to buy one all summer long and waited until the day before school began. We got Sonic with the system (which we were talked into, saying that it came with a coupon for a free Sonic 2...coupon was expired
), Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing, Hard Drivin', Crue Ball and Ms. Pac-Man.
We went home, hooked it all up and got stuck at the Robotnik of Green Hill Zone, so we called Sega's tips line and were told the trick (hey, I was 9 and my parents were...y'know, parents), by a live person no less.
I wouldn't discover Phantasy Star until I rented PSIV in 1995, after getting stuck for years in ShadowRun trying to find the damned feathered serpent... ;p