Back in the Genesis / Mega Drive's early days, we didn't see many cool introduction sequences because developers were limited when it came to cartridge ROM sizes, and preferred to use up that valuable memory with gameplay-related content, rather than window-dressing.
However, MUSHA Aleste - known as plain old MUSHA in North America - bucked the trend. Despite being released in 1990 and only coming on a 4Mb cart, it boasts an amazing animated introduction scene, detailing the events which lead up to the game's opening stage.
We wouldn't have had this incredible sequence were it not for the efforts of Yuji Naka, who was responsible for the compression routine used by MUSHA programmer Yuichi Toyama.
Naka is of course famous for helping to create Sonic, but has also been involved in numerous other games over the years. He was recently convicted of insider trading.