The Best Genesis Games

racketboy

Established Member
Can't seem to find an "official" list from before, so I rounded up the recommendations made in other posts and here's what I came up with.

Aladdin

Alien Soldier

Battletoads

Beyond Oasis / The Story of Thor

Bomberman

Cannon Fodder

Micky Mouse - Castle of Illusion

Castlevania Bloodlines

Comix Zone

Contra: Hard Corps

Cool Spot

Desert Strike

Double Dragon

Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Dungeons and Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun

Dynamite Headdy

Earthworm Jim

Ecco the Dolphin

Ecco the Dolphin : Tides of Time

Flashback

Gaiares

General Chaos

Ghouls 'n Ghosts

Golden Axe

Gunstar Heroes

Herzog Zwei

Jewel Master

Kid Cameleon

Landstalker

Mega Turrican

Midnight Resistance

Mortal Kombat 2

Ms. Pac Man

NBA Jam T.E.

NHL '94

Panorama Cotton

Phantasy Star 2

Phantasy Star 3

Phantasy Star 4

Ranger X

Revenge of Shinobi

Ristar

Road Rash

Shadow Dancer

Shadowrun

Shining Force

Shining Force 2

Shining in the Darkness

Shinobi 3 / Super Shinobi 2

Sonic and Knuckles

Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Street Fighter II Championship Edition

Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage 2

Streets of Rage 3

Strider

Super Baseball 2020

Super Bubble Bobble

Super Thunder Blade

Thunder Force III

Thunder Force IV

Turtles Hyperstone

Vectorman

Vectorman 2

Wonderboy 2

X-men

I want to narrow it down to 50 games which means we need to cut out 18.

So start nominating kick-offs.

Plus if I missed any obvious ones, lemme know
 
wonderboy 2 = wonder boy in monster world?

Also, I that D&D game sucked IMO. and Road Rash 2 I see as better than the first. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is also another I would vote off the list....umm there are a few I have never played, and others I haven't played much of. I'll do my homework and boot em up here soon and let ya know my thoughts.
 
Mortal Kombat II should be removed from the list because it's pretty universally considered to be better on the SNES.

Phantasy Star 3 and Streets of Rage 3 are less well liked sequels and you might want to take them off too.
 
Hmm, I agree about Road Rash 2. The first was sweet, but the second had multiplayer, which was really cool at the time.

As for MKII, I still prefer the Genesis version (although the 32x one is the best). It was a good port for a Genesis game, and it plays faster than the SNES one. Not sure if it's worth of a spot on the top 50 though.

I agree about PS3, but Streets of Rage 3 is still better than 90% of games on the Genesis, so I think it should probably stay.

Anyway, here are the games I think should be added/removed:

Add:



Alisia Dragoon

Arcus Odyssey

Dragon's Fury

Elemental Master

Golden Axe 3

Soldiers of Fortune / The Chaos Engine

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Rolling Thunder 2

Rolling Thunder 3

Mercs

Marble Madness

Gauntlet IV

Granada

Moonwalker

Altered Beast

Rocket Knight Adventures

Quackshot

Out of This World / Another World

Might & Magic 2

The Lost Vikings

Remove:

Battletoads (crap port)

Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (not the best puzzler on the system)

Midnight Resistance (it's fun, but it's also kind of a sloppy port and it's just not polished enough to be on the list)

Gaiares (again, an ok game, but there are many better shooters on the MD/Gen.. Granada, for example).

Ristar (personally, I never cared for it, even though the graphics are amazing)

Super Baseball 2020 (it's my favorite baseball game on the system, but again, it's not a very good port. If they hadn't screwed the sound up it would have been exceptional)

Super Thunder Blade (cool for a launch game, but it doesn't hold up)

Vectorman 2 (The first was way better, the second game isn't even close)

X-Men (the sequel is much better in this case, but I don't think either one is good enough for the top 50)

Ms. Pac-Man (great game, but you can play a better version on so many other systems that it's not really worth putting on the list)

Mega Bomberman (see above)

Obviously, I want to add a few more games than I think should be removed. There are just so many good games on the system, I had to refrain from listing a bunch more. But in any case, it would be cool if some of the above could be put up for a vote.

edit - oh yeah, Double Dragon should probably be removed as well, even though it's a great version of the game. But I couldn't bring myself to put it in the remove list, I don't know why.
 
[hi i'm new here... first post :)]

i think these deserve a mention:

micro machines 2 / '96

speedball 2

virtua racing

i think super streetfighter 2 definitely surpassed the turbo version.

as does road rash 2 to the original.

why is cool spot there? there was nothing particularly good about it...

the same goes for x-men, too. it was crap! :)

streets of rage 3 is a disgrace to the name. if it weren't for the excellence of the previous two games people wouldn't think half as much of it as they seem to do...
 
IMHO, the Gen port of Super SFII just didn't play as well as Hyper Fighting, and the sound wasn't as good, either.

Cool Spot, although not a fantastic game, had awesome graphics and was a nice little platformer. Not sure if I'd put it in the top 50 tho.

Why is it that you think SoR3 was a disgrace? It had more moves, more enemies, more selectable characters, and better graphics than SoR2. People complain about the music (which I happen to like), the changes to the US version, and the lack of Max, but really, I don't think any of those are a big deal.
 
well first of all the music in SOR3 is hideous... it sounds like it was done by a 16 year old making his first "edgy techno" music. i dunno how you can say the graphics are better, either... everything looks muddy and grainy, the colour palettes are garish, and the character art just is just a mess compared to SOR2's.

the level design completely lacks the flow of the predecessors, too. right from the beginning a random mess of baddies are thrown into the levels with no consistency, sense of progression or consideration of the theme of the level. the bosses lack any kind of charisma compared to SOR2's.

i've little idea of how anyone who appreciates what a classic SOR2 is can think of SOR3 as a good game, never mind consider it better. it feels like the original team must have passed it on [for whatever reason] to a much lesser team, and the whole thing is soulless and rushed as a result.

i feel quite a similar way about the transition between wipeout 3 and wipeout fusion on the ps1 / ps2... but that rant is for another thread, hehe :)
 
True, the music is a bit 'experimental', but I don't mind it. As for the level design, I don't know if I agree with you. The levels and progression are more interesting to me than SoR 2's, but that may just be because I've played SoR 10,000 times over. I think the graphics are better because I feel the characters are rendered a little nicer than SoR2, and most of the enemies look like they fit (some of SoR2's enemies, like the 'bald bull' boxer guys and the kickboxers didn't really have the same visual style as the rest). It's a very minimal difference, though, and I don't like the new colors in the US version. As for the bosses, I agree with you, but some of them (the three samurai warriors for example) were very cool. The additional power moves and weapon moves also add a lot of variety that was lacking in SoR2.
 
definately scratch D&D Warriors of the Eternal Sun that game is no way on par with the others let alone other RPGS available for the megadrive.

I agree with what ppl say about x-men aswell. number 2 was way better but still niether of them are in my top line-up.

Quackshot, The Chaos Engine, Altered Beast and Elemental Master from it290's list are a must. Another World was a chuggy, crap conversion. not worth a mention even though in itself it is an awesome game. just not on the geny.

about MK2, it was a platinum selling game regardless of the snes version.

essell your comparisons of SOR2 & 3 are harsh on SOR3 but i agree that 2 is a better game. i thought SOR1 looks hell shit cant say im with u in your opinions though it290.

apart from that i think all the best games have been spoken for by racketboy. good call on those. :agree

world of illusion?
 
I thought Another World/Out of This World was a great conversion... it plays pretty much exactly like the Amiga or SCD versions. Try the SNES version if you want chuggy...
 
Originally posted by it290@Jun 26, 2004 @ 03:44 AM

plays pretty much exactly like the Amiga

omg u gotta b kidding me.

try playing it on a 68030 :drool:

the amiga version is the ONLY version :banana
 
Well, I used to play it on my 68020 machine, and it was basically the same. Besides, the game was originally designed for a 7mhz 68000. I don't notice much of a difference at all. But I've only really played the SCD version for a while now...
 
theres so much i cant count them! But here they are.

streets of rage 1, 2, and 3, golden axe 1, 2 and 3, super hangon, road rash 1, 2 and 3, super monico gp, sonic *all games*, shinobi all games, mortal kombat all games, and...um...i think thats it.
 
I'm surprised Shadow of the Beast not only isn't on there but hasn't even been mentioned by anyone. Very impressive game, very good port. And, it's the game that put Psygnosis on the map. I really dig its eye-popping, tripped out visuals, and its intensely difficult gameplay.

Several of those games have no place on that list, IMO.

Warriors of the Eternal Sun: Worst RPG on the system, aside from Super Hydlide.

Road Rash: both of its sequels as well as Skitchin' are better than the original RR.

X-Men: really not a very good game at all.

Wonderboy 2: good game but there's too many Wonderboy releases and there isn't one that's head and shoulders above the others.

Aladdin: not bad, but it gets too much credit just because it's way better than the SNES version and because it's a movie license that doesn't suck. Better movie games include Alien3 and the Jurassic Park releases.

Desert Strike: I never found the Strike series to be terribly special.

Bomberman: Far outpaced by later games in the series.

Mortal Kombat 2: the 32x version is leagues better.

Super Baseball 2020: nothing spectacular.

Super Thunder Blade: I thought this was almost universally disliked.

Cool Spot: Not bad but kind of repetitive; doesn't have a lot of staying power.

Vectorman 2: a good game, but not nearly as good as the first.

Street Fighter II CE: I think Super is a lot better.

Jewel Master: ho-hum platformer.

Phantasy Star 3: underrated in general, but it's a little tedious.

NHL '94: I guess this sounds like a lame reason, but, it's just a hockey game.

I would add:

Shadow of the Beast - see above

El Viento - surprised at the lack of love for this game as well

Toejam & Earl - ditto

Rocket Knight Adventures - probably Konami's best game

Zombies Ate My Neighbors - just awesome

maybe Road Rash 2, and/or Skitchin'

Alisia Dragoon

Soldiers of Fortune

Lemmings

perhaps Road Blasters; killer port

I'm personally also rather partial to Arch Rivals and Maximum Carnage, but I doubt those would be agreeable picks. Arch Rivals just because it's pure fun, and because it's an outstanding port that actually surpasses the arcade version; Maximum Carnage because it has more variety, more moves, and more challenge than other beat 'em ups, plus I like the story (and how it's told through comic book intermission scenes), and the graphics and sound are pretty nice.
 
Shadow of the Beast just doesn't really qualify as a Genesis game, IMO. Not to mention the gameplay is pretty bad. I agree with most of your game picks, though - El Viento, TJ&E, Zombies, and Soldiers of Fortune are all great. D&D is a sweet game, though - I don't get what people dislike about it.
 
The ones that could also be there are:

Toejam & Earl

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Road Rash 2

I also enjoyed the following games: theme park, light crusader and mega lo mania, but they are probably not up there with the best.
 
Aladdin

Alien Soldier

Battletoads

Beyond Oasis / The Story of Thor

Bomberman

Cannon Fodder

Micky Mouse - Castle of Illusion

Castlevania Bloodlines

Comix Zone

Contra: Hard Corps

Cool Spot

Desert Strike - i'd replace this with jungle strike

Double Dragon

Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Dungeons and Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun

Dynamite Headdy

Earthworm Jim

Ecco the Dolphin - no need for TWO ecco games

Ecco the Dolphin : Tides of Time

Flashback

Gaiares

General Chaos

Ghouls 'n Ghosts this game sucks,put Gargoyles instead

Golden Axe

Gunstar Heroes

Herzog Zwei

Jewel Master

Kid Cameleon

Landstalker

Mega Turrican

Midnight Resistance

Mortal Kombat 2 i think MK3 Ultimate is the best of them all

Ms. Pac Man

NBA Jam T.E. HaNGTIME IS THE BEST nba GAME EVER MADE,from graphics to MUSIC,it's my second fav game next to comix zone,Jam sucks ghetto ballz compared to Hangtime

NHL '94 uuuum....n-no...this does not belong on the TOP 50 genesis games

Panorama Cotton

Phantasy Star 2 these should be summed up into one title,like say "Phantasy Star Series"

Phantasy Star 3

Phantasy Star 4

Ranger X

Revenge of Shinobi

Ristar

Road Rash i hope this one's a typo...road rash 3 is what's really badass! two player,awesome graphics and MUSIC!

Shadow Dancer

Shadowrun

Shining Force again,should be made into one title just like phantasy star

Shining Force 2

Shining in the Darkness

Shinobi 3 / Super Shinobi 2

Sonic and Knuckles SONIC SERIES damnit

Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Street Fighter II Championship Edition the new challenegers is bigger and better

Streets of Rage :damn: ^^^^

Streets of Rage 2

Streets of Rage 3

Strider

Super Baseball 2020

Super Bubble Bobble columns over this

Super Thunder Blade

Thunder Force III you know what my thoughts are...hint...SERIES...

Thunder Force IV

Turtles Hyperstone

Vectorman

Vectorman 2

Wonderboy 2

X-men

where's BOOGERMAN,that game is cRazY!! AND TRUE LIES?????

edit: VIRTUA RACING? Monaco GP? Outrun? that list is faaaar from complete!
 
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