Majesco reissues for Genesis

[Iron Draggon]

I think we had this conversation once before for SNES, but I don't think we ever covered it for Genesis. So, I'm just curious, which games did Majesco reissue for Genesis? I'm asking this because I finally completed a very lengthy search to replace a lost original release with another brand new copy of the same original release, and it proved to be alot more difficult than I expected. All I could find was brand new copies of the Majesco reissue, which is vastly inferior to the original release, in just about every way cosmetically possible.

Firstly, the Majesco reissues come in cheap cardboard boxes, instead of in nice plastic cases. And I don't mean cardboard boxes like most of the other Genesis games that were only released in cardboard boxes, I mean even worse than that. They don't have holes at both ends where you can just slide the cardboard cart holder in and out, they have regular flaps that will eventually wear out if you play the game often enough, and no cardboard cart holder either. Just a very tacky box with the cart stored at one end.

Secondly, the covers of the reissued instruction manuals are in black & white on matte finish paper, not in full color on glossy finish paper. So you instantly recognize that the manual isn't as nice as the original manual, if you have a copy of both versions to compare them. Otherwise this probably wouldn't be a very big deal, but even so it still adds to the overall feeling of cheapness.

Thirdly, the cart labels of the reissued carts have a matte finish instead of a nice glossy finish, even though they are in full color, making the colors seem alot more dull and nowhere near as bright, again adding to the cheap feel. So you can easily tell if you have a crappy reissue, even if it's just a loose cart.

So, add it all up, and suddenly that bargain bin price is no bargain, compared to all the value that you get with the original release, and any true collector would never have such crap in their collection if it could possibly be avoided! The Majesco reissues may be fine for all the completists who have grown bored with their "complete" collection, and now want to start collecting all the different "variations" of all the games they already own, but that's about all that they're good for from a collector's standpoint. I suppose they're OK to use as placeholders until you can find a copy of the original releases too, but they really aren't very good for much else, for the hardcore collector. They're more of a nuisance than anything, because their very existence just makes it that much more difficult to track down the original release. Kinda like "Greatest Hits" on PlayStation. I prefer to call those "Greatest Shits"! Because that's exactly what they are, SHIT, and they have no place in my collection! And I know that most people here feel the exact same way too.

Anyhow, now that I've finally very thankfully replaced my crappy Majesco reissue placeholder that I had broken down and bought in desperation with a nice brand new original, I'm just wondering exactly how many of these hideous inferior excuses for a real release there are, giving all us collectors fits of fury! So I'll start the ball rolling with the only one I know, that I became very painfully familar with, and fortunately don't have to settle for anymore!

Tom & Jerry: Frantic Antics!

[Bratwurst]

To compound the shodiness sometimes the Majesco cartridges will have 'Acclaim' molded into the back plastic when the game had nothing to do with them at all. Sometimes this discrepency is covered up with a black sticker.

To Majesco's credit the circuit boards and components inside the cartridges tend to be cleaner and more efficiently arranged than first party Sega produced boards. No flux spatters, the rom chips faces aren't scratched up, etc. I don't doubt that the materials themselves are of a cheaper quality, in fact I seem to recall the contact edges being thinner and tin plated instead of gold.

Something that shouldn't be overlooked is that this glut can be a good source of cheap spare parts, the flash memory in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for example.

I know that Sonic 3D Blast was given the Majesco treatment, and Frogger was a Majesco exclusive, even.

[Iron Draggon]

Yeah, I have Frogger, but as I recall it's much nicer than any of the reissues. I'd have to dig it out to look, but I believe that it was done the same way as all the Sega produced games in cardboard boxes. But even if it wasn't done that way, of course I'm not gonna complain about any original releases, even if they were done cheaply and could've been done better. What upsets me is the way that so many things were changed unnecessarily. I just don't see why anything had to be changed for the reissues. If they wanted to reissue it, then they should've just reissued it as it was originally. Obviously all the games that were chosen for reissue were all very popular games that had already made a ton of money, so I don't see how it would've hurt to just keep making them exactly as they were, instead of changing them up just to be cheap and cut costs. Unless that was a condition for the reissues that was stipulated by the manufacturers of the original releases, to distinguish them from the originals. Otherwise, what were they accomplishing by making more, besides making the original releases much more valuable to collectors?

As for the Acclaim thing on the carts, I believe that was because when Sega decided to stop producing games for the Genesis, both Sega and Acclaim got stuck with warehouses full of unsold carts, because they were the two largest producers of Genesis carts. So apparently they robbed all those unsold carts for parts, which is how Majesco was able to reissue so many games. You would think that they would've used all those unsold plastic cases for the boxes too though. I think that somebody did, because I believe that I have come across some games in Acclaim cases that had black stickers over the Acclaim logo on the plastic cases. But then maybe that was something that was just done when a certain manufacturer ran out of cases and another manufacturer had a surplus of cases. I dunno, but I've only noticed that on the cases, not on the carts. So hopefully I don't have anymore reissued games hiding out in my collection that I don't know about!

I do have a complete collection of all the Sega Classics reissues, both the blue ones and the red ones, but those really don't bother me as much as the Majesco reissues do. The Sega Classic reissues still came in nice plastic cases, and the only visible difference between them and the originals is in the paper inserts placed in the cases. I know that there are some nonvisible differences in the ROMS as well, which make it necessary to use different Game Genie codes to achieve the same effect as the codes for the originals, but that's a trivial difference to me. It is a very unusual curiosity that makes me wonder why that was done too, but it really doesn't bother me much. I'm even actually rather proud to be able to say that I do have a complete Sega Classics collection. They were just very tastefully done in my opinion, and especially when compared to the wretchedness of the Majesco reissues.

But those darned Majesco reissues, God they're just horrible! it's just an absolute travesty that they were ever allowed to bastardize the originals like that, and resell them here. They look like something that should've been sold in some poor third world country, not here in America. And I'd venture to say that hardly anyone ever bought them, and even noncollectors didn't seem to want them anymore than any collectors do. Because ebay is just covered in the damned things. You can get a brand new factory sealed copy of every Majesco reissue ever made for any system any day of the week for practically nothing. People can hardly even give them away, that's how just plain awful they are. They're like a sty in the eye of 16BIT history. It's been over 5 years since they were all reissued now, and still they're everywhere. In another 5 years, it will just be more of the same. From now on, people will always be trying to just get rid of all those God awful Majesco reissues!

[Tritoch]

You can add Castlevania Bloodlines to the list, and I believe Light Crusader and Contra: Hard Corps as well (used to own the latter two but no longer do).

[MegaDrive20XX]

You can add Castlevania Bloodlines to the list, and I believe Light Crusader and Contra: Hard Corps as well (used to own the latter two but no longer do).

Yeah I was fixing to say that....poor Konami...that is the ugliest instruction manual for CastleVania...all black and white

[DigitalSpace]

The only one I own myself is Monopoly, which I bought before I knew about the whole Majesco thing. While I could care less whether something in my collection is a GH title or not, I try to steer clear of the Majesco Genny carts now.

Two more titles I can remember right now are Super Battleship and F-22 Interceptor. Whenever you see a copy of F-22 that's not on an EA cart, it's the reissue. Kinda funny to see an EA game rereleased on a standard Genny cart.

[Xexyz]

Was Urban Strike a re issued game too? I've seen a normal Genesis cart version of Urban Strike at one of my local used game shops.

[esquire]

You can add Castlevania Bloodlines to the list, and I believe Light Crusader and Contra: Hard Corps as well (used to own the latter two but no longer do).

Yeah I was fixing to say that....poor Konami...that is the ugliest instruction manual for CastleVania...all black and white

I don't believe Light Crusader was a Majesco reissue. Sega released a lot of games in cardboard boxes and with B&W instruction manuals as well, including Light Crusader, NFL '95, Comix Zone, Phantasy Star IV, Shining Force II and Beyond Oasis all of which came in the two piece cardboard boxes similiar to the 32X games where there is an outer cover that slides off and an inner box that holds the cart. All Majesco boxes and instruction manuals say "Distributed by Majesco Sales, Inc." on the back. Light Crusader has no such thing and only refers to Sega on the back. Also, the Majesco releases warranty cards are made out to Majesco, not Sega.

To make things even more confusing, Majesco released some games (Castlevania Bllodlines) in two piece cardboard boxes like the Sega games, and others in one piece boxes that open on top like a NES Box - Jungle Strike, Desert Strike.

[RichD]

This is an incomplete list of confirmed Majesco releases.

Majesco Paper boxes with slide tray:

(Mario) Andretti Racing
Animaniacs
Clayfighters
Sonic 3D Blast
Taz in Escape From Mars (Mega Hit Series)
Vectorman (Mega Hit Series)
Vectorman 2
World of Illusion with Mickey and Donald

Majesco Paper Boxes with Pop Top:

Arcade Classics
Castlevania Bloodlines
Desert Strike (EA game with small cart)
Frogger
Jungle Strike (EA game with small cart)
Jurassic Park
Road Rash II (EA game with small cart)
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic Classics
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Mega Hit Series)
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure
Tom and Jerry Frantic Antics
(Disney's) Toy Story

[Leo_A]

Aren't some of you going just a bit overboard? lol

I know I'm very happy with my Majesco released Desert Strike, Frogger, F-22, and Mario Andretti Racing.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Sega 6-Pak was part of that too I believe (Columns, Golden Axe, Super Hang On, Sonic 1, Revenge of Shinobi, and Streets of Rage)

[Xexyz]

Urban Stirke had to of had a Majesco release as well then. Like I said, I saw a normal cart only version at a used game shop not too long ago.

[Luke]

I have the re-release of Castlevania: Bloodlines (pop top) and Contra: Hard Corps (slide tray) I got then as they were brand new and that was a major plus in my book. Anyway these are "placeholders" as I intend to get the JPN versions, just gotta prepare myself for the price I will have to pay for them.


Luke

[Iron Draggon]

Hey! Thanks for all the info! Especially you, RichD! I just might have to start collecting all these "variations" just for the hell of it now. I don't know why, but it would be kinda interesting to have them all, since I already have all the original releases of all those games now. I forgot about the Mega Hit series though. I think I'll start with those, since I already have a complete Sega Classics collection. Does anyone know how many games were reissued in the Mega Hit series? Even as reissues, it would be kinda cool to have them all.

I just remembered another game that was reissued in a cardboard box that I happen to have in my collection too, instead of the original, but I'm not sure if it's a Majesco reissue game or not. I think it has the nice slide-out type box though, so it's never really bothered me that I don't have the original version.

Klax

Does anyone know if it's a Majesco reissue or not? I'd have to dig it out to look. I got it at the same time that I got Zoop, which is another puzzle game that came in a cardboard box, so I always thought that those two kinda went together, and it just never really mattered to me that the Klax wasn't the original release. Tom & Jerry is the only one that really bothered the hell out of me, because all my other games except for my Sega Classics games are the original releases. One of these days I may try to add all the original versions of my Sega Classics games to my collection, but for some reason it just seems kinda cool to me to have all the Sega Classics versions of all those games, instead of the originals. Those games really are classics, so it's not like they just made it up, and said all these games are supposed to be special. They really are special, so I think it's kinda cool to have them all stand out. BTW, for those who are wondering, here's a list of all the Sega Classics carts:

Columns (red)
Golden Axe (blue)
Revenge of Shinobi (blue)
Shadow Dancer (blue)
Sonic the Hedgehog (red)
Super Monaco GP (blue)

I'm pretty sure that's a complete set, but there may have been others that I didn't know about, so if you know of any others please let me know! The blue classics came first, followed by the red classics, and then that was the end of the Sega Classics series. So I'm pretty sure there were only six games in the series, but there may have been some others, like Streets of Rage or something. And I hate to admit this, but I don't have any of the Streets of Rage games in my collection, except for the original Streets of Rage on the Sega 6 Pak cart. I know it's a travesty, but I've just never gotten around to getting them all yet. And of course Streets of Rage 3 is pretty hard to find mint complete, even on ebay, so it tends to be pretty costly to obtain it.

[DigitalSpace]

Majesco Paper boxes with slide tray:

(Mario) Andretti Racing
Animaniacs
Clayfighters
Sonic 3D Blast
Taz in Escape From Mars (Mega Hit Series)
Vectorman (Mega Hit Series)
Vectorman 2
World of Illusion with Mickey and Donald

You can add Monopoly to that list - I forgot to mention that my copy had the slide tray.

EDIT: Turns out that it's on the Ballistic list. Never mind.

Aren't some of you going just a bit overboard? lol

Heh, probably. I have several SNES majesco carts and they all work fine.

[Push Upstairs]

Well this revelation that the Majesco cart shells were "recycled" does explain why my copy of "Urban Strike" had a "TNN Bass Fishing" label underneath it. :/

[yoursisterspretty]

You can add Castlevania Bloodlines to the list, and I believe Light Crusader and Contra: Hard Corps as well (used to own the latter two but no longer do).

Yeah I was fixing to say that....poor Konami...that is the ugliest instruction manual for CastleVania...all black and white

Off topic, but Castlevania Chronicles and SotN had B&W manuals...but at least they were on glossy paper. =)

[Iron Draggon]

Well this revelation that the Majesco cart shells were "recycled" does explain why my copy of "Urban Strike" had a "TNN Bass Fishing" label underneath it. :/

! And yet, TNN Bass Fishing was one of the reissues! Now that's funny! (At least I think it was... I know that TNN Bass Fishing '96 was one of 'em.)

[RichD]

Here is a list of the Sega Classics I know about:

Blue Box:

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
Golden Axe
Joe Montana I Football
Pat Riley Basketball
The Revenge of Shinobi
Tommy Lasorda Baseball
Super Monaco GP
Shadow Dancer, The Secret of Shinobi
World Championship Soccer

Red Box:

Columns
Sonic the Hedgehog
Streets of Rage



Not all rereleased games were issued by Majesco. Some came out from Ballistic in paper boxes that have a small (about as big as a penny) sticker on the back. here is a list of the ones I know about:

Aaahh!! Real Monsters
Beavis and Butthead
Caesar's Palace
Clue
Earthworm Jim
Family Feud
Monopoly
Pac-man 2 The New Adventures
Risk
Super Battleship
Wheel of Fortune

There is probably a few more.

[CRV]

Not all rereleased games were issued by Majesco. Some came out from Ballistic in paper boxes that have a small (about as big as a penny) sticker on the back.

If you look at the fine print, you'll find Majesco Sales, Inc. mentioned. I'm not sure if they got a hold of the Ballistic label from Accolade or what...