WCP
05-10-2014, 04:28 PM
For whatever reason, I've been on a big time Early Genesis kick lately. Early Genesis just seems so different to me than Genesis offerings from 92/93/94. It's like two completely different worlds. I've been trying to play the games in the chronological order of their arrival, but accurate release dates are difficult to determine. The good news, is there is a USA Today article from late August 1989, that gives us the actual confirmed games for the test launch in mid August of 1989. New Yorkers and Angelinos were enjoying:
Launch Day Games (08/14/89)
Altered Beast - It's funny, cause I actually see this game talked about as being one of the very worst Genesis games. I think those people didn't have a Genesis in the first couple of years it was around, because Altered Beast was exactly what it needed to be. It was an audio/visual powerhouse for the Genesis. An example of what was possible on the machine. Was the game too short, and did it ultimately come off as a pretty shallow experience ? Yes, absolutely yes, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a strong killer app for early Genesis owners. As a pack in game, I think it was the perfect game for the time frame in which it launched. It was proof positive that the Genesis would have some Arcade chops.
Super Thunder Blade - Ok, this is one that is probably best left forgotten. Super Thunder Blade looks very 1989 to me. I mean, this was a game of a bygone era, in which people were entertained by chunky sprites flying towards them in 3D. The problem with this game is that the 3D scrolling is quite choppy, and the control of your helicopter is pretty lackluster at best. There are some overheard shooter stages, but the game scrolls too fast in these sequences, leaving you with not enough time to react. The overhead portions of the game might have saved this game if they were handled properly. I honestly wouldn't waste more than like 15 minutes on this game, just to check out a launch day game and get that launch day vibe.
Tommy Lasorda Baseball - I know that old sports games aren't normally at the top of your "must play" lists, but Tommy Lasorda is actually a fine piece of launch software for the Genesis. When this game launched, it was a pretty high end sports game for the time. I didn't own a Genesis till about a year later, but a friend of mine bought a Genesis right away and he had this as one of his games. I remember being extremely impressed in the graphical prowess of the Genesis when I would see the ball get really huge as it rose up into the air. The sound effects were especially striking. Plus, there were tons of voice samples that were pretty clear and crisp. This game is technically a port of Power League to the Mega Drive. The Power League series started on the PC Engine, and the game was ported to the Mega Drive as Super League Baseball. World Class Baseball on the TG-16 was the original game that this was based off. This might sound crazy, but I actually prefer World Class Baseball overall (better playability, color and music), although Lasorda was no slouch at all. In fact, at least Lasorda had real MLB cities in the game, because you normally don't think of Paris or London as being huge baseball towns, lol.
Last Battle - This is easily the worst of the 6 launch games in my opinion. I really feel sorry for the poor schmuck that picked this game as the one game to buy alongside his new Genesis console. I could see how somebody might look at the back of the Genesis box and think this was a cool game. I tried to play this game as long as I could, to give it a fair shake, but there just aren't too many redeeming qualities to discuss with this game, and it was very difficult to force myself to try to keep playing it. Bottom line, the control of the character is very bad, and the game just pretty much sucks. There are a few redeeming qualities. The sprites are quite large and well defined. Some of the backgrounds have some nice parallax scrolling. There is some decent color. The fact that you can tackle the stages in a different order is pretty cool, although a lot of times it will get you in trouble and you'll have to start over. I'd really avoid this game, and only play it briefly to just acknowledge it as one of the 6 launch games in the USA.
Space Harrier II - At first, I was thinking that this game might be just as lame as Super Thunder Blade. It had the same scrolling chunky type sprites. 3D games like this are very late 80's, and they died off pretty quickly heading into the 90's. I just think this type of game is a bit dated, and I was thinking this would suck as bad as Super Thunder Blade. However, I found out that the scrolling in this game was much smoother, and the control of the character was much more fluid. You could react quickly to anything happening on screen, and it wasn't at all sluggish like the other 3D game. Some of the voiced samples sound way, way too loud, and can be somewhat annoying. Still, I think this game is definitely worth messing around with, but understand that it has a very dated, 1989 look to it.
ThunderForce II - Now, this is the kind of gem that I was hoping to discover by going back and playing the earliest Genesis games. The ThunderForce series is well known as being a solid shooter series, but I don't think I've played much of the second game. I mostly played the other Genesis versions and the one Saturn game. I might have completely missed this game back in the day, which is a damn shame, because it's the true star of the launch day lineup. The game starts out with this go anywhere type level that really took me off guard. I didn't know they had anything like this in 1989. The first level almost seems open world in nature, and I was very impressed. The side scrolling levels are more standard fare, but still very good. This game is not easy. It's not for the faint of heart. You do get a lot of continues, which you'll probably need to get very far. Definitely the belle of the ball so to speak in terms of the launch games. This game is an audio visual powerhouse. Tons of voice samples, although many are unintelligible, but still the sound design is pretty spectacular. This would have been a great Genesis game to sample if you had your Genny connected to a powerful stereo system.
Worth playing in 2014
ThunderForce 2 = best launch game
Altered Beast = Classic game that hasn't stood the test of time very well, but those of us that played in back in the day have plenty of nostalgic love for it and can appreciate it for what it brought to the table
Tommy Lasorda Baseball = very good sports game at launch
Space Harrier II = better than I was expecting
I'd probably avoid playing, unless you just want to sample some launch day flavor:
Super Thunder Blade = bad control and choppy 3D
Last Battle = bad control, repetitive, unexciting gameplay
.
Launch Day Games (08/14/89)
Altered Beast - It's funny, cause I actually see this game talked about as being one of the very worst Genesis games. I think those people didn't have a Genesis in the first couple of years it was around, because Altered Beast was exactly what it needed to be. It was an audio/visual powerhouse for the Genesis. An example of what was possible on the machine. Was the game too short, and did it ultimately come off as a pretty shallow experience ? Yes, absolutely yes, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a strong killer app for early Genesis owners. As a pack in game, I think it was the perfect game for the time frame in which it launched. It was proof positive that the Genesis would have some Arcade chops.
Super Thunder Blade - Ok, this is one that is probably best left forgotten. Super Thunder Blade looks very 1989 to me. I mean, this was a game of a bygone era, in which people were entertained by chunky sprites flying towards them in 3D. The problem with this game is that the 3D scrolling is quite choppy, and the control of your helicopter is pretty lackluster at best. There are some overheard shooter stages, but the game scrolls too fast in these sequences, leaving you with not enough time to react. The overhead portions of the game might have saved this game if they were handled properly. I honestly wouldn't waste more than like 15 minutes on this game, just to check out a launch day game and get that launch day vibe.
Tommy Lasorda Baseball - I know that old sports games aren't normally at the top of your "must play" lists, but Tommy Lasorda is actually a fine piece of launch software for the Genesis. When this game launched, it was a pretty high end sports game for the time. I didn't own a Genesis till about a year later, but a friend of mine bought a Genesis right away and he had this as one of his games. I remember being extremely impressed in the graphical prowess of the Genesis when I would see the ball get really huge as it rose up into the air. The sound effects were especially striking. Plus, there were tons of voice samples that were pretty clear and crisp. This game is technically a port of Power League to the Mega Drive. The Power League series started on the PC Engine, and the game was ported to the Mega Drive as Super League Baseball. World Class Baseball on the TG-16 was the original game that this was based off. This might sound crazy, but I actually prefer World Class Baseball overall (better playability, color and music), although Lasorda was no slouch at all. In fact, at least Lasorda had real MLB cities in the game, because you normally don't think of Paris or London as being huge baseball towns, lol.
Last Battle - This is easily the worst of the 6 launch games in my opinion. I really feel sorry for the poor schmuck that picked this game as the one game to buy alongside his new Genesis console. I could see how somebody might look at the back of the Genesis box and think this was a cool game. I tried to play this game as long as I could, to give it a fair shake, but there just aren't too many redeeming qualities to discuss with this game, and it was very difficult to force myself to try to keep playing it. Bottom line, the control of the character is very bad, and the game just pretty much sucks. There are a few redeeming qualities. The sprites are quite large and well defined. Some of the backgrounds have some nice parallax scrolling. There is some decent color. The fact that you can tackle the stages in a different order is pretty cool, although a lot of times it will get you in trouble and you'll have to start over. I'd really avoid this game, and only play it briefly to just acknowledge it as one of the 6 launch games in the USA.
Space Harrier II - At first, I was thinking that this game might be just as lame as Super Thunder Blade. It had the same scrolling chunky type sprites. 3D games like this are very late 80's, and they died off pretty quickly heading into the 90's. I just think this type of game is a bit dated, and I was thinking this would suck as bad as Super Thunder Blade. However, I found out that the scrolling in this game was much smoother, and the control of the character was much more fluid. You could react quickly to anything happening on screen, and it wasn't at all sluggish like the other 3D game. Some of the voiced samples sound way, way too loud, and can be somewhat annoying. Still, I think this game is definitely worth messing around with, but understand that it has a very dated, 1989 look to it.
ThunderForce II - Now, this is the kind of gem that I was hoping to discover by going back and playing the earliest Genesis games. The ThunderForce series is well known as being a solid shooter series, but I don't think I've played much of the second game. I mostly played the other Genesis versions and the one Saturn game. I might have completely missed this game back in the day, which is a damn shame, because it's the true star of the launch day lineup. The game starts out with this go anywhere type level that really took me off guard. I didn't know they had anything like this in 1989. The first level almost seems open world in nature, and I was very impressed. The side scrolling levels are more standard fare, but still very good. This game is not easy. It's not for the faint of heart. You do get a lot of continues, which you'll probably need to get very far. Definitely the belle of the ball so to speak in terms of the launch games. This game is an audio visual powerhouse. Tons of voice samples, although many are unintelligible, but still the sound design is pretty spectacular. This would have been a great Genesis game to sample if you had your Genny connected to a powerful stereo system.
Worth playing in 2014
ThunderForce 2 = best launch game
Altered Beast = Classic game that hasn't stood the test of time very well, but those of us that played in back in the day have plenty of nostalgic love for it and can appreciate it for what it brought to the table
Tommy Lasorda Baseball = very good sports game at launch
Space Harrier II = better than I was expecting
I'd probably avoid playing, unless you just want to sample some launch day flavor:
Super Thunder Blade = bad control and choppy 3D
Last Battle = bad control, repetitive, unexciting gameplay
.