Ok, let's get the Sega Saturn Power Rankings underway!!!!!!!

[Anthony1]

The Genesis top 25 Power Rankings is currently being tabulated. Results will be posted shortly. But while we are waiting for that. We might as well get the next Power Rankings up and running.

It takes quite some time for people to make their lists, decide which games are super proper and need to be ranked, and which games don't. Then it takes time to send the lists to me and it takes time for me to get enough lists to have a quality survey.

So, even though the Genesis Power Rankings hasn't been completed yet, it's time to get the next ball rolling.


Ok, for the Saturn power rankings we are going to really open things up....

Imports are included!!!!!

Yep, both imports and U.S. games can qualify for the rankings.


Now here is the thing, I want you guys to decide how many Saturn games we should rank. With throwing the imports in the mix, I'm thinking we should go a little bit beyond the normal 25 games. Maybe rank a Top 40 Saturn Games.


Are you cool with 40? I know it will take some time, but that is why I'm starting this early. Get a jump on it. Take a list of all the Saturn games that came out, and all the hottest imports and make a kick ass top 40 list.

Then send it to me at tapdatazz1@yahoo.com

[Iron Draggon]

ARGH!!! Import games too? Now this really will be a difficult list to decide on!

I think we'll need to make it a top 50 list if we're gonna include imports too!

[anagrama]

So why allow imports for the Saturn but not Genesis?

[MegaDrive20XX]

So why allow imports for the Saturn but not Genesis?

Pawn'ed to Bishop.....Check mate...

[fishsandwich]

So why allow imports for the Saturn but not Genesis?

The Saturn was far more successful in Japan than in the States... over 700 games can out in Japan, as opposed to our measly 250 or so. Many of those games left in Japan are AWESOME and easily playable by English-speakers.

The American Genesis was much more successful than its Japanese Mega Drive counterpart. While there are some truly superb Japan-only Mega Drive games, the ratio pales in comparison to the Saturn games that never came Stateside. REALLY pales. The Saturn was and is an importer's machine at heart. The same can't be said for the Genny.

Cheers and I say 50

:D

[Steven]

Yeah, let's go 50.

I already have a 25 list. I need to add 25 more that's all.

BTW, is this a list of what Saturn games we think ARE THE BEST? Or the ones we prefer to go back to again and again?

See, on a best list, a game like VF 2 would easily make it.

But on a FAVORITES list, VF2 wouldn't crack my top 50 probably.

[anagrama]

So why allow imports for the Saturn but not Genesis?

The Saturn was far more successful in Japan than in the States... over 700 games can out in Japan, as opposed to our measly 250 or so. Many of those games left in Japan are AWESOME and easily playable by English-speakers.

The American Genesis was much more successful than its Japanese Mega Drive counterpart. While there are some truly superb Japan-only Mega Drive games, the ratio pales in comparison to the Saturn games that never came Stateside. REALLY pales. The Saturn was and is an importer's machine at heart. The same can't be said for the Genny.



Yes, I'm aware of all that, but there are still several of what I would consider the finest Mega Drive games that didn't make it to the US.
And I don't just mean Japanese releases. We've got a whole continent over here too.

[Doonzmore]

As long as Galactic Attack is on there im happy :)

[Steven]

As long as Galactic Attack is on there im happy :)

It'll be on my top 50 list for sure. :-)

[Anthony1]

Yeah, let's go 50.

I already have a 25 list. I need to add 25 more that's all.

BTW, is this a list of what Saturn games we think ARE THE BEST? Or the ones we prefer to go back to again and again?

See, on a best list, a game like VF 2 would easily make it.

But on a FAVORITES list, VF2 wouldn't crack my top 50 probably.


The way to make your list, is to make it like if you had a really good friend, who never had a Sega Saturn, and he wants to get the 50 best games on the Saturn, to get the best flavor of what the Saturn had to offer. So you would be thinking of the 50 best games that he should try. Also, don't discount games because they look kinda crappy because they are too pixelated or the 3D sucks compares to XBOX. Rank them like if it was 1995 and 1996 and 1997 all over again.

Also, don't concern yourself with price, or whether the game is import or rare or whatever. Pretend the guy has a modded Saturn and he's going to get 50 backups for it, and he can choose from every Saturn game in existence.

The best way to rank the games, is to think of which Saturn game was the single best experience for you. Not the one that you are most interested in now. For example, if there is a Saturn game that you think was amazing but you've already played it several times over, and now you are kinda bored with it, you have to take that out of the equation, because you are trying to think of what would be the best Saturn experience if you hadn't yet experienced it yet.

[Iron Draggon]

Yes, I'm aware of all that, but there are still several of what I would consider the finest Mega Drive games that didn't make it to the US. And I don't just mean Japanese releases. We've got a whole continent over here too.

I feel your pain on the Genny import note. There were a few imports that I would've loved to list too, but hopefully we'll do the top Genny imports soon? I can only hope, because Alien Soldier certainly belongs on that list. Surely we'll get around to it before very long. Ditto for SNES & SFC imports too.

[Anthony1]

Yes, I'm aware of all that, but there are still several of what I would consider the finest Mega Drive games that didn't make it to the US. And I don't just mean Japanese releases. We've got a whole continent over here too.

I feel your pain on the Genny import note. There were a few imports that I would've loved to list too, but hopefully we'll do the top Genny imports soon? I can only hope, because Alien Soldier certainly belongs on that list. Surely we'll get around to it before very long. Ditto for SNES & SFC imports too.



Ultimately, we should do power rankings on basically just about everything. But, I just don't think that most people know the Genesis import scene that well. So I thought it would be best to just focus on the 25 best U.S. released carts. I think we should also do some import only power rankings as well. U.S. only, import only, and combined lists for just about everything.


What would really be proper is if we had somebody with wicked HTML skills that could whip up a website dedicated to Power Rankings for Retro Systems.

Certainly, I want to visit all the systems. The first system we did this with was the SNES. Below I have included the final SNES Power Rankings. Check it out. Pretty interesting how that one turned out. We will be revisiting the SNES soon.





SNES POWER RANKINGS 2004



Here is the most up to date breakdown so far. Twenty two people have given their top ten SNES games lists, and I've compiled all the stats. This is the latest breakdown.


1. Final Fantasy III - Final Fantasy simply blew away the competition, in terms of total points. It scored a whopping 141 points, and ended up being ranked in 11 of the 22 lists that were out there.

2. Super Mario World - Super Mario World really tried to be the No. 1 game. It appeared in 13 of the 22 lists that were out there, more than any other game, including Final Fantasy III. But it got a grand total of 95 points, which is well below FF3's 141 points.

3. Super Mario All-Stars - All-Stars ended up with 81 total points and showing up on 9 different lists out of the 22 submited. Super Metroid was right on All-Stars azz, with 80 points and 8 lists. But All-Stars edges Metroid out.

4. Super Metroid - Metroid appeared on 8 lists and scored 80 points. Just missed a chance at the No. 3 spot.

5. Super Mario Kart - A case could be made for Super Mario Kart to be ranked 3rd. Mario Kart ended up on 11 lists out of 22, which is damn good. But it only ended up with 65 points. It just wasn't ranked too high on the lists that it showed up on. But it did get great respect.

6. Castlevania IV - Castlevania shocked the non-believers by appearing on 8 lists, and accumulating a solid 62 points.

7. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Zelda had a very solid showing, appearing on 9 of the 22 lists. It only racked up 58 points however. It barely gets a ranking ahead of Final Fantasy II, which actually scored 3 more points, but appeared in 2 less rankings.

8. Final Fantasy II - Final Fantasy II did extremely well, considering FF3 took so many of the points out there. Actually though, alot of people that had FF3 very high on their lists, had FF2 futher down the list. And some people even ranked FF2 ahead of 3.

9. Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger suprisingly ended up ranked 9th, because it recieved 62 points, and appeared on 6 lists. I though this game would show up on more lists, and get more points. Kinda suprising to see it near the bottom of the top 10. But the competition is fierce, so that's understandable.

10. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - Yoshi's Island started off not being ranked in alot of the early lists, or being ranked very low, but then Yoshi really started to rally and get some much higher rankings. Yoshi nabs the final coveted top 10 spot.


Okay, that is the top 10 so far, but the next 10 games are incredibly solid too. Check them out......


11. Contra III: The Alien Wars - Contra III came in getting 54 points and appearing in 5 different lists.

12. Super Street Fighter 2 - This is the first appearance of a Street Fighter game on the rankings. Interestingly enough, Super SF II get's the highest spot. It scored 45 points and appeared in 4 lists.

13. Secret of Mana - Secret of Mana showed up on 5 of the lists and scored 38 points. As the RPG fans continue to get their games ranked.

14. Super Smash TV - Super Smash TV came out of nowhere to snag 34 points and 5 appearances on lists. I didn't know this game was thought of so highly. I'm going to have to check this puppy out again.

15. Super Mario RPG - Interestingly enough, Super Mario RPG only appeared in 3 lists, but it did score 40 freaking points. So each time it got ranked, it scored big points.

16. TMNT : Turtles in Time - TMNT came out of nowhere at the end of the rankings to score 40 points. It only appeared in 3 lists, like Super Mario RPG, but it also scored big points in those 3 lists, just like Super Mario RPG did.

17. Zombies Ate My Neighbors - Zombies has shown that it deserves some consideration, by appearing on 4 different lists and scoring 31 points.

18. Starfox - Starfox did appear on 5 different lists, but it only got 28 points. So it wasn't ranked too high on any of the 5 lists.

19. Donkey Kong Country - DKC did very much like Starfox. It appeared on 5 lists, but only mustered up 26 points.

20. Super Bomberman 2 - Some could make an argument that Super Bomberman 2 should be ranked higher than Starfox and DKC. The reason why? Well Bomberman scored 36 points, and appeared in 3 lists. But I still think Starfox and DKC should be ranked higher considering they were on 2 extra lists. Zombies gets ranked higher, because it was only behind by 5 points, but ended up on one extra list. But you could put any of the games from 17 to 20 in pretty much any order. They are all good titles.


So that was the second 10 games. Alot of nice classics on that list. And defintiely some games that you might not have thought about, and maybe it's time to take a look at them.

Let's see what games were in the 21 to 30 range.......


21. Super Punch Out - Super Punch Out was able to score a very nice 30 points on 3 lists. Had it appeared in 1 more list, it could've definitely appeared in the top 20 games.

22. Axelay - Axelay didn't score a heck of alotta points. It only scored 24 points, but it did appear on 4 different lists.

23. Mortal Kombat II - Mortal Kombat showed up on 4 lists, and it also scored 23 points. Not a heckuva lotta points, but it still showed up 4 times and that is significant.

24. Street Fighter 2 Turbo - SF2 Turbo was right there too. It scored 20 points, which was 6 less points than SF2, but ended up on 1 more list. If you put all the Street Fighter 2 games together, they would have recieved 91 points. So you could make a case that the Street Fighter 2 series should be ranked 3rd on the overall list, but I feel that all games should be ranked individually, even if they are part of a series. They should each stand on their own.

25. Actraiser - Actraiser only scored a measly little 5 points. It was ranked last on 3 lists, and 2nd to last on one list. But it did appear on 4 different lists. And that deserves respect.

26. Earthbound - A cast can be made for Earthbound to be ranked higher. It did score a big 30 points. But most of that came in being ranked No. 1 on one list. But Earthbound could certainly be ranked a little higher than 26.

27. Gradius III - Gradius III was only ranked on 2 lists, but it did score 28 points.

28. Super Turrican - Super Turrican got ranked twice and scored 25 points.

29. NBA Jam Tournament Edition - NBA Jam T.E. is the first sports related game to get ranked. It only scored 13 points, but it did appear 2 times.

30. Super Ghouls and Ghosts - I'm totally shocked by this one. I can't fathom how a game like Super Ghouls and Ghosts could possibly be ranked this low. Either alot of people think the game is overrated, or alot of people haven't tried it. Or maybe they think it's difficulty is too high. I'm very shocked by this. It did appear on two lists, obvisouly, one of those lists were mine! It ended up getting a total of 12 points.


So that was the games from 21 to 30. Some argument could be made, as to the order in which those games could have been ranked. A few games could have been flip flopped on that list. But it just depends on how you value how many lists a game appears on, and how you value the points. I still feel that a game could be ranked No. 1, by one guy, and it could end up getting alot of points, but if nobody else ranks that game in their top ten, then you have to think that it is a game that was just really loved by that one guy, but it doesn't deserve to be ranked near a game that gets a vote by 2 different guys. Of course people could look at it differently.

31. MegaMan X - 13 points and 2 lists
32. Uniracers - 12 points and 2 lists
33. Sim City - 11 points and 2 lists
34. Killer Instinct - 10 points and 2 lists
35. Castlevania: Dracula X - 9 points and 2 lists
36. Alien 3 - 8 points and 2 lists
39. Metal Warriors - 20 points - 1 list
39. Kirby's Dream Coarse - 20 points - 1 list
39. Orge Battle - 20 points - 1 list
42. U.N. Squadron - 10 points - 1 list
42. Ranma (import) - 10 points - 1 list
42. Meta Marines - 10 points - 1 list
44. The CombatTribes - 8 points - 1 list
44. Arkanoid: Doh it Again - 8 points - 1 list
47. Terranigma - 7 points - 1 list
47. Donkey Kong Country 2 - 7 points - 1 list
47. Wizardry 5 - 7 points - 1 list
53. Rock N Roll Racing - 5 points - 1 list
53. Mario Paint - 5 points - 1 list
53. Rampart - 5 points - 1 list
53. S.T.G Strike Gunner - 5 points - 1 list
53. Push Over - 5 points - 1 list
53. Desert Strike - 5 points - 1 list
57. Space Megaforce - 4 points - 1 list
57. Magic Sword - 4 points - 1 list
57. Indiana Jones - 4 points - 1 list
57. Uncharted Waters - 4 points - 1 list
62. Wild Guns - 3 points - 1 list
62. R-Type III - 3 points - 1 list
63. Prince of Persia - 3 points - 1 list
63. Pilotwings - 3 points - 1 list
63. F-Zero - 3 points - 1 list
70. Street Fighter ALpha 2 - 2 points - 1 list
70. Lufia II - 2 points - 1 list
70. Looney Tunes B-Ball - 2 points - 1 list
70. King of Dragons - 2 points - 1 list
70. Super Bomberman - 2 points - 1 list
70. Lemmings - 2 points - 1 list
70. Super Fire Pro Wrestling
78. Lost Vikings
78. Saturday Night Slam Masters
78. NBA Live '95
78. Super Return of the Jedi
78. Prehistorik Man
78. WWF Royal Rumble
78. Shadowrun
78. Soldiers of Fortune

[retroman]

i say keep it american releases only and make it a top 10 or 15