What are the Most Graphically Beautiful Genesis Games?

[agbulls]

The good ol' Genesis was a 16-bit powerhouse during its heyday. I just received my s-video modified Genesis (thanks Fabombjoy, beautiful work!) and it got me to thinking:

What are the most graphically beautiful games on the Genesis? Everyone always talks about the SNES as being "the" system for pretty 16-bit 2D (and I can't disagree). But, the Genesis had its fair share of incredibly good looking games too.

The first ones that come to mind are sort of obvious:
-Gunstar Heroes
-Comix Zone
-Sonic 3

I know I'm missing a whole lot...any recommendations to show off my new Genny?

[Penguin]

Vectorman always looked great on Genny :) One of my favorite games of all time too.

[danielscheil]

Alien Soldier, Sonic 3D, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Racing, Sonic & Knuckles, Gleylancer, Panorama Cotton etc...

[Damaniel]

I thought Rocket Knight Adventures looked pretty good for the time. Also, I prefer the fluid animation of the Genesis Disney games (especially Aladdin) compared to the graphics of their SNES counterparts.

[agbulls]

Alien Soldier, Sonic 3D, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Racing, Sonic & Knuckles, Gleylancer, Panorama Cotton etc...

You think Virtua Racing has aged well? I haven't touched it in years.

[Doonzmore]

Off the top of my head i'll nominate Ecco the Dolphin and Ristar.

[GM80]

Ecco was the first that popped into my head. Flashback always struck me as a beautiful game, although the Genny/SNES/PC/3DO/SCD/etc versions all look about the same. One of the most beautiful games ever created becomes available if you add a 32X: Kolibri.

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Beyond Oasis, Land Stalker, Streets of Rage 3, Phantasy Star IV. And yes I think Virtua Racing still looks pretty damn good considering the hardware it is running on. However, as stated above, get a 32x and Kolibri, Tempo, and Virtua Racing Deluxe then get added.

[agbulls]

Beyond Oasis, Land Stalker, Streets of Rage 3, Phantasy Star IV. And yes I think Virtua Racing still looks pretty damn good considering the hardware it is running on. However, as stated above, get a 32x and Kolibri, Tempo, and Virtua Racing Deluxe then get added.

Thats all well and dandy, but I dumped my 32x because I think the games are crap. :)

Genesis does what Nintendont. Now give me yo lists. ;)

[MarioMania]

Streets of Rage 3
Vectorman
Vectorman 2
Sonic 3
Gunstar Heroes
Ecco
VF 2
VR

[The Shawn]

Throw Earthworm Jim on there.

[Pilotwings]

The best 2 are probably Ranger x and contra hardcorps that i have seen anyway.

[bangtango]

While the Sonic games got progressively better, I remember being amazed at the graphics of the first one when it initially came out.

Even though each port was missing a little here and there, the Genesis versions of Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Double Dragon, Outrun and Super Hang On do show that it was a good system for arcade fans from the late 1980's. Sure they are all early games and look dated compared to "later" generations of Genesis games but more often than not, the Genesis got the job done with arcade games from the late 80's and early 90's. Some ports failed but not every Super NES arcade port was spot-on either.

[sickdrummer420]

i would say Alladdin looked pretty good for the Genny

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I would add Streets of Rage 2 and 3 and Mega Man: The Wily Wars (especially if you play it through S-Video) to the list.

[agbulls]

I would add Streets of Rage 2 and 3 and Mega Man: The Wily Wars (especially if you play it through S-Video) to the list.

I totally forgot about Mega Man the Wily Wars. Is that expensive and hard to find?

[RCM]

All of the above are great choices. Thunderforce IV is amazing too. All of the Disney platformers after Aladdin (Jungle Book, Lion King, etc.). Shinobi 3 has some amazing moments too. There are so many!

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I totally forgot about Mega Man the Wily Wars. Is that expensive and hard to find?

I think it still might be. I saw last year I think a copy go for around $100. You can either get the Japanese import (Thus its called Rockman) or get the PAL release (which would be Mega Man). I personally have the PAL version and it plays perfectly well on my US Genesis...with a converter of course :)

[Kid Ice]

I'm not a big fan of Sonic games, but whenever I see one I just can't believe a Genesis game looks that good.

[S-Wind]

I'll add Eternal Champions to the list.

[InsaneDavid]

You think Virtua Racing has aged well?

In the arcade, yes, it still has a very unique feel. On the Genesis, no. Go for some SCD games - Snatcher, Popful Mail, Lunar and Lunar 2. In my opinion Popful Mail is one of the most beautiful Genesis titles hands down.

[DigitalSpace]

Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles
Gunstar Heroes
Outrun
Vectorman 1 and 2
Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
Quackshot starring Donald Duck
Disney's Aladdin
Ristar

[djsquarewave]

Rocket Knight Adventures and Thunder Force IV seconded. ToeJam & Earl 2 looks pretty nice in a cartoony way. Dragon's Fury (or whatever the English name is) also looks very nice.

And as everyone's already said a dozen times, the Sonic games, particularly S3K.

[Dire 51]

-console originals-
Gunstar Heroes
Alien Soldier
ThunderForce IV
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Splatterhouse 3
Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
Disney's Aladdin
Ecco 1 & 2
Ristar

-strictly in comparison to the original arcade-
Strider
Ghouls 'N Ghosts
Golden Axe
Outrun
Phelios
Burning Force

[Vroomfunkel]

Alien Soldier, Aladdin, Robocop vs. Terminator. For sheer "wow, the Megadrive can do THAT?!"-ness, I would also recommend Advanced Military Commander, which begins with a video sequence (yes, video ..) of some Nazi rallies. When I first plugged that game into my MD, my jaw hit the floor ... couldn't make head or tail of the actual game as complex strategy in Japanese is a bit beyond me, but I still remember that blown away moment as I saw the Megadrive producing graphics from a cart that I simply didn't know it was capable of.

Not sure what's so great about Mega Man graphics - but yeah, it's still expensive. More expensive that it is are - $100 would be reasonable. Last week a copy on ebay.com.au went for $250ish.

[thetoxicone]

You think Virtua Racing has aged well? I haven't touched it in years.

All the polygon based racers look nice depending on the size of the screen you are playing them on. I love Virtua Racing, and both games from the Drivin' series on my nomad, but those games look like crap on my 19 or 27 inch tv depending on where my genesis is hooked up.

[Rob2600]

In 1989, my friend who lived across the street from me received a Sega Genesis for Christmas. I thought Altered Beast looked good and was really impressed by Space Harrier II. I thought Golden Axe and Revenge of Shinobi looked good, too.

In 1991, I received a SNES for Christmas. Between all of my family members, I ended up with Super Mario World, F-Zero, SimCity, Final Fight, and Contra III. My parents bought Pilotwings and Super Castlevania IV for me a few months later. Of course, I couldn't go back to playing Genesis. :)

[mills]

Pulseman (japanese game) looks beautiful

[ubersaurus]

Starflight looked pretty good, for the bits that actually needed graphics.

Oh, and MUSHA! Gorgeous game.

[Gabriel]

It's hard to say which Genesis games look best. There are quite a few games with a grainy and dark look which doesn't age well.

However, the games which really knocked my socks off back in the day were:

Sonic 1 and 2 = Both of these had really crisp and colorful graphics, and totally blew me away when I bought them.

Streets of Rage 2 = I was really impressed with the large characters and the detail on them. To my eye, installment 2 avoids the dark and grainy look while #3 succumbs to it.

Ranger X = This one definitely falls prey to the dark and grainy look depending on the level. The designers try to make the game really colorful, but don't succeed as well as the Sonic games. However, what is here looks really good and the special effects are amazing. It really wowed me.

Lightening Force = I think I have to name this one as the most amazing looking shooter of the 16 bit era. Just the first stage alone wows with it's awesomely detailed background and parrallax.

Sonic 3D Blast = While Sonic 3 definitely looked ugly because of the dark and grainy flaw, this little throwaway title looks absolutely amazing, harkening back to the 1 and 2 days. Everything looks crisp and colorful. It's a shame the game itself doesn't measure up tot he original Sonics, because it looks fantastic.

Mortal Kombat II = While the SNES version looked a bit better, the Genesis version of this game still looks pretty kickass.

[agbulls]

Gabriel, you have to be the first person I've ever known that thought Mortal Kombat II on the Genesis was a "Beautiful game". But, to each their own. :)

[mailman187666]

I played the hell out of MK2 for Genesis back in the day. The only thing i didn't like about it were the sound effects.

[blissfulnoise]

No one has mentioned The Adventures of Batman and Robin? Wow.

That was the game that really showed what kind of effects the Genesis could produce. Gunstar/Vectorman be damned! A highly, highly underrated Genesis game.

Ecco the Dolphin is definitely an artistically beautiful game but without the soundtrack featured on the Sega CD versions, I feel I lose out on some of the experience.

For pure artistic value though I'd have to go with Fantasia, Aladdin, or Castle of Illusion for how spot on they captured the Disney aesthetic. Earthworm Jim was also a visual stunner. Phantasy Star III also has an art design I really enjoy (II and IV are beautiful too). Flashback and Out of this World are also fantastic and are still beautiful to watch.

[starsoldier1]

Red Zone and Sub Terriania also looked pretty damn good as well even if they don't play the best.

Revenge of Shinobi still looks amazing too.

[agbulls]

No one has mentioned The Adventures of Batman and Robin? Wow.

Thanks Bliss. Those are the kind of recommendations I was looking for. Is it a good game actually? I might have to look for it.

Edit: DAMN!!!! I just watched a video of it on youtube. Why do I never hear ANYONE mention this game, ever? Think I'm crazy? Watch : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkAHVzZ2ks8

[fishsandwich]

Glad someone said Red Zone. That game has amazing graphics and advanced programming techniques that weren't used in any other Genesis game. Too bad no one played it.

Panorama Cotton has the very best scaling that I've ever seen on the Genesis.

Genny Aladdin looked better than the SNES version.

I don't now if I'd call Virtua Racing "beautiful" but it certainly had some "advanced" graphics for the console... no other game comes close (the SVP chip certainly didn't hurt)

[j_factor]

I remember being impressed with The Lost World when it came out. The system was ancient by then, but it still looked quite nice.

Skeleton Krew is another one that doesn't get mentioned enough.

[Push Upstairs]

Thanks Bliss. Those are the kind of recommendations I was looking for. Is it a good game actually? I might have to look for it.

Edit: DAMN!!!! I just watched a video of it on youtube. Why do I never hear ANYONE mention this game, ever? Think I'm crazy? Watch : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkAHVzZ2ks8

Thats some trippy shit.

Rocking music though. I never did like the SNES soundchip doing techno-ish tunes....Genesis had a much better sound to it when it came to doing that type of music.

[Haoie]

Ecco 2: The Tides of Time.

As I recall it had a special chip in the cart too!!

[snes_collector]

I remember Ranger X looking pretty sick

[greedostick]

Didn't read the replys proly listed already.

Landstalker
Splatterhouse 3
Monster World 4
Wonder Boy in Monster World (for a early release is really good)
Aladdin

[Doonzmore]

A couple more to add:

World of Illusions
Street Fighter 2

[swlovinist]

I like Punisher, also would like to recommend Aladdin. My favorite of all time has to be Ghouls and Ghosts, dam it was a great conversion of the arcade.

[ShenmueFan]

Vectorman is the most visually impressive Genesis game I ever saw, although I think Sonic 3D Blast had a full screen 3D video intro that really wowed me back in the day.

[bangtango]

Some of the backgrounds in Jurassic Park were very drab. However, I always thought the dinosaurs looked great on the screen, particularly the triceratops and raptors.

The first Genesis I owned was one that came with The Lion King as a pack-in. That one had some good graphics and animation.

[Anthony1]

I have a S-Video modded Genny as well, and one of the games that really blows me away on it, is Streets of Rage 2. There are certain levels that just look so damn amazing. I'd also have to say Sonic 3.

[Pico956]

How about posting some picture of these great looking games? :-)

[agbulls]

How about posting some picture of these great looking games? :-)

Google Image Search and You Tube are your friends :)

Anthony, you are totally correct on SOR2 and Sonic 3. I have both and just LOVE the look of the characters in SOR2. They really pop off the screen. I'm also really suprised that the game has pretty much no slowdown...something I never thought about before.

My wife said she was getting dizzy watching me play Sonic 3 on the 50" TV. Haha. The crispness of the colors and the speed of the game can do that. Totally gorgeous...no question.

[Raccoon Lad]

The first level looks a little bland, but some of the later levels in Super Fantasy Zone look great!

[appaws]

MUSHA (best shmup ever)
Castle of Illusion
Phantasy Star IV

All good choices....I also remember being blown away by Forgotten Worlds when I got it, although it was an early game so it does not hold up like others do.

[greedostick]

forgot to mention Crusader of Centy, Twinkle Tale, and Fantasia. Pretty much all the genesis disney games looked good

[motley6]

Namely which games look like they are not Genesis games?

[DigitalSpace]

Looks like I get to be the first one to say Vectorman!

(Vectorman 2, Virtua Racing, and Gunstar Heroes also come to mind.)

[Yakumo]

Hmm, there are many Meag Drive games that look very nice however a few personal favs must be Ex-Ranza (Sp?), Twinkle Tale, Panorama Cotton, Rocketknight Adventure, Thunder Force 4 (loads of paralax!), Alisia Dragoon, Splatter House part 3, Snow Brothers and Devil Crash. There are loads more but that's all that spring to mind at the moment. As for bloody awful looking games how about captain America and the Avengers by data East (pretty fun to play though) or Runark by Taito :D

Yakumo

[tom]

Soko-ban (the warehouse game)

[2Dskillz]

Ecco the Dolphin: Tides of Time and Disney's Aladdin still impress me to this day.

[zektor]

Gunstar Heroes still blows me away. Man, if everybody programmed like Treasure...maybe the Genesis would still be sold today :)

[sabre2922]

Castlevania:Bloodlines still impresses me one of the better looking Genny games with music that actually compares with the incredible music capabilities of the Snes versions of CV and thats saying a LOT.

The Vectorman games are sweet looking to very fluid.

Shinobi 3 is a very nice looking game also.

and of course Gunstar Heroes still impresses to this day.

[-_-Nintendo-_-]

Can't forget Alien Soldier, another well made Treasure game :)

[Xian042]

I think the clouds in Lightening Force look quite spectacular, beyond the norm for Genny games

[blue lander]

I'd throw in Ristar and Beyond Oasis

[fishsandwich]

Someone mentioned Panorama Cotton already and I second that. It has *the* best scaling I've seen in a Genesis game. The SNES had hardware scaling but the Genny had to do it in software so it doubly impressive. It plays like shit in most of the emulators I've tried (but that's been a while ago.)

Pulseman is another awesome-looking title. It came out at the end of the Genny's life and no one seems to to know about it. Beautiful and fast.

I second Alladin as well... it used some sort of advanced animation routine that wasn't used in the SNES version.

Red Zone uses all sorts of technological trickery. This HARD game features rotating background graphics, rotating background textures, 3D sprite object, 3D vector graphics, realtime zoom, and cartridge video compression. Amazing/

[77punk]

its all about the joe and mac, zombies ate my neighbors, and ... oh wait we are talking about good graphics... hmm The Mutant League series were damn good games, and the sonics always had some very nice graphics IMO

[sonoranreptile]

I'd have to say Aladdin, Phantasy Star IV, Ecco the Dolphin and Sonic 3 have some of the best graphics I've seen on the system.

[crazyjackcsa]

Ristar, Vectorman are both good choices. For me it would be Red Zone. Just a fantastic looking game! Sonic 3d blast is a good looking game, doesn't play that well. Toy Story looks good too, doesn't play all that well.

[Rob2600]

This topic was discussed several months ago:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99728&highlight=beautiful+genesis

[fishsandwich]

This topic was discussed several months ago:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99728&highlight=beautiful+genesis

And we're talking about it again. So? I don't usually participate in long threads (especially those that go on for several pages) since what I have to say has already been said by someone else. A new thread allows others to have a say without being redundant.

Just keeping it fresh, man. I see nothing wrong with repeating topics.

[Rob2600]

And we're talking about it again. So? ... I see nothing wrong with repeating topics.

I know, I wasn't being mean. I just thought some people would be interested in seeing what games others had suggested.

[hbkprm]

contra hard corps

[Bluteg]

Ecco Series, Gunstar Heroes, Vectorman series and Comix Zone.

[mailman187666]

its a pretty horrible game, but I thought X-Perts had some good graphics to it.

[airraid]

Thunder Force 4 / Lightening Force at times looks more like a NEOGEO game than a Genesis/Megadrive game.

[EX-Soldier]

remember flashback? that game impresses me still woooooo wooooooo!!!!

[bust3dstr8]

Eliminate Down is one helluva game on par with ThunderForce IV....if not better.\\^_^/

[GrandAmChandler]

And we're talking about it again. So? I don't usually participate in long threads (especially those that go on for several pages) since what I have to say has already been said by someone else. A new thread allows others to have a say without being redundant.

Just keeping it fresh, man. I see nothing wrong with repeating topics.

No, he's kinda right, I merged both threads into one. Now we have one huge list!

-GAC-