Genesis Gems?

[aryoshi]

So when I generally go to look at a top-10/25/50/etc list of Genesis games, I tend to go with an open mind ready for titles I've never heard of before. But unfortunately, almost everytime I go to look, they're all the predictible titles like Road Rash, the Sonic games, Mortal Kombat, Ristar, Gunstar Heroes, yaddi ya. I already have/want most of those games, but I'm looking for something unique, something not many have heard about but that I could find fairly easily. Thank you kindly for any help you may have to offer!

[CelticJobber]

This website has a great list of lesser-known but good Genesis games:

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/the-b...mes-hidden-gem

[BricatSegaFan]

So when I generally go to look at a top-10/25/50/etc list of Genesis games, I tend to go with an open mind ready for titles I've never heard of before. But unfortunately, almost everytime I go to look, they're all the predictible titles like Road Rash, the Sonic games, Mortal Kombat, Ristar, Gunstar Heroes, yaddi ya. I already have/want most of those games, but I'm looking for something unique, something not many have heard about but that I could find fairly easily. Thank you kindly for any help you may have to offer!

Thunderforce 4, whip rush, steel empire, wings of wor, verytex however I just realized those are all shmups lol

[MachineGex]

I love the Micro Machines games on Genesis. Those games are so much fun!

[Wraith Storm]

The Racketboy list CelticJobber linked to has a ton of great stuff on it.

It would really help to know what genres you like, but here are some of my favorites with video links.

Elemental Master - This is a unique fantasy/walking shoot em up. I love the game and it's AWESOME Technosoft soundtrack!

Wings of Wor - Another fantasy themed shoot em up with a fantastic Noriyuki Iwadare sound track. Its a dark, moody shooter and sports some awesome Genesis special effects.

Two Crude Dudes - A fun arcade port with a great Hitoshi Sakimoto soundtrack.

Gauntlet IV - Actually a port of the original Gauntlet with a bunch of other modes thrown in. Its a fantastic game and has arguably one of the greatest Genesis osts of all time.

Scooby Doo - An awesome point and click adventure game. It's a real gem in the Genesis library.

Shadow Blasters - This is an often overlooked gem. It a very unique side scrolling/ platformer/ shooter hybrid. It also has some light RPG elements where after you kill enemies they might drop a crown. Collect different colored crowns to enhance your different stats. Its a kick ass game with a kick ass soundtrack by Kim Songdong.

Outrun 2019 - I just assumed it was going to be a generic sequel but I couldn't have been more wrong. Its worthy of the Outrun name. It has a catchy soundtrack, its a blast to play and has some nice scaling and graphical trickery for the overpasses and such.

These are just a few games that I love that are perhaps overlooked by most. I hope this list helps.

[retroman]

Some people dont like it, but I always liked DJ Boy.

[Tron 2.0]

Crusader of Centy
Gleylancer
Mega Man Wily Wars
Hergzog Zwei
Arcus Odyssey
Trouble Shooter

At least a few that come to mind for me.

[Masamune]

If you like platformers, have a look at Chiki Chiki Boys. A severely underrated game.

[recorderdude]

Some people dont like it, but I always liked DJ Boy.

I'm a big fan of quirky games that try something different like DJ boy does, despite its early look and weakness compared to other releases of the time. Kaneko releases weren't half bad overall. Treco's probably the worst licensed dev on the genesis besides Realtec, though.

As far as the obscure games I REALLY love...

Devilish: The Next Possession - A strange breakout/pinball quest mashup and a prettified sequel/1.5 game to the Game Gear original. Fairly fun if not flawed, and the music by Sakimoto is GODLY. Easily his best work on the genesis. "Clock Tower" and "Prairie" are my personal favorite tunes, but here's all of em.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqJQxWgOjJo

GAMEPLAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xXB9XRBWco

Dashin' Desperadoes - Hey, remember sonic rivals? Ever wonder what would happen if it was GOOD? You'd have Dashin Desperadoes by Data East. The goal of each level is to get to the girl before your rival in a footrace over terrain filled to the brim with traps armed with bombs and a tumble-spindash, and while the computer is a cheating bastard in the single player mode, few games can surpass the mario-party levels of fun you'll have hating your best friend for that last cheap shot.

Seriously, though, it's hard to tell if this game's ripping off sonic or sonic ended up ripping off this game. Perhaps a little of both :P

GAMEPLAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSyq_OBcNeE

Trampoline Terror - Now here's one that doesn't get NEAR enough love. Imagine if Bomberman and Metal Gear got thrown in a blender. The result would be Trampoline Terror, a strategy topdown platformer released early in the Genesis' life. Simple music but REALLY nice melodies. Pretty common regardless of its obscurity, so if you ever see an incredibly bland white cart with this label on it (which is the game's actual label, as with the rest of the Toy Soldiers/Dreamworks games) pick it up.

GAMEPLAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqdGh6dJO1w

My fave level tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbOGRxXQ5eE

Mega Turrican - The turrican series is every retro game thrown into a blender. ALL OF THEM. Its greatest influences are obviously metroid and contra, but there's much, much more to it than that. Mega is considered by many to be the best of the entire series, and the prices it demand reflect it pretty well. With one of the best soundtracks to grace the 16-bit era and gameplay that sitll holds up, Mega Turrican is definitely worth playing and owning if you can find a cheap copy.

(Stay away from plain Genesis Turrican, though. Accolade/Ballistic ported it and MAIMED it in every concievable way. Universal soldier is a little better but since it's turrican 2 with a movie license slapped over it, it doesn't feel as good)

GAMEPLAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQdYo4LSbY

Robocop Vs The Terminator - A slightly lesser known quality licensed game on many platforms (though the Genesis one was first and undeniably the best), This game took the ludicrous blood from mortal kombat and put it in a contra-style run n gun. While it's far slower paced and more exploration based than contra, it's the only game based on Robocop OR the Terminator that you'll legitimately enjoy.

GAMEPLAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjCLr4qxePE

Rolling Thunder 2/3 - A different type of animal in the run and gun genre that focuses more on stealth than lead unloading, forcing you to watch your bullets and avoid enemy fire. 3 is way more forgiving than 2 as well as considerably harder to find, but both are great games filled with action, cheese and some of the best engrish the 90s had to offer.

"ILL MAKE YOUR FUTURE OVER"

Sure you will, Namekian with a monocle. Sure you will.

RT2 Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8twf5Ug7o8
RT3 Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVFDvZp86ic

Midnight Resistance - Think Contra meets Geometry Wars. Pretty fun and cheesy contra clone that, besides being one-player only, has no glaring faults. Also, music programmed by sakimoto makes this version the best port of the arcade original.

GAMEPLAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0raazFIkOg

Last one...

McDonalds Treasure Land Adventure - There isn't a game in the world hurt by its license more in the world than McDonalds TreasureLand Adventure. Made by TREASURE, the second you start killing Lawn Gnomes and Furbies from a time before furbies were even a thing you realize the game has NOTHING to do with mcdonalds besides shoehorning ronald and co into the story. The levels are varied in traditional TREASURE style and go through a million games' concepts in about forty-five minutes...assuming you're playing on "easy". Treasureland adventure is pathetically easy by default, and without a doubt Treasure's easiest game. However, turn that difficulty up to hard and you've got that TREASURE challenge right back.

The standard gameplay is sort of like a beta for one of TREASURE's other games (and one I'd mention if the genesis collections and rereleases hadn't been making it more well known), Dynamite Headdy: You can shoot what's in front of you, and you've got the grappling of headdy with your clown-scarf. While you can't attack in eight directions like headdy, Ronald is perfectly tailored for the game he's in control-wise.

Music is probably the best I've ever heard in a licensed game (I know ducktales' moon theme is amazing, but listen to MCDONALDS ON THE MOON: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLi0XqR_QE).

One thing I can say about TreasureLand adventure above all else: Through it's cornily super-cutey saccharine nature, you just feel GOOD while playing it because it feels like an adventure and never does the same thing twice. Sure, you can stop and criticize the absolutely ridiculous story inbetween cutscenes and laugh immaturely as ronald feeds people his "magical jewels", but eventually you'll shut yourself up and end your playthrough with a goofy grin on your face as you see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khEoIACTFNI&t=8m03s

McDs TLA is pretty bad in the replay department besides its difficulty switches unlocking a few tiny level portions on normal/expert playthroughs, and the constantly-changing gameplay soup ends up being both the game's greatest strength and greatest weakness (though the same can be said for pretty much any TREASURE title). Despite this, TreasureLand Adventure is a game anyone who's into SEGA gaming must play through in full at least one time. Emulators are okay, but seeing the glow of a real CRT and holding a real controller throughout can't be beat. Even though I've got way rarer games, this one is the TREASURE of my collection. HAH! GET IT? heh...eh...

Anyways, go play it. I'm not showing you gameplay because spoiling a second of it is equal to fifty years in gamer purgatory. PLAY IT.

[Polygon]

Some awesome suggestions already, some which I'll have to reiterate because I love them so much. I'm going to add a couple:

The Adventures Of Batman & Robin
Alien Storm
Chase H.Q. II
Captain America & The Avengers
Gaiares
Ghostbusters
The Immortal
Mega Man: The Wiley Wars
Musha
Raiden Trad
Robocop Vs. The Terminator
Rock & Roll Racing
Skitchin'
Steel Empire
The Thunder Force Series

I'm sure I could list more as I have a list of games to check out that's pretty long, but these are ones I'd suggest that I've played.

[Ryudo]

Ranger X
Wonderboy in Monster World
Gaiares
Final Zone
Chakan
Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter
Pulesman
Alien Soldier
Gunstar Heroes

[FoxNtd]

Assault Suit Leynos.

[IHatedSega]

Genesis is an essential console if you love shoot em ups.




Id want to bring up the Genesis's addons, but I havent been able to play as many of those games as Id like. I liked Popful Mail, but man its hard. DOOM on 32X is good with muted sound. Android Assault is good. Robo Aleste is like MUSHA but I like MUSHA more. Keio Flying Squadron is an ok game, but I cant get far in it. Lords of Thunder I liked a lot, but the Turbo CD version has better graphics and stuff. I hear good things about Vay and Dark Wizard. Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury Special have SCD ports. Panic! is a weird game where you push buttons and different stuff happens, you have to save the world from a computer virus. Road Avenger is a favorite of Joes.

[j_factor]

Alien 3 - "Rescue" a number of people in each maze-like level (like the original Shinobi), while fending off Aliens with a variety of weapons, and then find your way to the exit. Challenging and lots of fun.

Bubba n' Stix - A platformer with very heavy emphasis on puzzle-solving. This game is basically one "how do I get past that?" moment after another. If you like that sort of thing, it's great.

El Viento - A fast-paced action game with a 1920s sort of vibe.

Fatal Rewind - If you like brutally hard action games, this is for you. The title refers to a nifty frustration-reducing feature: When you die, you are shown a replay (which you can also fast forward), and you can jump in and start playing at any time. That way you don't have to re-do the whole level from the beginning, and you can start over from right where you messed up. In the later levels, you basically have to perfect your run through the level to make it to the end.

Hellfire - One of the system's lesser-known shooters. The graphics are very plain, but the gameplay will keep you hooked.

The Humans - If you like Lemmings, you'll also like this. It's very similar.

Risk - Yep, the board game. A surprisingly great conversion.

Soldiers of Fortune - The best overhead run and gun I've played. Either play two-player or use an AI partner -- and the AI is great. Awesome soundtrack, and great level design. Cyberpunk theme.

TechnoClash - Kind of similar to Gauntlet, but with a futuristic "technology meets magic" theme.

Universal Soldier - To me this is the best version of Turrican 2.

Zoom - This game doesn't seem very well-liked, but I found it addictive. It's similar to Pepper II, but with a series of levels.

[Tron 2.0]

I liked Popful Mail, but man its hard.

The reason for that is,when wd brought the game to the u.s they up it's difficulty.If you didn't know the japanese version of the game is suppose to be easier.

[IHatedSega]

The reason for that is,when wd brought the game to the u.s they up it's difficulty.If you didn't know the japanese version of the game is suppose to be easier.

Yeah I know, but thats on the PC Engine CD :/ Its called ぽっぷるメイル Poppuru Meiru, so hunt that version down. OOOOH, wikipedia says theres a Super Famicom version, Ill try that one out right now. :D

[Tron 2.0]

Yeah I know, but thats on the PC Engine CD :/ Its called ぽっぷるメイル Poppuru Meiru, so hunt that version down. OOOOH, wikipedia says theres a Super Famicom version, Ill try that one out right now.

PCE version i never like how that one played since it's a port of the PC88 popful mail.

[IHatedSega]

PCE version i never like how that one played since it's a port of the PC88 popful mail.

I wonder which version is easier to find. XD

Been playing the SF version for 15 minutes and Im at the point in the game that took like 2 hours to get to in the Sega CD version, this isnt just due to dying 5 times, but also not needing to grind for money to buy a shield and not watching cutscenes.

[Edmond Dantes]

Dude... it's the Genesis. Just grab a game, and chances are 50/50 it'll be at least palatable, if not outright good.

Anyway, just throwing off every Genesis game I love, some you may have heard of, some you may not have, and some will make you say "huh?"

So here goes:

Contra Hard Corps
Scooby Doo Mystery
Pirates Gold
Zero Wing
Steel Empire
Thunder Force II, III and IV (IV is called Lightening Force in the USA)
Bio-Hazard Battle
Valis I and III (II is Turbo CD exclusive in the US, but the Genesis got a pseudo-remake called Syd of Valis)
Aero the Acrobat
Earthworm Jim (has an extra level not in the SNES version)
Sol-Deace
The Fairy Tale Adventure
Might and Magic: Gates to Another World
Landstalker
Crusader of Centy
Warsong (Langrisser)
Shining Force I and II
Shining in the Darkness
Shinobi III
TMNT Tournament Fighters (you can play as April O'neal in this version)
Ghouls n' Ghosts

Ahh! Brain overload.

EDIT: Can't believe I forgot to mention: Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure.

[ccovell]

These deserve a lot more attention:

Wani Wani World (go play it now!)

Trampoline Terror

Magical Taruruuto-Kun

High Seas Havoc

Puggsy

Gain Ground