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[Tg89]

I didn't have a Genesis growing up. Obviously played the big titles like Sonic at friends houses, but it's probably my one big blind spot in terms of relatively modern consoles.

So what are the must plays? Things that are available on NSO would be ideal, I've listed them here:

• Alien Soldier
• Alien Storm
• ALISIA DRAGOON
• Altered Beast
• Beyond Oasis
• Castlevania: BLOODLINES
• Columns
• Comix Zone
• Contra: Hard Corps
• Crusaders of Centy
• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
• Dynamite Headdy
• Earthworm Jim
• Ecco the Dolphin
• ESWAT: City Under Siege
• Flicky
• Ghouls 'n Ghosts
• Golden Axe
• Golden Axe II
• Gunstar Heroes
• Kid Chameleon
• Landstalker
• Light Crusader
• MEGA MAN: THE WILY WARS
• M.U.S.H.A.
• Phantasy Star IV
• Pulseman
• Ristar
• Shining Force
• Shining Force II
• Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2
• Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball
• Space Harrier II
• STREET FIGHTER II': SPECIAL CHAMPION EDITION
• Streets of Rage
• Streets of Rage 2
• STRIDER
• Super Fantasy Zone
• Super Thunder Blade
• Sword of Vermillon
• Target Earth
• The Revenge of Shinobi
• Thunder Force II
• ToeJam & Earl
• ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
• VectorMan
• Virtua Fighter 2
• WOLF OF THE BATTLEFIELD: MERCS
• Zero Wing

That said if there's something big that's not available there I can easily load it on my Deck, so don't hold back.

 

[Alexios]

Alien Soldier, Phantasy Star IV, Contra Hard Corps, Gunstar Heroes, Rolling Thunder 3, Shinobi III, Streets of Rage 2, Monster World IV, lots of stuff are cool.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Another vote for Alien Soldier.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Phantasy Star 2
rent a hero
prince of persia

 

[jshackles]

Phantasy Star IV

 

[Chuck Berry]

That list covers basically all the necessities

I would add -

Phantasy Star 2 and 3
Streets of Rage 3
Decap Attack
Shadow Dancer
Jurassic Park
Batman
Dick Tracy
Midnight Resistance

 

[Azelover]

There is one game which is a little obscure, I don't know if it's on NSO but I'm gonna recommend it anyway.

It's called El Viento. It's a fabulous action game. Really hard and really rewarding.

 

[roosnam1980]

avoid virtua fighter 2 on genesis
rest of the list is AAA

 

[kevboard]

Mega Turrican

 

[Crew511A]

Add Shadow Dancer as well as Thunder Force 3 and 4 to that list.

 

[cireza]

Here is a solid list made by a community of experienced SEGA fans :

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: the community's top 100

100 games to perfect your knowledge of SEGA's 16-bits system

www.sega-mag.com

 

[IDKFA]

This game was fun.

 

[diffusionx]

That's a very strong list but I'd also recommeend

Aladdin
Boogerman
Desert Strike
General Chaos
Haunting Starring Polterguy
Herzog Zwei
NHL 94
Quackshot
Road Rash 1 and 2
Rocket Knight Adventures
X-MEN 2 Clone Wars

 

[struggler_guts]

I know its on the list but it bears repeating

MUHFUCKIN GUNSTAR HEROES

 

[Diseased Yak]

The Strike games! Urban Strike, Jungle Strike, etc!

 

[keefged4]

Sonic 1,2 and 3&K
Dynamite Headdy
Ristar
Puggsy
Castlevania Bloodlines
Castle of Illusion
Gunstar Heroes
Mega Bomberman
Quackshot
Streets of Rage
Strider
Wiz'n'Liz

Just to name a few of my favourites. The Megadrive library is outstanding, loads of absolute bangers

 

[Ziglax]

Sonic 3 & knuckles
The last Sonic game

 

[TintoConCasera]

Don't forget the best football game ever.

 

[keefged4]

There is one game which is a little obscure, I don't know if it's on NSO but I'm gonna recommend it anyway.

It's called El Viento. It's a fabulous action game. Really hard and really rewarding.

This looks awesome, defo going to give this a try

 

[dave_d]

Of the stuff you've listed
Beyond Oasis
Crusaders of Centy
Gunstar Heroes
Landstalker
Phantasy Star IV
Shining Force
Shining Force II
Streets of Rage 2
The Revenge of Shinobi or Shinobi 3 (They're kind of similar)


If I could suggest something, Warsong. BTW since you're playing on a steamdeck you could ask for SegaCD recommendations too. Lords of Thunder, Snatcher, Lunar 1 &2, Popful Mail, Dungeon Explorer and ThunderStrike were all favorites of mine. (Plus Shining Force CD)

 

[Chuck Berry]

This looks awesome, defo going to give this a try

El Viento is actually the second of a trilogy. The first game is Earnest Evans, followed by El Viento and then Annett Futatabi.

 

[Genesis Knight]

+1 for Beyond Oasis. Lush visuals, surprisingly deep combat system. My favorite Genesis game.

It's not long, either, and there's nothing else on the platform with that level of production quality.

 

[AJUMP23]

I think they had a good Contra on Genesis.

 

[Holammer]

Out of the listed games I recommend:
- Landstalker
- Phantasy star IV (playing earlier games isn't required, but it enhances certain story beats)
- Shining Force
- Streets of Rage 2

But you should really get an emulator and try these instead.
(If you don't have a PC, buy a Steam Deck, Retroid Pocket or use your phone.)
- Starflight
- Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
- Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun

Starflight and Buck Rogers are unique because they are vastly improved versions of early micros, PC & Amiga games. They look and sound better and are much more playable than the originals. Eternal Sun looks like a CRPG, but it was only ever released on the Megadrive and it was developed by Westwood. One of their forgotten games.

 

[olninty]

I recommend Super Nintendo.

 

[Windle Poons]

Hellfire
Thunderforce III

 

[ResilientBanana]

Cyborg Justice
Hard Drivin'

 

[Ziglax]

+1 for Beyond Oasis. Lush visuals, surprisingly deep combat system. My favorite Genesis game.

It's not long, either, and there's nothing else on the platform with that level of production quality.

This game is Zelda x Streets of Rage, music by Yuzo Koshiro too.
I've just found that there is a widescreen patch for Beyond Oasis/Legend of Thor, another excuse to replay this classic !

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Phantasy Star 4 is a must.

 

[Fake]

- Sonic 3 Knuckles
- Street of Rage 3
- Shinobi
- Shinobi 3
- Toy Story
- Alladin
- Lion King

 

[NeverYouMind]

Pretty good list, but I also recommend the following:

Bare Knuckle III (Streets of Rage 3 but better) - Beat 'Em Up

Battletech - Isometric Shooter

Crue Ball - Pinball

Justice League Task Force - Fighting

Langrisser II - Tactical JRPG

Outrun 2019 - Racing

Pyramid Magic - Puzzle

QuackShot - Platformer

Valis III - Action

Zero Tolerance - First Person Shooter

P.S. The 32x versions of Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat 2, and WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game are great fighting games.

P.S.S. The slowed down version of TMNT: Tournament Fighters in TMNT Cowabunga Collection is peak mechanically and TMNT The Hyperstone Heist is the least random.

P.S.S.S. Earthworm Jim is a must if you have the system.

 

[Tg89]

Appreciate all the recommendations! Gonna parse through these and pick a few to start on for now.

 

[poodaddy]

That list covers basically all the necessities

I would add -

Phantasy Star 2 and 3
Streets of Rage 3
Decap Attack
Shadow Dancer
Jurassic Park
Batman
Dick Tracy
Midnight Resistance

All this, and the X-Men games were actually pretty decent too, not badly designed games by any stretch.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

(Crap I read your post too fast and are going by NSO games not real cartridges).

With those old games I'd avoid any game with battery back up. The battery has got to be dead by now.

But my favs were Shinobi 3, Streets of Rage 2, Thunder Force 3. Thunder force 2 is decent. I never had thunder force 4 (Lightning force) but that game is supposed to be the best one. Greatest Heavyweights boxing is good too.

Avoid Street fighter games unless you buy 6 button gamepads. Unplayable with standard gamepads as I think you got to press Start to flip back and forth between kicks and punches. If you do it, get Super SF. Make note the music and sound effects in Genesis SF games are crapola vs the SNES games.

On your list, avoid golden axe II, streets of rage 1, sonic spin ball, strider, thunder blade. Crap games. Target earth is practically impossible to beat unless you do god mode cheat code in game pad two (assuming you got two game pads). If you do get target earth and playboy legit, if you can get far in that game you are a gaming god! I think there are 8 levels and never got past level 5 I think. I never knew about the invincible code until the internet.

 

[Dev1lXYZ]

Splatterhouse 2 and 3.

I like 2 more than 3, as 3 became more of a belt fighter and has this timer element that kinda was experimental at the time, but doesn't actually amount to much except it changes what ending you get.

 

[REDRZA MWS]

Ghols and Ghosts

 

[Chuck Berry]

On your list, avoid golden axe II, streets of rage 1, sonic spin ball, strider, thunder blade. Crap games. Target earth is practically impossible to beat unless you do god mode cheat code in game pad two (assuming you got two game pads). If you do get target earth and playboy legit, if you can get far in that game you are a gaming god! I think there are 8 levels and never got past level 5 I think. I never knew about the invincible code until the internet.

Are you high? It's easily better than stuff like Final Fight and Double Dragon. The OST alone is one of the GOATs.

 

[NeverYouMind]

On your list, avoid golden axe II, streets of rage 1, sonic spin ball, strider, thunder blade. Crap games.

Golden Axe II and Streets of Rage 1 kick ass.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

OP, don't forget to check out Master of Monsters. Hex based strategy game.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Gunstar Heroes: maybe the best run + gun side scroller of all time. (Yes better than Contra)

 

[Sooner]

My recommendation - get a Super NES.

 

[cireza]

On your list, avoid golden axe II, streets of rage 1, sonic spin ball, strider, thunder blade. Crap games.

SoR1, Golden Axe II and Sonic Spinball are excellent and a ton of fun.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

My biggest recommendation is get a Super NES.

Had both.

Genesis for sports and Sega arcade games and SNES for Mario, Konami and capcom games.

 

[Viruz]

Kid Chameleon is great!

 

[Mister Wolf]

 

[Sooner]

Had both.

Genesis for sports and Sega arcade games and SNES for Mario, Konami and capcom games.

That's not how wars work.

Also, you not mentioning Squaresoft makes your statement invalid.

 

[PeteBull]

Those are short games but still look/play nicely today, and have high replayability too:

 

[StreetsofBeige]

That's not how wars work.

Also, you not mentioning Squaresoft makes your statement invalid.

Only JRPGs I played back then are Phantasy Star 2 and 4, and Shining in the Darkness. Moved onto PC CRPGs from then on.

 

[Dacvak]

You've got an awesome list already. Gunstar Heroes is the best game on the console, so save that one for a special day.

 

[keefged4]

On your list, avoid golden axe II, streets of rage 1, sonic spin ball, strider, thunder blade. Crap games.