Top Mega Drive/Genesis Games (WIP)
GENESIS DOES
The Top Mega Drive/Genesis Games for today
The games in these lists are judged on how fun and relevant they are for me today. It’s not a list of the most groundbreaking or popular games throughout history, nor is it a nostalgic (I do realize none of us can be completely cured) list of the games that I have the most fond childhood memories of. In other words, I don’t care how arcade-accurate a game like Strider was when it came out back in ’89 because right here and now, there are 100+ games for the MD that I consider to be better and would rather be playing at this moment.
Speaking of Strider, other ports of a game are always considered. Many MD games were multiplatform (SNES, PCE, Amiga, Arcade) and which one had the best version of a game is usually debatable. I’ll always be considering the gameplay first, while graphics, sound or minor extra features are secondary. Story takes the lowest priority here, not because I don’t care for that part of a game, but because the ones told in games from this time are usually not even close to being up to par with other media such as literature and film.
I’m no enemy to MAME or other emulation. Emulators today are accurate enough to be able to judge a (32-bit or older at least) game based on playing it that way instead of on real hardware. Because of this I also don’t factor in availability and cost, and fan translations as well as other hacks/mods of games are OK in my book.
Technically impressive but otherwise lackluster games have a low priority. A game can look and sound like crap but still be a better game than one full of parallax, rotation, perfect color optimization, quality sound design, etc.
I wanted to represent all kinds of genres so as to get a well-rounded list, starting with listing by genre before grouping everything together. However, I feel that the Mega Drive was first and foremost an action game console. The platformers, shooters and run ‘n guns simply had the most effort put into them while also being the best fit for a console format with a simple controller. Like everyone else, I also have a certain bias towards some genres. You’ll see very few Sports, Sim, or Board games in any of my lists.
1. Rocket Knight Adventures
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or Sonic Classic Heroes (Hack)
3. Sonic & Knuckles or Sonic 3 & Knuckles
4. Panorama Cotton
5. Langrisser II
6. Mega Bomberman
7. Contra: Hard Corps (Japanese version)
8. Ristar: The Shooting Star
9. Landstalker
10. Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament '96
11. Thunder Force IV
12. Shining Force II
13. Thunder Force III
14. Battle Mania Daiginjou
15. Gunstar Heroes
16. M.U.S.H.A./MUSHA Aleste
17. Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium
18. Dynamite Headdy (Japanese version)
19. Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen
20. Monster World IV
21. Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic 1 with Tails (Hack)
22. Mega Turrican
23. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
24. Puyo Puyo Tsuu/Puyo Puyo 2
25. Castlevania: Bloodlines
26. Sonic the Hedgehog 3
27. Streets of Rage II/Streets of Rage 2
28. TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist
29. Alien Soldier
30. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition
31. Super Fantasy Zone
32. Bare Knuckle 3 (Streets of Rage 3 JP)
33. Quackshot starring Donald Duck
34. Flashback: The Quest for Identity
35. Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament
36. Revenge of Shinobi
37. Twinkle Tale
38. Alisia Dragoon
39. Ghouls 'n' Ghosts
40. Earthworm Jim 2 (w/ weapon select hack)
41. Columns III: Revenge of Columns ---?
42. General Chaos
43. Gaiares
44. Ranger X/Ranger-X
45. Wonder Boy in Monster World/Monster World III
46. NHL '96 -----?
47. World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck
48. Micro Machines Military -----?
49. Herzog Zwei
50. King Colossus
51. Super Street Fighter II
52. Eliminate Down
53. Soleil/Crusader of Centy/Ragnacenty (EU version better translated – but not much)
54. The Lost Vikings
55. Disney's Aladdin
56. Samurai Shodown ------?
57. Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer
58. Beyond Oasis/Story of Thor
59. Phantom 2040
60. Elemental Master
61. Mega Man: The Wily Wars (w/ mods/codes)
62. Ecco II: The Tides of Time
63. Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse
64. Rolling Thunder 3
65. Another World
66. Thunder Force II
67. Wiz 'n Liz
68. Fatal Fury 2
69. Comix Zone
70. Honoo no Doukyuuji: Dodge Danpei -----?
71. Light Crusader
72. ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
73. Rock 'N Roll Racing (v16 Hack)
74. High School Soccer Kunio Kun ------?
75. Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie
76. Bubba N Stix
77. Pulseman
78. Earthworm Jim
79. Road Rash 3
80. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
81. Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure
82. Road Rash II
83. Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin
84. Shadow Dancer
85. Streets of Rage
86. Chuck Rock II
87. Shining Force (w/ mods)
88. Rampart
89. Arcus Odyssey
90. NHL '95
91. Biohazard Battle/Bio-Hazard Battle/Crying
92. Rolling Thunder 2
93. Splatterhouse 3
94. Wimbledon Championship Tennis ---?
95. McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure
96. Master of Monsters
97. Pirates! Gold
98. Golden Axe II
99. Warsong/Langrisser
100. Cannon Fodder
101-200
101. Micro Machines
102. Vixen 357
103. Ms. Pac-Man – Unresponsive control? Try again on real HW
104. Dragon's Fury
105. Two Crude Dudes (w/ mods/codes)
106. X-Men 2: Clone Wars
107. Fire Shark
108. ToeJam & Earl
109. Hellfire
110. Bonanza Bros
111. Ghostbusters
112. Crack Down
113. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine/Puyo Puyo
114. Chiki Chiki Boys
115. Kid Chameleon
116. Sunset Riders
117. Mercs (includes Original Mode)
118. Uncharted Waters: New Horizons -----------------???
119. Klax – Tengen
120. Shadowrun (w/ mods)
121. The Lion King
122. Columns
123. Valis III
124. ESWAT: City under Siege/E-SWAT
125. Pac-Attack ------------------------------------------???
126. Castle of Illusion
127. Doraemon Yume Dorobouto 7 Nin No Gozansu ----?
128. Steel Empire
129. The Jungle Book
130. Hybrid Front ----------------------------------------???
131. Sensible Soccer -------------------------------------?
132. Golden Axe
133. Batman – Sunsoft
134. Devil Hunter Yohko
135. Top Gear 2 ---?
136. Gynoug/Wings of Wor
137. Puzzle & Action: Tant-R
138. Undeadline/Undead Line
139. NHL '94
140. Misadventures of Flink
141. Trouble Shooter/Battle Mania
142. Demolition Man
143. Road Rash
144. Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis
145. Mystic Defender
146. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 ----?
147. Lemmings ---------------------?
148. Virtua Racing ------------------?
149. OutRun
150. Vectorman
151. Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
152. Snake Rattle ‘n Roll --------------?
153. The Adventures of Batman & Robin
154. Mortal Kombat II
155. Gain Ground
156. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
157. Snow Bros.
158. The Chaos Engine
159: James Pond 2/James Pond II: Codename Robocod
160. Strider
161. Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2
162. Forgotten Worlds
163. Puzzle & Action: Ichidant R
164. Zombies Ate My Neighbors -------?
165. Rambo III
166. Puggsy ------------?
167. Rainbow Islands Extra
168. Sokoban / Shove It
169. Surging Aura -----------?
170. Ecco the Dolphin --------?
171. StarFlight ----------------------------------???
172. Road Blasters
173. Lord Monarch -----------------------------???
174. The Haunting starring Poltergeist
175. King of the Monsters 2
176. Dashin’ Desperadoes -----------------------?
177. Mega Panel ---------------------------------??
178. Lemmings 2 ---------------------------------?
179. The Legend of Toki: Going Ape Spit
180. The Flintstones ------------------------------?
181. Splatterhouse 2
182. Dangerous Seed
183. Donald in Maui Mallard
184. Trampoline Terror!
185. Space Harrier 2
186. Sol-Deace
187. Truxton
188. Grind Stormer/V-5
189. NBA Jam -----------------------------?
190. Exo-Squad
191. Burning Force
192. Wani Wani World ---? – tedious bosses, repetitive, starts boring but gets a bit more fun once you pick up some power ups like bombs, slow transitions between levels, somewhat primitive control
193. Rolo to the Rescue
194. Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
195. Space Invaders ‘91
196. Alien 3 (Easy mode hack) ---?
197. Eternal Champions ------------------------------------------? – CD version seems better
198. Atomic Runner
199. Gargoyles ------------------------------------------------------?
200. Mazin Saga
201+
201. Gemfire
202. Vapor Trail
203. Battletoads – Rare
204. Ball Jacks – Namco ----------------------------------------?
205. Aero Blasters/Air Buster
206. Toy Story – Traveller’s Tales
207. El Viento – Wolf Team
208. Battletoads & Double Dragon – Rare
209. Weaponlord --------------------------------------------------??
210. Granada
211. Target Earth – NCS
212. Darius II
213. Championship Pro-Am – Rare
214. Robocop vs. Terminator
215. D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
216. Decap Attack – Vic Tokai
217. Battletech
218. Marvel Land – Namco
219. Golden Axe III
220. Bubble and Squeak ---???
221. Devilish
222. Sonic 3D Blast (w/ mods) ---?
223. Star Trek: DS9 – Crossroads of Time -------------------???
224. Kawasaki Superbike Challenge
225. After Burner II
226. Sub Terrania ---------------------------------------------------?
227. Predator 2
228. Star Control-----------------------------------------------------???
229. Boogerman
230. Zero Wing
231. Mr. Nutz
232. Viewpoint (overclocked)
233. Whip Rush
234. Worms ---?
235. Super Hang-On
236. James Pond 3 --------------------------------------? – Vectordean
237. Vectorman 2
238. Cool Spot - Virgin
239. Phantasy Star II (w/ mods)
240. Rings of Power
241. James Pond
242. Techno Clash
243. Might and Magic ---?
244. Tinhead – MicroProse
245. Jungle Strike -----------------------------------?
246. Shining in the Darkness - Climax
247. Second Samurai
248. FIFA 98: Road to World Cup
249. Asterix and the Power of the Gods
250. Paperboy (MD, 1991) -
Daffy Duck in Hollywood
Psycho Pinball ---?
193. Populous
48. Mortal Kombat
Hard Drivin' (overclocked)
Man Overboard! ---?
Phantasy Star III (w/ mods)
76. Jurassic Park
Street Racer
Super Skidmarks
Syndicate
205. Pit-Fighter
220. Pagemaster
Cyborg Justice
X-Perts
The Top Mega Drive/Genesis Games for today
The games in these lists are judged on how fun and relevant they are for me today. It’s not a list of the most groundbreaking or popular games throughout history, nor is it a nostalgic (I do realize none of us can be completely cured) list of the games that I have the most fond childhood memories of. In other words, I don’t care how arcade-accurate a game like Strider was when it came out back in ’89 because right here and now, there are 100+ games for the MD that I consider to be better and would rather be playing at this moment.
Speaking of Strider, other ports of a game are always considered. Many MD games were multiplatform (SNES, PCE, Amiga, Arcade) and which one had the best version of a game is usually debatable. I’ll always be considering the gameplay first, while graphics, sound or minor extra features are secondary. Story takes the lowest priority here, not because I don’t care for that part of a game, but because the ones told in games from this time are usually not even close to being up to par with other media such as literature and film.
I’m no enemy to MAME or other emulation. Emulators today are accurate enough to be able to judge a (32-bit or older at least) game based on playing it that way instead of on real hardware. Because of this I also don’t factor in availability and cost, and fan translations as well as other hacks/mods of games are OK in my book.
Technically impressive but otherwise lackluster games have a low priority. A game can look and sound like crap but still be a better game than one full of parallax, rotation, perfect color optimization, quality sound design, etc.
I wanted to represent all kinds of genres so as to get a well-rounded list, starting with listing by genre before grouping everything together. However, I feel that the Mega Drive was first and foremost an action game console. The platformers, shooters and run ‘n guns simply had the most effort put into them while also being the best fit for a console format with a simple controller. Like everyone else, I also have a certain bias towards some genres. You’ll see very few Sports, Sim, or Board games in any of my lists.
1. Rocket Knight Adventures
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or Sonic Classic Heroes (Hack)
3. Sonic & Knuckles or Sonic 3 & Knuckles
4. Panorama Cotton
5. Langrisser II
6. Mega Bomberman
7. Contra: Hard Corps (Japanese version)
8. Ristar: The Shooting Star
9. Landstalker
10. Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament '96
11. Thunder Force IV
12. Shining Force II
13. Thunder Force III
14. Battle Mania Daiginjou
15. Gunstar Heroes
16. M.U.S.H.A./MUSHA Aleste
17. Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium
18. Dynamite Headdy (Japanese version)
19. Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen
20. Monster World IV
21. Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic 1 with Tails (Hack)
22. Mega Turrican
23. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
24. Puyo Puyo Tsuu/Puyo Puyo 2
25. Castlevania: Bloodlines
26. Sonic the Hedgehog 3
27. Streets of Rage II/Streets of Rage 2
28. TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist
29. Alien Soldier
30. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition
31. Super Fantasy Zone
32. Bare Knuckle 3 (Streets of Rage 3 JP)
33. Quackshot starring Donald Duck
34. Flashback: The Quest for Identity
35. Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament
36. Revenge of Shinobi
37. Twinkle Tale
38. Alisia Dragoon
39. Ghouls 'n' Ghosts
40. Earthworm Jim 2 (w/ weapon select hack)
41. Columns III: Revenge of Columns ---?
42. General Chaos
43. Gaiares
44. Ranger X/Ranger-X
45. Wonder Boy in Monster World/Monster World III
46. NHL '96 -----?
47. World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck
48. Micro Machines Military -----?
49. Herzog Zwei
50. King Colossus
51. Super Street Fighter II
52. Eliminate Down
53. Soleil/Crusader of Centy/Ragnacenty (EU version better translated – but not much)
54. The Lost Vikings
55. Disney's Aladdin
56. Samurai Shodown ------?
57. Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer
58. Beyond Oasis/Story of Thor
59. Phantom 2040
60. Elemental Master
61. Mega Man: The Wily Wars (w/ mods/codes)
62. Ecco II: The Tides of Time
63. Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse
64. Rolling Thunder 3
65. Another World
66. Thunder Force II
67. Wiz 'n Liz
68. Fatal Fury 2
69. Comix Zone
70. Honoo no Doukyuuji: Dodge Danpei -----?
71. Light Crusader
72. ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
73. Rock 'N Roll Racing (v16 Hack)
74. High School Soccer Kunio Kun ------?
75. Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie
76. Bubba N Stix
77. Pulseman
78. Earthworm Jim
79. Road Rash 3
80. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
81. Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure
82. Road Rash II
83. Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin
84. Shadow Dancer
85. Streets of Rage
86. Chuck Rock II
87. Shining Force (w/ mods)
88. Rampart
89. Arcus Odyssey
90. NHL '95
91. Biohazard Battle/Bio-Hazard Battle/Crying
92. Rolling Thunder 2
93. Splatterhouse 3
94. Wimbledon Championship Tennis ---?
95. McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure
96. Master of Monsters
97. Pirates! Gold
98. Golden Axe II
99. Warsong/Langrisser
100. Cannon Fodder
101-200
101. Micro Machines
102. Vixen 357
103. Ms. Pac-Man – Unresponsive control? Try again on real HW
104. Dragon's Fury
105. Two Crude Dudes (w/ mods/codes)
106. X-Men 2: Clone Wars
107. Fire Shark
108. ToeJam & Earl
109. Hellfire
110. Bonanza Bros
111. Ghostbusters
112. Crack Down
113. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine/Puyo Puyo
114. Chiki Chiki Boys
115. Kid Chameleon
116. Sunset Riders
117. Mercs (includes Original Mode)
118. Uncharted Waters: New Horizons -----------------???
119. Klax – Tengen
120. Shadowrun (w/ mods)
121. The Lion King
122. Columns
123. Valis III
124. ESWAT: City under Siege/E-SWAT
125. Pac-Attack ------------------------------------------???
126. Castle of Illusion
127. Doraemon Yume Dorobouto 7 Nin No Gozansu ----?
128. Steel Empire
129. The Jungle Book
130. Hybrid Front ----------------------------------------???
131. Sensible Soccer -------------------------------------?
132. Golden Axe
133. Batman – Sunsoft
134. Devil Hunter Yohko
135. Top Gear 2 ---?
136. Gynoug/Wings of Wor
137. Puzzle & Action: Tant-R
138. Undeadline/Undead Line
139. NHL '94
140. Misadventures of Flink
141. Trouble Shooter/Battle Mania
142. Demolition Man
143. Road Rash
144. Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis
145. Mystic Defender
146. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 ----?
147. Lemmings ---------------------?
148. Virtua Racing ------------------?
149. OutRun
150. Vectorman
151. Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
152. Snake Rattle ‘n Roll --------------?
153. The Adventures of Batman & Robin
154. Mortal Kombat II
155. Gain Ground
156. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
157. Snow Bros.
158. The Chaos Engine
159: James Pond 2/James Pond II: Codename Robocod
160. Strider
161. Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2
162. Forgotten Worlds
163. Puzzle & Action: Ichidant R
164. Zombies Ate My Neighbors -------?
165. Rambo III
166. Puggsy ------------?
167. Rainbow Islands Extra
168. Sokoban / Shove It
169. Surging Aura -----------?
170. Ecco the Dolphin --------?
171. StarFlight ----------------------------------???
172. Road Blasters
173. Lord Monarch -----------------------------???
174. The Haunting starring Poltergeist
175. King of the Monsters 2
176. Dashin’ Desperadoes -----------------------?
177. Mega Panel ---------------------------------??
178. Lemmings 2 ---------------------------------?
179. The Legend of Toki: Going Ape Spit
180. The Flintstones ------------------------------?
181. Splatterhouse 2
182. Dangerous Seed
183. Donald in Maui Mallard
184. Trampoline Terror!
185. Space Harrier 2
186. Sol-Deace
187. Truxton
188. Grind Stormer/V-5
189. NBA Jam -----------------------------?
190. Exo-Squad
191. Burning Force
192. Wani Wani World ---? – tedious bosses, repetitive, starts boring but gets a bit more fun once you pick up some power ups like bombs, slow transitions between levels, somewhat primitive control
193. Rolo to the Rescue
194. Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
195. Space Invaders ‘91
196. Alien 3 (Easy mode hack) ---?
197. Eternal Champions ------------------------------------------? – CD version seems better
198. Atomic Runner
199. Gargoyles ------------------------------------------------------?
200. Mazin Saga
201+
201. Gemfire
202. Vapor Trail
203. Battletoads – Rare
204. Ball Jacks – Namco ----------------------------------------?
205. Aero Blasters/Air Buster
206. Toy Story – Traveller’s Tales
207. El Viento – Wolf Team
208. Battletoads & Double Dragon – Rare
209. Weaponlord --------------------------------------------------??
210. Granada
211. Target Earth – NCS
212. Darius II
213. Championship Pro-Am – Rare
214. Robocop vs. Terminator
215. D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
216. Decap Attack – Vic Tokai
217. Battletech
218. Marvel Land – Namco
219. Golden Axe III
220. Bubble and Squeak ---???
221. Devilish
222. Sonic 3D Blast (w/ mods) ---?
223. Star Trek: DS9 – Crossroads of Time -------------------???
224. Kawasaki Superbike Challenge
225. After Burner II
226. Sub Terrania ---------------------------------------------------?
227. Predator 2
228. Star Control-----------------------------------------------------???
229. Boogerman
230. Zero Wing
231. Mr. Nutz
232. Viewpoint (overclocked)
233. Whip Rush
234. Worms ---?
235. Super Hang-On
236. James Pond 3 --------------------------------------? – Vectordean
237. Vectorman 2
238. Cool Spot - Virgin
239. Phantasy Star II (w/ mods)
240. Rings of Power
241. James Pond
242. Techno Clash
243. Might and Magic ---?
244. Tinhead – MicroProse
245. Jungle Strike -----------------------------------?
246. Shining in the Darkness - Climax
247. Second Samurai
248. FIFA 98: Road to World Cup
249. Asterix and the Power of the Gods
250. Paperboy (MD, 1991) -
Daffy Duck in Hollywood
Psycho Pinball ---?
193. Populous
48. Mortal Kombat
Hard Drivin' (overclocked)
Man Overboard! ---?
Phantasy Star III (w/ mods)
76. Jurassic Park
Street Racer
Super Skidmarks
Syndicate
205. Pit-Fighter
220. Pagemaster
Cyborg Justice
X-Perts
