• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Club, Game 1: Streets of Rage 2

Which Game Should We Start The Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Club With?


  • Total voters
    83
  • Poll closed .

Faithless83

Banned
V7idzvR.png
Stealing Mirroring Nikana Nikana idea, I'm creating the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Game Club. Same idea applies: gamers on Gaf who want to play Genesis/Mega Drive games along with friends and talk about them. I tried my best to tailor the game selection first draft to have great variety and some hidden gems, we'll see what format sticks best after this one. Most of the games are available in the Sega Genesis Classics (PS4/XBONE/Switch). Since it's Halloween month, I've inserted two "thematic" games as well.


Game of the Month:
We will break this into 1 month chunks. With each month having its own game to play and discuss. The first month will be October and it will be decided via a vote in this thread. For future selections, the process has not been entirely figured out yet. As we get participants we can come to a decision together.

How to Participate:
To be involved in the discussion all that is asked is that you play the game of the month. Even if you have played it 100 times, please do another play-through to get the games contents fresh in your mind. Stay on topic for the concurrent months game.

Challenges:
For those gamers who want an extra challenge each months' game will have an extra challenge. For instance, getting all chaos emeralds on Sonic 2 or getting the good ending on Splatterhouse 3. This will serve as a way to elongate the play-through if possible. Not all games have an obvious challenge. As we dive into the library we will have to rely on some suggestions for game challenges.

Our first game is Streets of Rage 2!
zfk1Kbz.jpg

Release dates:
  • NA: December 20, 1992
  • JP: January 14, 1993
  • EU: January 1993
Currently available on:
PS3
XBOX One/360
PS4
Nintendo Switch
Steam

She did a lot in this game and for those who didn't know, she is Yuzo's sister, the legendary composer who did the trilogy soundtrack . Some interesting bits of the interview:

—What was your role in the development of Streets of Rage II?

Koshiro: Role? I’d probably say Chief Graphic Designer. Nowadays we’d call it something like “art direction” (deciding the overall look of the game). I also did character designs. I came up with all the special moves and attacks too—in their rough outline/draft form, that is.


—The graphic design took precedence. A lot of emphasis was placed on that visual impact.

Koshiro: Yeah, that is true, but there was also a certain flow to the fighting that we wanted. I’m sure you’ve played Street Fighter II—my brother and I did too. We liked it so much we bought a cabinet and had it installed in the office at Ancient. My brother and I liked the way they fought in SFII, and between the two of us, a shared vision of the fighting of Streets of Rage 2 arose: two jabs, followed by a straight punch, then some heavy hit, and the enemy goes flying! That kind of flow had to be in there.

We were also asking, “what would be fun for the sequel?” You had Axel, your standard fighter, then Blaze, the speedy character. But there was also Adam in the first game…. but Adam had no real speciality… (laughs) So he was out. (laughs)


—Another secret to the the success of Streets of Rage 2 was the cheerful voice acting. Do you have any interesting episodes to share about that?

Koshiro: Cheerful, hah. You’d have to ask my brother about that.

—Was the vocal recording done at a different location from the development?

Koshiro: Yeah. It was done here, at our headquarters (the development actually took place in a different location). It was an old house, before the remodeling. I called my friends and some girls I knew and made them yell out Blaze’s lines. (laughs)

—Oh, so those were done by your friends? I thought I read somewhere that Yuzo did them all except a few that he gave to his male friends.

Koshiro: Nope. I know Blaze was different. Although I wasn’t there to see them record it.

—Were you excited once the voices were added, since they add so much energy to the game?

Koshiro: Ah, yeah. But I was actually more happy when the sound fx for the hits got added. All of a sudden everything had a weight behind it. There were also these two popular comics at the time, who had a routine where they’d make funny sounds when they hit each other. Bishii! We loved that, my brother and me. It was funny and there was something satisfying about it. So we really fussed over the sound fx for SoR2.

You can read the full interview here
qoorCJo.png


eRpZRe1.png

PZROpz4.png

sYBFZyO.jpg

Did you know?

* When someone throws you, if you hold UP+Jump you'll land on your feet and take no damage.
It was the early 2000's when a younger cousin, mashing the buttons found this out while we were playing.

* For those looking for an extra challenge there is a cheat code that unlocks the "Mania Difficulty":
In the MENU highlight the OPTIONS and then HOLD A and B on controller 2, and HOLD A on controller 1.


For players on PC/Emulator please refer to a post by user jshackles on how to get achievements on retro games. In the future I will look into this and post more about it once I have an opportunity.



That's it! Let the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Club Begin!
 
Last edited:

Faithless83

Banned
Sonic 2. I prefer Streets of Rage 2
and Shining Force 3 on saturn is my favourite game of all time but even then, Sonic 2 over SF 2 and SOR 2
I have yet to play SF3. Everyone praises the shit out of it. I have the translated versions on my backlog for years.
I'm planning on going through some Saturn stuff and SF3 and Azel are on the top of the list.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
I have yet to play SF3. Everyone praises the shit out of it. I have the translated versions on my backlog for years.
I'm planning on going through some Saturn stuff and SF3 and Azel are on the top of the list.

If you enjoy Tactical RPG’s you’ll love it. Amazing soundtrack, varied characters/moves, great battles and Parts 2 and 3 make it epic :)

Saturn is an amzing console, amongst the best fighters of all time with the 32mb ram. SF Alpha series, Marvel VS series, Dark Stalkers, King of Fighters, Virtual fighters, Vipers etc.
Loads of shooters/shmups along with Radiant Silvergun.

And Probably the best JRPG’s after Playstation 1 and Snes. Maybe PS2 but I prefer the Saturn over PS2 JRPG’s - Tons of Tactical RPG’s and hits like Grandia, Panzer Dragoon Saga and Dark Saviour.

And then you have CastleVania Symphony of the night, Guardian Heroes and Baku Baku Animal, lol
 

Faithless83

Banned
Maybe Sonic 1? Is the Mega Drive trademark.
The first one is really good, but 2 is a big improvement. I'm allergic to the "sonic was never good" parade. I'm trying to avoid this by giving those who haven't played yet a decent shot at this.
 

Faithless83

Banned
If you enjoy Tactical RPG’s you’ll love it. Amazing soundtrack, varied characters/moves, great battles and Parts 2 and 3 make it epic :)

Saturn is an amzing console, amongst the best fighters of all time with the 32mb ram. SF Alpha series, Marvel VS series, Dark Stalkers, King of Fighters, Virtual fighters, Vipers etc.
Loads of shooters/shmups along with Radiant Silvergun.

And Probably the best JRPG’s after Playstation 1 and Snes. Maybe PS2 but I prefer the Saturn over PS2 JRPG’s - Tons of Tactical RPG’s and hits like Grandia, Panzer Dragoon Saga and Dark Saviour.

And then you have CastleVania Symphony of the night, Guardian Heroes and Baku Baku Animal, lol
32bits is the only gen that I have a tie on what's my favorite console. I grew up in the arcades so Saturn is a no brainer. I have mine modded with an ODE (Rhea, it was a pain getting one, almost a year between ordering and actually having it on my hands). It's always hooked into my tv for a quick SF Alpha 2 or Xmen vs Street Fighter run. Looks like we'll get translation patches for Grandia, Princess Crown and Lunar Silver Star soon. Last game that I've finished in it was Sakura Wars a few months ago. Strategy part is not great, but the characters made me understand why the series was a hit in Japan. I wish I knew Japanese to dig into the other JRPGs in it though.
 

Komatsu

Member
I am a huge Saturn gamer myself and as a matter of fact I mod SSs in my spare time. SF3 is amazing but so is Saga which IMO is the best RPG of the 90s (sorry FF7).

Sonic 2 is great but I played the shit out of all Genesis Sonics so I will join you guys once we make it to SOR2 or Shining Force.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
32bits is the only gen that I have a tie on what's my favorite console. I grew up in the arcades so Saturn is a no brainer. I have mine modded with an ODE (Rhea, it was a pain getting one, almost a year between ordering and actually having it on my hands). It's always hooked into my tv for a quick SF Alpha 2 or Xmen vs Street Fighter run. Looks like we'll get translation patches for Grandia, Princess Crown and Lunar Silver Star soon. Last game that I've finished in it was Sakura Wars a few months ago. Strategy part is not great, but the characters made me understand why the series was a hit in Japan. I wish I knew Japanese to dig into the other JRPGs in it though.

I can imagine it being a pain. I was gonna go for the Rhea, but then I saw the satiator and patreoned it through.
I just resurrected my Saturn from 1996 before Covid started. New laser, Modded before but rewired And cleaned up, new psu and ram? And waiting for my Satiator to be ready (Im 901 in the que lol)
Same, Im currently learning japanese.. not gonna lie my motivation back in the day was Shining Force 3 part 2 and 3 hahaha
Thats awesome, I need to check out Sakura Wars, its been on my lost for ages aswell as Lunar Silver Star.
 

Komatsu

Member
I can imagine it being a pain. I was gonna go for the Rhea, but then I saw the satiator and patreoned it through.
I just resurrected my Saturn from 1996 before Covid started. New laser, Modded before but rewired And cleaned up, new psu and ram? And waiting for my Satiator to be ready (Im 901 in the que lol)
Same, Im currently learning japanese.. not gonna lie my motivation back in the day was Shining Force 3 part 2 and 3 hahaha
Thats awesome, I need to check out Sakura Wars, its been on my lost for ages aswell as Lunar Silver Star.

The Sakura Taisen fan translation is amazing, truly one of the best of its kind. I wish they did the same with the DC port but alas...
 

Needlecrash

Member
I just got done watching High Score on Netflix. It's a good little series ya'll might like. The Console Wars was mentioned in episode 3 and the Rise of Sega going against Nintendo.
 

Faithless83

Banned
Splatterhouse doesn't get the love it deserves. Mega Drive is the epitome of coolness I'll always love it
My avatar says it all. First 3 were really nice games gameplay wise, but the gore and themes is what grabbed me.
The "reboot" is a fun ride if you enjoy metal. Bit buggy at parts. If they had the budget it could be something special. Anyway not 10/10 classic amazing games, but I have so much fun with them. :messenger_sunglasses:
Still have Splatterhouse 3 cart. The label is in awful condition though.
 

Bolivar687

Banned
Strange thing happened during the lockdown. I started up Shining Force I, a couple chapters in I completely got addicted to the game, tore through it, was psyched to go into SFII next.

And I dropped SFII maybe 1/3 or 1/2 way through. Not really sure if I got burnt out or what, because I've always felt SFII was the much superior game. Maybe I've just played it so many times already whereas I've only been through SFI a few times and all the way only once before.
 

Faithless83

Banned
Now this is what I call a selection.

I picked Shining Force 2, last time I played it was on the Genesis collection on the PS3, pretty amazing series of 16-bit strategy RPG!

All these choices are great, and actually very different.
Tried my best to make it diverse, even though I bet Sonic will win. :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 

Faithless83

Banned
Strange thing happened during the lockdown. I started up Shining Force I, a couple chapters in I completely got addicted to the game, tore through it, was psyched to go into SFII next.

And I dropped SFII maybe 1/3 or 1/2 way through. Not really sure if I got burnt out or what, because I've always felt SFII was the much superior game. Maybe I've just played it so many times already whereas I've only been through SFI a few times and all the way only once before.
Personaly I try to avoid going through long strategy RPGs in sequence. I think it's easy to burn out on them because you have to constantly think through things. SF 1 and 2 are kinda on the simple side, but even so.
 

SumJester

Member
Somehow the only Shining games I finished were Shining in the Darkness (which I love to death) and Shining Force CD. I really need to correct that in the future.
 

Kazza

Member
If you can get this guy to join, I'm in:



That's a pretty good deal to be fair, a real summer sizzler!

I voted for Splatterhouse 3, as I've never played it before. I played Shining Force 1 and 2 for the first time ever during the covid locked down, and got pretty addicted. It looks like Sonic 2 or SoR2 are going to win, and I'm fine with that. I replayed both last year on the Megadrive Mini and both games hold up like fine wine.
 

Faithless83

Banned
If Sonic or Streets of Rage win, will other games in the series be options in future votes or are you sticking to the more popular entries of each series?
As said in the SNES versison of the thread as well, we'll figure it out as we go. I think suggestions from the people actually playing the games is the best choice. I have an idea I would like to try next month to make it more "fun", but we'll see. I tried to build the first draft based on variety, Splatterhouse 3 and Haunting are less known games for example. I'd like to keep that trend going, even if the game doesn't end up winning, IMHO it's worth a look. I'm sure we'll see games appearing multiple times.

Nice list, but I'll jump in when Sonic Pinball.
Legit question, have you played Devil's Crash/Dragon's Fury?


I am kinda torn between Thunder Force IV and Herzog Zwei.




Both amazing but I would stick with Thunder Force due to it's soundtrack. Slowdowns and all, the soundtrack is top notch.

On what kind of hardware are you playing? I'll be getting my Mega Sg hopefully next week, will be my first time experiencing an Analogue product. My old Mega Drive Model 1 looks horrendous on the 4K TV.
Great question! I'm using a Japanese model 1 + OSSC. I love how the JAP model 1 sounds.
 
Last edited:

Kazza

Member
I won't. I have the original hardware but only Sonic 1 and Sonic 3 as of now (used to have all of them but ended up selling them - so stupid).

Sonic 2 still seems to be pretty cheap on ebay (I guess there are too many copies floating about for it to get too expensive. I'm going to try and see if I can get a copy of the Christian Whitehead version working on my phone, otherwise I might play it on my OLED Vita.
 
Top Bottom