What I'll tell you.
All ratings are ? out of ***** stars.
Check the youtube links to see the game in action. Yep I did all of the work typing in the name of the game into Youtube's search engine so you wouldn't have to.
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle - Genesis follow-up to the popular Alex Kidd games for the Master System. Slippery controls, annoying level design, and cheap deaths relegate this to nowhere near as good as Miracle World. On the bright side additions like the necklace allow you to easily get through the utterly terrible Janken bossfights(Yes you play Rock, Paper, Scissors and if you lose you die. It's a bit of a series staple for some godforesaken reason). *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPwnhZiWVJk
Alien Storm - Like Golden Axe but you trade in your swords for flamethrowers, pulse rifles, and similarly futuristic junk. Go through multiple stages that jump between standard beatemup gameplay and some interesting shooter segments straight out of machinegun games like Operation Wolf and Space Gun. With a larger variety of enemies and somewhat better pacing this game also throws in the interesting design decision to limit your weapon power based on how much energy it has. Keeping this constantly filled adds a subtle layer of depth to what is already a fairly decent beatemup. Recommended. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yp66SKcRCg&feature=related
Alien Syndrome - Considered a classic this claustrophobic shooter has you rescuing civilians and fighting back an alien menace. I think it's pretty awesome myself despite the fact that up to a short time from now I've only played the inferior homeports
(and the "Sega Classics Collection" 3D version of it...which is actually fairly decent despite the compilations horrible reputation. ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsZ0g6HE684
Altered Beast - More of a "classic" than anything this popular title was a big deal back in 89 but these days it's really not all that great. Some people have been able to mine good things out of this title but by and large you're probably better off without it. Still a very interesting curiousity though. **
Genesis version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJx-qIqWRuo&feature=related
Bonanza Brothers - Basically you're a burglar and you break into a variety of locales to steal valuables and get away. It's an arcade/stealth kind of game similar to Crackdown(not the X360 game). How it works is you get a wimpy gun that can only stun enemies and you simply have to choose the best route to get everything as fast as possible while avoiding everyone.
Has an interesting graphics style that's somewhat lost to the more limited Genesis but eh oh well. Still a very unique and good title. Probably not for everyone. ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc_dnSYnSuc
Beyond Oasis - Regarded by myself as one of the best games of all time this Adventure/beatemup title is short yet extremely polished with a lot of replayability and many secrets. I think of it as a classic. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=froH5ImDKXE
Columns - This game has been rendered obsolete by the multitude of newer and better block-styled Puzzle games released over the years(I just got into that Yosumin game and wow). Regardless it's still a decent enough time killer for what it is. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ad6C4jRrk8
Comix Zone - Stylish action game that takes place entirely inside a comic book. Enemies are drawn in by a demonic hand and explode into shreds of paper, you progress through areas by jumping between panels, and so on. Chances are you've
played this before on a dozen other previous compilations but hey why not do it again? It ain't too shabby. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ASbfspJE_Y&feature=related
Congo Bongo - Some have described it has a 3/4s perspective Donkey Kong. Some like myself have also described it as "hot steaming ass". But hey play it and make your own conclusions.*
(Couldn't find a video of it youtube. So even youtube thinks it sucks.)
Decap Attack - Disturbing "re-envisioning" of a Genesis sequel to the SMS title Psycho Fox. Instead of playing as a Fox and dealing with his furry friends and fiends in a bright and happy world, you're an undead freak of nature who fights off disgusting(ly cute) creatures with your detachable face and head while exploring the bowels of relatively colorful hell. Not sure which genius thought this one up but all things considered it's not horrible. Actually strike that. Apparently Decapattack was done instead of Magical Turban Adventure. I assume this is due to licensing issues or something. Dunno where I got the Psycho Fox thing from then eh. ***
Magical Turban Adventure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjtE41YHBYA&feature=PlayList&p=0D78C35AA18104ED&index=1
Decapattack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBCK6wsnh8A
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - Instead of Puyo Puyo Genesis owners were treated to this little number. It's essentially the same gameplay though(annoyingly) it runs at 30 FPS. The hook is that you face off against a variety of Robotnik's henchman from the popular-at-the-time Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon(the comedy one on various channel 18s, not the ABC semi-serious one). ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QClqv39s-dw
Dynamite Headdy - The one and only Treasure game in this compilation stars a puppet who attacks enemies by throwing his head at them. While McDonald's Treasureland was a straight platformer and Gunstar Heroes was a straight run & gun Dynamite Headdy staggers between the two and creates something not entirely unique but completely loaded with quality. One of Treasure's best and a fine action-platformer. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDe_egiz_ac
E-Swat: City under Siege - Like Shadow Dancer this Genesis version of the arcade classic is almost entirely different though sharing much of the basic design decisions and mechanics. The biggest strike against it though is that you can take damage from bumping into enemies, something not seen in the arcade version. Still a solid if forgettable title. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyEE6AFMYqQ
Ecco The Dolphin - Unique puzzle/action classic game. Help Ecco save his friends from an alien menace by traveling to the Arctic, through time, and into space. Granted it's a difficult title but a handy invincibility code and a multitude of passwords will
allow even the most unseasoned gamer the oppurtunity to experience the wonderful music and world. ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQH0yW1M-ao
Ecco the Dolphin 2: The Tides of Time - In many ways this game should be a superior sequel. Unfortunately it's held back some infuriating design decisions(failing some levels can actually send you back to previous ones, the weak behind-the-dolphin stages, the generally not as great soundtrack. Otherwise it's about what you'd expect..bigger and badder..the sequel way. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yf14zTNHPo
Fantasy Zone - Another classic. This time you're Pao-Pao, a ship with personality and your goal in each stage is destroy all of the enemy bases and then take out the boss. Separating this from most 2D shooters is the Defender-style wrap-around stages that allow you to go in either direction to accomplish your mission, money and shops for buying powerups, and cute graphics. Though bettered by a handful of sequels/remakes the original is still an undeniable classic. Great stuff. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIYSKiBXrdQ
Fatal Labyrinth - Rogue-styled game which tries for a more arcade feel to it. For one you have to beat the game in one sitting(though I guess with this compilation you can save anywhere) and the continue system isn't exactly friendly. Travel through many floors engaging in simplistic combat, finding lots of goodies, gathering food to keep from starving(or gathering too much that you get stuffed..which is just as bad). More of a curiousity than anything I'm afraid. **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivwKgXHLz8U (Given the random nature of the game you will have a hard time pulling off something like this in any playthrough)
Flicky - Arcade classic where you play a bird trying to lead her chicks to safety from those wretched cats. If you ever played Gunstar Super Heroes you'll catch that it references this game. The more birdies you carry at a time the more points you score.
Course as we all know this carries a greater risk. Does the job. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA4VFxfiORg
Gain Ground - Another classic from the Arcade which is a bit of an interesting mix. It's a screen by screen overhead shooter where you gather allies with varying powers to crush enemy strongholds. A good soundtrack, a huge variety of playable characters(provided you can save them and keep them alive), and decent gameplay
still can't keep this one from dragging a bit as there are so many stages. Still a worthy title to check out. ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3HdGK2fsT8
Golden Axe 1 - Port of the arcade "classic"(IMO yes I'm not a fan of the original) where you Conan your way through a number of stages to kill the dastardly Death Adder. The stilted gameplay and horrible pacing are remarkably ported to the Genesis and Sega even tossed in a couple extra stages to help pad out the already terribly boring gameplay. Thanks. *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiWHW5G6hlM
Golden Axe 2 - Genesis-only sequel that's much the same except for the new stuff. Most interesting is the replacement of the popular gnomes with evil wizards. The evil wizards are especially interesting as they tend to fight back. They're still gigantic wussies though. Overall slightly better but still bleah. **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAlhnknIBy8&feature=related
Golden Axe 3 - After the amazing Revenge of Death Adder it's only natural that the next Golden Axe game would be this little number. Needless to say the world was rather disappointed and this one didn't see a US release(except for the Sega Channel and
recent VC/Genesis Collection versions). Really I don't how anyone could bother with this one. I've even played through it trying my damndest to enjoy it and well.. Yikes. *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTHnWnbEjYo&feature=PlayList&p=6F3817352F89DEC3&index=0&playnext=1
Golden Axe warrior - In an interesting turn this Golden Axe plays closer to the original Zelda than a horrible beatemup. This is a good thing as the dungeons are well-designed, the power-ups are neat, there are many many secrets, and it's a pretty good challenge. Definitely recommended. ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYrarQBkUIA
Kid Chameleon - You've played this one many times before I imagine but so what? It's still a pretty good platformer even if progress tends to be rather convoluted. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEYozHREQbA
Phantasy Star - The Fourth-to-last game in the popular single-player series. Phantasy Star stars(ugh) Alis, a young woman driven to avenge her dead brother by recruiting a space cat, a man who lost a fight to the second boss of Castlevania, and some dude who's probably a million trillion eons old. Somehow this crazy group of kids stops a great evil and you're a part of the adventure. Fantastic game. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbl-KMFHPTo
Phantasy Star 2 - In a future where everything goes wrong(like good futures ever actually exist) you play as a man and a woman. Later on you encounter more men and women who join your cause of screwing everything up even worse. One of those women dies. Actually strike that there's a good chance everyone will die...many times over cause this is a pretty freaking hard RPG. It's also pretty freaking one of the best. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNDSySvnscE
Phantasy Star 3 - A lonely Prince seeking companionship settles for a mysterious woman he finds on the beach. Predictably things go wrong and he has to rescue her. Somehow this nearly causes the end of the world. Tragic in more ways than one you're in for quite a ride if you decide to check this title out. **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0TDn0gSlBo Mieu flipping rules and I'd give this game five stars if I could for her.
Phantasy Star 4 - In the exciting adventures of Men and Women in the future you play as a couple of bounty hunters seeking the answer to why evil is so mean. Despite being an astounding jump in quality from the previous game it does little to keep the Phantasy Star series from being doomed to online games forever and ever. Hopefully at least this version fixes the awful sound from the Genesis Collection release. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRWirYDQgKM
Ristar - Insanely charming platformer where you use extendable arms to do things like headbutt everything in sight. Quality platformer filled with a surprising number of secrets. Check it out if you haven't already. ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B-oRy5Edbk
Shining in the Darkness - Picture Wizardry, Might & Magic, Bard's Tale, or even Etrian Odyssey except a bit easier and starring a bunch of guys who could have been in Shining Force. A charming little adventure that fails to disappoint. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vomWHcQx38
Shining Force - Classic SRPG that while simplistic still manages a good time. Engage in epic sprawling 12 against many battles and so on and so forth. Really easy though. ****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1MCLMRKklQ
Shining Force 2 - A better in every way sequel that gives you more of what you want and does it more gooder. This one is also a fair bit harder(thanks mostly to the better AI and revamped stats) even if you don't mess with the difficulty settings. A classic as far as I'm concerned. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPNKhvKRMKk
Shinobi - One of my picks for best(or at least most highly recommended) Arcade games of all time. Play as Joe Musashi and deliver a justice-filled knee to the balls of criminal-mastermind Zeed. I wrote a bunch more stuff on this one so plz check it out:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12432586&postcount=146 *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8VkTq4eL4I
Shinobi III - You've played this one before but since you'll never play Revenge of Shinobi you might as well play through this one again. It's a really good game IMO. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epdselGCXkI
Sonic 3D Blast - Back in the day when isometric was considered 3D you play as Sonic in a bizarre combination of platforming, exploration, and..Flicky. Fun game if you can get into it but if not you're gonna be hating life. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBeKmnLGqTA
Sonic & Knuckles - Play as Knuckles for the first time in this better half of the rather disappointing Sonic 3. Better stages, better music, and everything else that you'd expect make this all S3 should have been. Shame there's probably no lock-on so we can get the full S3&K experience. However the Second act of Sandopolis still sucks eggs man. *****
Actually I won't bother. Sonic + Youtube is like the 7th circle of Hell.
Sonic Spinball - Considering many stages have Sonic bouncing around like a pinball it's not exactly surprising that the focus of this game is straight up pinball. I hate it though and I'm hoping so will you. *
Sonic the Hedgehog 1 - Classic platformer that harkens back to better days when our poor blue guy had the potential to do truly great things. Still an excellent game in its own right and my pick for best of the series. YMMV. *****
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - Some say this sequel is better than the original. I'll say otherwise and if provoked will launch into a 30,000 word spiel as to why. Best to just leave it alone(me I mean..the game is still decent..honest). ****
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - New powerups and a new character do little to make this followup anything other than a disappointment. Even with stages many times longer than any in the first two games this title still feels somehow too short and too bloated. ***
Space Harrier - Classic Forward scrolling shooter and one of my picks for best arcade game of all time. A simple enough title that never gets old. Shame I can't think of a sequel that stacks up.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12422555&postcount=128 *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOH68OsvOEI
Streets of Rage 1 - Though I consider the SoR games on a level completely beyond Golden Axe you probably wouldn't be able to tell from this game. It has its merits but they're mostly lost in the ugly graphics and the poorly designed gameplay. **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA1vV5HZxFo
Streets of Rage 2 - See now this is where the series got some freakin' merit. For a time this was the closest you were going to get to a Capcom arcade brawler(which to this day still stand as some of the best, ask your parents they know all about them). Combining excellent arcade-style beating, one of Yuzo's best soundtracks, and a bunch of other things there is not much more to say. It is totally it. *****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFe2bKjAk_Y
Streets of Rage 3 - Many decry it as a disappointment and at times I tempted to join in. The soundtrack is a bit worse(or a lot worse depending on your tastes), somehow the game is actually uglier than SoR2(due to a more shaded/realistic artstyle I suppose), and some frustrating changes by SoA sort of bury all of the things SoR3 excels at.
Really in spite of everything this game is actually better than SoR 2 in terms of gameplay. The characters are better balanced, there are a bunch of really useful new abilities, and the stages feature more variety and stronger design. Overall I consider it near the top of the beatemup heap along with Capcom's big three(Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, Aliens Vs Predator, and Battle Circuit) *****+better than SoR2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEkXQEGx_oQ
Super Thunder Blade - As much as the Genesis pushes for being the console of choice for Arcade gaming(which to an extent is true because in terms of arcade-quality titles it was second only to the Neo-Geo at the time) Super Thunder Blade is pretty much lacking all around. Course maybe the arcade original is a bit out of the 16-bit black box's league it's still un-nerving to compare the Genesis and Arcade versions side by side. Still playable though which accounts for something. ***
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=Super+Thunder+Blade+Genesis&aq=f#
Vectorman - Once again this game finds itself in another Genesis-themed compilation. It's a nice shooter platformer though I hate the controls. It has its fans though so eh not much I can say about that. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_4zDtunOl8
Vectorman 2 - Even though I have to push myself to remember the differences between both of these games it's fair to say that this sequel adds quite a bit more variety and tightens up a number of not-so-great parts to produce a tighter and therefore better package. Then again it's probably worse than I remember and not as good as the first so hmm. ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02M8MmabIVs
Zaxxon - "Classic" isometric shooter that's dull, slow, and punishing. The Neo-Geo would eventually do something similar with Viewpoint. I'd avoid both if I were you. **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdFlFeiLdbQ <--Totally need a gif of that dude betwen 0:14 and 0:17.
Final Rating: Taito Legends 2 is still better.
