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[Zerostatic]

Guys I made a couple of posts a few weeks ago about making my own retro Sega Genesis site. The main selling point for my website is that I wanted to have a huge 200+ games ranking of the best sega genesis games. Anyways thanks to emulation, and a lot of research, I've come up with my first beta version of the list. I still am going to do a lot of rearranging but I wanted to post it up here for some feedback.

One thing to keep in mind is that If there is a series of a game (i.e. Sonic Series, EA's Strike series, Phantasy Star, Splatterhouse, Streets of Rage, etc.) I picked the best one and ranked it where it belongs and I docked the other games in the series a couple of spots. My whole thinking behind that is that if you're getting into genesis gaming you're not going to get 3 Sonic games in a row, or 3 streets of Rage games in a row, so I tried to put the list in order of how I would advise someone to build their collection.

Anyways here are some key questions:

Do you think any games are missing that should be here?

What games strike you as being ridiculously high or low?


Top 200 Sega Genesis Games (Ranked)
1 Sonic 2 (Platformer)
2 Phantasy Star 4 (RPG)
3 Gunstar Heroes (Run 'n Gun)
4 Herzog Zwei (Strategy)
5 Shining Force 2 (Strategy/RPG)
6 Ranger X (Run 'n Gun)
7 Thunder Force 3 (Shmup)
8 Streets of Rage 2 (Action)
9 Contra Hard Corps (Run 'n Gun)
10 Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition (Fighting)
11 Landstalker (RPG)
12 Castlevania:Bloodlines (Action)
13 Shinobi 3 (Action)
14 Jungle Strike (Non-traditional Shooter)
15 Sonic & Knuckles (Platformer)
16 M.U.S.H.A. (shmup)
17 Earthworm Jim (Platformer)
18 Vectorman (Run 'n Gun)
19 Sonic 3 (Platformer)
20 Flashback (Action)
21 Vectorman 2 (Run 'n Gun)
22 Phantasy Star 2 (RPG)
23 Quackshot (Platformer)
24 Splatterhouse 3 (Action)
25 NHL '94
26 Comix Zone (Action)
27 Earthworm Jim 2 (Platformer)
28 NBA JAM Tournament Edition (Sports)
29 Dynamite Headdy (Platformer)
30 Sonic the Hedgehog
31 Ecco the Dolphin (Action)
32 Mortal Kombat II (Fighting)
33 Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Puzzle)
34 General Chaos (Strategy)
35 Madden '97 (Sports)
36 Rocket Knight Adventures (Platformer)
37 Gaiares (shmup)
38 Splatterhouse 2 (Action)
39 Columns III (Puzzle)
40 Buck Rogers (Strategy)
41 Desert Strike (Non-traditional Shooter)
42 Mega Turrican (Run 'n Gun)
43 War Song (Strategy/RPG)
44 FIFA '97 Gold
45 Virtua Racing (Driving)
46 Lightening Force (Shmup)
47 Beyond Oasis (RPG)
48 Toe Jam & Earl (Platformer)
49 The Lost Vikings (Puzzle)
50 Pirates! Gold (Strategy)
51 Zombies ate my Neighbors (Action)
52 World Series Baseball '98
53 Super Hang On (Driving)
54 Mega Bomberman (Action)
55 Shadow Dancer (Action)
56 Valis III (Action)
57 Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (Action)
58 X-Men 2: The Clone Wars
59 Mazin Saga (Beat 'em up)
60 Phantasy Star 3 (RPG)
61 The Lion King (Platformer)
62 Road Rash 2 (Driving)
63 After Burner 2 (Non-traditional Shooter)
64 Outrunners (Driving)
65 Samurai Showdown (Fighting)
66 Bio-Hazard Battle (Shmup)
67 Cool Spot (Platformer)
68 The Castle of Illusion (Platformer)
69 Shining in the Darkness (RPG)
70 Golden Axe 2 (Action)
71 Ristar (Platformer)
72 Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of time (Action)
73 Arcus Odyssey (Action
74 Light Crusader (RPG)
75 Crusaders of Centy (RPG)
76 Alisia Dragoon (Action)
77 Dragon's Fury
78 Rolling Thunder 3 (Action)
79 Jurassic Park (Action)
80 Alien 3 (Action)
81 Mercs (Run 'n Gun)
82 Dinosaurs for Hire (Run 'n Gun)
83 Two Crude Dudes (Beat 'em up)
84 Golden Axe (Action)
85 Cannon Fodder
86 Spiderman/Venom: Maximum Carnage (Action)
87 Populous 2 (Strategy)
88 Gauntlet 4
89 Sagaia (Shmup)
90 Gain Ground (Strategy)
91 Eternal Championships (Fighting)
92 Space harrier II (Non-traditional Shooter)
93 Jewel Master
94 Ghouls and Ghost (Platformer)
95 Technoclash (RPG)
96 Kid Chameleon (Platformer)
97 Aladdin (Platformer)
98 Streets of Rage 3 (Action)
99 Sword of Vermillion (RPG)
100 Strider (Action)
101 Y's III: Wanderers From Y's (RPG)
102 Rolling Thunder 2 (ActioN)
103 El Viento (Action)
104 Super Bubble Bobble
105 Midnight Resitance (Run 'n Gun)
106 Fatal Rewind (Run & Gun)
107 Starflight (Adventure)
108 Out of this World (Adventure)
109 Wonderboy in Monster World (Adventure)
110 Altered Beast (Beat em up)
111 Chiki Chiki Boys (Platformer)
112 Cadash (Adventure)
113 Paperboy 2
114 Boogerman (Platformer)
115The Revenge of Shinobi (Action)
116 NBA Hangtime (Sports)
117 Mutant League Hockey (Sports)
118 Traysia (RPG)
119 Side Pocket (Sports)
120 Spiderman/Venom: Seperation Anxiety (Action)
121 Dune: The Battle for Arrakis (Strategy)
122 Mutant League Football (Sports)
123 Super Smash TV (Non-traditional Shooter)
124 Elemental Master (Shmup)
125 Cosmic Spacehead (Adventure)
126 Romance of the Three Kingdoms III (Strategy)
127 Saturday Night Slam Masters (Sports)
128 Fatal Fury 2 (Fighting)
129 Mystic Defender (Action)
130 Grind Stormer (shmup)
131 Fire Shark (shmup)
132 Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (Platformer)
133 Exile (Adventure)
134 James Pond: Underwater Agent (Platformer)
135 Toe Jam & Earl 2 (Platformer)
136 TMNT: Hyperstone Heist (Action)
137 Alien Storm (Beat-em up)
138 Mickey Mania (Platformer)
139 Battletoads (Beat-em up)
140 Red Zone (Non-traditional Shooter)
141 Thunder Force II (Shmup)
142 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2 (Action)
143 The Flintstones (Platformer)
144 Cool Spot 2 (Platformer)
145 Might and Magic: Gates to Another World (RPG)
146 Aerobiz Supersonic (Strategy)
147 MiG-29 Fighter Pilot (Flight)
148 Jennifer Capriati Tennis (Sports)
149 Robocop versus Terminator (Action)
150 Urban Strike (Non-traditional Shooter)
151 Shadow of the Beast II (Action)
152 Golden Axe III (Action)
153 Crackdown (Run 'n Gun)
154 The Haunting starring Polterguy (Adventure)
155 Faery Tale Adventure (Adventure)
156 TMNT: Tournament Fighters (Fighting)
157 Aero the Acrobat (Platformer)
158 Streets of Rage 1 (Action)
159 Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing (Sports)
160 Super Street Fighter 2 (Fighting)
161 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Fighting)
162 Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sung (RPG)
163 World Class Leaderboard (Sports)
164 World of Illusions starring Mickey Mouse and Donald (Platformer)
165 Marble madness(Puzzle)
166 Sunset Riders (Run 'n Gun)
167 WeaponLord (Fighting)
168 Flicky (Platformer)
169 Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Action)
170 Exo-Squad (Action)
171 Target Earth (Run 'n Gun)
172 Air Buster (shmup)
173 TNN '96
174 WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game
175 Super Thunder Blade (Non-traditional Shooter)
176 The Punisher (Beat-em up)
177 Bubbay 'n' Stix (Puzzle)
178 F-117 Night Storm
179 Lemmings 2 (Puzzle)
180 World Heroes (Fighting)
181 Batman (Action)
182 Rugby World Cup '95 (Sports)
183 Puggsy (Platformer)
184 Kings Bounty (Strategy)
185 Sparkster (Platformer)
186 Rings of Power (RPG)
187 Primal Rage (Fighting)
188 Toy Story (Platformer)
189 The Prince of Persia (Adventure)
190 Micro Machines (Driving)
191 Skeleton Krew (Action)
192 X-Men (Action)
193 Vapor Trail (shmup)
194 DJ Boy (Beat-em Up)
195 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Fighting)
196 Klax (Puzzle)
197 Toughman Contest (Sports)
198 Championship Bowling (Sports)
199 Road Blasters (Non-traditional Shooter)
200 Soldiers of Fortune (Run 'n Gun)
201 Chuck Rock (Platformer)
202 Fatal Labyrith (RPG)
203 Zoop (Puzzle)
204 Theme Park (Strategy)
205 Animanics (Platformer)
206 Blades of Vengeance (Action)
207 Joe & Mac (Platformer)
208 Aero Flash (shmup)
209 Wiz 'n Liz (Platformer)
210 Frogger (Arcade)
211 B.O.B. (Action)
212 Sylvester & Tweety in Cagey Capers (Platformers)
213 Steel Empire (shmup)
214 Art of Fighting (Fighting)
215 Rock 'n Roll Racing (Driving)
216 Gargoyles (Platformer)
217 Shove It! The Warehouse Game (Puzzle)
218 Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (Platformer)
219 Worms (Puzzle)

 

[SSM25]

why not a top 10, 20 or maybe even 50?

 

[womfalcs3]

What? Sonic 2 is first?

For me it's Sonic, Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, THEN Sonic 2.

 

[Zerostatic]

why not a top 10, 20 or maybe even 50?

Cuz top 200 is better? I want my website to be the definitive source on getting the low-down on old-school Genesis gaming and even a top 50 list is going to leave out some great games thus not doing the system justice.

 

[Beatbox]

Columns needs to be on that list.

 

[Zerostatic]

Columns needs to be on that list.

Columns III is on the list, do you think the prequels deserve inclusion given that?

 

[SantaC]

Castlevania:Bloodline too high

 

[Kevtones]

Rock n' Roll Racing at...wait, one second, hold on, I'm still scrolling, there it is! Rock n' Roll Racing at #196 is a f*cking injustice!

 

[Beatbox]

Columns III is on the list, do you think the prequels deserve inclusion given that?

Sorry - "find on this page" didn't work

 

[SantaC]

Rock n' Roll Racing at...wait, one second, hold on, I'm still scrolling, there it is! Rock n' Roll Racing at #196 is a f*cking injustice!

pretty much

 

[Kosma]

I didn't own much Mega Drive games but I like Sonic 2 being number 1, it's the game that sold me on the system. Eartworm Jim has a good place too.

Things I don't like:

-32 Mortal Kombat 2 This game was HUGE back in the day, nr 32 doesn't cut it. First game I got on launch day.
-45 Virtua Racing Waaaaaaaaaaay to low for what the game deliverd for the system.

Edit: Aah I didn't read correctly this is a list of how to set up your collection NOW, I guess MK2 and VR didn't age so well if you look at it like that.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Looks fine. US games only, right? Needs Outlander (driving/action), Zero Tolerance (FPS), and Skitchin' (extreme sports/racing).

edit: Wait, wait, wait...why the **** is Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers on that list?!?

 

[Johnas]

Have you played all those to completion? That's pretty impressive if so.

Not saying you need to in order to make that list, just wondering.

 

[SantaC]

where is Super monaco GP btw?

 

[Zerostatic]

Looks fine. US games only, right? Needs Outlander (driving/action), Zero Tolerance (FPS), and Skitchin' (extreme sports/racing).

OMG, I used to love Zero Tolerance back in the day, and I tried to play it recently and jeezus that game has not aged well at all. Maybe I should just put it near the end since it was so awesome back in the day. I actually overlooked Outlander and Skitchin, they should probably be there. Thanks for the reply

 

[MightyHedgehog]

where is Super monaco GP btw?

Hehe...I do love the team racing aspect, but I always thought that Domark's Formula 1 was the best on Genny...outside of Virtua Racing, I suppose.

 

[Zerostatic]

Have you played all those to completion? That's pretty impressive if so.

Not saying you need to in order to make that list, just wondering.

I've played every game on the list, but most I did not finish. I plan to replay the majority of them as I fine-tune the list but my goal is not to complete them, rather play them for a couple of hours, usually after 3 or so hours with a game you can tell if it's good or not. However, I do plan to beat the RPGs, and Strategy games that I never beat. Those games you kinda have to.


I'm also collecting some retro gaming mags to see what the buzz on these games were when they were released.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

Alien Storm (Beat-em up)

I can sleep easy tonight.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

ctrl+F, Find: Shadowrun
"Text not found."

W.T.F.

Now.

 

[The Stealth Fox]

Spiderman/Venom: Seperation Anxiety (Action)

Was this game any good? I played it recently and couldn't get into it.

 

[Zerostatic]

ctrl+F, Find: Shadowrun
"Text not found."

W.T.F.


Now.

My mistake that's definitely near the top for me. Thanks.

 

[Prime crotch]

Ghostbusters and Shadowrun should also be there on the list.

 

[RiskyChris]

Red cartridge!

 

[Tobor]

This list is a sham.

 

[Zerostatic]

This list is a sham.

OMG, WTF? I was certain Star Control was on the list as well. Anyways, thanks for the reminder, Star Control is a definite, i'll probably put it in the 25-50 range.

 

[Lee N]

needs more

 

[Forceatowulf]

SOR2 is in the top 10. All is just in the world.

 

[Tobor]

OMG, WTF? I was certain Star Control was on the list as well. Anyways, thanks for the reminder, Star Control is a definite, i'll probably put it in the 25-50 range.

Top 5 for me personally, but I understand.

 

[Zerostatic]

Thanks for the replies thus far, anybody else?

 

[Markster]

Adventures of Batman and Robin is missing.

Where is Adventures of Batman and Robin.

It deserves to be on the list for its Jesper Kyd music alone.

 

[Greenpanda]

i think i must have been the only dude who actually really liked TJ&E2 :\

(not a criticism of your list; i've realized practically everyone else didn't like it, so I'm the oddball)

 

[ninjaurbano]

Hum...lets see.

You forgot...

Decap Attack
Chakan: The Forever Man
Ghostbusters
Pulseman
Greendog
The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin
Pocahontas (just give a try and you will see...)
Burning Force (better than Space Harrier IMO)
Forgotten Worlds (great shooter)
Home Alone (worth playing...very unique)

 

[ZealousD]

Columns III is on the list, do you think the prequels deserve inclusion given that?

You've got both the Championship Edition and Super versions of Street Fighter II on there.

And for some reason you've got the Championship Ed higher on the list, despite Super being the better version.

 

[Gilatif]

I can't possibly understand why World Heroes is even on this list. I enjoyed the Neo Geo version, but the Genesis version was an absolute train wreck. Worst fighter of the 16-bit generation, in my opinion. Poor collision detection, sluggish game play, cheap AI, washed out colors...yeah it sucked badly.

 

[GQman2121]

Terminator 2: Judgement Day is the best licenced movie game ever made. You basically play out the movie and it's a huge challenge, but great fun at the same time.

 

[RobertM]

Thanks for the list, I'll have these games in mind for my next shopping spree.

 

[Oblivion]

19 Sonic 3 (Platformer)

Terrible list confirmed.

 

[acidviper]

Cuz top 200 is better? I want my website to be the definitive source on getting the low-down on old-school Genesis gaming and even a top 50 list is going to leave out some great games thus not doing the system justice.

Its impossible to have a definitive list. And is your website neoGAF?

 

[vilmer_]

 

[Warm Machine]

Boo, no Master of Monsters.

 

[ghibli99]

where is Super monaco GP btw?

SMGP was a graphics/sound powerhouse in the arcades. Unfortunately, it was severely neutered when it hit the Genesis... the tunnel effect was OK, but man, it barely felt like the same game.

 

[Zerostatic]

Its impossible to have a definitive list.

I disagree, Of course not everyone is going to agree with the list, but there is nothing that comes close to what I have planned. Just the fact that there are over 200 games on it is a big deal since the most comprehensive Genesis lists I was able to find only went to 50. Also, for each game I plan to do a mini-review with tons of screenshots, and game guides. All I know is that if I end up meeting the vision I have in mind, one of the first places people will suggest when someone asks about Genesis will be my site.

And is your website neoGAF?

No, I'm working on a dedicated Sega Genesis website.

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Note to self:

Stay the fuck away from any site Zerostatic makes.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Adventures of Batman and Robin is missing.

Where is Adventures of Batman and Robin.

It deserves to be on the list for its Jesper Kyd music alone.

THE BEST Soundtrack of all time

And really fun game

 

[Guy Legend]

Am I the only one who played Outrun 2019? I love that game.

 

[dogonfire]

Where's Uncharted Waters: New Horizons?

Centy should be higher I think, but that may be nostalgia.

 

[Effulgence]

SUPER BASEBALL 2020

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Baseball_2020

 

[Ranger X]

How to classify Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles? The later is still an add-on to Sonic 3.

There should be Sonic3+Knuckles on the top too or you could even remove the standalones.

It's also ridiculously low imo. It's the biggest hugest most awesomest Genesis game ever imo.

 

[Tain]

How on earth you could omit the best game on the platform is beyond me.

(sup Alien Soldier)

 

[Tyrannical]

You should drop a note over to the wankers at www.ukresistance.co.uk/
As long as you have a couple of pictures of Sonic plastered on the site, you're good for a joke interview and a news post over there.