The following are the results from a poll run from Aug 26, 2007 to Sep 2, 2007. 166 people were asked to pick and rank their favorite games for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive from a provided list of over 900 titles. Here's how they voted.
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PSEUDO-CONDORCET SORT
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In this results tally, each game is scored according to a weighted system. Users were asked to rank each Genesis game from favorite to least favorite. Each user's favorite game received 21 points, their second-favorite received 20, and so on. All games ranked 21st or lower by each user received 1 point each.
I'm not sure what to make of several older games of a series outperforming their often-superior sequels. Sonic 1 was only barely bested by S3&K, and SoR3 places below not only SoR2 but SoR1 as well (I'll never fully understand the hate for that game). I'm going to assume that this is partly a side-effect of the earlier games of a series being the ones most-widely played. The approval list further down the page lends some credibility to this theory.
In my opinion, the biggest shocker on this list was Disney's Aladdin. Though it failed to receive a single 1st place vote, it still managed to break into the top 10. I had no idea it was so popular.
1) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1652)
2) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1339)
3) Sonic the Hedgehog (1307)
4) Gunstar Heroes (953)
5) Streets of Rage 2 (850)
6) Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium (731)
7) Streets of Rage (597)
8) ToeJam & Earl (593)
9) Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal (543)
10) Aladdin (495)
11) Earthworm Jim (447)
12) Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (440)
13) Phantasy Star II: At the End of the Lost Age (426)
14) Ecco the Dolphin (399)
15) Streets of Rage 3 (391)
16) Vectorman (371)
17) Contra: Hard Corps (370)
18) Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (350)
19) Golden Axe (342)
20) Comix Zone (341)
21) Beyond Oasis (318)
22) Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (306)
23) Dynamite Headdy (305)
24) Street Fighter II' Special Champion Edition (296)
25) Castlevania: Bloodlines (295)
26) Rocket Knight Adventures (258)
27) Sonic Spinball (253)
28) Ristar (250)
29) Alien Soldier (245)
30) Kid Chameleon (234)
31) ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (233)
32) Earthworm Jim 2 (218)
32) Road Rash (218)
34) Ghouls 'N Ghosts (217)
35) Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time (214)
36) Zombies Ate My Neighbors (197)
37) Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (191)
38) Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (189)
39) Mortal Kombat II (184)
40) Wonder Boy in Monster World (183)
41) Flashback: Quest for Identity (181)
42) Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (177)
42) Battletoads (177)
44) Jurassic Park (174)
44) Road Rash II (174)
46) Ranger-X (172)
47) Shining in the Darkness (170)
48) Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (169)
49) Lightening Force (168)
50) Strider (163)
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INSTANT RUNOFF SORT
In this results tally, the list is sorted according to instant runoff voting. In an IRV election, if no candidate receives an overall majority of first place choices, the candidates with the fewest number of votes are excluded one by one, and ballots cast for those candidates are redistributed to the next candidate according to the voters' indicated preference. This process is repeated until one candidate obtains a majority (50% or more) of votes among remaining candidates.
The complete results for this sort will not be posted, as it takes way too long to calculate the entire list.
1) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (122)
2) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (102)
3) Sonic the Hedgehog (116)
4) Gunstar Heroes (69)
5) Streets of Rage 2 (73)
6) Streets of Rage (71)
7) Aladdin (65)
8) Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium (53)
9) ToeJam & Earl (51)
10) Earthworm Jim (64)
11) Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal (50)
12) Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (47)
13) Ecco the Dolphin (60)
14) Streets of Rage 3 (51)
15) Contra: Hard Corps (47)
16) Comix Zone (50)
17) Vectorman (48)
18) Phantasy Star II: At the End of the Lost Age (43)
19) Beyond Oasis (39)
20) Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (42)
21) Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (39)
22) Castlevania: Bloodlines (44)
23) Earthworm Jim 2 (41)
24) Ghouls 'N Ghosts (42)
25) Street Fighter II' Special Champion Edition (40)
26) Golden Axe (61)
27) Sonic Spinball (38)
28) Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (39)
29) Altered Beast (39)
30) Kid Chameleon (32)
31) ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (33)
32) Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (35)
33) Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (33)
34) Mortal Kombat II (32)
35) Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (36)
36) Road Rash (33)
37) Alien Soldier (28)
38) Rocket Knight Adventures (29)
39) Dynamite Headdy (34)
40) Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time (33)
41) Ristar (29)
42) Flashback: Quest for Identity (26)
43) Shining in the Darkness (28)
44) Revenge of Shinobi (31)
45) Zombies Ate My Neighbors (30)
46) Battletoads (26)
47) Golden Axe II (39)
48) Mortal Kombat (33)
49) Quackshot (26)
50) Columns (36)
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FIRST PAST THE POST SORT
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In this results tally, each game is scored solely on the number of 1st place votes received. These would have been the results had each participant been asked to list only his or her single favorite Genesis game.
S3&K absolutely crushed everything on this one, and it's nice to see that I wasn't the only one to pick Alien Soldier. ToeJam & Earl did better than I expected of it here.
1) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (25)
2) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (10)
2) Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium (10)
2) ToeJam & Earl (10)
5) Sonic the Hedgehog (8)
6) Phantasy Star II: At the End of the Lost Age (7)
6) Streets of Rage 2 (7)
8) Gunstar Heroes (6)
9) Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal (5)
10) Streets of Rage (4)
10) Kid Chameleon (4)
12) Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (3)
12) Alien Soldier (3)
12) Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (3)
12) Vectorman (3)
16) NHL '94 (2)
16) Herzog Zwei (2)
16) Ghouls 'N Ghosts (2)
16) Rocket Knight Adventures (2)
16) Beyond Oasis (2)
16) Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (2)
16) Streets of Rage 3 (2)
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APPROVAL SORT
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In this results tally, each game is awarded 1 point for each vote regardless of where it ranks on each participant's individual list. Games scoring high on this list are typically widely-played and widely-enjoyed but not necessarily strongly-enjoyed.
Besides S3&K receiving several fewer votes than its predecessors, nothing really stands out to me here.
1) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (122)
2) Sonic the Hedgehog (116)
3) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (102)
4) Streets of Rage 2 (73)
5) Streets of Rage (71)
6) Gunstar Heroes (69)
7) Aladdin (65)
8) Earthworm Jim (64)
9) Golden Axe (61)
10) Ecco the Dolphin (60)
11) Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium (53)
12) ToeJam & Earl (51)
12) Streets of Rage 3 (51)
14) Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal (50)
14) Comix Zone (50)
16) Vectorman (48)
17) Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (47)
17) Contra: Hard Corps (47)
19) Castlevania: Bloodlines (44)
20) Phantasy Star II: At the End of the Lost Age (43)
21) Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (42)
21) Ghouls 'N Ghosts (42)
23) Earthworm Jim 2 (41)
24) Street Fighter II' Special Champion Edition (40)
25) Golden Axe II (39)
25) Altered Beast (39)
25) Beyond Oasis (39)
25) Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (39)
25) Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (39)
30) Sonic Spinball (38)
31) Columns (36)
31) Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (36)
33) Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (35)
34) Dynamite Headdy (34)
35) Road Rash (33)
35) Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time (33)
35) Mortal Kombat (33)
35) ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (33)
35) Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (33)
40) Mortal Kombat II (32)
40) Kid Chameleon (32)
40) Strider (32)
40) Jurassic Park (32)
44) Revenge of Shinobi (31)
45) Zombies Ate My Neighbors (30)
46) Rocket Knight Adventures (29)
46) Ristar (29)
48) Cool Spot (28)
48) Alien Soldier (28)
48) X-Men (28)
48) Shining in the Darkness (28)
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CONDORCET/APPROVAL SORT (5-VOTE MINIMUM)
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In this results tally, each game's score from the pseudo-condorcet score is divided by the total number of votes it received. Under-played but strongly-liked games are more likely to score high on this list, but outliers are more prevalent as well.
It's nice to see Monster World IV, Pirates! Gold, and some other more obscure titles get a little recognition here. Sports titles generally did better than I expected them to.
1) Gunstar Heroes (13.812)
2) Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium (13.792)
3) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (13.541)
4) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (13.127)
5) Streets of Rage 2 (11.644)
6) ToeJam & Earl (11.627)
7) Sonic the Hedgehog (11.267)
8) Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal (10.860)
9) Phantasy Star II: At the End of the Lost Age (9.907)
10) Monster World IV (9.533)
11) Double Dragon (9.400)
12) Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (9.362)
13) Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament '96 (9.143)
14) Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (8.974)
15) Dynamite Headdy (8.971)
16) Rocket Knight Adventures (8.897)
17) Alien Soldier (8.750)
18) WWF Royal Rumble (8.667)
18) Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (8.667)
20) Ristar (8.621)
21) Tecmo Super Bowl (8.571)
22) Streets of Rage (8.408)
23) Lightening Force (8.400)
23) Pirates! Gold (8.400)
25) WWF Raw (8.200)
26) WWF Super Wrestlemania (8.167)
27) Beyond Oasis (8.154)
28) King's Bounty (8.000)
29) Road Rash II (7.909)
30) Contra: Hard Corps (7.872)
31) NHL '94 (7.769)
32) Vectorman (7.729)
33) Streets of Rage 3 (7.667)
34) Aladdin (7.615)
35) Mutant League Football (7.600)
36) B.O.B (7.571)
37) Langrisser II (7.545)
38) Dune: Battle for Arakis (7.500)
38) NHLPA Hockey '93 (7.500)
40) Battletoads & Double Dragon (7.421)
41) Championship Pro-Am (7.400)
41) Street Fighter II' Special Champion Edition (7.400)
43) Herzog Zwei (7.333)
43) Starflight (7.333)
45) Kid Chameleon (7.313)
46) Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (7.286)
47) Aerobiz (7.200)
48) Tecmo Super Bowl 3: Final Edition (7.167)
48) General Chaos (7.167)
50) MERCS (7.111)