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A General List From a Genesis Generalist

Hey all. Nothing too boat-rocky (is that even a valid adjective?) from me this week, just a list of Mega Drive games I've played. This list is far shorter than a hypothetical one for SNES games would be, largely due to me being a Nintendo kid, so this is here to convince me to try out more titles from "the rival camp" as it were.

I wonder if I should include games I'm still meaning to play, like a wishlist? Trouble is, I tried that with the Castlevania list and no-one could figure out what I was going for. Maybe I'll talk to Ian and Alexis about putting dividers in lists. That sounds like something would take precedence over the thousand other improvements they're working on. Absolutely.

(Oh yeah, if you have recommendations, put them in the comments below. I'm not trying to play everything for the system, but if you think there's something good or unusual or unusually good that's worth revisiting, go ahead. As I said, I'm mostly in the dark.)

List items

1. Disney's Aladdin

Aladdin's one of those multi-platform 16-bit games that purists will argue was superior on the Genesis. I've played both and I can't really say which version I prefer. Doesn't help that I don't really put much stock in the post-Capcom Disney license games.
2. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

That big-eared nincompoop Alex Kidd, practitioner of the fine bullshit art of random-ass Janken fighting. I hated those parts of Alex Kidd. It's like no-one in Japan figured out that rock-scissors-paper was mostly random and therefore utterly unrewarding. I dunno, I've played plenty of Alex Kidd games (he was far more prevalent on the Master System, which I'm far more familiar with) and this is probably the best one. Even so...
3. Altered Beast

Altered Beast is one of those Sega cornerstones that's held in far higher esteem than it perhaps warrants. As brawlers go, it's hopelessly outclassed by the earliest examples of that genre, even Vigilante, in terms of how fun and layered its combat is. I'd say something disparaging about how it attracts furries and fans of beefcake action, but I've already been as derogatory as I need to be.
4. Cool Spot

The greatest advergame ever made. Not as glowing an accolade as it sounds. To be fair, I've never played Sneak King and my time with Pepsiman was regrettably short.
5. Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf

The Strike games were some really fun open-world type games that just so happened to have an isometric Choplifter thing going on. Like Bimini Run, it's kind of crazy how in-depth and interesting an ostensible dumb vehicle action game could be.
6. Earthworm Jim

Long before he was up on stages vaguely discussing his OnLive knock-off, David Perry was making games about worms in power suits. That's about as much as I want to discuss Earthworm Jim. It was a game of its time, let's say.
7. FIFA International Soccer

I don't particularly care for soccer but if there's anything that happens specifically to European gamers is that they accrue a certain number of soccer games without even trying. They're like rust: it's just there one day, despite your best intentions to avoid it.
8. FIFA Soccer 97

That said, there's nothing inherently wrong with these games. Soccer's a relatively straightforward sport and the early FIFA games are engineered to be as approachable and playable as possible. I mean, considering there are people who don't play any other games, they'd have to be somewhat universally accessible. Alas, sports games do lean towards the anally retentive sim these days.
9. Bonanza Bros.

Bonanza Bros is an eccentric Sega classic, but I can't help but recall all the dumb, Bart Simpson-lite advertising for the game, at least for the Atari ST version which is the one I'm more familiar with. Why the hell did every game need that obnoxious 90s attitude? They were supposed to be smooth Rat Pack-era thieves with little domed heads not skateboarders dang it.
10. Alien Storm

Not a whole lot of brawlers had flamethrowers, mutant snails posing as mailboxes and first-person rail shooter sections. To their detriment.
11. Columns

Columns always seemed rather ostentatious to me. Like it was the bourgeois to Tetris' proletariat. Only the grotesquely rich can get away with smashing precious stones to dust for their own amusement.
12. Comix Zone

Comix Zone was easy to underestimate. It seemed like all you did was run across comic book frames, punching the occasional monster and letting your rat loose (not a euphemism). That it's actually a bit more involved and puzzley takes a few prematurely curtailed playthroughs to fully appreciate.
13. Decap Attack

One of the best games for the Genesis that involves throwing your disembodied heads at enemies to damage them. That two of the greatest platformers for the system had this very idiosyncratic attack method is pretty wild.
14. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

It's Puyo Puyo, let's face it. They just threw in the bad guys from the Sonic cartoon in order to compete with Kirby's Avalanche and Hebereke's Popoon. I don't know why every Puyo knock-off was in a race to be as inviting to children as possible, given how bitch hard these games invariably were.
15. Dynamite Headdy

This is the other disembodied head game. Hell, there may be even more. Dynamite Headdy defies all description, it's just insane from start to finish. It's a rare treat to have a game that is utterly unpredictable.
16. Ecco the Dolphin

Man, screw Ecco. Dolphin colonies that live near tuna fisheries have a better life expectancy than that poor porpoise. I mean, you wouldn't expect a game with a staunchly environmentalist message would pull any punches, but I was expecting oil spills and errant plastic ring beer holders not grotesque metallic terrors from my deepest darkest nightmares.
17. Fatal Labyrinth

Just a straight up Roguelike on a video game console. Commonplace now, perhaps, but kind of an unusual sight back then. I've played it a few times and all I can say is that it has an apt title.
18. Flicky

Flicky was an odd decision for Sega to convert when looking through their Arcade library for something to drop on their new system. It was a common practice, since Sega did make a name for themselves in those dingy halls of cabinets and old pizza odors, but Flicky's just a little too basic to make for even a decent 8-bit game, let alone a 16-bit one.
19. Golden Axe

Whereas something like Golden Axe received the short end of the stick for the half-decade its Arcade original existed in the same space as the Master System, which was to Arcade conversions what Brett Ratner is to comic book adaptations. An Arcade perfect (or as close as it was going to get) 16-bit version of a game like this was just dandy. I mean, if you like achingly dull fantasy brawlers anyway. (Better than Altered Beast, at least.)
20. The Lion King

Unlike Aladdin, I don't hold any real affection for the Lion King, either as a movie or a licensed platformer. We get it, it's Hamlet but with lions. Stick your circle of life up your circle of- I'm getting off track. The game's nothing special, but it's also not among the mind-meltingly awful licensed dreck that would inundate the 16-bit era.
21. Micro Machines

Man, this was the shit back in the day. It was rare to come across a racing game with as much fun and creativity as Mario Kart, but Micro Machines had both those things in spades.
22. Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament

Just more Micro Machines, really. The thing about most video game sequels is that they fall flat through staying the course rather than any significant failing on their part. I guess that applies to most sequels in general too, really.
23. Mutant League Football

Hell yeah. The only time I've ever been interested in American Football and the only time I ever will. I don't think I could cope with a football game that didn't include plays that aimed to kill at least one of the opposing players.
24. NBA Jam Tournament Edition

NBA Jam is just one of those formative titles you play endlessly because you didn't really play enough basketball games for its novelty to instantly wear out. It'd be like if someone took an interesting sport that was rarely the subject matter for a video game (curling? No wait, I said "interesting"), made an excellent simulation of it and found ways to make it even more awesome besides. I'm not saying this game was directly responsible for the massive mid-90s boom(-shakalaka) of basketball and its subsequent peak with the Space Jam movie, but I'm not saying it didn't either.
25. Pete Sampras Tennis

A tennis game about as personality-free as the celebrity endorser it is named for. It did feature one mode where you had to knock Dizzy off the center net with gigantic tennis balls, so it's certainly not a total wash.
26. Ristar

Ristar is one of those mascots that never took off, but through no fault of his game. Some mascots just aren't destined for half a dozen sequels and spin-offs where they drive tiny carts around. That said, Ristar's a decent enough game with a neat grapple mechanic that generally goes unnoticed. I guess because it's a damn star with sneakers and gloves. Why not go for something a little less abstract next time?
27. Shining Force

Full disclosure here: I actually played the enhanced GBA port of Shining Force 1. It's basically the same game but there's a smaller window and a bug ninja.
28. Shining in the Darkness

Having polished off this first-person dungeon crawler fairly recently, I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with how well it's aged. It's sometimes hard to figure out if these games cruise on nostalgia or not without playing them, but S in the D manages to bring the goodness.
29. Sonic the Hedgehog

Yo, it's that one game about the cerulean celeritous Erinaceinae.
30. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

The second one of those games. Fun fact: Sonic the Hedgehog is a fan of CHILI DOGS. CHILI DOGS is his favorite food item.
31. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

It's like Sonic 2, but with dumb shields and is not as good. Yes, I said it. (I'll concede with VGK about the Ice Cap zone music being Sonic's best.)
32. Sonic & Knuckles

The other half of Sonic 3. If you wanted a red spiky fist thing with somehow more 'tude than Sonic popping up in Sonic 2, it's got you covered there too. Oh, you wanted him in Sonic 1 too? NoWay!NoWay?NoWay!NoWay?NoWay!
33. Sonic the Hedgehog: Spinball

If your character can turn into a ball, they'll get a pinball spin-off. Just ask Samus, Kirby or one of those spherical Pokemon.
34. Sonic 3D Blast

Isometric =/= 3D. Q*Bert never tried to pass itself off as an amazing 3D adventure. 3D Blast did share one thing with Q*Bert though: It played like an Arcade game from the 80s.
35. Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe

While I own a copy of this for the Mega Drive, I'm mostly familiar with the Atari ST version. It's a fun fantastical sports game if you like metal balls making clunky noises and were rightly turned off by Bill Lambeer's Combat Basketball, but you kind of need a second person to get much enjoyment out of it.
36. Streets of Rage

It's like Final Fight, but not.
37. Streets of Rage 2

It's like Streets of Rage 1, but not.
38. Streets of Rage 3

It's like a good game with good music, but not.
39. Strider

Dave Strider needs to stop being a cool time-travelling ninja man and fix this site already. I can't believe the list editing still doesn't work right.
40. Beyond Oasis

It's called Story of Thor here, but neither title is particularly good. It's a semi-decent Zelda clone, kind of like Alundra but with less death and depression.
41. Vectorman

This looked pretty amazing. Or did, before Donkey Kong Country. Still, it's a fairly solid platformer with a sequel I've never played but have access to.
42. WarpSpeed

Star Raiders was a hell of a game, if the thousand-odd lesser clones (including this one) are any indication. WarpSpeed fails because it's just a little too repetitive for its own good. Oh, and because it's also a complete rip-off of Star Raiders.
43. World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck

So glad the excellent Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck platformers of the Master System didn't lose a step with their Mega Drive debut. Weirdly enough, it was one of the few games I was anxious to try back when the Mega Drive came out.
44. Worms

I have the most tragic history with Worms. I don't mean I had a relative I played it with who died of cancer or anything quite that dour, but I must've bought three console versions after playing the PC original once and they were all way, way worse. How difficult was it to make a decent Artillery game on consoles?
45. ToeJam & Earl

The original game was the kookiest roguelike for youngsters who didn't even know what a roguelike was. For many folk, unfortunately not including myself, any subsequent roguelike experience elicited a "oh, so it's like ToeJam and Earl but with ASCII dragons and shit?" type of response.