Genesis What Sega Genesis games would you consider MUST PLAY?

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Crusader of Centy
ComixZone

 

[Graw]

I didn't see them listed but some of my favourites growing up were Mutant League Hockey, James Pond 3 Operation Starfish, Maximum Carnage, Prince of Persia, Space Harrier and Ecco the Dolphin.

 

[Segadude113]

LORDS OF THUNDER FOR SEGA CD, MAKE SURE IT'S THE PATCHED OST VERSION SO IT DOESN'T SKIP

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

Ranger X
Magical Taruruto
Warsong
Twinkle Tale
Mad Stalker
Arcus Odyssey
Mega Twins
Gain Ground
Two Crude Dudes
Eliminate Down
Space Harrier II
Lord Monarch
High Seas Havoc
Alien Storm
Gauntlet IV
Marvel Land
Super Fantasy Zone
Puyo Puyo, 2
Toki

 

[Dannzy]

They remain mostly simple games, but the Road Rash series's early entries are great to play on the Genesis and they're still worth a look.

 

[Hourai]

I'm gonna be a nuisance and say Sonic...Spinball. And yes, I mean it.

If we're talking about must play for quality, probably only really Phantasy Star IV and Comic Zone. I want to say Streets of Rage 2 and 3, but I don't remember how those are. Phantasy Star II ends up somewhere between here and novelty, since you need maps to play it.

If we're talking more novelty, I'd say Pac Man 2: The New Adventures, Phantasy Star III (simply for its ambition) and Duke Nukem 3D. I can't promise you'd have a good time with them, but I think they're nice experiences.

 

[PhaseJump]

Genesis has an overwhelming number of games that are worth playing. It depends on the genre you're into whether they are must plays.

Revenge of Shinobi, Strider, Streets of Rage 2, Shinobi III, Gunstar Heroes, Mega Bomberman, Castlevania Bloodlines, Lightening Force, Alisia Dragoon, Granada, Battle Mania Diaginjou, Contra Hard Corps, Phantasy Star IV, Arcus Odyssey, Shining Force II, Monster World IV, Golden Axe, Landstalker, Light Crusader, Crusader of Centy, Beyond Oasis, Rocket Knight Adventures, Warsong, Shadowrun, King Colossus, Rampart, Risk, Aladdin, Castle of Illusion, Toejam & Earl, TMNT Hyperstone Heist, Midnight Resistance, Cadash

 

[Segadude113]

Comix Zone and the Marvel games are fun but they are also super hard. Look up some easy hacks.

 

[aquova]

If you're brand new to the system, I would recommend trying out:

- Streets of Rage 2
- Shinobi III
- Gunstar Heroes
- Battle Mania 2
- Comix Zone
- Phantasy Star IV
- Ristar
- Mega Man: The Wily Wars
- Ecco/Ecco II
- Castlevania Bloodlines

There's many others, but these are my personal favorites, and good introductions IMO

 

[Yousef]

With such easy access to them nowadays, all? Just to see what's out there. You don't have to complete them to get the gist of what they're going for.

Yeah I’d go this route as well. It’s pretty easy to find good stuff.

 

[Badseed]

For sports games the Genesis is King. Also make sure to play Strider

 

[Morgana Veil]

Mario

 

[Waffle_the_Great]

General Chaos is an absolutely wildly fun game.

 

[ThunderBoy]

Aladdin and Rocket Knight Adventures

 

[Morgana Veil]

Gunstar Heroes is a pretty decently fun little run n' gun game, with cute sprites and pretty backgrounds. It’s not an ungodly punishing game like Contra, but a bit more forgiving, and overall a fun game for one or two people

 

[MajesticSiN]

Streets of Rage 2

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

There’s so many, and I hope you take this thread’s recommendations to heart. Many amazing games live and die on Mega Drive, so don’t let brand recognition be your guide to the library because you won’t fly if you’re afraid to try things you’ve never heard of before.

That said…

If it says Shinobi and it says Mega Drive or Genesis? It’s a banger.

Post automatically merged: Jun 30, 2025

As well, if you’re using a Genesis emulator or a flash cart… it’s going to support Master System roms. It’s going to support Game Gear roms. It has the chance of even supporting SEGA CD roms. And all these systems have their own amazing libraries to dissect and play. SEGA had a whole console ecosystem going for a long time where their technology would build off of one another. Even the Saturn has a number of Mega Drive games that got ported to it as a part of the “SEGA Ages” line.

 

[diet_orange]

Dune: Battle For Arakis, Gauntlet 4, Devilish, Decap Attack, Super Fantasy Zone, Jewel Master, Road Rash 3, Skitchin', Vectorman, Toe Jam & Earl: Panic On Funkotron, Dragon's Fury (Yes, pretty much a port of PCE's Devil Crush, but still tons of fun), Wings Of Wor, Wonder Boy In Monster World, Ultimate QIX, Zero Tolerance, Bare Knuckle 3, Revenge Of Shinobi, Shinobi 3- Return Of The Ninja Master

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

From what I hear, Zero Tolerance is an FPS on the Genesis?

 

[diet_orange]

From what I hear, Zero Tolerance is an FPS on the Genesis?

Yes, it's actually not that bad aside from the shrunk screen and limited draw distance

 

[frogphoria]

I'd say Battle Mania Daiginjou is a must, though for games that left Japan - Shinobi 3 for a tight action game, Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra Hard Corps (the japanese version) are some of the best of their respective series, Comix Zone is worth a play just for its presentation aaand Streets of Rage 2 for what I'd consider the best beat em up of the 4th gen as a whole.

Some interestin stuff I've never heard of or played in this thread that I'll be trying out anyhow.

 

[diet_orange]

Some interestin stuff I've never heard of or played in this thread that I'll be trying out anyhow.

The Genesis has a fairly deep library that doesn't really get enough attention/recognition some times. Especially through all the compilation re-releases leading people to think that's all the system ever had to offer

Post automatically merged: Jul 7, 2025

Here's one that I forgot, Death Duel. Actually kind of jank but interesting gameplay wise. What I don't like about is that the cpu can kind of cheese you into a stalemate at times

 

[Skeetos]

Mickey Mania, or Mickey's Wild Adventure in EU. Made by Traveller's Tales, it's a neat little romp through different era's of Mickey Mouse cartoons up to that point (1995)

Traveller's Tales had some real cool stuff before they got sent to the LEGO mines.

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

Some that haven't been mentioned are the Langrisser 2 and Hounting starring Polterguy.
Langrisser 2, while there are versions with more content, like the saturn, psx, snes and a long etc, the megadrive is the hardest of them all, also great music and the units sprites are quite expressive especially compared to how bland Der Langrisser and the subsequent remakes look.
Polterguy is a game about slapstick humor and traps, a more family friendly tecmo Deception.

 

[diet_orange]

Some that haven't been mentioned are the Langrisser 2 and Hounting starring Polterguy.
Langrisser 2, while there are versions with more content, like the saturn, psx, snes and a long etc, the megadrive is the hardest of them all, also great music and the units sprites are quite expressive especially compared to how bland Der Langrisser and the subsequent remakes look.
Polterguy is a game about slapstick humor and traps, a more family friendly tecmo Deception.

Polterguy is probably one of the most legitimately ambitious games I've ever played, not just for the Genesis, but period. The artstyle is also incredible