My Sega Genesis Top 10

[Music] i've been doing top tens now for years while little more than a collection of my own personal opinions and experiences they are fun to make mainly because i get to express my love and appreciation for software that meant a lot to me growing up while picking games in general for a top 10 can present its challenges choosing 10 for the sega genesis proved to be the hardest yet i was just 14 years old when sega released the platform in north america and i was very much an arcade junkie then i wanted platformers shoot-em-ups beat-em-ups and sports games loaded with action while i did indulge in rpg and adventure titles here and there they were far from my go-to genres it would be years before i grew an appreciation for them and considered them unforgettable classics that puts choosing just 10 genesis games in a very weird place for me should i make the list as a teenaged sigalord would have seen it or do i make the list as an experienced 46 year old sega vet that sees the world very differently now to spice things up a bit for this top 10 i decided to do both as we go down the list of my top 10 you are going to get both a then and now viewpoint of some of the entries this will allow me to expand my list to include titles i may not have considered deserving back then but certainly do now in the end it just comes down to spreading the love for some really good software so sit back relax and get ready for my top 10 sega genesis games [Music] before we get into the top 10 itself let's take a quick trip across some honorable mentions i have these games could easily be in anyone's top 10 and just missed mine by a few places i got eight selections for you so let's take a look this one turned out incredible on sega 16-bit monster konami harnessed the sprite and background abilities of the genesis perfectly contra hardcore continued the tradition of great running guns with huge bosses great effects and some serious challenge the one hit in your dead gameplay of the western releases was no joke and you'll need some time investment to see the latter half of the game luckily you are given some nasty weapons and a slide move to help you deal with things graphic sound and gameplay all come together in a top tier package it's one of the best the home version of shadow dancer was a very different game than the arcade version sega had released and in many ways it's a better game it still has a one hit and done design but the stages enemies bosses and much of the gameplay is quite different i like the changes quite a bit and thought the graphics and sound presentation were top notch at its release it tends to fall behind revenge of shinobi and shinobi 3 but don't think that means this isn't worth playing it's much more like the original shinobi arcade release which is no bad thing like contra gunstar heroes was a killer run and gun with great graphics sound and gameplay created by treasure this team understood what makes this kind of game work and work it did in a big way it has a unique art style that really stands out and i love the weird and wonderful effects on some of the enemies and bosses the stage 4 minigame slows down the action a bit too much and the gauntlet style final stage forces you into multiple boss fights that gets pretty old but otherwise this is a great experience as a sports fan the genesis really was the ultimate system to own it had so many choices you were never left wanting anything the madden games accounted for 9 releases on the genesis alone i still remember playing it for the first time it was so fast and smooth the playbook was loaded with real offensive and defensive plays just like the ones you'd see in the real sport it was so much better than the slow unrealistic nonsense that came before it when you got that touchdown you earned it i still break it out from time to time for a game or two there were some good basketball releases for the genesis but it was nba hang time that really captured the fun and excitement of the sport it looks quite a bit better than the previous nba jam ports particularly the animation it supports four player co-op and competitive play has all the nba teams of the time and has five man rosters for each one it's still one of my favorite games of basketball out there another sport sega represented well was boxing between evander holyfield's real deal boxing and greatest heavyweights you were good to go excellent gameplay and graphics bring the sport to a level that few other games even come close to matching there are no quick knockdowns here no cheap knockouts with one punch you have to earn that win with a strong strategy and excellent execution greatest heavyweights added real boxers and improved the presentation so that's probably the one you want today i can't tell you how bad i wanted to put this in the top 10. even now typing this it feels wrong that it's not there the revenge of shinobi was released shortly after the genesis landed in north america and it was a game changer it took a pure arcade action design and surrounded it with a presentation that only the 16-bit power of the genesis could give you in 1989 the killer soundtrack the boss encounters and the challenging gameplay simply blew away everything else on the platform it's even got multiple endings to bring you back for additional play sessions it's an unforgettable experience when you attach sonic and knuckles to sonic 3 you get a huge game that has so much play value how can it not be at least an honorable mention you get great music huge colorful levels and a few different characters to use on this adventure while it was always meant to be a single release the seamless nature of these two together was a rare win for sega late in the life of the genesis it still holds up today as one of the era's finest action releases [Music] batman was a dream come true for me in 1991. it perfectly captured the look and feel of the original tim burton movie complete with a soundtrack that really showed the genesis could belt out some seriously good tunes it roughly follows the path of the film as well so you'll be dropping jack nicholson into bats of toxic sludge driving the batmobile and battling goons in museums i loved everything about it and played it regularly for almost the entire life of my genesis it's not very long and the gameplay is rather simple but what is here is otherwise a perfect example of platforming excellence of course as the years went on you can't help but to be a bit more harsh on batman since it definitely is a case of style over substance with that said i dropped shining force 2 into the number 10 slot as a more modern consideration released in late 1994 for north america this strategy rpg allows you to build a huge team of a dozen warriors to bring down the evil god zeon the cinematic battles are fantastic and the story is perhaps one of the best available on sega's console the huge assortment of characters you can discover add a ton of replay value and leveling up their unique abilities make this a must play for fans of the genre it took me a while to appreciate it but once i did it was an immediate favorite [Music] e swat is a game that is near and dear to my heart a surprise gift from my mother i'll never forget bringing it home in 1990 and being blown away by its excellent level design multiple weapons to use and its huge mechanical boss battles the music was fantastic as well adding a punch that elevated the already stellar visual presentation it's quite a bit different from the arcade version that preceded it which was more of a straight up running gun than this i'm glad sega chose to give this one a similar treatment as shadow dancer and the end product was a really solid action title that showed off the genesis quite well as good as eswat was the short stages and your ability to defeat it so quickly really impacts this long-term appeal so for a more modern assessment i dropped quack shot into the number 9 slot instead this was a year after e-swat and has a much deeper playability thanks to the fact that you need to gather items that allow you to get past obstacles that block each stage this means you need to explore areas multiple times before you see the end quack shot is also a nice looking and well animated release that really showed off excellent color and great backgrounds disney games by sega were almost always impressive and quack shot is definitely one of the better releases in that group [Music] castle of illusion showed up in 1990 and gave me a newfound appreciation for cutesy cartoon video games i had no inherent love for disney's rat hell i was a voltron and transformers kid through and through but the animation the care given to the environments and the easy pickup and play mechanics all won me over it's a digital work of art even all these years later i recommend it with no shame at all it's easy but still such an incredible ride i have no problem having it in my top 10. as time went on i began to appreciate comic zones so much more than i originally did playing it like i won it resulted in damage and death on a scale that made me hated initially replaying it i slowed down played it much more like an adventure game and enjoyed it so much more that means today i'd probably want to make it my number eight thanks to its replay value presentation and overall artistic appeal it's a great looking and sounding title that has loads of replay value if you give it a chance remember your pet rad and your shoulder block are game changers just be sure to save the girl at the end [Music] [Music] when road rash hooked me in 1991 it was a full package of graphic sound and gameplay the idea of illegal street racing appealed to my rebellious teenage nature and the crazy soundtrack fit the narrative as well the deeper you got in the longer the races got the more money you won and the bikes got faster and faster you even pissed off the npcs as you fought them it's one of the better and more unique of the racing games available on the genesis and something i can play for hours at a time while i prefer the visuals and music of the first road rash a modern me would likely put road rash 3 here instead it has more tracks more weapons and takes you across the globe to more varied locations the gameplay is solid and it has all the challenge of its predecessors it's ugly as sin but you can't argue with the excellent content [Music] the genesis had its fair share of exclusives but few were as good as 1993's rocket knight adventures our hero sparkster has some great moves in this action shoot-'em-up hybrid it takes a number of cues from the contra titles at the time including large enemies and bosses the music is really nice and you just have to love all that parallax scrolling and foreground effects spread throughout the experience it's easily as impressive as contra for the genesis and i prefer it over its sequel sparkster quite a bit konami didn't typically bless the genesis with such creativity but this one was a standout that really did the platform proud there is no alternative pick here rocket knight deserves this space all alone [Music] there are many great looking games on the genesis more specifically there are many great looking shoot-em-ups on the genesis but when it comes to the best there is thunder force 4 and then there are all the rest this could easily be a neo-geo game and you wouldn't question it look at those backgrounds look at those sprites that parallax that line scrolling i mean this is one of the best looking 16-bit games on any platform bar none but thunder force 4 is not a one trick pony oh no it also has some great music and the gameplay is pretty damn solid as well the thing is this was 1992 and technosoft was showing the genesis was still four years later an absolute monster of visual finesse it's challenging and allows you to choose your opening stages something more shooters should have done as much as i loved shoot em ups in my youth my appreciation for them has definitely waned in my older years today at number 5 i'd need to put fantasy star 4 in its place it's the best of the original 8 and 16-bit titles the story the graphics the sound it all comes together in one excellent experience that is still immensely playable today i'm actually shocked sega hasn't given this ip to a modern developer for a complete remake of these older games the story alone is worth revisiting every single one [Music] foreign [Music] sometimes the game just works the graphics and sound are on point the gameplay is fun and easy to pick up and it has multiplayer to make sure your friends can enjoy it with you 1992's teenage mutant ninja turtles the hyperstone heist is one such game there is a raw fun factor here that puts most beat em ups to shame the combat feels just about as good as it can in a game of this nature each hit lands with a satisfying thud and stun and you have the moves to handle bad guys on both sides of you it's missing the cool move of throwing enemies at the screen but is otherwise a great alternative to turtles and time i love the soundtrack as well if it had been a tad bit longer this easily would have been a contender for the number one spot this is another one with no alternative pick it's so good it's right where it belongs [Music] there are some games that simply don't need a lot of talk to support how good they are shinobi 3 is that good impeccable stage design enemies and bosses that are as fun to look at as they are to fight a moves list that allows you to hang from ceilings double jump throw knives block kick melee attack with your sword and dole out some ninja magic as you see fit the music is even unforgettable some games are beyond reproach they are so well made and this is one of them it's as close to 16 bit perfection as you can get in an action title and takes the number three position all by itself [Music] when streets of rage came along i was so proud to be a sega fan i loved everything about it so when part two landed in 1992 with a big upgrade in visuals i was there day one the graphics weren't the only thing to see major upgrades however sega added more moves more playable characters more enemies more bosses and yuzo kashira was back with his brand of beat em up magic it felt longer and more varied and honestly i enjoyed it so much more than anything the final fight series had to offer i did miss the nuke attacks and the story and ending were a little too similar to the first game but that's a small complaint when everything else was so well done beat em ups were a dime a dozen in the 16-bit days but this was definitely one of the better entries years of consideration has softened my stance on streets of rage 3. i prefer the music of parts 1 and 2 100 over 3 here but i can't ignore the gameplay advancements that make it a better game sega added a number of new moves and changed the blitz attacks so they are now upgradeable based on how well you do team up moves are back and the enemy ai has seen notable improvements there's a few new playable characters and a number of new enemies to face sega of america really changed the western releases with a big difference in the story and difficulty i find the japanese mega drive version of bare knuckle 3 to be the one you want to play now that it has a full english translation the music is not to my taste but there's no question it's still a killer beat'em up and wanna sega's best [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] it's no secret that i am a castlevania superfan i fell in love with the series back on the nes and couldn't get enough of each and every release since then when sega finally got an exclusive castlevania to call its own i was damn near in tears i had waited years for this moment and konami did not disappoint castlevania bloodlines was more in line with the nes versions than something like super castlevania 4 or rondo of blood but i was okay with that it really did capture the feeling of an upgraded adventure of those 8-bit releases complete with a killer soundtrack and some truly impressive sprite work the gameplay was tried in true castlevania but with a touch of newness thanks to the second playable character they did not wield a whip it was a welcome bit of variety that really added to the overall narrative of just how appealing this game was i think a big part of that appeal was also that it was so different from the other 16-bit castlevania games at the time this was not a simple port of the super nintendo or pc engine games with downgraded color this stood on its own used the power of the genesis in unique ways and even the music was tailored to fm synth to near perfection this has no alternative selection this is the best game on the genesis full stop [Music] [Music] [Music] um i really hope you guys enjoyed this top 10 and how i decided to do it i can't stress enough how important it was that i really drive the point home that we as gamers grow and change as the years pass genres that we loved back then can move to the background while the stuff we used to ignore finds new life this was definitely the case with me i dabbled in strategy rpg and adventure games here and there but as you can tell by the majority of my videos it was the arcade experience that i craved the most white knuckle thrills were my drug of choice these days i still enjoy a good arcade-like experience but i am much more open to story based games as well in fact i've played more rpgs in the last 10 years than i have in all the years combined before that the passage of time can also have a profound effect on your opinion of games you may not have appreciated in the past seeing other people's opinions and the strategies they employ can change your entire perspective while i don't think you owe a game any additional play if you don't enjoy it playing it differently can definitely help you find something in it you didn't see before that's why i always enjoy seeing and reading different opinions about video games sometimes just hearing why someone loves a game can make you rethink why you don't whether you agree with my list here or not isn't really the point just sharing why we love the games we do is what it's all about i'm single lord x thank you guys for watching and i will catch you next time [Music] you

Channel: Sega Lord X

Views: 170,344

Keywords: sega genesis, mega drive, genesis, segalordx, sega lord x, sega saturn, sega dreamcast, megadrive, game gear, 32x, mega cd, saturn, master system, sega, sega cd, gameplay, review, movies, retro games, retro gaming, video games, ps4, xbox, wii, nintendo, gamecube, n64, ps1, ps2, ps3, psp, vita, switch, atari, best sega genesis games, sega genesis mini

Id: Kwh-fqHqXs4

Length: 24min 20sec (1460 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 21 2021