Sega Genesis & Mega Drive Platformers - Part 1

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Sega Genesis was known for a very long time as the platform for arcade ports shoot-'em-ups beat'em ups running guns the system was loaded with some of the best arcade gaming at the time giving it an early reputation for bringing home games remarkably intact for such an inexpensive piece of hardware the platformer genre would begin to see some branching off from tradition however instead of simply porting the ton of platformers in the arcade Sega would start the ball rolling by designing a few Genesis exclusive platformers even if the gamer series had an arcade variant the Genesis game was usually radically different in presentation or gameplay once Sonic the Hedgehog got rolling this would become the norm on the machine and boy did it see a lot of representation so here we go Sega Genesis platformers the natural place to start is with the Sonic the Hedgehog series while far from the first platformers for the machine they were definitely the most important Sonic is a series shot the Genesis and Mega Drive to stardom securing a user base impressed with its speed colorful graphics an easily accessible gameplay dedicated Sega gamers were already a part of the Genesis collective but Sonic definitely drew in millions more and help Sega become a Titan during the 16-bit era Sonic's brand a flashy presentation and quick gameplays stood in stark contrast to Mario's more methodical pace and focus on exploration and hittin items believe it or not I was not a huge fan of these games back in the day preferring games with deeper mechanics and more content driven design it'd take me a few years to sit down and appreciate and while I understand those that still don't like them very much I have grown a fondness for this type of gameplay they always had a great look and filled with solid soundtracks and great sounded bass the gameplay was always responsive and felt great even at the highest speeds the original sonic remains my favorite of these original games but any of them definitely hold their own as classic platformers from the era with each iteration adding something to the formula by the time Sonic and Knuckles was released you could lock cartridges together and mix elements from the various games sadly the Saturn would never see its own traditional 2d sonic platformer avoid not truly satisfied until over 20 years later with Sonic mania the genesis also played host to three shinobi games with revenge of shinobi being one of the first exclusive platformers on the system and what an exclusive it was it combined tight platforming and combat gameplay into an audio and visual feast for your senses they showed quite early that the Genesis was a machine to be reckoned with shadow dancer would come a year later and while it was more like the arcade shinobi than the previous release it still gave you that awesome rock solid gameplay and managed to look even better it's also more challenging so if you're a fan of the games that can kick your ass it's definitely for you the final game in the Genesis series was shouldn't OB 3 which managed to be an even better game than the previous entries taking elements from revenge of shinobi and adding heavy modifications shinobi 3 was a faster game with more varied attacks better animation better color an awesome parallax scrolling the lone weakness of this one is the soundtrack which was still pretty solid but lacked that Yuzo Koshiro flair that was so appreciated in revenge of shinobi no matter which game you choose from this bunch they all represent some of the best ninja gameplay from that era and definitely need to be in any serious Genesis or Mega Drive fans library [Music] quite shockingly Mickey Mouse would play a prominent role on Sega's 16-bit platform it all started with castle of illusion a delightfully lighthearted platformer starring Mickey on a quest to save many from an evil witch few games would come out of the blue like this one did it's gorgeous display of animation in color recreated Disney's characters and world's perfectly and the addition of simple play mechanics backed up by tight gameplay made the package instantly appealing and accessible it's one of the platform's most impressive early titles and has stood the test of time in every way only a year later however Sega would the proverbial bed when it published the externally developed Fantasia this embarrassment of software design was Castle of illusions opposite in nearly every single way it played like absolute garbage with poor hit detection funky platforming that felt unresponsive and a general lack of playability that had been so strongly associated with the previous release it is one of the system's most disappointing games after that disaster Sega would again turned to an in-house team for Mickey and we'd get world of illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck this return to form would see Mickey given an incredible canvas to shine with graphics and animation easily rivaling Castle of illusion but more importantly gameplay that was easy to get into and felt very responsive the soundtrack was also great belting out tunes even better than Castle of illusion it's a great game and one I definitely recommend next up is the great circus mystery starring mickey and minnie this capcom produced title had a very different visual style than the previous games on the genesis it lacked the overall quality of animation and even the art style would appear more foreign it is a fairly competent platformer however and plays well enough to recommend to fans of the genre around that same time though another Mickey game would be released Mickey Mania would be published by Sony and was much closer to the vision Sega had for the character the art style and animation here is very impressive and the variety and gameplay is definitely to be commended the game does have issues with stage design and cheap deaths but its overall ease of difficulty balances it out there's a superior Sega CD version of this but the kart version is fine if that's all you have access to Disney platformers didn't stop with Mickey Mouse we'd also get the mega popular Aladdin from virgin games based on the movie this superbly animated and colorful action game further seaman at the Genesis is the new home of the best disney games the floaty gameplay took a bit of getting used to but otherwise played well the art faithfully recreated the animated film extremely well and the game remains very affordable at under $20 the genesis would also get a port of Lion King another platformer based on one of Disney's popular animated films this one took some getting used to as well with platforming and stage design not easily accessible on first inspection it frustrated my daughter instantly with cheap deaths and falls that resulted in starting back at the stages beginning it does look and sound apart though and later stages improved significantly its cheap price and overall decent showing does warn to look for fans of the film super late in the life of the Genesis we'd get Pocahontas from Disney Interactive this puzzle heavy platformer would focus on using animal abilities and stealth to navigate its levels it has some of the best animation of any 16-bit era release but suffers a bit from unresponsive gameplay that is compounded by some disjointed level design it's a very kid-friendly game though so it's something you can play with your family [Music] Batman would also get in on the license platformer releases starting with Batman the video game from Sun song this one is based on the 1989 film by Tim Burton I absolutely adore this game and it's one of my favorites on the machine the soundtrack alone is worth playing it for but the game also looks great and has very solid play mechanics the challenge is there and it follows the movie pretty closely in regards to locations and bosses a complete copy is getting a bit expensive at around 45 dollars but it's totally worth it in my opinion in late 1992 Sega of America would show up with the next game in the series Batman Returns and completely embarrassed itself the system and the franchise this awful game has some terrible graphics piss-poor gameplay and horrible use of the Genesis sound Hardware it fails at everything that made the first Batman great and even at its low asking price of sub $20 it's still not worth adding to your library it's a disgraceful game that really shows Sega had no quality control whatsoever on their outsourced games around the same time as Batman Returns sunsoft would release Batman revenge of Joker it would be outsourced to a western studio as well and while not as bad as Batman Returns was still a major letdown the graphics were colorful and well detailed but the gameplay felt sluggish with stage designs that relied on cheap hits for its difficulty it's not terribly expensive at $35 or so so you may want to take a look at it the series would hit rock bottom in 1995 when a claim would digitize the hell out of everything copy Mortal Kombat's gameplay mechanics and attempt to superglue it all to the Batman license the end result was Batman Forever a truly dreadful game based on the movie this one is a mess of design with dark soulless graphics music that sounds like it was composed on a calculator and game played that made no sense at all for a platformer it was slow clunky ugly and isn't worth the 5 dollars you can buy it for it's one of the system's worst games [Music] even 7-ups little red mascot spot would show up to represent hitting his own game in 1993 cool spot by virgin games collect the spots as you navigate the stage and release your friends this one was fairly utilitarian lacking any real polish or flashy art design it did play decently though and was solid enough to warrant a sequel which was just awful this isometric trainwreck lacked precise gameplay and had terrible hit detection resulting in a game that had little appeal past its main character both spot games are cheap but I can only recommend the first a new hero would emerge during the 16-bit era in 1994 released by playmates interactive earthworm jim would burst onto the scene with incredible popularity you take control of Jim a common earthworm imbued with special abilities by an alien suit its varied gameplay humor animation and soundtrack were all well-received and the game was challenging is held a bhoot it's one of those new IP success stories of the era and remains a very playable game today it was so well received a year later we'd get earthworm jim - this one would take the silly humour varied gameplay and solid animation up a notch resulting in a great sequel with staying power so solid as showing was this I dare say it was a better game than the original both these games are still affordable at around $30.00 or so so if you're a fan of the genre they are absolute must owns [Music] the valise series would have a showing on the Genesis as well Alby it out of order valise 3 would be the first game released in mid 1991 courtesy of renovation gameplay consists of simple platforming segments and sword attacks that can be powered up there is also a magic system in place for a variety of extra firepower and two other playable characters with different abilities despite the simple graphics and gameplay I enjoyed this one and loved the soundtrack later that year we'd get Valis the phantasm soldier this is the original story of our hero how she came to obtain the Valles sword and the revelation of her destiny a place in looks very much like Valles 3 but with even better music the gameplay is again pretty simple with straightforward platforming sword power-ups and a fairly easy to use magic system though this one was very similar to three in presentation and gameplay I found the power-ups and story to be more interesting here and combined with the killer soundtrack it made this valise the one to own unfortunately the Genesis would never see a port of Valis 2 intact instead getting the 1992 released Syd of Valis a super deformed remake this is the low point of the series and a damn disappointment in every category the gameplay feels overly fast and floaty and graphics are simple and lack appeal and even the wonderful music from the other two releases failed to be delivered here I recommend passing this one by and going after the other two [Music] there's quite a few wonderboy games between the Master System and the Genesis but I want to talk about Wonder Boy in Monster World released in early 1992 this platformer was also loaded with RPG like elements you could visit towns buy items go on missions and upgrade your stats it's a colorful well drawn an animated game with slow but tight gameplay that is easy to get into it's brand of RPG light elements really enhances the experience making this one a unique and truly fun experience in 1994 a japan-only sequel would land on the Mega Drive monster world for this time you play as a young girl a departure for the Wonder Boy series but the same RPG Lite and platforming mixture would return better than ever the graphics have been improved here with better animation color usage and more background detail also improved as the gameplay which is faster and more varied than before melee attacks now have more variations and the main character can have her pet Gator in various ways during exploration in combat this one is now available on the ps3 Wii and 360 in English and there is an English patched version for the Mega Drive whichever way you have to access it definitely give this great little game alone [Music] konami showed up on the genesis in a big way bringing some of their best games to seek his hardware for the very first time among those properties was rocket knight adventures an awesome platformer with varied gameplay fantastic music and gorgeous graphics everything about this one is a joy to behold and I consider it some of the konami z' finest work on the machine the visual appeal of this game cannot be denied thanks to great animation tons of parallax scrolling and continued use of konami x' unique special effects for the machine gameplay would also be mixed up with shooter segments huge boss battles and stages that had the hero doing a lot more than jumping and attacking to survive this one remained Genesis exclusive and is a must own even at its asking price of around $50 completely a year later Konami would release a sequel titled sparkster after the main character this one would continue the adventure and while it's still a very good game it was a step back in some ways for me the first and most obvious change is in the background detail and overall color use of the game rocket knight adventures had a great use of color an art that looked almost like each area was hand-drawn spark stirs color is more flat and its backgrounds and foregrounds use repeated patterns across the entire level taking away from the overall visual polish the backgrounds also seem to lack detail from the previous game often with sparse skies and less parallax scrolling luckily the gameplay and music are still solid and retain enough of what made the first game so good to warrant this one's existence it tends to be a little more expensive than the first due to rarity and can be gotten by a patient eBay er for around $70 [Music] Capcom would even bring some of the Megaman games to the Mega Drive in 1994 Megaman the wily Wars was a compilation of the first three Megaman games from the 8-bit NES era they would be improved with more color and added content but lacked the overall polish of a true 16-bit experience still it was Megaman on a sega platform and it still had enough of the classic charm to be a great addition to anyone's library it would only see retail release in Japan and Europe with American gamers only seeing it on the sega channel a paid service that allowed users to play Genesis games over their cable service reproductions of this release are everywhere as the real deal is super expensive a complete unit in great shape don't easily run you 300 plus dollars making it a true collector's item some of those reproductions are pretty damn good for those of you not averse to such thing [Music] wolf teams el viento would be released in 1991 by renovation this ultra fast-paced action platformer stars a net a heroine on a mission to stop the resurrection of a dark God in 1920s New York you attack with the boomerang in various magic attacks you collect along the way the pace of this one will challenge most gamers to their limits and you'll need to play it a bunch to get used to the enemy locations and bosses though the level design can be funky at times and the enemy placement cheap as hell it is a relatively solid experience the graphics and sound aren't among the best for the system but what's here isn't terrible or distracting complete copies of this one go upwards of $100 or more so I recommend you try it before you pull down the cash Sega had its fair share of strange games and treasure would contribute to that list with 1994's dynamite Headdy do you control a puppet that attacks with its head in a bid to defeat the evil king dark demon heady can navigate the world by jumping and grabbing select items with his head and can also find power-ups that allows him to use different powers for his head the variety of gameplay is truly excellent and in true treasure form the engine does some truly great things with all that awesome 16-bit power of the Genesis bosses are predictably large and even the soundtrack is solid the best part of dynamite headdy is it doesn't cost the fortune hanging around the $35 mark the Japanese version is considerably more expensive thanks to the North American version being heavily changed during localization but there is an English port of that available [Music] [Applause] another weird one Seiko would publish vic tokai decaf attack in 1991 this completely changed localization was known as magical head Nobu toffee turbo in Japan and nearly everything was made over to create this release you are now Chuck D head a mummy on a mission to stop the invasion of the world of the living by the maniacal max decaf your headless corpse can attack with a face in your midsection or by jumping on enemies until they die you can also get a skull powerup that acts as a boomerang allowing you distance attacks decaf attack is a very decent game for what it is the visual presentation in music rub some the wrong way and the overall silliness of the plot and turn you off but the gameplay here is solid and challenging it's another game that goes really cheap and I've seen complete auctions go for a mere twenty dollars which this game is worth every penny of [Music] sonic teen didn't just make sonic games on the genesis and in 1995 they'd release risk star unlike sonic risk star wasn't about speed instead focusing on slower more exact gameplay you'll attack with extendable arms that grab enemies and allow you to knock them off the screen your arms can also grab parts of the level to allow you to access different areas risk star is a damn good-looking game with some great animation and colorful environments the music is solid too and has a very sonic 3 vibe to it the gameplay is much different from Sonic's team's prior efforts and stands out nicely in the genre because of the late release and crappy paper boxes they came in hitting this one completing good shape is really tough and you'll drop close to $60 to do it it's a good game but definitely try it before you run out and buy [Music] Sega would also release the internally developed kid chameleon in 1992 there's a new arcade game in town and kids are disappearing while playing it you must enter the game and face the evil AI heady metal in a bid to free them kid chameleon is a running jump platformer similar in style to Mario but with the added mechanics of using masks to obtain power-ups and abilities to dispatch your foes you'll change into samurai warriors and even tanks on your way through its many levels the game is huge with multiple branching levels and no save system making the original Genesis release a pain to beat in one setting if you're interested in this one play it on one of the many compilations or digital releases it was part of so you can have access to safe States otherwise the original Genesis cart goes for under $20 [Music] there's also some hyper rare games on the system with 1994's pulse man definitely on that list this one was developed by Game Freak the same studio that would go on to create the Pokemon games you are pulse man a half human half computer hero who sits out to stop as terrorists father from destroying the world you'll use your unique electricity powers to defeat his enemies and navigate both real world and computer stages pulse man was only released in Japan and cartridge form and North American gamers only saw it via the sega channel powell gamers never got an original release of the game at all but there is a wii virtual console release from 2009 there is also an english patched release available for the mega drive and tons of reproductions available of that patch the original Japanese release complete in box goes for upwards of $400 in good shape making this one one of the most rare and expensive games in this episode the 1992 released Alesia Dragoon was a game nobody saw coming Sega didn't advertise it at all and it just showed up on store shelves out of the blue I had no clue what the hell it was but the box art was cool and the pics on the back of the box looked interesting I picked it up and boy was I shocked that Sega hat and trumped this one up more you play as Alesha a female warrior that attacks with lightning blast that Auto targets the enemies you also have a pet dragon that will help you out a bit this is one of the more simple and straightforward platformers on the machine but it still has a charm and a challenge that makes it a great addition to the library it was done by game arts so the game has an inherent fun factor they can't be denied the game has exploded in popularity in price in recent years now going for about a hundred dollars complete it's a great trip down memory lane for me but at that price you definitely should play it to make sure it's what you're looking for [Music] I want to thank you guys for watching my sega genesis platformer episode now as you know I didn't come anywhere near close to covering every platformer on the machine so down in the comments let me know what games you would like to see in a part two to this episode I'm siga Lord X I really appreciate you guys watching I'll catch you next time you

Channel: Sega Lord X

Views: 101,311

Rating: 4.9044557 out of 5

Keywords: segalordx, sega lord x, sega saturn, sega genesis, sega dreamcast, mega drive, megadrive, game gear, 32x, seca cd, mega cd, genesis, saturn, master system, platformers

Id: Ri3Qz_9IoHI

Length: 30min 43sec (1843 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 24 2018