The Best of the Best on the Sega CD

[Music] some time ago i did a sega cd top 10 video that i really enjoyed putting together it let me talk up my favorite games and share with you why they meant so much to me the thing was there were many more games i wanted to do the same with i have tried to make it quite clear on my channel that i enjoyed my time with sega's underappreciated cd add-on while some felt burned i was there early and enjoyed many of its games as they were released this was a pretty cool time for me because it felt sort of like a mini introduction to the coming 32-bit generation that excitement lasted from 1992 to about 1995 so i got roughly three solid years with my sega cd a time and an experience i wouldn't trade for anything with that in mind it's time to follow up that top 10 with an awards show of sorts here we are going to break down the best games for each genre and category like graphics and sound each category will then be done with one runner-up and one winner so we can really talk about all the top tier offerings for this platform this is of course my own personal opinion and presented as nothing more than that this was incredibly fun to make and i hope you guys enjoy the best of the best on the sega cd [Music] when sega of america began marketing the sega cd they put all their muscle behind full motion video games every ad be it television or print all talked about how video would revolutionize the way you played games they sure did believe it too because they published dozens of full motion video based software for the device as did many of their third parties while i can laugh now at the thought back then i admit that there was a certain excitement around these games home consoles had been platformers and shoot em ups for so long it was cool to see something new pop up no matter how simple it may have been in hindsight picking just one of these games as the best representation of the technology is tough to further complicate the matter is the gross misconception that the sega cd did all these terribly while it's pretty easy to pull an example of really bad looking video on the console it also is quite easy to pull examples of the sega cd looking just spectacular i was always under the impression that full motion video games were at their best when the subject matter was of interest this is why my pick for the best runner-up full motion video game on the sega cd is night trap don't laugh because this one actually had a fair bit of replay value in its day the way it is set up made you replay it and explore rooms at different times completing a game and getting one of its multiple endings was no easy thing it was a new type of game and i greatly enjoyed it for what it was but when it comes to the best full motion video experience i have to go with road avenger i mean how could this one not be the winner you have a killer soundtrack a theme anyone can appreciate and video that actually holds up quite well all these years later driving your hot rod through multiple stages crashing bad guys was the stuff of dreams to a 17 year old segalord x to date this is still my favorite version of this game and a testament that not all full motion video games were garbage [Music] [Music] when the mega cd launched in japan in 1991 all you heard from the american publications was how its hardware was designed for sprite and background scaling it was sega's big push to show up what nintendo had done with their new 16-bit showpiece the super nintendo but when the platform arrived in north america in 1992 few games showed off any of that power in fact outside of a few titles here and there the sega cd sprite scaling abilities were somewhat a bust developers barely touched the technology and when they did it was little more than a bonus stage tacked on the sega genesis ports though few in number there were some real bright spots in the library that really did show some excellent potential among these my runner-up is soul star it was a killer representation of what the sega cd was capable of smooth fast and loaded with action soul star was the kind of shoot em up that looked just like it was pulled straight from an arcade board home games just didn't look like this and no other 16-bit console could have pulled it off because of its 1994 release it was too little too late to help change anyone's mind about the platform but it sure was nice to see something really push what it was capable of but when it comes to my absolute favorite choice in this category i gotta go with batman returns this was a vehicle combat game that looked just unbelievable when it was released in 1993 you start out with the batmobile battling it out across the streets of gotham before you end up in the sewers trying to get to the final battle with the penguin i adored the way this played and the visuals really did seem a huge cut above the scaling games before it it came with the crappy genesis side scroller on the disc but it was the driving game that made this one so special [Music] this category may surprise you but there really were some excellent genesis ports on the sega cd not just simple soundtrack upgrades but games where you got extra levels and gameplay to boot earthworm gem special edition is my runner-up here and it's very much worth playing even if you've played the cartridge to death you get an extra level new animations for the beginning and endings a new soundtrack a new homing missile weapon and a number of changes to the stage layouts it's called special edition for a reason and definitely deserves a look when it comes to the winner however i feel mickey mania was perhaps the best of both worlds the excellent gameplay and visuals of the cartridge moves over to the sega cd with additional animations an extra stage new voice samples and a new ending sequence that wraps up the story better of course you get a great cd soundtrack as well this was done by travelers tales and with the help of disney they crafted an excellent looking and sounding adventure for the sega cd it's one of the rare cases where i feel the cd version is a big enough step up to deserve owning whether you have the cartridge or not it kind of makes me wish that games like toy story and sonic 3d blast had gotten sega cd releases as well wow [Music] true console exclusives are a hard thing to find these days with compilations reissues remakes and online emulation services many games see some form of reissue eventually not so with my runner-up eternal champions challenge from the dark side this was a vastly upgraded take of the previous genesis release there has been a ton of new content added including new ways to kill your opponent four new fighters a ton of hidden characters new combos new special moves and multiple new gameplay modes outside the story this was more a sequel than an upgrade and while it does take some getting used to it's a much better fighting game than many give it credit for unfortunately licensed content tends to be the worst offender when it comes to keeping games locked to their original platforms and when it comes to the best true exclusive for the sega cd i have to give it to the terminator this was not a port of the sega genesis game nor has it been ported to anything since this was a mix of platforming and run and gun action that takes place in both the past and the future you are cal reese and you have only one mission protect sarah connors from the relentless terminator of course since this is a video game you have a lot more to worry about than the terminator skynet has plenty of other robotic terrors to take you down and even the street punks in the past are hellbent on your destruction i absolutely love the visuals of this and the soundtrack was incredible it was the way sega cd port should have been handled and if you own the hardware i cannot recommend it enough the full motion video could have been better but everything else here is a top notch experience [Music] when considering racing games on the sega cd i think of all the wasted potential that could have been the technology of the sega cd could have made for some solid racing action particularly from sega's own arcade catalog my runner-up in this category is jaguar xj220 i came to like this game quite a bit thanks to its many tracks and gameplay modes it only has the jaguar license but uses other supercars under slightly modified names and designs the visuals aren't spectacular but still manage to be quite a bit more impressive than a stock genesis it's highly recommended if you enjoy a good sprite scaler my top choice in this category may come as a surprise to you but even with all its problems road rash is still the best racer on the sega cd it doesn't use the hardware for anything special other than the music but the core gameplay still has that great feel found in the genesis releases it's also the only version of this game that allows you to play the licensed soundtrack while you race there is no question the racing genre was underserved on this platform but you can still have some fun here particularly if you enjoy the other games in the series [Music] [Music] [Music] i wish i could tell you the very best sports titles on the sega cd were made by sega themselves but like so many similar stories back then sega failed spectacularly when it came to bringing the sega cd some decent sports titles their joe montana football looked and played awful and they didn't even try their other genesis staples like world series baseball or nba action so it was left to ea sports to do the platform some justice and they nailed two releases that get the nod for runner-up and for best sports game on the sega cd the first is bill walsh college football which features a huge roster of 48 collegiate teams 4 players at once enhanced sound visuals and extra content in the form of video segments from the legendary coach himself it was a great use of what ea had learned with the madden games and played just about as good as you could have hoped ea was also responsible for fifa soccer an enhanced port of the genesis game with vastly improved audio enhanced animation and sprite detail and loads of video clips the ai has also been tweaked to give you a better and more realistic match up 64 international teams are waiting for you to take them all the way you can't really go wrong with either one of these great releases sega may have fumbled the ball with their sports lineup but electronic arts was there to pick up the slack and give us something very much worth playing [Applause] [Music] the adventure genre covers quite a few games on the old sega cd more than you'd guess in fact these titles tended to have deeper stories and gameplay that was built for you to unravel the mysteries within rise of the dragon is my runner-up here in this point-and-click adventure you are blade a former cop and private dick investigating the death of the mayor's daughter you track it all back to a drug called mtz and the people peddling it this leads to a larger story of organized crime kidnapping and horrific mutations the story is based on a time system where you must accomplish certain actions in order to make it deeper within the adventure take too long and the game ends unfavorably there's lots of speech wild characters and a tale that is far and away more serious than most games at the time it's not the prettiest but it's so different from most cartridge games i really enjoyed what it offered while there are a number of other games that could easily win this category konami snatcher is the number one choice for me set in the future where robotic snatchers are stealing people's identities you must find out what's going on and how to stop it this one is focused on heavy character development and getting to know the people around you it's not an especially long game nor is it challenging but the setting and personalities really make this one a treat from start to finish it was one of the first video games i ever played that i felt like it was made for an adult it happens to look and sound incredible as well this sega cd version is pretty much it when it comes to official english translations it was the only time konami saw fit to bring it to western audiences and that fact has driven its price up to insane levels among the collecting community [Music] what on earth are you blabbering about let's go it's gonna blow please save yourself i am paralyzed with fear oh i can't believe this stupid robot come on geez my ears are really ringing that's because you left the volume turned up damn snatchers when i first started playing shining force cd i was really let down by the fact it's essentially just a mild upgrade to the material that appeared on the game gear but if you give this one some time it'll grow on you with some excellent battles and an easy to follow story in fact it's one of the largest and feature-rich shining force experiences out there it also has a new cd quality soundtrack but as good as this was sega had another turn-based strategy game that was even better if i were to describe dark wizard to you as a simple strategy rpg i'd be doing the game and my audience a great disservice originally released in late 1993 in japan this was internally developed by sega and remains to this day as a true platform exclusive this is point blank one of the most underrated games on the platform and one every fan of the sega cd needs to play the king is dead war has covered the entire land and the dark wizard is attempting to resurrect an evil god your story begins by choosing one of four leaders all separated by abilities and a backstory that defines their origin you must face your enemies on a hex map battle them to the last man in combat and level up and equip your forces you can recruit specialized characters to your calls and each story plays out quite differently from one another there's lots of side content to discover on top of the massive amounts of gameplay possible in the main story while most sega fans love shining force this is quite the excellent experience on the sega cd so be sure to give it a try it has some issues with pacing but this is one game you'll get your money's worth with it's not exactly dragon force but if you enjoyed that game's freedom and depth this one has many of the same features [Music] so [Music] the jrpg was something i did not appreciate much back in the 90s i wasn't a fan of random battles and the slow stories just failed to grab me quick enough to hold my interest lunar the silver star went a long ways to help me change my mind on all that i loved the characters and the story was so charming you just couldn't help but be pulled into it it sounded great as well the frequency of battle was an irritation but otherwise this was a memorable experience that used the cd technology quite well but it was when i played lunar eternal blue in 1995 with its brilliant cinematics perfect soundtrack and lovable characters that i was truly won over by this franchise there are a number of gameplay improvements made over the silver star particularly in the ai settings and the visuals are quite a bit nicer as well gameplay is of the tried and true over world map exploration towns dungeons magic and equipment you'll be right at home if you've played any similar game in the genre the story takes place a thousand years after the events in the silver star and follow the antics of hiro and ruby as they gain friends to help them on their journey the interaction between those friends and the gorgeous animation that plays out their adventure is a big reason this one is so good as far as traditional jrpgs are concerned this is the best on the sega cd by quite a stretch [Applause] so [Music] the fighting genre had a tough time on the sega cd while we did get a number of them there were always some pretty major concessions made to get them running the major cause of this was the relatively low amount of ram in the sega cd something that greatly affected things like animation sound effects and low times no matter which fighting game you want to talk about something was cut or changed in a pretty major way that doesn't mean they were all bad however samurai showdown gets the runner-up nod thanks to its excellent soundtrack and solid gameplay it's missing a ton of animation voice work earthquake and there's no scaling feature but i still loved it overall it has solid visuals plays well and has that unforgettable intro in all its glory it was far from perfect but of the homeports at the time it was definitely my favorite despite having several issues of its own my top pick is mortal kombat on the sega cd it brought back some of the voices that were cut in the genesis port and the animation was quite a bit better the music is a bit mixed up but was a great representation of the arcade and you even got some nice club mixes of the mortal kombat song many people hated the load times during shang tsum's morphing and i admit it did give a nasty effect on the gameplay but as far as everything else i always felt that this was a great port that i never had any problems enjoying it improved and added enough to deserve its own place in my 16-bit fighting game library [Music] scorpion wins flawless [Music] victory i have spoken of my love for ko flying squadron before it's not the most technically impressive shoot-em-up ever nor is it the most exciting or challenging but what it lacks in those categories it more than makes up for in character design art style and accessibility it's just such a cute game with so many likable elements how can you not appreciate its charms but when it comes to the best my top choice is something radically different i've decided to go with my heart and tell you about a game that gets overlooked far too often in 1993 core design was responsible for ah3 thunder strike or just simply thunder hawk in japan and pal territories it's a helicopter shooter that allows you to fly and fight in a pseudo 3d game engine that used scaling sprites to a pretty convincing effect aside from using the sega cd hardware in ways that few games could boast it also played well and had a bunch of missions you could fly across the globe you have multiple weapons at your control and it's all set to a kick-ass soundtrack what really set this one apart for me was the strategy elements you can go in guns and missiles blazing but that'll usually get you a one-way ticket to the game over screen you'll need to plan your attack strategize your enemy positions and always remember your aircraft's limitations you may think this is a simulation game but it's much more arcade style than you may have guessed the control is fairly simple to get a hold of and the action is fast and exciting if you want a shooter that plays different and uses the extra hardware in the unit this one comes highly recommended [Music] there are some great platformers on the sega cd and picking just one is tough we've already talked about stuff like earthworm gem special edition and mickey mania two games that could easily be in the running here when i chose my runner-up though it had to be the beautiful world of flink superbly animated this is an adventure you just have to take on the sega cd you guide flink as he jumps climbs swims and does battle with the evil minions of wicked wayne right the land of the magica needs its leaders back and only you can free them there are tons of levels and spells to discover as you unravel this gorgeous adventure but as much as i really dug flink i have never hidden my love for sonic cd and it's the best platformer on the console by a mile i make no apologies for its exploration based time mechanic you either love it or hate it but i think it makes the game what it is this changed the sonic formula for me at its very core no more was it about hopping through stages as quickly as possible it made me stop search think and plan my routes to maximize the time mechanic and make sure i got the results i wanted the visuals were just different enough to have their own flavor and feel and i enjoyed both the us and japanese soundtracks the opening cinematics set the tone perfectly and i'd watch it again and again showing it off to any and all who dared question the coolness of my cd add-on i never cared for the bonus stages but everything else was a fantastic experience and a highlight of owning the platform [Music] [Music] [Music] arcade ports were a plenty on the sega cd from the stuff sega moved over from the genesis to a number of neo-geo conversions there's a fair bit to look out for i never thought they looked particularly good but i still think the lethal enforcers games were incredibly fun on the sega cd get two players together and you have arcade gold it's grainy and the detail is pretty crappy but the gameplay is what matters and this is a gun game well worth playing when it comes to the best however i gotta give it to final fight the sega cd did a very nice job porting the classic capcom beat em up the overall visual fidelity was solid the new soundtrack was killer and the gameplay was close enough to really enjoy it back in those days arcade ports were essentially rebuilt games from the ground up so there were always changes and differences that made them look and feel different you'll feel those differences here but i never considered them game breaking or off-putting the fact that this kept all three fighters and has both competitive and co-op gameplay was a huge bonus at the time the japanese version of this doesn't have the typical censorship of the female attire and the name of the boss character sodom it's also a hell of a lot cheaper to collect yes [Music] picking a game for best soundtrack was no joke difficult i mean this is a cd system so the amount of great music covers dozens and dozens of releases heck there are even some terrible games on the sega cd that sound brilliant complicating the matters even further i did my due diligence however and considered just about everything i could think of that leads me to my choice for runner-up echo the dolphin take the sega genesis release and add to it one of the most relaxing soundtracks of that era no kidding these tunes massage your soul as you explore the underwater kingdom of echo as the sound waves make love to your ears you'll be lulled into a trance that'll have you copying the soundtrack to your phone your car and every place in between laugh if you want but the addiction is real on the opposite end of the spectrum comes the hard rock of lords of thunder and it gets my choice for the best sound if echo is about mellowing you out lords of thunder is about pumping you up it hits hard fast and fits the on-screen action perfectly sometimes sound can be just as important as visuals and that's definitely the case here hooked to a good stereo system this is a hardcore shoot-em-up fans dream come true [Music] [Music] one of the big expectations i had for owning a sega cd was that i would get some fantastic looking games early on i had expected the sprite scaling to be at the center of its best looking games and there is no doubt there are some stunners in that regard but i also found animation to be a huge selling point on the sega cd heart of the alien had the benefit of including the fantastic looking out of this world as well as its sequel these games have some of the best animation of the 16-bit generation bar none this world is truly alien and you'll need to put in some serious time and effort as it kills you relentlessly it earns the runner-up title here easily and still remains to this day a very playable adventure this video is about the best games though and it was still feed that would end up impressing me more than anything else it took a mix of pre-rendered video real-time polygons and some outstanding cinematics to make one of the platforms standout titles visually you have to understand this was 1993 well before the saturn and playstation and even before the 3do got going strong seeing this was a revelation a small glimpse into what was coming and how polygons would change the way games looked and felt hindsight really diminishes the impact of this one it's easy to look at this now and scoff at its video backgrounds small polygon ships and low color cinematics but at the time there was so little like it this is another one where i could just sit and watch the opening again and again it looks so spectacular time may have lessened its impact but i still consider this the best looking game on the platform the greeson system the central photon computer that integrates and controls the whole galaxy network on another planet earth was network jacked by an unknown terrorist group the leader of the terrorists solemnly introduced himself as zakarte the survivors of the galaxy union and the colony planet's fleet assembled all their forces to strike at zakate 64 light years lay across their way to the solar system after drastic restructuring and the addition of reinforcements to the tactical fighter spacecraft the sa-77 feed their last resort the remaining fleet began the counter-attack when looking back at the sega cd it's really easy to generalize an unfavorable summary of its market and library many people didn't play the unit while it was still available and tend to form their opinions based on playing games years after the fact or worse based it on other people's opinions on the internet i feel this does a real disservice to many of its games mainly because many of them were incredibly impressive at the time of their release it's easy to crap on full motion video games in hindsight but at the time stuff like road avenger was fun and new on a home console the pretty polygons of today have rendered titles like thunderstrike soul star and still feed less impressive in retrospect but back then they were stunning representations of what was possible with the sega cd's technology i guess what i'm saying is try to give this platform a real chance to impress you it's a hundred percent true that it should have been more than it was but it's also true that what's there isn't all junk that isn't worth playing like many sega products the sega cd was caught in between generations and was capable of some truly impressive games when it was harnessed properly it may have been a commercial failure and a black mark on sega's relationship of consumers but it still had some interesting titles i'll never forget i'm single lord x thank you guys for watching and i will catch you next time [Music] you

Channel: Sega Lord X

Views: 109,550

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

Id: F4FDjtLgn2w

Length: 35min 43sec (2143 seconds)

Published: Mon May 23 2022