Johnny has always done such a good job of promoting old school JRPGs over the years. Thank you for talking me into playing Phantasy Star and Shining Force!

Shadowrun was always my absolute favorite from the genesis era, think it absolute still holds up today as well.

It’s cool how different Andrew’s vibe is from Rob Man, but they’re both awesome guests and bring so much to the episodes they appear in in their own ways.

Always good to have Andrew on the show, he seems like a really chill dude and knowledgeable retro gamer. Moreover, I NEED that Godzilla ramen t-shirt in my life.

Love these episodes with old friends!

My favorite Genesis RPG has always been Shining in the Darkness. No one seems to like this game but me. I’m so happy to see it get some love.

The Landstalker OST is still the bomb. "Treasure Hunter Ryle" and "Let's go on an adventure" are two of my all-time rpg tracks

I love the 30 minute videos. It feels like just hanging out with friends talking about games

Love watching Happy Console gamer on Sunday’s. It’s practically a tradition at this point.

Shining Force II is one of the best video games ever. Really hope they properly bring back this amazing series.

Shining force 1 and 2, phantasy star 4, and warsong were my favorites on genesis. Lunar 1&2, shining force CD, and dark wizard were my favorites on the sega cd. So many great memories came from playing through those with friends.

Really nostalgic reminiscing the old days of genesis. The feel, the emotion, and the senses oozed back from those memories really really made me joy & tearful. Really missing those experience in those days. Truly thank you & Andy.

Man, i have such great memories of Sword of Vermillion as a teenager. Was hoping you guys would cover this classic in the video!

Shining Force 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. So much nostalgia, and as an adult I think it's just a solid, pleasant, fun experience the whole way through.

Shining Force was such a pinnacle. I really hope we get some new stuff someday

Gotta bring up the Genesis version of Shadowrun. I can't even begin to tell you just how many hours my friend and I spent staying up late playing that game. Now, while not STRICTLY a Genesis title, I'd like to add in Uncharted Waters: New Horizons. I know it had an SNES release as well but I only played it on the Genesis and just fell so much in love with it. There were just so many ways to have fun in it and I think it still holds up really well all these years later.

I'm shocked Shadowrun didn't make the cut! :O

Phantasy Star IV _and_ Shining Force II are my ❤

Shining in the Darkness is one of the most underrated games on the Genesis IMO. The first few hours can definitely be a slog, but once you pick up Milo and Pyra and get into the real meat of the game, it actually has a lot of cool stuff for a dungeon crawler from 1991. Surprisingly funny side quests, an interesting if a bit shallow crafting system, and some absurd magical effects at very high levels were stand outs to me when I 100%ed it in the early 2000s (after finally getting my own copy, had only rented it before). The art and music were also absolutely stellar for the time; the animations on enemies made them feel SO much more lively than anything on the NES, or even FF2 on the SNES. I could go on about most of these games, I got a Genesis for Christmas in '91 (after begging for a SNES); so much nostalgia here! Thanks for sharing Johnny and Andrew!

Amazing it’s been so many years, man. I’ve known you and the stories about “Andrew” for well over a decade at this point. If not longer. Also: The fact you mentioned M&M2 is awesome. That is one of my favorite rpgs of all time and that thing felt like Skyrim back in the day. The amount of time me and a couple buddies spent on it over a year or so is insane. Still love that series.

Two games not mentioned by you guys Pirate's Gold: the console port of Sid Meier's Pirates gave you the chance to treasure hunt, sword fight, and court the governors' daughters also had a unique aging mechanism that forced you into retirement guaranteeing you couldn't do everything you wanted in one playthrough Starflight: exploring hundreds of star systems mining for resources, different alien races that both can make up your crew and when you encounter them in the world you had to learn how to properly interact with them, and different ships and weapons for when things turned violent.

Love it! These episodes with friends feels so great to watch :D

Perfect timing! Just started up Shining Force 2, and was thinking about diving into Phantasy Star IV, and I thought "what are some other Genesis rpgs..." lol!

I finally completed the Phantasy Star Series I-IV this morning! I started playing through them with the Sega Ages Version of Phantasy Star on the Switch. From last January to today I started my playthrough of 2-4. Never heard of the Series until your channel. Thanks for talking about them!

A healthy dose of nostalgia in this video :) Here are some more Genesis RPGs to enjoy: - Monster World IV - Ys III - Shadowrun - Buck Rogers

Wait, Johnny is almost 50? That's insane man you look great

This is a great one Johnny! Does Andrew also have a channel? He’s got a real knack for talking about this stuff! You guys make a good team.

I love that it’s 30 mins long. And love your friends on your channel. And love your stories

Great seeing Andrew again, thanks to both of you for sharing your memories! Being in my teens during Genesis days and buying Super Hydlide, I had to make the most of it. While I do think it is a bad game, it does get very deep - I even called Sega support and they listed so many things my friends and I had not encountered. We missed like one thing and once we figured it out, thanks to Sega support, there was so much to do, like going into Space. Still not saying it's a good game, but funny how when you have few options, you find ways to enjoy. Thanks again!

I want to add Shadowrun to this list. The Genesis game, imo, is far better than the SNES version. It has a dark, gritty, cyberpunk, top down action combat, 3 classes to choose from, acting as a sort of detective (Runner) trying to find out what happened, guns/magic/biotic enhancements, fantastic hacking sort of minigame (decking), dragons, orcs, elves... it's so amazing.

Phantasy star 4 is hands down one of the best games I've played. I still get weepy eyed at the end lol

Always a treat to have Andrew from the old neighborhood

What a fantastic episode! So many great memories of that genesis era. Andrew is an awesome guest.

I was hoping you guys were gonna talk about Shadowrun :(

Shining in the darkness was a pretty good game. I loved Eternal Sun also. I discovered Landstalkers in the early 2000s and it really wowed me. I couldnt believe how much content it has. It's like a Zelda game but with like 6 or 7 awesome big unique towns instead of just 1.

I grew up with SNES RPGs and though I had a Genesis, I had no idea the system even had RPGs. I never realized the Master System itself ever existed until recently. This channel has given me this strange sense of nostalgia for games I never experienced - maybe because they remind me of the 80s and 90s. Since, I have been having a blast experiencing these games - though Phantasy Star on the master system is my favorite so far. I really like how efficient battling is.

This brings back good memories of playing Sword of Vermillion with my dad. Thanks for the nostalgia trip :)

It's strange: I had a Mega Drive (I'm Australian) during the systems heyday, and I was into the Fighting Fantasy books and D&D. But for some reason, I never got a single RPG on the machine. I borrowed Landstalker from a friend for a couple of days and loved it, but that was about it. Indeed, the first video game RPG I owned and really got into was the first Baldur's Gate on PC a few years later.

I love this type of throwback videos to watch on a Sunday afternoon!

What made Landstalker great was that no matter how frustrating it got I still wanted to keep going. I played it maybe a decade ago. I think I would have broken multiple controllers if I played it when I was younger. Played Exile on the TG16 and loved it. SOD was amazing in its simplicity. Phantasy Star III was the most expensive game I ever bought (at launch) for over 20 years. I still have to play a bunch of these and can't wait.

Warsong, Shining Force 2 and Phantasy Star 4 are the GOATS of the genesis for me personally. Johnny/Andrew, when recording footage for this episode, did either of you guys find any of these games nearly impossible to stop playing, maybe one that you werent expecting to grab you like it did and pull you in? This is wonderful, thanks for doing this!

Warsong was Noriyuki Iwadare's first OST. :) But he's better known for Lunar, Grandia, and Ace Attorney.

Shining Force II looks right up my alley. The character designs are so charming ❤ I need to try it out

What a great nostalgic episode! I have a soft spot for Phantasy Star IV.

I love Phantasy Star III. It's a great franchise. Shining Force was amazing. The first game I remember where you had class advancement.

I started playing video game at 7 year old with the Sega Genesis and Sonic 1. The only RPG I played on this system was Shining Force 2. I still remember loving this game at around 9-10 year old. The music, the art style, the gameplay was completly new to me and strangely enough, I like it! I got stuck at the chess pieces fight cause I didn't really know that I only need to beat the king and wasn't really prepare for this point of no return... Still love the game to this day! Later in life, I've got a PS2 that reingnited the love for RPG that Shining Force 2 lighten up. My only regret is that I've never play Shining Force 3 on the saturn...

Absolutely love these videos! Very informative, great vibes, and just awesome discussions!

What a great episode, I have so many fond memories of playing a lot of these games.

You had me at Genesis RPGs !

Im so glad that you and Andrew keep in touch after all these years, and that you share your memories together with all of us

I remember when I was in Middle school I traded my friend a Genesis game ( I don't remember what it was ) for Phantasy Star 2 ! I wasn't into RPG's at the time . I never played one and wasn't really interested at the time until I played Phantasy Star 2 ! Omg I loved Phantasy Star 2 so much ! It's my very first RPG experience and made me fall in the love with RPG's ! And still love RPG's to this day and have never looked back !

Fab fab episode. Funnily enough, my best mate called Andrew and I used to love playing RPGs. The shows with Andrew always make me think of that- especially loved your episode together on Legend of Zelda!

Hey Johnny, Thank you for sharing your passion and positive energy week in and week out. You help me a lot by influencing me with your positive passion. Much Love ❤️

My high school memories come back to me! Much appreciation. I also commented on the vid about the World’s Biggest Bookstore; find these vids highly relatable

With how MASSIVE Fire Emblem has become the last several years I’m actually pretty shocked that Shining Force just keeps collecting dust. The genre has never been more popular.

The Genesis was an RPG machine during it's first few years on the market, in spite of its eventual reputation.

"It just turned my crank" lmao great video man, this one was right in my nostalgia pocket!

Love the episode. Did you or Andrew ever try shadowrun on the Genesis?

Awesome video, I just subscribed. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.💯💪🎮

always love a longer video...and videos with Andrew! great work guys. thanks

I bought Landstalker used on a whim for about 11 bucks. Actually found a glitch by accident when trying to escape a puzzle room by standing on top of a rock and clipping into the next room through a locked door.

First time on your channel and I loved the enthusiasm on this video. looking forward to more content!

Phanasty Star 2 , Shining Force 2, and Sword of Vermilion were my three favorite genesis games.

Glad to see Sword of Vermillion and Shining in the Darkness on this list. One thing about Sword of Vermillion that is kind of interesting is that boss fights have their own unique combat mode that is fully side-view with huge sprites. But for me personally, Shining in the Darkness is probably my favourite Genesis RPG. It has some of the same charm that would later epitomize the Shining Force series. And man, the music that plays in the first areas of the dungeon really captures that "marching into battle" feel. I still have all of my hand drawn graph paper maps of each floor of the labyrinth.

Always love your videos. The most refreshing gaming channel. So good.

Nice video, guys! One RPG that I remembered enjoying on the Genesis was Sorcerer's Kingdom. The main character was a little lame, but I remember loving how your party members get promotions (levels up) after every big quest and all the cool equipment you could eventually afford like in Shining in the Darkness.

The great thing about the Genesis is all the excellent compilations. I have the Switch comp and I’ve played almost all the RPGs on it.

These videos are always such good vibes

One of my favorite that you guys didn't mention. Was Kings Bounty. Ioved the video. Looking forward to more videos.

Another great video Andrew and HCG! I’m going to check out those RPGS. I have a Genesis and I need some more games.

Great video. I love RPGs, but since I grew up with the SNES, I never heard about many of those games. I did play Shining Force 2 a lot at a friend's house though. We loved this game

This episode could be 30 minutes just talking about Phantasy Star IV!

you have such great insight into the classics, breathes new life into them.

Phantasy Star IV is by far My Favorite Sega Genesis RPG and My favorite Phantasy Star Game ever... Monster Boy series were always great games... Beyond Oasis is another great one... Another of my personal favorites... So much Nostalgia here.... Thanks, Johnny and Andrew! 👍🏼

Excellent video, Johnny! Apart from the genesis, I must tell you that you have inspired me to play earthbound. Loving it! Also, where is Rob!? Just hoping everything is OK with him. I still love these videos with other friends.

Oh man, this brings back a lot of memories, including games I finished and then totally forgot about. Nice!

Fun List. Phantasy Star II for sure and mostly out of nostalgia. I was 19 with disposable income... did I actually pay $80 for this back in 1990, wow. Yeah, it's not prefect but playing it in early 1990 was something else. Also, it's a rare game my father actually picked up after I beat it and finished all on his own. Also, can't wait to take the time to play Crusader of Centy now that I have the Genesis Mini 2.

Really awesome video, all of these games look so awesome, I'll be sure to check them out

I played Landstalker at the age of 21. It was such a great adventure with tons of secrets. The platform challenge was super frustrating at times. I think I ruined video games for my wife with that one. She was always yelling, "Progress or protest!"

Awesome to hear both of your experiences with those games

Excellent! More Andrew!!! I always enjoy the Johnny and guest episodes. Maybe Andrew got to enjoy some of these other RPGs more than Lunar 🙂

It's not a Sunday without a HappyConsoleGamer video. The only channel where I instantly watch when I see a new video is up because I know I'll come out smiling for sure.

Traysia (Minato no Traysia in Japan) was a great RPG for the Genesis. When my friend was still alive I would spend the night at his dad's house and his dad would take us to rental stores and me and him got to choose one game for the weekend. I chose Traysia, and I did not know how to play it but years later I played it again until a few years ago and understood the game mechanics. Traysia is a good game if you give it a chance.

Phantasy Star IV was my introduction to the series, played handheld on Switch via Genesis Collection. AAA game, has a great time. It sure what to play next in the series.

Great content man keep it coming.

I love it when Andrew comes on the show!

Shinning in the darkness to me was a great experience when you get over the fact that it’s not a traditional game and it’s a straight dungeon crawler.

Fantastic episode!

I love the Phantasy Star games, the Shining games, and The Immortal.

Awesome video guys thank you.

I've been playing the 3 Secret Of Mana games I just finished Final Fantasy Adventure now I'm about more than half way through "The Secret Of Mana" game, I've had the games for a long time but didnt think I would like it but since I dedicated some time into figuring out how to play them and now I love the games! I really wish they made more retro ACTION RPGs and JRPGs those are my favorite style of RPGs

Always good to see Andrew on the show! He reminds me of my best gamer friend growing up.

I was planning on getting more Genesis games since I’ve gotten a 3D printer and can print cartridge organizers. This video came just in time, thanks!

+100 for mentioning Warsong... You are the man

Awesome episode 👏 I remembered playing all the the phantasy games and shinning force games and beating them great memories of my youth

A great list of games and a great conversation about them. I want to add everything unplayed here to my backlog!

Awesome video guys 😎!

Loved the episode 👍

Fatal Labyrinth was always an action RPG that I loved back in the Genesis days. Really need to find myself a copy.

I have planned to purchase several games from this list on cartridges in the near future. Thank you for boosting my resolve to purchase them! =)