It's an interesting discussion point - the definition of "hidden gem" really varies from person to person and is entirely based on their familiarity with the console. We have to keep in mind that many viewers are younger, and were simply not alive at the time of the Genesis/MegaDrive's release - and so have very little exposure to what was available; many casual viewers (which is the bulk of this channel's audience) only have a passing knowledge. So they'll know the big games (the Sonics, the Shining Tears, etc) - but not much anything outside that. There's a link in the description to the "full" version of this video - I invite you to jump in on the comments section there and discuss!

I delved for so long on the "hidden gem" category of old consoles that even some of the super obscure japanese-only titles don't feel neglected enough to be taken as "hidden gems," but the reality is that most people just know about Sonic and a few other IPs that managed to survive for a bit longer, like Shining Force, Mortal Kombat or Phantasy Star. Granted, the console has been discontinued for so many years now, that the entire (limited) database of titles is bound to get more and more recognition as time goes by, devaluating the meaning of the term "hidden gem." The same happens with PSX/PS2 and other outstanding consoles. On Gameboy (Advance, Color, etc.) there is even a special anomaly, the Pokemon franchise. Which is so numerous and popular that it eclipses almost the entire Gameboy library, making most other great IPs feel like hidden gems. However, I believe that most games here are indeed Hidden Gems. My reasoning is that it's kinda hard to find them featured in most rom sites (where only the most popular titles are showcased first.) Imo, if a newcomer has to actually input the name of a game to find it, that'd be fairly enough to consider such game to be a Hidden Gem (if it's good.) Because, let's be honest, exploring the Sega Genesis library is a super niche thing to do. As Gary said, it's a great topic to discuss. Sorry if I wrote too much.

Well said! Although, I wouldn't necessarily agree that the exploring the Genesis/MegaDrive is "super niche" - it was a wildly popular console at the time and some of us old fogies have fond memories of it ... and deeply enjoy diving in! You also raise a really good point in that "hidden gem" videos have been created for years - (the video I linked in above is actually one I created myself several years ago) - and this indeed does devalue some hidden gems. Basically, any retro library, given enough time - will eventually have all its hidden gems rooted out ... but only for those people who really pay attention to this sort of thing. When I made the initial video a few years ago, I was moderately versed in the MegaDrive library. I owned one, but didn't spend as much time on it as I would have liked (cartridges were crazy expensive). I also read the various magazines (Mean Machines, EGM, VGCE, CVG), so I had a generally good idea of what was popular/trending at the time. So while by no means was I an expert on the MDG library, I had some reasonable exposure. And thusly, I believe I was somewhat qualified to make a judgment call of what would/would not be well known/popular. Hence my classification of "hidden gem". Well, that and also trawling dozens of message boards on various internet sites - looking for threads on "hidden gems". That's how the initial list was assembled; a combination of personal experience and research!

You always apply such a classic, methodical approach to your research and as a MD/Genesis addict, I greatly appreciate this list! Looking forward to more of your videos in the new year!

The description (and pinned comment) has a link to a longer cut of this video.

@@GaryRetroGamer Ah my bad

Check the pinned comment (or the description) for a link to the full video - with the titles.