I’m with ya Ian! Part of loving the Sega Genesis is knowing the history of what Sega had to do in order to overcome the iron grip Nintendo had on the video game industry which ultimately led to publishers and developers expanding & providing incredible games like never before regardless of what console they were on. Nintendo (I also love) may have revitalized the industry but Sega made it better for all of us. Just my opinion

Describing Beyond Oasis as a Zelda clone is doing it a massive disservice! It's by Yuzo Koshiro's team and has combat with multiple weapons and melee combat that has echoes of Streets of Rage. Plus a fantastic soundtrack. Incidentally what I would actually describe as "Sega's Zelda" is Crusader of Centy, although that's also a brilliant game in its own right!

My favorite Genesis game is Pirates Gold; a true hidden gem. I also enjoy both Splatterhouse games.

They overstated the shortness of Hyperstone Heist. It did have less levels than Turtles in Time, but the levels were much longer. Hyperstone Heist is about 15 minutes longer than Turtles in Time. But I do agree with Ian, the movement and control of the turtles is so fluid on Hyperstone Heist, more so than Turtles in Time. However, I prefer the level variety of Turtles in Time.

Disappointed that Herzog Zwei didn't get more than just the mention on the online list. Still to this day my favorite game

Hyperstone Heist is like the dessert of a three course TMNT meal next to Turtles in Time, TMNT 3 Manhattan Project, and TMNT The Arcade. Kudos to Ian for bringing the Genesis thunder!!!

It’s adorable how Pat is clearly a veteran of the console wars

Aladdin, earthworm Jim, Micky mania, Contra hardcore.

Sega Genesis is the greatest console of all time.

Yes! So happy you listed Sonic and Knuckles III. That was my absolute favorite growing up.

Why dioes Pat always seem to be proud of having not played certain Mega Drive games?

Ian had some solid choices for sure, Genesis had so many great games, it's impossible to make anything smaller than a Top 100, at least for me.

Ecco the Dolphin does not get enough love. The Sega CD versions of Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco The Tides of Time are easily my favorite games on any Sega console ever.

Phantasy Star IV is great, it's one of my all time favorite JRPGs. It is a long game but it never feels like it drags.

Phantasy Star IV and Shining Force II😌

X-Men 2 never gets any love but I still play it on the regular🤷🏻‍♂️

Kid Chameleon and Shadowrun

Great list. To me Gunstar Heroes is one of the greatest on the system. also, Gain Ground does have coop, and tends to be more methodic than other shooters, so that's a bonus.

Phantasy Star IV isn't too long, Ian. In fact, I'd say that its pacing is one of its best qualities. Highly recommended.

I love how when Ian named a game Pat's response was almost always just "I haven't played it" lol this was a great topic though 👍

Damn... Pat's never even heard of Gain Ground before. He really wasn't kidding about not being a Genesis guy lol cus that game is pretty much legendary among Sega fans. Every true Sega fan in existence knows of that game.

Sonic the Hedgehog Trilogy, OutRun, Shadow Dancer, Phantasy Star 4, Street of Rage, Vectorman 2, Ristar, Columns, Golden Axe 2 and Thunder Force 2 amd 3 are my most favorite Genesis Game on my opinion

So I'll add in a few of my favorites that few people mention. X-Men 2 Clone Wars, Gaiares, Buster's Hidden Treasure, Air Buster, Fatal Fury 2.

My Top 5 would probably be: - Shining Force 2 - Phantasy Star 4 - Streets of Rage 2 - Sonic 2 - Aladdin

How in the world has Pat, a life long gamer, not played Sonic 3 or Castlevania Blood Lines?

I too grew up with Sega Genesis and I really loved Ghouls and Ghosts!!! Gotta go with Sonic 2!!! Never even had 3! haha

Bio Hazard Battle!!!

Shining Force II is my number 1 game on this system. I seriously can't find anything else that is like it. Fire Emblem is NOT like it because its not open word where you can walk around. I LOVE this game! I need more games like this.

Pirates Gold is an excellent console translation of Sid Mier's Pirates

Shadowrun FTW!

Can't believe Pat has a sealed copy of Bloodlines yet hasn't played it 😳 play the game Godammit

Crusader of Centy is my pick for the best Genesis game. Very good story and great music. To top it all off it is gorgeous to look at. Such an amazing game. My second-favorite would be Elemental Master.

As a Raphael player, that instant manual run button on HH made all the difference! It played faster than TiT as well. Both TMNT games were great. Tournament Fighters is a whole other story. The one time I wanted the same game as the SNES version, and ended up getting something MUCH worse! The only thing great on the Genesis version was the music! Konami was stuck with puny 4Mb carts in the beginning run of their Genesis titles so they could've turned out a lot better - which explains the crummy port of Sunset Riders. Then again, Tiny Toons Buster's Hidden Treasure was also 4Mb and that turned out great! -Rocket Knight Adventures is incredible! Easily my top 5. -Thunder Force 4 was amazing. One of the best OSTs of all time! -Bare Knuckle 3 should be there based on the gameplay improvements and hidden stuff alone! Great list, Ian (...and Pat, of course)!

Not my favorite Genesis game, but the Adventures of Batman and Robin. There's this amazing run and gun game hidden in there behind the insane difficulty that hurts the game.

Browsing the PSN store on my PS3 so many years ago, I saw Moster World IV in English and immediately bought and downloaded it, as I'm a Wonder Boy fan. And oh man, what a port it is, I fell in love with Asha and Pepelegoo, it was just so fun and impressive, can't believe we didn't get this game in the U.S., it's so innovative. Still waiting for my super edition of the PS4 remake from Strictly Limited Games to ship.

Ian's list of great Genesis games: aka games I may need to add to my modded Genesis Mini.

I have had a Mandella effect for the game World of Illusion. I remember as a kid going to my cousins house, who had an SNES, and I still remember playing World of Illusion and loved it. Come to find out, the game was only on Sega Genesis so that has always threw me off. I remembered that game probably 15 years ago and went crazy trying to find a Mickey Mouse SNES game where you have a cape as a weapon and there are Alice in Wonderland characters in the first stage and I could never find it.

Castlevania bloodlines is an amazing game! I totally agree with Ian!

Contra Hard Corps is not just a great genesis game but a great contra game

QuackShot

I'll never forget seeing the Genesis demo unit at Kiddie City back in the day. I heard about the headphone jack and brought my own pair of headphones with me. Thunderforce 2 was in the console and the music blew my freaking mind. I got it that first Christmas after it came out and was a Sega fan boy ever since. Favs are Thunderforce IV, Sonic 2, Streets of Rage 2, Revenge of Shinobi, NHL 94, Golden Axe, Gain Ground, Gunstar Heroes, Target Earth, Ranger X, many more

Sonic 2 & Streets of Rage 2 are GOATs 😍

Awesome list, there's so many great games not mentioned. Adding to IANs list Kid Chameleon and Robocop vs Terminator.

This podcast is so chill to watch.

I think the Zelda on Genisis Pat is referring to is Crusader of Centy that Norm(OIL UP AND HIT THE GYM WITH ME) did a video on.

Bloodlines is the best castlevania... i play it constantly on expert lol

Really these uploads brighten my day

It made me so happy to hear that Ian and I enjoy the same Genesis games!

ian: 'sonic and knuckels 3' pat: at camera death stare.

As for games I played back in the day, my list is pretty short as I was a little young for the genesis console. I mostly played it in the late 90s- early. 00s at a friends house. But we put a lot of time into: Gunstar Heroes Vectorman PAC man 2 (really) TMNT tournament fighters.

Pat just saw you are coming to Sourheast Game Exchange can't wait to finally meet you

I have too many to pick from so my top 2 would be AD&D Warriors of the Eternal Sun... and my fav of all time.. Might and Magic 2 Gates to another world.. Love the lists!!!

I think the dominatrix is the main reason the Alisia Dragoon video got over 500K views...

I remember playing Shining Force on emulator it's a pretty underrated series that's for sure

I think my all-time favorites for the system would have to be Super Fantasy Zone and Vectorman

I went from the NES to the Genesis in my younger days. My favorite games on top of my head are: Sonic 2, Sonic & Knuckles, Mortal Kombat Ultimate, Kid Chameleon, Earthworm Jim 2, Streets of Rage, X-Men, Risk and NBA Jam TE.

I think Sonic and Knuckles was intended to be a part of 3 all along but Sega decided to split it up because of some McDonalds promotion having a strict deadline.

"Crystal Pony" Ian is a freaking Chad.

No love for Dynamite Headdy? Lol

Love Warriors of the Eternal Sun, one of my favorite Genesis soundtracks.

It really is a shame Mr Contri detests Sega so. He would absolutely love games like Bayonetta and Alien isolation but I'm sure he doesn't know they exist

My Genesis Top 10 (11): Castlevania: Bloodlines Crusader of Centy Gunstar Heroes MUSHA Phantasy Star IV Pirates Gold Rocket Knight Adventures Streets of Rage 2 Thunderforce III/IV Just missing out are Haunting Starring Polterguy, Quackshot, Shadowrun, Shadow Master, Shinobi III, Sonic 3, Splatterhouse 2/3, Streets of Rage 1, Trouble Shooter, World of Illusion

Would love to one day see a Homebrew of Hyperstone Heist where the levels & content from Turtles in Time is added back into Hyperstone Heist. How cool would that be?

Ian's analysis of these games is SO ON POINT! TMNT Hyperstone Heist I also agree is a great game but my one criticism is also that it's just too damn short & repetitive because of the cut levels & moves compared to the SNES version. It needed more levels, more enemies & more moves as the enemies were more repetitive & the combat was more basic. There are moves missing such as the screen throw which honestly I see no reason at all why that move was cut or why the Genesis would be incapable of reproducing that effect. In the SNES version the screen throw only consisted of a few frames of animation as the enemy came towards you. Surely they could have made that work on the Genesis. The one thing it has over the SNES version is the game plays a bit more fluid & responsively, probably a side effect of the speedier CPU in the Genesis. Some ppl don't know that the Genesis CPU was actually more powerful than the one in the SNES, however the SNES had the more powerful GPU aka the chip that handles the graphic rendering as well as a more advanced sound chip. That's why the games on the SNES tended to sound more rich & looked a bit prettier & more colorful, although the devs made good use of what the Genesis had & did a good job with it's limited color palette. The SNES was quite the graphical powerhouse for the time but with a slow unimpressive CPU, while the Genesis was using a beast of a CPU but not so impressive graphics hardware. The X68000 CPU used in the Genesis was actually a freaking powerhouse & was used in a lot of arcade machines in the 90's believe it or not. It was far more powerful than the weak CPU in the SNES.

Some good choices. I still need to try Alisia dragoon. I'd throw in truxton...pretty good arcade port.

I agree with many of your picks, especially Shining Force 2. I also love the strategy games like Pirates Gold and Dune Battle of Arrakis.

Hyperstone Heist is also missing the mode 7 stuff from TiT so you can't throw foot soldiers into the screen and the neon night rider level isn't there either.

Did not expect a Thexder reference today

Hell the graphics in Streets of Rage 2 were a big step up from the 1st game. 1 was a great game but 2 is better in literally every way. Streets of Rage 2 is without question the best beat em up game of all time imo, & it's not even close. I have never played a beat em up as fun to play in 2 player Co-Op as this one. Even my non-gamer friends love it. It's the only game I can get most of my friends to play with me.

Great list Ian THUNDER FORCE 4 HAS TO BE THE BEST SHMUP ON THE GEN. LETS NOT FORGET ROADRASH OR CHAKAN. WARSONG ALSO🤟

Beyond Oasis is amazing. Enough Said. Play it if you get the chance. Part top-down fighting game(combos), Part Zelda, Some Puzzles. I would love to see an modern re-telling of this game.

7:50 so that's what that is I didn't know what that animal was🤣

Rocket Knight Adventures is one of my favorites, I've gotten all the way up to the final boss before, but I've never been able to beat it completely. It's a very satisfying challenge.

If Ian’s a big shooter guy, Wings of Wor is great. Creeeeepy art, fun, great music. Though, I never understood why Wor was spelled that way. It was my first ever home console game (had a GB first), got it for Xmas with my Sega and I loved it. It’s actually now worth some uncommon game money. Good eye , mom.

Its crazy to think that, for the 16-bit era, Nintendo made 71 games whilst Sega made 232, more than the triple!

THANK YOU! I had the Sega Channel as a kid. And i bought some of the games i liked off of it (I think SNES was WAAAAAY better than genesis, but I still ended up buying a few genesis games even though I "mained" the SNES). And Gain Ground is the game I never remembered the name of and had been looking for the name for YEARS and no one ever knew what I was talking about. i was starting to think I had made it up ha-ha. I put that in my top 5 Genesis games for sure :) Gain Ground, Land Stalker, Shadowrun (not as good as the SNES one), Toejam and Earl, Beyond Oasis would be my top 5 i think? Genesis just had too many of its big games like Comic Zone, Vectorman, Ecco, Sonic, etc that I thought looked great and had cool concepts, but i thought they sucked or were too hard after playing them a bit. And their counterparts on SNES were just better (Megaman vs Vectorman for example). I hate Sonic, ive never liked a Sonic game.

Gotta throw Decap attack out there!

Gain Ground at the Arcade was my favorite. It's 3 player for arcade .

Steel Empire was a great steam punk shooter

🎵se-ga🎶 Every time I turn on any console, I say whatever its name is just like that.

omfg ian looks like vaush in the thumbnail

as a nintendo kid I appreciate the heck out of this and will be checking out all of these great games

My favorite was the original Streets of Rage, but I played it on the Sega Classics Arcade Collection on the Sega cd.

Monster World 4 is freaking incredible! It is a travesty that game never came out here in the States & was exclusive to Japan for so long. It would have been an absolute gem among the Genesis library. It's my absolute favorite game in the Wonderboy series, even better than Dragon's Trap imo.

Somebody was up early postin'

Was a Nintenkid growing up but had a friend who was a Genisguy so was able to play a bit. Not sure if the best, but I enjoyed most (and added to my collection as an adult) : Castlevania : Bloodlines Aladdin General Chaos Alisia Dragoon Streets of Rage 2 Sonic 2

I absolutely agree with your selection Ian. Solid Konami selections!!!

I loved the Genesis Phantasy Star series. Great endings, too! #Peace!

Phantasy Star IV is my most favorite game of all time! I'm literally designing a Phantasy Star IV setting for the Starfinder roleplaying game as we speak! Ian, you *need* to play Phantasy Star IV!!!

Michael Jackson moon walker is a guilty pleasure

Sonic 2 is kind of like Mario 3, it was just a huge step up from the 1st game & just blew everyone's mind at the time. It was the reason I had to get myself a Genesis back in the day. It's a true masterpiece of a game & has some of the best levels music & gameplay of any Genesis game. It was a true system seller.

My list: 1. Golden Axe 1 2. Mickey Mouse - Castle of Illusion 3. Donald Duck - Quack Attack 4. Sonic 1 5. Tiny Toons - busters hidden treasure 6. Batman 7. Dick Tracy 9. Scitchin 10. Alien 3

Rocket Knight Adventures!

Good thing this is according to Ian and not Pat the "Sega's Not Your Friend" Punk P.S. I didn't get a Genesis of my own until last year and only to play the Mega Drive port of _Sailor Moon_ and _Rolling Thunder 2,_ both via an Everdrive MD

Absolutely loved the Shining Force games growing up. If only we had the Fire Emblem games in the states, man I would have LOVED them to death! The 1st one we ever got aka the self titled Fire Emblem game for the GBA is to this day one of the best games I have ever played. I was HOPELESSLY addicted to that game for years!

Genesis is my favorite console of all time! Love Sonic 2 & Aladdin!

As far as zelda-adjacent games go, I was much more into Landstalker than Beyond Oasis. Love that game. It was from the same company as Shining Force.

Billy down the block

I liked Wiz n Liz

I can give a top 5, with some nostalgia bias and based on titles I’ve played. 1. Gain Ground 2. Batman 3. Valis III 4. Sonic 2 5. Splatterhouse 3