Today I went out a bought a Sega Genesis. (But, Inquisitor, you must be crazy! That system is nearly twenty years old!)Yes, I know that, but... well, all these years when I could have been playing games, I have not, so now I feel that I should try to catch up with the rest of ya. Besides, the thing cost only $85, so I figure I got a deal. I picked up FIFA Soccer '96 and Gain Ground with the console, and I am having a blast with both.

Good buy, the Mega Drive was my first console and I still occasionally set it up for an evening. I'd recommend getting hold of the Sonic series, Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Streets of Rage 1&2, Revenge of Shinobi, Ecco the Dolphin, NBA Jam, Desert Strike, Comix Zone, Golden Axe... Well, lets just say its a very large list.

Alex the Kidd is worth a visit, great little adventure game. I second the sonic series, at least 1 and 2. (play them in order if you can, you'll appreciate the changes, but it would be harder going back the other way) I personally didn't like Ecco, it's gorgeous, fun to play for a little while, but I couldn't get into it. Bubsy the cat came out for SNES too but if you missed it, It's clever and fun. I spent a ton of hours in Super Hang On too. (I'm a sucker for upgrading my stuff over time.) ooh! Zombies ate my neighbors, another good choice. I never played any of the Phantasy Star series, but I've heard good things, so it may be worth a look.

:)

Inquisitor94:
Today I went out a bought a Sega Genesis. (But, Inquisitor, you must be crazy! That system is nearly twenty years old!)Yes, I know that, but... well, all these years when I could have been playing games, I have not, so now I feel that I should try to catch up with the rest of ya. Besides, the thing cost only $85, so I figure I got a deal. I picked up FIFA Soccer '96 and Gain Ground with the console, and I am having a blast with both.

You could have saved yourself the cash and tried emulation.

Vectorman is the best game to come out on that system. I played it from the time that it was released until the PS2 game Final Fantasy X came out, which became my new obsession. No, seriously, it was awesome. If they made it for the DS, it would sell billions. :O

JUNGLE STRIKE. Actually, I shoulda put that one on my "five games you must play" list on the other thread.

Jungle Strike is about as good as videogames get. I've had it for years - probably well over a decade in fact - and I still play it occasionally. Desert Strike was too slow, Urban Strike had the annoying "on foot" sections, but Jungle Strike was perfection. (Well, apart from the Stealth Fighter. That sucked, but you could finish off most of the level by helicopter anyway so it didn't matter too much.) I would 100% recommend this to any gaming fan with a Genesis.

emulation on a PC just doesn't do it for a console experience. I find that the Wii does a good job though- I purchased several oldies there.

Oh, agree about "Revenge of Shinobi", "Gunstar Heroes" and "Golden Axe", and I'd also recommend "Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition", although make sure you get a copy with a manual. ("Super SF2" had four extra characters but they were pretty crap, as were the music and other options available in the game, so don't go for that one.)

What else...? "Probotector" was pretty good if you go in for fighting giant robots, "Shadow Dancer" was a particularly good "strategic" platformer with some pretty good scares at times and a surprisingly varied amount of gameplay - one minute you're creeping forward sending your dog to grab your enemies' throats, the next you're fighting obscene numbers of dog-resistant evil ninjas on a lift up the side of the Statue of Liberty. It had spectacular music and graphics too. "Sonic 2" is probably the best of the Sonic games although "Sonic 3" and "Sonic and Knuckles" are worth playing if you can get a hold of 'em. "Mega lo Mania" is good but you need the manual - there's no way you'll be able to get the best out of this game without it.

As for Streets of Rage, #3 really faffed up the presentation and front-end something rotten, but it's easily the best of the three gameplay-wise. And all three Streets of Rage games are worth buying for Yuzo Koshiro's music alone (come to think of it, he also did "Shadow Dancer" and "Revenge of Shinobi". Koshiro's name on the soundtrack pretty much guranteed quality back then.) Erm... one more... "Quackshot starring Donald Duck". Easily the best Disney adaptation on the Genesis, and a superb game in its own right. (Run screaming from anything starring Mickey Mouse - "Castle of Illusion" in particular springs to mind, its collision detection and control systems were appalling and frequently had me slamming my controller down in frustration. This in a game meant for kids!)

What to avoid: the original "Sonic the Hedgehog" is worth getting for curiosity's sake, but it's really a pretty bad game - you're constantly running into badly-placed enemies that there's no time to avoid unless you slow right down, which pretty much defeats the purpose, also the revolving special stages are terrible... "Sword of Sodan" deserves its own special place in hell... Pretty much any comic book adaptation is guaranteed to be mediocre at best, terrible at worst... and, "Phantasy Star 2" excepted, don't even consider the RPGs. It's not what the Genesis did best.

Hope that helps!

The fact thing still runs is a reason not emulate. the mega drive i've got has coke split on it 3 times (while running) and has had the hell beaten out of it, yet still graces my tv with road rash makes me appreciate old games even more. Can't so much as cough near newer sytems without them breaking (possibly save the DS).

Though nilcypher might have a point. playing coloums while browsing is so much fun =)

The original Jurassic Park is a worthy title. You can play as either Dr.Grant, and use a varied arsenal to take down dino's, or you can play as velociraptor and jump and claw your way through creatures and people.

Sonic 2 is the best game for the system, in my opinion. The levels are awesome, the bosses are great, and it has some of the best storytelling in a game to date. An evil doctor has launched a full scale attack on the island you were vacationing on, capturing your animals friends, so now its up to you and your newfound fox friend "Tail's" to free them all. Sky chase zone, Winged Fortress and the Death egg are a good enough reason on their own to get the game. It also features the best bonus stages, and marks the first appearance and playability of supersonic.

You'd probably like Sid Meier's Pirates, it's a fantastic game. If you like Fire Emblem at all, you should check out Shining Force (especially the second one).

I found my genesis on the side of the road...

I cannot recommend ecco the dolphin highly enough, but you will get frustrated, the game is hard, large and at times very annoying

golden axe, shinobi, columns, super hang on, world cup italia and streets of rage are all available in the one cartrige, get it!

all of the "real" sonic games, that 1,2,3 and Kuckles.

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle is a ball to play, and if you can find it, grab a copy of the original Mortal Kombat

one more thing, find a 6 button controller. they make life a LOT easier

Yeah, definately get hold of a 6 button controller. They make games like street fighter, comix zone and mortal kombat actually possible to play.

I have to completely disagree with TheMadDoctorsCat above about the original Sonic. I played it after sonic 2, 3 and knuckles and still really liked the game. The inclusion of the spin dash in the later ones made life a lot easier but look past that and you'll find some incredibly good level design, and most enemies can be avoided by holding down on the dpad when running so sonic spins along the group while maintaining speed. I also find it to be more challenging than the later ones (remember scrap brain and labyrinth zone? Evil)and the special stage system means its not possible to have all the chaos emeralds by the third or fourth zone like sonic 2. But thats just my opinion. I'm sure someone will disagree with me too. :P

Red Shadow:

I have to completely disagree with TheMadDoctorsCat above about the original Sonic.

indeed, sonic 2 and more 3 really up the ante - very good level design

Red Shadow:
Yeah, definately get hold of a 6 button controller. They make games like street fighter, comix zone and mortal kombat actually possible to play.

I have to completely disagree with TheMadDoctorsCat above about the original Sonic. I played it after sonic 2, 3 and knuckles and still really liked the game. The inclusion of the spin dash in the later ones made life a lot easier but look past that and you'll find some incredibly good level design, and most enemies can be avoided by holding down on the dpad when running so sonic spins along the group while maintaining speed. I also find it to be more challenging than the later ones (remember scrap brain and labyrinth zone? Evil)and the special stage system means its not possible to have all the chaos emeralds by the third or fourth zone like sonic 2. But thats just my opinion. I'm sure someone will disagree with me too. :P

No problem, forums exist so people can disagree with each other. :) As long as you don't start jumping around and calling me a "n00b" I think I can handle it!

Definitely agree with Shadow about one thing though - six button controller rocks the socks off the best of Genesis' fighting games (which make up a lot of its best games anyway.)

Red Shadow:
Good buy, the Mega Drive was my first console and I still occasionally set it up for an evening. I'd recommend getting hold of the Sonic series, Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Streets of Rage 1&2, Revenge of Shinobi, Ecco the Dolphin, NBA Jam, Desert Strike, Comix Zone, Golden Axe... Well, lets just say its a very large list.

You are my child hood. Although you missed out one game in your list. Splatter House! Thats was the best game on the Mega Drive.

Red Shadow:
...and the special stage system means its not possible to have all the chaos emeralds by the third or fourth zone like sonic 2...

Third or fourth zone? You can get all 7 by the end of Act 2 of the Emerald Hill Zone if you're really trying, though that's probably showing that I've played the game an unhealthy amount of times... :P

Anyway, to get back on topic, try Mega SWIV if you like scrolling shoot-em-ups - it's a hard game, but one that still seems fair while playing. The choice of using either a helicopter or a jeep, both with their advantages and disadvantages (along with a few extra vehicles in certain stages to add to the variety), allows for some added replay value - and 2 player mode allows one player to use each vehicle, of course, though this may lead to arguments over who gets particular weapon powerups.

Phantasy Star II. Dunno if you're into JRPG's...but it's a good one.

I found Ranger X to be quite a tolerable game for the Genesis. Oh and X-men.

i nearly forgot, get Toejam and Earl (both of them) and any game with Mutant League in the title

EARTHWORM JIM 1 and 2, if you can find them.

Also, putting my vote in for sonic 2 and 3. Sonic and Knuckles is also really fun to play and you can put Sonic 2 or 3 and play as Knuckles in them! (knuckles exclusively in sonic 2 if you attach sonic 2 to sonic and knuckles):D

Contra Hard Corps.
Thunder Force 3.
Lightening Force.

I still have and play mine. Primal Rage is a must have.

Get Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles if you can find them. Awesome games though they are out in the Mega Collection which probably costs next to nothing now...

very cool :) the genesis was my fist system and i still have it. i play it quite a lot actually. there's a lot of games that are still genuinely fun.
1.Gunstar Heroes
2.Streets of Rage
3.Vectorman
4.Street Fighter II
5.Golden Axe
6.Any of the Shinobis

Gunstar Heroes. Buy it. Enjoy the Explsoions. My all time favorite game.
Revolution X. If you like Aerosmith, chicks, guns and CD's for bombs. You will love this game.
Sonic 1-3 and Sonic Spinball.
Splatterhouse Series
Vector Man

Twenty-eightthing anything involving the Sonic series or Vectorman, or Earthworm Jim, in the sense I don't feel like looking back to see how many recommendations for each there are, so I choose 28th. Also, Garfield: Caught in the Act if you want your ass handed to you be something that looks and sounds innocent and easy.

$85 seems a might steep for a Genesis and two games, but I wouldn't actually know, not being in the market for one so long as mine holds out. However, I agree: emulators are all fine and good, but the original system, the original controller, there is a certain je ne sais quoi that simply cannot be recreated.

Still one of the best consoles of all time, but maybe that's because it's the first I ever played.

Two words:
Fantastic Dizzy.

If only you could save the thing. Why can't you?
If anyone knows how to save and I am being super dumb, please let me know. Because I have spent around 10 years thinking 'How did anyone complete this?'

Other than that try Micro Machines (any except the original one), the Sonic series, Psycho Pinball (best pinball game ever) and Mega Games 2 (which has Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and Revenge of Shinobi on it)

Get all the Sonic games, earthworm Jim, Street fighter 2. Whatever you do, make sure you get Ristar..it's genius.

I gotta say, considering that the Genesis was only 100 bucks 15 or so years ago, I think you got ripped off (I know where I can get one for 25), but it is a great system. As for games, I think most people here have pretty much covered what you should get. Sonic, Gunstar, Vectorman, Earthworm Jim, NBA Jam, and The Lost Vikings are all great. If you go for any fighters, you NEED the 6 button controller (I tried to play Clayfighters with a 3 button controller, and it was really weird, you had to press start to switch between kicks and punches).

khufu23:
Two words:
Fantastic Dizzy.

If only you could save the thing. Why can't you?
If anyone knows how to save and I am being super dumb, please let me know. Because I have spent around 10 years thinking 'How did anyone complete this?'

Yes! Fantastic Dizzy is a must buy!
The lack of saving was ridiculous though.
I never completed it but I got to that gay ass level at the end where the wizard chucks balls at you down some stairs. That was the only part of the game that sucked but it did suck hard. And those stars were a bitch to get.

Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2! Find it. It is AWESOME.
Also get Shaq Fu for laughs.

Toejam & Earl is a classic too.

I also remember this one game I once rented which totally blew me away, but I don't know the title. It was kind of a Streets of Rage-esque game where you could choose from 4 dudes which looked like either a pirate with shades or Indiana Jones. You could use guns and the boss was a dude in a top hat that transforms into a whirling ball of alien death after he's defeated. Oh man I have to find that game again. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please drop me a line.

Every sonic game i loved on that console(although one is not the best IMO) but im just a sonic fanboy... a 2Dsonic fanboy, and i still have mine, i loved the game "dinosaurs for hire" it was so fun at the time, and Shinobi was just fantastic.

Also try:
General Chaos
Comix Zone
Micro Machines 2/96 (96 has a track editor)