I'm not sure I like the Sega CD

[Anayo]

I decided to try out as much of the Sega CD's library as I could on my soft modded Wii. I like Android Assault, Sylpheed, and Road Avenger, but many other games disappointed me, even the critically acclaimed ones. All I could think about was better games on the regular old Genesis.

Popful Mail has cute cut scenes and voice acting, but the controls are clumsy. I don't like how you can't change your direction in mid-air. Beating bosses feels more like rote memorization instead of actual skill. Also the screen "rubber bands" when I move, trailing behind Mail rather than centering on her, so I can't see so far ahead to avoid hazards. As far as platformers go, I'd much rather be playing Castlevania: Bloodlines. It controls better and the setting, enemies, and power ups are all way cooler.

In Lunar: the Silver Star the CD quality music is cool and the setting is cute, but the combat gives me so little control over my party and such meager strategic considerations that it hardly feels like I'm playing. I prefer combat like Chrono Trigger or Pokemon with rock-paper-scissors relationships to consider. That's an unfair comparison, since those came out years later, but even Shining Force, released on cartridge around the same time, has better in-game artwork, and it just feels more fun to me. I guess when I move my guys around on a grid the battles feel like something more than a back-and-forth series of dice rolls.

Final Fight CD just isn't even in the same league as Streets of Rage II. The background artwork is well done, but the character animation is stiff and the two-button controls feel primitive. The CD quality audio is nice but it doesn't hold a candle to SOR2's FM synth tunes. I don't even think Final Fight can compete with Turtles in Time on the SNES, released the same year.

Keio Flying Squadron was cute in a fanservicey early 90's anime kind of way, but while playing all I could think about was MUSHA.

It seems to me all the Sega CD accomplished was adding video clips and CD quality audio to games which basically could have been played on the Sega Genesis. The exception would be those with lots of Mode 7 special effects, like Batman Returns or Thunderhawk. I still intend to play Snatcher but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[MrPopo]

You should check out Shining Force CD. It's an up-rez of the first two GG titles plus a bonus chapter.

[Xeogred]

You're comparing so many games to other games... why not make comparisons to other versions of the same game? I don't think the CD library is extensive enough to get too crazy about. I mainly like that with some Genesis ports we get alternate CD quality music and that it got some nice arcade ports.

Certainly better than the 32X. But both are weird systems and are hard to place somewhere in terms of what they were doing and competing with.

[Anayo]

You're comparing so many games to other games... why not make comparisons to other versions of the same game? I don't think the CD library is extensive enough to get too crazy about. I mainly like that with some Genesis ports we get alternate CD quality music and that it got some nice arcade ports.

Certainly better than the 32X. But both are weird systems and are hard to place somewhere in terms of what they were doing and competing with.

I think my inspiration for this was playing Castlevania Rondo of Blood for the PC Engine CD via Dracula X on the PSP. Before I was really dismissive of 16-bit CD-ROM game consoles, but it made me wonder if I was missing out on something.

Also, my love of the Genesis gets out of hand sometimes. ^^;

[pepharytheworm]

What other games on the system have you tried?

There are several Genesis ports that have many improvements. Earthworm Jim: Special Edition, Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side, Ecco the Dolphin, Ecco: The Tides of Time, Batman Returns, the Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin, 3 Ninjas Kick Back, Brutal: Paws of Fury, Chuck Rock, Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck, Cliffhanger, Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse, Puggsy, Sol-Feace among several others. While not all of them are great and some have better ports on other consoles I think would most agree are better on Sega CD over the Genesis.

Some of my personal favorites I feel you should try if you haven't yet.
Vay
Snatcher
Lords of Thunder
Rise of the Dragon
Robo Aleste
Shining Force CD
Soulstar
Space Adventure - Cobra, The: The Legendary Bandit
AH-3 Thunderstrike
The Terminator

If you compare this system to the genesis or snes of course it can't compete. But there is a lot to love about the Sega CD

[nightrnr]

Sega CD is a Like or Hate thing, in my experience.
I personally like the thing. But you do have to have an appreciation of the quaint, odd, strange, and/or quirky.

To be honest, I've not fully explored the library, even though I've had access to a lot of it for years.

As for gems in the software catalog, your results will vary.

Odd to me that you mentioned "I don't like how you can't change your direction in mid-air" and then talk about Castlevania in the same paragraph (do any of the classic Castlevania games allow direction change in jumps?).

Also odd that you mentioned MUSHA and not Robo Aleste, since it's in the same series.
Personally, I liked Robo Aleste at least as much as MUSHA, even if it is inferior in design. Music was awesome, and the look and feel was just more epic to me.
Also played it a lot and way before I ever found a copy of MUSHA, so there's a lot of nostalgia there for me. It's one of my favorite shmups.

Lunar is archaic in design I admit, but just tickles me in some way. Plus it's different enough from the remake to be a different game altogether. I personally liked the battle system, as it had all your characters out on the field and you could see their position, interaction, and proximity to danger (unlike other classic RPG's that keep you guessing).
Lunar 2 on the other hand, is impressive on any system, IMHO. Do give that a chance and due credit. I played that when I had access to very few RPG's and was in role playing heaven.

I will gladly list my other favorites (a good dozen) if egged on ...
So far, my common ground with Anayo is Android Assault.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I like the Sega CD but the game library is vastly inferior to what you'll find on the regular ass Genesis. Contrast this to this TurboGrafx CD, which had a better set of games than the vanilla TG16.

I agree that the RPGs aren't as great as they appear at first glance. The Lunar games are quaint and adorable but the gameplay doesn't hold up. Popful Mail is pretty janky and further marred by some questionable localization. Vay is a devastatingly boring and plodding Dragon Quest rehash. Haven't tried the non-Working Designs stuff sadly.

[Anayo]

Odd to me that you mentioned "I don't like how you can't change your direction in mid-air" and then talk about Castlevania in the same paragraph (do any of the classic Castlevania games allow direction change in jumps?).

Maybe I should go back and try Castlevania again to see what's up, but in Castlevania I don't remember accidentally crashing into stuff cause I'd jump in a certain direction and couldn't see where I was landing.

I like the Sega CD but the game library is vastly inferior to what you'll find on the regular ass Genesis. Contrast this to this TurboGrafx CD, which had a better set of games than the vanilla TG16.

Yeaaaah I think that's why I got disappointed. I was expecting the Sega CD to be the PC Engine/TG16 CD.

[strangenova]

This is funny because I've been debating getting a sega cd and collecting for it. My local retro gaming store has a small collection of CIB sega cd games that he sells for cheap because no one around here buys them. I've been debating buying them up and then getting a sega cd for myself.

If I can find even a dozen games I enjoy for the console then I'll be happy with it.

[Kidpanda]

Sega cd prices are getting silly. A fatal fury special sold for like 300 bucks on eBay not long ago. A vastly inferior port. Don't waste your time on the sega cd. I have like 50 games on it and sold keio for 700 as its a lackluster game.