Entry Level Genesis Games for a Sega Noob

[PretentiousHipster]

I have a confession to make: I practically haven't played any Sega games. The only one I could think of is Panzer Dragoon when I unlocked it when finishing Orta.

A few months ago I went to a flea market and found a genesis along with some mostly useless games for $50. Left my job for medical reasons shortly after so couldn't get any games for it. Now that I got a part-time job I'm willing to slowly start increasing my collection.

The few articles on this website, most notably the defining games and cheap games are useful, but I find the latter to be outdated as when I looked at some prices they were a lot more than listed in the article.

What I'm wondering is, what genesis games would you recommend to someone who is completely new to it? I'm mostly thinking about the more accessible ones that will get me hooked into digging deeper, stuff that is defining (but as a hipster I absolutely love the hidden gems as well), and ones that are not too expensive as my resources are still limited.

So far, this is the list I have with research on this site and forum, and some youtube videos. I haven't checked the prices on all of them though so some may be too expensive.

Aladdin
Sonic Games
Phantasy Star Series
World Series Baseball
Ecco Games
Road Rash II
NBA Jam
Ristar
The Adventures of Batman and Robin
Batman the Video Game
Mickey Mania
Gemfire
Rocket Knight Adventures
Crusader of Centy
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Chiki Chiki Boys
Castle and World of Illusion
Shadowrun
Beyond Oasis
Shining Force II
NHL 94
Comix Zone
Toejam and Earl
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Flashback

Anything to expand on this? Greatly appreciate the help.

[SpaceBooger]

I'm not sure of your gaming preferences, but I would recommend any of the two Shining Force games if you can get a copy of one. To me, they are the best games on the system. The games are nothing like any other game I have played. I don't like most real-time strategy games because of the management details that seem to drag on and Shining Force doesn't have that. You get your characters each one can move so many spaces and attack so many spaces per turn. The detailed management is standard for a 16 bit traditional RPG - win a battle use the gold to buy new weapons and you can upgrade/promote your class at level 10 (I recommend power leveling and not promoting until level 15-20). The story is ok for the time... It's no FF2, but it is enough to entertain you between battles. It feels more like a tabletop RPG and there are no other games like it - I don't agree with the Fire Emblem comparisons... they have totally different vibe and gameplay style.

Oh, and you need to play Sonic 2 & Streets of Rage

[alienjesus]

Here's my personal 'must-play' list to keep it short, and then a set of stuff you absolutely should play too. I don't know what prices are like now as I've owned some of these for decades and I'm also in a different region to you, but what I'd say about Mega Drive games is that most of the best ones are very accessible on compilations and collections even if you cant afford the original cartridge. I mostly quite enjoyed playing through the 51(!) games on the Switch collection last year, and there are similar collections on PS2, PSP, PS3, PS4, XBox 360 and XBox One.

Must play - these should be the first 3 games you play on the system imo:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (and 1, 3 & Knuckles later if you can, but definitely 2 first)
Streets of Rage 2 (1 & 3 are decent too)
Gunstar Heroes


Other great stuff:
Castle of Illusion & World of Illusion
Quackshot
Golden Axe
Alisia Dragoon
Rocket Knight Adventures
Shining Force 1 & 2
Chiki Chiki Boys
Castlevania Bloodlines
Contra Hard Corps
Dynamite Headdy
Ranger X
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Ristar
Revenge of Shinobi & Shinobi III
Decap Attack



Also worth consideration, but maybe more niche:
Ecco the Dolphin
Shining in the Darkness
Light Crusader
Gauntlet 4
Columns III
Toejam & Earl

[Ziggy]

Castlevania Bloodlines is exclusive to the Genesis and a must play if you're a fan of the series. Even if you're not a huge Castlevania fun, it's still a great side scrolling hack and slash action platformer. It might be a little on the tough side, but if you put it on easy and Google passwords that start you with 9 lives on each level it'll wont be too hard. It's a little pricey right now though. It's part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, but that's doesn't help if you're set on using your authentic Genesis.

[opa]

If you can find one for dirt cheap, grab a copy of the "Genesis 6-Pak". It is probably the best bang for the buck as you get an instant Genesis collection on one cart. It contains Golden Axe, Sonic 1, Streets of Rage, Columns, Super Hang-On, and Revenge of Shinobi. Cart-only it seems to average between $6-10 on ebay. Not too bad considering that's $1-$1.68 a game. Plus it'd save some space.

[pierrot]

Your entry level games are going to be things like:

Aladdin
Sonic 1
Sonic 2
Revenge of Shinobi
Streets of Rage
Ecco the Dolphin
Vectorman
Kid Chameleon
Bonanza Brothers
Flicky
Mickey Mania
Mortal Kombat
Thunder Force II
World of Illusion
Strider
Golden Axe
etc.


Not many of these are really the best the console has to offer, though (actually, I wouldn't say any of them are, although the first Streets of Rage is really great, and World of Illusion and Mickey Mania are pretty fun).

Your primo Genesis games are going to look like:

Ristar
Crusader of Centy
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (you can't really have one without the other)
Thunder Force III
Lightening Force
Beyond Oasis
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Monster World IV
Pulseman
Streets of Rage 2
Shinobi III
Shining Force
Shining Force II
Phantasy Star IV
Warsong
Ranger X
Rocket Knight Adventures
Contra Hard Corps
Castelvania Bloodlines
Gunstar Heroes
Dynamite Headdy
Comix Zone
Adventures of Batman and Robin
Battle Mania
Battle Mania Daiginjou
Gley Lancer
Elemental Master
Eliminate Down
Fire Shark
Musha
Panorama Cotton
Truxton
Twinkle Tale
Shadowrun
McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure (holy shit did this game get expensive!)
Alien Soldier
The Punisher
Mega Turrican
Splatterhouse 2
Splatterhouse 3
TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist
Dragon's Fury
Alisia Dragoon
Castle of Illusion
Quackshot
Chiki Chiki Boys
Earthworm Jim
Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie



There are tons of other games that are potentially worth looking into, also, like High Sea Havoc, or Mystic Fighters, Magical Taruru~to Kun, Jewel Master, Valis 3, Rolling Thunder 2, Rainbow Island Extra, Mystic Defender, Toejam and Earl, Wiz 'n' Liz, X-Men 2, Landstalker, Dahna, El Viento, etc, etc, etc, but generally they're still prohibitively expensive, and not as easy to recommend.


I also need to point out that the best RPGs on the console are actually:

Surging Aura
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes I & II
Madou Monogatari I
Rent-a-Hero
Light Crusader

Almost none of them are available in English, though. Light Crusader is a bit of a divisive game, but the Genesis version is still pretty cheap, and the truth of the matter is that it's easily one of the best games on the console.

You'll see a lot of people pointing out Phantasy Star II and III, but neither is inexpensive (the original game is also technically on the console, but it's a Japaneses exclusive, and literally just the Mark III/Master System version). The problem is that Phantasy Star IV is the most polished, and the one that fits in line with people's more "modern" sensibilities these days, but it's very expensive, and you'd get the most out of it if you played the four games in sequence. I personally don't think it's worth it, though. It's kind of average. Also, the original Phantasy Star is still very good, but if you aren't used to old 8-bit RPGs, you'll probably run into problems. I think the second game might be the best of the series in terms of story, but most people would give up on that one, and if they did actually finish it, they would almost certainly give up on Phantasy Star III (because it's super jank). So, honestly, I'd just pump the breaks on those games. They're not as essential these days, unless you're a hardcore fan of Sega, or something.


Also, I'd recommend checking out this Game Sack video, if you haven't before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhMO5QnRNvo, It's not comprehensive, but it's at least goes into a bit more detail on a wide range of games for the system.

[PretentiousHipster]

Thanks so much guys. My list is getting quite large now and I am definitely looking forward to it.

Slightly off topic, but I found out that my associated costs with employment like the tb skin test and all that will be reimbursed. The classified website I use has a sega saturn with a few games for sale for $220 CAD. Tempted to get that and delay getting the genesis games until march/april.

[dsheinem]

Thanks so much guys. My list is getting quite large now and I am definitely looking forward to it.

Slightly off topic, but I found out that my associated costs with employment like the tb skin test and all that will be reimbursed. The classified website I use has a sega saturn with a few games for sale for $220 CAD. Tempted to get that and delay getting the genesis games until march/april.

If money is tight, collecting good/cheap Genesis games is way easier than collecting good/cheap Saturn games (unless you set yourself up to play Saturn imports, which is a little cheaper)...

[PretentiousHipster]

Thanks so much guys. My list is getting quite large now and I am definitely looking forward to it.

Slightly off topic, but I found out that my associated costs with employment like the tb skin test and all that will be reimbursed. The classified website I use has a sega saturn with a few games for sale for $220 CAD. Tempted to get that and delay getting the genesis games until march/april.

If money is tight, collecting good/cheap Genesis games is way easier than collecting good/cheap Saturn games (unless you set yourself up to play Saturn imports, which is a little cheaper)...

Hmm, with the job I can spare around $125 CAD a month for video games and books, but mostly the former. The saturn deal comes with a cartridge that lets you play burned discs. I am pro-piracy, but am against it for video games for some reason, but perhaps that could be a decent option until my income increases?

[Ziggy]

So I know collectors like to... collect, and therefor aren't usually keen on flash carts. But I have to recommend getting a flash cart! You can enjoy the games NOW, and find out which ones you really want to buy and which ones you can pass on. This is especially useful for the pricier carts. The entry level Mega Everdrive X3 is $54 and fulfilled by Amazon. It can play damn near every Genesis game, as well as Sega Master System games (it works like a Power Base Converter). It can also play 32X games if you have the 32X system.

https://krikzz.com/store/home/45-mega-everdrive-x3.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079X463L3