Genesis REVIEWS Report: 10-1
In this report of the top 10 Genesis games according to Retro Sanctuary, we have reached the pinnacle of the Genesis's library, as evidenced by the five games which I reviewed and enjoyed. Even playing Run & Guns, which is a genre I am not typically a fan off, I managed to enjoy Contra: Hard Corps and Gunstar Heroes. While for the genres I have experience with, my only contrarian point is that Sonic 3 is not better than Sonic 2, while it is clear that Phantasy Star IV is the best RPG on the system.
Then there are the games I didn't review, with some being influential masterpieces such as Herzog Zwei and Thunder Force IV, while others such as Ristar being late generation wonders that I perhaps should have reviewed. My only criticism of this list is the inclusion of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition instead of Super Street Fighter II, and I have something to say about that below.
Surprising no one, a whopping 8 games from this list of 10 were published by Sega. Which may not seem as big of a difference to Retro Sanctuary's top 10 SNES games in which 6 games were published by Nintendo, but is actually a big indication of the library's dependency on Sega and lack of strong 3rd part support. Still, this is a strong list of games that are worth looking at.
10- Contra: Hard Corps (1994):
- Genre: Run & Gun.
- Publisher: Konami; Developer: Konami.
And that's a big reason why Hard Corps may be both the best Contra game and the best Run & Gun on the system. There is no two ways about it, Contra: Hard Corps is possibly the best game in the series, and by virtue of that, is one of the best Action games on the Genesis.
Through its addition of branching paths and multiple characters, Hard Corps complements the standard formula of the series and adds to its appeal.
9- Herzog Zwei (1989, 1990):
- Genre: Real-Time Strategy.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Technosoft.
I confess that I made a mistake in not playing and reviewing this game when I initially made these reviews. After all, Herzog Zwei is one of the most influential games on the Genesis, and predates Dune II as the influence behind the RTS genre.
In this game, the "cursor" in a traditional RTS games is the player character piloting a mech, and you can then order the purchase of other units and direct attacks while engaging in combat yourself. All the while, you are fighting with computer for control of resource centers in order to micro-manage your small army and winning the day.
Since the game was made for the Genesis, it was perfectly optimized for the console and did not suffer from being an inferior port like other RTS games that were later ported to it, doubling my mistake in not covering the game at the time.
8- Shining Force II (1994):
- Genre: TRPG.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Sonic! Software Planning.
Bigger in both size and scope, the game does suffer a little from length, but that's only a problem if you don't like what it gives you in the first place. While Shining Force II is only a marginally better game than the first one, its improvements on the margins ensure that a very good Genesis game is even better. Mostly, it shows an ambition in game design that is lacking in many other Genesis games.
Since the Fire Emblem series never had its SNES game localized, I cannot compare them to this game, but against everything else, Shining Force II is clearly the best TRPG game of the 4th Generation of video games.
7- Ristar (1995):
- Genre: Platformer.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Sega.
Unlike with Herzog Zwei, I won't readily admit making a mistake in not reviewing Ristar at the time. I mean look at this character, it is a freaking star with limbs. Besides the frankly uninteresting character design, I admit that the game's pedigree should have qualified it for a review according to my own rules.
Yet, since no one is suggesting that it is a better game than Sonic, I can still technically say that I played the best platformers on the Genesis. What is sad is that I wasted time with games such as Decap Attack instead.
6- Thunder Force IV (1993):
- Genre: Shmup.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Technosoft.
Wow, Retro Sanctuary put two Technosoft games on their Top 10 Genesis games list, which is not surprising when you consider the fact that Thunder Force IV may be the best Shmup in the 4th generation. As one of the few genres that the Genesis excelled at in comparison to the SNES, it makes sense that its best Shmup was the genre's standard bearer.
With its action-packed gameplay, brilliant graphics, and killer soundtrack, this game had everything that genre aficionados were looking for. Perhaps the game's only weakness is that a slightly improved ports was made for the Saturn. Even then, on the console that was famous for its Shmups, Thunder Force IV still competed with the best.
5- Landstalker (1993):
- Genre: Action-Adventure.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Climax Entertainment.
Made by one of the early stars of Sega's development teams, Landstalker was Sega's answer to the Legend of Zelda. The fact that nearly the only similarity between the two is that it stars a blonde elf is a significant positive for Landstalker.
For better or worse, Landstalker is not a middling Zelda clone. It confidently goes forward as its own thing, warts and all. The game was a surprise to me. Mostly because I didn't expect a game of its time to actually have a consistently good story that manages to make me laugh. Also, I didn't expect a game to manage so much in the isometric space.
True, the platforming is a major pain, and there are many limitations and flaws.
However, by being its own thing, and not a clone of another well-known action game, Landstalker earns its place among the best games of the Genesis.
4- Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (1994):
- Genre: Fighting.
- Publisher: Capcom; Developer: Capcom.
I disagree with placement of Street Fighter II above Mortal Kombat 3 in Retro Sanctuary's Top 100 list, not because I think Mortal Kombat 3 is the better game (it isn't), but because unlike it, the Genesis doesn't have the best version of Street Fighter II.
While any version of this legendary fighting game is great, the fact that Super Street Fighter II exists makes the placement of this game in its place a bit weird. Even then, the SNES version of all Street Fighter II games are considered slightly better, unlike the Mortal Kombat 3, which was considered the best on the Genesis.
3- Gunstar Heroes (1993):
- Genre: Run & Gun.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Treasure.
I must confess that I wasn't a big fan of Treasure's other games on the Genesis. Alien Soldier was definitely a solid shooter, but it was too chaotic and hard to follow, and the less said about Light Crusader, the better.
I am also not a big fan of the Run & Gun genre, finding it too limited and repetitive for great games to come out of it.
Which is why it is doubly surprising that I managed to enjoy Gunstar Heroes so much, proving that this game is a pinnacle for both the console and the genre. Most of the time, I am confident of what I think my opinion on a game would be. In this case, I thought Treasure would have a third strike, and they would be out. It's their first game, and their latter efforts gave me no reason to celebrate.
Which is why I am happy that this time I was wrong. This game is not only a fine first-time effort by Treasure, but a very good game as well.
2- Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (1995):
- Genre: JRPG.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Sega.
Phantasy Star II was a good game but with a significantly dated design, and PSIII had great ideas, but its execution was a little off.
While PSII and III were both ambitious RPGs with some noticeable faults, the fourth game is truly where it all comes together for Sega. Only with Phantasy Star IV does the Genesis have an RPG that can stand toe to toe with the SNES greats. It manages to fix most of the issues plaguing the two games before it, while also improving in all other areas. Here is an RPG to rival the SNES's best, and that's a great testament to its quality regardless of whether it succeeds or not.
From what I played on the Genesis, this is the only RPG in the system that has not aged beyond playability. Instead, while it has some apparent faults, that does not overshadow an otherwise enjoyable game.
1- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994):
- Genre: Action-Adventure, Platformer.
- Publisher: Sega; Developer: Sega.
By the time Sonic 3 was released, the 16-bit console wars were already coming to a close. After a strong fight in the beginning, Sega quickly lost ground to Nintendo. This was especially true because of terrible business decisions such as the Genesis CD and 32X enhancements.
While Sonic 3 is a great continuation of the excellent Sonic 2, Sega's business decisions actually hamper this game as well. For some reason, Sega butchered the game and later released an add-on (like physical DLC) to extend the game's length and add Knuckles.
Maybe for some people it's debatable which game is better between Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, but it's very clear for me. Despite being a very good platformer, Sonic 3 doesn't add anything much from its predecessor, and instead comes in with shorter length and a soundtrack that is not as good.
Even with the Knuckles add-on, I wouldn't consider Sonic 3, but it's still one of the console's best platformers.
This report is a consolidated review of the top 100 list by Retro Sanctuary. It features the reviews I made for the list, but also has a brief paragraph about each game in the list that I didn't review. For games without an official review, the opinions I express are purely based on general research about the game and its reception at the time.
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