Sega Genesis Games That Pushed the Limit | Friday Night Arcade

[@robintst]

Some helpful info for anyone wondering: Rendering 3D polygons in those days was strictly CPU-driven, this was before dedicated hardware accelerators. The Motorola 68k CPU in the Genesis, which clocks at 7.67 MHz, is what handles all the arithmetic and rendering for the geometry, the VDP chip only handles 2D. It's speed, along with having 32-bit registers internally and being connected to a 16-bit bus, means it has the overhead to achieve this without the need for special chips in the cartridges. It doesn't always make for playable games but it's an impressive technical feat of the hardware. :-)

[@lantinkan9013]

9⁹

[@lantinkan9013]

iui 8⁸oil 9

[@lantinkan9013]

iui ii88 iou

[@Longlostpuss]

The Mega Drive was an animal

[@robw5741]

So the "helpful info" only deals with genesis?

[@stevenmorning4551]

Flashback, Earthworm Jim, Toy Story and Virtual Racer were great graphically then too

[@LexMalin]

"Virtua Racer" uses SVP chip plugged in a cartridge

[@marianoyuba3736]

@@LexMalin True. It was, nonetheless, a technological MARVEL for the time (And a damn good game to own, i tell you), but yeah...it doesn't quite count in this list. (Good or bad, the 3D games here did it on the merits of their programming alone)

[@brorianszk]

@Robert Pierson And is still awesome to play.

[@brorianszk]

@Robert Pierson The game is really unique and the controls are perfect. Sad that the game is too short.

[@judgegroovyman]

LexMalin in game chips used were irrelevant. That’s how Doom, and Starfox were so amazing on SNES. It still pushed the limit of the hardware.

[@Lynxx377]

About TecToy: Yes, they had the license, it was an official product. TecToy made an amazing job in Brazil with SEGA videogames. Since the Master System, they offered official support, official translations to portuguese, telephone services with cheats and tips... In Brazil at the 80s and early 90s was difficult to find official videogame products, so TecToy had a deal with SEGA to offer official support. This is why even today the Master System and the Genesis/MD are so popular in Brazil.

[@spaceinvader6735]

The story about Duke Nukem's license isn't that Tec Toy stole it. They bought a license to release the game from a company that, as later legal fights showed, didn't actually have the right to do that. Of course there was no way Tec Toy would know that, and apparently the license was granted in good faith, but the decision that came later changed everything.

[@medes5597]

You've misunderstood. No one accuses techtoy of impropriety. It was a mistake.

[@jimmyguy428]

Zero Tolerance also had co-op play by the use of a special cable that I had to buy through the mail. The cable would link two Genesis consoles via the second control ports. Unfortunately, along with the co-op cable, you needed two copies of the game, two Genesis consoles, and two TVs. My brother and I used to connect our two consoles together using controller extension cables to lengthen the co-op cable. This way we could connect my Genesis setup in my bedroom to the his Genesis setup in the living room. It was wild to play co-op like this back in the '90s, other than PC that is!

[@prpredatorz310]

Surprised nobody here mentioned Gunstar Heros, pretty impressive game the way used the Genesis.

[@chrisharmon1985]

My favorite Sega game

[@Zx14rrrrrrrrrrr]

That's about the only game I have ever played multiple times from the Genesis.

[@dyster6747]

That‘s because people with no clue should avoid making videos about certain things.

[@SuikodenGR]

A man of Culture. Homing shrunken for days

[@JackSparrow-sk8mx]

Alien Soldier destroys Gunstar Heroes in every way. Also same developer

[@andrewmaasch1724]

Rocket Knight Adventures, Mega Turrican and Castlevania Bloodlines are all graphically impressive games that are also fun to play 😊

[@deibyberas6461]

You dont know power till you play Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master.

[@DaveMire]

Contra Hard Corps had some really cool effects in it. Konami knew exactly how to play up to the Genesis' strengths. (mutitudes of fast moving sprites)

[@dtester]

One thing worth mentioning about Vector Man was that many of the characters were made of multiple simple objects being moved around the screen rather that one large object with frames of animation. Because they used pre-rendered "spheres" that they could move individually, they created the illusion of high frame rate 3D animation which is why it looks so smooth.

[@Lightblue2222]

I still remember going into Toys R Us and pulling my slip for Vectorman. I bought it for the cover alone and wasn't disappointed.

[@Echoesoftimelover]

Nice bruh

[@mowiezowie3261]

I remember going to Toys R’ Us and my parents buying buying me Vectorman 2 and my new Sega Genesis for my birthday but when I brought it home, I realize I couldn’t play it because my dumbass picked up the 32x attachment to the Genesis.

[@forgottencameras]

Exact same story here.

[@Lightblue2222]

@@mowiezowie3261 lmfao

[@danielt.8573]

I miss the feeling of actually having the money to purchase a new game, informing myself of what was good in a few magazines, travelling to the store in antecipation, taking it from the shelf where so many colorful others were, smelling the scent of new plastic and paper, bringing it home in a physical jewel case while reading the manual, physically plug the cartridge into the console and play the game forever.

[@boudreaux550]

Great video. Toy Story on Genesis had great graphics. One of the developers has a channel, Gamehut, where he goes into detail how they pulled it off.

[@Kousaburo]

As well as the opening for Sonic 3D, jaw dropping stuff.

[@FridayNightArcade]

Ahh thanks - will check these out guys.

[@chrisovak]

Yo, thanks for the tip! Appreciated

[@CardboardSliver]

And Castle of Illusion.

[@marianoyuba3736]

@@FridayNightArcade I should also recommend Mickey Mania, just drop dead gorgeous. Apart from that, i would like to recommend you to make a video about the best/worst Genesis arcade ports. Considering that Sega more or less SOLD the Genesis as a great port machine, it would be nice to see how well it fared.

[@OwtDaftUK]

The 3D section of Toy Story looks a lot cleaner than that Duke game-play.

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

Anything by Treasure is pretty much guaranteed to be good-looking, but _Dynamite Headdy_ is probably their most ambitious Genesis game - the sprite manipulation in that is crazy. There's always tons of stuff going on, tons of sprites, rotating, bouncing around, giant-sized sprites for bosses. There are some really stunning non-Sonic sidescrollers on the system - Rocket Knight Adventures, Ristar, and Pulseman come to mind - but the stuff Treasure did back on Sega hardware (for the Genesis and the Saturn) was always standout. Glad you found some of these btw! I only discovered stuff like Red Zone and Star Cruiser earlier this year myself thanks to your earlier review on the former, and Nostalgia Nerd's vid (Megadrive / Genesis first person shooters) for the latter. I love it when good retro gaming YT channels find these fascinating obscure titles! I highly recommend that vid by Nostalgia Nerd, btw - _Bloodshot/Battle Frenzy_ is REALLY COOL LOOKING. Here's a link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYWZeoh9pNmAqrc As always, great vid! Thanks for brightening up my Friday Night after work :)

[@gallowaygaming75]

Dynamite Headey was a great platformer and so was rocket knight adventure great to look at and excellent gameplay I will check nostalgia nerd channel cheers

[@paddyb3510]

I just got a bunch of flashbacks.. happy ones. Thanks dude!

[@PYoro-kh3bb]

Dynamite Headdy is pretty neat and does some pretty impressive stuff in certain levels.

[@mistertitanic]

Definitely check out Comix Zone, Contra: Hard Corps, Ecco: The Tides of Time, and Ranger X. Oh! And if you’re looking for more FMV on a Genesis, check out Sonic 3D Blast!

[@FridayNightArcade]

Thanks! I'll check those out! I've heard really good things about Ecco.

[@Alianger]

There's also matteusbeus FMV demos for MD, some of which I've done some music for. :)

[@PENNSYLVANIA5999]

Try enternal champions The gore the gore I am thinking modern day version would be too violent to be a game

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@PENNSYLVANIA5999 Pretty sure modern Mortal Kombat is a prime example that it isn't. That being said... I'm generally not a fan of detailed violence in 2D. I have no problem with it in 3D games or even that much in movies, but in 2D games it makes me uncomfortable. A bit less in cartoons and anime. I'm fine with simple decapitations, being cut in half of limbs saying bye bye, but detailed 2D gore (even if not realistic) does make me feel somewhat uncomfortable (yet I still read extremely violent manga).

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@paxhumana2015 Ah yes, I give a proper example and then a really dumb person starts to call me dumb. Just when I think the average person couldn't get any dumber they keep surprising me.

[@AfroSnackey]

Alien Soldier is a monster of a game if you get a chance to play it.

[@FridayNightArcade]

Thanks - that one is definitely on the list :D

[@Kousaburo]

Sonic 3D (the pinnacle of Genesis graphics), Thunder Force IV, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, Alien Soldier.

[@jeremyjohnson8844]

3D blast was prerendered, I don't call that the pinnacle of Genesis gfx. Something like Gunstar or Alien Soldier.

[@drakeolmos1981]

Sonic 2 and Streets Of Rage 2 as well

[@butcherax]

The special stages in Sonic 3D are really something special, graphically. And the whole game has an excellent soundtrack.

[@backinthedaygamer]

Batman and Robin would probly be in my top 3 if it wasn’t SO TOUGH. Everything about it is fantastic. I wish I could get 1/4 way through the game lol

[@FridayNightArcade]

Yeah, full disclosure.... I'm not above using cheat codes to get the footage required for these videos lol.

[@MJbulls23airJs]

My bro & I ran through this game a hundred times and managed to beat it once. So tough

[@HaohmaruHL]

Just like megaman games it's all about practice. I managed to beat it with only one death which was pretty stupid. I have the full playthrough on my channel for it

[@soundwave8560]

I beat that game MANY many times as a kid. The only stage I always have trouble in is the mad hatter stage, second part with the mini boss and the last level.

[@STOCKHOLM07]

My brother and I played that so much. I'd probably have to cheat to get very far now

[@ZeusTheIrritable]

I'm always fascinated at what developers can do with limited hardware when they know what they're doing and are given enough time to work. That Batman game looks absolutely amazing!

[@jasonblalock4429]

It also helps that the Genesis was a genuinely powerful system, and its two CPUs (an M68000 and a Z80) are both among the most popular processors in history. So it had great hardware under the hood, and there were lots of programmers who knew how to take advantage of it. (This is why I tend to consider the Genesis superior to the SNES. It was *such* a developer-friendly platform.)

[@zenksren8206]

The guys who made both Batman and Red Zone were Amiga demoscene programmers originally so yeah

[@jasonblalock4429]

@@zenksren8206 And, of course, the Amiga had an M68000 as its main CPU.

[@tskraj3190]

@Dean Satan Wrong in every way

[@tartuffethesprywonderdog5883]

@Timothy Isenhart How? He's right about all of the technical stuff. If you prefer SNES, that's fine, but you can't dispute that Genesis had much better hardware. Even the Sega Master System had a faster processor than SNES, for Pete's sake!

[@matthewlane518]

I didnt know that Vectorman and Wall E had the same basic story!

[@christianpalmer7899]

That's what I was thinking.

[@avideogamemaster]

Barely people talk about Jurassic Park The Lost World. Some great graphic effects in that game.

[@bennahum9642]

Mostly in the minigames, I agree.

[@Alianger]

Yeah definitely, good use of shadow/hilight mode for more colors too.

[@chzzyg2698]

That was my pack-in game when I got my Sega. I beat the crap out of it.

[@nightmuffin937]

That was probably The LAST great Genesis game.

[@zenksren8206]

I'm surprised you didn't include Ranger X in this video

[@DemonicRemption]

@Zenks ren I apologize but... HOLY HELL YOU PLAYED RANGER-X?! :O Sorry, it's I thought I was the only one who played that game...>_>

[@megaruhe6296]

Ranger X was awesome.

[@theimperfectgod7140]

Oh yes... i lovethis game. The parallax still is 👌

[@luckytheif3312]

Zenks ren this one somehow managed to use 256 color which megadrive only supports 64 colors at once, perhaps the developers used an extra chip or created a software to bypass megadrive's color count.

[@ClevertonHeusner]

Impressive. Maybe a part 2 with Alien Soldier and Ex-Ranza.

[@claudiocosta2076]

And Pulseman too!!

[@gabrielleraul]

The lost World, such a beautifully made game, and epic special levels, I highly recommend it. And... Alien Soldier... Damn that game was mind blowing! Surely pushed the 16 bit hardware.

[@regh1mself]

Disney's Aladdin. Graphics, music, control, pace. Uh-mazing.

[@darthramious1639]

Toy Story on Genesis/Mega Drive was incredibly ambitious, diverse, and a lot of fun

[@Fluffybutterpants]

Great video - Ranger X and Thunder Force IV were both very impressive.

[@Vienna3080]

Some of these games prove you don’t need a Mode 7 to do amazing Games that hold up

[@lchambers56]

Check out Panorama Cotton. There's some amazing graphical stuff going on in that game!

[@IsaMariaUu]

I second this. Panorama Cotton is one of my favorite games on the console.

[@sega-re-trop-vieux]

Luis Chambers you are right, panorama cotton is a stunning visual game. It is very expensive nowadays....( at least 400$)

[@btokin4twenty]

@@IsaMariaUu ditto... love Panorama Cotton. i did a sprite mod for it so you can see through the character if you emulate it w/ the "TV Mode (CVBS)" filter in kega fusion, or play it on an old crt tv. =P

[@arcticridge]

looks pretty but the framerate sucks

[@luckytheif3312]

Still took a hit from the hardware's color limits.

[@Dj.D25]

Kind of surprised the games developed by Treasure didn't get mentioned here, since they really pushed the limits of what was possible with the Genesis, at least in 2D. Gunstar Heroes especially when playing certain stages and fighting certain bosses. Sonic 3D Blast is also impressive. Not just the pre-rendered graphics, but I liked that they managed to put in an FMV intro before the title screen. And that FMV looks better than most FMV clips I've seen on Sega CD. Ranger X is also a noticeable game, not just by special effects, but there seems to be more colors displayed on screen than what Genesis normally allows, so it looks kind of like a Snes game.

[@Dj.D25]

@@rootykazooty351 Yeah, I played it and it's amazing. Especially with all the moves you can do with just 3 buttons and the crazy bosses you fight.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

Puggsy was one that really pushed things to the limits, what with having a real physics engine controlling almost all in game objects. Oh, and a Sonic 3D style prerendered video intro (same team did both games).

[@FridayNightArcade]

Thanks - I'll have to check that one out.

[@adamgray1753]

One of my sisters loved that game. It was pretty much the only Sega Genesis game she would ever play for the longest time too.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@adamgray1753 😄 I got pretty obsessed with it for a while too. Not just because of the neat gameplay mechanics, but the beautiful graphics and wonderful music. And that prerendered video intro! I'd never seen anything like it on the Mega Drive. The next time I saw that get done was Sonic 3D, which was done by the same development team.

[@Tiger351]

Zero Tolerance was an awesome game, I bought it for about $10 brand new on clearance when the stores were making space for Saturn games. I didn't have a PC at the time so it scratched my itch to play something similar to doom.

[@jasonblalock4429]

The best part about how incredibly robust the Genesis/MD hardware was? The Genesis had no need for expensive extra chips on the cartridge, which kept game prices down. Yeah, SNES developers could bolt extra chips onto their games to balance out the SNES's weak CPU and memory, but that drove cart prices up really fast. At its height, a single SNES game could cost up to $80, or even $100! OTOH, the Genesis only had a handful of games that didn't utilize stock hardware. Pretty much, it was only Sega's own port of Virtua Racer (which used a SuperFX-style graphics chip) and a couple Codemasters games that bolted extra controller ports onto the cart for 4-player play. So prices for the library remained reasonable, even for the most advanced games.

[@RodrigoDavy]

I think you're really overestimating how many games in the SNES used extra chips. The number is actually low, less than 10% of SNES games, with a lot of them being Japanese games that were actually not released in the rest of the world. And the most used chip were DSPs which are actually quite simple and cheap, with a expensive chips like Capcom's Cx4 or Argonaut's Super FX used in very few games Many games that pushed the SNES limits like the DKC series, Super Castlevania 4, Chrono Trigger, etc... did so without the help of any chip whatsoever except for maybe SRAM for saving games and some extra RAM I'd argue though that the reason SNES games tend to have more games that feature additional hardware is because the system was designed from the beginning to allow that easily. The SNES had a weak processor, but it has lots of unique features like graphics, sound and even the controller that already makes it stand out from the Mega Drive anyway Heck, from the 10 best-selling SNES titles, only one uses additional hardware apart from SRAM: Super Mario Kart And we can argue that Sega tried to achieve the same goal of extending the hardware's capability but with a different strategy: using add-ons like the Mega CD and Mega 32X which, well, didn't fair as well because people needed to buy additional hardware to plug into their Mega Drive, they used an additional power socket each and game developers needed to make games which would only work for the portion of Mega Drive owner who happened to have bought the add-on

[@jasonblalock4429]

​@@RodrigoDavy Even if only ~10% of the SNES library utilized special add-on chips, that still amounts to more than 150 games. Compared to something like 5 for the Genesis. My point stands. And no, it's really not an apt comparison to talk about the Genesis add-ons like they're equivalent. Fundamentally, the SNES *always* struggled because of its weak core hardware, and that held it back. A few gimmicks like scaling backgrounds don't really change that. The SNES had some good games, but Nintendo kinda hobbled it with their hardware choices.

[@FridayNightArcade]

The SNES struggled, but they compensated for this with a googaplex of fantastic RPGs that didn't require much horsepower at all. So you know, there's that.

[@RodrigoDavy]

@@jasonblalock4429, I think it's more like 75 games which used special chips actually The transformation effect in Mode 7 made possible some games like F-Zero, Pilotwings and Super Mario Kart which were only possible because of it and even consoles like the Neo Geo couldn't offer anything similar. Even Sega themselves were so impressed by it that they included a very similar mode in the Mega CD which they proudly showed in the Special Stages of Sonic CD The games are kind of a taste question. For me personally, the Super Nintendo is the best console ever made due to the very impressive quality of many of its title and I'm not even counting RPGs as I'm not much of a fan I totally get people who prefer the Mega Drive too though, it also offered experiences which the Snes couldn't deliver and the SNES did have a rather weak CPU which they ironically chose for backward compatibility with the NES but never implemented it The thing is, I didn't grow up in North America and didn't watch those honestly lame TV commercials which apparently made people fight each other for video games? I had a SNES growing up and it was awesome and when I saw a Mega Drive it looked awesome too and I'd never miss the chance to play. I didn't think about CPUs, number of colors or anything like that, just the awesome games it console have and that's fine. I watch videos talking about the Mega Drive because I think it's a fine piece of hardware and had some amazing games (though I admit I don't like Sega games much, I prefer the 3rd party games for the Mega Drive myself) I just think that it's kind of unfair to SNES developers saying they didn't have some tricks under their sleeves. Every game takes a lot of money, skill and effort to develop and even the backgrounds of a simple RPG game might have a lot of effort put into it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJu0mp5tqtx_f7M

[@SonofSethoitae]

Star Cruiser is a neat (if janky) example of a game pushing polygons on standard Genesis hardware.

[@reagandow850]

Wow. You found some games I wasn’t even aware of for the Sega. Great job!

[@KottonmouthNinja1153]

Ranger X in my opinion, the most impressive Genesis game in terms of graphics and gameplay.

[@youisiaint]

The hallway you fight the 2nd level boss in had some insane 3D background effects

[@Phenylalanin1979]

Capcom's "The Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie" from 1994 is really up there for me in terms of visuals and especially the sound and music is great for a Mega Drive version of a SNES games. Alien Soldier is very nice too. I remember the huge characters and fast smooth gameplay. Great game.

[@livingdeadfitness1528]

Vectorman was one of the earliest videogames I played, but it was HARD AF for me. I was only 5-6 when I played it. Have it on the sega classics on PS4 now.

[@kylekeller7577]

That Final Batman bgm sounded like someone made and acid trance song on a genesis.

[@thenonexistinghero]

The game's filled with those kinds of tracks. It's a fantastic game soundtrack.

[@orenmauritzen8674]

Which is literally what they did

[@rayceeya8659]

WHOA, never even heard of Red Zone before. I would have been all over that back in the early 90s.

[@misterturkturkle]

Not that visually impressive but one game that always impressed me on Sega [coming from a hardcore Nintendo fan] was the real time strategy game for Frank Herbert's Dune

[@bizulk]

Acknowledge !

[@schtive81]

F1 and Kawasaki Superbike use an impressive mix of flat shaded polygons and simulated sprite scaling. Both games were made by a developer named Domark. Toy Story also makes impressive use of the hardware. Dynamite Heady is an impressive looking game made by Treasure. Just about all of Treasure game on the Genesis is technically impressive. Panarama Cotton is also another choice. Abrams Battle Tank is an early release from EA that makes great use of polygons as well. Also, look up the homebrew port of Wolfenstein 3D.

[@jtoumai]

Friday Night Arcades does what Others Don't

[@FridayNightArcade]

:D

[@iceg6621]

Spoon Love Doh!

[@gallowaygaming75]

Splatterhouse 3 and thunderforce 4 were great graphically the music on thunderforce was ace as well

[@tyleradam4836]

Formula One from Domark is insane. 3D graphics and solid gameplay with an FIA license for F1 drivers for the 1993 season.

[@akildukes7499]

ORBOTS?! I loved that show!

[@glennbruce2991]

Mannnnnnn. What about Shadow Dancer? Lightening Force?? Out of This World?? Pitfall Mayan Adventures?? Lololol.

[@viktor_v-ughnda_vaudville_476]

I’d say earthworm Jim but idk I can say comix zone had to be pushing it

[@FridayNightArcade]

New here? There's plenty more FNA... FNA Starter Pack ► kzbin.info/aero/PLdGtTWqCEvuLZFY5Oa40nT4tfSx_owD47 FNA All Episodes ► kzbin.info/aero/PLdGtTWqCEvuK34z6rcPk28qO9Qdx_v4X8 FNA Plays! Side Channel ► kzbin.info Patreon ► www.patreon.com/fridaynightarcade

[@macross3730]

Thunderforce 4 best shoot em up on megadrive, awesome metal soundtrack.

[@tomchamberlain4329]

*Awesome half metal half jazz funk soundtrack

[@yuvraj01]

Its great you included Star Cruiser, and it deserves respect for what achieved with stock genesis hardware back in 1990..with the SNES needing the SuperFX chip for major assistance just to pull of its own Star Cruiser....I only became aware of the title a few years ago...and it formed a part of my new view of the genesis for a system probably built in the mid-80's (1986/87) to go toe-to-toe with a system that didn't release until 2 years after the genesis debut for a good 7-8 years is commendable.....just a shame Sega shot themselves in the foot after their one-hit-wonder of a console...

[@mrnygren2]

Pocahontas (Disney) has wonderful graphics for Sega.

[@mkefayati473]

How I miss the raccoon and the humming bird. And the tree , the wolves.. you remember that! Lol

[@joelberlakovich8148]

Alien Soldier had crazy fast, dynamic sprites flying around the screen with relatively little slowdown. Also, Aladdin was so well animated and detailed!

[@robertdaone]

Your forgot Strider. That game really push the limits of the Genesis so that means your list isn't complete.

[@cdreyes81]

Vectorman and batman and robin blew my mind when they came out

[@MusicWizard85]

Starflight was another Genesis game way ahead of its time. It was a port of a PC game but it went on to inspire the Mass Effect series. You get to pick and name your crew, modify your ship, explore planets & solar systems, mine for minerals, interact with aliens where your responses have consequences, etc...

[@fillasoul8364]

I see Vectorman, I click. Two of my favorite games. Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier are also great games that had some great visual effects, totally worth checking out.

[@FridayNightArcade]

Thanks. You might like my latest video... All Treasure games on the Sega Genesis including Gunstar and Alien Soldier.

[@MrOrcshaman]

6:29 OMG, the Mad Hatters boss stage O.o. This stage was so mind blowing for its time, that I made a bookstand in my art class inspired by the design.

[@raiverns9620]

I still maintain batman and robin is just an arcade system and rom board stuffed into a megadrive cart

[@HE360]

Terminator was another game on the Sega Genesis that pushed the Sega Genesis hardware. It came out around the same time when Super Nintendo were flexing their scaling and rotation and mode 7 graphics and did it naturally. So, Sega tried to get some of that stuff going on their hardware too. Thus, they tried to push the limits of the Sega Genesis hardware in trying to keep up with the Super Nintendo.

[@lsgreger2645]

I was enjoying my Friday morning routine of coffee and FNA, then I realized....Has it been two weeks already?

[@brianvetrano6817]

Thanks for mentioning zero tolerance ! I had that game and COMPLETELY forgot about it! Great game!

[@henrlima87]

Virtua racer. I think it was called. You could drive a sort of f1 like car. It looked awesome

[@retrosoul8770]

My favorite graphics on the Genesis are the traditional sidescrollers that push its colors to the limit with high contrast and great vibrancy. As well as having great animation, alot of parallax, alot of sprites on screen at once etc. Thunder Force IV, Alien Soldier, SOR2, Gunstar Heroes, Adventures of Batman, Musha etc

[@MrYancakes]

Jesper Kyd is one of my fav game composers. The sound system (not sure what its technical name would be) that he made for Red Zone- which you cover here, and was also used in Sub-Terrania, one of my fav Genesis games- was used in the Adventures of Batman & Robin game!

[@emilyapricot1313]

The Adventures of Batman and Robin was a blast to play Co Op, and really rewarding to get good at. My friend and I also jammed to MP3s of the soundtrack.

[@chzzyg2698]

I was obsessed with Zero Tolerance back then. I remember being so excited to beat it because it was such a long game with limited lives. Always wanted to see a sequel or a remake of it. It deserves some sort of attention.

[@unconbentional2044]

Panorama Cotton is a Japan only release. It's a Space Harrier knock off with a pink haired anime witch flying on a broom stick. Great video! Always look forward to them!

[@SteveBrandon]

Panorama Cotton is definitely in my top 5 games I wish had been included on the Genesis Mini as a bonus "never before officially available in the West" game.

[@itsbmeGaming]

I remember walking into Best Buy when it had first opened in my city, and way up high near the middle of the store I could see big screens showing the latest games. Vectorman was on one of the screens, and man it looked so epic.

[@derekforeal2245]

Just found this channel by accident and let me tell how glad I am that I did. You're content is off the charts enjoyable. Keep up the good work and I will be spreading the word to every one I know

[@Aristocards]

Always great to see another episode. I would recommend having a look at Aladdin on Sega Genesis.

[@FridayNightArcade]

Thank you - will check that one out!

[@RobertSeeJen]

I had seen the intro movie for the second game you mentioned many times, but I never knew about the rest of the technical wizardry that was to be seen further in. That is all super impressive.

[@__tengu__]

I remember being impressed even as a young kid with Vectorman. On a prefect Friday back then, my parents would take my sister and I to blockbuster and lets us each pick one movie to rent. I would of course instead rent a video game and Vectorman was one of those games. I rented so many games back then but Vectorman always stood out.

[@metalparott]

Starflight, Comix Zone, both Earthworm Jim games, Ristar, Rocket Knight, Phantasy Star IV, World of Illusion, Mega Man The Willy Wars, Herzog Zwei, Grind Stormer, Raiden Trad, and Dune 2, to name a few.

[@shortsdeliveries]

oh, those seemed quite heavy, and i thought Gunstar Heroes could be in the list; it has a lot of 3D, lots of explosions, sprites and it frames frequently

[@Wolfdragon92584]

Mazin Saga gets a vote for me. Extremely fluid animations, vivid colorization, and the boss fights look like they could be on the Neo Geo.

[@derekfelska5683]

Sweet video! I have to give Classic Gaming Quarterly the credit for this tip. But you really got to try Hellfire. Its a side scrolling shooter, but it has an interesting directional shot mechanic that is pretty unique. Like you, my family was mostly about the Super Nintendo, that was until my brother got tired of me monopolizing the machine and asked for a Sega Genesis. I wasn't interested in the Genesis and this sort of gave him his own video game haven. Yet in the last 3 years, I've grown to discover the Genesis' library to be really incredible and while there are plenty mass-produced cross-over games between it and the SNES, many of the Genesis versions I find to be vastly superior. Hellfire isn't all that cheap, but its a great game that I think you'd really like. Another game I'd toss into the mix is Alisia Dragoon. Its really unique action shooter kind of game. Think if you combined Truxton with Golden Axe kind of thing. I picked that game up at my local game store, not knowing anything about it and its another unique experience.

[@davidbrewer8309]

Why do I never hear anyone talk about rocket knight adventures? It's beautiful,very difficult, hands down the best music, and sound effects in any Sega game ive ever played.

[@OmgIsJordan]

Thats my favorite game of all times beat it more times times that i can count is not a easy game just played it alottttt

[@RetroGameNova]

Great list! I feel Comix Zone didn't push the limit but overall looked AMAZING on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive

[@Didi_Meow_Records]

the best part of Zero Tolerance was if you had two copies you could link up a second Genesis and have a two tv LAN party blew my mind at the time i didn't know the genesis could do that

[@Absolynth]

Vectorman. Truly an underrated classic. Though not without it's cult following no doubt, myself counted among them.

[@danielt.8573]

I miss the feeling of actually having the money to purchase a new game, informing myself of what was good in a few magazines, travelling to the store in antecipation, taking it from the shelf where so many colorful others were, smelling the scent of new plastic and paper, bringing it home in a physical jewel case while reading the manual, physically plug the cartridge into the console and play the game forever.

[@Imgema]

Batman & Robin is like a collection of demoscene projects fused in one game.

[@skippyb.coyote895]

Fantastic video! You did your research well and it shows, the only ones I could think of that you missed are Virtua Racing, Sonic 3D Blast, and the Japan only Panorama Cotton (which recently received a very nice English fan translation). Great job! =D

[@FridayNightArcade]

I almost included Panarama Cotton but to be honest, I didn't know enough about the franchise to feel like I could speak intelligently on it lol.

[@celldweller1986]

Please look up bloodshot, it's an over looked FPS, but it never got a US release.

[@jeffm5056]

A shooter that no one mentions is Bio Hazard Battle. Excellent music and just the right amount of challenge. If you beat that game, it’s because you earned it.

[@SuperKokuJin916]

Rocket Knight Adventures stands as Konami's best original IP of the 16-bit era IMO. Graphics, music, and gameplay ALL memorable. This should've been included on the Genesis Mini. *Dirk Diggler voice* It's that good!! 🤣 Nobody asked for Virtua Fighter 2. Everyone asked for Rocket Knight Adventures. We got hosed on this one. Honorable mentions to Gauntlet IV, Strider, and TMNT-Hyperstone Heist.

[@CardboardSliver]

Genesis got Sparkster, Which is Rocket Knight Adventures 2. The SNES Sparkster is a different game.

[@KottonmouthNinja1153]

Agreed

[@KottonmouthNinja1153]

Agreed

[@KottonmouthNinja1153]

Sorry, keep clicking the wrong button I guess. Didn't mean to spam you

[@lowlifeangler]

DOOM II on the X32 was off the loop for that time, then Call of Duty on PC changed everything

[@FridayNightArcade]

32X Doom was very well for console Doom-age.

[@lowlifeangler]

@@FridayNightArcade I wanted Star Wars X32 but couldn't find it in late 90s. Mostly now I do PC games... Black ops 1, Marvel Ultimate Alleniace and Postal 2

[@kdowning2715]

I only stopped to watch this video because I caught a glimpse of Vectorman! I'm always talking about Vectorman on the rare occasion that Sega and Genesis comes up. This was my favorite damn game as a kid. I wasted countless batteries and hours playing it on my Nomad! No one ever talks about Vectorman; so thank you.

[@orinanime]

I was also a low-income household kid who had one system. Our system was the Sega Genesis. I remember seeing Vectorman in Store displays as a playable demo. Also, I LOVE Zero Tolerance. I used to play it a lot. I think probably one of the best games on the system is Shinobi 3.

[@root42]

Aaron Nicewonger we were low income and went straight to the PC. Because it would be useful for much more than only playing games. To be fair it helped kick off my interest in computer science. I guess that wouldn’t have happened as much with a console.

[@FridayNightArcade]

That's interesting root42 especially since most PCs capable of any decent gaming back then were pretty expensive. But yeah it sounds like for most of us it was "all or nothing" with whatever single gaming medium you had access to.

[@theimperfectgod7140]

Limitation boosts creativity. :)

[@marcellosilva9286]

Adventures of Batman and Robin has my favourite soundtrack on the Genesis. Jesper Kyd sure knew what he was doing.

[@danielt.8573]

Aladdin, Streets of Rage 2, Sonic 3D, Earthworm Jim 1 & 2, Toy Story, Mickey Mania, Lion King, Jurassic Park - The lost World, Dynamite Headdy, Seaquest, Tintin in Tibet, Kawasaki Superbikes, Virtua Racing, Flashback, Comix Zone, The Pagemaster...

[@BeardTech]

There's some absolutely incredible games on this list: DEFINITELY checking out Zero Tolerance when I get the chance. Hadn't even heard of it till your video dude

[@theusher2893]

One of the most graphically impressive games I've played on the Genesis is Ranger X. Incredible parallax effects, huge sprites, minuscule detail, killer music, and never any slowdown. A very, very close runner up would be Lightning Force, for all the same reasons...but it has the gift of the greatest soundtrack of any 16 bit game ever, hands down.

[@patbrown911]

"And your ID badge, in the case you forgot who you are" 🤣🤣, I love this channel.

[@emilyapricot1313]

6:45 Star Cruiser was a 3D open world Sci Fi JP RPG for Genesis ??? This easily could have become my favorite, having loved Zero Tolerance and the Phantasy Star series.

[@miguelalves7333]

I was expecting Comix Zone to be on this list. Game looks fantastic and still holds up

[@benbehzadpour1177]

Yeah I love those late Genesis games so much. You could just feel the Genesis straining every hertz to keep up the performance. A system built in 1989 had no business playing software that demanding but... GENESIS DOES!!! Even a lot of SNES fans were impressed that it could push so much pixel. Some of my favorite late Genesis games were... Earthworm Jim 2, Phantasy Star IV, Toy Story, X-Men 2 Clone Wars, Ristar, Beyond Oasis, Stargate, Gargoyles, Light Crusader, Comix Zone, Judge Dredd, Phantom 2040, Contra Hard Corps, Mega Turrican, Crusader of Centy and Castlevania Bloodlines.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

Boldly requesting a part II of this video

[@RetroPiero]

Alien Soldier is among the most visually appealing games on the Mega Drive that pushes everything the system has to offer in terms of effects.