I Built A Sega Genesis Collection for UNDER $100!

I love the idea of the $100 retro game challenge - you can go in so many different directions with it, and everyones list is going to be unique. Today, I'm focused on my favorite 16-bit console, the Sega Genesis. I put together a collection of what I feel are 14 awesome games for under $100.
There IS a catch though...it's 14 games, but only 9 cartridges. Let me know your list in the comments!
These are all loose cartridge prices, and prices were used from Pricecharting.com on December 3rd, 2022.
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[@bilbobagginz2794]

I enjoyed doing the $100 challenge for Genesis…here is my list! Aladdin $8.73 NHL 94 $10 Road Rash II $10.39 Sega 6 Pak $9.62 Bio Hazard Battle $27.99 Vectorman $9.99 X-Men 2 $20 Madden 96 $3.15 Total $99.87

[@SquarePegs]

Great list!!

[@Owazrim]

The multi cart is really tough to beat. You get a lot of gameplay for a really good price. Solid line up of games.

[@GameCubeGalaxy]

Some great picks here for sure! Many of these I nodded my head in agreement with. Smart move with the final game mentioned as well to really get bang for your buck! I’ve been wanting to do this $100 challenge with GC games on the channel lol. Great video as always man!

[@DrinkGameswithJosh]

I love watching the responses to this challenge, but particularly the Genesis. Still a bit of a self professed Sega noob I like seeing what yo look out for. I need to track down World of Illusion now. The 6-Pak was gifted to me by another Tuber awhile back and man it’s a definite must have. To get those 6 games on one cart at that price is a steal! Awesome video. 🤙🏻

[@SquarePegs]

Thank you Josh! World of Illusion is SO worth picking up - excellent title!

[@perfessorclown5543]

I just recently grabbed the Genesis Classics collection. I was not prepared for the absolute beat down I received from Dr Robotics Bean Machine.

[@buckeyechad1]

I can tell ya my first ten Genesis games I bought starting in Dec. 89-Dec. 90, not counting Altered Beast which came with it. Ghouls'n Ghosts, Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Thunderforce II, Herzog Zwie, Target Earth, John Madden Football, Castle of Illusion, MUSHA Aleste(JP), and Ghostbusters.

[@NightcapsAndNostalgia]

The 6-pak is the game I always recommend as someone's 1st genesis game. Great video

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks Nightcaps, and completely agreed! I appreciate you watching! :)

[@RocKnight11]

One game that would be on my list... Phantom 2040. I think it could be had for 15 dollars. Also, that 6 Pak is a must own for this collection.

[@SquarePegs]

I've never played Phantom 2040 - just ordered one online! Thanks for the suggestion!

[@PhuryousOne]

What's nice about Genesis too is that even copies of games like X-Men with the instructions and case included are only $25. I got Mario Lemieux Hockey mint and complete for $11. NBA Jam for $15. It's a good time to collect Genesis. And Revenge of Shinobi version 1.0 might be my favorite Genesis game ever. A must have. So is Shinobi 3.

[@SquarePegs]

An absolutely incredible time to collect the Genesis. I'm loving revisiting the platform right now!

[@Xodyak]

Hmmm... Hard to beat your Sega 6 Pack rec, so I'll keep that - $10.95 Buster's Hidden Treasure - $10.50 After Burner II - $14.36 Super Monaco GP - $10.49 Tecmo Super Bowl - $8.43 Aladdin - $7.50 Street Fighter II CE - $9.59 Streets of Rage 2 - $23.49 NHL 96 - $2.97

[@SquarePegs]

Fantastic list!

[@DoYouNerd]

Nice price on X-Men and a challenge that adds longevity--ha ha, good call. Gotta go with 6-Pak--we made sure that made our video as well, you can't beat that value for Genesis staples.

[@thedbarchives]

That XMen game had a glitch where Nightcrawler would get stuck in between certain walls if you tried to teleport. Pulled my hair out so many times I gave up on it.

[@eriks8382]

Ugh those two games are fristrating

[@thegreatone9923]

Nhl 95 was awesome I spent more time playing that game than any other

[@AldoAraujo85]

Great choice with X-Men! Sure, it has its jank, but the game is very fun, and also perhaps the only game that makes use of the console's reset button! Also, you're the only person I know to refer Sonic's spin dash as the crouch dash haha P.S. - I believe you meant to say "Mallrats" for the NHL 95 segment 👍

[@lTinyl]

I remember playing a lot of those games... I bought the Steam Genesis pack... so many memories! haha Nice list!

[@RetroRivals]

In true modern gamer fashion, I haven’t played many of the games on this list. Shame shame shame on me! Ofcourse I’ve played Sonic and Scott gave you an “Atta boy!” for NHL 95.

[@SquarePegs]

Oh don't worry, a PS4 edition is coming in the next couple of months, and you can yell about how little survival horror is on there. ;)

[@RetroRivals]

@@SquarePegs I will, you may hear me from Canada LOL

[@TheCatholicMonarchist]

These are the best games. I can play these games for ever and never lose interest. Btw i got every sports related genesus game ever made for 39$ in the original boxes with leaflets. I was stoked

[@SEGAblocks]

NBA JAM should be on everyone’s list! Stellar Bball game! X-men was a great choice! Affordable and a fun challenging game. Sonic 2 is the perfect choice here from the sonic series, though 3 is my favorite, 2 is an absolute must own and staple. To be honest anytime someone asks me what game they should get with as a new Genesis/megadrive owner, I always tell them 1 cart. 6-Pak! It’s in my opinion the best official multicart ever made. I personally would always add Bubsy: In Claws encounters of the furred kind. Yeah, I said it! Lol Such a great list Jay! Applaud you the whole way through the vid brother! Stay awesome my guy! 🤘

[@48hourrecordsteam45]

The funniest thing, I hated Arcadian sports titles But my brothers had nba jam for snes, I played it with them. But I didn’t love it as much as everybody else.I hated games that gave me a short experience and then just felt repetitive. Long story short, when I finally played it on the genesis I felt the snes version was better. Even though the genny had more speech and the gameplay felt more responsive. The colors of the snes and more bigger, chunkier detailed graphics just sold me. Because nb jam wasn’t a game that had enough for me to base an opinion on. It was a game that I wouldn’t have wasted my hard earned money on because I didn’t get enough value for my buck. I guess I was always into realism & long play. Even to this day 😆 I used to play genesis and marvel at how real Jurassic park looked and I couldn’t wait for video games to get more powerful and look and feel way more real 😂 Snes felt like cartoon child’s play to me .

[@LotoTheHero]

As for other good budget titles... It's pretty hard to think of cheap games that are good. Here's an attempt: Bubsy: $8.25 The first game is actually a pretty decent platformer. I've heard the subsequent 2d games aren't as good, and after the series went 3d... forget it. Aladdin $7.25 This is a non-capcom disney game, which is somewhat of an oddity in this time period. One of the best looking games on the genesis too. Also a completely different game from the SNES version. The Lion Kind is another decent one at $9.01 Altered Beast is an Arcade conversion and I think was a launch title. Currently sits at $13.81. Street Fighter Champion Edition comes in at $9.59 Sonic Classics is a good value if you don't have the six pack and Sonic 2. It has Sonic, Sonic 2, and Dr Robotnick's Mean Bean Machine. Currently $10.49 ToeJam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron is $16.70. Pretty wild game with good replay value as the maps are different each time IIRC. Finally I'd say Shining in the Darkness for $24.46. Gives you an RPG that isn't too awfully expensive. That brings the total to 10 games for $99.56.

[@SquarePegs]

That's a fantastic list! And, a little behind the scenes here: Aladdin, SF2CE, and Sonic Classics were all on the first draft. :)

[@Nobunaga1983]

Awesome list. Some of my favorites especially road rash 2

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks for watching!

[@jeremygregorio7472]

NBA hang Time is like five bucks on eBay. It's basically NBA jam 2 after they lost the license and it's the best game in the series on the Sega Genesis

[@SquarePegs]

Nice! What else would be on your list?

[@animemaster4861]

NHL 95 game looks badass the only thing is that it plays from a top-down perspective rather than a left to right I think that would mess me up I think I've logged in too many hours of Brett Hull hockey 95. The amount of hours that I've got on that Sega Genesis six pack should be damn near criminal. I'm surprised Sega even made a multi cart. Cuz almost even if you never had another game for the Sega Genesis you probably would not get bored for a really long time if that was all you had. I can still remember the first time I completed golden axe that last boss battle with deathbringer feels like it takes like seriously 30 or 40 minutes. Like for me I can't play Tetris at all I've never been able to figure it out but Columns that I can play that game is awesome and that soundtrack.

[@SquarePegs]

I actually own two multicarts from Sega - the second is the Sonic Classics collection, which has Sonic, Sonic 2, and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. :) And 100% agreed on the Columns soundtrack - that's next level stuff there.

[@joegiammatteo]

Dude I couldn’t agree more! Chaos in the Windy City is not a bad game. Great list and glad to see NBA Jam on there!

[@SquarePegs]

No lie, the love I have seen Chaos In The Windy City get from this video has been my absolute favorite side effect.

[@whitemeteocrazy256]

I was excited when NHL 94 came out because it was the first year of the Mighty ducks.

[@hfield07]

glad to hear someone else stick up for chaos in the windy city!! fun game. got it for christmas as a kid and absolutely loved it.

[@GenerationPixel]

Jay, buddy, there might be an issue with your editing software. I've watched this back a couple of times now and the whole segment on why you think Desert Strike is a must have game in a collection is missing 🤷‍♂️😉🤣

[@GingerbeardthegamingDad]

Such a great list and as far as bang for your buck for sega you always gotta throw in the 6 pak!!!

[@LotoTheHero]

Excellent choices. I forgot about the six pack. I really couldn't figure out how you were going to make 14 games, but that's for sure a good way to do it. You really can't beat the value there. I didn't know about Championship Pro-Am either. Why didn't they use the R.C. Pro-Am name? I'm definitely going to have to pick that one up! I'm glad I have most of the Genesis games I want already. These things have gotten so expensive these days!

[@SquarePegs]

100% agreed on the prices going up - that's been one of the worst weird side effects of the pandemic is the spike in retro game prices! As for Championship Pro-Am, I legitimately have no idea. And when I got the game in, it had such _boring_ label art that I just assumed it was a blasé golf game of some kind. They didn't do themselves any favors with the naming or marketing!

[@Emceemur]

Jam up job on this video. This was very well put together. I enjoyed it start to finish. And holy crap on Championship Pro Am. I don’t have a copy of that?? Time to fix that!!

[@andymannion7548]

I have a few multicarts and realy carnt knock em granted a few games don't play but hey you get lots of hrs and games to play won't be dissociated great value 👍

[@SquarePegs]

Agreed! There's always something thats just a hair out of square with those multicarts, but they're still a great value. :) Thanks so much for watching, Andy!

[@BIKE_BEERS_AND_DEATH_METAL]

Cheers from South Florida🤘🎮🕹🍻 kick ass list

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks Protoxx! Hope ya'll did ok with the storm a few months back!

[@BIKE_BEERS_AND_DEATH_METAL]

Thanks, actually my sister lives in Fort Myers but she was okay, I live on the east side Fort Lauderdale

[@ThomasSmith-od5jq]

Absolute fantastic list for the price nhl 95 is a must own for me it’s tough to choose from 94 and 95 are so good

[@SquarePegs]

Can't go wrong with either game, truly. Both are S+ tier games and worth every single cent. :) Thanks for checking the video out!

[@NS-fc9rs]

Never new about the RC Pro-Am version. Got to try that one out! Also love the NHL 95 shoutout. We an online league of NHL 95 and it is amazing

[@ColdSteelKid]

Well sadly I don't know Genesis games as well as I would like. Very impressed with the 6-Pack so I will start my list with that one. I have to have Captain America and the Avengers at 22. Comix Zone is fun so I will add that in for another 22. My brother got me into Vectorman so including that one for 12. I need some kind of scrolling ship shooter so Bio-Hazard Battle will work for 25. I believe that should get me to about $92. Still can't believe how expensive the Ninja Turtles games have gotten. Hyperstone Heist is current at $63. I know I didn't pay over 20 for it around 15 years ago. I have recently started trying out the various games in the Sega Collection for the Switch so my knowledge should improve soon.

[@owengeorge9228]

Great video! My favourites are battletoads and earthworm jim. I think an underrated game is weaponlord and doesn't get enough love on the genesis.

[@matthewnikitas8905]

Fatal Fury 2 I feel is far superior to the original in terms of the port but price wise the original is more affordable for sure

[@SquarePegs]

100% agreed!

[@dohc16vturbo4g63]

I've heard another channel say that NHL 94 is better than 95. What makes 95 better in your opinion? I have both, but don't really play them (but I do like playing Mario Lemieux Hockey). Thank you for your time 🙂

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks for watching! Honestly, I think this is 100% a matter of personal opinion and nostalgia. Both are absolutely spectacular and you can't go wrong with either of them. For me, '95 is the game I've played more than any other in my life - it's my favorite game of all time. And for me, NHL 94 felt - for lack of a better term - heavier. 95 was faster, had more scoring, and added things like Create a Player, Season Mode, player trades, and trophies. But neither one are even kind of bad - just slight variations on a solid formula. :)

[@whitemeteocrazy256]

I remember Radio control pro am on the NES, not the Sega Genesis.

[@braddahl2098]

Excellent list and bang for your buck. It's tough to not have a shmup on here but they are a costly addition! One would have to be placed in the next tier up.

[@RoXolid]

No earthworm Jim equals an invalid list

[@SquarePegs]

...so you'd put one single $30 game and soak up 1/3 of your budget for an average platformer with a good gimmick?

[@RoXolid]

@@SquarePegs Your face is average!

[@Toyaddict81]

Is this the Immortal’s younger brother?

[@SquarePegs]

Twin brother from another mother is how we refer to each other. ;) Isn't that right, @johnhancockretro?

[@jedipookie]

Is that a Grendel figure over your shoulder?

[@SquarePegs]

No, not Grendel - there's a name I haven't thought about in a long time! Over my right shoulder is a Loena statue from King of Fighters, and everything over my left shoulder are from the new 6" G.I. Joe Classified series of action figures.

[@jedipookie]

@@SquarePegs cool! Yeah looked like Hunter Rose in his famous cover pose

[@RoXolid]

Breakfast come and go but Hartford, the whale, Are forever

[@jacobbaranowski]

I love SEGA, I'm a SEGA kid.

[@larrythebatmanfan]

Are u John Hancocks brother ? U look very similar ?

[@moandaindesigns]

Great picks. We have some similar taste. I did this for a few systems as Shorts on my channel. I hope you check them out and find some new games to grab. Love the video and all that you do. Take care and Merry Christmas.

[@SquarePegs]

I apparently wasn't subscribed, but I could have sworn I was! I also love your channel and I love your approach to the $100 collections - simple and straightforward, which is something I regularly struggle with. :) Thank you so much for watching!

[@moandaindesigns]

@@SquarePegs Complex videos are great. I always find it hard to add more fun and entertainment to justify the complexity. As long as the fun outpaces the complexity, it is all good.

[@crazyninjaturtle3]

Every Genesis collector will tell you that a bunch of UNBOXED genesis game carts is not a collection ... and they are right. 😎 joking...

[@SquarePegs]

I actually really like this comment - one, it's funny. I appreciate humor like this. :) But two, it's given me an idea for a video. Would you mind if I used your content as a jumping off point for a collecting habits video sometime next month? I promise it won't be in a derogatory fashion. :)

[@crazyninjaturtle3]

@@SquarePegs No problem at all man. For me the important thing is to appreciate your games the way you can, even through emulation... But some elitist collectors, that lets be serious here dont even play their games and the ones that play use emulation devices, will tell you exactly what i said above. Just in tone with this video here in Europe we got a selection of 4 games in one cartridge called Classic Collection with Alex Kidd, Altered Beast, Flicky and Gunstar Heroes, imagine the money you spare just on that and in my opinion you get 4 amazing games. Great videos. Subscribed.

[@tobiasmitchell8191]

I hate the fact SEGA named it the mega drive here in Europe

[@SquarePegs]

I always appreciated the Mega Drive name, but Genesis is vastly superior.

[@Chris80510]

I’m sorry but Sonic 3 and knuckles is way better than Sonic 2 for a couple reasons one the they’re elemental shields that help s you beat the level and 2 is the special stages aren’t so frustrating like in Sonic 2 and 3 Sonic 3 and knuckles is more balance than sonic 2 and 4 they’re are hyper forms when you collect all 7 chaos emeralds and all 7 super emeralds and getting super / hyper characters aren’t so frustrating to get unlike sonic 2 when getting super sonic in sonic 2 is nigh impossible to get because tails is an idiot in special stages when you try to collect all 7 chaos emeralds which was a nightmare in sonic 2 and 5 the final boss in death egg zone is nigh invincible to beat and Sonic 3 and knuckles have a boss which it’s the doomsday zone when you play super/hyper sonic when you either collect all 7 chaos emeralds or all super emeralds and the last reason that Sonic 3 and knuckles is better than sonic 2 is Michael Jackson the king of pop worked on the music on Sonic 3 but they remove his music in sonic origins which piss me off I love the Michael Jackson music in the original sega genesis in Sonic 3 and knuckles

[@SquarePegs]

I won't try to convince you that Sonic 2 is a better game than Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles. Except for one aspect: that's an expensive couple of games, which goes against the point of this video, which was building a collection of games for under $100 on the Genesis. If you want Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, just over half your budget is gone - that's $51 and change leaving you with ~$49 dollars to play with. I'd much rather build out the collection I had here for under $100 and have 14 or 15 games to play than blow half of it on two games and only be bale to afford 3 or 4 others.