30 Sega Genesis Games You Were Playing in 1991

[@JohnRiggs]

Genesis games you were playing when it launched in 1989 kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5qXpKljoayXZ9E Genesis games you were playing in 1990 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3yaq3mmjtCffLM

[@bravo1oh1]

91 was a glorious year

[@exelmans8855]

Yes, but we didn’t know back then…

[@nickparsons337]

​@@exelmans8855I did, that's the same year the Super Nintendo came out.😅

[@mbhb100]

Redskins Super Bowl!!!!!

[@Lukeisdumb23]

Indeed great games end of Cold War

[@pedrocruz4409]

Gorbachev resigns in December…

[@Des_Zee]

Toejam and Earl is great. It's not missing anything. Maybe if you played it by yourself it won't be as fun for you but when you have that 2 player co-op, nothing beats all the hilarity that ensues.

[@drakainen4555]

Yeah, it's a lot more fun with a friend in co-op.

[@FreihEitner]

Sonic The Hedgehog, Streets of Rage and Toejam & Earl ... that's a tough act to follow. I'm not sure 1992 could possibly be better.

[@emrules2001]

I usually think that Streets of rage one came out earlier than it did, but that's always because when compared to Streets of rage 2, it is in a completely different realm of fit and polish. You think with all the improvements that it took several years them to develop, but it was just one

[@LemonTree9280]

I'm 43 and have all the mini systems. My 9 yr old nephew has 63 switch games but loves Road Rash on my Sega mini above all else.

[@GeomancerHT]

Alien Storm looks like a sprite replacement of Golden Axe at a quick glance.

[@JohnRiggs]

probably same engine

[@ovlivion81]

Would love for these to be a bit longer and include a bit more about the history of the game you are talking about. Great vid like always

[@dustinprewitt]

Im starting to realize how ironic it was that a system advertising itself on "blast processing" had so many slow and sluggish games....

[@mattm7798]

It's really a shame Sega only had 1 console that really rivaled Nintendo in all categories, but what a run the Genesis had. I firmly believe that had Sega of Japan actually listened to Sega of America, good chance we would have Sega consoles to this day and maybe no Xbox or even Playstation.

[@yeahyeahwowman8099]

Playstation would still be here. Sony was playing chess while Nintendo and Sega were playing checkers during that Era. Gaming magazines were talking about Sony making deals with Squaresoft and Capcom, ect. Nintendo was sticking with cartridges and Sega was boasting about the arcade experience at home. The only thing you may be right about is Microsoft because they saw a weak link in the market.

[@BlackMoore82]

Often said that Gain Ground's my favorite Genesis game. 32 years later that opinion hasn't changed.

[@americanmeowth3336]

Well, that was certainly a nostalgia trip. I rented or bought almost everything on this list back in the day, though I wish I had encountered Bonanza Bros back in the day. Great vid!

[@Ravenwing888]

Oh man, Gain Ground and Bonanza Bros. are my absolute favourites on this list! And I think Fatal Labrynth is an underrated gem too

[@BlackMoore82]

ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron in '93 was a much more enjoyable experience.

[@kennethfelipe823]

I always am I Nintendo, fan boy, but when sonic came out, I got a Sega. Over the years, I’ve always had two consoles through the generations.

[@RetroGamingWithEdgarRivera]

To me the game that absolutely blew my mind is the old mighty Streets of Rage I will forget the time when I went to my neighbors house and been in aww when I saw the game specifically the music by the legendary Yuzo Koshiro. Of course Sonic The Hedgehog was quite the jaw dropping because it's fast speed, but for me it was Streets of Rage. It wasn't until the sequel Streets of Rage 2 that made want a Sega Genesis.

[@ReinMixTape]

I hadn't heard of a few of these (Air buster, Arcus, Growl), but they do look awesome. I played a lot of the games in the list as a kid and enjoyed them a lot. I've re-bought a number of them since and I'm glad to own them again. Arrow Flash and Mercs is for sure fun to dunk time into. I'd say Arrow Flash is the most 'accessible' retro shooter I've came across because it's not hard to complete. You've got good taste when it comes to picking out games to recommend :)

[@kornsin]

I will do a run of Gain Ground every several months or so as it was and still is a fav of mine for these 30+ years. Air Buster is up there also as it was visually striking at the time and still holds up as a great schump.

[@MCastleberry1980]

I never owned a Genesis, but my next door neighbors did and got one in '91. I had played my cousin's when Altered Beast was the pack in around '89, but I still remember the first time we all heard that "SEGA!" startup for Sonic. The TV was accidentally super loud so it startled everyone lol

[@duffman18]

The best one was the "SEGA!" yell at the beginning of Sonic 3D Blast. That always made my whole family laugh because it was so shocking and unexpected, just out of nowhere loud deranged yell. And then a full motion video intro for the game, which is absolutely insane that it's possible to do that on a normal genesis cartridge on a normal genesis, with no extra chips in the cartridge or anything like that. The guy who programmed the game has a KZbin channel and he explains how he managed to do FMV on a stock regular genesis cartridge, and he's an autism-level savant when it comes to programming, nobody else could do the same things he was doing. Full motion video in games only existed on the Sega CD, until he came along and showed you could do it on a regular cartridge. But to manage it he had to invent like 10 different brand new programming techniques that weren't written down in any textbook or programming manual because they didn't exist until he invented them. His channels called Game Hut. Here's the video of him explaining how he managed it, he's a genuine genius: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5bLqIlogJtjqJo

[@mattalexander3378]

My neighbor, growing up, had Road Rash and it is one of the most nostalgic games for me.

[@jsttv]

Got a Sega Genesis Christmas 91.

[@GotTheBestLigma]

Same here, that was an awesome year!

[@bmshaven]

Would be cool to spin off this series and have a 'Games you MAY not have played in 19##'. Games that you found fun but also were obscure in your opinion. Probably grab more views with that title alone, imo.

[@thegern]

Toejam and Earl is literally my favorite game of all time. What people don't realize is if I'm not mistaken TJ&E is the first rogue-like game ever created. So for all the people out there who like Hades and Dead Cells among many other games if not for TJ&E you wouldn't have those games. Great video, Christmas of 1991 is when my family got a Sega Genesis so there were so many great games available for us to rent. I would recomend a lot of the those early Disney games like Castle of Illusion and Quack Shot.

[@duffman18]

Lol it's not the first rogue-like game. The first rogue-like game is called ROGUE! Hence the name rogue-like. It means a game that is like the game called Rogue. It is like Rogue, so it's rogue-like. Go play the original Rogue, there's ways to play it on your phone or tablet or whatever device you have. Also there were many many many many rogue-like games before toejam and Earl that weren't Rogue. Rogue inspired so many people to make rogue-like games. Like the game Nethack which is perhaps the most popular rogue-like of all time, and was released years before the genesis even existed as a console, let alone how long before it took the first Toejam and Earl to come out. Like with Rogue you can play Nethack on your phone if you wanna check it out. It's fun. It's brutal. Like Roguelikes are meant to be.

[@SteveBrandon]

I wish there was a legitimate way to download and own M.U.S.H.A. (Switch Online is just renting it.) I didn't play Toe Jam and Earl until I got the Sega Genesis Mini and I pretty much agree with your assessment of it. For me, it was just a lot of walking around way too many levels avoiding easily-avoidable enemies and the only reason I stopped playing was that I got bored. One Genesis game I had that wasn't mentioned was (Disney's) Fantasia, a game with a notorious reputation but I still kind of enjoyed it for the colourful stages and the low-fi chiptune versions of classical music pieces. Except for "Night of Bald Mountain", I always died within a minute on that level.

[@lady1kaka]

Gain Ground. Super unique and still fun!

[@Mardial]

thanks for bringing my childhood joy memories

[@PixelsNcreatureS]

I grew up a Nintendo Kid but I wasn't a Sega hater. There was so many games I saw in magazines that I wanted to play. I didn't get a Genesis till after Saturn was out

[@MotherKojiro]

Jewel Master is a great mention; that ring combination element wasn't the sort of thing you'd usually see in a Platformer. Arcus Odyssey is great, too; it's one of my all-time favorites for the Genesis. It was supposed to come to the SNES, too, but it was canceled, which is absolute SHMUP really IS kind of a weird word.

[@arnmrs1660]

The video is missing some great 1991 games like Quackshot, RollingThunder 2, Shining in the Darkness, The Immortal, Wonderboy in Monster World, Zero Wing, WarSong, NHl Hovkey, Joe Montana 2, Fighting Masters, Master of the Monsters, Saint Sword, Shadow of the Beast, Star Control, Star Flight, Pit Fighter, Outrun, Valis III and Golden Axe 2, among others. And also some great Japanese exclusives as Dahna, Rent a Hero and Ninja Burai Densetsu.

[@GotTheBestLigma]

Omg I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention The Immortal! Absolutely awesome game, one of my favorites at that time. Awesome graphics and fairly gorey for then. Used to love the different ways he killed the goblins.

[@bradnimbus4836]

Keep it up with these awesome videos, man! You still have to finish Chrono Trigger though

[@cbuckley5697]

Jewel Master is a gem.. pun intended 😊

[@segaboy1773]

Wasn’t John Madden Football 92 released in 91? Maybe you showed it and I just missed it. Anyway, nice video. Lots of memories.

[@mjdf122]

91 was a good year John Riggs none of these kids in the comments were there or even a thought to be born haha enjoy your week blessed to see 1980-Now of gaming thanks for all your work

[@duffman18]

I'm pretty sure most of his viewers are our age, i.e. we grew up with these games cos we were born in the 80s. Do today's kids care at all about the mega drive? I doubt it somehow. They're obsessed with mobile games which are invariably awful. But us elderly people in our 30s and 40s still love the mega drive or the snes or whichever console a person had and grew up with. Maybe cos of nostalgia blindness, or maybe just because these games are timeless and so are still as great now as they were back then.

[@fista1331]

Love when these videos show me games I never played before. Off to check ‘em out! 🙌🏻

[@MTFMuffins]

hey John love your videos, could u keep the titles of the games onscreen while you talk about them? pretty pls? :)

[@gpdoes]

John rIggs is da man, thank you

[@Palalubong]

I was 12 in 1991 and the best ever time to be a gamer. Great video.

[@richardjenkins128]

I’ve waited so long for this video. Ames one work as always John

[@BLiNKx86]

Musha being expensive got me thinking.. I remember Street Fighter 2 on SNES was around $80 USD at launch. Was that the only game to cost that much in the 16-bit snes/genesis 16-bit era?

[@jhighturntup5558]

Hey John loved the best arcade games of 1982 , was hoping you might work your way through the rest of the 80's and 90's skipping two years at a time maybe.. 👾

[@kelly9094]

Awesome video, thanks for the retro goodness Riggs

[@nerdcraftercoley7305]

I used to pretend Shadow dancer was snake eyes and his wolf was Timber from G. I.Joe when I was a kid.

[@FlyingDuckMan360]

1991 was the year that the Sega Genesis was gathering steam. As it was on the market for two years by this point, it had over 100 different games, including Sonic the Hedgehog's debut game, and it also had the Power Base Converter, which allowed people to play Master System games on the Genesis, giving it over 200 different games to play. The SNES was brand new at the time. It was more expensive than the Genesis and the NES, had a small number of games, and it wasn't backwards compatible with NES games.

[@kringhetto]

Hey! I was born in 91, and the Genesis was our family's first console. 😄 thanks for the vid!

[@rolandguerrero8944]

I didn’t own a Sega Genesis growing up, but I did play some of its titles in the arcade and a friend’s house. I recently picked up the Sega mini. Although not original hardware, it’s still loads of fun.

[@Jussi.Ihander]

I was crazy about Decap Attack as a kid as well. My friend had it and I always played it when I was visiting and at home I had to stick with NES. The opening music kicks ass :D

[@Sinn0100]

Oh yes, I was all about my Sega Genesis in 1991. Even when I got my Snes in 1991, I was still all about my Genesis. I don't think the Turbo Grafx 16 was the best place for shmup's. I believe it is one of the best and it really varies by year. One of my biggest arguments for the Genesis and how powerful it was is Thunder Force IV. In my eyes that game alone puts the Genesis on top of the shmup heap. It looks like an honest to God Neo Geo AES game. That's just my stance on this small part of the review. Arrow Flash was an excellent game that reminded me of Macross's Veritech Fighters. ;)

[@m.a.packer5450]

Man, I remember as a kid hearing a friend tell us that his mom took away his copy of Road Rash and grounded him because she thought it was too violent. But then he got Mortal Kombat for Christmas about a year later 🤷‍♂️

[@shafrirk]

Wooow what a good work of video❤❤❤amazing cover amazing job

[@dwayneraimer]

Love these game release videos of each year… do you happen to have made a video for sega genesis 1994 or 1995? If not, I would love for you to add that video to your series.. Thanks for all you post!!!

[@risboturbide9396]

Your channel is amazing! Thank you, John 🍻🍻

[@JohnRiggs]

thank you much!

[@gi_nattak]

Yeah Decap Attack is a really good game, underrated imo, even back then. It's actually a westernized version of the 1990 Japanese Mega Drive game Magical Hat. The soundtrack is incredibly awesome indeed, one of my very favorite on the system.👍

[@duffman18]

Yeah it's incredibly trippy to play both those games, because the games are literally exactly the same other than the visuals. It's like a romhack. The engine, the level layout, the bosses etc are all exactly the same, but they just _LOOK_ different. So they use a different sprite for your character, but it's the same in terms of how high he jumps and so on. And all the platforms and interactive objects etc in the world are in exactly the same place, but again they simply look different. So it's only the visuals that are different. Absolutely everything else is exactly the same. It's like if someone put a new sprite and new enemy sprites and new terrain pixel art and new background pixel art on a Mario game to make it look like a sonic game, but everything other than the visuals stays exactly the same, with every platform and obstacle in the same exact spot, they just have different pixel art on them. So yeah, if you play both of them it's very trippy because you're playing the exact same levels in the exact same way, but they just look different. I don't know of any other game that does that. A complete visual swap like that. I know there was that game for SNES of the Jetsons cartoon, but in that game they only changed the main character sprite to the George Jetson character, from what it had been in the original game that was called Yōkai Buster Ruka no Daibōken. I don't think they changed the rest of the visuals in that, only the main character sprite. But I may be wrong about that. With this game, Decap Attack and Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken, they feel so different to each other despite being exactly the same, because the visuals just have an entirely different vibe, with the original being very colourful and happy and bright, and then Decap Attack being horror themed. Also these aren't the only 2 games that do this. Because both of them were also originally released as Psycho Fox on the master system and Kid Kool on the NES. They're still the same game! So this game was released at least 4 times with completely different names and visuals and story etc while being the same exact game. I don't get why they did it, cos I think these games could have sold fine with their original characters. But I'm glad they did this, because it's one of the craziest things you can play, to play the same game 4 times with completely different visuals each time while being the same game. I wonder if speed runners can do the same speed run on any version of the game, using the same strategies and tricks. In which case it's probably best to put them all in the same category instead of as separate games. Like if you programmed a TAS to speed run Decap Attack, you could use the exact same programmed TAS to play Magical Hat instead and it'd work exactly the same because the games are identical except for the visuals.

[@brianramsay7056]

Sword of Vermillion was amazing as a kid. The somber feeling and amazing music... It was amazing for it's time

[@FreihEitner]

Sword of Vermillion kind of looks like a 16-bit version of the NES Willow game.

[@howieg2019]

91 revenge of shinobi and altered beast were the only genesis games i had, but i ran those games to the ground because i had so much love for them.

[@davidbrinkman7867]

Can't wait to watch 1992!

[@ultramaximusreviews]

My best friend's little brother had a Genesis. All my Genesis experience is from that singular console growing up LOL.

[@LekkerLillico]

saw your video on my feed- clicked and saw princess tomato back there.... INSTANT SUB time to binge!

[@The_Badseed]

Great vid. Good memories. I loved Sword of Vermilion

[@benvanasdale6273]

I grew up with DeCapAttack as one of my first Genesis games, and I absolutely love it, too. I hum the music to myself to this day lol

[@ricardomauricioaraya7625]

Hey! I love Decap Attack too! the only negative I find is having to find items to exit the levels, but everything else on that game is great. The Music, the animations, the character, and even the gameplay! fun game!

[@catholicactionbibleonlyist1813]

1991 my brothers birth year , I remember seeing him for the first time my pants were to big for me Earl looks like Patrick

[@jimmylarson7856]

Wow I waited for you to get to toe jam and early and you crapped on it. I still play it to this day and introduced my nephew to it on his switch. It’s a randomized game different every time which you said you liked. It’s extremely challenging and sometimes impossible to beat but that’s what makes it so much fun

[@bryanjensen2614]

I remember getting back from the Gulf and my roommate got a Sega Genesis...man we played Sonic and Altered Beast for HOURS.

[@marbles8641]

I got the old Altered Beast pack in with my Genesis but my parents bought Sonic on the side, I remember James Pond 2 being one of the first games I ever rented for the console.

[@jhoughjr1]

I first saw Sega genesis at a daycare in Texas on TV and was amazed. I had already seen Shinobi and Golden Axe in the arcades.

[@BigBadJohnDiesel]

I graduated from highschool in 91. I was playing Batman and Shadow Dancer to death!! Great memories for sure!!

[@alex64gaming]

I love james pond lol

[@LinkeFlink]

Damn i didnt even know i could play games when i was 3 years old😂

[@forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499]

So many good games that year across the industry at large. Love the Genesis.

[@matthewbarrios1028]

God I remember Slaughter Sport and its glorious suckitude

[@juangsantos]

Always coming with the hits!

[@darktetsuya]

air buster! there was an arcade I used to frequent that had it... 90s anime aesthetic shmup it was quite fun. flicky was one of my wife's favorites. I did play a little bit on the genesis collection, neat as a retro arcade port. (she was also big on shadow dancer a fun shinobi sequel) Wardner I didn't realize was 1991! got it for my birthday some years ago I had fond memories of the arcade original at a convenience store when I was younger. Sonic? nuff said I did really like the boss theme and starlight zone's music. I remember we had spider-man at one point. a fun one for sure! streets of rage, yeah probably beats out final fight a little bit! loved the soundtrack to part 2 but gotta start somewhere. man so many memories!

[@CasperEgas]

We bought our Mega Drive around that time. It came with Sonic, Decap Attack and Jewel Master.

[@allnamesaretakenful]

I had Decap Attack back in 1991, and I loved it. I still play it on my RG35XX Handheld aka Chinese Gameboy.

[@christopherevans9119]

All the spots games were awesome when I got my on my 11th Birthday In 1991… O yeah! Castlevania Bloodlines was my favorite most of all…

[@deang5386]

I had a SNES but i knew a few friends who had Genesis/Mega Drive. Played alot of Sonic the Hedgehog and California Games.

[@neskid26]

Never owned a Genesis in '91, though my neighbor did I was at there house a lot playing Sonic and Ecco. Another neighbor had Genesis with the Sega CD attachment and a game Lethal Enforcers and Sega CD game Dracula, I liked Dracula with the cut scenes thought the technology was neat.

[@pugshorty9852]

My absolute favorite Sega Genesis was and still is Pirate's Gold

[@RobertLewis85]

I got my first Sega with the pack-in Sonic game and loved it.

[@matthewb9955]

I love your criticism of modern shmups, and I agree they don’t need to always be bullet hell and I also appreciate the other styles.

[@n64fan60]

For a second I thought the title of this video was "3D Games You Were Playing On Your Genesis in 1991" lol

[@Marc_Araujo]

I know I give you shit for repeatedly recommending Awesome Possum but I can't fault you for recommending Sword of Vermilion...I love it too, as I got it with my Model 2 Genesis along with Mortal Kombat, Sonic 1 & 2, and Thunder Force II (another game I absolutely love).

[@jdssurf]

think of the level of excitement vs stress in our lives in the early 90s vs now, someone shoot me

[@jacobcordell2882]

Prices are going to go up now lol great video

[@kuruptein]

I've actually never played growl.. must play now. Thanks a lot John lol

[@TheMultiGunMan]

Once again Sega Does What Nintendon't.

[@HarriHaffi]

Yay! We did a goodjob with this video

[@retrogamer8085]

finally someone mentions Dick Tracy on the Genesis. it's a great game, really is. the master system version, which i also have, isnt bad, either. it's better than the NES version! u lined up a lotta good games on here. sunsoft's BATMAN on genesis has awesome music. alien storm was.. weird.. to me. both arcade and genesis ports. didnt like it. streets of rage 1 is my fave, even more than part 2. it feels more raw, gritty, way better music than part 2. part 3 doesnt exist in my world lol. i think final fight edges out streets of rage however. music? no. but the sega cd port of final fight with remastered music? yes, it buries streets of rage. but streets of rage has that "late 80s martial arts movie" vibe to it that makes me like it more than part 2. i hate toe jam and earl lol. always did. u ever do comparison vids mr riggs? wouldnt mind seeing some genesis vs snes comparisons or just "same game but different" vids.

[@Ajuntapall]

I can sum up old timey gaming like this. Just getting knocked into holes and water and things showing back up that you just killed out of the screen. All day long!

[@dwightdixon8508]

Genesis still does

[@JAppJohnAndrewPatrickPeters]

0:52 WHAT you were a fan of Robotech? OMFG! lol I only thought there was me and my best friend that ever loved robo..lol.

[@tonycoffee7335]

I really like these videos, always find something new to play. Thank you.

[@BENULTIMAN2000]

Can you do 30 Genesis Games that were released in 1993 which was the Year when I was born ????

[@miamimagicians]

U nothing beats gaming in the 90s, especially the sonic series in the Mario series so legendary

[@Phantasystar77]

Dick Tracey was a really good game for its time. A shame I don't see more people talking about that hidden gem.

[@shinjiblack9460]

You're the first person I've heard mention Robotech (seems like a lot of schmups that had transforming mc's came from it)

[@shane3478]

I fully agree with you on shooters. I love shooters. I remember the first time I ever played rtype at the mall arcade and I was hooked. I cannot stand bullet hell shooters. You don't get to enjoy the atmosphere while taking in the visuals. It's just a slog of confusion for me. Yeah I'm old but I love good shooters.

[@cupheadandmaskedsinger3523]

I used to wear spiderman underwear . 😂

[@cori6331]

Why the hate on James Pond? I have fond memories of playing that game. I just tried it again today and actually found it was still fun. It's like an underwater version of Bubble Bobble. I think the viewers deserve a proper review. :)