Ranking Every SEGA Published Genesis Game of 1989

[@johnhancockretro]

I forgot Alex Kidd…next video :). I was using RF generation as a reference point, I’ll include it next video :)

[@ostiariusalpha]

Did you though? And is anyone going to hold it against you? 😂

[@martijnvandervelde2166]

7:54 - Super Thunder Blade, the choppiest chopper game ever!

[@johnhancockretro]

Truth

[@chriswheatley3146]

Space Harrier didn't feel much better imo

[@epicon6]

Been waiting for this! 🎉

[@danielespeziari5545]

I love that you're finally ranking Sega-published games, as I'm a fairly new Mega Drive fan. I agree with you on Altered Beast, it's addictive and it has a lot of personality, although it is objectively just an average action sidescroller. I also agree on Golden Axe and Super Hang-On, they are the true definition of "classic". I am curious to try Mystic Defender. I found an affordable copy but I stupidly didn't buy it

[@chriswheatley3146]

At the time when I bought Alex Kidd, I was trying to decide between that and Mystic Defender. I made the wrong choice then going with the original 'mascot'. What's ironic is that I owned Spellcaster and never knew at the time that Mystic Defender was related to it.

[@joesshows6793]

2:37 forgotten worlds is maybe my most played genesis game ever

[@JaggedDagger]

Altered Beast and Space Harrier 2 were the first games I got with my Genesis

[@johnhancockretro]

Good choices! Thanks for the comment and visit to my channel.

[@trentnix]

Same here and I'm super nostalgic for both. GnG was the third game I got!

[@bluewaterdiggers5970]

Great video John

[@johnhancockretro]

Thank you very much for watching!

[@buckeyechad1]

Bought my Genesis in Dec 89. Also 1st console i bought with my own $

[@dwaynemenzies8824]

Golden Axe was one of three games my sister was good at.

[@dwaynemenzies8824]

The other 2 were 1942 and Street Fighter 2. She was only good with Dhalsam.

[@jordanbenson2980]

John, i cant believe ive only just realised you are now FINALLY ranking Sega. Thank you for affording the time to do this as after adking you to do this a long time ago, i know ots takes a sognificant amount of time. Thank you

[@zeiram8230]

I was going to say - where’s Herzog Zwei, but I checked and it wasn’t released in the US until 1990. Good tier list!

[@richterbelmont5506]

Ghouls n Ghosts is one of the best Genesis games. One of my favorites. I wonder what the Genesis would have been like had Capcom worked harder for Sega at the time. Just got Punisher a few days ago and it exceeded my expectations. Going to play more today

[@ostiariusalpha]

1989 was simply impossible for Capcom to directly cooperate with Sega, Nintendo really had them by the shorthairs back then. It wasn't until Street Fighter II that Capcom became big enough to dictate who they would work with. That being said, there's a new homebrew port for the Genesis/Mega Drive being developed by aMaru which will make Ghouls 'n Ghosts even more faithful to the original arcade game. Check it out!

[@ostiariusalpha]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5_TgGOZjJaKbZI kzbin.info/www/bejne/omG8mGSwhsuefJY kzbin.info/www/bejne/faGVgmV4oc9ka9k

[@richterbelmont5506]

@@ostiariusalpha where is your source for that claim? Ok I get Nintendo may have given a bigger cut but have you seen somewhere that Capcom was under contract? Idk why they didn't port their own games -- probably cause it wasn't a good business decision at the time. All I know is Capcom half assed the Genesis and that for me could've given more argument to the console wars. Konami is easily the best developer for the Genesis

[@wichordzmty]

@@richterbelmont5506 Capcom, Namco and Konami had the 5 years contract with Nintendo in those days, so Saga port those arcade games by themselves.

[@richterbelmont5506]

@@wichordzmty link? Never heard of that contract. And Konami performed way more for Sega

[@thehumbleone1983]

Great video John I have good memories growing up with my Mega Drive / Genesis console I remember when I first got MD console with Altered Beast and Golden Axe it was awesome to get to play theses games at home especially when experience playing them at the Arcades and then to get them in your hands at home just was so exciting as a kid back then

[@johnhancockretro]

That's awesome

[@jamesstaggs4160]

I had to wait to get a 16 bit system until I was in high school and got a job and therefore my own money, but a friend of mine got one and Altered Beast just floored me. It's really tough to make someone understand how big a step up in graphics that game was even when compared to something like Ninja Gaiden on the NES.

[@GCSoundArtifacts]

I think your ranking is really fair for this first batch of Mega Drive (that's how I prefer to call it here in Brazil) games, hats off! Super Hang-On, by the way, achieves the impossible for me: I'm not a big fan of racing games, but the GREAT music, the idea that you're running against the time only and overall sense of progression of it makes me love it each time I play it... A personal S for me, despite being technically an A (choppiness of the zoom effect wasn't still having its due on the console in 1989).

[@kjhoskins]

Great games to start the system off with. They really hit the ground running! Thanks for the video, John!

[@johnhancockretro]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@basiliosfafalios9242]

​@@johnhancockretro will you be doing a sega 1990 review?

[@johnhancockretro]

@@basiliosfafalios9242 yes

[@RobsRetroGaming]

LOVE the Genesis! One of the best consoles I ever had!

[@2Plus2isChicken2013]

I really like several of these games. Rambo III is definitely one of the better movie games I’ve played. Revenge of Shinobi and Golden Axe are must-play Genesis games. That must have been awesome earning enough money to buy your own Genesis in 1989.

[@johnhancockretro]

I mowed ALOT of lawns, washed cars, and stacked wood. It help me build the strong work ethic that I have today.

[@Gaming-Enthusiast]

Loved playing on the Sega Genesis back in the day, great ranking and some awesome games on the Genesis. Bringing back some great memories. Great video John massive inspiration to us smaller creators

[@mitchellazevedo6637]

I expected there to be a whole lot more Sega published games on a Sega system.

[@johnhancockretro]

I technically missed a few, but less than 20 for sure. We are spoiled these days with a release every day.

[@dad7275]

I really like your content John. Keep it up.

[@johnhancockretro]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@TheMultiGunMan]

I didn't realize there were so many awesome games released in the first year of the Genesis. I had one as a teenager. It was my first console. Rambo 3 and Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf is one of my favorite games of all time.

[@yousefslimani99]

Great to see you again john thanks for keep supporting my fav console!

[@waynerowlinson6177]

Great video, and it seems your rankings are in line with what I would go with as well. I have to admit I haven't played Mystic Defender, but by the looks of it can't believe I never heard of it. The gameplay looks a lot like Act Raiser (the original), which is one of my favorite games of all time. I'm going to have to look through my Sega collection, but am pretty sure I don't have it. I'm going to have to track it down. Tommy Lasorda Baseball is one of my favorite games, simply because it is one of the games that myself and one of my kids played the heck out of just a few years back. The Genesis sat in storage for many years, and it was my kid's idea to drag it out and play a few games on it. It is a great two player game and a great way to share a rainy afternoon with a loved one who likes to play retro games. We have dragged the Genesis out a few times since then, and this game is on the playlist every time. Thanks again for the great video.

[@johnhancockretro]

You should!

[@chriswheatley3146]

You missed Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle; released in August of 1989 in North America. pretty good with your Rankings. My breakdown: S tier is completely nailed correctly. Golden Axe was one of the main reasons I wanted a Genesis and anyone who loved the arcade version of the game would have been happy with the conversion. Ghouls N' Ghosts I never saw in the Arcade, but when I eventually got it, it was WOW! Revenge of Shinobi is possibly the best of all the Shinobi games. Super Hang-On was a definitely good surprise when I got it. I would have initially ranked it B for its choppiness early on in the game, but that career mode is soooo good to where I would have given it an S if not for the chop. The A ranking is a perfect fit. These are the changes I'd make: I know there are haters of Altered Beast, but it was the other main reason why I wanted a Genesis. It was faithful enough to the arcade that I'd give it an A. Last Battle also gets a lot of hate. I thought it was a fun rental and would have been lenient enough to give it a B. Space Harrier II I didn't care for much as still screenshots looked great, but it played so choppy; along with clipping and other graphical issues. I would have rated it a C and would have raised Super Thunderblade to a C as well as it felt like Space Harrier in a helicopter. The rest I agree on and was fortunate enough never to have played World Championship Soccer; even thought I had played and owned my own fair share of stinkers.

[@johnhancockretro]

Yeah, I was using RF generation as a reference point, I’ll include it next video :)

[@Wisconsin_Local_139_Crane_Guy]

You bought your own Sega when you were young? That’s bad ass my dude.

[@64-Bit-Gamer]

I didn't realise there were so many good games for Mega Drive in 1989. I couldn't afford two consoles, so I saved-up and eventually got a Super NES in 1992 instead.

[@martinaurik2189]

I’m not a Sega fan but a gamer there are definitly some gems I enjoyed (a while back I played “Golden Axe”)There still so much I didn’t play so thank you for sharing😃👍🏻

[@johnhancockretro]

Well said!

[@RetroEmpireDefend]

Probably one of my favorite years in gaming that made me a lifelong loyal Sega fan. Coming off the NES, when Genesis launched i was blown away and never looked back.

[@kenshirootomo6993]

I agree with you with every game score on this list... (except the golf and baseball games, never played them) I have to mention TFII overhead levels are not confusing to me, THE ARE FUN!!! ---- TFII was the game that made me choose GENESIS over the TG16. For me is A+

[@richterbelmont5506]

TF 2 is very fun. I need to play 4 more

[@25hztolife14]

I always wondered if their is a connection between Last Alert (Turbo CD) and Rambo 3. Looks very similar, even how the enemies die.

[@mjdf122]

Perfect another lovely list from the immortal John Hancock

[@Terrak16]

It’s great to see where it all started on the console once again. Great memories. John, don’t forget to say ‘you might wanna grab some popcorn’ in the beginning of your episodes! Its part of your trademark

[@johnhancockretro]

Good call!

[@Terrak16]

@@johnhancockretro Thank you!

[@sherekhangamedev]

Great top, John! Sega was a master of their craft with the Arcade to Console ports of that era, not for nothing that was one of their main marketing battleships a the beginning.

[@yousefslimani99]

Most underrated late 80's Genesis games!

[@bradnimbus4836]

Great video, Mr. Hancock!

[@ThatPrettyBMF]

I always enjoy your ranking videos. They inspire me to try new games I'd never seriously considered playing. Thanks, John!👏

[@johnhancockretro]

Glad to hear it!

[@thegamingcorner4095]

Great list John. I agree with it. As for Super Thunder Blade the Master System Thunder blade is 100 times better than the Genesis one.

[@johnhancockretro]

Well said!

[@psychopoison]

That Football game (Soccer) I remember my brother calling it Super football eye as players look like eyes

[@j.goggels9115]

I love Rambo III too. Definitely A.

[@dwightdixon8508]

Sega had a little something for everyone in that first year in 1989. These games are the reason I bought a Sega Genesis over the TurboGrafx-16 back then. That Mystic Defender & Ghouls N Ghosts games were my absolute favorites

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

I remember buying one after earning money delivering papers. It absolutely blew my mind that a home game console had arcade graphics at home. The NES was weak at making arcade ports at that time. So yeah it was incredible seeing it. I was also anticipating the Super NES at that time because I saw it in EGM.

[@nickhall1115]

I think you nailed it. Well done.

[@hectormontalvo5565]

Great list of games and I agree with your rankings bro. It's neat that the first system you bought on your own was the Genesis. The first system I bought on my own as the NES. At the time I was working on tv and audiovisual of the town's college while studying at the same time. Cool video John!👉😃👈

[@johnhancockretro]

Much appreciated

[@hectormontalvo5565]

@@johnhancockretro 👍

[@pv3201]

This guy is so friendly where was this amount of grade inflation when I was in school!? 😂

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

Playing Altered Beast on the Genesis was mind blowing in 1989. It was almost identical to the arcade cabinet.

[@Evercade_Effect]

This was a fun video. Love the S tier os fantastic!

[@SoulKeeverAdventureGaming]

Wow, looking at this list really puts into perspective what a good year it was for Sega games! I agree with just about the entire ranking, though I think I'd switch Super Thunder Blade and Last Battle. I had a surprisingly good time with Super Thunder Blade, but I have a lot of trouble getting into Last Battle.

[@juggalo4life247]

Ahhhh,the good old days!!!

[@FizzWizard]

Pretty much spot on ranking there John. I’d just nudge Altered beast up to “A” I know it’s short but it’s replay-ability is so good especially in 2 player.

[@Gameboy_Steve]

What do you think about Alisia dragon? Awesome video by the way 🎉

[@johnhancockretro]

I remember liking it and look forward to revisiting it in a future video ;)

[@Gameboy_Steve]

I would call this a hidden gem - super awesome game people didn’t get a chance to play when they were young!! They can remaster the game. Thanks for the reply

[@joshuahamilton2245]

i heard super thunderblade for the pc engine in some ways then the sega genesis version same thing with space harrier other the voices.

[@stevenirving3100]

Excellent video as ever, thank you. One of the first times that I have heard someone say that they like the top down part of Thunderforce II as I enjoy it too, I think it gives variety, most reviewers knock the game down a mark because of it unfortunately.

[@Wolfie1262]

Revenge of Shinobi was one of my first Genesis games, and introduced me to Yuzo Koshiro’s legendary Genesis music. One of my absolute favorites. I haven’t played many of these, but Golden Axe is loads of fun, as is Altered Beast. Ghouls n Ghosts I vaguely remember playing in the store when the Genesis was new. I thought Kid Chameleon was a first year game? Must be a second year, cause I think it became the pack in game for a while. Kid Chameleon is a criminally underrated platformer imo. Can’t wait to see what you rate it lol

[@lifeson8362]

While on the subject of tommy lasorda, i still play ken griffey on snes all the time as its the best baseball game imo, simple and fun to play, grrat video and genesis is a gem of a system 😎🍻

[@arcadesunday4592]

Great video. I fully agree with your scores for the gsmes showcased!

[@Chicomite]

Ghouls n Ghosts Sega Genesis/MegaDrive port is easy S-tier for sure, but I really love that series. Besides the computer ports, I'm pretty close to having every port of them all, the Game Boy Color Ghosts n Goblins is surprisingly playable. I like it a bit more than the NES version it's based on. Apparently it's one of the "rarest" boxes and games, but I found mine pretty easily and cheap circa 2015. Return of the Ninja GBC box is 100 times rarer. I always get made fun of for liking Mystic Defender, I like Spellcaster too. And Mystic Defender has always been so cheap and findable, that's crazy ppl want it now. It's a fun, early 16-bit arcadey platformer.

[@ostiariusalpha]

😅 I don't know if this is considered spam, but I think every fan of the Genesis port of Ghouls 'n Ghosts should be aware that a homebrew port is being programmed by aMaru that is shockingly faithful to the original arcade game. It's still early days, but the changes he has made are spectacular. Episode 1: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5_TgGOZjJaKbZI Episode 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omG8mGSwhsuefJY Episode 3: kzbin.info/www/bejne/faGVgmV4oc9ka9k

[@bmanilow13]

Was mystic defender common at launch across the USA???

[@johnhancockretro]

hmm, I dont know the answer to that one. I rented alot of games and bought way less games. I do remember seeing it at Toys R US though.

[@j.goggels9115]

Super Hang-On hell yes ! Terrific ! It really pales in comparison to the 'real' arcade game but at the end of the day, it's still exciting.

[@johnhancockretro]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

Ghouls N Ghosts and Revenge of Shinobi were S tier. Shinobi had the Terminator and Spiderman as bosses.

[@yogibear2k220]

I can't really challenge anything on your list as I have only played 2 games on them which was Space Harrier II and Ghouls and Ghosts. But I do agree with those rankings so I can whole heartedly say I will agree with you on them. I do love these ranking videos. Because, even if I have not played the games before, I can always try them out on an emulator and see what it may of been like back in the day when these games came out. As I mentioned before I was alive when all these games came out (and old enough to be at work,) but games did not really excite me so I payed a very few of them. But, I do remember the "chonky" graphics back then so I can appreciate what they had to work with graphics style the games had compared to the "photo realism" we have nowadays. So thanks for the suggestions, I will definitely play these games in this list and make my own "in my head" ranking! It also gives me an excuse to play Space Harrier II again, though I did prefer the original.

[@loganjorgensen]

I started with Genesis around Sonic 1 so fun to see what came out before that each year, I think there was enough there to keep me happy if I had started sooner, some nice arcade ports and home console exclusives. Mostly I look back on the Super Scaler ports and think Sega should have used the Nintendo practice of helper chips for those, just hindsight that they never made a cheap IC for sprite scaling and rotation to put in carts and instead made greatly inferior ports.

[@UToobin75]

I owned 9 of those 15 1989 titles, and looking over that list, I think that the first year window of Genesis titles was my favorite console launch of all time. There was just a solid variety on offer. I'll disagree however on World Championship Soccer. I had a fair amount of fun with it back then, and it was one of few launch window games I owned which was two-player. The only other sports game I came to own for the Genesis was John Madden Football.

[@kevinstrade2752]

Yup. My first system I bought to back in early 90'. I loved Sega arcade games and wanted the best for my money. I almost got an Nes because of the sheer number of games but the advertisements from Sega worked. I had to have those graphics. Lol

[@carlosc9170]

100% agree

[@x3nowildfir3]

Great List, I totally agree with you.

[@johnhancockretro]

Thanks!

[@RedTabletTalk]

Wun tew tree fower! Class is in session!

[@trentnix]

A few of these might have been "published" but they weren't available for purchase (at least in the West) until 1990, at least in my neighborhood. Specifically, Forgotten Worlds, Golden Axe, and Revenge of Shinobi didn't hit the shelves until early 1990. I see "release dates" on Wikipedia but back then a "release date" wasn't like it is today. Games showed up when they showed up. I'm not sure if the release date on Wikipedia (Revenge of Shinobi, for example, says Dec 2 89) is when it showed up on an order form or what, but it's not a good indicator of when it hit the shelves. I got my Genesis on Christmas Day in '89 and definitely got to play Altered Beast, Space Harrier II, Last Battle, Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, and Tommy Lasorda Baseball before the new year. I can remember seeing just about everything else on store shelves (at Target and Service Merchandise, the only two retailers near me that carried the Genesis). Ghouls 'n' Ghosts hit the shelves in December 1989 release, if memory serves.

[@johnhancockretro]

Yeah different regions were delayed for sure.

[@Lbf5677]

glad i only rented last battle

[@isaiahconstante2206]

I beat ghouls and ghosts on an emulator with save states the first time. When I found out you gotta beat it twice I used cheat codes to skip to the end. It's hella hard

[@HiNRGboy]

Wasn't Fatal Labyrinth one of the earliest games on here? Or did it comes out in '90?

[@johnhancockretro]

1991 actually

[@llpBR]

We used to call that soccer game as "the bird game" hahaha

[@flrpitflrp1965]

Did I miss Pat Riley’s Basketball. Or did it come out in 1990?

[@johnhancockretro]

Nope, it was released in 1990 in the US per Wikipedia article and Sega Retro website.

[@troyshilanski380]

Still my great sega moment was in Spain and my shipmate put it in a backpack and tossed it from id guess 70 feet to the pier. 50 feet up 20 feet out. Nailed it. Back in 93 aint no video , i wish there was. It was either i have my sega or its a destroyed mess. Good throw , good catch.

[@ilj1259]

Ghouls and Ghosts and Mystic Defender both have good graphics and sound but are crazy difficult and will have you throwing your joystick in disgust. I would rank them "c" at best.

[@leonDleonD]

Wasn't Alex kid also a 1989 release?

[@johnhancockretro]

Yeah, I was using RF generation as a reference point, I’ll include it next video :)

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

I own both Ghouls N Ghosts for the Genesis and Super Ghouls N Ghosts for the SNES.

[@jpdevs]

I'm quite in favour of your list, but never really digged into Altered Beast. It's just not my cup of tea, would give it a D

[@SnailTheWhale]

Hey man, did you ever play the Golden Axe on the Dreamcast Arcade hits? The music has a really high pitched shrill sound for the music! Was it the same on Genesis or did SEGA just screw with the dreamcast edition? I have to play that game on Mute when through my dreamcast

[@johnhancockretro]

Yeah, an emulation issue.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

Forgotten Worlds i've gotten to the last level in Single Player, not quite beat it yet, came close though. XD

[@mrquito71]

Yup I got my SEGA Genesis in 1989 with Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Golden Axe and Shinobi -3 Great Games 👍🏼 I honestly didn’t care much for Altered Beast though…. I think I traded it or sold it to one of my friends 😮

[@johnhancockretro]

Thanks for sharing!

[@LarissaGoldberg]

I miss these videos!

[@lady1kaka]

Batman is one of my fav Marvel characters ❤️

[@Carlb328]

I need to try some of these.

[@Funrunner008]

My favorites were Phantasy star 2 and Arnold Palmer golf

[@slavicus2046]

I'm one of the few people who likes Super Thunder Blade.

[@michaelparker5640]

I remember renting one at Blockbuster memories ✌️

[@EricAndre615]

I'm one of those weirdos that would rank Last Battle higher. Maybe it's mostly nostalgia. I would rank it A. The problems are the incredible difficulty and like you mentioned the controls are a bit stiff. Not terribly so, but a little bit.

[@kalvinravn8431]

Besides emulation and MAME is there anything ever released that would let us play the Arcade version of Golden Axe, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade, Etc? I just wish super scaling technology back then wasn’t always playing catch up to the Arcade’s and finally when home consoles were as powerful as the Arcade sprites were out and it was all about polygons. Great video and thank you.

[@johnhancockretro]

Hmm the ps3, 360, and PSP Genesis collections had some arcade unlockables but don’t think any of those were included. The iiRcade offers Space Harrier.

[@ostiariusalpha]

The 32X had a great port of Space Harrier, and there was also a recent 32X homebrew port programmed by Jeroen Visser that is very faithful to the original arcade game.

[@matthewnikitas8905]

@@ostiariusalpha The 32X version was already practically arcade perfect to my knowledge,or at least very close. There is a Saturn version that is probably a little better though

[@ostiariusalpha]

@@matthewnikitas8905 It was just the framerate that the 32X couldn't quite match, but it was otherwise superb.

[@matthewnikitas8905]

@@ostiariusalpha Yep I own that version and can attest to that.

[@jamescurrie01]

yesssss

[@jay1177]

I mostly agree, except ghouls n ghosts. I’d give that a C

[@JGKingCrusher]

The only real difference for me would be altered beast lowered to a D.

[@REALmikegordan]

Wasn't Truxton one of the year one releases?

[@johnhancockretro]

Yep and include it on my 1990 video because I forgot it here :).

[@InsaneWayne355]

There's no way I'd have ranked Forgotten Worlds an A. They butchered the controls on the home port. B- at best, and that's being generous.

[@troyshilanski380]

The big problem was i only made about 800 bucks a month in the navy back then and games cost 50 bucks plus my rent so i didnt have to live onboard ship. Well titty bars with 5 dollar cover charge, and a bunch of food to eat. No there was no titties, virginia had em wear more clothes than i saw on the beaches of san diego.

[@Rob-uv8bu]

Subbed ! Got into gaming cause of you 😊😊. Don't have space . Single live in flat ! I do handhelds . Your lucky sausage having so much . Any advice would be great but guess you to busy to reply .😥😥.But thank you anyway . Respect from UK

[@johnhancockretro]

Thanks for the sub! Focus on what you want to play and try to just dedicate a small shelf/nook/closet space for the games. Loose only is much smaller to store as well.

[@joegz5809]

kensiden . the best sega game.. any system ..

[@stAth7s]

Golden Axe is the definition of S

[@tonyp9313]

I agree with most of them. The only one I don't agree with is Revenge of Shinobi. I think that's the worst one out of the 3. I would give it a C.

[@kevinstrade2752]

SSSSSssegaaaaaaa!