The Worst of the Worst on the Sega CD

Bad games. Let's look at some on Sega's 16-bit CD add-on.
I'm now on Patreon! Help support the channel.
/ segalordx
Check out my Sega Lord X merchandise page!
segalordx.threadless.com/
If you would like to support the channel directly:
www.paypal.me/segalordx
Head over to Facebook to hear me ramble about various things:
/ segalordx
I'm now on Twitter!
/ sega_lord_x
Opening "Sega" jingle is from Astal for the Sega Saturn.
Ending Music during the credits is from Batman for the Sega Genesis.
SLX Logo
By: Jan Neves
KZbin Page - / jan3d
Intro by Evan S.
portfolio.tsestudios.com/
Episode Notes:
1. Captured on a combination of the Mega SG/Mega SD and real hardware.
2. I was coming off a cold with this video so you hear a few different states of my voice.
3. This was not meant to be an April Fools episode, but I did want it to be in good humor.
4. Sega CD emulation is pretty spot on these days. Give these games a try and see if you like them.
5. Sonic CD being selected as worst use of scaling was just meant to be for the bonus stages.
6. A number of these can be played elsewhere. Night Striker is far better on the Saturn for instance.
7. Revengers of Vengeance was called Battle Fantasy in Japan. Why they changed the title is beyond me.
8. Check out my Best of the Sega CD series:
• The Best of the Best o...
• The Best of the Rest o...

[@TheMultiGunMan]

It's so hard to collect for the Sega CD. You really have to dig for the gems and the prices are insane.

[@joesshows6793]

Yep. When you realize just how much and how long loading can get its almost not worth playing the games

[@kennyaustin429]

Anything worth getting on the Sega CD is insanely expensive unfortunately. I'd love to own more but paying the prices asked for Popful Mail or Android Assault is ridiculous.

[@TheMultiGunMan]

@@kennyaustin429 Yeah, it's nuts how greedy people are. They're out of their minds asking those astronomically high prices.

[@kennyaustin429]

@@TheMultiGunMan Yeah. As someone who owns systems like this and collects games it becomes incredibly frustrating to deal with. Earthbound is a prime example, there's no reason why even a loose cartridge of that should go for as much as it does, it's not THAT rare. People horde these games in storage units for years I think and create artificial rarity so that they can sell them for ridiculous prices.

[@TheMultiGunMan]

@@kennyaustin429 I'm having the same problem. I'm trying to collect for the Sega CD (and other consoles) and the greed and ridiculous prices make it very hard.

[@SAMwise-ps6zo]

the dracula game is hysterical! Still, it is the best spider and rat punching simulator you ever did see!

[@MaxAbramson3]

Touche!

[@DavidRomanKC]

Hell yeah!

[@UltimateGamerCC]

hence why the nerd used it during his Dracula special. XD

[@IDHLEB]

Spiders! Punch 'em!

[@Gatorade69]

@@UltimateGamerCC Back when he was still good.

[@k9feces]

I always think about my friend at school took a sick day after he bought a Sega CD. We called it “Sega CD Day”.

[@k9feces]

@@markvarley2962 he’ll yeah I want all that video game money back

[@azuresonic69]

I been taking mental health days since elementary school for video games.

[@pseudzy]

@@azuresonic69 they’re how I cope man. Can’t go without em, I’ve tried

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

SEGA CD can handle Super-scaler games which I consider to be the best kind, and FMV which arent even really games. Really the best and worst in one system

[@InfernoHabanero]

Revengers of Vengeance is one of those rare games that I know is objectively bad, but I still like it. The mixture of a cheesy presentation and the experimental combination of genres helps gives it an identity for itself that I find charming.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

@Wiegraf lol precisely, you should be going in with pretty low expectations.

[@kubev]

Yeah, if nothing else, it's a pretty ambitious game with some cool ideas.

[@reeyees50]

The title is as bad as the game😂

[@Stephen_Eee]

​@reeyees50 and now I know I'm an idiot bc I love the title 😂😂😂 it's SOOO bad

[@bowmanencore]

Yeah, it’s pretty cool.

[@philmason9653]

The sad Shinobi game over music every time the box art for one of these things appeared had me laughing. By the end of the video I was hearing the "HUH HUH HUH HUHHH" Neo Zeed laugh every time.

[@MaxAbramson3]

Shallow, one-dimensional villain for a 2D game.

[@cax1175]

This should have been best of the best for April Fools lol

[@j-biscuitz7370]

That would have been an amazing twist at the end lol - pump up all the games before revealing they're trash

[@yousefslimani99]

Imagine if your birthday will be on this day!

[@G.L.999]

Not everyone is a fan of April Fools though.

[@seanthegamer5552]

Totally agreed

[@hailstorm1986]

Exactly. 😂

[@revelationnow]

Microcosm was developed for the FM Towns, the Sega CD version was merely a port. I've only play the DOS version. F1 Circus was made for the PC-Engine and ported to the Sega CD The Space Adventure was also made for the PC Engine about 4 years before it arrived on Sega CD Eye of the Beholder is a MS-DOS game and released on the Sega CD about 3 years later.

[@tidq]

Oh man, Sega Lord is fearless mentioning Sonic CD in this video.

[@eponymous7910]

Sonic CD is awful. All the stages (bar palmtree panic) are poorly designed, the bosses are laughably easy and the special stages feel liike an afterthought. The soundtrack and animated sequences are top notch but it is well and truly eclipsed by 2, 3 and S & K

[@AGZhark]

@@eponymous7910I’ve got to agree. After a few years, I came back to replay it as both Sonic and Tails, and it wasn’t that fun, especially when trying to get the good ending. It’s like playing a Mario Maker level compared to an official hand-made stage by Nintendo

[@LorenHelgeson]

@@eponymous7910 I've tried about half a dozen times to like Sonic CD. I just can't get into it. There are lots of little gripes I have with the game that, one by one, would easily come across as nitpicking. But together, I can't get past them. That said, I still have my physical copy of the Sega CD version I bought back in 2005. You know, just in case I'M the crazy one and there actually is something absolutely amazing about the game that I'm missing out on.

[@Gatorade69]

@@eponymous7910 Gotta agree. The levels feel like jumbled, unfocused mazes and that's my biggest problem with the game. It's not a bad game but compared to 2, 3 and Sonic and Knuckles it falls very short. I actually think I enjoy the first Sonic over CD too but probably because I just have more nostalgia for it.

[@lmcgregoruk]

@@Gatorade69 Sonic CD looks to me like Sonic 1.5, I think it's the backgrounds aren't as distinct from the foreground as they should be, also the whole animation you have to endure every time you time travel gets annoying fast. Also the fact that there are two different soundtracks, and that it came out AFTER Sonic 2 doesn't help. When Sonic 2 looks and plays much better than Sonic CD.

[@wavefile1674]

"This is the crème de la crème of absolute garbage" Man that sounds so awful 🤣

[@GGoAwayy]

My favorite is all the times he claims someone "really shat the bed with this one"

[@MrCalverino]

I love the sound that plays in between games lol

[@korinkenneybrew3203]

Is that from anything in particular?

[@korinkenneybrew3203]

Revenge of Shinobi. Answered my own question.

[@MrCalverino]

@@korinkenneybrew3203 😅😅😅 Thanks for telling me because I didn't knw

[@megamanmarchek8293]

I would argue that Wild Woody's scaling bonus stages and After Burner 3 are worse than Sonic CDs bonus stages. I won't argue that Sonic CD makes great use of sprite scaling and rotation, but it is not the worst use of it either.

[@adultmoshifan87]

He probably picked Sonic CD for worst scaling so that he could restrict Wild Woody and AB3 to the main categories he had in mind for those

[@youuuuuuuuuuutube]

It's because After Burner 3 is not even using any scaling. It's just displaying different sprites, giving you the illusion of scaling.

[@DreamcastQ]

Great video brother, when I remember the Sega CD days, I always have to remember the bad along with the Cutting edge

[@JohnZyski]

I really liked the Sega CD, but the publishers didn't utilize the hardware to ot's fullest potential. That being said, I really enjoyed it.

[@josephfrye7342]

agreed and true.

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

14:34 Look at these "3D" buildings. They look like they are morphing like cartoons or something

[@101Volts]

Knowing how the Rayman 32x version had great backgrounds, I think the 32x CD platform could have been about as great as the very early Playstation titles, if not slightly surpassing them. Thing is, no titles exist which fully utilize the platform. And yes, I say that having owned a 32x, and having known it was an unreliable rushed out pile of garbage. But it really wasn't handled right. Never have I had another system that played some games and not others, because it was the hardware's fault. I'd only have a few individual games that didn't work, and out of over 400 cartridges in the collection that I once had, I only had a rare few that were really broken.

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

@@101Volts Nope. The Playstation is a very powerful system that can generate thousands of polygons and has 16 million colors. The SEGA CD 32X is just a bunch of 16 and 32-bit processors that cant even work in unison. The PS1 is like a jet engine and the SEGA is like 5 lawnmower engines taped together

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

I was so confused when I couldn't get 2 player to work on golden axe lol. I really thought i was going nuts at the time lol

[@Lightblue2222]

It does blow my mind that Golden Axe is 1 player.

[@andrewdowell6474]

After Burner 3 looks shockingly bad.

[@pooksthepossum]

Still medically bed ridden. 😭 Thank you so much for these videos!!!! 🐨👌

[@SegaLordX]

Any time!

[@steveafanador6441]

Get better my friend 🙏

[@pooksthepossum]

Thank you! I've been playing Formula Retro Racing on Switch to pass the time. World Tour just came out the other day. REALLY hoping there will be a Sega Lord X review on these games!! Virtua Racing love letters for sure. Stay safe and healthy everyone! ❤️

[@brentcanfield8883]

Hey. I know you don't know me from Adam.But I still want you to know I just said a prayer for you. Hope you feel better soon.

[@pooksthepossum]

@@brentcanfield8883 Thank you so much! That means a lot since I have an appointment for more tests on the 25th. I've been a nervous wreck and scared leading up to it, since they aren't entirely sure what's wrong. The US healthcare system isn't that great post-pandemic, so I don't get my appointments scheduled right away unfortunately. Again thank you so much! 😭 Been playing Saturn a ton to pass the time and take my mind off of it. I think I've already watched every SLX video in the process. Much love to you and yours! ❤️🐨❤️

[@josephkitchenfriednoodles]

I rarely disagree with Sega Lord but I love Eye of the Beholder. I know he almost didn't mention it but still, this is one of my favorites on the Sega CD. The claustrophobia, the music, the surprise underground cities, the variety of monsters, the sound effects, and classic AD&D feel...it's exactly what you would hope for in a game like this.

[@elnoel1220]

EOTB is a great game IMO, in fact a classic. But I can see why it’s on this list as every Western released RPG for the Sega CD ranges from good to great.. I mean, you try and pick a duffer from Lunar 1&2, Vay, Shining Force CD, Dark Wizard, Eye of the Beholder or Dungeon Master II. You need to look to the Japanese library for some of the lesser titles such as Funky Horror Band or Aisle Lord, and even those aren’t terrible.

[@KingofCrusher]

@@elnoel1220 Aisle Lord and Arcus were great, I could get pretty far in them without knowing any japanese. Always wished they'd gotten fan translations.

[@ImInAgonyLOL]

I've never played EotB but the gameplay looks really cool from what I've seen. That being said, I don't think I would want to play it on a Sega CD. Did they just put the PC version on a CD, make no changes to accommodate the Genesis controller, and call it a day?

[@mjdf122]

Love My Sega CD Thanks Sega Lord X For All You Do For SEGA

[@LordSephleon]

Interesting. Eye of the Beholder, Microcosm, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Afterburner 3 are the only games on this list that I ever came across in stores. I was also well aware of Marky Mark's Make My Video (I begrudgingly admit that I still own a copy of the Kris Kross one) and was even interested in trying it if for nothing else than I was amazed that video games were capable of FMVs at the time. I never owned the others mentioned, though I did rent Eye of the Beholder and Dracula once or twice. I vaguely recall that Microcosm and Afterburner 3 were constantly showing up in gaming magazines, though.

[@kylekostamo1880]

I absolutely love the sega cd. Had one growin up, games like sega soccer and heimdal im perticularily nostalgic for. I also dont think sewer shark deserves the hate it gets, not sayin its a gem or anything either.

[@Jim56Silence]

What is the music being played during the transitions between each game? Sounds so cool!

[@Oysterblade84]

Revenge of Shinobi's ''Game Over'' tune.

[@lukasjozef1774]

I remember Dracula for the Mega CD and I was amazed for ist " Realistic graphics " when I saw the reviews on magazines. Years later I could finally play Dracula on emulation and it wasn't that bad. Thanks for the video

[@larrythebatmanfan]

Are u kidding that game sucks!!!

[@lukasjozef1774]

@larry the Batman fan i agree it wasn't one of the best games for Mega CD but still is playable

[@jianyang7828]

Hi I just got a Game Gear and a Master system for real cheap. Could you do a worst of worst on either of those? I have experience with the Genesis but the 8 bit systems are foreign to me. thank u!

[@SkyScourgeGod]

If you were to make another "worst of" list, I'd love to see your picks on the 3DO. I'm one of the few who really like that console but even I know there's a ton of garbage on that system. It would just be interesting to see your take on it.

[@paulmillercanada]

Plumbers don't wear ties!

[@GeorgeWeeman]

You know Plumbers Don't Wear Ties would be the first mention lol

[@lo1bo2]

I smiled every time you mentioned a game I rented back in the day. Being able to try games for a small price was great!

[@DanHemsath]

Seeing Night Striker on this list breaks my heart, because I absolutely adored the arcade game. The lack of any kind of official port of the arcade game is sad, especially when there are oodles of Taito games getting this treatment nowadays. Good point on Sonic CD. It's an amazing game, but aside from the first Sonic, I've never loved the bonus stages, although I'd take this over Sonic 3's (for real). I can't help but like The Space Adventure, but yeah, it's a poor man's Snatcher, and that's generous. I'm surprised you didn't bring up the excessively repetitive music. (lol) And I do have a soft spot for Revengers of Vengeance, but no one can say it's a good game by any stretch. I remember beating this game (really) and a buddy of mine and I chuckled at how the credits were basically all the same name. Maybe the dude shoulda got an intern or something!

[@thaddeousmaximussussex7014]

Love the channel Sega lord x...did you do your intro graphics always loved your intro...and who or what game had the female Sega soundbite? Thanks for the weekly entertainment!

[@SegaLordX]

I had someone else do the intro. Astal is where the soundbyte is from.

[@brandonfarfan1978]

Nice vid. It was really interesting.👍 14:43 Marky Mark had a music/video editting game on sega cd? Dude.......😲

[@J.S.3259]

The Adventures of Willy Beamish made me cry. Phenomenal on the PC, impossible to load on the Sega-CD! At least it got a sweet theme song 🎵 on the port

[@jimbocalamity]

Does anyone know what song plays in between game introduction? It reminds me of streets of rage, feels like bad ending material.

[@GCJACK83]

Space Adventure Cobra is based on an anime. The anime is worth a look just to compare it against the game. Standard late 1980s-early 90s space adventure storyline.

[@ultimateman55]

Hard disagree on Sonic CD special stages. For someone who grew up with super scaler games in the arcade, maybe it wasn't too impressive. I'm slightly younger than that though, with my first ever arcade experience being the likes of the first TMNT, Altered Beast and SF2. While the scaling isn't super impressive, it was the only thing I had on my Genesis that looked anything like Mario Kart, except it was full screen. I find the special stages fairly fun and easy to control, once you understand that touching water takes your time away of course. They still look pretty neat to me today, and STRONGLY prefer them over the low resolution mess that were Sonic 2 special stages.

[@GGoAwayy]

Its weird too SNES Mario Kart looks so cramped and pixelated to me now but at the time that little half screen felt like a wide open world, clear as day.

[@Gatorade69]

@@GGoAwayy Seems like It's that way with a lot of people and games in general. We go back to an older game we had played and in our minds they looked so much better.

[@GGoAwayy]

@@Gatorade69 Maybe Im just old now and my old eyes cant focus on the harsh Mario Kart ground texture scaling like I could as a kid.

[@Gatorade69]

@@GGoAwayy Yeah, for me a lot of Mode 7 stuff is hard to look at and always has been. If you're a fan of emulation or are just interested a modder made a HD Mode 7 patch for the emulator Bsnes. It actually makes the mode 7 look decent. Or just search HD Mode 7 and you can find pics, a night and day difference.

[@ultimateman55]

@@GGoAwayy No doubt! My friend had a SNES with SMK and it was damned fun to play together and looked really cool at the time.

[@scottvincent184]

I love the balance you always bring to the table. Good, bad, weird, it's always fun watching your videos

[@urbanmidnight1]

Balance? He bigs up Nintendo constantly and has more vids bashing Sega than anything. Always refers to Nintendo as "quality" and says Sega were terrible.

[@urbanmidnight1]

Where's his videos bashing Nintendo? The guy is clearly Nintendo first like every American retro gamer, I'm going to make a European Sega channel show him how it's done.

[@SegaLordX]

@Computer Man - If you think that you haven't watched my videos.

[@scottvincent184]

Exactly! Keep going, people will be people at the end of the day. Hopefully the next day is better for you. I just have to ask, why bother trying to ruin a friendly comment?

[@bc4117]

Willie Beamish was excruciating to play! Every single move required 50 seconds of loading time. The 1x speed CD-ROM made games like this unplayable.

[@jamesvanderwire4667]

As a huge fan of the snes version, the Sega CD eye of the beholder looks pretty awesome actually.

[@endymallorn]

As a PC user, I just get so frustrated at both SCD & SNES when I beat the game, because I want to continue the story in 2 & 3.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

yes, but you have to understand that Eye of the Beholder was competing against Lunar and Lunar 2 for example, what RPGs was available for the SEGA CD were all great, he's just not a fan of the gameplay style, so it wound up here.

[@Renk1]

Eye of the Beholder is great, and the Sega CD version has better graphics and sound than PC or Amiga. It even has music by Yuzo Koshiro! The computer versions lack all music. Sega CD even adds an end game cinematic, PC was just a text box. That being said, the problem with the Sega CD is the controls. This game needs a keyboard with a numpad to be enjoyable. At least get the Sega Mouse, on a gamepad it's painfully clunky. I still like it and own it in my collection.

[@Renk1]

@@endymallorn Yeah, you can import your party straight to Eye of the Beholder 2 on PC/Amiga. It's a bit overpowered to start with a good party, but fun nonetheless. I haven't played EyoB3, as it's not by the same studio and considered pretty poor.

[@endymallorn]

@@Renk1EotB3 is a different, to be certain, and it’s really not as good, but I don’t mind it. It still helps develop the Forgotten Realms and AD&D. And yes, if you carry a party through the whole campaign, they can get overpowered quick.

[@pogue972]

🎶 Back when Mark Walberg was Marky Mark, this is how we used to make the party start

[@rael_gc]

I'm glad you talked about the Golden Axe port missing the second player. It was a crime!

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

Love CD games that are less advanced than the Cartridge version

[@ANJIN79SAMMA]

LOVED my Mega CD!!! SOOOOO many hours lost to this machine

[@BF4pawntard]

Batman returns was absolutely fantastic just look at it . This was 1992 and there was nothing like this on any system at the time

[@ostiariusalpha]

It was 1993 for the Sega CD version, but you're not wrong about it being impressive.

[@wizzgamer]

Yep this gave the Mega Drive a huge one up on the Snes.

[@SteveBrandon]

The vehicle sequences in the Batman Returns Sega CD game were more impressive than the short Batmobile segment in Konami's Batman Returns SNES game but I think I still prefer the SNES game overall as a top-tier Konami beat 'em up.

[@ostiariusalpha]

@@SteveBrandon SNES beat-em-up + Sega-CD vehicle segments = the game that should have been.

[@samholdsworth420]

Regardless I always felt sorry for people who had Sega. Snes rules, sega drools!

[@AndrewJWildey]

Just wanna say this is such a good channel and always has been. The content, the presentation, everything is always 100% perfect 👍🏻

[@SegaLordX]

Glad you like them!

[@matu8142]

​@@SegaLordX as a Sega Fan from Germany..i love this Channel 💙

[@adultmoshifan87]

If you're planning to do the same thing for the Super Nintendo, may I please suggest? Worst sports game: Bill Lambir's Combat Basketball Worst platformer: Tintin in Tibet/Prisoners of The Sun (even the Raya Systems games try to be games, but Infogrames' 2 Tintin games reduce said boy journalist to dodging people who walk or else he'll be killed!) Worst fighting game: Pit Fighter Worst racing game: Race Drivin

[@coxkurosawa]

I still remember this Lawmower Man movie and how much I was impressed by it at that time!!

[@L0VETANK]

Good vid. I remember buying FIFA Soccer and being massively disappointed that it was exactly the same as the Mega drive (Genesis) version except with ridiculous loading times between games.

[@harlemknight116curry6]

I know this is off the subject, but is there a reason you never reviewed the Sega Astro City Mini V that was released early last year?

[@SegaLordX]

No interest in it.

[@jasyn197]

What's the song used for the in-between when Introing another category

[@Mariobro4]

Revenge of Shinobi-Game over

[@ThommyofThenn]

Some people in comments have stated how it is difficult to collect for this platform. Were you able to play all these yourself on the original console? If not im sure the emulation is still passable like you said in description

[@jjeaze]

I will never get tired of the aesthetic of this channel. Keep up the good work bro.

[@boba_rhett]

Sega Lord X made a Sega CD video!!! Time stops everywhere else…playing now!

[@Hektols]

So many superscaler games at the arcades that could have had great ports in the Sega CD and we got bad ones.

[@DemomanX614]

Is the music for box art of the entry's from Streets of Rage? It sounds similar to another lose a life/game over theme I just can't identify

[@SegaLordX]

Game over - Revenge of Shinobi.

[@DemomanX614]

@@SegaLordX Thank you so much for the answer. Love your channel! Hope you cover the Activator one day.

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

The Sega CD is my fav system I’ve owned after the Commodore Amiga. There were some fantastic games on it like Final Fight CD and Thunder Hawk. People just focus so much on the fmv games but even some of those like Night Trap or Cobra Command were mind blowing at the time

[@airthrowDBT]

You're a BRAVE MAN coming after Sonic CD, but you made a fair point, I forgot how BLAH that bonus stage was. BTW SLX did you play The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog? It's free! Fun little cute game for a couple hours.

[@moverofobjects]

Is the in between selection music from Shinobi?

[@SegaLordX]

Yes.

[@Zahir658]

I remember playing the Revengers of Vengeance and it was a fun game for me but I laughed at that very name and cover. Does anyone know if it has a Japanese box cover art of this game?

[@DarkMikaruX]

That song sounds familiar in that first minute of the video. I feel like I used to have that song somewhere? Darn...

[@xtokumaru]

In Sonic CD it doesn't even look like they're using any hardware effects on the UFOs, they look like pre-scaled sprites and that's it... SEGA definitely failed to impress with those special stages, the SNES could easily pull off the same effect without any additional hardware.

[@opo3628]

I will give Revengers of Vengeance credit in that it tried something different.

[@grantmiller4646]

Another spectacular video. I LOVED my Sega CD. It is still my most favourite console of all time; or add on I guess. I was lucky, all the games that I bought for it at the time were quite good, at least I thought so. Course, I mostly bought them a couple weeks after release day because finding the software could be quite a challenge in my city. So I had plenty of time to hear about reviews and form opinions on the quicker to release Genesis versions to help with my decision making. Do you have any experience with the Poly Mega playing Sega CD games? I thought about getting one because watching your videos reminds me how much I really do miss that system. However, I haven't seen enough on this newer console to know for certain. You are my most watched KZbin content creator. Keep up the great work.

[@GeorgeWeeman]

I own the polymega, and after playing many Sega CD games (both retail copies,and ripped to cd), I've never had a problem with running any of them. On a side note, it works amazing with PS1, and Saturn emulation as well.

[@grantmiller4646]

@@GeorgeWeeman Thanks for the info I really appreciate it. It sounds like your very happy with your Polymega. It also sounds sounds like it will be the best solution to my problem. Cheers!

[@neozeed1984]

I have always thought the sega classics collection was a waste of time, but. You said Golden Axe had improvements sound wise but lost 2 player support. I now am going to go back and play it! It was always one player for me anyway.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Improvements were arcade sound track as red book audio and baddies litterally say "Ow!" When they die lol

[@Oysterblade84]

To be fair I think it wasn't actually the scaling in Sonic CD that is particularly bad but more of a frame rate issue, because the 2011 and Sonic Origins remakes don't have scaling that choppy in the Special Stages of Sonic CD, even the Sonic GEMS Collection in 2005 had a smoother frame rate. Also The Lawnmower man had a manufacturing fault here in PAL regions, supposedly the game shipped with no PAL Mega-CD ROM code, it instead shipped and retailed as an NTSC SEGA-CD game. This meant that you had to pay top dollar for it at retail and when you took it home to try and play it you were greeted with the CD player each and every time with just one track to play. It never did get a real PAL version beyond the case. Also love how you expressed yourself in your final word segment, very true it's just your opinion and you have a right to express it. keep em' coming SLX.

[@atomicskull6405]

3:00 Oh that's easy, the scaling hardware on the Sega CD was clunky and hard to use due to Sega screwing it up when designing the expansion port on the Megadrive. For one thing, there was a mistake on the PCB on early Megadrive units where one address line didn't work so memory access on the expansion port was severely restricted compared to the intended design (limited to 128 byte pages). This was fixed later but they still had to respect that limitation or the Mega CD would not work with early Megadrives. The scaling hardware had to present graphics tiles to the Megadrive like cartridge ROM, the 68000 would download them into the VDP VRAM, only at a slower rate than from a cartridge. The VDP actually has address lines for a second 64K bank of VRAM and external color pallet RAM but those were left unconnected to anything. Had they been brought out to the expansion port the Mega CD could have included 64K of VRAM that could be shared between the scaling hardware and the VDP in the same way the VDP and the 68000 share VRAM. So the scaling hardware could have just put tiles directly into VRAM that could be accessed by the VDP. It also would have been possible to expand the color pallets(not the total available colors, but they could have added more 16-color pallets and increased the number of onscreen colors)

[@DeeBellwether]

i honestly feel like you were fair and your observations and opinions well thought out. fun fact: Eye of the Beholder was one of my fav games back in the day. it was far from perfect, but what made it stand out from its original Amiga release, was much better visuals, the addition of actual cut scene vox acting, and a breakthrough soundtrack that was unique in that it showcased CD sound. instead of the generic RPG PC soundtrack, it was a boppin' and even somewhat experimental entry by two well known Japanese EDM creators/DJs. the soundtrack is up on KZbin if any real sound nerds want to check it out.

[@SparkyMK3]

I had that Dracula game back when I owned a Sega CD! I loved the presentation and spooky soundtrack and I still do, but MAN did the gameplay suck. Thankfully I also had Silpheed to save my bacon, since it played just as good as it looked and sounded.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

The driving in Batman Returns was not beaten until Arkham Knight. Over 20 years later. The platform stages were trash, but the driving stages in that game were amazing. That game was a shining example of what the Sega CD could do, if people actually made real games instead of FMV trash. I guess it says something that I haven't heard of most of the games in this list. Microcosm did have one good point though. There is an AWESOME soundtrack, on the disk in redbook audio, that's never used in the game. It's mind boggling...they made an awesome soundtrack and didn't use it. I only found it accidentally when I noticed the disk had more than one track on it, and I KNEW that the game didn't use redbook audio.

[@L2Nuku]

There's a ton of great JP only games, that never made it to the west sadly...., we in the west got stuck with the FMV craze, because "omg CDs are like mini laserdiscs, we can do movies", but the Sega Mega CD was never meant for FMV in the first place... As for Microcosm not using the redbook audio, that's because the 1x speed CD drive (which was normal at the time), it didn't have enough bandwidth to stream both video and redbook audio at once.

[@michaelclark2097]

I just wanna know what the transition music is!

[@SegaLordX]

Game over - Revenge of Shinobi.

[@L2Nuku]

I never understood many of the western renaming habits for games, in this instance Battle Fantasy became Revengers of Vengeance... Battle Fantasy might be simplistic in design but it has its charm, same goes for the Space adventure Cobra (It really is more a VN than an adventure game tbh)

[@tornadot2025]

Fun fact: Black Hole Assault is the sequel to Heavy Nova, which is arguably the worst fighting game ever released for any platform at any time. It makes Rise of the Robots look like SSFII by comparison.

[@longtallshorty5791]

What is the piece of music in between games? Edit : found it. Bummer that it’s not actually part of a longer track. It sounds so good!

[@dtcharo]

I’m glad I knocked out all the NA Sega CD library years ago. The prices have really shot up in price and stayed that way for awhile now. There are lots of gems on the platform but at this point it’s probably best to emulate. 😢

[@cd5sircoupe]

At the beginning of this I was hoping I didn't have any titles on the list, but I have Joe Montana's Football. I think I got it in a bundle from a tag sale years ago.

[@Dick_Valparaiso]

I'm convinced that the developers of Microcosm just used footage of a teammates colonoscopy as the background.

[@sidearmsalpha]

I swear I remember reading an article in EGM from the unveiling of the MEGA CD where Blackhole (I think it was called Blackhole Assault in Japan) was being shown off to the gaming press and they thought it was a great first game for the console and it got the press's seal of approval. Can't believe SEGA would use that game to convince the press that they had a great console. I waited a few years after its demise to get one at a much cheaper price and got a decent amount of US and Japanese games for it. Still, it's a shame that it didn't do better thanks to the overall lackluster library. I still think FMV games killed it. They should have concentrated on making original games based on their IPs that couldn't be done on the Genesis and ports of arcade games that would have suffered on the Genesis. Final Fight is still the benchmark for the type of game that would have been a killer game. I still gotta listen to that awesome soundtrack every once in awhile.

[@TheDutchGhost]

Fully agree that Sega and other publishers should have focused on original games for the Sega/Mega CD rather than a lot of ports of Megadrive games (or sometimes other platforms) with an extra level, some videos, and better music added to it. Or if they did a game based on a license of which already a game had been made off like The Terminator, that they make a complete new game from the ground up. I think Eye of the Beholder's main issue is that it was too much of a port of the Amiga/PC game. Best would have been to completely redesign and remake the gameplay from the ground up using the smaller number of buttons. Using the later six button controller would also have been of help. (I think there was a mouse peripheral and that Eye of the Beholder was compatible but there is still a lack of buttons) I feel the technically capabilities of the Sega CD was very underutilized in general by most publishers with the exception of publishers like Core Design with their more simulation style games. The same goes for the CD space. (I really wish Sega had used the space on the CD of Sonic CD to add more levels like the cut relic zone) FMV was a big trend during the 90s as the CD format became more popular, but the quality of these varied so drastically, both gameplay and the actual acting that I really wish that Sega and some other studios had jumped on it en masse. Personally I found those interactive video style games very uninteresting looking compared to games that now got some animation sequences added to regular enjoyable gameplay.

[@KISSFan1977]

I have to disagree with the bonus stages of Sonic CD, My friends and myself really enjoyed them and my "Nintendo" friend actually really thought the stages looked great.

[@NOTHlNG]

Agreed. It looks nice for the time - but has one of the most unfair and frustrating bonus stage mechanic ever. :D

[@urbanninja313]

I actually enjoyed Dracula for all of its jankiness. Pretty fun for a bad version of Kung Fu with pre-rendered graphics.

[@rgm4646]

Its funny, you are correct these games were pretty bad. BUT back then it was all I had. lol

[@michaelkelley6630]

What is that sound when you are playing before each game on this video?

[@SegaLordX]

Game over - Revenge of Shinobi.

[@michaelkelley6630]

@@SegaLordX Thank you!! You are the 🐐 and a fellow 49er fan too!!

[@GGoAwayy]

I wasn't able to even play Novastorm on my actual Sega CD hardware due to slowdown. I didn't finally get to play it properly until I was able to play it on Polymega. Its like they did a port of a PC game and never even tested it out on an actual Sega CD.

[@GeorgeWeeman]

I used to own Lawnmower Man, and Marky Mark. Even though ole Marky was a turd, I have to admit I did enjoy Lawnmower man, and played the Hell out of it. Back then, I loved anything to do with FMV, and I thought the visuals were pretty good. I guess I was easily impressed when I was a teenager lol.

[@nimaiiikun]

I kinda like how Revengers of Vengeance tried something new, too bad it didn't work out.

[@ENiceGeo]

I read someone saying the game was programmed by one person, so it can get little slack for that.

[@SteveNorman]

I did like the magenta lava but the rest really didn’t appeal. I’m going to spend my £1.99 on some chips and a can of Top Deck instead. Great video as always though, especially the outro. Boof!

[@retroimportgamer513]

Absolutely no denying Blackhole Assault, and the Make My Video titles were steaming turd excuse for games that were awful on release, never mind now, what were they thinking??👍

[@iranterres]

What is this motif played between every game in the list?

[@SegaLordX]

Game over - Revenge of Shinobi.

[@Llukario]

The Sega CD was my favorite add on for a system because it was a gift from my dad before he passed! The games here are really bad because the CD was supposed to push sprite scaling to the next level! Only a few games actually used it correctly and I totally agree about sonic CD bonus stages looking low quality! Great review SLX!

[@Stephen_Eee]

The Shinobi music adds well to the disappointment

[@drakabeko5145]

I bought my Sega-CD and Genesis at the same time for about $100 at a swap meet around 1994. The worst game I played at that time was Sewer Shark. I wasn't totally against FMV games, but everything was so blurry and pixelated, you couldn't see what was in front of you and where to turn. I almost considered Revengers of Vengeance, but glad I didn't after seeing this review. My fave CD game by far was Snatcher, Lunar, and Switch/Panic

[@GenerationX1984]

I grew up in the '90s and never even heard the Sega CD because nobody I knew owned one and I never saw it advertised or in stores. I knew someone who owned Sonic CD on PC and so I always assumed it was a Sonic the Hedgehog computer game.

[@ZonicMirage]

I'm one of those poor souls who could only get the model 2's Sega Sports bundle with the Joe Montana game. Not being into football, I never played it. Even lost the disc.

[@CasperEgas]

Disagree on Sonic cd and on The Lawnmower Man, even though putting it on an NTSC encoded disc for the PAL release is one massive fuck up.

[@billcook4768]

The creme de la creme of bad CD games In a show with everything but Yul Brynner

[@thePoetDominic]

This is the chess / sega crossover I have been waiting for!

[@GameJunctionMedia]

Keep up the great work. Awesome video, love tuning in.

[@SegaLordX]

Thanks for the visit.

[@erainmartinez8175]

The final Wild woody sega cd game

[@jaygooese4242]

Yep it is

[@thefifthdoctor6780]

I have a pretty decent Sega CD collection. It’s not hard to find gems if your willing to pay.

[@roberthunter479]

Eye of the Beholder is one of my favorite RPG's. I have beat the game on many different platforms. As for the other games in your list, I'd have to agree. I remember a time in the '90s where computer games started coming on CD and it got to a point where some games boasted a 6 CD Rom game. You finally get it installed and the game is mostly video with a very bad game stitched in.

[@robertzwiebel5012]

I really thought that Golden axe was 2 player, could have sworn I played it with my sisters when we got our sega cd...

[@travisbrown6598]

I like Star Wars Chess on the Sega CD for the battle animations and Jontron's Statcade video got me interested in it

[@FallicIdol]

Great video as always. Eye of the Beholder was revolutionary when it was released. It just didnt age the greatest. Agree that the Sega CD didn’t have any bad rpgs, at least states-side

[@nicholastosoni707]

@ Bram Stoker's Dracula Ah, so THAT'S where the idea of beating up crows from _Manos: The Revenge of Torgo_ comes from.

[@mr.tie-rex9577]

The Lawnmower Man - Absolutely agree this made the hardware look wimpy. Sonic CD - Fantastic game, and while it did use a lot of usages with the hardware, the bonus stages can still be fun, but they look more like they’ve been taken out of F-Zero on SNES. Golden Axe - Great to hear arcade music but it was so rushed they forgot to have the Player 2 option still not bad. Revengers of Vengeance - Not really my cup of tea to be honest. F1 Circus CD - Looked promising by the cover but plays like on the base console instead, what a let down. Joe Montana Football - Yeah I’d rather play ESPN Hangtime instead at least it showed the Sega CD Scaling usage so much smoother and better. Cobra: The Space Adventures - I want to watch the Anime instead. Star Wars Chess - More fun to play with a buddy instead of playing by yourself. Eyes of the Beholder - I do like the unique rpgs made for the Sega CD, but this looks hard to get into. Microcosm - Not a bad game, I do feel this is the weakest compared to other shooters for the add-on. Wild Woody - Next to Lawnmower Man, this absolutely the worst Sega CD game. Dracula - Looks like trash and plays like trash. Night Striker - I disagree with this one, I did enjoy the Sprite Scaling, however the low resolution is a big problem I have, overall it’s a pretty good game. After Burner III - Compared to the arcade version it looks rough but still is pretty good.

[@spencerstevens2175]

I remember I wanted a Sega CD so bad but I didn't even have a Genesis. One of my buddies got one and the only thing I remember was sewer shark and even 11 year old me knew it sucked