Rob’s Top Ten Sega Genesis Games

Alright so I know that the Sega Genesis has never really been on the top systems for everyone to love and play like the Nintendo and SNES but when I was a kid my Sega Genesis was my favorite system and I spent many hours playing games with my friends and at home.  So I decided to make a list of Rob’s picks of favorite Genesis games, I’ll have to admit that there were a lot of games I played and it was hard to come up with only 10 in my favorites.  Games like NBA JAM, and the Whole Sonic Series were all great but I couldn’t fit everything in here so these are probably the top 10 games that I can come back to and play at any time and still have fun.

10. Michael Jackson Moonwalker

Alright I know, why in the world would you put a Michael Jackson game in here?  Well, heh, when I was a kid I loved this game.  The music was great and resembled MJ’s famous songs like “Smooth Criminal” and “Beat It” but with that aside the game play still was fun the animations were done well and the controls were easy and simple to use.  Now there were some bad sides to it like the odd idea that he should be looking for little girls and after the first stage the bad guys get hard very quickly. But all in all a fun game to play and try.

9. Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition

I couldn’t have a top 10 without putting this game in there, bloody dinosaur hunting fun with the ability to play as the dinosaurs, great game.  It was a little different from the previous Jurassic Park game where you really didn’t play as any dinosaurs much but this time you got to play as the Velociraptor and that is all you needed to do to have an outstanding game that took my heart as a kid. That was such a fun game and there were quite a few weapons when you were Grant.

8. Altered Beast

Now I enjoyed this game a lot when I was a kid, and in all truth the Genesis that I owned was 2nd gen so I had Sonic 2 in my package.  This game was a bit harder to come across because the NO Resale label on the box prevented a lot of used game shops in the area from buying them and selling them back.  But I was able to acquire it later from my cousin who wound up owning 2 copies and let me have one.  The game is full of non stop action and although the game is incredibly short it had a great arcade appeal and beating your way through hordes of bad guys with Beastly Powers was so much fun.  RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

7. Mortal Kombat 2

I have to say that this was the most memorable and enjoyable Mortal Kombat game for the Sega Genesis.  I never actually owned this game but I remember multiple times renting it just so I could play it over and over again.  I even borrowed it from a friend and almost lost it when I went on vacation I was so relieved to find it though.  This game had the coolest finishers, my favorite combos, and the best environmental kills in the original trilogy.  Although they did a good job with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, it just wasn’t quite the same as this one.

6. Jungle Strike

Jungle Strike was a very innovative game for its time.  The 2D/3D feel of the game made it unique and fun to play.  The first stage is the most memorable and it was fairly tough, you had to kill terrorists trying to destroy particular buildings in Washington DC and save different prisoners, there were quite a few missions per stage.  You had to keep up with fuel and Ammo, destroy ammo trucks and gas stations to get gas so you wouldn’t run out.  You eventually had to learn to conserve because there was limited resources.  It was also one of the first games I played where you had free roam kill what ever you want if you failed the mission and wouldn’t restart until you were back at headquarters or died.  The mindless killing I enjoyed with this game was insane and I loved every bit of it.

5. Castlevania: Bloodlines

Now this game was odd at first because story line wise I thought it to be Super Castlevania 4 when I bought it but it was actually supposed to be a game that occurred years after the famous Bram Stoker book.  You can play as two different people, which was a first, and both had unique weapons like a spear or a whip.  The story was ok, someone trying to resurrect Dracula again, but I just remember spending hours playing this game until I finally beat it.  Also being a huge Castlevania Fan I had to have it to add to my collection. It also had blood in the game which made it even better!

4. NBA JAM

I remember spending countless hours trying to perfect different dunks, trying to defend so I could get on fire, and having that perfect season.  I accomplished all in this game and had a great time doing it.  In all truth I never played too many sports games other than the occasional Madden or NBA Live game but NBA Jam just sold me when I played with it with my uncle for the first time.  I spent hours perfecting my game until we were unbeatable.  The cheer of the crowd and the shattering of backboard glass made this show up in my top 10 without problem.

3. X-men 2: Clone Wars

Now about the time I owned the Sega Genesis my dad owned a comic book shop up the road from my house.  So needless to say I was a comic enthusiast, I read comics day in and day out, visited the comic shop almost every day and was the first person in my neighbor hood to choose a favorite X-man, Wolverine of course.  And although I played the first X-men which was a one player game that was done alright this one just blew me away.  The stages were fun, battles were epic and difficult and you got to play as my favorite villain, Magneto.  It’s like they read the mind of every X-men fan and put together a game that had it all.  It was one of my favorites and although not number 1, was definitely close.

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Now I know that the Sonic series was one of the best on the Genesis and is still considered a great to this day, but I couldn’t help but put this on my list.  It was the first game I owned since it came with my Sega and I just couldn’t put this game down.  I remember when a big snow storm hit and I was off school for a good week, I played all the way through this game and finally beat it, I was so happy, but I beat it on day 2 of my week off so I played it again.  True I’ve played all the Sonic games and most people would argue that Sonic 3 or Sonic and Knuckles was better and I would say, yes… for them.  I loved this game as a kid and spent probably more time playing it than any other game so this had to go up on the list.

1. Golden Axe

This game has to be my favorite Genesis game and would easily go in my top 10 favorite games of all time.  The pure epic fantasy and feel of this game was outrageous.  I still put this game in and play it from time to time just for that old Fantasy feel again.  The swords and axes swing about the screen in button press mayhem was just so fun I begin to drool as I type this in.  The multiplayer is done well in this game, the magic made you feel powerful and although it was a very difficult game to finish was the best game I believe the Genesis had to offer. It was also one of the few games that I could listen to the soundtrack over and over again on the Genesis without wanting to rip my ears out, Sonic and Flashback being among the other great soundtrack games. All in all this game was the best beat’em up game I can remember.