The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

[Squire Grooktook]

I would very much enjoy a romhack of Alisia Dragoon where you play as Gandalf. Just saying.

[cicada88]

ugh...second half of list got clipped when editing. I will fix it later tonight.

[BrianC]

Mystic Defender is Kujaku Oh II but they made Kujaku put on overalls becos religion ^_~ (or some other dumb shit - maybe upper mgmt thought the kiz wouldn't be down with the robes, tragically given Hammer Pants would soon be all the rage!). They forgot to cover up the nude gal pal at the end though!!

They also forgot to remove Kajaku Oh II from the US Mystic Defender cart.

[Ed Oscuro]

Alisia Dragoon most immediately strikes me as conveying the idea of the "squishy wizard" in run and gun shooter format.

Much better than Lichdom if you ask me.

[stryc9]

Cicada88, allow me to suggest Psycho Pinball as a compliment to Devil Crash, and since you have some racing games on your list don't forget Tengen's Road Blasters. It has some of the smoothest, fastest 3D update on the machine, and keeping the multiplier up takes some accuracy and is tied directly to your fuel reserve bonus.

Nice and addictive, although I couldn't play it for hours on end, it's too stressful

Do you have the CD unit yet or just the stock console?

[cicada88]

I just have a Mega Drive at the moment, but I want to add a Model 1 Mega CD eventually. Not too many CD games that I'm dying to play to be honest.

Fixed the deleted part of the list and added some more.

Adding Road Blasters. I saw you mention Psycho Pinball before but it looks to be PAL only. I don't really mess with PAL games. I also put Space Harrier II and Super Hang-On even though they might not be definitive versions.

[BrianC]

Psycho Pinball plays well on US systems and seems to have been optimized for both PAL and NTSC (still runs faster than on PAL, telling from videos and emulator since I don't have a PAL compatible TV and only played on a NTSC Genesis, but music plays at correct speed and PC version seems to run at the same speed). It also lacks region lock.

Not all EU Genesis games are PAL only. Many early 1st party games lack region lock and proper optimization. Some games were even optimized for both PAL and NTSC.

[Captain]

Say what you will about AD's gameplay, but the music is in my top 5 for the console.

An example

edit: I recall I played a certain game when I first started out with the genesis/megadrive. It had really cheesy graphics, played as a platformer/rng and had two characters you could play as. One had a rapid fire gun but mediocre powered up weapons, the other had twin pistols but really nice powerups (totally not the reaper from blizzard's new game). Of course these had limited ammo. The game was also REALLY HARD without practice. The theme was sci fi. Anyone got clues on this?

[Ed Oscuro]

Say what you will about AD's gameplay, but the music is in my top 5 for the console.

An example

edit: I recall I played a certain game when I first started out with the genesis/megadrive. It had really cheesy graphics, played as a platformer/rng and had two characters you could play as. One had a rapid fire gun but mediocre powered up weapons, the other had twin pistols but really nice powerups (totally not the reaper from blizzard's new game). Of course these had limited ammo. The game was also REALLY HARD without practice. The theme was sci fi. Anyone got clues on this?

Could that be Dinosaurs for Hire? Or (Mutant Chronicles:) Doom Troopers? My bet's on Doom Troopers, as I recall it has very cheesy graphics. Playmates-made game. Thanks for reminding me to look this one up again.

This also makes me think - I need to check out Flashback, and also the Dredd game (heh), Generations Lost, and The Killing Game Show.

[Captain]

Thanks, it was Doom Troopers!

That Dredd game though, now you make me remember all the details when I first started playing it.

Game was amazing in some ways, ridiculously bad in others.

[drauch]

Yeah, Doom Trooper is kind of cool when initially playing it for the gore and action film feel, but it's pretty drab and has some really infuriating platforming from the get go.

[zinger]

Anyone tried that Time Trax proto that surfaced a while ago? The music at least is fantastic (Tim Follin), but I've only watched some youtube clips, so can't comment much on the overall game design.

Anyway, on the subject of Western MD/Genesis releases, there really aren't a lot of good ones. Did anyone mention Zombie's ate my neighbours yet? Classic. One of the better ones that's rarely mentioned though is Taz in Escape from Mars. Not exactly amazing, but definitely a solid platform game with decent visuals and cool music.

And, on the subject of "childish" platform games in general, the "I Love" Disney games (Quackshot, World of Illusion) certainly deserves more in-depth discussion. Quite simple games, but amazingly well presented, with some of the most overlooked soundtracks on the MD (both in terms of composition and technical achievement).

[soprano1]

Heard Time Trax wasn't very good, but music is excellent.

[CIT]

Yeah, the game is totally forgettable. The title track is one of the single best pieces of Mega Drive music, but the rest of the soundtrack is just OK in my opinion. I still think Solstice is Follin's best overall.

[drauch]

Zombie's ate my neighbours

I definitely prefer this one on SNES, though. Controller is much more designed for it, and without a six-button it gets pretty rough pretty early when the levels get more frantic.

The sequel isn't even worth playing, though. Completely uninspired and bland compared to Zombies. Seems like the writers took a hike, because all the clever references to films are gone, instead placed with ghosts and other spooky items like floating books and chairs.

[Captain]

Ladies and gentlemen.

This thread is now about the distilled awesomeness that is Phantom 2040.

[zinger]

Yeah, the game is totally forgettable. The title track is one of the single best pieces of Mega Drive music, but the rest of the soundtrack is just OK in my opinion. I still think Solstice is Follin's best overall.

I like the title track most as well, but I think most of the tracks are interesting. Especially two of the in-game songs and the game over theme. The arrangements are really quite remarkable, with lots of cool filter-sweep like effects and other ideas that set it quite well apart from most Japanese soundtracks on the MD. And that lead guitar sound is just to die for, I've never heard anyone mix together FM and PSG to make guitar sounds like that. Genius! It's also cool how long the compositions are, with lots of little neat ideas throughout.

Here's the full soundtrack recorded from real hardware by the way, for those who haven't heard: http://youtu.be/gbEJqUeiqLU

Zombie's ate my neighbours

I definitely prefer this one on SNES, though. Controller is much more designed for it, and without a six-button it gets pretty rough pretty early when the levels get more frantic.

The sequel isn't even worth playing, though. Completely uninspired and bland compared to Zombies. Seems like the writers took a hike, because all the clever references to films are gone, instead placed with ghosts and other spooky items like floating books and chairs.

Ok, never tried the SNES version, and didn't even know about the sequel. The sequel is not designed by the same people it seems, according to Wikipedia.

[CIT]

The arrangements are really quite remarkable, with lots of cool filter-sweep like effects and other ideas that set it quite well apart from most Japanese soundtracks on the MD.

Any other Western Mega Drive sounds (apart from Turrican) you would recommend?

[Captain]

Phantom 2040

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hMK517jy0o / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blMOSh8ktys

[zinger]

CIT: the soundtracks of Dune (the CD game, which does use the 2612), James Bond: The Duel and Jim Power are all worth checking out. Jim Power is just a proto though, and only has one track that sounds unfinished. Still cool if you liked the Mega Turrican music. And... the adlib version of Dune actually sounds better so you might as well go with the PC version instead. But yeah... Check out James Bond,

[Xyga]

CIT: the soundtracks of Dune (the CD game

The game SUCKS but I loved it for the soundtrack and overall ambiance (absolute dope).
The dubs in the French version were also all kinds of awesome.

[zinger]

Ok I actually only tried Dune briefly in an emulator a loooong time ago. I got the actual game at one point, but then my Mega CD broke down. So it's really that bad then? I remember being a bit confused by the game, but also thinking that it seemed pretty interesting. The atmosphere and art direction for one thing, but also for mixing the Snatcher-style first person adventure genre with RTS (as I remember it?)

[Xyga]

Yeah it's that kind of gameplay, but the mechanics are so bare and poor it really falls behind compared to say, Dune II and Snatcher.
The atmosphere though, yeah, 90% of the game's good points are about that.

PS: most probably the best CRYO game ever, those guys weren't good at making games but they knew the trippy stuff well.

[CIT]

But yeah... Check out James Bond,

Holy shit, thanks for your recommendations, I knew they wouldn't disappoint. That's some THE YM2612 HEART ON FIRE! there!

[zinger]

Hehe yeah, here's another track by the same composer (gotta love the artwork too):

http://youtu.be/JDDhaV-TPrY

He did tons of music for the MD.

[cicada88]

Really random, but I have been playing MUSHA Aleste the last couple of days. I was checking out the sound test menu and they have the 2 classic DJ scratch sounds "Ahhhhhh" and "Fresh".

I am using a ROM so its possible that it is a hack, but goddamn that's ahead of it's time in Japan in 1990 to have that type of easter egg and reference.

[BIL]

This also makes me think - I need to check out Flashback, and also the Dredd game (heh), Generations Lost, and The Killing Game Show.

I want to like TKGS for its fun wallclimbing chibi ED209, \m/etallic Amiga audiovisuals and arcade-taut premise ("Oh SHIII lava's rising get 2 tha top"). I have a certain fondness for Western games in JP format too, and what a title. GET READY TO DIE

It has some badness that always puts me off though, mostly the lack of weapon oomph and nonexistent hitstun that lets enemy formations just waft all over you as HP plummets. Definitely engages still, I just wish the mechanics were tighter.

But yeah... Check out James Bond,

Holy shit, thanks for your recommendations, I knew they wouldn't disappoint. That's some THE YM2612 HEART ON FIRE! there!

God damn, nice. Sounds like something off the SOUNDSHOCK albums.

Really random, but I have been playing MUSHA Aleste the last couple of days. I was checking out the sound test menu and they have the 2 classic DJ scratch sounds "Ahhhhhh" and "Fresh".

I am using a ROM so its possible that it is a hack, but goddamn that's ahead of it's time in Japan in 1990 to have that type of easter egg and reference.

Nah, that's in the real cart too (at least the JP version). IIRC they're used for boss voice SFX.

Related, Super Aleste (SFC) covers the intro of New Order's "Blue Monday" and the chorus of "The Perfect Kiss" in its stage 3 BGM. Good taste at Compile's sound dept it seems.

[cicada88]

Nice their composers must have been into club music at the time

[Ed Oscuro]

Nice their composers must have been into club music at the time

Pretty much all the game composers were. Where would Yuzo Koshiro get all his ideas from, after all? (I mean, aside from the fun "let's have random numbers be the music" experiments and stuff.)

[cicada88]

Let's talk superb MD music regardless of gameplay...

From what I've been playing recently...

-Bare Knuckle series
-Musha Aleste
-Technosoft (Thunder Force series, Herzog Zwei, Elemental Master, and Devil Crash MD)
-Advanced Busterhawk Greylancer
-Sonic the Hedgehog series
-Slap Fight MD