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

[Squire Grooktook]

+1 to Elemental Master.

The difficulty is a lot like Contra 1, in that it's not too hard but is just tight enough to keep you excited and on edge. The real draw of the game is the insanely speedy and manic action, and the fantastic presentation/atmosphere/aesthetic.

It really says something about a game's quality when it can be described as "not too hard" yet is still fun enough to make it into my top ten stg list.

[BIL]

Tecno Soft's best absolutely nailed a balance of outsized firepower and perpetual danger. I rank Elemental Master, Thunder Force IV and Hyper Duel SS as their finest, and although EM is technically the easier game... it's paradoxically the most manic, hugely benefiting from a few specific tweaks. Safe walls let it pile on the tight terrain and enemy onslaughts without feeling stuffy - it's corners that kill. Global two-way fire enables a full-force pincer threat. And having a single life with hitpoints and set power keeps the pace high - the occasional nick won't slam the game to a halt, even as death creeps nearer with each mistake. It's both frantic struggle and foot to the floor blastathon. Rocking, foreboding, immense Toshiharu Yamanishi soundtrack doesn't hurt either.

I do so love a good ground-based vert. I totally forgot to recommend Mercs/Senjou no Okami II! The "coinop ARPG" Original mode is superb - very addictive hybrid of nonstop action, loot grabbing and pathfinding. The MD cart lacks multiplayer, but it's easily worth having in addition to later-gen ports simply for Original.

[BrianC]

I love it when ports have well made original content. It's one reason I like the Rolling Thunder 2 port quite a bit, despite the graphical downgrade compared to the arcade. The extra stuff in Gain Ground SMS is fun too (though the Genesis version has a different extra area that I haven't reached yet). Too bad the original mode in Super Hang On was so disappointing. I like the idea of the mode with rivals and upgradable bikes, but the sim elements, as well as the initial slow bike combined with the lower framerate compared to the arcade, make it less fun than it should be.

[BIL]

Gain Ground MD's Hard difficulty is also quite cool. It's initially underwhelming, handing you every character at seemingly no cost. The catch is, there are absolutely no captives - so a dead character is gone for good. Turns the game into more of an endurance test, and puts a really nasty sting in the loss of a favoured character.

[MR_Soren]

Watched some videos, elemental master looked pretty rad. It's a bit pricey, unfortunately. I'll aim for Fire Shark first since it seems to be one of the cheaper recommended shmups, and it looks like a sorta sequel to Sky Shark which I had when I was younger.

Received a 22-game in box/case lot yesterday. I paid $95 shipped. Lot included Sonic 1, Warsong, Altered Beast, Ghostbusters, and a bunch of sports titles. (And a couple others like Batman and Eternal Champions). I was really excited because it included Warsong which I absolutely loved when I was younger. Warsong (CIB) goes for around $100, so I thought I might have found a good deal.

I am pretty disappointed with my purchase. Lot description read "Not all games included manuals." Of course, of the four games in the Lot I actually cared about, only Ghostbusters had the manual. Most of the sports games included the manuals, of course. Warsong's battery was also dead. The lot was also very dirty and disgusting which wasn't apparent in the photos provided. The manuals were also musty which was not mentioned in the listing, and it makes the inclusion of manuals pointless since I want to burn them all.

The one happy bit is Warsong, but I need to find a manual... and guess what the clowns on eBay want for a manual? One seller wants $40 plus Shipping, another wants almost $60! They aren't even in great shape! Looking at completed listings, two manuals sold recently for around $20 which seems more reasonable. Ugh, everybody is trying to price gouge.

Speaking of prices, have we reached a point where the hobby is more sellers than players? Everybody on eBay wants to sell their uncommon or rare game for $5 more than the last copy that sold. Every local game dealer puts all of their good games on eBay and just loads their shelves with common titles like Sonic and Madden. One local dealer insisted upon using PriceCharting to set all of their prices - and the owner hoards all the valuable titles at home waiting for the prices to rise, but he'll gladly bring one in if you're willing to be gouged. I remember my wife asked this guy if he had Culdcept Saga for Xbox 360. He said he had a copy at home that he would sell her for $100. We refused and found one in a Game Stop for $20 a couple weeks later.

I miss the days when I could walk into a shop with a rack full of carts for $5 or less and find interesting games. I only paid like $3 each for Gaiares, Thunderforce II, ThunderForce III, and Target Earth, for example. Nowdays, even the few shops that still have a rack like that get picked clean by eBay sellers. Very little opportunity for somebody who just wants to buy a game and play it. Most of the shops around here are black holes that suck up all of the rare games in a community to hoard and later dispense on eBay.

Maybe that should be in a separate topic...

[BPzeBanshee]

I got me a model 1 MD on the cheap the other day in neat condition. Only problem is, it's PAL. Contrary to the videos I found the games I have for it have music running at the correct speed, just the video timing is obviously that 1/8th or whatever slower. Found Gynoug though so that was interesting.

Found a sole website that handles doing region-switch/50-60hz switchers for these things and it seems to cost a damn fortune to get that stuff going. Pain in the ass.

[Rob]

Watched some videos, elemental master looked pretty rad. It's a bit pricey, unfortunately.

What's it going for? I guess I was the only one who cared back in the day (pre-9/11, the new B.C. ;), since I picked one up on ebay for $3 (sealed - seriously, best Gen deal ever). I liked it, but never quite understood the gushing for the game, since it's like TF3 without its highs or lows. A few points for muted consistency.

[Heavy Viper]

I got me a model 1 MD on the cheap the other day in neat condition. Only problem is, it's PAL. Contrary to the videos I found the games I have for it have music running at the correct speed, just the video timing is obviously that 1/8th or whatever slower. Found Gynoug though so that was interesting.

Found a sole website that handles doing region-switch/50-60hz switchers for these things and it seems to cost a damn fortune to get that stuff going. Pain in the ass.

Yeah, PAL MDs are kind of a PITA since you have to deal with the PAL/NTSC switch in the display chip somehow. Otherwise you get no colour when you switch to 60hz (or worse). I did the region switch/colour mods on one of my PAL MD1s last year, and while it was a "learning experience" for me (I'd never done soldering, etc.), it went pretty smoothly. Just need a steady hand in places.

[Squire Grooktook]

I liked it, but never quite understood the gushing for the game, since it's like TF3 without its highs or lows. A few points for muted consistency.

Personally think it's way better then either TF game. Much tighter level layouts and environmental hazards. Enemies come at you much faster, have a ton of variety, and come from both sides now. Lots of fast manic dodging. Maniac difficulty isn't based on unreactable "gotcha!" moments and recoveries. etc.

It's like Contra 1. Not challenging or deep compared to modern shmups, but challenging enough to remain exciting each time, and fast and tight (both in terms of pacing and combat) enough to be a great ride every time.

[Immryr]

I got me a model 1 MD on the cheap the other day in neat condition. Only problem is, it's PAL. Contrary to the videos I found the games I have for it have music running at the correct speed, just the video timing is obviously that 1/8th or whatever slower. Found Gynoug though so that was interesting.

Found a sole website that handles doing region-switch/50-60hz switchers for these things and it seems to cost a damn fortune to get that stuff going. Pain in the ass.

It's pretty straight forward to do the mod yourself and you don't need too many tools.

[BPzeBanshee]

I got me a model 1 MD on the cheap the other day in neat condition. Only problem is, it's PAL. Contrary to the videos I found the games I have for it have music running at the correct speed, just the video timing is obviously that 1/8th or whatever slower. Found Gynoug though so that was interesting.

Found a sole website that handles doing region-switch/50-60hz switchers for these things and it seems to cost a damn fortune to get that stuff going. Pain in the ass.

It's pretty straight forward to do the mod yourself and you don't need too many tools.

Looks simple enough but its the tools and finicky use of cables with non-shaky hands that spook me the most (especially with my right hand shaking when any amount of weight is placed on it thanks to a work injury a few months ago). At least I actually know where to get the soldering tools from these days, I'd imagine they'd have the wires and switches too.

[MR_Soren]

Watched some videos, elemental master looked pretty rad. It's a bit pricey, unfortunately.

What's it going for? I guess I was the only one who cared back in the day (pre-9/11, the new B.C. , since I picked one up on ebay for $3 (sealed - seriously, best Gen deal ever). I liked it, but never quite understood the gushing for the game, since it's like TF3 without its highs or lows. A few points for muted consistency.

Well, there aren't any complete copies on eBay right now, but the one that sold a few days ago went for $60 plus shipping. Not too bad, but my PayPal was low at the time, and I was trying to stay out of my bank account.

I remember there were tons of great Genesis deals in the late 90s and early 2000s when I wasn't very interested, but it's all getting scarce now.



EDIT: My real Genesis finally arrived. Hooked it up to a CRT. I instantly got better at all of my games compared to playing the Retron 5 on an HDTV. Thunder Force seemed much more manageable, and the steering felt tighter in Championship PRO-AM which resulted in a dramatic performance improvement. So, yeah, input and/or display lag. Gotta have the real thing.

[BIL]

Sorry to hear about the bad experience with the job lot, Soren. Exactly the sort of prospect that put me off collecting second-hand games for years. Glad the hardware's working out for you, though!

Recently picked up Chiki Chiki Boys, having taken a shine to it after some initial skepticism. So bright and cheery! Aiee, it burns! I almost can't believe it's on MD, not a trace of The Metal to be found. Haven't seen such downy-soft primary colour charm outside of Monster World IV and Super Fantasy Zone. Compulsively smooth hack n' slasher under the hood. The hordes of enemies and countless hidden treasures almost remind me of Magic Sword, with seemingly every jump and slash kicking up showers of golden trinkets. I love the quasi-STG maneuverability of its water/sky stages, too.

Question on the off chance... how does the x2 multiplier on coins work? I've tried a number of things (grabbing multiples in the air, killing stuff rapidly, etc) with no luck triggering it consistently. Couldn't google anything up either, besides someone asking the same thing on MARP. Is it random?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Recently picked up Chiki Chiki Boys, having taken a shine to it after some initial skepticism. So bright and cheery! Aiee, it burns! I almost can't believe it's on MD, not a trace of The Metal to be found. Haven't seen such downy-soft primary colour charm outside of Monster World IV and Super Fantasy Zone. Compulsively smooth hack n' slasher under the hood. The hordes of enemies and countless hidden treasures almost remind me of Magic Sword, with seemingly every jump and slash kicking up showers of golden trinkets. I love the quasi-STG maneuverability of its water/sky stages, too.

So CPS, isn't it? Was pretty impressed myself by the colour palette recently, having just soft-modded my Wii and joined one of those piracy orgy parties following any proper jailbreak of the sort. Chiki Chiki Boys wouldn't look misplaced on SMS, alongsie Wonder Boy III.
Now, if only The Punisher had received this kind of porting service...

[BIL]

Funny/sad how things went downhill for Capcom ports on MD once Capcom themselves got involved.

The Punisher, aye. NOT EVEN ONCE. ;-; CPS1/CPS2 beltscroller ports are mythical beasts under the best circumstances, but outsourced to random chumps? That really burns my weinerhole!

LIKE THIS (・｀W´・)



oh wellz.

[BrianC]

Funny/sad how things went downhill for Capcom ports on MD once Capcom themselves got involved.

I mostly agree, though SFII' SCE and the port of Magical Quest 2 aren't bad (though the latter stands more on it's on merits and doesn't do anything over the SNES version). It seems Capcom never had a full grasp of the MD/Genesis sound hardware, though. I also found it annoying how they outsourced Punisher.

[BIL]

Wish they'd just kept the CPS1 ports comin'. Of course it was a different world by then... the notion of Strider and Daimakaimura being main eventers post-SFII craze is unfortunately quaint.

This reminds me of why Slap Fight MD, besides being a damn fine package, is so special among the era's ports. The equivalent would be Capcom deciding to grace the MD with sturdy conversions of stuff like Black Tiger, 1941 and Magic Sword.

[BrianC]

I liked Konami's Genesis support better. Unlike Capcom, they made some nice Genesis/MD exclusives.

[Strider77]

[BIL]

I liked Konami's Genesis support better. Unlike Capcom, they made some nice Genesis/MD exclusives.

Absolutely. I'd put Konami on par with Treasure as iconic of the MD's latter-day glories, certainly for action gaming with their own "Treasure Box" trilogy of Hard Corps, Vampire Killer and Rocket Knight.

[nosorrow]

Genesis Sparkster is vastly underrated, too. I love that game (yes, I also own the SNES version, so I'm not a Sega fanboy).

[BIL]

Got both recently myself - loved what I saw of them, but need to play more.

Incidentally the SFC game is the most "MD-like" sidescroller I've seen on the system, with all those gigantic multi-sprite enemies and spectacular explosions - couldn't believe how smoothly it runs given the system's struggles with relatively sedate stuff like Demon's Blazon. All in the coding, I'm sure. It also shares that awesomely grainy *DOKKAN* explosion sound from Hard Corps - anyone who's played both will know the one. No surprise it shares personnel with the aformentioned MD games.

[nosorrow]

Btw, I love this thread and that other one you often post in (Ninja Gaiden and miscellaneous action games, or something like that). I've purchased quite a few games thanks to your recommendations and also gave a second look to titles I had initially discarded. I was raised on the NES and SNES and to a lesser extent the Genesis, which was basically a Sonic (me) and Shining Force (my brother) machine for us as teens and our family's third tier console, so we missed out on a lot of stuff. The NES is still my first love, but out of nowhere the Genesis has become my second favorite system - in hindsight, it feels to me like the true successor to the NES style of gameplay.

[Obiwanshinobi]

What problem do some people have with the Kyuukyoku Tiger MD port? The orange tanks remind me of Advance Wars.
Battle Mania boasts some unusually soft palette/shading for the system. THOSE gals pics, too - who is the artist? Is the sequel a good game, or just fan-service?

Liked some of Arcus Odyssey played as the chain-flailing wench with her sweet double-tap attack. Almost like the yo-yo weapon of Guardian Force! Starts off more demanding than Gauntlet IV Arcade on default settings. I'd like to play both in co-op one of these days.
ToeJam & Earl... burps to much for comfort sometimes.

[BIL]

Btw, I love this thread and that other one you often post in (Ninja Gaiden and miscellaneous action games, or something like that). I've purchased quite a few games thanks to your recommendations and also gave a second look to titles I had initially discarded.

My pleasure. "All I have to give you is a love that never dies," as 70s metal chaps said.

Did you ever give Bionic Commando GB a shot, btw? I remember you mentioning picking it up in the other thread.

What problem do some people have with the Kyuukyoku Tiger MD port? The orange tanks remind me of Advance Wars.
Battle Mania boasts some unusually soft palette/shading for the system. THOSE gals pics, too - who is the artist? Is the sequel a good game, or just fan-service?

The brutal fullscreen 4:3 crash-zoom makes KT's MD port an acquired taste. "Less stuff onscreen at once, but less distance between you and them" is common to conversions of 3:4 arcade games, but they tend to use a milder bordered zoom. KT's fullscreen turns a measured, calculated STG into a ferocious onslaught with precious little breathing room.

I owned, sold and then finally got it again on Perikles' recommendation, for keeps this time. By accident or design it's a uniquely hostile, nerve-testing shooter, and a great Black Label to the AC game. It appropriately completes its more aggressive form with massively beefed-up BGM and simply remarkable explosion sfx. I remember the impression the latter made on me as a kid, and returned expecting disappointment - but it's no childhood myth. Turn it up and feel the impacts in your goddamn chest. ^__^

Battle Mania's never really caught my attention, need to take a closer look. FWIW I played the sequel first - the original seemed familiar but slower and less raucously stylish, and also lacking the cool eight-way strafe option.

Battle Mania 2 I'll vouch for as a competent strafe shooter with quick pace, immense personality and a TFIV-rivalling soundtrack (same driver as KT, incidentally... ultimate MD power chord+kick drum sound). Its real appeal is stylistic, to be sure, but it's more than solid enough to get away with it.

And yeah, great character designs! Cute, feminine and tough, and CEO guy's one debonair chap! Take that, hideous Revolution 60 mannequin-people. (・｀ω´・)

[Heavy Viper]

I was wondering why MD KT seemed so gat-dang difficult. But yeah, agreed, the sound design definitely makes it worth it.

Nice to see the Battle Mania games get some recognition, too! They may not be very challenging, but they play beautifully. Brimming with personality, too. :3

[Obiwanshinobi]

The brutal fullscreen 4:3 crash-zoom makes KT's MD port an acquired taste. "Less stuff onscreen at once, but less distance between you and them" is common to conversions of 3:4 arcade games, but they tend to use a milder bordered zoom. KT's fullscreen turns a measured, calculated STG into a ferocious onslaught with precious little breathing room.

Fullscreen 4:3 caught my attention first and it seemed like a better port than Task Force Harrier to boot. Much like Under Defeat New Order, doesn't seem any compromised (unlike Zero Gunner 2, that seemed very "Psikyo light" on the hardest difficulty setting). Last but not least - them orange tanks are the most "wtf?" thing shmup since the red plane in Raiden - not a small feat.

In other news, Elemental Master on a CRT reminded me of the PSX Diablo port, graphically. Those sprites look pre-rendered to me and I think it took high-res to make this art style shine (Diablo on PC runs in 640x480, not sure about the port).

[nosorrow]

Did you ever give Bionic Commando GB a shot, btw? I remember you mentioning picking it up in the other thread.

I did and you weren't lying about the more fluid swinging mechanics, highly satisfying even for me who has played and beat the NES original more than a dozen times.

[Tarma]

Any of you fine gents able to recommend a convertor I can use on a Jap MD to play Euro MD / Genesis games?

[Heavy Viper]

If you want a dedicated converter, look into the MegaKey and other stuff like it. I think you could also use an Action Replay cheat cartridge as a simple pass-through too, but in my experience ARs cause issues with battery back-up memory (e.g. Sonic 3, Phantasy Star II/III/IV).

...there's also the Mega Everdrive. :3