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

[BrianC]

Anyone would recommend sunsetriders ?? I know it is missing a lot of levels and only 2 characters can be selected but dunno I lo e the arcade game and if it retains the feelling of the original.

I like it. It's cut down quite a bit, but it's more intense than the SNES version and actually has some things intact that the SNES version is missing (Indians, platform in Indian stage, and poles in the train stage). Stage layout seems to be mostly unique to the Genesis version, as well.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I recall having a discussion (or argument) about this one before, but the mode which turns and fires in a direction is best, really, since there's no need to look at Chelnov to see where you're going to fire. The modes that require pressing a button to turn (or, worse, pressing a button and then a direction) mean you have to know where he's facing - a minor distraction, but still a distraction.

I keep (auto-)fire pressed practically all the time, so it's always pretty apparent which side he's facing.
The biggest benefit here is that it plays like a good Game Boy exclusive this way (not too laborious input).

[stryc9]

Anyone would recommend sunsetriders ?? I know it is missing a lot of levels and only 2 characters can be selected but dunno I lo e the arcade game and if it retains the feelling of the original.

I like it. It's cut down quite a bit, but it's more intense than the SNES version and actually has some things intact that the SNES version is missing (Indians, platform in Indian stage, and poles in the train stage). Stage layout seems to be mostly unique to the Genesis version, as well.

I just got this CIB last week, great Run 'n Gun despite having different level layouts to the arcade/SNES as you said. It's a frantic game, not easy to dodge all those shots, and I like the graphics and music as well.

It was cut down/rejigged/remixed to fit the tiny cart size allocated, 4 Meg, which is small for an action game from '92

[Limbrooke]

Anyone would recommend sunsetriders ?? I know it is missing a lot of levels and only 2 characters can be selected but dunno I lo e the arcade game and if it retains the feelling of the original.

Neither Genesis nor SNES do the arcade original complete justice. The SNES game is closer visually and aurally but has been censored - having said that I've never spent any time in Genesis but it looks a bit worse for wear (not such on lacking content or censoring there either).

[BrianC]

Anyone would recommend sunsetriders ?? I know it is missing a lot of levels and only 2 characters can be selected but dunno I lo e the arcade game and if it retains the feelling of the original.

Neither Genesis nor SNES do the arcade original complete justice. The SNES game is closer visually and aurally but has been censored - having said that I've never spent any time in Genesis but it looks a bit worse for wear (not such on lacking content or censoring there either).

Genesis is less censored. It has the Indians intact and the women that give you power ups look like they do in the arcade. Despite being cut down for a smaller cart, some levels have details that their SNES counterparts are missing, as well. For example, the poles in the train stage and the rope cart in the Indian stage.

It looks like the price went up, though. Seems to go for above 20 loose now. yikes!

[Phellan Wolf]

Thanks Brianc I gues I'll pick it up. As for the price, seems the way to go from now on, even EA games seem to have risen their prices. Is etardbay madness

[BIL]

Wao, Tengen Marble Madness get! This and Gauntlet = YANKEE HITZ DONE RIGHT I've only seen the latter officially credited to M2, but MM shares at least one staff member and it's every bit as obsessively accurate. These must be among the closest arcade to console conversions of their generation. Just need to get hold of a mouse for trackball action, though it plays surprisingly well with the default pad + accelerator button setup (I'm no WR setter, but I can clear all six courses pretty comfortably despite only playing this port for the first time this week).

Unlike Gauntlet it's strictly a bare-bones conversion, meaning no original stages/modes etc. But like the original Sega Rally this is the sort of game that thrives on its brevity. Five minutes of absolute concentration and steeply building intensity, with a nefariously compulsive time attack angle. Apparently the highest difficulty level surpasses that of the coinop. If so that's enough new material for me. Aesthetically it's nice to be able to enjoy the game's oddball soundtrack and mood, unlike in EA's hideously clangy Genesis version.

Like stryc9 said a while back, Snow Bros, Slap Fight, Gauntlet and MM are practically an unofficial quartet of conversion excellence from Tengen. It's a damn shame only Gauntlet got worldwide release, these are some of the best productions on the system.

[stryc9]

Nice get BIL. It's a shame they didn't do a Black Label version with a couple of extra levels with adjusted time limit, that would have been amazing. Didn't the NES version do this?

As it stands though, being a fan of the arcade and it's skin pinching trackball this is the definitive version for me, overtaking the quite excellent for the time A500 version (IMO, haven't played it in about 20 years though), and of course the earlier Genesis port with the toned down difficulty, funny palette and bad music.

The Tengen version has arcade perfect sound, or as close as you can get given the differences in sound hardware.

Right now I'm working on Gauntlet and I'm hopeless at it. Is it possible to 1CC the Arcade mode on defaults?

[BIL]

Despite growing up with the impression NES MM was the original version of the game (no arcade scene whatsoever where I lived) I've never actually played/seen it. Curious now!

Gauntlet can seem impossible at first but it's very breakable, IIRC it's been looped for twenty four hour marathons or something crazy like that. I've spent most of my time so far in quest mode, need to go back and finish that off. Something that helped me out in both modes early on was avoiding grabbing up everything in sight. Monsters are blocked by treasures, keys etc which can make crowd streaming a lot easier.

[GSK]

Does Gauntlet IV suffer from the same problems as Grind Stormer and all those other Tengen MD games? I had a copy that would constantly freeze or not even boot but it was a loose secondhand cart so I didn't give it much thought at the time.

[Phellan Wolf]

I was playing Streets of Rage 2 the other day and damn, is fuck awesome. It's been a long time and the game feels as cool and awesome as it was back in the day.
IMO the best in the series and much better than Final Fight 2 or Though for the SNES. Boss battles are epic.

[BrianC]

Does Gauntlet IV suffer from the same problems as Grind Stormer and all those other Tengen MD games? I had a copy that would constantly freeze or not even boot but it was a loose secondhand cart so I didn't give it much thought at the time.

I think it does since I had similar issues. However, I traded it in for another one and had no issues.

[BIL]

The spectre of moldy Tengen PCBs has been an ongoing concern of mine since getting back into the MD. Gauntlet, Snow Bros and Slap Fight are all still going strong after dozens of hours apiece, will report on MM but not anticipating trouble there either. Doesn't seem to affect JP carts from my experience, haven't found any reports of them dying either.

[stryc9]

Despite growing up with the impression NES MM was the original version of the game (no arcade scene whatsoever where I lived) I've never actually played/seen it. Curious now!

I just watched a longplay of the NES version, didn't see any extra levels, so I was wrong there.

Gauntlet can seem impossible at first but it's very breakable, IIRC it's been looped for twenty four hour marathons or something crazy like that. I've spent most of my time so far in quest mode, need to go back and finish that off. Something that helped me out in both modes early on was avoiding grabbing up everything in sight. Monsters are blocked by treasures, keys etc which can make crowd streaming a lot easier.

Yeah, it took me a while to realize about the leaving treasure/streaming stuff, and it also depends on who you use - the warrior's shot is wide enough to take out two rows of baddies in a corridor for example, I found that pretty useful.

Some of the levels with limited keys are pretty rough. You can end up wasting tons of them on little bits of wall if you're not careful.
Other levels are just straight tough, Not sure how you are supposed to get through without a ton of damage. Might have to check out some vids, don't usually have to do that with older games

[Phellan Wolf]

How is batman the return of the joker ? And xmen2?

[BIL]

Was looking around for high-level commentary on Marble Madness score/speed play, and noticed something interesting. A few AC* players referred to the random element of the magic wand that can pop up and grant extra time, specifically its being helpful for score (more timer seconds=more points) and bad for speed (costs several real world seconds). After several hours with the MD version, I've only seen the wand when I was extremely new (ie, struggling to clear Intermediate), and more recently when I'm deliberately messing about testing stuff. I've never seen it since getting decent enough to reliably clear the game, which made me assume it was a "service" thing, like enemies getting floored when you respawn in Capcom beaters, shooters giving items after a continue, etc.

I wonder if this is something that was changed for the MD port. Would be very cool if so. Or maybe it's playing on Medium instead of the MD default of Easy. If the wand's appearance is tied to # of deaths then it's a total non-starter for both score and speed play, since each death eats up 1k points and obviously real time.

I wish I could read the manual, just like SB/SFMD/Gauntlet's it's loaded with text and staff commentary. IIRC Gauntlet's actually has a note from Ed Logg (translated into Japanese). These remind me of the lovely Sega Ages 2500 PS2 manuals, albeit not quite as monster-sized.

*no idea on the status of arcade variants, revisions, etc - maybe it's something addressed back then.

[BrianC]

How is batman the return of the joker ? And xmen2?

Batman Revenge of the Joker (for some reason renamed from Return of the Joker for the Genesis port) is a port of a NES game that somehow manages to look and sound inferior. X-Men 2 seems to have nice graphics and gameplay, from what I have played, though doesn't use the super powers as well as it could.

Not for Genesis, but Klax for TG-16 is another impressive game done by Tengen Japan. I heard the Genesis version, which is possibly from the makers of the arcade version, is also a good port, though the use of color doesn't seem to be great. Like MM, Klax also got a different port, this time from Namco, but in this case, it seems the Japanese version may be the inferior one. It lacks in options compared to the US version, though it has a vs mode. The US version seems to be the more faithful version.

Edit: It appears, telling from a screen, that the US Genesis Klax also has the 2p mode, which I assumed was absent. I just checked. It does have a split screen two player mode, but the screens for each player don't seem to interact with each other.

[BIL]

Hmm, looks like I misread about the AC Marble Madness's wand. Seems it's only considered random in the NES version, which is obviously not a 1:1 port. Would make sense, it's definitely a last-gasp assist in the Tengen MD version. Never shows up if you're playing at all decently.

MD manual apparently gives the Aerial Race "trombone pistons" the nickname IWAMMP, or Inverse Whack A Mole Musical Piston.

[Captain]

How is batman the return of the joker ? And xmen2?

Xmen2 is really cool, but not the one of the best.

Still though, dat final boss music.

[Ganelon]

X-Men 2 Clone Wars is one of my favorite sidescrollers. Stage design is interesting and boss design is intelligent. The only problem is the long and unforgiving final stage (even more so than in the first game).

[Ruldra]

Any fans of Rolling Thunder 3 in here?

It's my favorite game in the series. Not as unforgiving as RT2, weapon selection before you start a level, you can shoot diagonally (makes a huge difference in this kind of game), bike/jet ski levels to mix things up a bit, and a very good soundtrack. My only complaint is the respawn-on-the-spot if you die: although it makes things not as frustrating for you, if you do well early/mid-game you'll hoard enough lives to plow through the endgame.

On default settings the game is almost too easy, but hard mode brings it back to arcade difficulty. I strongly suggest you jump into hard mode right off the bat. Input RISKY on the password screen to unlock it. And save the bazooka for the final level.

Also, the way the main character looks and behaves (short hair, shoulder holster, fingerless gloves, cracks jokes at every opportunity), I wouldn't be surprised if he was used as inspiration for RE4 Leon.

[BrianC]

One warning about X-Men 2, though. Unlike most games, the game starts and automatically picks a character (normally psylocke) as soon as you turn it on. The title screen doesn't appear until after the intro stage. It threw me off a bit since the Super Star Wars SNES games glitch out and start on the wrong stage without going to the title screen if forget to unplug the Super Scope ir box.

[Captain]

One warning about X-Men 2, though. Unlike most games, the game starts and automatically picks a character (normally psylocke) as soon as you turn it on. The title screen doesn't appear until after the intro stage. It threw me off a bit since the Super Star Wars SNES games glitch out and start on the wrong stage without going to the title screen if forget to unplug the Super Scope ir box.

It always picks beast for me.

[BIL]

Any fans of Rolling Thunder 3 in here?

Was always curious about that one, think I'll have to give it a go.

Annoyingly it never actually got released in Japan (annoys me anyway, it seems a thousand times harder to get US stuff in the condition I want ATM).

[stryc9]

Any fans of Rolling Thunder 3 in here?

Was always curious about that one, think I'll have to give it a go.

Annoyingly it never actually got released in Japan (annoys me anyway, it seems a thousand times harder to get US stuff in the condition I want ATM).

Yeah, Americans treated their games like shit. Unfortunately a lot of seller photos obscure the top of the case so you can't tell if the hangtab is intact or not. However, there are some good deals to be found, unlike with the Japanese MD side of things. I just picked up a Subterranea in great condition for about $15 IIRC.

So far I've only acquired a couple of US titles - Cadash and Sunset Riders, both with case and manual. And hangtabs.
There is a couple of copies in what appears to be good condition of RT3 on Ebay, but trying to source a minty one like yourself could take a while dude.

[Captain]

Any fans of Rolling Thunder 3 in here?

Was always curious about that one, think I'll have to give it a go.

Annoyingly it never actually got released in Japan (annoys me anyway, it seems a thousand times harder to get US stuff in the condition I want ATM).

Rolling Thunder 3 is just amazing, one of the best games for genesis if you ask me.

[EmperorIng]

I will have to check it out. It looks pretty good. Would Rolling Thunder 2 be worth checking into as well?

===

I beat Ranger X finally today. I've had it for a while but never had a concerted night to dig into it. I think the occasional glance at BIL's posts finally made something in my brain snap.

Is it shameful to admit to using the super-secret shield weapon on the last stage? That level is a real ass-kicker otherwise. Other than that, the game is a little easy on normal, I feel! The last two levels are the only ones that really put the screws on you on normal.

It was super satisfying to kill the final boss using a charged-up proton cannon, for screen-covering, slowdown-inducing death. A real feel-good moment. 8.5/10 game. Probably 9/10 when I man up for hard mode.

[BrianC]

Rolling Thunder 2 is good stuff and even has some neat Genesis/MD exclusive stages with new weapons and bosses. I definitely plan to pick up 3, though it's missing two player.

[BIL]

I really like MD Rolling Thunder 2. The lack of a higher difficulty option tends to perturb me in arcade to console ports (adios Phelios), but fortunately it sticks close to AC pacing and ruthlessness. Should be pretty cheap too in both US and NTSCJ, last I checked.

At very least, check out its passwords. Required reading! A CURIOUS PROGRAM PUNCHED THE POWDER

I beat Ranger X finally today. I've had it for a while but never had a concerted night to dig into it. I think the occasional glance at BIL's posts finally made something in my brain snap.

Is it shameful to admit to using the super-secret shield weapon on the last stage? That level is a real ass-kicker otherwise. Other than that, the game is a little easy on normal, I feel! The last two levels are the only ones that really put the screws on you on normal.

Heavy difficulty isn't a massive leap over Normal and Hard, but its damage scale and slightly nastier stage layouts make evasion and counterattack vital rather than optional (you can soak up + steamroll a lot more on the lower settings). The sublimely agile yet weighty aerial handling really shines in this mode, especially in stages like the third that pit you against constant air+ground opposition. Like Valken on the SFC, Ranza's ultimately not especially difficult but it is an absolutely killer playable mecha anime once mastered.

The shield is pretty abusive, but cutting loose for a spot of Musha-style invincible body ramming aggression feels well-earned by the last stage. ^_~

[BIL]

Found a weird glitch in The Super Shinobi tonight. In round 1-1, kill the game's third and final ninja dog like thus and the next shuriken you throw will blank. It'll still be deducted from your stock, but otherwise it won't exist. My cart is v1 but I tried out the last ROM rev (v3) in a few different emulators, and all gave the same result (pictured). Guess the staff were too busy chasing down those troublesome cosplayers to notice.



Perhaps it's related to this enemy's unique ability to catch standing-height shuriken (though a crouching or jumping one will blank too)? Kill it with a melee attack or a shuriken burst and the glitch won't occur. Maybe if they appeared past the very first stage this would've been caught in playtesting. Hardly very relevant, but good to know if you suspect your controller's dropping inputs!

Blew my mind while listening to Midnight Resistance's MD OST (track "ENEMY'S ARMORY") that for all DECO's "FUCK YEAH" action movie bombast, the game actually has probably the best explanation for acquiring new weapons on-site in its genre. Steal the keys to the enemy's lockers and rob their shit, yeahhh!