What's your opinion of the Mega Drive?

[neorichieb1971]

I think those are games people tended to avoid by default. Who knows if they are good or not

[BrianC]

Robocop vs. The Terminator has quite a few differences between versions. I'm a fan of both -

Say what? Aren't they considered some of the worst 16bit games ever?

Not Robocop vs. Terminator, but various others like the SNES Terminator, the side scrolling Terminator 2, and Robocop 3 are.

[louisg]

Robocop vs. The Terminator has quite a few differences between versions. I'm a fan of both -

Say what? Aren't they considered some of the worst 16bit games ever?

Yeah, I remembered it being really bad. But, I had a friend who was a fan (back when it was new), and there was recently a rave review from Classic Game Room HD.. so, I guess it has its charm.

[Rob]

and there was recently a rave review from Classic Game Room HD

I like this show, but they're almost all rave reviews.

[Elixir]

Yeah, Mark is the Ned Flanders of game reviewers.

[Drum]

His voice is so dreamy though.

[louisg]

Yeah, all true He put it up next to Revenge of Shinobi, which I think is one of his favorite Genesis games, so he must've had a relatively high opinion of the thing (I'm more of a Shadow Dancer guy myself)

[BPzeBanshee]

our exact game list consisted as follows: ... Strider Returns

Poor you! Get the original Strider, it's a masterpiece, but that sequel is such a disaster that Capcom did their own Strider 2 to get that turd out of canon.

Oh, I know. Playing it's a bitch even now. Same with Robocop 3 (though the shmup stages are cool)

[Despatche]

whacking up SOR2's soundtrack

BKIII > BKII

see you in round 2

I think those are games people tended to avoid by default. Who knows if they are good or not

hihi

[Skykid]

Robocop vs. The Terminator has quite a few differences between versions. I'm a fan of both -

Say what? Aren't they considered some of the worst 16bit games ever?

Yeah, I remembered it being really bad. But, I had a friend who was a fan (back when it was new), and there was recently a rave review from Classic Game Room HD.. so, I guess it has its charm.

The Super Play Magazine score for the Snes one was an atrocious 27% (funny review, I read it the other day.)
I've only played the MD version and I have to admit I thought it to be utterly dreadful. It's fun splashing bodies for about 5 seconds, but the game has 1 music track (right?) with some woman sensually massaging the word 'Terminator' like it's the name for a porno star.
I suppose this makes up for the fact that Terminator is barely in the game.
But yeah, I thought it was clunky and pretty horrible so I'm surprised it has any fans out there.

Louisg, I'd be very much intrigued to see that Classic Game Room review, any chance of a link?

EDIT: Found it. He does play well enough in the videos to make it look okay actually, but I remember it playing pretty badly.

[headcaseGames]

Ah, Genny vs the Sneeze. So hilarious how all these years later, people can still debate this sort of thing with such enthusiasm.

It's a tough choice in some ways, but in hindsight it doesn't take much thought for me to settle on the Genesis. Yeah, the games are overall a bit rougher around the edges than the crisper, "shinier" set on the SNES, but personally the highs gameplay-wise for me where on Genesis whereas the SNES games, while looking and sounding a fair bit better, were never quite as enjoyable. This is only considering my tastes as a gamer, specifically - but I think the 2-year head start certainly had a bit to do with it (by the time SNES appeared, the novelty of 16-bit graphics on a home console had worn a little thin)

Contrary to what most say, I really did get my most enjoyable gaming out of the system during it's earlier period, a lot of the games felt like they were truly trying to push the envelope (as far as really nailing that "arcade feeling" which was never really terribly accessible in a home console to such a degree). The crazy sounds, colors, and frantic gameplay of Thunder Force II, the crisp and clear voices in Space Harrier II and Tommy Lasorda Baseball.. in the year following the launch, more interesting and elaborate software followed and it started to really take the NES' place as the ultimate console one could have (the NES still doing quite fine at that point, but looking very dated next to it's competition)

By the time the 16-bit generation was getting late, I was getting older and not quite so much into gaming anymore in general (starting college, etc). Probably played SNES a lot more, and was more excited for it, but never with the same degree of interest as I was when Genesis was new. I miss the good old days

[louisg]

Re: Space Harrier II being amazing.. I have to agree. I was floored when I saw the Genesis (semi)ports of Space Harrier and OutRun. The "good for its time" argument carries a little more weight when the previously available ports of those games hardly resembled them (the US Gold ports).

[BPzeBanshee]

Say what? Aren't they considered some of the worst 16bit games ever?

Yeah, I remembered it being really bad. But, I had a friend who was a fan (back when it was new), and there was recently a rave review from Classic Game Room HD.. so, I guess it has its charm.

The Super Play Magazine score for the Snes one was an atrocious 27% (funny review, I read it the other day.)
I've only played the MD version and I have to admit I thought it to be utterly dreadful. It's fun splashing bodies for about 5 seconds, but the game has 1 music track (right?) with some woman sensually massaging the word 'Terminator' like it's the name for a porno star.
I suppose this makes up for the fact that Terminator is barely in the game.
But yeah, I thought it was clunky and pretty horrible so I'm surprised it has any fans out there.

Louisg, I'd be very much intrigued to see that Classic Game Room review, any chance of a link?

EDIT: Found it. He does play well enough in the videos to make it look okay actually, but I remember it playing pretty badly.

The Megadrive version is the best IMO. There's more than one track in it, they just reuse some of the themes for similar-looking levels. And there's no horny chick talking about Terminators in the Megadrive version either. Just a lot of machine-gun noise. And Terminators in the later stages.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

If you live in the PAL areas then its gotta be Sega and the MD over the SNES (although maybe not at the end of the 16bit life cycle with starfox and DK country.) The MD was great for fast arcady games like sonic and the few JRPGs and SRPGs that were for the system were stellar. Like elixir I prefer the sound charateristics of the MD over the SNES and the MD control pad (especially the 6 button) was the bees knees.

I never had any of the addons although I remember my then best friend got a 32x for his model 2 for Xmas. He only had Star Wars for it but it looked fantastic with those polygons and that deathstar stage. He lent me his 32x overnight so I could play it on my model 1, Unfortunatly the fucking thing broke after only using it for a hour. I felt so guilty over the whole incident even though it was obvoius to me and my mate that it was the shitty 32X's fault.

I never got to play a MCD though, as forgetting the FMV crap there were some damn good games for the system. BTW did the MCD have any extra processor power so that games would run better? or did it use the MD own processors? (In that the MD had 2 processors, 1 GPU/CPU and 1 for the music, of which if the programmer wanted could use as a GPU leaving a cartridge game without any sound

[BPzeBanshee]

If you live in the PAL areas then its gotta be Sega and the MD over the SNES (although maybe not at the end of the 16bit life cycle with starfox and DK country.) The MD was great for fast arcady games like sonic and the few JRPGs and SRPGs that were for the system were stellar. Like elixir I prefer the sound charateristics of the MD over the SNES and the MD control pad (especially the 6 button) was the bees knees.

I never had any of the addons although I remember my then best friend got a 32x for his model 2 for Xmas. He only had Star Wars for it but it looked fantastic with those polygons and that deathstar stage. He lent me his 32x overnight so I could play it on my model 1, Unfortunatly the fucking thing broke after only using it for a hour. I felt so guilty over the whole incident even though it was obvoius to me and my mate that it was the shitty 32X's fault.

I never got to play a MCD though, as forgetting the FMV crap there were some damn good games for the system. BTW did the MCD have any extra processor power so that games would run better? or did it use the MD own processors? (In that the MD had 2 processors, 1 GPU/CPU and 1 for the music, of which if the programmer wanted could use as a GPU leaving a cartridge game without any sound

As I recall the Mega CD was exactly that - a CD drive. I'm sure Wikipedia would have more specifications though, someone's gone to great lengths to provide info on the Sega Megadrive and relevant stuff there.

[nZero]

As I recall the Mega CD was exactly that - a CD drive. I'm sure Wikipedia would have more specifications though, someone's gone to great lengths to provide info on the Sega Megadrive and relevant stuff there.

That statement would be basically true for the PCECD/TurboGrafx CD (there was some extra memory in the System Cards but that's a separate story) but the MegaCD/SegaCD had quite a bit of extra hardware to upgrade the capabilities of the base unit. Extra processor (unfortunately often dedicated to decompressing FMV), extra memory, extra VDP that allowed for "Mode 7" style RoZ layers. It didn't usually feel like as much of an upgrade as the extra hardware would have warranted though, as it was held back quite a bit by the limited palette and sound system of the base console.

[Tylerxuppercut]

I cant believe no one mentioned General Chaos!!!!
love that game

[louisg]

People need to play more Granada and Midnight Resistance (ignore the rough edges, they rock)

OK, I am going to gain a reputation as "the guy on shmups who endorses terrible games"

[gum_drops]

I cant believe no one mentioned General Chaos!!!!
love that game

The game moves like tree sap in winter, but still one of my top 15 genesis games from childhood.

[drauch]

I cant believe no one mentioned General Chaos!!!!
love that game

some of my favorites are on the genesis:

-Kid Chameleon
-Splatterhouse 3 (favorite game on the system)
-Ports of Valis before I knew about Turbografx/PC-Engine, etc
-Castlevania: Bloodlines
-Rambo III
-Golden Axe II & III
-General Chaos

And I mean, tons more, and tons of stuff I still haven't played. And yeah, all the essentials (Sonics, Streets of Rage, Shmups, Phantasy Star, Shining Force, etc)

[evil_ash_xero]

You know, I always hated Kid Chameleon. Well, hate may be too strong of a word. I got it when I was a kid, and was so disappointed with it. Not "Sword Of Sodan" disappointed, but it was pretty lackluster, in my eyes.
A lot of people mention it as a Mega Drive highlight, but not me!


I guess I could toss in what are my favorite MD games, since I started the thread and all. And i'm not being elitist, when I post their Japanese games..Those are the versions I own.
In no particular order.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic 2
Sonic
Ristar The Shooting Star
The Super Shinobi II
Bare Knuckle II
Thunderforce IV
Gunstar Heroes
Alien Soldier
Rocket Knight Adventures
Pulseman

There's others that I really like, such as Dynamite Headdy and Bare Knuckle III, but I think i'll keep this list short with my faves. These things can get kind of sprawling, if you don't censor yourself.

As for the debate on Bare Knuckle II....I think it's one of the absolute best beat 'em ups I have ever played. It may be my favorite. So, I agree with Skykid on that one. I really like the designs, and the music. And it's just a lot of fun.
However, I do agree with others, in that it drags. It's really freaking long for the kind of game it is. That being said, I play mine on VC, and I can just stop and start back later. Problem solved!

Also, one issue I have with the MD, is that a lot of developers couldn't really seem to get the most out of the system. I mean, Sega and Treasure had some wonderful looking games, but there were so many games that just looked really lackluster.

[Rob]

I remembered Kid Chameleon fondly as a mediocre game I used to rent, until last year when I actually tried to see how far I could get in it. Kid Chameleon smokes Sonic. The game actually requires and rewards skill, which is novel for sassy mascot platformers.

[borislaw]

Genesis was a hell of a game system and without questions it must be included in the pantheon of all-time systems. Put up head-to-head against the SNES, it proved a very worthy adversary. But like in all great battles, there must only be a single victor, and in this case it was the SNES which came out the champion. Simply put, the SNES was and is still the better of the two systems.

The difference maker for me is in a handful of SNES games that, in my own opinion, are better than most (not all) of the best Genesis games.
Super Mario World
Legend of Zelda
Super Mario Cart
Final Fantasy 3
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
Super Mario RPG
Mega Man X
Donkey Kong Country

[Rob]

Make sure you change the controls so it's just a button press to switch directions, much better that way. Japanese version has that as default.

Switched the controls as recommended and it was more fun. It chewed up all of my continues repeatedly and I was shamed.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Try out Chelnov on MAME too. It's different enough to make it worth a go.

[Skykid]

Some of my favourite MD games:

Streets of Rage 2
Rocket Knight Adventures
The Super Shinobi 2
Sonic 2
Gynoug
Thunder Force 2
Eliminate Down
Gleylancer
Gunstar Heroes
Twinkle Tale
Contra Hard Corps

[BIL]

Robocop vs. The Terminator has quite a few differences between versions. I'm a fan of both -

Say what? Aren't they considered some of the worst 16bit games ever?

Yeah, I remembered it being really bad. But, I had a friend who was a fan (back when it was new), and there was recently a rave review from Classic Game Room HD.. so, I guess it has its charm.

Robocop vs Terminator (Genesis) isn't bad at all. Mediocre at worst. Also had some novelty factor with the gore and grim atmosphere. No idea about the SNES version, or any of the other 16-bit games from either franchise, but that was a licensed game that didn't blow.

[Specineff]

The sound in the Genesis version of Robocop VS Terminator blew me away. It was very well-done, minus a few samples.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Task Force Harrier, despite massively downgraded graphics (compared to the arcade original) had amazing sound.

[BrianC]

and there was recently a rave review from Classic Game Room HD

I like this show, but they're almost all rave reviews.

I remember one that wasn't and it was a game I liked. It might have been the 7800 Commando or Robotron. I like both and I found the latter to play version well with a genesis pad in one hand and the Power Clutch SG with the other hand. If I remember correctly, even the slow Burgertime port on 2600 got a rave review from there. I think the port is actually kind of impressive in some ways, but the limitations of the port (almost nonexistent AI and slow gameplay) let it down to the point of it not being worth the play. Beef Drop is the best way to play Burgertime on the 7800!