I already talked about my top five Super Nintendo games, but now it is time to look at the other side of the 16-bit war, the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. I was a Nintendo kid, not a Sega kid, but I grew up with friends who had Sega Mega Drive’s so I got to experience all the best stuff that Sega had to offer. Over the years, it has become a favorite console of mine to play and collect for and I still think that Sega Mega Drive/Genesis boxes are the best game boxes ever made.
Please remember that this is my own personal top 5 Sega Mega Drive games list, so be sure to leave your own in the comments section.
Number 5
Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy’s Invention
I did a whole top 5 Disney games list so you know I love games based on cartoons! Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy’s Invention is probably not on many other people’s top 5 Sega Genesis games lists, but I love this game. I played the hell out of this with my friend when we were kids. It was like playing through an episode of the show and the game looks and sounds fantastic. I liked how both characters had different attacks and could work together to do double team attacks. It is not a perfect game at all, I will admit that, but when it comes to the Sega Mega Drive, it is one of my favorite and most nostalgic games for the system. Playing as Ren and slapping Stimpy while he shouts “you stupid idiot” never gets old.
Number 4
Sensible Soccer
I had Sensible Soccer for the SNES and it was good, but it was so much better on the Sega Mega Drive! The gameplay here is what makes it, the games are fast, unpredictable, and just so much fun. However, what makes the Mega Drive version so much better is that it lets you edit the teams and players! Sensible Soccer does not have real teams or players, but the team editor allows you to change them and keep the squads up to date! If I had a Mega Drive as a kid I have no doubt I would have spent hours and hours making sure each team was up to date. A great memory I have of this game is that at my friend’s house, there would be about five of us and we would make our own leagues and spend the day playing every match!
Number 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist
Look, Hyperstone Heist is nowhere near as good as Turtles in Time, let’s get that out of the way. However, there was no way that I could not do a top 5 Sega Mega Drive games list and leave this off it. It looks great, has a rocking soundtrack and it has the same tight gameplay as Turtles in Time. You have a dedicated run button which is something I like and the one part of the gameplay that I do think is better here. It has fewer but longer levels and far fewer boss fights. But this is a hard hitting good time and if Turtles in Time was not a thing, this would be up there as the best TMNT game.
Number 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
I had a hard time picking between Sonic 1 and 2. One of my best friends as a kid got a Mega Drive with Sonic for Christmas of 1991 and it blew my mind. However, the hype for Sonic 2 was unreal and at the time it was the most hype I ever saw for a video game. Sonic 2 is faster, more flamboyant, and just builds expertly on what came before it. The soundtrack is amazing, you can actually play with a friend and the whole game is just amazing from start to end. I would bet that there are not many people who think of Sega’s 16-bit machine and Sonic 2 is not one of the first games that springs to mind. I remember the first time my friend got the cheat to work so you could do a kind of debug mode and get Super Sonic right at the start of the game, it blew our little minds!
Number 1
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 2 is one of my favorite 16-bit games of all time and is just a hair behind Turtles in Time as the greatest beat-em-up of all time in my humble opinion. A friend of mine had this and we have to have played through Streets of Rage 2 100 times! We loved this game, it was dark, and gritty, looked amazing and it has the best soundtrack on the Sega Genesis! The fighting here feels so satisfying, each hit really does feel like it lands. It is the kind of game that I never get bored of and I play through this a couple of times each year. If I could only have one Sega Mega Drive game in my collection, I would not have to think about it, Streets of Rage 2 would be that game.
So, those are my top 5 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis games, outside of Ren & Stimpy, it is a pretty basic and obvious list if I am being honest. However, I would love to hear what games are your favorites when it comes to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Also if you love Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy’s Invention do not leave me hanging, let me know!