Sega Genesis & Mega Drive Platformers - Part 1
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Covering the platformers on the Genesis was a huge undertaking. Be sure to check out part 2 for more games.
This is part of the videos from the first run of my channel. They have technical and editing issues that I am not going back to fix. They are presented as they are.
Check out my current content! - Hry
Both Decap Attack and Kid Chameleon were excellent games, and much better than perhaps their premise suggests. But you were right about Kid Chameleon being hard to complete on one sitting on the Mega Drive - I remember playing it when I was young, and getting really far, only to be told by my parents I had to switch the system off for dinner. Gutted!
I don't know how you can say "lacking any flashy art design" when there's probably the best animated crab of the 16bit era on the screen...and the hermit crabs from the first level wore boxer shorts. That's flashy in my book.
And spot goes to Hollywood wasn't that bad in my opinion
I noticed that too. That crab pinched and tilted to reach up and snap. That's pretty amazing
Hello from Russia! This channel is awesome! Sega MegaDrive is still one of the most beloved consoles among russian retro gamers. I wish you and your channel every success!
So how early was the Mega Drive released in Russia? I know Nintendo wasn't officially in Russia until 1994 when they finally released the Super Nintendo there, and the Russian NES was the Dendy, kinda would have been cool if Nintendo had bought rights to the Dendy name and called it the Super Dendy.
@@PaperBanjo64 Sega Mega Drive appeared in Russia around 1993. Unofficially, of course. It seems that we mostly imported clones from Taiwan, but they were of good quality. There were also interesting clones under the brands Kenga and PRO 16 BIT.
@Catovaria Official Channel thank you for sharing this, I'm always interested in gami history especially obscure gaming history like this.
@@PaperBanjo64 If you are interested in the history of video games in Russia, then I strongly recommend you to visit the Kinamania channel and watch the "Dendy Chronicles" cycle and the documentary "Проклятие серого слоненка""(The Curse of the Grey Elephant). There are English subtitles.
Kind of disappointed Quackshot wasn't mentioned as part of the Disney series. Really good platformer and had some strategic elements too.
@John Wheeler Would've fit better in this video
So saddening. My heart truly aches.
Quackshot was pure quality
Quackshot is pretty legit. Should've been included
I cant even get past level 1 on quackshot lmao. It keeps saying i need a tool at the end. Ive looked everywhere and cant find it but my 3 year old son does it but i never seen how he does it lol
the 16 bit consoles was a blast so much to play so little time
Kid Chameleon was insane! Music was good, graphics was good, game play was amazing (with the different powers). The only flaw, which was also something it advertised at the time was 100 stages (and no save system!!!!!). It did have warp locations so you did not have to do all 100 stages (maybe 75.. lol). I beat it once. Had to leave the house for a bit and left the game on pause for like 3 or 4 hours. Lol, I was not starting all over again.
I’ve recently heard a lot of praise for Kid Chameleon so I played it on the Sega Genesis Classics compilation a few days ago. The character’s jump feels awful. Like, it’s floaty at first and then you just drop like a rock. It took me a few minutes but I got used to it. It’s a game with great ideas but sometimes the execution is off. Oh well. Glad you like it.
I've been buying these at a one a month rule so I appreciate each game better. But its so hard not buying more. Thank you for these vids for reminding me how great these games are
I bought a Sega mega drive mini and a snes mini. Loving these videos to add games onto them. This and Snes drunk have been real nostalgia trips. Thank you
Another awesome video, dude 🖒.
So glad you mentioned 'Monster World 4'. I played the english rom on my everdrive last year and absolutely LOVED the entire game from start to finish!
It's right up there with the best Genesis/megadrive platformers imo.
It's one of the platforms best looking games IMO. It rivals most SNES games in regards to color, and not many Genesis games can claim that.
Agreed! Very unfortunate it was never released outside of japan back in the day.
It's a real hidden gem for the system.
No way dude! Shinobi 3’s soundtrack was fucking amazing!!! The game itself rules as well even if it is one of the easiest games on the system lol.
I like the music as well I think stage one gets u pumped as you run through the brush of the woods I think the music is good.
Yes, it was good enough I even learned some of it on bass and guitar
It's funny as I watch this I'm a Nintendo switch fan,but still remember when Sega and Nintendo were rivals...I miss those simpler,yet better day's 🥺
Love your work 🤟
The sountrack alone in El Viento informs me that the team behind it is Wolfteam. It's nearly identical in style to that of one of my classic favourites on the Genesis, Granada.
Love me some Dynamite Headdy!!
One of my favorite genesis games
I've never understood why Batman Returns gets so much hate. I love it. You know what else doesn't get enough love? Taz-Mania.
Batman Returns is fun, challenging and probably a lot of things the Konami Nes and Snes versions werent. I had to play it with emphasis on conserving batarangs and bat flurries and make very precise grapples to not fall. Great game.
@@samfrito Batman Returns was an awesome game! Oh wait, wrong console. If the developers gave this game more time. I think it would had turned out better.
@@KarcusKorpse you get to crap on it. The Genesis version was full of cheap enemies and I learned to love it, but mainly because it was the little brother to the Sega Cd driving masterpiece. Sounds like you prefer the Snes Konami one. That's a real great beat em up. The sound is incredible, too.
@@samfrito We can't say though the Mega CD version was a massive improvement. All it did was add driving levels.
Kid Chameleon All day everyday. MUST have game for any Sega fan. I wish they made another.
You should check out some ROM hacks of it. There are a few that have around 100 levels again with higher difficulty and stuff.
Thanks for making this video, it's great! It really helps me figure out which cool Sega games to put in my to-play list.
I still don't get why more people seem to like the Ninja Gaiden series when Shinobi has existed all along :-/ the NES popularity probably helped quite a bit!
@TrueSinister
Ninja Gaiden is much more similar to Castlevania. Shinobi is its own thing.
The Ninja Gaiden games on Nes have broken gameplay anyway.
What about Wrath of the Black Manta!?
I personally enjoyed both! I enjoyed shinobi for the color and great game play. Although very flawed I loved ninja gaiden for it's difficulty!
I think the shinobi games in general are a lot more enjoyable. For some reason we all have memories of ninja gaiden and how awesome it was with the crazy cutscenes and stuff it was and is. What people don’t remember though is beating them lmao just like ghouls and ghosts. Forgetting the mind bending frustration they bring on.
This is my favorite style of gaming, by far.
Man, I had all three Valis games! Loved the series!
"We're not worthy! We're not worthy" 🙌🙌 stoked to have you back! You're content is superb. Thanks
I was always a fan of cool spot. The levels were varied, the gameplay was fun, and he looked pretty suave standing there snapping his fingers like he didn't give a damn. My only complaint is the time limit. I hate time limits
Time limits, the bane of all existence.
Never got to play cool spot yet😔
Ack! As many times I played Rocket Knight Adventures on Sega Channel I never noticed that giant spider on the castle in the background.
I personally would say that the Shinobi series on Sega® Genesis wasn't only among the best series for the platformer, but one of the greatest videogame ninja series of all time.
This video should be titled " Sega Genesis Games After Developers Got Out of Nintendo Contracts"
YES!
I'm so happy your're back!!!!!!
You know, I understand why people hate Batman Forever, but I have to say the fighting arcade mode in that game was good. Its Mortal Kombat with Batman characters which was fun.
yes! and you had so many crazy characters in the mix. It's a shame Forever isn't loved for the sheer wit and enjoyable combat. and unique puzzle/hidden areas hunts. Oh, voice samples are funny too.
The MD version is obviously the superior version and yes it is a very underrated game. Nowhere near "one of the worst games for the system".
@@pferreira1983 I want make a statement about the SNES version, "HOLD ON"...
@@Vanessaira-Retro That is one reason the MD is superior, the other being the controls work better on a MD controller as long as you're using a six button one.
While Sonic Mania was great, I honestly see it as little more than unrealized potential. The remixed zones were a neat touch, but what I truly loved were the original zones, and there just weren't enough of those to create the kind of experience Sonic 3+K was to me. The way I see it, the classic Zone reimaginings should have been a separate mode.
Agreed.
What does that even have to do with this video though? This is a video about Genesis platforming games, not retro revivals like Sonic Mania
@@mikeheinlein3746you must not have watched the whole video, at 2:53 Sega lord mentions sonic mania.
Mega Drive really did have the best platformers. I have to disagree about Batman Forever. It's a flawed game but nowhere near as terrible as people make it out to be. However you did get the pronunciation of Ristar correct unlike most CZcamsrs so all is cool.
I had Valis III. It was excellent. And pretty hard to beat the final boss.
These videos make life radder .
I remember back then wanting to play Fantasia by looking at screenshots in magazines. The game looks great but I didn't have the "chance" to try it out at the time. Some interesting infos about it that I just found at Sega Retro website:
"Development
Fantasia was rushed for release and poorly received at launch. Former Head of Product Development at Sega of America, Ken Balthaser has said on record that he regrets releasing it in its current "unplayable" state.
Release
Reportedly Roy Disney was unaware that Disney's licensing department had given Sega the rights to produce a Fantasia game. Roy had promised his late uncle, Walt Disney, not to give out licenses for Fantasia, and having learnt of the news, requested that Sega of America pull all copies of the game from sale and destroy them. Sega were assured that this was the fault of Disney, and as well as being compensated for lost profits, were granted further licenses for Disney properties. In the end, all but 5000 copies of Fantasia were recalled by Sega of America and destroyed."
A shame cuz it could have been a fantastic game given the source material :(
psyance_ql ..Nnnnnnnn,
I find it easy to find a copy of Fantasia.
I disagree Shinobi III may not have been composed by Yuzo but it holds up to his work. In a lot of ways it’s better.
I agree. Especially "Whirlwind" (the surfing stage music). It always gets me primed for action.
Maybe Shadow Blasters is a bit obscure and underwhelming to some people but for me it's one of those games I loved as a kid and totally forgot about until I saw this video. It's a sweet spot of difficulty and fun, and it's very well paced. You have to go slow and play strategically. It's a puzzle shooter platformer almost, I loved the weird mix of genres. Anyway it's a nostalgia trip for me so thanks for putting it in. Just what I was looking for in your videos.
Great look back, it was nostalgic to watch as I remember the good times in my childhood playing some of these. Another Disney game to add is The Jungle Book. There was also Garfield: Caught in the Act and Fido Dido (I believe he was another 7-Up Mascot), who my sister liked.
Kid Chameleon requires save states? I beat it for the last time like 2 years ago in around 90 minutes I think.
I have also beaten the game many times before. It is very hard, but once you git gud and know the stages and routes a bit, it's very doable.
really??
The 16-bit console wars was more brutal than the Cola wars.
It got brutal when bits and CD-rom drives became a selling point.
The Turbo grafx had a fairly quick death early in the era but nothing compared to the likes of Cd-i, 3do, Jaguar, 32x
Batman Returns was frustrating, but it wasn't terrible. The music was quite good for its time.
I agree! Id definitely call it a good game. Forever is by far the worst. Bay FAR.
Games shouldn't be frustrating if you're playing competently. If a game relies on memorizing cheap bullshit, then it is bad.
@@radcowley Forever is better.
@@radcowley I hope you get banned from social media.
Had to watch this video as not long ago l bought a Sega Megadrive and now have about 100 games for it but need to see what else l've missed.So SegalordX videos can help me. :)
Marlon Adams get you an Everdrive for the Genesis, they go for around 50/60$ and you’ll have the entire library, unless you’re a purist, I understand
I love this channel. I just bought a mega overdrive and needed some suggestions
Hey, just to let you know, there actually were plenty of 2D-style Sonic games that pleased plenty of Sonic fans who grew tired of the 3D-style games before the release of "Sonic Mania", which include: "Sonic Pocket Adventure", "Sonic Advance", "Sonic Advance 2", "Sonic Advance 3", "Sonic Rush", "Sonic Rush Adventure", and the Nintendo DS version of "Sonic Colors".
Excellent 😎😎😎
How about Flashback and Out of This World. Flashback was the first game I seen on the Genesis that had full motion graphic cut scenes, awesome use of vector graphics, Out of This World was made the same way.
Pulseman is a game I played a lot in the early aughts and when I hit the wired no one knew what it even was. I never owned a physical copy. My brother just came home from school with a CD filled with emulated Mega Drive games. Pulseman and Nightmare before Christmas were the two I played the most.
You didn't mention it, but Pulseman is pretty easy until the last two levels so it is probably worth playing for people who know games of this era were pretty frustrating at times.
"This one could run you upwards of XX dollars."
(Pauses video, chuckles, downloads ROM, resumes video.)
Your rom will be worth the same amount in 20 years tho x
@@cubeflinger um no it won't. There are rar files floating around with every genesis game. They will always be free because... certain people have them on USB drives for history sake.
@@arctorusmedia think you missed my point there.
@@arctorusmedia think you missed my point there.
Sit Galahad is one I remember very fondly.
Welcome back
Batman returns was a great game graphics and music are amazing in my opinion
There are games that you give negative reviews on here in which I enjoy I know it’s purely opinion but I think it’s somewhat unfair as many of theses games are great and even better than many snes titles of the same releases. I always see you rate Batman among one of the best but I never felt that it’s just not my type of game.
Agreed yep.
What about 'The Adventures of Batman and Robin' based on the animated series? That was solid.
It was. Figured I'd save that for the Run n Gun episode. ;)
Man the Wonderboy/monster boy series is only rivaled by Sonic the hedgehog or Phantasy star on the genesis
12:53 earthworm jim was fun but the adventures of Boogerman was the best!
Great videos! I actually loved Batman Returns. Maybe because it was one of the few games i owned as a kid, but i liked the arsenal of Batman weapons to choose from.
I'm with you Batman Returns was so good!!!
I loved Earthworm Jim.
Here I was thinking I was the only one who even knew what Alisia Dragoon was. Great game.
Spot's a cool concept for potential marketing games. Brand has something new coming out, make a marketing game worth a Bitcoin to coincide with the launch of the new product.
Great video! But you forgot to talk about "adventures of batman & robin", that is an awesome batman game on sega genesis!
I LOVE 'Syd of Valis'! LOL!
I really hope you continue with this series where u left off.
Cool spot was my shit! The first one anyway haha
Your hatred of Batman returns on genesis never stops being hilarious
Fun fact: Cool spot was originally Fido Dido from 7-up
Earthworm Jim needs a sequel... 🐮❤️
It is getting one.
Alicia Dragoon is anything but "simple and straightforward". You have secret walls,
exploration focus, an upgrade system for your AND your beast sidekicks, managing
FOUR different "dragons" - deciding which one to upgrade first, which one to use
in which level/battle, - and making sure they don't die as well. Certain later levels
of this game were quite cheap, while some others reasonable - but at no point
any of it could be called simple. It was like a poor man's version of the arcade
Magic Sword; and while not nearly as good - yet still had its charm.
I would still call it simple. It's a run n gun. There isn't anything complicated here at all.
@@SegaLordX If it's a run-n-gun, then it's definitely an advanced one:
which means "not simple" :-) because of all the necessary extras.
In a basic run-n-gun you don't have a choice of path or exploration.
You just go right (usually), and in the worst case - the screen scrolls
behind you to make sure that you don't go back. And it definitely doesn't
concern itself with any strategy. Just run, and gun, - as the name says.
Jump when necessary. Such as NES contra. Or the plentiful Megadrive
shmups where you don't fly. This one, however - has all the extra
elements to elevate it above the just simple.
Shinobi 3. The best.
Terrible double jump mechanic that makes the later stages very frustrating.
@@kekeke8988 it's not frustrating for me, probably cause I played it many times and got used to it
I love how innocent and honest you are. its so cute how u assume if any game on the nes, snes, Genisis, or master system.. and it is worth playing that we would go buy physical copies of the game we are interested in trying for 30 40 50 etc. dollars when even all midrange and even some cheap smart cell phones today have no issue running a system emulator and every game ever has a free copy of the rom online everywhere and can be played for free and erased if it's a dud
Oh my.. It seems I have most of the good ones.. And yes the first BATMAN it is one of my favorite Genesis games.
My collection is missing VALIS and WONDER BOY IN MONSTERWORLD.
EL VIENTO es un juego un poco raro. I have it complete, but only pay $30US for it. (2 years ago).
I really want to find a cheap copy of Pulseman. Alisia Dragoon is my last acquisition for the Genesis (in 2017).
Now for the second part.
What you talking about? Rocket Knight's colours look drab & diluted compared to Sparkster.
It may not have as much detail in the backgrounds but it looks almost early mega drive aside from the effects.
Shinobi 3 'Whirlwind' song is one of the best ever on the console. Also, I'd have to disagree, El Viento's backgrounds are pretty distracting & noisy.
Indeed, Whirlwind is the best song on the Console.
I think I got my boxed Rocket Knight for like 20 bucks, like 2-3 years ago. Has it just gone up? or are you sure about saying it's around 50?
I would have loved to see the cult classic FLASHBACK, I own all of the US released ports on multiple consoles and classic PCs. It takes a minimalist approach to platforming but I just love and appreciate the amazing rotoscoping animation and in game cutscenes. It ran really fast on the Genesis with the Sega CD version being the better one because of the CD audio voice and ambiant background sounds. Also with exclusive new FMV cutscenes.
We loved sonic 2 (1st sonic game we played with our cousins Mega Drive) but it was mostly2 player mode cause it was more fun and 1 player mode with debug and super sonic cheat just for fun lol. But the beats were awesome! Got all these gamed and play them still.
5:21 - This guy would probably say that "Sorcerer's Apprentice" on the *Atari 2600* is better than "Fantasia" on the Genesis.
i thought Magical Taruruuto-kun (japan only) was pretty cool. hope to see your opinion on it
Lol'd at Shinobi 3's soundtrack at being a weakness.
Compared directly to Revenge, it absolutely was.
@@SegaLordX I'm sorry, but calling it a weakness in any regard is crazy. That being said musically speaking, Shinobi 3's soundtrack is all around superior to Revenge, possibly the best on the system. You could put this up to a vote between any unbiased and objective observer and find these results, I'd put money on it. Name any Revenge of Shinobi track better than Idaten or Whirlwind. I'll wait.
I swear, people just see the name Yuzo Koshiro and assume it's amazing.
"Batman forever; it sucked back then, and it sucks forever!"
Great work Sir thank you
Wait..what? Imo Shinobi 3 has the best soundtrack on the system! O.o it's my personal best game on the Genesis along with Castlevania Bloodlines.
Whirlwind is the best Genesis track.
@@rileylederer8800 it's a great one for sure. In fact, back in the 90s when I was learning how to track music in Impulse Tracker, I recreated that song as my learning tool for how to use the program. 🤙
one redeeming feature of Syd of Valis: at least it has a score.
No offense, but I think you're totally wrong about there not being any 2D-style Sonic games released twenty years after "Sonic & Knuckles" because there's also "Sonic Pocket Adventure" on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, the Sonic Advance trilogy games on the Game Boy Advance, and the Sonic Rush trilogy games on the Nintendo DS.
mmm the genre of a video game derives mainly from what action the player must perform the most during the game, a platform game and by nature a title where you have to jump or act in a certain way from a platform to another platform, a game where you shoot in continuation and a shoot'em up for example, then there are games where different gameplay mixes but the formula does not change and the game has the genre that most represents in its actions. In this video there are games that are not platform but mainly action like Shinobi for example.
True. Sonic drew me to the mega drive. I wanted a Super Nes (because of mario world) and my dad always said that i should get a sega because ‘those are for big boys and nintendo for kiddies’. I didnt care. The mall near my house had a SNES demo cabinet with mario world and i was hooked. Until we went on a holiday to germany. The park we stayed had a sega cabinet with sonic the hedgehog and with in 5 minutes of only watching (some grownup dude was playing it til the end) it changed my mind. Sega kicks ass so that christmas my parents paid the 329,- guilders for the megadrive II sonic 2 bundle with dual controllers.
Mickey and donald world of illusion is the best disney game a long with quackshot and micky mania. Play world pf illusion 3 times if you want to see each world. Donald had different levels than mickey and when you played twoplayer co-op youd get other levels again.
Other perfect platformer is Rocket knight. Sparkster was the second game and had the secret swords to find which made the game great too.
I remember when kid and I was played Kid Chameleon, Stage damn long and tough. I played like 8 hours and still not complete it 😂😂
do a sega saturn platformers. I know the catalog isn't as big as the genesis but I'm sure you have tons :p
I really missed the Castlevania series, Alien and Prince of Persia. Cheers!
The original Sonic??? man that is the most broken one, they had not a clue yet what direction to go, Sonic 2 is almost perfect.
Welcome back dude ! I was missing that voice !
Thanks man. Appreciate the kindness.
I've really come to appreciate those games that don't resort to overly squat/super-deformed sprites...
Very good .I like chanel
Anyone notice that the first enemy on Valid Syd is the same sprite from Bootleg Pokémon on the SNES featured on Jontron's Bootleg Pokémon game series??
Peace, what music was that to start off the video, love that sound it was eerie
Justin Caraballo hell yea
That was the ending theme from revenge of shinobi
Robocop vs terminator was cool
Is part 2 still coming?
There’s already a part 2.
czcams.com/video/2tprXCOZMoQ/video.html
I am having a hard time hearing are you saying sonic wasn’t focused on exploration and Mario 2d Mario was? Mario was always very very linear and Sonic had so many branching pathways not true exploration but can you explain that, outside of the ghost house and some aspects of Mario world, I don’t see it.
Sonic has verticallity, I wouldn't call it exploration. Mario World and Mario World 2 had over world maps that had hidden levels that branched off from hidden exits to its stages. You had hidden collectables, entirely hidden worlds, especially as the series matured with Mario World 2. Sonic was linear outside of its tall stages. Each stage lead to the same next stage. You couldn't go back to the stages before and replay them to find extra men and a new exit to a new stage. Without question Mario World was infinitely more explorable than Sonic.
Sega Lord X well okay but not sonic 3 and knuckles as each stage has at least 5 paths and hidden giant rings and three different characters that open up more pathways. Mario world is a great game but each stage is still pretty linear if they aren’t what two exits ?
wolfpacsyxx yeah I agree maybe sonic 1 but Mario is pretty damn linear in 2d I mean there are secrets but smb2 is a bad example since that isn’t Mario. SK3 has more variety and exploration I’d say.
@@SegaLordX The Sonic games require exploration while Mario games are more about getting to the end.
Just a minor correctionat the 3:00 minute mark. When you mentioned there was a void of Sonic platformers until Sonic Mania, Sonic the Hedgehog Episode 4 Part I and Part II exist and continue off from Sonic and Knuckles. But these came out on the PS3 era of consoles around 2012.
Teenage mutant ninja turtles hyperstone heist ....but thats more a beat em up . Maybe Beyond Oasis
I also love Batman Returns on SNES
Ducktales (Quackshot), Mystic Defender and Strider as well as Altered Beast and Toki
Ghouls'N'Ghosts, Ghostbusters, Tazmania, Alex Kid, Flashback, Moonwalker
Can you help me identify a mega drive/genisis game. It was a side scrolling platformer with a cute and colourful style (Japanese in origin I think). The main character could do a double jump with the aid of big wings. You could warp to different levels. It was quite girly and weird and had great happy sounding music. I think there was a level based in a cake land with houses that looked like cakes.
It almost sounds like Zool.
@@SegaLordX The main character was a little anime person. I think the wings were a power up. You had no weapons and could only jump on the enemies to kill them. It was a bit like wonder boy. It's driving been driving me mad for years trying to Google it. It wasn't even a great game 😂
@@TheNinjaSpaceman Could it be Marvel Land?
You beauty! thank you yes that's it. You've made my day. It's been bugging me for so long 😂
@@TheNinjaSpaceman :D
Glad I could help. It's the double jump + wings part that made me find out. But while it might not be a "great game" per se, it's still very good in my opinion :P
A game I really like is Chelnov/Atomic Runner although it is soulcrushingly difficult.
It seems as though everyone plays sonic incorrectly! Yes, you can go fast as shit (atleast in the first zone). But, that's not what it's about. It IS about exploring and taking your time! In doing so, you get bonus lives which you'll need to complete the game. Also, it allows you to play the bonus levels to get ALL the chaos emeralds. In sonic 2, for example, collecting and exploring can get you 4 chaos emeralds before the end of the first zone! Which is much harder to do in the later levels. It just blows my mind that NO ONE has ever given a proper review of these games. Its always: "go to the right, quickly. Loop. Done. Not my favorite game." Really? That's how a child would play it.