My Top 50 Favourite Sega Mega Drive Games: #10 - #2

Here we are. The Top 10. My ten favourite Mega Drive games. What will make the list? What classic games make the list? Are there any surprises? Let’s find out...

#10 – World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck

Released: 1992 
Genre: Platform 
Rating: ****1/2 stars 
Best Moment: Just playing two-player mode, it’s one of the best if not THE best two-player games ever made.

As I say above, this game is just absolutely amazing in two-player mode. It’s so much fun, you and a mate, going through this World of Illusion. It’s a very short game, but the imagination, the jubilations, the music, everything about this game is just so much fun. Disney is world renowned for its amazing ability to make children’s films so great, and if there was one game that translates the feeling of watching a Disney film into game form, this is it. It’s that simple. This is simply one of the best kids games ever made. I dare any one to suggest otherwise.

#9 – Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament

Released: 1994
Genre: Racing
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Best Moment: Climbing through the League pyramid to the top. It can be very frustrating but the payoff at the end is great when you finally get there.

My favourite racing game on the Sega Mega Drive is Micro Machines 2. It’s possibly my favourite racing game of all time to be honest. I absolutely adore this game. For me, a racing game doesn’t always have to be about it technically being great, or the graphics being smooth and realistic, a racing game has to be fun. And I don’t find that many other racing games as fun as this. The different vehicles are great, the races are crazy, the characters all have their own little quirky personalities and the music is really smooth. Micro Machines 2 is the ultimate Micro Machines game and is simply one of the best racing games ever made. I truly mean that.

#8 – Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

Released: 1990 (1991 in the UK) 
Genre: Beat ‘em Up 
Rating: ****3/4 stars 
Best Moment: Indisputably, making your opponents dance to death. The different dance sequences on each level are all just beautifully animated and are quite funny at times.

What? Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker at #8 in my favourite Mega Drive games list? Damn right it is. Have you played this game before? If you haven’t, you have no right to question why I rate this game so high. If you have played the game, I reckon you’d understand why. It’s an absolutely fantastic game, and yes, I do rate it at ****3/4 stars out of five. Sure, Michael Jackson ‘rescuing little children’ is questionable in 2012, but back in 1990 none of the sexual abuse allegations were in existence really. Forget that though, what you have is an absolutely brilliant Michael Jackson video game experience. Everything that was great about Michael Jackson is beautifully represented in this game. The dance moves, the ‘magic persona’, the suits, the enemies (based on the movie Moonwalker), and most importantly, the music, it's all here, and it’s so so good. You really have to play this game if you haven’t before. Check out this video below. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

#7 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Released: 1992
Genre: Platformer
Rating: ****3/4 stars
Best Moment: The special stages, Sonic 2 has the best special stages in Sonic history.

Another Sonic game bites the dust in my list. In the main series only Sonic and Knuckles remains. Is it in my list at all? If so, how high? We’ll see. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is simply one of the most exhilarating platformer experiences of all time. Sega did very little wrong with Sonic 2, the 20 levels (in comparison to Sonic 3’s 12 levels) make this the most of any Sonic title on the Mega Drive, and for the most part, the levels are pretty damn sweet. The addition of Tails was quite nice, just so you had the choice of being someone else, although playing with both Sonic and Tails one-player can be very annoying. I really don’t know what to say about Sonic 2 because chances are you have played it and know about how good it is anyway. Sonic 2 is simply one of the best platformers of all time. I love it.

#6 – Shining Force

Released: 1992 (1993 in the UK)

Genre: RPG

Rating: ****3/4 stars

Best Moment: Like Shining Force II’s entry, nothing really stands out. It’s just simply one of the best RPGs ever made.

I’ve placed the original Shining Force towards the top of the mountain for many reasons. Firstly, it’s better than the second game in the series, which was a brilliant game in its own right. Why? I just love the characters more, the story is better, and, honestly, the second entry didn’t really experiment much from the original. The original Shining Force is simply one of those games you have to play. Really. It’s a shame the Shining Force series never really developed much after the third game, which wasn’t fully released in the West, a terrible terrible shame, because while the formula has been done by other game series, Shining Force I feel did it best. The balance and variety of the characters, the different tactical approaches you can do in the game, a lot of it was pretty damn amazing for 1992. Final Fantasy was lagging by this point in the RPG games, in my opinion tactically, and that’s where Shining Force’s strongest point lies. Shining Force is a game you simply have to play, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

#5 – The Revenge of Shinobi

Released: 1989 (1990 in the UK)

Genre: Action

Rating: ****3/4 stars

Best Moment: Going against Batman and Spiderman on Stage 6. It’s really cool, and a set of totally unexpected cameos in the game.

This entry once again is another example where nostalgia places a game higher in my list rather than a game’s technicality. The third game in the series (at #12 in this list) is a far superior game technically; it improves on the amazing blueprint in this game in nearly every way. But I just can’t place this game any lower, it feels perfectly right at #5 in my list of favourite games. Why? I can’t tell you how many hours, how many times, I have completed this game. It’s embedded as one of my favourite games of my childhood. Besides, it’s so so cool, and I can promise you, not many games were as cool back in 1989. Golden Axe was released in this same calendar year, and it’s my very strong opinion that the action available in this game is far superior to that in GA, no disrespect. So yeah, The Revenge of Shinobi, simply, is one of the best games of all time, and my fifth favourite on the Mega Drive.

#4 – Quackshot starring Donald Duck

Released: 1991 
Genre: Platformer 
Rating: ****3/4 stars 
Best Moment: Getting the red plunger. Seriously. I love firing that weapon and climbing walls. Also the Egypt level is awesome too, and was featured in my list of favourite platformer levels ever, a list you can read here.

I have zero shame placing a Disney game at #4 in my list of favourite Mega Drive games. If you’ve ever played Quackshot, chances are you understand fully its placement this high on this list. Quackshot is just one of the best adventure platformer games ever. This game is just jam-packed full of amazing levels, great cameos by other characters associated with Donald Duck, and it can be a tough game to crack at times too. It’s one of my favourite ever platformers, and in my opinion, the best game Disney have ever released. If you’ve never played this game before, you’re missing out big time.

#3 – Streets of Rage 2

Released: 1992 (1993 in the UK)

Genre: Beat ‘em Up

Rating: ****3/4 stars

Best Moment: Taking out Abadede in the Baseball Stadium. He’s probably the toughest boss in the game and really kicks your ass.

What do I need to say about Streets of Rage 2 that hasn’t already been said before? Seriously, I’m finding it hard to describe anything about this game that you probably don’t already know. It’s just the best beat ‘em up ever made. I don’t think many people would dispute that. SoR1’s formula was absolutely fantastic, but this put all the great things about the original game and set it all to overdrive. SoR3 took many risks and tampered with the difficulty, so therefore opinions on the game are mixed, but SoR2 is by far the most balanced game in the series. And it’s the best beat ‘em up ever as I said, playing on your own or with a friend, it doesn’t matter, this game survives the test of time ridiculously well. I play this game frequently, and it’s 2012. Not many games released 20 years ago or earlier are as replayable now as Streets of Rage 2. What a game.

#2 – Sonic and Knuckles

Released: 1994

Genre: Platformer

Rating: ****3/4 stars

Best Moment: I love gliding with Knuckles. Lots of fun. I also really love Flying Battery Zone. One of the best Sonic levels ever made.

Yes it’s true. Sonic and Knuckles is my favourite Sonic game. If I were to include Sonic 3 and Knuckles together as one whole game however, that game would completely wipe the floor out of this list. But the games were released separately, so I’ve covered them separately. But even separate, Sonic and Knuckles is still my favourite Sonic game, and it’s just so much fun. There’s so much action, the level design is top notch, the game is decent in length, using Knuckles is really cool and the music as always is just awesome. Sonic 3 and Knuckles to be honest would be one of the few games I’d ever give five full stars. But as for Sonic and Knuckles on its own, it’s absolutely brilliant, an incredible experience, and is, on its own, my second favourite Mega Drive game.

We’re almost there. Want to know what my favourite Mega Drive game is? I’ll reveal tomorrow!

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My Top 50 Favourite Sega Mega Drive Games: #20 - #11

We’ve reached an important stage of my listing now. It’s Top 20 time. What are my Top 20 favourite Mega Drive games? Keep following to find out! 

#20 – Gain Ground

Released: 1992 (2007 in the UK)

Genre: Action

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Best Moment: Getting to the end of the level with all characters intact. The game crumbles very quickly if you lose your best characters.

I only discovered this game recently, on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection actually. I’d never heard of it before then. To be fair, it was never released in the UK on the console itself, but has been ported here on compilation games celebrating the Genesis/Mega Drive. It’s a really good game. It’s hard to describe what the game is about. It’s actually a little like a video game version of British Bulldog if you’ve played it, if so you may have an idea where I’m going with this description; you start off with three characters and you have to get to the end of the level. There are two ways to do this; first, you can dodge enemies and walk to the exit, which is usually the hardest way to do it, mainly because you’d have to do this with every single character. The quickest way to beat a level is to just kill all enemies on screen. As I said you start off with three characters but you can recruit more characters by saving them, to do this you have to find them on the screen and take them to an exit, and in the next level onwards they’ll be added to your roster. If anyone dies then they have to be saved, otherwise you permanently lose that character. It’s a really good game Gain Ground, really worth playing and it’s a tough strategy game in the end but very fun to play. I don’t know how many people have actually played it, I doubt many, but it’s really worth your time trust me.

#19 - Street Fighter II: Championship Edition

Released: 1992

Genre: Fighting

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Best Moment: Beating the Bonus stages flawlessly. Always a good feeling.

How many versions of Street Fighter II was there? Well the Mega Drive had a few, with this version probably being the best. I’m not putting more than one version in this list; they’re far too similar too each other! Street Fighter II’s legacy speaks for itself, it’s simply the most influential fighting game ever released. I don’t think individually one single other fighting game can claim it’s made a bigger impact. I’m not saying it’s the best, but no game in the genre has added to the genre on the whole more than this game. Street Fighter II is a game you have to experience, to fully understand its place in video game history. It’s not coincidence that Street Fighter IV took a lot of inspiration from SF2 to take the game series back to the top of the mountain. Is Street Fighter II my favourite fighting game on the Mega Drive? No, you’ll find that out later in this list. But Street Fighter II is more legendary than it is one of my favourite games, that’s for sure, but regardless of its placement in this list, I respect the hell out of this game and Capcom for making it.

#18 – Worms

Released: 1995

Genre: Strategy

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Best Moment: Having to take a very risky and tough shot with a bazooka, and nailing it spot on.

Ah, the Worms series. It’s amazing to think that the original Worms game was released on the Mega Drive but it was. I never played it on the Mega Drive personally but I do know that the Mega Drive version has zero changes to it to the Playstation copy I had. And what a game Worms was, back in 1995. Sure, nowadays the Worms formula has improved drastically, as have the graphics and comedy voices, but let’s not take anything away from the original game. At the time Worms was unlike any other game out there. A strategy game with an incredible sense humour, this game could destroy friendships as the competitive gameplay was so good. Worms on the Mega Drive surely makes it one of the best games ever released on the console, even if it was released when the console was dying out.

#17 – Speedball 2

Released: 1990

Genre: Sports

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Best Moment: Scoring after a succession of great passes, either that or heating the ball up and throwing it at the goalie, with the ball ending in the back of the net. Fun times.

I’ve already reviewed this game on this site as part of my Old School Game Reviews, you can read that here. Speedball 2 was a truly terrific game. Sure, it may not be a real sport, but it’s still a sports game, and I rate it as one of the best sports games ever made. A mixture of rugby, handball and hockey, Speedball wasn’t that popular unfortunately, but it’s definitely playable, even today I play this game. It’s quite difficult but a heck of a lot of fun, frenetic fun that is. I love this game, and can’t recommend you play it enough.

#16 – Super Monaco GP

Released: 1990 (1991 in the UK)
Genre: Racing
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Best Moment: Just sticking to your gameplan, racing hard and fast yet accurate, and finishing in first place, naturally.

Technically I suppose the second game was superior and I may have rated it quite low at #32 but I just prefer the first game in nearly every way. I love World Championship Mode. I love starting in the Minrae (which is based on the Minardi F1 car), changing constructors and ending up in the Madonna car (based on the McLaren). I love racing on my favourite tracks (some being Great Britain, France and Italy). I also love and hate the second season of World Championship Mode, when you’re the defending champion and G. Ceara (based on the great Ayrton Senna) joins the season having taken the first season out and getting your arse whooped by him and struggling to reclaim your title. I just have so many personal memories of this game, all great, and it’ll forever be my favourite F1 game ever. There may be many technically better games, graphics or controls, but I’ll doubt I’ll ever find a game I’ll enjoy more based on Formula 1 racing.

#15 – Shining Force II

Released: 1993 (1994 in the UK)
Genre: RPG
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Best Moment: Just assembling your party and kicking arse in general. It’s just a brilliant RPG.

I feel bad that Shining Force II is so low on this list as it’s truly an epic RPG. There weren’t many RPGs on the Mega Drive (only the Shining Force and Phantasy Star games are really worthy of any mention in honesty) but Shining Force is not only the best RPG series on the console, but one of my favourite RPG series of all time. I truly love Shining Force, the stories are decent enough but it’s the strategy and turned based RPG system that truly sets it apart from other RPGs. It gets the formula totally spot on and I just love playing the games. If you’ve never experienced Shining Force, seriously, get an emulator or get the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection and play the two Shining Force games. You won’t regret it.

#14 – Streets of Rage

Released: 1991
Genre: Beat ‘em Up
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Best Moment: Honestly? The first level. The whole of it. The music is just so fricking awesome, topped off by the just as good boss theme. The level, while naturally the easiest, has excellent flow to it and it’s probably one of my favourite ‘first levels’ of all time.

I’ve already reviewed this game on this site as part of my Old School Game Reviews, you can read that here. The original Streets of Rage was just so good, ridiculously good even, for back in 1991. Sure, there were Beat ‘em Ups before it that made an impact, but I think Streets of Rage truly lifted the genre to new levels never seen before, and in honesty, not seen since. And this game started it all off. And the formula was improved further for the sequel, but this game, the first in the series, was and still is, one of the best Mega Drive games of all time.

#13 – Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine

Released: 1993 (1994 in the UK)

Genre: Puzzle

Rating: ****1/2 stars

Best Moment: Quite simply, getting an absolutely humongous combo and piling a load of clear beans on your opponent’s grid, rendering them almost incapable of making a comeback.

Man, I love this game. I’d possibly rate it as my favourite puzzle game ever, although that’s another list for another day. Is it the most original puzzle game ever made? Of course not. In fact, it’s a version of a video game series popular in Japan called Puyo Puyo, marketed for Western audiences. It has some of the same music, the same style of game in nearly every way, the only difference is the addition of Dr Robotnik and some other characters associated with Sonic. So it’s actually a ripoff. But do I care? No, not at all, I love this game, I’ve spent hours and hours playing this game; I’ve probably put more time into this puzzle game than all other puzzle games combined. It’s just a really fun game, and I’ll never play a better puzzle game ever, in my opinion.



#12 - Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

Released: 1993

Genre: Action

Rating: ****1/2 stars

Best Moment: I just love running at ninjas and taking out my sword and slicing them silly. It’s a simple technique but it’s a hella fun.

You know, I played The Revenge of Shinobi as part of my Mega 6 collection, that I mentioned earlier. I always said to myself, why didn’t they ever make a sequel to that Shinobi game? I never knew this game existed for years later, not to mention that they actually made a sequel for the Mega Drive itself. The second Shinobi game was released on the Sega Game Gear, but this third entry was put back on the Mega Drive as the Game Gear was a flop. Shinobi III was brilliant. It took everything that made the original Revenge of Shinobi a success and added so much more. The action in this game, is just awesome. It blows most games out of the water for the amount of moves and techniques available in an action game. And you really do feel like a badass ninja playing this game. Shinobi III is just simply, one of the best Mega Drive games of all time. You really should experience it if you haven’t before.

#11 – Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Released: 1996
Genre: Fighting
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Best Moment: The moment when you finally kick Shao Kahn’s ass; Mortal Kombat is a very hard game at times and Shao Kahn is a worthy final battle, and when you finally defeat him it’s a huge sigh of relief and joy.

In honesty, I never played the original Mortal Kombat III. Nor did I play Mortal Kombat II until many years later. UMK3 is THE fighting game for the Mega Drive in my opinion. 24 characters in one fighting game... I’m pretty sure that was unprecedented in 1996. Naturally now we have bigger rosters, but for a Mega Drive game, to have so many characters all with different movesets and personalities... it was just epic. I honestly rate UMK3 as one of my favourite fighting games ever, it’s definitely my favourite Mortal Kombat game, and for me, it’s definitely the best fighting game on the Mega Drive. Even more so than Street Fighter 2.

Continue reading the listing!

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My Top 50 Favourite Sega Mega Drive Games: #30 - #21

20 down, 30 to go. I hope you’re enjoying the list so far!

#30 – Golden Axe

Released: 1989 (1990 in the UK) 
Genre: Beat ‘em Up 
Rating: **** 
Best Moment: The magic sequences, as I said for the entry for GA3, they’re just so cool, even by today’s standards.

I’m sure a lot of you would rate Golden Axe higher than the 30th best game on the Mega Drive. I suppose in an unbiased list I would put this game higher. I do really like the Golden Axe series, but I prefer other games, that’s all. One thing that’s not for dispute is how legendary this game is; only the Streets of Rage games can compare in the beat ‘em ups on the Mega Drive. And I don’t think they’ve ever beat the original, all three games are good but I think this one is simply the best.

#29 – Mortal Kombat

Released: 1992
Genre: Fighting
Rating: ****
Best Moment: A bit of an odd one, but just booting the game up! I love the music and intro section, it’s perfectly done and it’s just so cool.

Well, what can I say about Mortal Kombat that hasn’t been said already? It’s just simply one of the best fighting game series of all time. Not bad for a Street Fighter ripoff huh? Mortal Kombat was so influential; it pretty much started horror and gore in video gaming. Not many games really did it, or at least, brought it to commercial gaming until Mortal Kombat did. But even taking the controversy away from the game, it’s still fantastic. The fighting was decent, the music absolutely brilliant, and the fatalities are just well, iconic. Mortal Kombat is a true classic.

 

#28 – Splatterhouse 3

Released: 1993 (Never released in the UK)
Genre: Beat ‘em Up
Rating: ****
Best Moment: Putting on the Terror Mask and using your superpowers, it’s just really cool if not a little gruesome, or it by 1993 standards anyway!  

Yes... I emulated this. How else could I play it? It was never released here in the UK. The Splatterhouse series was one I discovered only a good three years ago I’d say. They’re pretty good; combining horror and beat ‘em up elements made a great game. I’ve heard the Splatterhouse remake was pretty poor, but the three Splatterhouse games were all good, and the third was probably the best. Why? Because of two things; firstly the horror. This is a really horrific game, especially for back in 1993. Some of the things that can happen are pretty grim, and some of these things weren’t really done in such detail back at this time in video game history. And secondly, adding a time limit to every level anted up the panic levels somewhat. You really wanted to get to the end of each level in the time limit as you knew there would be horrible consequences if you failed. Splatterhouse 3 was a really awesome game, it really should be ported to the UK sometime in the future; I’d love to download it on Xbox Live Arcade!

#27 – Sonic the Hedgehog

Released: 1991

Genre: Platform

Rating: ****

Best Moment: Believe it or not, getting a Chaos Emerald! They’re really hard to get in the first game, it’s always an accomplishment to be honest.

There will be mixed reactions to Sonic being only at #27. Some of you may not understand, while others will. If you don’t understand, there’s a very simple reason – Sonic got far better in its sequels. The original Sonic is a classic and it’s brilliant, don’t get me wrong, but if you’ve played any of the sequels on the Mega Drive it’s amazing how much better they are than the original. Sonic 1 is a great game however, hence the 4 star rating, and it did transform the platformer genre dramatically at the time, only to trump itself over and over again with its sequels. That’s my take on it anyway. One thing is for sure, is that Sonic 1 is a game you must play before you die. It’s still more than playable now, I still play it once in a while and it just never gets old.

#26 – Theme Park

Released: 1994 
Genre: Simulation 
Rating: **** 
Best Moment: Building a full park, full of awesome rides and other bits and it being really full of customers... when business is really booming.

Do-do-do, do-do-do do do-do, do-do-do, do-do-do do do-do, do do-do do do... okay it’s not that fun writing that out but that tune really sticks in your head when you play this game... or even think of playing it! If you’ve played this game before I’m willing to bet money that the tune is in your head right now! Theme Park was awesome, it was such a different game at the time being a simulator, and a Theme Park simulator at that! It was just so awesome at the time, building your own Theme Park, and it felt quite realistic and ground breaking for its time. It’s a shame other versions of Theme Park did very little to add to the formula and only really updated the graphics, and the series has been pretty much lost to obscurity since. But it was still a great game, and is still good to put on once in a while!

We’re at the half way point now in the Top 50. Here’s a recap from #50 to #26...

• #50 - Columns III – 1993 - ***1/2
• #49 - World Cup Italia '90 – 1990 - ***1/2
• #48 - Virtua Fighter 2 – 1996 - ***1/2
• #47 - Jurassic Park – 1993 - ***3/4
• #46 - Road Rash III: Tour de Force – 1995 - ***3/4
• #45 - FIFA International Soccer – 1993 - ***3/4
• #44 - Mega Bomberman – 1994 - ***3/4
• #43 - Golden Axe III – 1993 - ***3/4
• #42 - Micro Machines – 1993 - ***3/4
• #41 – Columns – 1990 - ***3/4
• #40 - Zombies Ate My Neighbours – 1993 - ***3/4
• #39 - Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers – 1993 - ***3/4
• #38 – Flicky – 1991 - ***3/4
• #37 - Taz in Escape From Mars – 1994 - ***3/4
• #36 – Aladdin – 1993 - ***3/4
• #35 - Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle – 1989 - ***3/4
• #34 - Sonic 3D Blast – 1996 - ****
• #33 - Streets of Rage 3 – 1994 - ****
• #32 - Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II – 1992 - ****
• #31 – Lemmings – 1992 - ****
• #30 - Golden Axe – 1989 - ****
• #29 - Mortal Kombat – 1992 - ****
• #28 - Splatterhouse 3 – 1993 - ****
• #27 - Sonic the Hedgehog – 1991 - ****
• #26 - Theme Park – 1994 - ****

Up to date? Cool. Well let’s start the second half of my countdown of my personal favourite Mega Drive games!

#25 – Ghostbusters

Released: 1990
Genre: Action
Rating: **** stars
Best Moment: The bosses. They’re a lot of fun and challenging in different ways.

What a game Ghostbusters was. I don’t know anyone else that’s played this personally, the Mega Drive version of Ghostbusters was different to the more popular versions released on the NES and Game Boy, but I really liked this. Really liked it. It was quite a hard game but challenging enough to be more than enjoyable, and the different guns you can buy were a lot of fun. The levels were usually harder than the bosses, which were really entertaining to go against and were animated incredibly well. I’d highly recommend you play this.

#24 – Micro Machines Turbo Tournament 96

Released: 1995 
Genre: Racing 
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Best Moment: Constructing a really well designed track. I remember making a really awesome slippy slidey track that was tough as nails but was a lot of fun to race on.

Calling this game an update on Micro Machines 2 is a little unfair. The tracks are different and the custom track builder makes this a separate game on its own in my eyes. They really did pull all the stops to make this the most complete Micro Machines game ever back in 1995, and boy it was fantastic. Making your own tracks was just such an awesome tool, I loved trying to make tracks on this game. And the character roster was pretty big too. Micro Machines 96 packs a mean punch, and is probably the most complete Micro Machines title ever released... just not the best.

#23 – Blood Shot

Released: 1994
Genre: FPS
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Best Moment: Destroying an armed plasma node at the end of a level, and getting back to the start of the level in the time limit given.  It gets harder and harder as the levels go on.

I don’t know how many of you have played Blood Shot, which was also known as Battle Frenzy. It’s a British FPS game. I don’t think you realise how rare that is. Not only is this a Mega Drive game that’s a first person shooter, but it was made in Britain. Not many FPS games existed at the time, and as Blood Shot goes, it’s a pretty damn good FPS. Some say that Doom was THE first person shooter for the early nineties, and I don’t dispute that. But Doom wasn’t a Mega Drive game. What was the best FPS for the Mega Drive? We got Blood Shot. Not as good, but it’s pretty solid, and well worth a play if you haven’t played it before.

#22 – Super Hang-On

Released: 1988 (1991 in the UK)

Genre: Racing

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Best Moment: When you approach a tough turning with three other motorbikes in front of you, and you take them all on in one go. It’s a difficult and risky manoeuvre.

I never knew Super Hang-On was released in 1988, well even earlier, in 1987 if you include the Arcades. It’s a lot older than I realised, and it makes me respect the game that much more. Sure, there might be far more technical motorbike games out there. Road Rash for instance, combines the blueprint Super Hang-On brought forward, and added violence to the mayhem. But... I don’t think there was a motorbike game in the 16-bit era that replaced Super Hang-On. And this game came out in 1988, three years before the Mega Drive truly boomed as a force to be reckoned with, after Sonic made the console so attractive to video game makers. Even by 1996, when the console pretty much died, no motorbike game that was released since on the console replaced it. That’s eight glorious years of gaming. That’s impressive, and it shows you how good this game was. And is. I still play it once in a while, it’s still playable now. It’s just a great game; it just has to go down as one of the most important and best motorbike games ever made.

#21 – Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Released: 1994

Genre: Platform

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Best Moment: Hydrocity Zone Act 2. I named my Top 10 Platformer Levels of all time on this site (go here to read it) and that was rated at #1. It’s truly the best platformer level of all time; an absolute blitz of pace, beautiful scenery, awesome music and it epitomises what’s so amazing about the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

You may be equally as surprised to see Sonic 3 as low as it is as you may have been of how low Sonic 1 was. Why is Sonic 3 rated out of the Top 20? Well, as much as I love Sonic 3 (and trust me, I love Sonic 3) I prefer other Sonic games on the Mega Drive. Do you know what the main problem with Sonic 3 is? It’s too short. It’s the shortest Sonic game on the Mega Drive; it only has 12 levels. That’s just ridiculous really. And there are some awesome levels on here (Hydrocity as mentioned above being absolutely amazing) but is it really that good a game, when Sonic 2 and Sonic and Knuckles gave you far more bang for your buck? Sonic 3 as a game is truly incredible; it’s one of the best Mega Drive games ever. But it is just too damn short. Sorry.

Continue reading the listing!

#50 - #41 |  #40 - #31 | #30 - #21 | #20 - #11 | #10 - #2 | #1 + More

 
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