{"id":18095,"date":"2018-07-20T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T00:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=18095"},"modified":"2018-07-10T14:34:59","modified_gmt":"2018-07-10T14:34:59","slug":"the-games-of-sega-genesis-classics-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/20\/the-games-of-sega-genesis-classics-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Games of SEGA Genesis Classics Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Recently SEGA released a collection of Genesis titles on current consoles.\u00a0 I love classic game collections so in this blog we\u2019ll go over all the games on here.\u00a0 Back in the 16-bit days I was a SNES guy so I missed out on a lot of Genesis games so many of these titles aren\u2019t as familiar to me.\u00a0 There also a lot of neat features in this collection like trophies and challenges, online play for certain games, and the whole setup is like you\u2019re in a gamer\u2019s bedroom from the 90\u2019s, complete with SEGA posters on the wall!\u00a0 Speaking of which, the game even comes with a poster with Golden Axe on one side and Streets of Rage on the other.\u00a0 Anyway, since there are so many games on this collection, we\u2019re going to split this blog into two parts.\u00a0 So let\u2019s get started with the first set of games!<\/p>\n

Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before Sonic, SEGA had many mascots, and Alex Kidd was one of them.\u00a0 I never really liked this 2-D platformer, though.\u00a0 Controls are very slippery and it\u2019s one of those one hit and you die kinds of games, which I don\u2019t like.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to believe this is what SEGA thought would compete with Mario!<\/p>\n

Alien Soldier<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the draws of this collection is that there are a few games from Treasure on here.\u00a0 Treasure developed a few exclusive Genesis titles back in the day that rivaled the power of the SNES (for the most part).\u00a0 One of these was the run and gun game Alien Soldier.\u00a0 It has a dumb story set in the distant year 2015 (we\u2019re not living up to our ancestors\u2019 hopes and dreams of the future are we?).\u00a0 Also the game is so hard that I couldn\u2019t get past the first boss.\u00a0 I\u2019m not really a big Treasure fan for that reason.\u00a0 Most of their games are either too hard or too short (or both).\u00a0 Only Treasure game I really liked was Astro Boy: Omega Factor.\u00a0 Anyway, another neat thing about this and some other games on this collection is that you can switch between the English and Japanese versions of the game, as many of them have noticeable changes between them.<\/p>\n

Alien Storm<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m surprised more people don\u2019t talk about this game like they do Streets of Rage, as Alien Storm is still a fairly decent beat \u2018em up with a sci-fi setting.\u00a0 It has a bit of gameplay variety, too.\u00a0 Sometimes you enter a first person perspective to shoot aliens and sometimes you run REALLY fast and shoot like a side scrolling shooter.\u00a0 Only problem is you only get 3 continues and then it\u2019s Game Over, so it can get kind of hard.<\/p>\n

Altered Beast<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you know that before Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast was the pack-in game for the SEGA Genesis?\u00a0 This was pretty big in arcades, but I never liked it that much as it was kind of slow and clunky and hard.\u00a0 But I did find it amusing when you\u2019d pick up a white orb and \u201cPower Up\u201d and get more muscles.\u00a0 That just looked ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Beyond Oasis<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a neat little Zelda-like game that I don\u2019t remember playing before.\u00a0 It\u2019s made by Ancient, which is the studio that Yuzo Koshiro works for.\u00a0 He\u2019s one of my favorite video game composers, but his work doesn\u2019t shine as much in this game.\u00a0 It\u2019s a top down action adventure game with an Arabian style setting and kind of reminds me of titles like Secret of Mana.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been enjoying it so far, although it is a bit choppy.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I would\u2019ve at least rented it back in the day.\u00a0 And speaking of Ancient, did you know they also did the Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog?\u00a0 They also made a game on 3DS called Gotta Protectors that\u2019s really fun, too.<\/p>\n

Bio-Hazard Battle<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s just a generic 2-D shooter where you zap bugs and other creatures.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t really impress me much.\u00a0 You know what is a good Genesis shooter?\u00a0 Gaiares.\u00a0 I wish that was on this collection.<\/p>\n

Bonanza Bros.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh man I LOVED this game in the arcades!\u00a0 The Genesis version isn\u2019t quite as good, but it ain\u2019t no slouch either.\u00a0 You play as a robber who must go inside houses and museums to steal loot and sneak past guards.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the few \u2018stealth\u2019 games I like.\u00a0 It also has a basic early computer animated graphics style that I like, too.\u00a0 What\u2019s cool about the Genesis version is that some of the stuff you steal are artifacts from other SEGA games!\u00a0 I loved it when the Bonanza Bros. were characters in Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing!<\/p>\n

Columns & Columns 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

So whatever happened to Columns 2, I wonder?\u00a0 Oh well, no matter, they\u2019re both practically the same game anyway.\u00a0 When Tetris got super popular, every company had to have a similar puzzle game out.\u00a0 And this was SEGA\u2019s.\u00a0 Since it came out so early, it hasn\u2019t aged as well as it\u2019s pretty slow and basic.\u00a0 Columns 3 has a few more modes, but that\u2019s it.\u00a0 Have you ever played Columns Crown on the GBA?\u00a0 That one\u2019s actually not too shabby.<\/p>\n

Comix Zone<\/strong><\/p>\n

This came out way late in the Genesis life cycle and it shows.\u00a0 You are trapped inside a comic book and must fight your way out and the graphics look just like comic book illustrations.\u00a0 One of the few Genesis games to give the SNES a run for its money!\u00a0 They get pretty creative since you\u2019re in a comic book, as you can bash and crash from panel to panel.\u00a0 Only problem with this game is that it\u2019s WAY too hard!<\/p>\n

Crack Down<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an interesting concept.\u00a0 You run around mazes that go from left to right, and place time bombs on X\u2019s while avoiding and shooting other guys.\u00a0 When all the time bombs are set, you must find the exit for the stage.\u00a0 You view the action from a top down perspective but you don\u2019t get a lot of screen room.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s because they dedicate a lot of the screen to the map, and a second player can start on the other side.\u00a0 But I wish they still could\u2019ve made the screen you move around on bigger if you\u2019re only playing one player.\u00a0 Not quite my cup of tea, but still an interesting concept.<\/p>\n

Decap Attack<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a 2-D platformer with a spooky yet cartoony monster theme.\u00a0 You play as a mummy who can throw his head around as a power-up.\u00a0 It actually plays very similar to an older game on the Master System called Psycho Fox.\u00a0 Did you know that this game is totally different in Japan and they reworked it with the monster theme for US audiences?\u00a0 In Japan the game is based on an anime and you play as a witch girl and can throw your hat around.\u00a0 I wish we could\u2019ve gotten that version on here, too.<\/p>\n

Dr. Robotnik\u2019s Mean Bean Machine<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I\u2019m sure most of you know, this is just a reworked version of Puyo Puyo.\u00a0 The SNES got a version of it, too, rebranded as Kirby\u2019s Avalanche, which I\u2019d rather play.\u00a0 You battle Robotnik\u2019s robots, some of which are from the cartoon!\u00a0 I loved how the boss of Chemical Plant in Sonic Mania is just a round of Puyo Puyo as well!<\/p>\n

Dynamite Headdy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another Treasure game.\u00a0 In this one the stages are set like a puppet show, so it\u2019s pretty creative.\u00a0 You play as a puppet who can launch his head at opponents, and get new heads for different powers.\u00a0 I like this a bit better than some other Treasure games, but it\u2019s still hard because there is just so much going on the screen at once, and the controls feel slightly delayed here, too.<\/p>\n

ESWAT: City Under Siege<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can tell this came out when games and movies like Rolling Thunder and Robocop were popular, because this plays like a mix of those.\u00a0 Not really anything notable about it other than that.<\/p>\n

Fatal Labyrinth<\/strong><\/p>\n

This plays like a dungeon crawler in the vein of the Mystery Dungeon series.\u00a0 But with no instruction booklet and hard to figure out controls, it\u2019s not easy to get into here.<\/p>\n

Flicky<\/strong><\/p>\n

I LIKE this game and I don\u2019t care!\u00a0 This is one of SEGA\u2019s earliest arcade titles and I\u2019m kind of surprised they ported it to the Genesis.\u00a0 You play as a bird and must collect baby birds in 2-D maze levels while avoiding cats.\u00a0 If you can reach the exit with a big chain of birds, you get a higher score.\u00a0 Flicky has a place in Sonic history because many of the Sonic games where you rescue birds, they are called \u201cFlickies.\u201d\u00a0 Flicky was even SEGA\u2019s mascot for a short while, too!<\/p>\n

Gain Ground<\/strong><\/p>\n

I always liked this idea of a game, even if it\u2019s not totally my cup of tea.\u00a0 At first it looks like a generic top down shooter like Ikari Warriors, but the levels are only one screen long, and you must make it to the exit (usually on top of the screen).\u00a0 If you get hit by an enemy, you\u2019ll go to the next character in the lineup, but you can save the other character if you walk over them on the map and make it to the exit.\u00a0 And each character has different skills and abilities so you must choose the best one for the screen you\u2019re on.<\/p>\n

Galaxy Force 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone remember this in arcades?\u00a0 It was like a early on-rails Star Fox shooter, except the cabinet would rotate 360 degrees and tilt, too?\u00a0 It was almost like a carnival ride, and was really expensive to play back then, too.\u00a0 Well they made a version of it for the Genesis, and boy is it AWFUL!<\/p>\n

Golden Axe 1, 2, and 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I don\u2019t think the first Golden Axe has aged very well.\u00a0 Both the Genesis and arcade versions are a bit choppy.\u00a0 But people still like it anyway.\u00a0 I think the main draw is the barbarian setting, which hadn\u2019t been done in beat \u2018em ups that much back then.\u00a0 Golden Axe 2 is a bit better as it\u2019s smoother and faster.\u00a0 Golden Axe 3 was never released in the US back in the day, supposedly.\u00a0 A lot of people say it\u2019s the worst, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s THAT bad.\u00a0 Only thing I didn\u2019t like is that when you use magic, all your magic jars disappear in the third game. Can you guess who my favorite character is and why?<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all the games for the first part of my blog.\u00a0 Check back next week when I\u2019ll go over the next half!\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n

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Recently SEGA released a collection of Genesis titles on current consoles.\u00a0 I love classic game collections so in this blog we\u2019ll go over all the games on here.\u00a0 Back in the 16-bit days I was a SNES guy so I missed out on a lot of Genesis games so many of these titles aren\u2019t as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18095"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18097,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18095\/revisions\/18097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}