Must have *good* Mega Drive games??

I'm about to get myself 8-15 carts.
I've said "good games" in the title.
What I mean by this is summed up by three criteria:
1 they have to be visually impressive (compared to other md games, not compared to nes lol)
2 be fun to play
3 be innovative (monster world 4, comix zone, mickey mania, treasure etc).

Earthworm jim, sonic, Bare Knuckle/SOF and the other obvious choices aren't even half as good looking as most of the games on this list (IMHO) and I'm really not looking for big brand games. We all know them anyway.

Here's my list below, I haven't played all of the games (read: any sonic game that's not for dc) but I've done some basic googling and youtubing (click the title for a video). Phantasy Star 4 and Shining Force 2 are there because I just like jrpgs lol
I'd like you guys to post some of the more impressive and fun games that you come to think of.
It doesn't matter if the games are rare or japanese only, I'm getting bootlegs so they'll be translated and cheap anyway.

Alien Soldier - A treasure from treasure A bit dark for my tastes but the wonders treasure achieved with it makes it hard to resist
Barver Battle Saga - Gorgeous rpg, the only thing is the annoying battle timer
Beyond Oasis / Soleil / Story of Thor - Awesome graphics, fun to play, who cares who cloned what
Comix Zone - A bit hard but super innovative and beautiful
Dynamite Headdy - Treasure at it again, looks like a snes game with all those lovely colours and detailed backgrounds
Duke Nukem - Duke on the md, how cool is that?
Gunstar Heroes - More treasures =), I've finnished all metal slug games and hope this will be as fun as that
Magical Taluluto - Another beautiful game by Game Freak
Mega Bomberman - I love bomberman
Megaman wilywars - Megaman on the md, yay
Mickey Mania - Kind of reminds of Comix Zone with how it makes you feel like you're actually watching a cartoon
Monster World 4 - A link to the past, sidescroll style, very pretty and smooth. Lots of fun.
Phantasy Star 4 - I hate the final stupid dungeon, it's so freaking ruthless it makes me wish there was a bot for this
Pulseman - Great looking action platformer, awesome music and sound
Rent-a-hero - Legendary title, seems like a good thing to have
Shining Force 2 - Looks decent, lot's of people talk about the series as something good so I guess it is
Super Fantasy Zone - Very colourful and fun shooter
Toy Story - How the shit did they make this game? Why hasn't anyone else achieved anything like it on the md?
Twinkle Tale - Pretty, colourful shooter
Yu Yu Hakusho Makyo Toitsusen - Great looking fighter, by the one and only, Treasure. Makes me think Street Fighter Alpha 2 could've been on the md just as well as on the snes..
Virtual Bart - Looks great, and the other simpsons games suck

 

The Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle) series, especially Streets of Rage 2, are really fun. Sonic 1-3 are good too. Mortal Kombat is good too, but if you get MK2, go for the 32X version.

Sonic 3 was supposed to be a much bigger game than the version that was released. It was split into 2 games: Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. You can play the original bigger game by inserting the Sonic 3 cart into the Sonic & Knuckles cart. If you put Sonic 2 into the Sonic & Knuckles cart, you can play Sonic 2 as Knuckles.

Sonic 3D Blast isn't too good. While it can be fun at times, it can also be hard to control, frustrating, and boring. It's often found on "Top 10 Worst Sonic games" lists.

Vectorman 2 is a great game. A lot of people say it's better than Vectorman 1.

Duke Nukem is horrible on Genesis/MD from what I remember seeing in reviews and gameplay footage.

If you get a flash cart, there is a fan-made Wolfenstien 3D port for the Genesis/MD that is quite fun.

One more thing, I highly recommend region-modding your MD. If you want to play PAL games on an NTSC machine or NTSC games on a PAL machine, you will need an RGBS cable (RGB SCART or RGB JP-21) and either a compatible TV or an upscaler. If you don't use RGBS cables and use RF or Composite Video instead, you won't get any color and the image will not display properly. There is a color fix but it isn't really necessary since RGBS cables will give you a MUCH better image than RF, Composite Video, or even the S-Video mod.

 

All the Sonic games were actually quite a lot of fun; Sonic 1 is a bit simplistic, but still has its charms. Sonic 2 and 3 are excellent. Also, while it may not exactly count as Mega Drive (since I know you said carts), Sonic CD is by far the best of the lot. It has a great time travel aspect where what you do in the past affects the future.

I'd also recommend Rocket Knight Adventures and its sequel, Sparkster. Also Zombies Ate My Neighbors (though the SNES version arguably has better graphics).

 

Ranger X looks really good and is awesome

 

Yeah I've heard that story about Sonic 3 / Sonic & Knuckles, they actually use that story as part of the product description on russian sega bootleg sites.
I'll probably be getting a clone with built in region- and 50/60hz switches, so that's not gonna be an issue As for rf, I'll never ever use it again. Ever. I'm gonna check if they have wolfenstein 3D, they could, it's Russia which is almost like China when it comes to piracy. I've played it on an emulator and it is quite impressive indeed.

Rocket Knight Adventures and Sparkster look pretty good, I'll be looking out for them
And zombies ate my neighbours looks like it could be fun, I'll give it a spin on ye old emulator.

You're absolutely right, it does. I'm gonna have to add it to the list. Thanks!
Nice avatar that game was good fun, although short.

 

Chakan: The Forever Man
-It's really tough, but has innovative and unique gameplay with the positional melee combat and potion mixing. I cannot stress enough how tough and 'cheap' the game is, though. It's a must have, for sure, but it's super hard. Doesn't have fantastic graphics, but better than small time stuff.

Subterrania
-Amazing OST, super difficult gameplay but also really impressive graphics. It's a Point A to Point B survival space aircraft game where you try to manage your fuel and pick up survivors while reserving your resources or else you die.
Music:

Mazin Saga Mutant Fighter
-Great soundtrack, great OST, great gameplay, and impressive animations, but incredibly difficult. Innovative in the sense that the standard gameplay is a beat-em-up, and when you face a Boss on the second fight, it goes into a fighting game mode which is pretty cool but very challenging. Only true downside to this game is it's only 1 player, but don't let that stir you away, it's a must play for sure.

 

Thunder Force IV (Lightening Force)
Aero Blasters (Air Buster)
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Contra: Hard Corps

Might as well get 6-Pak while you're at it. It's a good backbone for a growing collection.

 

A few suggestions from me:

Alisia Dragoon (Game Arts/Mecano)
Gleylancer (NCS/Messiah)
El Viento (Wolfteam)
Trouble Shooter/Battle Mania (Vic Tokai)
Battle Mania Daiginjou (Vic Tokai)

Unfortunately some of those carts are expensive as originals...

 

Krusty's Super Fun House is a pretty good puzzle/Lemmings type of game. Challenging, occasionally frustrating, but engrossing.

To be honest as someone who has played more of Virtual Bart and Bart's Nightmare than anyone ever should, the SNES ports are a lot better. Both still aren't exactly great games. Virtual Bart is a bit of a novelty (though the tomato tossing game is fun). Bart's Nightmare is an out there kind of trippy, but some of the mini-games are pretty enjoyable.

 

x

 

Huh, I'll keep that in mind, about vectorman 2.
Magical Flying Turbo Hat Adventure is Decapattack outside of japan. It's based on the Magical Hat anime and it's the same game but with different sprites and music. IMHO it's much better than it's western horror remake.
I've seen the ooze on youtube and it does look really good
As for sor2, shouldn't 3 be better? Or is like with vectorman?

 

SOR2 has a better atmosphere and a much better soundtrack, SOR3 has a few interesting new gameplay elements (running, a couple more enemies on screen) but it had a lot to live up to following 2. The original SOR is also very good. That would be on 6-Pak along with Sonic 1, Columns, Super Hang-On, Golden Axe, and Revenge of Shinobi.

The Beavis and Butthead game Druid II mentioned is pretty great.

Also: Ristar, Golden Axe II, Shinobi III, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, MUSHA, Columns III, Animaniacs, McDonalds Treasureland Adventure (if you are a Treasure diehard), Darius II, and Aladdin.

 

x

 

I'll definitely get Castlevania and Contra, thanks for sharing.
There are lots of different 6-paks out there and I don't know which one you mean :S
I never got into lemmings and I'm not much for puzzle games (unless it's a beautiful puzzle platformer like Braid, Fez, Monuments or Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix).
Most of the time I like games that are like Quake 3: fast, fluid and with lots of action.

Gleylancer looks nice, maybe I'll get that someday. But I'm not that into shootemups. Metal Slug, Ikaruga, Radirgy, Under Defeat and Karous is enough for me haha
Doesn't matter if they're expensive, like I said in OP I'll be getting bootlegs/"repros" ^^

Yeah, I just don't like the generic comic horror stuff anymore. I did back in the 90's like everyone else but nowadays I prefer the generic platformer style lol. The retarded, silly, title "magical flying hat turbo adventure" is a big plus
You've convinced me to get SOR2 an BK3, I'll totally be getting those


I should add that games like BK/SOR, Beavis & Butthead, MK, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Contra, Castlevania, Aladdin (my favourite md game), Super Hang-on, Outrun etc etc etc are not what I had in mind when creating this thread. These are all big brand games that are very well known.
I'm not looking for osbcure games just for their obscurity either.
Pulseman is what really made me start this thread. As soon as the whitenoise sega logo appeared I was blown away. It totally looks and sounds like a SNES game.
And it's super wholesome. Everything has a place and serves a purpose. Every little icon, letter, sprite, sound and every little detail make it a solid product with a certain completeness to it. Like a lot of SNES game do. Like the thing with BK title screens vs SOR titlescreens. In SOR they almost look like placeholders, considering what they could've done with it. And a lot of mega drive games are like that. They fell unpollished and almost like prototypes, one way or the other.
Magical Turbo hat is one of those games. It's got the wholesome / competeness to it that a lot of other games lack.
Now I know most of us here are sega fanboys and so on but it is a fact that snes had more colours and a lot of games do objectively look better on it.
Thanks for all the replies and tips, I'll definitely be checking some of them out

 

Mega Bomberman and Dr.Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine AKA Puyo Puyo are great multi player games.

 

I've actually finnished all bomberman games on snes and md. 16-bit bomberman rules

 

Sonic spinball

 

What. Why?

Thanks for clearing that up

 

If you ask me Alien Soldier is the best 16-bit game full stop. It's often described as a run and gun, but it isn't really. In fact, there's nothing out there really like it. It's basically one big boss rush (it is a Treasure game after all) with some very short levels inbetween. It's all about dashing from one side of the screen to the other, avoiding enemy attacks and shooting back. It's tricky to get into but once it clicks it's incredible. It's a technical marvel too.



Also - Battle Mania Daiginjou, the second best game on the system. Rare as hell, it was only available through mail order and only in Japan, but so worth it. Bursting with charm and character, fun albeit easy gameplay and awesome music.