Tasha’s Top 20 Best Sega Genesis Games
My personal list of the Greatest Sega Genesis Games of All-Time
By: Tasha
Published: 24 April 2020, 5:02 pm
Hello, and welcome to Tasha’s Top 20 Sega Genesis Games! Now, this is entirely opinion based, so try not to hate on me too hard if you dislike my picks or believe I missed a good one. Just drop me a comment on Twitter or Facebook and let me know what you would have liked to have on the list.
20. Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred kind. Now, this is a little more obscure title, in my experience. Many of my friends have never even heard of this one. However, Bubsy is a classic platformer released for Sega in 1993. Taking control of Bubsy the Bobcat in his mission to take out the evil aliens known as Woolies here to take our balls. Yarn balls, that is. You know how much cats love their yarn, so Bubsy must collect as many yarn balls as he can while stomping out the Woolies. Bubsy also needs to collect the exclamation point t-shirts to gain extra lives. Every level has multiple ways to complete it and hidden areas to discover. Each level ends with a boss fight against alien Woolies all the way up to the big boss. If you are a fan of platformer games, you should definitely give this obscure one a go. Do you have what it takes to defeat the woolies?
19. Altered Beast
Now this one is a personal favorite of my best friend. She was so excited to know I still have this one and play it every now and then. She and I were a little late to the party on this title as it was released when I was 1 and before she was even born. Either way, it’s an appreciable title, no matter when you play(ed) it. In Altered Beast, you are newly risen from the grave by Zeus and forced on a mission to save Athena. Combat in this game is purely pugilistic, and as you defeat enemies, you gain powerups that boost you to your next level of power. Eventually, you will be able to achieve your highest form, which is a werewolf. In this form, you can shoot out projectiles and use a powerful charge move to take out enemies and bosses. As much as I love Altered Beast, I have always found it extremely comical how small dude’s head is compared to the bulkiness of his suped-up body. Anyway, it’s still an excellent side-scrolling beat-em-up with a large variety of enemies and definitely worth a retro revisit.
18. Beyond Oasis (aka The Story of Thor)
Coming back around to one of my favorite genres, we have Beyond Oasis. The gameplay puts me in mind of a top-down Aladdin with Landstalker game mechanics. It’s also a little funny because the main character is Prince Ali, which was Aladdin's fake prince name in the movie. Prince Ali must stop the evil sorcerer from destroying his home. With his magical golden armlet and trusty sword, he cuts his path through baddies to get to the sorcerer. Prince Ali can also acquire other types of weapons in the game, including a bow and bombs. He can also call upon the power of the elementals to help him in his quest. The game has action, adventure, and puzzle-solving. It is an excellent classic RPG throwback.
17. NHL Hockey 94 (aka NHL '94)
This was one of my dad’s favorite games to play. NHL 94 was the first game that EA was able to feature the real teams from the leagues. With the option to choose from 26 real teams, NHL 94 allows you to take control of your favorite hockey teams. The game features a few tweaks to the gameplay and also allows for more violent hockey moves, but does remove the option to have an actual fight. Scoring goals isn’t ridiculously difficult, but still offers enough of a challenge that you need to work for your wins. NHL 94 lets you choose seasonal play and enables you to keep track of player cards and play statistics. If you turn the penalties off, you can really have a good time with this one.
16. X-Men
I was super into the X-Men as a kid. I liked the idea that anyone at all could be “special.” I remember when we got the X-Men game for Genesis, I was so excited. I played with Gambit the most, he was my man. Though you could pick between Cyclops, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine. The premise of the game is that Magneto has sabotaged Professor X’s training simulation to make it a lot more dangerous, and it’s up to the X-Men to stop it. The simulation will pit you not only against random enemies but will make you face off against your X-Men teammates. It plays like an action platformer, and you can use their special mutant powers as well as their fists and weapon of choice. I loved this game so much growing up, and I also liked the sequel.