Top 100 Genesis games of all time [Archive]

Melf

01-14-2006, 12:23 AM

I've been tossing this idea around for a while, but I'm wary of making lists. There's always going to be some controversy regarding which games make the cut and the order they're placed in. I know the Genesis definitely has the software for a top 100, but how to go about it? I was initially thinking of something along the lines of the Genre Spotlight articles, in regards to format, but I'm not sure. I'd appreciate feedback on this, and having the Sega-16 community come together to make the list with me would be great. I'd really like to make reader interaction a big part of the site.

Suggestions are welcome!

landstalkerx

01-14-2006, 12:51 AM

Considering there are roughly 600 Genesis games, I think top 50, would be a better idea. It would also be easier to compile. Top 100 invites too much controversy in my opinion.
In order to compile it you'd either have to find some software that will allow us to rank games, or I suppose you could have everyone make their own top 50 or 100 list, then see what shows up most.

j_factor

01-14-2006, 01:31 AM

There are over 700 games in the US, and probably around 100 that weren't released in the US. If you include CD and 32x games, that brings it to around 1,000 games, maybe a little more. Which begs the question, would this include CD and 32x games, or be strictly stock Genesis?

Melf

01-14-2006, 01:38 AM

Strictly Genesis.

landstalkerx: Where might one procure this game-ranking software? Any sites that have it, or is it something you need to download?

Drixxel

01-14-2006, 02:41 AM

That would be a very difficult thing to keep track of through polls alone. I think making it mostly user-determined through popular vote would be the best way to go, but I can't think of any non-ugly ways to go about it, besides a complex set of elimination polls maybe based on genre or year or the like.

Genesis Knight

01-14-2006, 11:37 AM

There are a variety of ways it could be done. The question is, is it really worth it? I think so. :P

Melf

01-14-2006, 12:29 PM

I'd want it to be a serious, objective list and not one with games that just look cool. We'd have to really analyze games in series too. For example, which Shinobi or Sonic really deserves to make the cut.

landstalkerx

01-14-2006, 02:04 PM

Strictly Genesis.

landstalkerx: Where might one procure this game-ranking software? Any sites that have it, or is it something you need to download?

I don't really know. But if you had a list of the top 300 games or so and you had them all in a pole of some sort, in which we could rank them one through 100. Then each rank is given a point value. For example a rank of 100 is given 1 and a rank of 1 is given 100. Then either a program, or a person counting manually adds up the total points for each game and assigns it an overall rank, which is used for our final rank.

Obviously

01-14-2006, 02:35 PM

I think the simplest way to do this would be one step at a time. First we'd need to seperate the games by genre and pick the strongest titles of each, then we'd have to cut or add to get the list to 100, and finally we'd have to have polls to decide the order of the games. In any case it's not going to be easy and I agree that 50 is a more managable number since we're only doing one console.

There's no way to do it without a little bloodshed.

j_factor

01-15-2006, 01:41 AM

How about we just divide the project by like 8 people, collectively make a top 20, and then each writer individually chooses 10 games?

Obviously

01-15-2006, 08:14 AM

You'd have to do it one at a time to make sure people don't pick nearly the same twenty games for their lists.

16bitter

01-20-2006, 01:43 AM

By year and then go from there might be one way.

Melf

01-20-2006, 01:58 AM

That'd make an interesting multi-installment feature. Doing the best by year would be something that would be more interesting than just the standard top 50 or 100 list.

Obviously

01-20-2006, 01:10 PM

It'd be a lot more reasonable to do a best games feature that way, I agree.

ary incorparated

01-20-2006, 03:38 PM

How about making one then,Lets get started. :D

Genesis Knight

01-21-2006, 01:03 PM

Didn't FORS Yard already do that?

Melf

01-21-2006, 01:11 PM

They did a retrospective of the Genesis's life by year and mentioned what was released. They didn't make picks of the best though. But yeah, I do see how it would be really similar. Hmm, quite a problem! Perhaps we should stick with the "top 50 of all time?"

Genesis Knight

01-21-2006, 03:17 PM

Well, if we had to pick between the two I think that best by year is still a good idea. Top 50 (or 100) just has soooooo many problems related to it that it'd be a pain in the neck to try to coordinate.

16bitter

01-21-2006, 06:22 PM

I think that if you go by year, and then have some intermingled list of titles afterwards in more of a straight top 50-100, we'd also get a cohesive idea as to what many around here consider the best year of software for the Genesis.

Of course, you could get some rough idea of that by simply taking a head count in the top 50 free of the by year lists, but going in some form of an order like that would provide a more analytical and specified idea as to what was truly the greatest software and year of software instead of having the latter just be part and parcel through implication.

Hell, a ranking of years after ranking software within a given year could be interesting as well. I think there are many articles that could be done here over the course, and nothing really has to be left out or redundant -- I think it could be suspenseful (geeky?) to have a line of lists that go through all the categories and viewpoints.

Could have software ranked in its given year first, then after all the years are complete a top 50-100, and finally a ranking of the Genesis' best years on the whole. It could be very in-depth if all these were used instead of just one.

ary incorparated

01-21-2006, 10:03 PM

I have one,only have to post it tough. :D

Mel

03-03-2006, 02:13 PM

I would do top 10 for each year, then do a top 50. That should help remove a lot of the filler titles in order to come up witha comprehensive BEST OF list...

Zebbe

03-06-2006, 12:27 PM

How about a top 10 of each genre? It can be very unfair to compare a RPG to a sports game to a puzzle to a platformer...

Mendicant

03-07-2006, 02:44 AM

How about a top 10 of each genre? It can be very unfair to compare a RPG to a sports game to a puzzle to a platformer...
But Street Fighter II Special Champion Edition out platforms, out puzzles, out sports and out RPGs anything else out there. :D

Obviously

03-07-2006, 10:43 AM

*plays Fatal Fury 2* Huh, Street Fighter you say? Nah I'll pass...

Demonic Weasel

03-07-2006, 12:24 PM

But Street Fighter II Special Champion Edition out platforms, out puzzles, out sports and out RPGs anything else out there. :D

With no puzzels, sports, or RPGing in it? Damn what an amazing game. Anyway I agree. You have to be fair to each genre or it's not a comprehensive list at all. Comparing a Sports game to an RPG is like comparing a rabbit to a dog.

Drixxel

03-07-2006, 01:08 PM

Comparing a Sports game to an RPG is like comparing a rabbit to a dog.

They're comparable in deliciousness!

Zebbe

03-07-2006, 01:34 PM

You don't eat rabbits or dogs, maybe hot dogs, but no ordinary dogs!

Demonic Weasel

03-07-2006, 02:50 PM

That's not quite accurate, but you get the point. It's like like comparing a video game to a movie. All they will automatically have in common is flashing lights. Otherwise it's a useless comparison.

David J.

03-07-2006, 08:49 PM

With no puzzels, sports, or RPGing in it? Damn what an amazing game. Anyway I agree. You have to be fair to each genre or it's not a comprehensive list at all. Comparing a Sports game to an RPG is like comparing a rabbit to a dog.

My puppy actually hops like a rabbit. So there is SOME comparison.

Demonic Weasel

03-07-2006, 09:41 PM

You could make cases of minor comparisons for years. The point remains that it is a pretty narrow comparison to make. And that each genre needs to be represented fairly.

Obviously

03-08-2006, 09:11 AM

That's not quite accurate, but you get the point. It's like like comparing a video game to a movie. All they will automatically have in common is flashing lights. Otherwise it's a useless comparison.

But the Wing Commander games are games and movies starting with the third part o f the series ;)

David J.

03-23-2006, 11:11 PM

Melf

03-24-2006, 12:35 AM

I think my sarcasm meter just exploded....

you ARE being sarcastic, right?

RIGHT??

MCHufnagel

05-25-2006, 09:26 AM

Top 10 Genesis games...

1. Slaughter Sport
2. Batman Forever
3. Awesome Possum
4. Action 52
5. Wayne's World
6. Terminator 2 Judgment Day
7. Dark Castle
8. Barney's Hide and Seek
9. Captain America & the Avengers
10. Street Smart

Hey, there's nothing wrong with those games. Well notheing a hammer couldn't take care of!:) But I would put Action 52 at the top. I mean look at all the games it has!

Alianger

05-27-2006, 12:11 PM

I think by genre & by year would be the best way to do it (though the list size would have to vary by year, or be a small number like 10-20 since some genres are uncommon or hard to define), but any way is fine really, just set up some rules so we can get started :)

nineallday00

05-30-2006, 08:59 AM

I believe something like a modified imdb (internet movie database) would be the best solution. I know it would take a while to give each game an individual rating, but you would only rate the games you played this way.

Basically, I envision it like this. A base list of the top 50 are created by a group of so called "experts." At the same time, all games are given ratings by users on a 1-10 or 1-100 scale. Then, 50% of the ratings are factored in from the expert group, 50% by the general users. Making seperate genre subgroups and year subgroups would be too complicated, time consuming, and not worthwhile. Comedies are rated against dramas on imdb, so i think that you could do the same thing here and get adequate representation from nearly all genres that produce good games.

This would be a big draw for me, as I know I came to this site to find the best games that I've never played for genesis.

Chris Marsh

06-06-2006, 07:13 PM

Top 10 Genesis games...

1. Slaughter Sport
2. Batman Forever
3. Awesome Possum
4. Action 52
5. Wayne's World
6. Terminator 2 Judgment Day
7. Dark Castle
8. Barney's Hide and Seek
9. Captain America & the Avengers
10. Street Smart

Keep most of the games on that list. Get rid of T2 (I actually found the tune at the beginning of the game to be good) and replace it with Heavy Nova. Trust me Heavy Nova should be the second worst Genesis game with Dark Castle being first. Awesome Possum is worst than Batman Forever. I was actually able to get used to Batman Forever, but is still a poor game (I would give the game an F instead of an F- like many people would (Including VGC). Dark Castle is so broken that you think that the game is unfinished.

ary incorparated

08-20-2006, 10:33 PM

Luckily you kept the screenshots then i probaly have my eyebals lying on the keys.Man the Horrid why why put them in a compilation and port it too the snes make him misserable yeah yeah heheheheh.

Henry Spencer

09-28-2006, 08:47 PM

So is this going to happen now guys or not?

Drixxel

09-29-2006, 10:51 PM

I'd still like to see it done.
Collectively, I would imagine that the Sega-16 crowd has played every commercially-released Genesis/Mega Drive game out there in one form or another, so there's no reason why we couldn't distill the library down to its finest few. There's a sizeable chunk of the Genesis army that can be ruled out of the top 50 race, and there are an easily-identified 100-200 quality titles that can be viewed as contenders to consider.

One very important thing to define, though - would these games be judged purely on their current gaming merit, or would we let ourselves be influenced by how important/fun they were at the time? For instance, as much as I might have a soft spot for Altered Beast, it does not deserve to be on a top 50 list for true quality alone.

..and using similar reasoning, I don't think that this list should include proportionate genre representation just for fairness's sake. If the game is genuinely good, include it. It should not be there because we feel obliged to add another *insert genre slang*.

Henry Spencer

09-30-2006, 08:40 PM

^

Yes, I do agree, such matters as quality and personal taste need to be discussed over. I have a HUGE soft spot for the James Pond games, whilst obviously they are not what you would call, "good quality" games at all. Plus, Sonic The Hedgehog is not really of a high quality itself, rather, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a higher quality, see what happens there? This really does need to be decided.

sonic417

10-09-2006, 05:44 PM

Top 10 Genesis games...

1. Slaughter Sport
2. Batman Forever
3. Awesome Possum
4. Action 52
5. Wayne's World
6. Terminator 2 Judgment Day
7. Dark Castle
8. Barney's Hide and Seek
9. Captain America & the Avengers
10. Street Smart

Slaughter Sport, my introduction to fighting games. I still enjoy it quite a bit, though I played the shit out of it when I was younger.

My opinion differs greatly from the typical guys that played it for 45 seconds in a ROM and decided to review it. :)

Rastan

11-03-2006, 09:12 PM

I know I am only a "noob" to you folks here, but I have been delving into the Genesis (and dozens of other consoles...) since I was a lad in the mid seventies. That being said....

Sheeesh, this is going to be hard. There are so MANY great games for the Genesis. Granted, there are a HEAP of duds, but cripes, look at all the GOLD. Titles like Sonic, Streets of Rage 2, Shinobi, Columns, Golden Axe, altered Beast, Lightning Force, Phantasy Star, Ranger X, etc...etc....ETC. It says a LOT about a game, and its creator(s) and concept that it is still enjoyed TODAY in a world of 'X-box' and games that consist of raping hookers and faces exploding in "full 3-D" These were q u a l i t y titles....well developed and c r a f t e d....true rarities in what is now a Jerry Bruckheimer "BOOM...BANG....TITS...POW...ALIENS....BOOOOM" society. Just my three cents...
:)

-JD

Vorty

12-02-2006, 12:25 PM

A top ten list would be more efficient and interesting. Although, it'll be pretty tough to narrow down so many great games and THEN rank them in order.

Man, actually, that wouldn't be efficient at all.

Elusive

12-02-2006, 05:01 PM

Lists are kind of a non-article. How can you sum up hundreds of games into one top 10? Why not twelve? Sixteen? Eighty-four?

How about a feature on interesting ideas in games - say, games that used sampled speech? There's that American football game, Altered Beast, Comix Zone, Awesome Possum (sorry, but it's used pretty well if it weren't for the time delay between wisecracks), even Space Harrier II used that 'AAaaaargh' sound. Hell, Sonic 1 was probably the first game ever to sound off its creators and go SEEEEGAAAAA.

How about a feature on 'It Can Do Whaaaat?' featuring the sprite scaling, FMV and rotation in Red Zone, those animations in the -Strike series, parallax abuse in Eliminate Down, the spinning special stages in Sonic 1 and S&K, interlaced 2player mode in Sonic 2, and of course Gunstar Heroes and other games that push the Mega Drive to its limits.

edit: or 'Mega Drive Did It First'. Sonic's role in the 90s furry character cliche, for example, or the whole Mortal Kombat thing. Or the explosion of the whole fanboy culture - Genesis Does, Pirate TV (SEGA) vs. Rik Mayall (Nintendo), and so on.

Vorty

12-03-2006, 12:07 PM

Rik Mayall and Nintendo? Care to elaborate?

Elusive

12-04-2006, 07:25 PM

Rik Mayall and Nintendo? Care to elaborate?

Starwing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJBV9jWUZw8)

Link's Awakening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3kMZ7sEm8)

Street Fighter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF9sMJhUVGc)

Given that he's at his funniest when playing a complete (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEhx3ChdPYw&mode=related&search=) bastard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hA0WjUTR2c&mode=related&search=), it's kind of out of character.

McTom

03-14-2007, 02:59 PM

Nice idea, I currently made such a list for my own sake at http://f_1.tripod.com. Let me know what you think.

Rodger

03-14-2007, 04:47 PM

interesting idea, there are various top 100 lists on the gamefaqs boards, and I think the way those are done are typically done well.

You just have readers write in their top 10 games for the system. Now the ones on the gamefaqs boards (like dc and saturn) get updated over time, so it's not an end all be all sort of thing.

Will there be controversy? Oh of course. I can't imagine making a top anything list and not pissing off someone. You just have to take it for what it is; a collection of games deemed worthy to be on a certain list by people from that time.

So yeah, I think if this idea was still interesting to some, having the forum users post top 10's, and someone compiling them would work well enough. You're number one game gets 10 points, number 2 gets 9 points, number 3 gets 8 etc etc.

thoughts?

megabomberman

05-07-2007, 11:26 AM

Come on guys lets just do it.

InternalPrimate

05-07-2007, 05:50 PM

Looks like this has been sitting for a while, but I'd be all for it.

If a TOP 100 feature is ever written, the games should be voted on by members, and descriptions of each game and its importance should be given.

Melf

05-07-2007, 07:55 PM

I'm still considering this, but I want to wait until after the major site revisions are done next month. Steven and I have been talking about all kinds of new features that will be added when the site moves to a data base, and I want to make voter features like this possible.

GeckoYamori

05-07-2007, 08:55 PM

Starwing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJBV9jWUZw8)

Link's Awakening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3kMZ7sEm8)

Street Fighter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF9sMJhUVGc)

Given that he's at his funniest when playing a complete (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEhx3ChdPYw&mode=related&search=) bastard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hA0WjUTR2c&mode=related&search=), it's kind of out of character.

Oooh, I think I recall watching this sitcom.

"How do you know these things?"
"I'm Death!"
"I said HOW DO YOU KNOW THESE THINGS?"

And I can't get over how brits always call cigarettes fags.

system

05-09-2007, 11:29 AM

McTom

05-11-2007, 09:05 AM