Top 100 Genesis games of all time

[Melf]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Melf]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Melf]

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]

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

[ary incorparated]

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

[Genesis Knight]

Didn't FORS Yard already do that?

[Melf]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Mel]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Demonic Weasel]

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]

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

They're comparable in deliciousness!

[Zebbe]

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

[Demonic Weasel]

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.]

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]

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]

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.]

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

[Melf]

I think my sarcasm meter just exploded....





you ARE being sarcastic, right?









RIGHT??

[MCHufnagel]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

So is this going to happen now guys or not?

[Drixxel]

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]

^

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Rik Mayall and Nintendo? Care to elaborate?

[Elusive]

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]

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]

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]

Come on guys lets just do it.

[InternalPrimate]

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]

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]

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]

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.

My god, everything's stored in flat files? I feel for you... :|

[McTom]

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.

will the site get a search engine? I think that would be useful, since it contains a lot of content...

[Zebbe]

It should be like it is here:

http://www.smstributes.co.uk/view_page.asp?articleid=68

[VinnyT]

I would love to eventually do some sort of character section like sega8bit.

[Alianger]

So what's keeping this from happening?

[acdc]

when will this start and where can i send my list to

[The Sports Guy]

This is perfect timing. Another website that I write on, sydlexia.com's forums is doing something like that where the head person (Syd Lexia) asks a bunch of people what the top 100 are, and then just averages them out.

I mean, there is going to be difference between everyone's list no matter what, so why don't we make it a democratic thing. I'd be down with that. What I wouldn't be down with is something that the people's voice isn't allowed and it is just posted based on one person's feelings.

Check out these two top 100's (for NES and SNES):

http://www.sydlexia.com/top100nes.htm
http://www.sydlexia.com/top100snes.htm

Something like that would be terrific, except to let more people choose, but having only staff members comment or something.

[Zebbe]

I came up with an idea sometime ago, most people liked it but I never got a reply about it from Melf.

[overwire]

tbh, i just sort the reviews from this site iby review score. (descending order) That gives me a pretty good idea of the top 100 :)

[Baloo]

This is perfect timing. Another website that I write on, sydlexia.com's forums is doing something like that where the head person (Syd Lexia) asks a bunch of people what the top 100 are, and then just averages them out.

I mean, there is going to be difference between everyone's list no matter what, so why don't we make it a democratic thing. I'd be down with that. What I wouldn't be down with is something that the people's voice isn't allowed and it is just posted based on one person's feelings.

Check out these two top 100's (for NES and SNES):

http://www.sydlexia.com/top100nes.htm
http://www.sydlexia.com/top100snes.htm

Something like that would be terrific, except to let more people choose, but having only staff members comment or something.

I like this idea. Each staff member could submit their own top 100 list and then have them average out and then each staff member could comment about each game, like on Sydlexia.

[SodeePawp17]

When would this be happening? I like the idea ^.^

[QuickSciFi]

I'd like to see this happen

[Jesse813]

Me too! :cool:

[SodeePawp17]

If this is going to happen all of the members should be told to make a list of their top 100 games and all send them to someone then someone tallys them up :) thats the way I see it working best I guess :/

[TmEE]

100 games is a bit extreme... even 50 can be lot of trouble.

[ThugsRook]

100 is too many, and self defeating.

if thats the target number then ask PPL for top 20s, and average those out to top 100.

:|

[TaroYamada]

I'd like to see a top 50-100, not sure there are enough good games worth mention to be making a top 100. Atleast, judging by those SNES and NES lists there is some interminable dross.

[acdc]

well i have a lot of free time now
no i m not fired and no my girlfriend ain t leaving me
if everyone will send there top 25 to me in email
i will sort them and send it to melf so he can show the ranks
but there has to be a date when you can no more send in your top 50
lets say 30 november closing day for sendig your 50 game list

i like to do it or is there anybody else who want s to do it

[Hiarcs]

Well, one thing is for sure, in the first 10 you will find Most of Sonic games, along with excellent disney classics. I will try to make a list soon, but as far as 15 places go lol, but i dont doubt in ANY way that there are sufficient top-quality Genesis games to complete a 100 list, thats for sure too.

[shinobimusashi]

i dont think it should be so democratic. i think only the core contributors of the site should get together and iron it out, but definetely a top 100. there are plenty of quality titles, so many that alot of good games would get left out which is why i think the list should be done. the top 100 nes and snes has alot of garbage fillers and could probobly be narrowed down to a top 50 or even 30 without anyone complaining about the eliminated games but the genesis however is going to have games in the 8o's and 90's that would be in alot of peoples top 20 justifying that it is one of the best consoles of all time because it has so many bad ass games its rediculous. also i really wouldnt mind if 32x and sega cd games were included they were both part of what the genesis was. thats why people bash the two systems so much they dont realize that they were just upgrades for the genesis and not stand alone consoles(and they did there job nicely) besides if nba jam te, mk 2 and ecco the dolphin are going to make the list anyways why not put the best possible version available for your genesis in there and while youre at it you might as well go on and add knuckles chaotix, sonic cd, lunar 1&2, and snatcher(what an awesome list!!) furthermore its a fact that no other franchise or game did as much for the genesis or sega itself as sonic the hedgehog did thus he should hold the coveted #1 genesis game of all time and as far as that franchise goes sonic 3 combined with sonic and knuckles is the best game on the genesis but thats a pretty generic #1 (its my #1 on amazons listmania sega genesis 2(1992-1998) 35 greatest games also see my list of sega genesis 1(1989-1991) 35 greatest games ranking the early 4/8 meg launch era pre snes games http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/AS4S8CJO2WJRH/ref=pd_ys_homenav_lm ) but i wouldnt mind a more controversial #1 to stir things up a bit. i think the site should make it a priority to make a top 100 games list because there are a lot of lists out there from sites like gametrailers and the amazon lists and i think sega 16 would do a much better job as you have become the official authority on retro genesis gaming. just in case that link doesnt work check it out at amazon.com listmania lists by joe musashi

[Hiarcs]

Statistics are a nice foundation on choosing the bests ones, since many times one lets get carried away by his personal taste, but soon i will place mine, but wont be too long.:cool:

[jesus.arnold]

Statistics are a nice foundation on choosing the bests ones, since many times one lets get carried away by his personal taste, but soon i will place mine, but wont be too long.:cool:There are good and bad points to using both methods.

Voted for lists will always be popularity contests more than anything else due to the fact that if a game has a short run or is exclusive to one country said game will get fewer votes irrespective of its quality as less people will have played it.

A good example would be Master System lists which, when voted for always come out with Alex Kidd in Miracle World in 1# mainly due to the fact that the game was good, and most people got it free built into the console so it appears on like 95% of everyone's top 10s

[Caveman_Games]

Does this site rate the top games by those played when you were younger....by popularity, or maybe by the number of copies sold?

[Baloo]

Does this site rate the top games by those played when you were younger....by popularity, or maybe by the number of copies sold?

The games are rated by the reviews.

[Ecco]

I haven't read the whole thread, but it would be cool if people could somehow vote on their favorite games from a list. Then the games' votes would result in an arbitrary top 100 or whatever. But you'd need a huge list for people to pick out their favorites. It seems that it would make sense if people didn't have to necessarily vote for 100 games. Most people might only want to vote on their favorite couple dozen games or so.

Whatdya guys think???

[Baloo]

I haven't read the whole thread, but it would be cool if people could somehow vote on their favorite games from a list. Then the games' votes would result in an arbitrary top 100 or whatever. But you'd need a huge list for people to pick out their favorites. It seems that it would make sense if people didn't have to necessarily vote for 100 games. Most people might only want to vote on their favorite couple dozen games or so.

Whatdya guys think???

Or we could just do a write in vote, and see which game gets the most votes for favorite game, then rank them by most votes, second most votes, 3rd most, and down the line from there.

[Ecco]

Or we could just do a write in vote, and see which game gets the most votes for favorite game, then rank them by most votes, second most votes, 3rd most, and down the line from there.

Sure that sounds good.

The way I kind of imagined my idea, was that there could be like a running poll somehow, for the top 100 games (or top 50). There could be a huge list of Genesis games, possibly ALL of them, but then again there are probably many games that are so clearly bad, that they could be left off the list.

Anyways, people could vote whether that game was in their personal top 50 games or 100 games. If it could be an open-ended running poll it would be cool. Then each game would have a description like this: "Phantasy Star IV has received 436 votes for being in the top 50 / 100 Genesis games." Or "Sonic 2 has received 12,218 votes for being in the top 50 / 100 Genesis games."

I don't know if it would be worth making it more complicated than that. If it was an open-ended poll, then it would be interesting to see how the votes would change and grow over time; the articles would keep having fresh information as the masses let their voices be heard.

If it was done this way, at least then you could get a pretty good top 50/100, just based on which games got the most votes to be in the top 50/100. It seems like a pretty accurate gauge really of popular opinion...

Another good question for a running poll would be: "Vote on the very best Sega Genesis game." The ongoing votes for that would be quite interesting!

Anyways these are just ideas that seemed like they might work and be enjoyable...

Maybe it could become a running feature for visitors of the site to browse and participate in, if they'd like to. People could change their votes whenever they wanted.

Whatdya think???

[shinobimusashi]

1. shinobi III: the return of the ninja master
2. sonic 3/sonic and knuckles
3. m.u.s.h.a.
4. alien soldier
5. sonic the hedgehog 2
6. thunderforce IV
7. phantasy star IV
8. castlevania bloodlines
9. shining force II
10. ristar
11. sonic the hedgehog
12. streets of rage 2
13. revenge of shinobi(rev 1.0)
14. contra: hard corp
15. gunstar heroes
16 ecco the dolphin
17. ranger-x
18. shining force
19. comix zone
20. herzog zwei
21. monster world IV
22. thunderforce III
23. strider
24 wonderboy in monsterworld
25. golden axe
26. gleylancer
27. beyond oasis
28. vectorman
29. outrun
30. nba jam
31. streets of rage
32. panorama cotton
33. mickey mouse in castle of illusion
34. yu yu hakusho
35. ecco the dolphin: the tides of time
36. road rash 2
37. alisia dragoon
38. splatterhouse 2
39. toejam and earl
40. the adventures of batman and robin
41. earthworm jim
42. eternal champions
43. street fighter 2: special champions edition
44. vectorman 2
45. bare knuckle 3
46. mickey mouse and donald duck in world of illusion
47. dynamite headdy
48. rocket knight adventures
49. mega turrican
50. super fantasy zone
51. pulseman
52. dune: the battle for arrakis
53. flashback: the quest for identity
54. another world
55. x men 2: the clone wars
56. fatal fury 2
57. landstalker
58. mickey mania: the timeless adventures of mickey mouse
59. quackshot
60. langrisser 2
61. splatterhouse 3
62. crusader of centy
63. earthworm jim 2
64. nhl 96
65. samurai showdown
66. master of monsters
67. soldiers of fortune
68. the lion king
69. college football usa 97
70. golden axe 2
71. phantasy star II
72. alladin
73. shadow dancer: the secret of shinobi
74. devils crash
75. jungle strike
76. elemental master
77. general chaos
78. mega bomberman
79. sagaia
80. robocop vs terminator
81. toejam and earl 2: panic on funkotron
82. john madden football '92
83. battletech
84. skitchin
85. mutant league football
86. mega man: the wiley wars
87. micro machines '96
88. cannon fodder
89. tmnt: the hyperstone heist
90. fire shark
91. ghouls and ghosts
92. mortal kombat II
93. gemfire
94. gaires
95. shining in the darkness
96. kid chameleon
97. columns
98. moonwalker
99. lakers vs celtics and the nba playoffs
100. altered beast

[Alianger]

Maybe it could become a running feature for visitors of the site to browse and participate in, if they'd like to. People could change their votes whenever they wanted.

Whatdya think???

I like these ideas. Maybe we could have something akin to Guardiana, where members can pick a top 10 from their collection and can rate any game on the site. They also let members edit their ratings and picks and it all shows up in your profile.

[findout5]

Wouldn's it be cooler if there was a "Reader Top 10" thingy in the main page, and everyone who's registered got to vote once with their top 10, and someone would compile the votes and make a definitive top 10?

[Hiarcs]

Wouldn's it be cooler if there was a "Reader Top 10" thingy in the main page, and everyone who's registered got to vote once with their top 10, and someone would compile the votes and make a definitive top 10?

Good idea.

[cowboyscowboys]

The games are rated by the reviews.

I think they should be rated by the community avg instead of the reviewer. I mean when you are looking through games and listed by ratings I think it would be better. Some games are rated high by the reviewer and very few people agree or vise-versa.

[SpaceFlea]

Personally, I think the general public is terrible at reviewing games. They are more prone to bias, and their opinions tend to swing at extremes. It's hard to imagine a legitimate list of the top games when you allow too many fanatics a voice in it (the reason some polls generally ignore 1's and 10's). And too many people haven't played enough of the truely great games to offer worthwhile opinions. I think a strong contingent of top reviewers (5-10) whose opinions are well-regarded on the whole should be the sole determiners of the top set of games. A preliminary set should be devised by the greater community, but beyond that, they should have no voice. I would trust a few good and rounded reviewers over everyone any day!

[shinobimusashi]

yeah, i think only a few of the sites best contributors should get together on the list. maybe everyone can vote on who they are in the forums.

there really are too many people who have not played too many games. (games like gleylancer, panorama cotton, and monsterworld IV)

if everyone and there brother got a say the more obscure, lesser known games would be too low in the countdown.

a top 100 genesis games list should introduce alot of people to alot of great games, and put them into perspective as to which ones should be bought/played asap.

i would prefer if games that were either:
A. genesis exclusives
b. better on the genesis than any other system it was released on
c. unavailable on any compilation or the virtual console(such as a few of the games on kens recent list of fury article)
in other words can only be played on an actuall genesis unless emulated.

should be given priority over everything else, except the defining games of the console of course.

[goldenband]

I think it's madness to take any "Top 100 of X" too seriously, or to think that it measures anything objective besides popularity. It might be different if it were restricted to people who have experience programming the Genny, especially if it were a list of top technical achievements. Popularity is useful information when researching a game, of course, but as others have pointed out, the most critically acclaimed games aren't necessarily the most popular ones.

More importantly, neither of those things necessarily translates to how much enjoyment we'll get out of a game, or how often we'll fire it up. Which game is "better": the masterfully executed RPG you play through once, or the so-so arcade port that you play all the time for ten minutes? How about the gorgeous one-player shooter vs. the mediocre puzzle game with a fun two-player mode? I've played a hell of a lot more Sword of Sodan than Sonic the Hedgehog, more Motocross than Blackthorne. That doesn't mean the former games are better, just that I have a weakness for quirky games that get trashed by critics and don't require a long commitment.

(Or maybe I just tend to shy away from anything that's critically acclaimed, hence why I maintain a blog dedicated to movies that could charitably be described as "interesting failures".)

It's more interesting to me to see specific people's lists, and especially, why they like a game. A lot of the time I can read between the lines of a positive or negative review. The Video Game Critic is a good example; once I came to understand his preferences, his reviews are useful to me even when I vehemently disagree with them. Sometimes an F from him is the thing that convinces me to buy a game!

[Olls]

Personally, I think the general public is terrible at reviewing games. They are more prone to bias, and their opinions tend to swing at extremes. It's hard to imagine a legitimate list of the top games when you allow too many fanatics a voice in it (the reason some polls generally ignore 1's and 10's). And too many people haven't played enough of the truely great games to offer worthwhile opinions. I think a strong contingent of top reviewers (5-10) whose opinions are well-regarded on the whole should be the sole determiners of the top set of games. A preliminary set should be devised by the greater community, but beyond that, they should have no voice. I would trust a few good and rounded reviewers over everyone any day!

While I agree that having a couple of reviewers can be more objective, both options are flawed. The sole reason being that every community favours different games. The most objective way is to look at as many review sources as possible and calculate the average grade/opinion on each game.
The problem with that is, you then might just as well copy the list off of gamefaqs, since that is exactly how they're rating their games.
Although I'm not really sure how they worked out the top 10 over there, since lower rated games are placed above higher rated ones.

[Y2Jericho]

We should probably have a vote each user picks 100 games only 1 game per series and some other rules

[Olls]

only 1 game per series
Why?
That will skew the average.

[shinobimusashi]

fuck the 1 game per series rule

sonic the hedgehog
sonic the hedgehog 2
sonic 3 and knuckles

how can any of these games be left off a top genesis games list. just one example, i can think of many more.

a bunch of games from the same few series' crammed into the top 5/10 is no problem to me.

if a game is good, its good. the list's cosmetic appearance should not dictate rankings and/or game omissions

[The Coop]

I have to say this "one game per series" is not a good idea.

As an example, Thunder Force IV is arguably the best shmup on the Genesis. However, Thunder Force III also is held in high regard, but not necessarily in as high a regard. TF III would certainly beat out the likes of Arrow Flash, Master of Weapon, Whip Rush and others, but it might not beat out Steel Empire, Eliminate Down and Gley Lancer... which TF IV (IMHO) would beat. As such, it seems pretty unfair to either lump TF III in with TF IV under some "Thunder Force" banner, or to cut it out altogether because TF IV is considered better.

A good game, is a good game. Sharing a name with other franchise entries isn't something it should be punished for. It makes for a very false list, because not all franchise entries are created equal. As such, I say let each game stand on its own, not as a lump sum with other games.

[Hiarcs]

Sonic 2 always a must.

[Drew1557]

Weed out all the awful games on the Genesis, then set up a poll. The top 100 make it in. Then edit the list if you think some games are worthy of being higher up.

[sheath]

Why only 100 games? Why not all of the "top" games (http://www.gamepilgrimage.com/view/browse/notablegames?field_system_value_op=word&field_system_value=Genesis&title_op=contains&title=&field_year_value_op=%3D&field_year_value[value]=&field_year_value[min]=&field_year_value[max]=) according to gamers?

[hellalt]

this could be done quite easily
someone just needs to create a poll which will include all the games from the sega genesis master list.
then each registered member gets to tick his/her favourite 10 or 20 games.
then score is calculated.

[akator]

I agree that picking a top 50 would be easy. A top 100 is more difficult, not because there aren't 100 great games, but because after 50 it becomes difficult to rank.

If it were me, I would ask for 50 and make a list of 100 out of the the submissions of the 50...

[Obviously]

Holy wow this thread is still around, making me feel old :D.

[shinobimusashi]

yeah, its too bad the sega-16 writers couldnt ever get together and iron out a top 100 games feature, wouldve been epic.

Might as well close this ole thread.

[hellalt]

There is an easy way to do it.
Every member posts his top 10 sega genesis games.
no 1 gets 10 points no 2 gets 9 points no 3 gets 8 points....no 10 gets 1 point.
After 100 members vote the poll is closed and we calculate the results.

[Olls]

There is an easy way to do it.
Every member posts his top 10 sega genesis games.
no 1 gets 10 points no 2 gets 9 points no 3 gets 8 points....no 10 gets 1 point.
After 100 members vote the poll is closed and we calculate the results.

Been done already with top 25's. We didn't get enough votes to get reliable results after 50.

[Obviously]

Yeah, kind of like the SydLexia NES and SNES top 100 lists. The top half of the lists are pretty good but the bottom halves are just random nonsense. Maybe this idea could be salvaged as a top 50 as already mentioned.

[Olls]

Or we could outsource the list. :D

[shinobimusashi]

Yeah, kind of like the SydLexia NES and SNES top 100 lists. The top half of the lists are pretty good but the bottom halves are just random nonsense. Maybe this idea could be salvaged as a top 50 as already mentioned.


Fuck the Nes, and the SNES. Thats what makes the Genesis so much better, Plenty of great games to fill out a top 100 list on the Genesis/MD.