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Genesis fans might not be able to call out Ed Annunziata’s name on cue, but they probably can’t mention some of their favorite games without mentioning one that has his stamp on it. As the major force behind such franchises as Chakan The Forever Man, Ecco the Dolphin and Kolibri, he was all over Sega’s 16-bit console.
Many Japanese games are accessible to westerners, but accessibility doesn’t always equate to being worthwhile. Crayon Shin Chan is an example of a game left in Japan for good reason, as it doesn’t appeal to non-Japanese audiences and wouldn’t really be worth playing if it did.
When the Mega Drive debuted in Japan in 1988, it began a long run of quirky Japanese games based on franchises most westerners had never dreamed existed. It’s understandable then, that most of these series never left the Land of the Rising Sun. Take the platformer Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijo, or Nonsense Theater in English, for example. Could you imagine anyone on your street playing this instead of Golden Axe or Ghouls ‘n Ghosts? We can’t either. Still, it’s something to check out, at least out of curiosity.