Can Sega-16 Beat the Last of the Genesis, Sega CD, & 32X Libraries in 2021?

[goldenband]

Do you refer to the Genesis/Mega Drive games or all lists taken together?

I primarily had Genesis/Mega Drive and 32X in mind. In fact, why don't I put it that way: I'll commit to beating six unbeaten cartridge games in 2021.

Anything I do on Sega CD is an extra; that's less of a priority to me since we're much further from completion, though I still might get in a game like Stellar-Fire (if I can endure the aggravation of higher difficulties...).

However if I beat one of the 32X CD games, I suppose I'll count that, since it pushes towards the goal of 32X completion. Anyway I hope to exceed six!

[Seingalt]

Because I originally didn't intend to prioritize this thread in 2021 and most of the remaining Genesis games are NTSC exclusives (I have a hard time getting my hands on these cartridges here in Germany), I make an initial commitment of only two unbeaten Genesis/Mega Drive games in 2021.

However I’ll raise my commitment by one Genesis/Mega Drive game for every three additional Genesis/Mega Drive (excluding MD/32X) games that other members commit to over the next few days.

Clarifications:
a) the games that other forum members commit to count towards a pool; e. g. if one member commits to do 4 games; another one to 2 games and 3 people pledge for one game each which brings us to a sum of nine games, I’d raise my commitment by 3 games bringing my total pledge to five games
b) I’d raise my pledge right away (i. e. not only after the other members have fulfilled their commitments)
c) only the number of games for which other members have explicitly committed to counts towards the increase of my pledge; if someone who hasn’t joined the pledge suddenly beats a game it will not raise my commitment
d) this applies only to commitments that I think are made in good faith (e.g. if a new member pledges for 15 games I'll ignore it ).
e) everyone joining the pledge is expected to make good on their commitments in 2021

I hope this encourages some additional participation!

[RvR]

Ill be focusing on the 32X for now. Hopefully get T-Mek by the years end.

[Baloo]

7 years and counting so far right? It is cool to see that this is still going. Though I am not surprised most of the stuff left is sports games.

[Barone]

Though game but gets much easier or not impossible once you use turbo fire.
I played it using a Micomsoft XE-1 AP since it's one of the very few games compatible with it and aiming with the analog stick is a lot quicker and more accurate than using a digital pad.

Luckily the controller also have turbo option for some button so it made my life easier. Seriously, the game really doesn't play right without turbo fire, you'll miss a lot of enemies because the rate of the regular "auto-fire" provided by the game is too intermittent.

I played it using a Mega SD and the closing tracks sounded a bit glitched. Reported it to Terraonion but the issue seem to happen with emulators and real hardware too, maybe a playback bug of the game itself.

Anyway, the ending and high score table are demonstrated in the video.


Classic game and one of the highlights of the Sega CD's library.
I played it using a very good setup this time (Sony KV-29FS140 - which uses the same speakers of the FV series and a JVC UX-G60) and I was impressed by the audio.

The game audio is not super high quality, nor is it free of some distortion but the voices and other sfx are presented in stereo and the explosions use some heavy bass; I also notice that it seems to take into account the distance of some sounds which is really a nice touch.
Had a really fun time with this one.

[goldenband]

Excellent, Barone, and thank you for the video! Somehow it really looks like a "game of the future" in that video, if you know what I mean. Great that you have the right controller for it -- I'm sure the analog makes a big difference.

One weird thing is that the 3DO version of Starblade is really easy, or at least it seemed that way to me, but my recollection is that I got my butt kicked when I tried the same tactics with the Sega CD version.

[Barone]

Excellent, Barone, and thank you for the video! Somehow it really looks like a "game of the future" in that video, if you know what I mean. Great that you have the right controller for it -- I'm sure the analog makes a big difference.

One weird thing is that the 3DO version of Starblade is really easy, or at least it seemed that way to me, but my recollection is that I got my butt kicked when I tried the same tactics with the Sega CD version.

Thanks for your support.

I'm not totally done with the game yet. I'll try the hard mode to see what it has for me.
And I want to record a full playthrough, so you''ll see my tactics. But as I said, turbo fire is key.

Also, the playthrough will be followed by a detailed post on why this version is better than both the 3DO and PS1's at bringing the arcade experience home, despite all the technical limitations. I'll address the difficulty differences as well.

[Barone]

Normal Playthrough:


Hard Playthrough:



And, just like that, we discover that the Hard difficulty has some different segments in its path, aside from some enemies taking a bit more hits to die and projectiles flying a bit faster.
Unless I'm very mistaken, this information is nowhere else in the Internet and most of those different Hard segments/paths/angles are exclusive to the Sega CD version.

I'll write a full rundown of this game and port comparison tomorrow.