Sega-16's Top 100 Mega Drive/Genesis games (please read post #5 before posting)

[Seingalt]

1st - 10th	post #1
11th - 20th	post #2
21th - 100th	post #3
Participants / #1 picks	post #4
Rules / Method	post #5
Alternative Top 100	post #???

1st - 10th
(expected to get released on March 5th and March 7th, 2021)

[Seingalt]

11th - 20th
(expected to get released on March 3rd, 2021)

[Seingalt]

Rank	Title	Points	Tie-Breaking Notes	2010 poll (Top 50)
21th	Streets of Rage 3 / Bare Knuckle 3	526.0		16th (down 5)
22th	Mega Turrican	501.5		new
23th	MUSHA / Musha Aleste	477.5		15th (down 8)
24th	Ghouls 'n Ghosts	469.0		33th (up 9)
25th	Road Rash II	463.5		new
26th	Earthworm Jim	435.5		25th (down 1)
27th	Ristar	430.5		23th (down 4)
28th	Comix Zone	429.5		41th (up 13)
29th	ToeJam & Earl	400.0		18th (down 11)
30th	Shadow Dancer	399.0		32th (up 2)
31th	Shining Force	392.0		new
32th	Dynamite Headdy	372.5		28th (down 4)
33th	TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist	368.5		31th (down 2)
34th	Streets of Rage	320.5		39th (up 5)
35th	Battle Mania Daiginjou	318.5		42th (up 7)
36th	Light Crusader	316.5		new
37th	Yuuyuu Hakusho Makyou Toitsusen / Yu Yu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters	309.5		new
38th	Vectorman	309.0		24th (down 14)
39th	Crusader of Centy / Soleil	304.5		new
40th	Shining in the Darkness	288.0		new
41th	Golden Axe	286.0		37th (down 4)
42th	Langrisser II	280.5		new
43th	Castle of Illusion	279.0		20th (down 23)
44th	Xeno Crisis	275.5		new
45th	Super Street Figher II	275.0		new
46th	World of Illusion	274.0		new
47th	Gain Ground	257.5		new
48th	Eliminate Down	246.0		new
49th	Wonderboy in Monster World	245.5		36th (down 13)
50th	Marble Madness (Japanese version by Tengen)	244.5		new
51th	Jungle Strike	243.5		new
52th	Dragon's Fury / Devil Crash MD	234.0		new
53th	Starflight	225.0	3 votes; best rank: 7th (once); Rep. Power 71	new
54th	Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament	225.0	3 votes; best rank: 7th (once); Rep. Power 14	new
55th	Ecco the Dolphin	218.5		46th (down 9)
56th	Thunder Force III	217.0		22th (down 34)
57th	Golden Axe II	213.0		38th (down 19)
58th	Mercs	211.0		new
59th	Desert Strike	208.0		new
60th	Adventures of Batman & Robin, The	203.0		45th (down 15)
61th	Mega Man - The Wily Wars / Rockman Mega World	201.0		new
62th	Panorama Cotton	198.5		20th (down 42)
63th	General Chaos	197.0		new
64th	Super Hang-On	177.0		new
65th	Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition	170.0		new
66th	Sunset Riders	168.5		new
67th	Pulseman	167.0		new
68th	Strider	162.0		new
69th	Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure	147.0		new
70th	Granada	139.0		new
71th	Fire Shark	138.0		new
72th	Kid Chameleon	136.5		44th (down 28)
73th	Sub-Terrania	128.0		new
74th	Ranger X	127.0		43th (down 31)
75th	Zombies Ate My Neighbors	124.5		new
76th	NHL Hockey / EA Hockey	122.0		new
77th	Road Rash 3	121.5		new
78th	Gauntlet IV	121.0		new
79th	NHL 96 / Elitserien 96	120.0		new
80th	Atomic Runner	119.0		new
81th	Gleylancer	117.0		new
82th	Greatest Heavyweights	114.0		new
83th	Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament '96	113.5		new
84th	Gaiares	112.5		new
85th	X-Men 2	111.5		new
86th	Mega Bomberman	110.5		29th (down 57)
87th	NHL 94	110.0		new
88th	Shadowrun	107.0		new
89th	Alisia Dragoon	103.0		new
90th	Road Rash	100.0	2 votes; best rank: 5th	new
91th	PGA Tour Golf III	100.0	2 votes; best rank: 6th	new
92th	Super Monaco GP	100.0	2 votes; best rank: 20th	new
93th	Warrior of Rome II	96.0		new
94th	Jewel Master	93.0		new
95th	Rock n' Roll Racing	92.0		new
96th	Herzog Zwei	91.0		26th (down 70)
97th	NBA Jam	90.0	1 vote; Rep. Power 96	new
98th	Sensible Soccer: International Edition	90.0	1 vote; Rep. Power 78	new
99th	Truxton	87.0	1 vote; Rep. Power 84	50th (down 49)
100th	Gynoug	87.0	1 vote; Rep. Power 71	new

[Seingalt]

Thanks to all participants!

Name (alphabetically)	Link	Top Pick
Alianger	post #10	Rocket Knight Adventures
Baloo	post #20	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Barone	post #12	Streets of Rage 2
Benkei789	post #15	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
BubsyFan1	post #97	Thunder Force IV
Cafeman	post #24	Sonic 2
chilled	post #89	Streets of Rage 2
cowboyscowboys	post #68	Streets of Rage 2
English Invader	post #46	Ghostbusters
fantat	post #175	Streets of Rage 2
goldenband	post #81	Gain Ground
Gryson	post #39	Landstalker
joyeux	post #13	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Ken	post #176	Shinobi III
JAFP78	post #177	Streets of Rage 2
JPEC83	post #53	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Loggo	post #108	Shadow Dancer
maringouin11	post #152	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Mega Drive Bowlsey	post #87	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
MushaAleste	post #162	MUSHA
OverDrone	post #146	Thunder Force IV
paulojr_mam	post #98	Sonic 3
Phantar	post #71	Sonic 2
profholt82	post #63	Revenge of Shinobi
RvR	post #23	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sarge	post #11	Phantasy Star IV
Seingalt (not eligible)	post #135	The Story of Thor
sjorspion	post #22	Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sp1nzoK	post #172	Shining Force II
SpaceFlea	post #143	Shining Force II
Spendle	post #54	Sonic 2
Splatterhouse5	post #171	Streets of Rage 2
Team Andromeda	post #19	Revenge of Shinobi
Zebbe	post #17	Phantasy Star IV

[Seingalt]

Ten years ago I polled the Sega-16 community trying to determine the best 50 Mega Drive/Genesis games.
Now in order to give a voice to newer members, capture the changes produced by the passage of time and enlarge the list to 100 games I’ll conduct a similar poll again. I also made some changes to the rules and the scoring system. Additionally the emphasis this time is on best games as opposed to personal favorites.

I’m aware that there is some frustration around this topic because an earlier attempt to make a Top 100 list failed when the initiator failed to post the results but instead left the forum for good.
However having timely completed the Top 50 and a much smaller poll about Master System games earlier this year you can trust me to deliver as promised.

If you want to participate please post a ranked list of what you think that the 20 best Mega Drive/Genesis games are.

Scoring

Rank	Points (base value)
1st	50
2nd	43
3rd	38
4th	36
5th	35
6th	34
7th	33
8th	32
9th	31
10th	30
11th	29
12th	28
13th	27
14th	26
15th	25
16th	24
17th	23
18th	22
19th	21
20th	20

Not all lists are weighed equally; instead a multiplier that depends on the voter‘s Reputation (as of February 28th 2021) will be applied:

Rep Power	Multiplier
0-4	1x
5-9	1.5x
10-19	2x
20-49	2.5x
50 or higher	3x

For clarification and overview I attach this scoring chart:
scoring chart.zip

Examples:
If you have Rep Power <5 each game will receive the points that are listed above.
If you have Rep Power 7 a multiplier of 1.5 will be applied to your list (e.g. 1st place will receive 75 points; 20th place will receive 30 points).
If you have Rep Power 35 the game you rank 6th will receive 85 points.


Most likely there’ll be several instances of 2 or more games with the same total number of points. In order to post a real Top 100 I’ll use the following tie-breaking criteria:
1. higher number of people that voted for the game
2. best rank on any list
3. number of times that the best rank was attained
4. higher Rep Power of the members who voted for the best rank
5. repeat steps 2 – 4 for the 2nd best rank on any list; then for the 3rd best rank and so on.


For comparison I will also provide an alternative Top 100 ranking that weighs all lists equally irrespective of the voter’s Rep Power. However Rep Power will still be used for step 4 of the tie breaking procedure.


Rules
Games from all regions are eligible; also all the after-market games that are not licenced by SEGA but have been physically released are eligible.

Mega/Sega CD and 32x games are not eligible.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles counts as one game.

There is no limit on games from the same series (a restriction would be relevant mostly for sports games where the difference between consecutive installments is small; but since sports games are rather unpopular I decided to keep things as simple as possible).

You can revise your list until February 28th, 2021. To do this edit your original list; don’t post a second list. However a new post that states that you have edited your list and gives the post# of your list is helpful.

For the sake of optics and fairness I’m not allowed to vote.


Results
Results will be posted according to the following timetable:
Rank 21-100: March 1st, 2021
Rank 11-20: March 3rd, 2021
Rank 6-10: March 5th, 2021
Rank 1-5: March 7th, 2021

I’ll be as transparent as possible about the ranking and scoring. For each Top 100 game the accumulated points as well as any applied tie breaking procedures will be listed.

Additionally on March 7th, 2021 I will also post a zipped Excel-file that contains the complete results and all the calculations.


Miscellaneous
If you are not 100% sure about the ranking I urge you to post a preliminary ranking soon and edit it later. This will make sure that you won’t forget to post/miss the deadline and it will also encourage other members to vote too.
The success of this project depends on your participation! The Top 100 list will only be meaningful if a large number of forum members vote!

I reserved the first four posts for an enhanced presentation of the results. Please PM me if you can help out with screen shots or are smart about presentation.

I may edit this post over the following days in order to rectify omissions, clarify some rules, add FAQs and fix my hideous grammar. Significant additions I’ll also post separately.

FAQs

"Additionally the emphasis this time is on best games as opposed to personal favorites."

Can you explain what you mean by that? I would give the same response unless I'm supposed to take average ratings elsewhere into account (and/or sales?), which then wouldn't be a personal list.

By personal favorite I refer to a game to which you have a special attachment (e.g. because of some childhood memories or because you are very good at the game and always beat your friends at it) even so you honestly think that the game is bad.
Obviously it’s never possible to be totally objective in this regard but you should try to rank the games by quality.
However you are not supposed to take ratings by other people or sales into account just your own best judgement regarding the quality of the games.

[Alianger]

"Additionally the emphasis this time is on best games as opposed to personal favorites."

Can you explain what you mean by that? I would give the same response unless I'm supposed to take average ratings elsewhere into account (and/or sales?), which then wouldn't be a personal list.

[Seingalt]

"Additionally the emphasis this time is on best games as opposed to personal favorites."

Can you explain what you mean by that? I would give the same response unless I'm supposed to take average ratings elsewhere into account (and/or sales?), which then wouldn't be a personal list.

By personal favorite I refer to a game to which you have a special attachment (e.g. because of some childhood memories or because you are very good at the game and always beat your friends at it) even so you honestly think that the game is bad.

Obviously it’s never possible to be totally objective in this regard but you should try to rank the games by quality.

However you are not supposed to take ratings by other people or sales into account just your own best judgement regarding the quality of the games.

(I added your question and this answer to the FAQ section of post #5)

[chilled]

Awesome!

How would you prevent, if at all possible, for people to cook their lists in order to rise less popular games on the final list ? I'd be tempted to place Kid Chamaleon on my top 5 just to raise it higher on the final list. I'm tempted, but I won't

[Seingalt]

Can someone please tell me if the scoring chart attachment works?

How would you prevent, if at all possible, for people to cook their lists in order to rise less popular games on the final list ?

Unfortunately I think there’s no way to prevent this entirely, in the end we have to put our trust in the honesty of the forum members.

However I introduced two partial safeguards (in comparison to the 2010 poll):
1. The scoring is not as steep as the last time: The 3rd place receives slightly less than 2 times as many points as the lowest (20th) place (38 vs. 20 points); in 2010 the 3rd place received more than 6 times as many points as the 20th place (31 vs. 5 points).
2. The higher weightings that are accorded to voters with higher Rep Power should also help to mitigate the effect of manipulation attempts (new accounts created solely to influence the poll would have zero rep power and therefore a lower weighting).

[Alianger]

1. Rocket Knight Adventures
2. Panorama Cotton
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
4. Langrisser II
5. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
6. Contra: Hard Corps (Japanese version)
7. Mega Bomberman
8. Ristar
9. Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament '96
10. Landstalker
11. Thunder Force IV
12. Shining Force II
13. Battle Mania Daiginjou
14. Gunstar Heroes
15. M.U.S.H.A./MUSHA Aleste
16. Dynamite Headdy (Japanese version)
17. Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen
18. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
19. Monster World IV
20. Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium

[Sarge]

Well, let's see what a Nintendo guy can come up with here. I certainly looked on many of these titles with envy back in the day.

01. Phantasy Star IV
02. Streets of Rage 2
03. Gunstar Heroes
04. Shining Force II
05. Beyond Oasis
06. Monster World IV
07. Ristar
08. Shinobi III
09. Shining Force
10. TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist
11. Streets of Rage
12. Ranger X
13. Landstalker
14. Castlevania Bloodlines
15. Contra: Hard Corps
16. Crusader of Centy
17. Shadow Dancer
18. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
19. Sonic the Hedgehog
20. Vectorman

[Barone]

Thanks a lot for this thread! This is the kind of discussion we used to had more frequently years ago.

Somehow, I think it's far more difficult to me without the add-ons. But I'll give it a shot.

1st: Streets of Rage 2
2nd: Sonic the Hedgehog
3rd: Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
4th: Gunstar Heroes
5th: Rocket Knight Adventures
6th: Contra: Hard Corps
7th: Ristar
8th: Quackshot
9th: Thunder Force IV
10th: Alien Soldier
11th: Flashback
12th: Mega Turrican
13th: Gauntlet IV
14th: Xeno Crisis
15th: Eliminate Down
16th: Pulseman
17th: Dynamite Headdy
18th: Splatterhouse 2
19th: Marble Madness (Tengen/JPN version)
20th: Undeadline

[joyeux]

My list has many obvious choices, and I'm a sucker for Sonic:

1 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
2 Sonic the Hedgehog 2
3 Sonic the Hedgehog
4 Flashback
5 Streets of Rage 2
6 Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition
7 Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros (Wonderboy in Monster World)
8 Mega Man - The Wily Wars
9 Quackshot
10 Castle of Illusion
11 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist
12 Castlevania Bloodlines
13 Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure
14 Disney's Aladdin
15 Shinobi 3
16 Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP 2
17 Mortal Kombat II
18 Fifa Soccer '95
19 Thunder Force IV
20 Road Rash

[chilled]

I'm honestly curious to see if Xeno Crisis or Paprium (or any other homebrew, but I guess those are the ones with the more chances to) are entering many top 20

[Benkei789]

1 Sonic 3 & Knuckles
2 Streets of Rage 2
3 Streets of Rage 3
4 Sonic 2
5 Kid Chameleon
6 Castlevania Bloodlines
7 Wonder Boy in Monster World
8 Monster World IV
9 Xeno Crisis
10 Zombies Ate My Neighbors
11 Shinobi 3
12 Quackshot
13 Golden Axe 2
14 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Hyperstone Heist
15 Gunstar Heroes
16 Sunset Riders
17 Road Rash 2
18 Alien Soldier
19 Rocket Knight Adventures
20 Contra