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

[BubsyFan1]

2) I'm probably in the minority here, but I really, REALLY, dislike ranked lists. No matter how hard you try, they just make no sense. Even from a completely subjective perspective where you just try to rank your "personal favorites", after a point you inevitably realize that you just don't have a clear preference and just enjoy games A, B, C, X, Y, Z about the same. Things, however, are even worse when you try to be "objective" / "unbiased" because it's absolutely 100% impossible to make a ranked list and actually rationalize why you placed game X at #12 and game Y at #15 without using completely arbitrary reasoning. It's like giving game X a score of 9.6 and game Y a score of 9.7, it just doesn't make sense. I think that a system with tiers would have been preferable. It would obviously still be arbitrary, just not as much.

I definitely agree with this. I have been a member of a baseball forum for a particular team for quite some time. There are a few of us there who follow the minor league players very closely, and we always have a thread for the rankings that different publications write. It shows all of the internal rankings, which are usually top 10 lists for the best overall prospects in our entire system, as well as any prospects that make the top 100 prospects in all of baseball. We would comment on these rankings as well as share our own top 10 lists. A couple of years after we started having this consolidated thread, I started using tiers and put each tier in alphabetical order by last name. There are so many factors that go into rankings, such as proximity to the major leagues, how high the player's ceiling is, how low his floor is, what his work ethic/make-up is. I think games can be looked at very similarly to this. A lot of times some games aren't better than other games. They're just different.

However, it does make sense for the purposes of what the end goal is that each game is ranked. Unless... the final list is broken up into tiers as opposed to a specific order.

[Alianger]

@Loggo
That's why I made those tier list pages earlier, don't remember if I posted them here or not:
https://tierlists.com/search?q=mega+drive

Selection is mainly based on user ratings at database sites.

[crazyteknohed]

As I recall (I think from an issue of Retro Gamer), Flashback was originally designed for the Mega Drive and was ported to the Amiga, but the Amiga version came out first because it took so long to get the Mega Drive version approved.

Being the first to be released, the Amiga version has the best intro music. Delphine had to pare back the heavy influences taken from a certain box office hit from Carolco in the subsequent versions, Mega Drive included.

[Gryson]

Being the first to be released, the Amiga version has the best intro music. Delphine had to pare back the heavy influences taken from a certain box office hit from Carolco in the subsequent versions, Mega Drive included.

Just looked this up - yeah... not very subtle there.

[Barone]

Being the first to be released, the Amiga version has the best intro music.

In-game sfx are crap though. I can't stand the wrong ""stereo"" separation of them. The source of the sound is sometimes on your left while that one sfx is played on the right side.

[Seingalt]

I played this week Gamestalker ... err... Landstalker, inspired by the many votes in this thread. I beat Landstalker some 15 years ago and usually I don't revisit RPGs/Adventures after I've them beaten. Big Mistake! I guess all the big classics should be replayed from time to time.

[chilled]

I played this week Gamestalker ... err... Landstalker, inspired by the many votes in this thread. I beat Landstalker some 15 years ago and usually I don't revisit RPGs/Adventures after I've them beaten. Big Mistake! I guess all the big classics should be replayed from time to time.

My personal favourite game on the system

[crazyteknohed]

In-game sfx are crap though. I can't stand the wrong ""stereo"" separation of them. The source of the sound is sometimes on your left while that one sfx is played on the right side.

The hard left/right channels weren't so much of an issue for Amiga gamers back in the day as most TVs then were mono anyway so we never really noticed it. Aside from the hard panning, the SFX are pretty clear as they are with most Amiga games.

[crazyteknohed]

My personal favourite game on the system

I've been playing it lately on my MD Mini and I'm thankful for the save states - some of the platform sections are beyond frustrating. But yes, still a very good game. It's great to play an RPG with the visual style of classic isometric games like Knightlore, Spindizzy and Head Over Heels.

[Seingalt]

My personal favourite game on the system

Have you beaten the game more than once?
If yes, what was your motivation to do so?

My main goal currently is to find every piece of equipment (which I haven't achieved on my first play-through).
I also try to collect as many HP-heart as possible (not sure how many exist in total).
Furthermore I hope to beat the game without dying once and without save scumming.
Are there any additional goals that make sense?

[RvR]

Hey Seingalt I have updated my list, just wanted to let you know as per the instructions in the rules post. Post #23 for reference.

[Seingalt]

Hey Seingalt I have updated my list, just wanted to let you know as per the instructions in the rules post. Post #23 for reference.

Top Fighter 2000 MKVIII?
Never heard of that game before; better than SF2?

[Mega Drive Bowlsey]

My personal favourite game on the system

I must have played through Landstalker five or six times in my life. It's a masterpiece imo. I love the story, the characters, the music, the gameplay...everything about it.

[RvR]

Top Fighter 2000 MKVIII?
Never heard of that game before; better than SF2?

Absolutely, check it out. Its a Chinese pirate fighting game from the year 2000 that takes a lot of elements from the 32 bit era fighting games.

[Seingalt]

As stated in post #5 I'm not allowed to vote, so just for the hell of it here's my take on the Top 20:

20. Psycho Pinball
19. Aladdin
18. Earthworm Jim
17. Pier Solar
16. Adventures of Batman & Robin
15. Thunder Force IV
14. Phantasy Star IV
13. Dune 2
12. Shadow Dancer
11. Shining in the Darkness
10. Probotector
9. Revenge of Shinobi
8. Shining Force
7. Shining Force II
6. Landstalker
5. Flashback
4. Sonic 2
3. Streets of Rage 2
2. Toejam & Earl 2
1. The Story of Thor