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Sega Genesis/MegaDrive Appreciation Thread: Alien Storm > Golden Axe

Shaneus

Member
Sorry I should have stated I am a PAL gamer in the UK.

I've almost got all the games I want or had memories of as a child (missing about 10 now) but I never really had many sports games (or RPGs) so it is a genre I would like to look into. I am not immediately planning on buying anything I just want to see what games I missed growing up.

I don't really mind if the quality of the game is not outstanding, just as long as some aspect of the game (gameplay, visuals or audio) that is of note.

Thanks for the tips, I totally forgot about the FIFA games. I think I will also try and see if I can get a Mega Drive version of NBA Jam and see some videos on Psycho Pinball.
Nah, don't be sorry! It's easy to assume everyone is in NTSC-land on this forum :) Don't you just love how the music in the Sonic games is faster than the NTSC versions and suited the games better? Yeah, I do too ;)

If you're thinking of Codies games, I belive Micro Machines Turbo Tournament (or '96? Or both?) were "J-carts", with two controller ports on the cartridge themselves. You could also play two players per controller (one player uses the d-pad to control, the other uses a WASD-esque layout with the Start button for "up") so effectively 8P games out of the box, no adapter required. Clever stuff.

For "classic" MD games, I'd recommend Skitchin' and Road Rash (1 and 2) as well. Street Racer was the closest thing the MD had to Mario Kart and wasn't really that bad, but not great (so I guess grab it if you see it cheap?).

Oh god, almost forgot. Sub-Terrania is a *must buy*. I'm pretty sure it's my favourite game on the MD. If not, then right up there.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
Just picked up Micro Machines Turbo Tournament '96 and Dynamite Headdy.

I should hopefully get delivered Ghouls 'n Ghosts, ToeJam & Earl, Cannon Fodder, Golden Axe 2, Micro Machines 2 and Micro Machines Military soon too!

I am still looking out for:
Gunstar Heroes
Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force
Golden Axe
Thunder Force III
Shining Force
Rocket Knight Adventures
Maximum Carnage (with the red cartridge and case)
Target Earth (don't think this was released in a PAL teritory so may need to get the NTSC version and a NTSC console)
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles The Hyperstone Heist
Comix Zone

I never really played any sports games on the Mega Drive other than the odd game of World Cup Italia '90, are there any that hold up? I recently bought NBA Jam on SNES but is there any major advantage to having it on the Mega Drive?

Rocket Knight Adventures is an awesome game. One of the very last Genesis carts I owned before my system eventually stopped reading carts (I blame the 32x for this, something about that add-on just made some of my Genesis titles have issues)
 
If I can make a recommendation as well, I'd strongly suggest getting Psycho Pinball by Codies. Although when I played it on an emulator it seemed to be a lot more sluggish than I remembered, I can only attribute that to it being the US version (the PAL version obviously running faster). I should test that theory out now.
Obviously? Why would a PAL game run faster than an NTSC one? It's usually the other way around...
 
That's not to say I've never heard of it happening... Dragon's Lair for the NES is absolutely plodding in pace in the US, but somewhat normal in EU. I have no idea how that happened.
 

Mzo

Member
BVrrueXIYAEiLde.jpg:large

Awesome Sega haul from a trade with my friend Paul. Not pictured: my boner.
 

IrishNinja

Member
geez, i think i caught a proxy-boner...congrats Mzo! some absolute greats (some i never got to play either..heard so-so things about Vay but was still curious), and good looking condition too!
 

Mzo

Member
geez, i think i caught a proxy-boner...congrats Mzo! some absolute greats (some i never got to play either..heard so-so things about Vay but was still curious), and good looking condition too!
I think you live like next door. Feel free to borrow whatever, lol.
 

ElFly

Member
I love Phantasy Star 3.

But it is a bad game. Only love it due to nostalgia reasons.

The greatest part of the game is when you discover your world is a spaceship. It was a cool twist for the time, even though it was super obvious.

And yeah the multiple playthroughs end up being a big waste; only the second generation is really different. The third generation is mostly the same, except for small changes about where you start and whether or not your main character knows magic.

Last time I played it (on the GBA collection) I only did two generations by exploiting a trick and skipping the middle one.

Probably a better game than 2, because PS2 is ruined by the difficulty.
 
Since Mega Man is a popular subject right now, just how good is the Wily Wars?

It's definitely one of the more interesting looking titles on the Genesis/Mega Drive library to me. But I've often heard negative things about Wily Wars being a poor port of the NES classics.

But I absolutely love the concept and never have been and never will be a pro-8-bit Mega Man fan. I love Mega Man 7, 8, and Bass. And wish that Mega Man 10 wasn't an 8-bit game. So the idea of playing the classic games, but with updated graphics, sounds great and very appealing. About the only thing I'd miss is all the Roll romhacks that the NES games get.
 

Mzo

Member
Since Mega Man is a popular subject right now, just how good is the Wily Wars?

It's definitely one of the more interesting looking titles on the Genesis/Mega Drive library to me. But I've often heard negative things about Wily Wars being a poor port of the NES classics.

But I absolutely love the concept and never have been and never will be a pro-8-bit Mega Man fan. I love Mega Man 7, 8, and Bass. And wish that Mega Man 10 wasn't an 8-bit game. So the idea of playing the classic games, but with updated graphics, sounds great and very appealing. About the only thing I'd miss is all the Roll romhacks that the NES games get.


I am a rabid MM fan who played the original games and then a repro cart of the Wily Wars immediately after to compare.

The games felt great. I can't think of a single complaint. I like how they look, I like how they sound, and I like how they play.

The biggest difference is that Cutman takes like a million mega buster shots to die for some reason. Had to alter my original route and start with stupid fat Gutsman.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I've played both the Wily Wars and NES versions of MM1-3 a lot. I don't have a particular preference for either version. I don't recall the new levels at the end being anything to write home about, but the weapon selector was novel.
 

Mzo

Member
Wily Tower wasn't particularly well made, but it is cool how you can pick powers and tools from all three Mega Man games. It's an interesting idea but after playing amazing games like MM 1-3 it definitely feels lacking.
 
Thanks. That definitely solidifies my interest in Wily Wars.

Also, wow, I definitely like the Mega Drive art for this game better. I'll be getting that version.
 

Slermy

Member
But Wily Tower has this awesome song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfJQAbF2x90

I personally really like Willy Wars as well. With the exception of some slowdown on a Wily Tower boss (springboard above some lava) I have no complaints. I treasure my copy (first time I imported a game as a kid).

It's a shame "The Adventure Mode" (which is described in the manual) didn't make the cut.

Mega Man: The Wily Wars Manual said:
Once you have chosen game file you wish to use, select the game you wish to play and press the START button. You may choose either Mega Man, mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, or The Adventure Mode.
 
IIRC the pause between you hitting the button and Mega Man moving (which is present in the NES originals; it's how you can inch a few pixels to the side without running full-tilt) is more pronounced in the Genesis versions. Also, Mega Man's head is enlarged, while his brother Proto Man's is not, which is silly. Music conversion's hit-or-miss; not a really big fan of the instrumentation, but it's okay.

I'd say stick with the NES originals for first-time playthroughs (not like they're not on every Virtual Console ever), and check out Wily Wars if you're a hardcore fan (because as a curiosity it is worth a look).
 

Slermy

Member
Well, Holy Baikal said he didn't like the 8-bit games, so I think Wily Wars is a good replacement for 1-3 in this case.

I had forgotten about the Protoman sprite. That would be my other complaint, it looks really silly.
 
Well, Holy Baikal said he didn't like the 8-bit games
Oh no, I love the heck out of them.

In fact, just in the past week, I played the first Mega Man game with Roll mods over 20 times. It's been a great refresher. Last time I beat the yellow devil without using the select button cheat. Which shouldn't sound that impressive, but for how rusty I am with Mega Man 1, it felt good knowing I didn't need to abuse the select button to beat the yellow devil.

I love the 8-bit games. I would just consider myself a far cry away from an elitist. There are some people who seem to think that 8-bit is the only way to play Mega Man, and I disagree strongly.
 

Slermy

Member
Oh no, I love the heck out of them.

...

I love the 8-bit games. I would just consider myself a far cry away from an elitist. There are some people who seem to think that 8-bit is the only way to play Mega Man, and I disagree strongly.

My apologies. I would agree with you that Mega Man does not need to be 8-bit to be Mega Man. I love this 16/32 - bit sprites from Wily Wars, 7, 8, and Bass.

Could they possibly mean that mode with the new bosses and levels that you unlock when you beat all 3 original games?

Perhaps, but I think it's listed in the section on starting a new game, and Wily Tower is not accessible until you beat the other three. Could have just been an editor's mistake though.
 
Good job there, but I'm not sure if they entirely deal with Sega-16's questions about the truth on the rumor... did they read the Sega-16 article doubting that Jackson actually worked on the game? http://www.sega-16.com/2009/05/sega-legends-michael-jackson-sonic-3/

That insider saying that it really was because of the sound quality and he only did a couple of tracks is pretty interesting, though. It could have gone that way, that would explain things. That would answer some, but not all, of Sega-16's questions, but not all of them... but of course, the video never even mentions or addresses the Sega-16 article or its points (contracts, publicity, etc. are some major unanswered ones). Um, yeah, there's a part of the story missing thanks to that.
 

ErichWK

Member
I dunno, man. That Sega 16 article seems to be doubting for the sake of doubting, and most of it's statements seem more wobbly than GT's. I personally believe more on the GT side. But speaking about the music for Sonic 3....miniboss theme. Ngghhh. SO GOOD.
 

televator

Member
Yeah fantastic music in S3. Now I'm wondering what could have been if the hardware was up to Jackson's liking. I mean it's soooooo good as is and Jackson hated it. lol!
 

NolbertoS

Member
Good thread. I remember playing Altered Beast, Might and Magic and Buster Douglad Boxing when the Genesis first came out. Ah, memories
 
Yeah fantastic music in S3. Now I'm wondering what could have been if the hardware was up to Jackson's liking. I mean it's soooooo good as is and Jackson hated it. lol!

Sonic 3 is credited as having something like 17 different composers working on it and miraculously it's not a clusterfuck. Quite the opposite, in fact!
 

ElFly

Member
Sega 16 makes a lot of good points, but some creative people don't like wasting effort, so it is completely possible that Jackson took some of the rejected Sonic 3 songs and made them into regular songs.
 

baphomet

Member
Its odd that those tracks hes thought to have worked on were removed from the pc version though. What would cause them to do that? They took out some of the best trajs and replaced them with what sounds like public domain garbage.
 

Shaneus

Member
Did they remove those tracks when it appeared in the PC version of that Genesis game pack thing? Or just as a part of that Sonic Collection?
 
Sega 16 makes a lot of good points, but some creative people don't like wasting effort, so it is completely possible that Jackson took some of the rejected Sonic 3 songs and made them into regular songs.
I agree on this point; I don't think that particular point of his was a good one, people reuse things all the time. Some of Melf's other points (Sega-16 owner, and writer of that article), such as the ones I mentioned about contracts, publicity, etc., are better ones than that one.

However, I'm not convinced that Jackson didn't work on any of the tracks in the finished game; but I don't know if we can know for sure, given what info is out there. I mean, either he did do some tracks in the final game and then Sega and some Jackson-affiliated people (Scirocco, for instance) did the rest of the soundtrack, or those people who worked with him and Sega people together combined to make some tracks that sound just like his work, after cutting the real Jackson tracks. The people in question who have been asked have given conflicting accounts of what happened, so who knows which of the two it was... but it's definitely one or the other. I'd guess the former, and that perhaps they didn't have a formal written agreement yet or something, before he left/Sega dropped him? Who knows on that point.

Its odd that those tracks hes thought to have worked on were removed from the pc version though. What would cause them to do that? They took out some of the best trajs and replaced them with what sounds like public domain garbage.
Indeed, that is a good question.

Did they remove those tracks when it appeared in the PC version of that Genesis game pack thing? Or just as a part of that Sonic Collection?

The PC "Sonic 3 & Knuckles Collection" release from 1999 is what that release is. It is a Win9x PC version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and lets you play either game individually, S3&K combined, or Blue Spheres. The graphics are just like the Genesis games, but the music is redone in midi, I believe, and a few tracks -- ones that people think Jackson worked on -- were cut and replaced with new ones, which made people wonder more...

However, Genesis rom-dump ports on more recent systems have included the original music unaltered, yes? That has to be considered too...
 

IrishNinja

Member
ice cap zone & others you can kinda feel like it might be a stretch to speed up bass lines, but nobody can convince me that ending theme isnt right off of Stranger in Moscow. it's like Robo's theme in chrono & never gonna give you up, its just right there in front of you.
 

delume

Member
Just found and hooked up my old Mega Drive. I also managed to grab a couple of new-old games. First up was Streets of Rage 2, which i hadn't played since it came out. It is still awesome and as my first time playing it through a sound system rather than tiny tv speakers, just... sweet Jesus! The sound is amazing! The second game was ESWAT. Remember seeing this game in Sega Power magazine when I was a kid and thinking it looked incredible. The jet pack is a bit fiddly and damn it gets hard but it has me coming back to it regularly. It has really highlighted to me how modern games support the gamer away from/through frustration, while these older games don't give a fuck how you feel. Must admit I am enjoying later more these days. :)
 

Beckx

Member
It has really highlighted to me how modern games support the gamer away from/through frustration, while these older games don't give a fuck how you feel.

A design theory which is, interestingly enough, called Respect the Player. :)


---------------

New acquisitions! Lightening Force and - thanks to you guys talking about it recently - Castlevania Bloodlines. I missed out on both back when they were new.
 
The PC "Sonic 3 & Knuckles Collection" release from 1999 is what that release is.
'97, actually. I distinctly recall getting this while I lived in England, which was from summer of '96 to summer of '99. I had an NTSC Genesis even while living there (we had the proper step-down converter, don't worry, although the plug was fickle as hell and would randomly reset the console if you so much as looked at it funny), and Sonic 3D had just come out for it, so, when my Dad was going on a brief visit back to the States, I asked him to pick it up. He came back with Sonic & Knuckles Collection instead. Still played the shit out of it.
 
'97, actually. I distinctly recall getting this while I lived in England, which was from summer of '96 to summer of '99. I had an NTSC Genesis even while living there (we had the proper step-down converter, don't worry, although the plug was fickle as hell and would randomly reset the console if you so much as looked at it funny), and Sonic 3D had just come out for it, so, when my Dad was going on a brief visit back to the States, I asked him to pick it up. He came back with Sonic & Knuckles Collection instead. Still played the shit out of it.

Hmm, I guess you're right. That later date was a re-release. I don't exactly remember when I got the S&K Collection, myself... somewhere between '98 and '00, anyway. :p
 
My other half's cousin is giving me their old Mega CD as they don't use it.
Only has Sol Fearce (great game) but apart from sonic cd what other games should I hunt for? Looked up Keios flying squadron but like the second one on the Saturn its really expensive!
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
My other half's cousin is giving me their old Mega CD as they don't use it.
Only has Sol Fearce (great game) but apart from sonic cd what other games should I hunt for? Looked up Keios flying squadron but like the second one on the Saturn its really expensive!

Depends on how much you want to spend, honestly. Some of the best Sega CD games are Saturn-level expensive. I think Wirehead, Sewer Shark, and Road Avenger are suppose to be the best FMV games, and they run fairly cheap. Silpheed, Soul Star, Android Assault, and Robo Aleste are all shooters and are reasonably priced. The Ecco games and Eternal Champions are good ports of the Genesis versions with some nice additions.

There's a decent collection of RPGs, some cheaper than others. Vay, couple Lunars, Shining Force, and Popful Mail. Earthworm Jim and Fatal Fury can be relatively expensive, but they're basically the best versions you can get of each.

Working off US pricing, though. Not sure how Mega CD stuff compares.
 
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