Continuing my top 20 countdown from last time...
10. Thunder Force II
There was no Thunderforce 1 on the Genesis, but there was a third and fourth installment. Many consider 3 and/or 4 to be the best in the series, but I prefer Thunderforce II. This is probably because I owned Thunderforce II, I believe it was the second Genesis game I owned after Altered Beast which came with the system. I love the weapon options in Thunderforce II, and I love the mixture of over-head and side-scrolling missions. Every other level is over-head or side-scrolling. This makes it feel like two games in one.
9. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition
Street Fighter II SCE was the first Street Fighter game to come to the Genesis. It was nothing short of monumental. Street Fighter II is easily one of the largest games ever, so I was incredibly excited when it was available for the Genesis. One thing that set the game apart was it's speed. In hyper mode you could increase the speed so fast that it nearly becomes unplayable. It's impressive the Genesis hardware could even play this game at normal speeds let alone really fast like this.
8. Sonic the Hedgehog
This is the game that finally landed Sega on the map. The first Sonic game was breathtaking. The graphics were so crisp and sharp, and it had great music to boot. But what makes any game great is superb game play, and Sonic definitely has this.
7. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
It was hard for me to choose between the original Sonic and Sonic 2, but I'm going to give Sonic 2 the slight edge. Everything that made the original Sonic so great and then some. In my opinion, this is the pinnacle of the Sonic games, after this the head down hill (no pun intended).
6. Phantasy Star II
If you read my post on top 15 SMS games you know I love a good R.P.G. game, and the Genesis had some great titles in this genre. One of the best was Phantasy Star II. The story line sucked you in and made you want to play. I loved the music in this game. The only downside to this game was the plain background found in the battle scenes. And since you spend a lot of time in battles, this gets old quick. It was great having 8 different characters to play as, able to level-up each and improve your party.
5. Phantasy Star IV
After the HUGE disappointment that was Phantasy Star III, Sega bounced back with a game to redeem all - Phantasy Star IV. Phantasy Star IV returned to the tried and true Phantasy Star II model and improved upon it in a big way. Gone are the plain background during battles, replaced with realistic backgrounds. The magic system was greatly improved upon and introduced combo moves. But Phantasy Star IV had 2 strikes against it which prevented it from being recognized as the truly awesome game that it is. First, it came out very late in the Genesis life-cycle. The Sega Saturn was nearly out, so people didn't want to buy Genesis games anymore. The second strike was it's price. Because of the size of this game it cost a lot to produce, so it cost nearly $100. These combine to tarnish this otherwise awesome game!
4. Streets of Rage
A big genre of games in the early 90s was the beat 'em up. I think Double Dragon started this trend. You just beat up a nearly endless supply of "bad guys." Tons of button mashing, but tons of fun. The original Streets of Rage is crude compared to its refined predecessors, but it's a lot of fun. I forget the guy who created the music for this game, but it has one of the best sound tracks of any game on the Genesis.
3. Ghouls'n Ghosts
Ghouls'n Ghosts is an arcade classic from the late 80s. I think every console at the time has a port of this game. I consider the Genesis port to be one of the best. The controls are tight which make this game fun to play. This was one of the first games I owned.
2. Streets of Rage 2
Often times a sequel does not live up to its predecessor, it's like they only released the game to capitalize on the first one. Well in the Street of Rage series this is not the case. Streets of Rage 2 is flat out awesome. The characters are bigger than the first, the action is more intense, there are tons on new moves, etc. If you love arcade-style beat 'em ups then this is the game for you.
1. Super Street Fighter II
It's not so much that Super Street Fighter II was vastly improved upon the previous game. In fact the main addition was 4 new characters, and I didn't even like the new characters. But it offered refined game play, better graphics and sound, and some new moves for the existing characters. I can't tell you how much I played this game in high school. Looking back I'm amazed my parents let me play video games as much as they did. I mean I spent a LOT of time playing this game. Not to boast, but I became very good at it too. There were very few people who could beat me at this game. My favorite characters were Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, and Dhalsim.
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