Let's Rank - Top 50 Obscure Genesis Games

After the release of the excellent Master System third-generation 8-bit home video game console in 1985, SEGA stepped up its game to rival the newly crowned Nintendo, following the massive success of the Nintendo Entertainment System. SEGA dreamed big in this adaptation of the System 16 arcade board, nicknamed Sega Genesis in America, more commonly called "Mega Drive" anywhere else in the world.

Released a year prior to the Super Nintendo, initially made to rival the Nintendo Entertainment System in its end-of-like, the true rivalry started in 1990, with Nintendo's 16-bit console's launch.

Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis are antitheses, their specs entirely opposed; where Nintendo used samples for sound depth, Genesis opted for synthesis FM with its more vibrant sound. The Super Nintendo had better graphics, but far less processing speed than the Genesis. SEGA made Genesis "cool", an "experience", while the Super Nintendo was a family-friendly toy.

Here are the more obscure Genesis games, from the perspective of a biased, yet experienced Mega Drive guru.

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Legend:

Obscurity

Playscore

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Honorable Mention: Predator 2

Predator 2 deserves a mention for being the most ridiculous anti-drug game of all time, the game oozes with 80s "Winners don't do drugs" vibes, being an ultra-violent game opposing drugs to gain moral credibility. While the game technically features predators, the main concern is the swarm of drug-dealing gangsters taking the whole city hostage. For some reason, the predators teamed up with the drug smugglers, taking a shipment of cocaine to their home planet, the entirety of the game is spent in the streets, shooting gang members in a top-down shooter and confiscating needles, the last level transitions to the Predator spaceship guarded by a Berserker Yautja; you inevitably blow it up and save the day. The game is short and has a complete score system which makes it replayable. The game is there because it's a surreal experience, it's not a good game, but it's not terrible either, save for the ridiculous premise.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐

Honorable Mention: Warlock

This one is kind of a personal favorite, is it a good game? Depending on who's playing; it is definitely a niche:

This licensed adaptation of the B movie by the same name surprised me pleasantly with its take on the gloomy "Castlevania" franchise, with a hint of "Out of this World" and "Prince of Persia". The graphics are nothing to write home about, although they do look reminiscent of an Amiga platformer, the game features a large variety of enemies, traps, and dark environments, all well animated and with a consistent graphical style. The game's emphasis is on spellcasting, featuring up to 7 spell types, the "druid" also controls an orb that he can propel through telekinesis to thwart its foes. It is not a remarkable game, but I dare you to find a platformer that could truly make you feel like a powerful spellcasting wizard; on Sega Genesis - it's the only one.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐

50. Skeleton Krew

Skeleton Krew is an isometric top-down shooter developed and published by Core Design, known for the Wolfchild and Hook video games. The player controls one of three robots representing balance, speed, and power, much like Streets of Rage. The game has little story and no introduction sequence rather narrated through a small comic book found inside its manual, much like the earlier "Masters of the Universe" figures. The story makes little sense, it is about three cyborg mercenaries tasked with tracking down an evil mortician, Moribund Kadaver, and his mutants before world domination ensues. The graphics and sounds are great, the soundtrack is an atmospheric Amiga-like ambient techno soundtrack, the isometric view is a nice touch, giving a nice depth to the environment where the player can not only shoot in a 360 radius but also jump around the platform. The game's landscape is gritty, featuring the same body horror elements found in its enemies and bosses. The game has a two-player mode where player 2 can join the fight anytime by pressing the Start button. Our main concerns were the lack of weapons, with the machine gun and its grenade launcher being the only weapons in the game, the game is too short to get repetitive, but isn't really replayable due to its emptiness. Skeleton Krew is still an enjoyable game with a lot of styles.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐

49. Cutie Suzuki no Ringside Angel

What seems like a hentai game is actually a competent wrestling game, made by the developers of Paladin's Quest as well as the more popular Virtual Pro Wrestling game. "Cutie Suzuki no Ringside" features 9 female wrestlers to choose from, every champion is based on real JWP Joshi wrestlers, each with their own portrait, changing expression up to six times depending on your health meter. There are quite a few moves to execute in this classic, including a down kick, a dropkick, a punch, an Irish whip, climbing turnbuckle, as well as a large variety of grapples, pinfall, and submission holds, every character has a special attack and a meter to execute them, the controls can be clunky and the game a little slow. There are five difficulty settings, ranging from New Face to Grand Champion. There are announcers in the right row screen, they often change based on the tournament being played. The graphics and sounds aren't the best, but it is a great wrestling game and the novelty of an all-female wrestling game is too good to ignore.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐

48. El Viento

El Viento to the Mega Drive what Rusty is to the PC98, in this doujin-esque game, by developers of the latter "Tales of" titles, you play as a young girl called Annet Myer, a boomerang-wielding sorceress, on a quest to defeat a demonic cult worshipping an ancient evil. She is accompanied by Earnest Evans, a whip-wielding descendant of a bloodline of the demon hunter, it probably sounds familiar by now, and it should, as the side character has his own spinoff in the Annet trilogy, titled "Earnest Evans", a shameless clone of Castlevania. The game is action-oriented with level design focused on platforming segments rather than aesthetics, the player starts with a boomerang and later obtains up to five spells scattered across the game, none of which are hidden. The game feels, once again, doujin-esque and has a charm that few players might understand. The music is composed by Motoi Sakuraba, known for his work in Tales, Star Ocean, Golden Sun, and Dark Souls.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐

47. Mega Man: The Wily Wars

This compilation combines the first three Mega Man games with upgraded 16-bit graphics and was only released on the Sega Channel in the west. New features include a save system for each game and a new area called the "Wily Tower" in which Mega Man can equip any 8 weapons and gadgets from the first three games. The three stages feature enemies from the three games, as well as a trio of powerful robot masters called the Gemini Unit. The Wily Tower lasts about forty minutes on its own, making it the longest Wily Castle in any Mega Man game. While the remakes aren't 1:1 with their original game, they are enjoyable enough to be beaten, with only a few slowdowns, some of them making titular bosses like the Yellow Devil much easier.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

46. High Sea Havoc

Havoc is a mascot platformer from Data East exclusive to the Genesis, in which a mascot seal must rescue its family from an evil pirate walrus and his cronies. Graphics are a treat there, the game features some of the best animations we have seen for its detailed cartoony characters. The Gameplay plays like Super Mario Bros, collecting 100 "gems" to gain 1-Ups and jumping on enemy pirates, there is a lot of enemy variety with each level having its own special enemies, as well as the Walrus' henchman at the end of each level. The difficulty is quite easy, the target demographic was clearly children of a young age with an art style and gameplay reminiscent of the Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse with a hint of Sonic the Hedgehog. The game features a scoring system, unfortunately without a leaderboard. Those who want a slower platformer will enjoy this one, we found it to be a wholesome experience with fair difficulty.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

45. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Despite being a Sailor Moon game, "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" was never released in the west, it is a proper, slightly flawed but play-worthy adaptation of the arcade Sailor Moon game. While the game is also found on the Super Nintendo, we much preferred the Arc System Works port to the Genesis released a year later, which sacrificed a two-player mode for better graphics and sounds, as the Super Nintendo game was not difficult enough for two-player and did not include a difficulty setting in its option. The Genesis game also features an introduction opening sequence not found in the Super Nintendo version, as well as various gameplay improvements over the Super Nintendo version. The graphics and sounds of this Genesis title are quite impressive, comparable to Final Fight, the playability suffers from its lower enemy count that might disappoint experienced beat-em-up enthusiasts, it is a fun casual experience nonetheless.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

44. Light Crusader

Arguably, this is the worst of Treasure, but frankly, these words mean barely anything. Light Crusader is a short isometric action-adventure/roleplaying hybrid similar to Landstalker. It is essentially a dungeon crawler, with a single massive dungeon to explore featuring many rooms, each with enemies, a puzzle, or a boss, this is typical of Treasure, known for their action-oriented game with a little emphasis on storyboarding. Four elements can be combined to create custom spells, which is the main feature of this game, there is a single town with everything you need, with many ways to come back from each floor of the dungeon. It's not a perfect game, but if I want to play a short RPG without dialogue, chances are I'll pop open my copy of Light Crusader.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

43. Master of Monsters

Master of Monsters is a turn-based strategy game playing like a mix of Civilization and Fire Emblem, it was a game developed by SystemSoft initially for Japanese computers, mainly the MSX and PC98, the game was also released on PC Engine CD. SystemSoft was known for their Daisenryaku hex games which told World War II from a Japanese perspective. Despite poor sales, SystemSoft considered "Master of Monsters" to be a success, earning it a sequel on the Playstation titled Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia, as well as a Japan-only sequel on the Sega Saturn. The game plays much like a board game, players summon monsters, cast spells, and move their units in a Civilization fashion to capture towers to gain resources and thwart the computer. The game can also be played in multiplayer against up to three friends. We found an issue with the computer being a little too dull sometimes, the interface and graphics were also quite forgettable on the overworld, saved by the decent battle animations. The soundtrack was our favorite part, with many catchy compositions by Hayato Matsuo, also known for Shenmue, Final Fantasy XII, and Magic Knight Rayearth.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

42. Dinosaurs for Hire

Based on an American comic book series created by Tom Mason, this side-scrolling action game copies the Contra formula; this time with an anthropomorphic machinegun-wielding, chain-smoking tyrannosaurus rex named Archie as its main character, accompanied by Lorenzo and Reese, his brothers-in-arms. The premise itself makes the game worth a look, the game itself plays mostly like a boss rush, with numerous short levels in-between mission briefings from Cyrano. Graphics, gameplay, and sounds are all above-or-average, with the quality insurance of being developed by Sega Interactive Design.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

41. True Lies

True Lies is a video game inspired by the movie by the same name, you play as Arnold Schwar-*ahem* Harry Tasker, secretly a spy but thought by his family to be a dull salesman, raiding an Islamic jihadist organization to track down their nuclear armaments. The game was obviously based on "The Chaos Engine", an Amiga game using conspicuously similar art style and gameplay elements. Harry can equip an Uzi machine gun, a shotgun, and a flamethrower, as well as grenades and mines, resource management can be tricky, so conserve your ammunition - as the pistol really sucks. The AI is quite dumb, firing rocket launchers at their teammates and running into walls. A total of nine diverse stages each take place in different locations, racking an impressive three hours of playtime, more than three times as much as the average Genesis game.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

40. Dick Tracy

This comic strip police detective is done messing around, now ruthlessly killing over four hundred mafiosos with his handy Tommy Gun on his quest to find "Big Boy". The game plays like a side-scrolling action game, much like "Sunset Riders", various gun-wielding mafioso appear all over the screen to make short work of Dick Tracy, only to be riddled by his trusty Tommy Gun, the game features a double perspective, with enemies in the background being a nuisance as well, which added the needed depth to this otherwise standard side-scrolling arcade action game.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

39. Growl

This Taito beat-'em-up is all about nature and Indiana Jones bandwagoning, a forest ranger goes NARC on evil poachers after they are found to be driving the animals to extinction, typical from arcade to Mega Drive ports, the multiplayer was removed, only allowing one player at a given time. The game features 6 enemy types and 8 diverse locations. We found the lack of grab attack disappointing, but a lot of other special moves are available such as a kick and a punch, as well as special attacks and many weapons such as the AK-47, the whip, and the sword. There is but one boss battle at the end of the game, however, the game throws quite a lot of enemies at you, with up to ten enemies on-screen at a time. The graphics are passable, reminiscent of the first Street of Rage in its sprite resolution and background. The player can rescue caged animals such as the elephant and eagle, who will help fight off the poacher once rescued. I may not be the best beat 'em up, but it definitely makes for an enjoyable playthrough.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

38. Outlander

Outlanders plays like arcade game Chase HQ and Road Rash, originally being intended as a licensed Mad Max video game. This graphically impressive Genesis game has you driving around a highway drive-by shooting bikers in chaotic post-apocalyptic car chases. The game transitions to a side-scrolling beat 'em up whenever you feel like refueling or collecting other resources such as ammo, food, water as well as anti-air missiles used to take down troublesome helicopters. Framerate can suffer at times when driving but did not pose an issue in our playthroughs.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐

37. Rolling Thunder 3

Rolling Thunder is a run-and-gun arcade game produced by Namco, while there are three games in the series, two being on the system, we chose the third one because of its exclusivity to the console. Rolling Thunder 3 is essentially a spy take on Shinobi, the player has unlimited melee attack and two limited long-range weapons, a handgun, and a powerful special weapon either chosen at the beginning of a stage or picked up. The player can walk, crouch, and alternate between linear levels with multiple floors and covers, many doors can be interacted with containing special weapons or ammo refill. If you are craving some original Shinobi on the Genesis, this game is for you.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐ ⭐

36. Demolition Man

Demolition Man is a run-and-gun based on the Sylvester Stallone movie of the same name, the game alternates between top-down and side-scrolling levels, in which the player is constantly swarmed with enemies and chasing Simon Phoenix across ten stages, in many bosses encounters, before defeating him for good in the final level. Four weapons will help our players, the standard handgun, an improved magnum, the shotgun, and hand-grenades. The top-down segments are definitely the high point of the game, up to fifteen enemies can appear on screen at times, platformers are a little fewer enemies and a lot more parkour. All of the platforming level design is impressive, with many ropes, descenders, pit traps, hazards, and ladders enhancing the overall speed and action on screen. Each environment is dark and gritty, bringing to fruition a violent and brutal atmosphere once joined with the chaos happening on screen.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

35. Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits

This compilation is often overlooked for being an early 80s and late 70s arcade collection, Williams was however at the top of their game early in the arcade craze. The compilation is mostly arcade-perfect, includes both Defender, Joust, Robotron 2084, and the main course - Sinistar. There is little to say about this compilation other than the vast amount of time we've spent on them, their accuracy, and how well thought some of the controls were, using a six-button controller, you can control the character in Robotron 2084 like the arcade twin-stick, by using ABXY as a second directional pad, it's small details like these that make or break arcade compilations.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

34. Cyborg Justice

It's made by the people who made Ecco the Dolphin, so that's not a big surprise. Cyborg Justice is a beat 'em up game featuring giant power-walking robots. Gameplay-wise, the game has a ton of available moves, multiple difficulty levels, and a two-player mode. The game's main feature is the ability to destroy enemy cyborgs, swap the part of their cybernetic bodies to use for yourself. Graphics are only ever decent, the UI looks incomplete or prototypal and the backgrounds are forgettable, but the game makes it all up with some of the smoothest animations we've seen on the system. Cyborg Justice had mixed reviews at release, magazines ranked it anywhere from 30 to 89. As for us, Cyborg Justice feels what could have been the greatest beat 'em up on the system, and is definitely worth a playthrough despite its apparent lack of polish.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

33. Mega Turrican

Turrican is a side-scrolling shooter game, developed by German developers for computers such as the Amiga, and was quite popular among European computer players back in the 90s. Mega Turrican is the Genesis exclusive that eventually became Turrican 3 on Amiga, The player must defeat an evil known as The Machine, an AI gone rogue, playing as Bren McGuire, equipped with an exoskeleton power armor. This time, the Turrican assault suit is equipped with a morph ball, an upgradeable machine gun, and a grappling hook. Developers did a mind-blowing job at using the Yamaha YM2612 to create a soundtrack that really gets your blood pumping. The game's European heritage is immediately palpable with its maze-like level design, gem bonuses, score system - if not for the awful faux-anime opening sequence.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

32. Alien 3

Alien 3 is a run and gun game that plays like Alien Syndrome, the game was released on multiple consoles - fair - it is not an "underrated Genesis" game, but rather an underrated game initially released on Amiga and Sega Genesis, later ported to other systems, the Genesis version is the best version of this Probe Software original, usually known for their port of Mortal Kombat and many other arcade games such as Super Smash TV on the Mega Drive. The game has a European feel to it, mainly for its emphasis on collecting items and non-linear level design, you are on a timer to rescue each "prisoner" and find the escape route, equipped with a machine gun and a radar to detect surrounding aliens, many other weapons can be found throughout each level, such as grenades, a rocket launcher or a fire thrower. The game features no bosses, rather a collection of challenging levels up to the very end, ending with a credit sequence thanking you for playing the game - so very European.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

31. Panorama Cotton

Panorama Cotton is a Japanese-only Mega Drive exclusive by Sunsoft and Success from a long-lasting line of shoot 'em up. This one, however, plays like a rail shooter in the style of SEGA's Space Harrier. The game is the third in the series taking the perspective from 2D to 3D and is one of the smoothest games we've played using the SEGA Genesis' Super Scaler. By collecting magic scrolls, the player can use over five spells to take down the many cutesy enemies of the game in an almost psychedelic Alice in Wonderlands environment. It's a very pretty game, a trip, even with some of the best cutscenes we've seen on the Genesis. We've however had problems with depth perception and the many things on screen causing slowdowns and obscuring our vision. Despite its impressive visuals and technical feats, it was reported Sunsoft had only produced 4,000 copies of the game for its Japanese audience, this resulted in the game being one of the most expensive SEGA Genesis games, setting you back over $800 for a legal copy, luckily the game was dumped and can be found on emulation.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

30. Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter

Mazin Saga is essentially a beat 'em up with its own spin - the game turns the table into a fully-featured fighting game during boss battles. The game is inspired by the popular mecha series "Mazinger". While Mazin Saga doesn't excel in any of its gameplay genres, the variety found in its short playthrough made the game diverse enough to be memorable without relying on cumbersome bonus stages; part of the game has mechanics such as being chased by a giant T-Rex while dodging enemies, while other parts of the game have you fighting the many tokusatsu-inspired "Bio-Beasts", each level ends in a one-on-one battle with your one of your five mecha rivals, before facing the "Evil Mazinger" himself.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

29. Garfield: Caught in the Act

Don't let the "Garfield" brand dissuade you - lest you're just a pleb. "Garfield: Caught in the Act" could be easily discarded as another awful game abusing the popularity of its licensee. Garfield gets stuck in his television set, must find his way out navigating through channels titled after famous 50s movies, such as Casablanca or Dracula; and is in itself loosely inspired by the 1989 "The Lasagna Zone" of the "Garfield and Friends" TV series. While the soundtrack and graphics did little toward pushing the Genesis' hardware capabilities, they are consistent and fully realized in a style reminiscent of the TV show, or even the newspaper comic. Sega Channels subscribers could download three additional levels - "Bonehead the Barbarian", "Slobbin Hood" and the train segment of "Catsablanca", all of which are now decisively lost with the closure of the Sega Channel and the lack of a ROM dump. Fun fact: one of my closest friends holds a world record speedrunning this game, small world!

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

28. Dynamite Duke

Dynamite Duke plays like Cabal had a child with Punch-Out! Dynamite Duke is an Arnold Schwarzenegger with a cybernetic arm and a machine gun, fighting against a race of mutants created by a mad scientist. Dynamite Duke ducks and covers to avoid enemy bullets while spraying through a horde of infantry and tanks in a shooting gallery, the game turns into a boxing match when facing the boss of each six stages. The game was initially an arcade game ported exclusively to SEGA consoles such as the Master System and SEGA Genesis. Despite the lack of a two-player mode, this port of Dynamite Duke is quite an arcade accurate experience, missing only 3 levels from the original.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

27. ESWAT: City Under Siege

As you could tell from the subtlety of its name, ESWAT is a take on the RoboCop popularity, being an early Genesis title being released in 1989 by SEGA. The game starts similarly to a futuristic Shinobi, with the player controlling a cop called Duke Oda, infiltrating a prison escape, past the second level; the game gets really good, as the player obtains the famous "ESWAT" suit, sent on a more dangerous mission to thwart the evil plans of the E.Y.E. organization. The suit grants him increased mobility, a jetpack, and an assortment of powerful weapons found in each level. While the game is short, it has some of the most impressive graphics and sounds of early Mega Drive, with over eight missions, each with its own fast-paced boss battles.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

26. Crusader of Centy

Many have heard of Crusader of Centy, few have actually played it - it's worth it. It is SEGA's answer to the "Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past", a pretty shameless one at that, the sprites and backgrounds are nearly identical in style, soundtrack, and gameplay - Nextech might have been approached by SEGA to make a rival to Link to the Past for their console, being a contractor. The game is 3 hours long, with most of the fighting happening in puzzle-riddled dungeons. At the beginning of the game, you can only speak to animals and plants, gaining the ability to have pet companions with unique abilities. The game features its own Dark World, returning to the past mid-game after beating the deuteragonist: Maldra the Dragon. Corona then gains the ability to go back into the past and speak to humans; his new goal: make peace between humans and monsters. It's not Link to the Past, but it's pretty close.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐

25. Devil Crash MD

A simple pinball game, why not? But don't let that fool you, as this game is sure to impress more than pinball wizards. Devil Crash features impressive graphics, sound, and interactive "bonus stages", while its memorable soundtracks add an unparalleled sense of speed to the game. Devil Crash MD takes virtual pinball to a whole new level in this console game, the table becomes so animated it will make you forget you're playing a pinball game at all. Lasting about an hour to beat by an experienced flip stick warrior, the game doesn't lack content, featuring many boss battles, only a few will make it to the boss - "King Demon", reserved to those worthy enough to top its High Score leaderboard.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

24. Saturday Night Slam Masters

Starring Mike Haggard from the Final Fight series, Saturday Night Slam Masters is a two-player versus wrestling game playing like a Capcom beat 'em up made out with a fighting game. Each character has a powerful move called their "Super Slam", in addition to many standard wrestling moves such as a turnbuckle slam, using weapons dropped on the ring, as well as many grabs, holds, and throws. The game has the quality of Final Fight made into a wrestling game.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

23. Herzog Zwei

Herzog Zwei is a real-time strategy shoot 'em up hybrid video game developed by Technosoft of the "Thunderforce" series and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. This is considered by many to be the birthplace of real-time strategy games, predating even innovative games such as Dune II. It is the sequel to Herzog, hence the name "Herzog Zwei", meaning Duke Two, the first game had you fighting alongside an army, without being able to construct units. In this entry, each player controls a plane able to drop units dispensed from a factory which must be protected or destroyed, other bases can be controlled, as map control gives you more gold to spend on units. Your plane can also transform into a controllable mecha, able to shoot at grounded enemies.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐

22. Ranger X

Ranger X is a frenetic hybrid run and gun/shoot 'em up game, in which the player controls a mecha known as the "Ranger X", equipped with a jetpack and controlling vehicles called "Ex-Ups" which Ranger X can merge, much like a Transformers. The game is unique in how it allows the player to fly using its jet-pack to control the entirety of the screen axis, without being limited by a locked screen, a scenario often found in shoot 'em up usually scrolling forward by themselves at a steady rate, limiting movement. The player could alternate between many special weapons which drain their power bar, as well as using Ranger X's standard-issued pulse rifle. The goal is to defeat the invading Rahuna forces, a fully mechanized army invading the X-Ranger's planet.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

21. The Punisher

The Punisher is another Genesis exclusive arcade port of one of the greatest beat 'em up of the 90s. While the game suffers in comparison to its enemy-denser arcade counterpart, the game remained hard to beat with a 2-player option still intact to help your odds. Unlike most beat 'em up on the Genesis lasting about thirty to forty minutes, The Punisher took us one hour fifty to beat, there is no save system so definitely save yourself a free evening for this one. The game doesn't get repetitive either, with its many weapon pickups including a satisfying handgun, as well as the variety of enemies and bosses. The game features all the enemies and content from the original arcade games, with up to six enemies appearing on-screen at once. The Punisher would certainly make Super Nintendo fans salivate with their broken Final Fight ports.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

20. Valis III

While the Valis series is popular among the Japanese and Turbografx-16 crowd, Valis still flew right past SNES and Genesis gamers back then, probably due to its female protagonist and anime art style. The series started on PC-88, a doujin-like game called Valis: The Fantasm Soldier, made by Telenet Japan. Valis has a total of 4 games, starring a schoolgirl named Yuko Assou, chosen to become a magical warrior by Reiko, her classmate, secretly a magical warrior. She is now charged with protecting three realms from Demon Kings, by wielding the powerful sword called Valis. The game starts with a lengthy six-minute animated introduction, explaining the plot of the game and a synopsis of the series' past entries. The game might start easy but quickly turns into a test of patience past the Test of Braveness, midway into the game. It is definitely a PC Engine port, with its graphics being almost the same as the PC Engine CD game, but the soundtrack more than makes up for it. Technically all three Valis games are available on Genesis, an awful chibified remake of Valis II is also on the console, named Syd of Valis, which we won't talk about on this list.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

19. Soldiers of Fortune

Also known as The Chaos Engine in Europe, this is another European game signed by The Bitmap Brothers, known for their games in the Amiga scene: Xenon, Gods, and Z. The game is a top-down shooter, the player navigates through a maze to collect key items, gold, and power-ups and open an exit door. The player can choose to hire over 6 characters by spending their collected gold, each with their own abilities, perks, and weapons. Each character can be trained using gold in between levels, increasing their power or defense. The goal of the game is to blast your ways through mutants and robots to get the mercenaries to the "Chaos Engine", a sentient machine able to warp space and time.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

18. Granada

Granada is a top-down tank-based shooter game developed by Wolf Team, who later became the Namco Tales Studio, responsible for the development of every Tales game. Wolf Team was loyal to Sega Genesis, responsible for the El Viento trilogy, Arcus Odyssey as well as Sol-Feace. The game has you fighting a war in futuristic Africa, you are a mercenary piloting an experimental high-tech tank called the Maneuver Cepter, after learning you had been used by an entity called the "PEID" - Private Enterprise Intelligence Department to tilt the war, you board the Maneuver Cepter once again, this time to end the war and defeat the PEID's plan. Unlike other shoot-'em-ups of its time, the game has you free-roaming through the levels much like a maze, destroying enemy generators, a small radar shows the location of the generators, after each generator is destroyed: a boss appears. The game often dwells into bullet-hell territory with its boss battles, our only complaint is that we wished the tank was a little faster, as well as the gameplay.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

17. Twinkle Tales

Twinkle Tales is probably the most obscure game on this list - again - never released in the west, it is considered one of the most expensive and sought-after Mega Drive games, while Japanese releases on the Mega Drive are usually quite affordable, this one goes upward in the $300 range. It is a run-and-gun game with a top-down perspective, similar to "Pocky and Rocky" (Kiki Kaikai) in its cutesy charm and gameplay. Our hero, a young witch named Saria, must rescue the three trapped sages and defeat the demonic Kaiser Demon to restore the land of Alpherion. Saria can shoot in 8-directions, alternating between three different spells. Graphics and sounds remind us of a PC Engine game more than a Mega Drive title and have a charm often found in PC98 doujin games such as the popular Touhou series, it is definitely a Japanese game!

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

16. Ys III - Wanderers from Ys

Ys III is not quite obscure nowadays, the series has gained some popularity due to its newer release and multiplatform re-release among younger demographics. The original Ys III however has been quite obscure back in the 90s, when RPG was a niché genre and was not that popular among gamers. Nowadays, the game has a renaissance with many remakes, including Ys: The Oath in Felghana, a remake of Ys III initially released on the PSP. Ys III revisits Zelda II in its side-scrolling RPG elements. The game was released on PC88 in 1989, two years following Zelda II's release. Unlike Zelda II or Ys I&II, Wanderers from Ys does not have any overworld map, the game entirely plays like a platformer à la Zelda II - more accurately Sorcerian on the PC88. Most of the challenge is spent grinding, collecting items at the store before taking on the bosses of each stage. The game plays much like its prequel, only with a perspective change, those who like the PC88 charm of Japanese JRPG will certainly enjoy this title. The Genesis port is the one to play, with some of the best music adaptations, closest to the PC88 version, and little of its choppiness.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

15. Midnight Resistance

This otherwise arcade classic received a few shoddy ports on platforms such as the ZX Spectrum British computer, Atari ST, Commodore 64, or Amiga; none could rival the arcade version, but the System-16 clone itself. Midnight Resistance is an almost arcade-perfect port of the Contra clone - unfortunately - it does not feature the 2-player mode like its arcade original. The game is very 80s, a muscular Platoon hero must defeat a drug cartel who kidnapped his family after his father develops the cure to narcotics addiction. This is a short game, less than a half-an-hour, made replayable with a high score system and its highly action-packed, testosterone-fueled gameplay.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

14. Landstalker

Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole is a three-dimensional isometric role-playing game exclusive for the Sega Genesis. Players navigate in gorgeous sprite-based 3D environments in a gigantic action RPG lasting well over 12 hours, the content in this game includes multiple sidequests, dungeons with puzzles and enemies The series was evidently inspired by the Zelda series with its action RPG elements, made evident from its Japan-only spinoff: "Lady Stalker: Challenge from the Past". In Tolkien-esque fashion, the plot revolves around a quest to obtain the treasure of a dead King guarded by an immortal dragon named Gola. Throughout his quest the player encounters recurring characters, including the Duke and a wizard named Mir, none of which are particularly memorable. The story is wholesome nonetheless and environments are fun to navigate, exploration is the keyword here.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

13. Mercs

Mercs is another arcade port that made its way to Genesis thanks to its System-16 similarity. Few people know about Mercs when compared to its far more popular predecessor, Commando. Whereas the original game is a Capcom classic. The Mega Drive version of Mercs was produced exclusively by Sega for the Mega Drive. Not only did the Mega Drive version include an almost arcade-perfect port of the game; it also featured its own mode, adding features into the game such as secret shops and the ability to swap between its four characters - each wielding their own power-ups and weapons. We can only give Mercs a Play Score of 4 stars due to the port's disappointing lack of a multiplayer mode.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

12. Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer

A young starfighter hijacks a prototypal vehicle to save her father from the clutches of an invading alien race. After a very impressive anime opening sequence, the player navigates through many alien landscapes, subjugating the invasion. The Gleylancer vehicle is equipped with two drones, which can be given multiple orders on how to perform, there are also multiple power-ups for your weapon which are unfortunately pick-up only. This is another Japan-only Mega Drive game that never saw release in the west. The best part? A soundtrack composed by the talented Noriyuki Iwadare of Langrisser and Grandia.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

11. Beyond Oasis

"Beyond Oasis: The Story of Thor" is Ancient and SEGA's answer to "Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past", from the same developers who brought us the excellent "Streets of Rage 2" and "Streets of Rage 3". You can see some of the beat 'em up influence in its gameplay, but beyond the surface, it remains another Zelda clone. Weirdly enough, the game has no mention of Thor anywhere in the game, except its title, ironically, the main character is named "Prince Ali" and has an appearance reminiscent of the Prince of Persia protagonist. The game's story revolves around two amulets, the gold amulet, and the silver amulet, Prince Ali finds the gold amulet and is sent on a quest to stop the bearer of the silver amulet, bent on destruction. What follows is a Zelda clone with great graphics, the sprites and environments are rich in detail and smoothly animated. Most of the game is spent navigating through dungeons, defeating each boss, and collecting special items, throughout the game, the player frees four genies, gaining unique summoning abilities.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

10. Trouble Shooter Vintage

Trouble Shooter Vintage is the sequel to the original Trouble Shooter on Genesis, the game improved in its many cutscenes and an effort on the story segment, featuring its two goofy, jetpack-wearing combat operatives: Madison and Crystal. The game plays like an improved version of Forgotten Worlds, its soundtrack is stellar, and graphics feature expressive character portraits, lovely environments using multi-layered parallax scrolling. The game's bosses and enemies are very bizarre and resemble Japanese Yōkai monsters, some of the bosses are equally eccentric, featuring a demon-headed train or a basketball-playing robot.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

9. Warsong

Warsong is the first and only Langrisser game ported to the west, the game is a strategy game playing like Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. Warsong is what could be the best SRPG on the system. Graphics are decent in this title, with a detailed grid overworld that transitions into a theatre of war when units cross swords, the game also features multiple character portraits and sprites. Warsong uses its terrains to give the player or enemy a situational advantage in battle, some classes even gain bonuses when staying in the water, such as mermaids. The soundtrack is great, with many of Langrisser's classic songs such as "Friendly Fight", "Thought of the Holy", "Kingdom Knight" playing during each phase of the Player or Enemy turns. Unfortunately, the game is quite long, taking up to fourteen hours to finish, this means a lot of the short soundtrack is repeated over and over. Sometimes battles lack an objective and the only strategy is to find a hill to sit on until the computer sends all their troops uphill. The game is overall a great experience and the best way to experience the first Langrisser to this day.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

8. Ristar

Understandably buried in time is the excellent Ristar game, which never got a sequel, released in 1995, it was simply too late for Sega's failed successor to Sonic the Hedgehog. Perhaps had the game been a Sega Saturn launch title, the anthropomorphic star could have very well replaced Sega's hedgehog mascot, considering the questionable absence of Sonic's game on their Saturn system. Ristar's concept is coincidentally comparable to Rayman, with his power revolving around his expandable arms and his archnemesis being a villainous space pirate. Coincidence aside, the pitch toward a spiritual successor to Sonic the Hedgehog is instantly made apparent from its vibrant graphics and upbeat music. The main difference from Sonic the Hedgehog was the game scaling vertically, rather than horizontally, with many of its levels about flying and climbing obstacles. While Ristar isn't that much of an oddity for most retro gamers, it did sell rather poorly at release and still remains on the sideline of the Sega Genesis for many, he is now often coupled with Sega's titles as a cameo character; a side mascot who winks at the many SEGA fans who once looked upon a star.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

7. Alien Soldier

Most experienced people know of Treasure, the game company that brought us Radiant Silvergun, Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, Ikagura, Wario World, Mischief Makers, the list goes on. They are somewhat of a legendary company for hardcore gamers. Yet their game barely crosses the obscure when speaking of titles such as Alien Soldier, an action-packed side-scrolling with speed that rivals even the Contra series itself with its persistent tension, the game is notoriously one of the hardest games on the Genesis and could best be described as one hour of boss rush with intermissions. There is little recycled content, each 25 stages unique and lasting only less than one minute each, save for the final boss. Alien Soldier ranks as one of my favorite exclusive on the system, only kept down this list because of its debated obscurity.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

6. M.U.S.H.A.

Musha Aleste is one of my favorite shoots 'em up of all time, and one of the more roughly obscure ones on the Sega Genesis. Our hero, Ellinor, piloting the MUSHA, a special unit mecha with an advanced arsenal, is part of a team sent to investigate a supercomputer that began attacking Earth from a distant planet, as she arrives, her squadmates are decimated by the Dire-51 computer gone rogue. She takes it on herself to complete the mission and avenge her squad in a suicide mission. After the intro, the game doesn't stop once, throwing a multitude of enemies and power-up at you in one hour of total carnage. The game features a speed metal soundtrack with its screaming overdriven guitars made excellent on the YM2612 FM sound chip. The graphics are flawless, the game has a nice polish with an intro sequence, and its many fast-moving cameras give a strong illusion of speed to the vertical scroller. Many of its enemies are - again - inspired by Yokai and Japanese lore, such as enemy robots wearing Hannya or Noh masks, giving the game a really exotic vibe. As of today, Musha Aleste remains one of the most expensive Genesis games for collectors to acquire.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

5. Dune: The Battle for Arrakis

While 1989's Herzog Zwei is arguably the first real-time strategy game ever and one of the most impressive games to ever bless the Genesis library, Dune set the standard for what would later become the entirety of the RTS landscape: Age of Empire, Command and Conquer, Starcraft, Warcraft all came from this 1992 masterpiece. It is impossible to fathom that a game like Dune 2 could make from the MS-DOS computer to the Mega Drive, with its massive map and simultaneous action requiring what would seem like a massive amount of processing power. The graphics and sounds don't compromise, being the same as the computer version, with digitized voice for every character actions. All 3 campaigns are available, totaling at over 20 hours of playtime. Dune II is undoubtedly the most impressive Genesis port to ever fly under gamer's radar.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. The Adventures of Batman and Robin

This run and gun is hard as balls! So definitely bring two players for this one, as "The Adventures of Batman and Robin" can be exceptionally brutal to beat on your own, let alone with a friend. The game features the animated series adaptation of Batman and its sidekick Robin, as well as many of its foes, including the Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, the Mad Hatter, and Mr. Freeze. Each with their own levels, the most unforgiving being the Mad Hatter level, although Two-Face's can be quite exhausting to beat, taking up to half the game's playtime with a messy shoot 'em up sequence. The sprites of each character are 1:1 representations of their animated series counterpart, with some of the best graphics on Genesis. The soundtrack of Jesper Kyd is unique to its console, bringing a cybergoth dark techno rave to its Yamaha sound chip. While the game is not quite unknown, we believe it is definitely an underrated classic and unfairly obscured based on its merit.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. Rocket Knight Adventures/Sparkster

Rocket Knight games take the speed factor of the Sonic games with a jetpack-wielding opossum, the momentum is changed from acceleration to burst-speed, allowing the game to play at both speeds. Unlike Sonic, many sections of the games are slow, whereas Sonic rewards the player with speed with its acceleration-based gameplay, Sparkster uses his speed to help the players launch at enemies - or escape risky situations. Thus, Rocket Knight Adventures improves on the flaw of punishing novice players for speed, having found the perfect balance of speed to satisfy spastic gamers, while equally featuring precision platforming segments. The game also features flying segments, with fast-moving parallax scrolling backgrounds giving a strong specter of speed. The game was also made by Konami's Nobuya Nakazato, known for the Alien Wars.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. Shining Force 1 & 2

Shining Force is one of Sega's original titles by Camelot, that worked really hard on their game only to have it be completely lost in time. Camelot is mainly known for its later Golden Sun series, from which you might recognize some of the icons and art style, its time under Sega remains vastly overlooked. The game is an impressive SRPG reminiscent of Fire Emblem. The game graphics are impressive for their time, with its many portraits and gorgeous transition to animated battle sequences, the towns are also well designed with plenty to interact with. Players can recruit characters by talking to NPC in town, solve side quests for rewards. Each character can be equipped with weapons and armor found in its many stores. Where most of the game centers on SRPG tactical fights, the story and characters were charming, some towns even have a headquarters where the player can talk to his allies and there was definitely a lot of attention put into its story.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1. Pulseman

How is this not a masterpiece? Released in the end-of-life of the Sega Genesis by GameFreak, 2 years prior to the release of their famous "Pokémon" series, Pulseman has all the elements of what could have been a successful brand, with amazing concept art and flawless execution, a graphical style, and style far ahead of its time, reminding us of a "Gameboy Advance" title rather than something out of a late-80s console. Perhaps GameFreak has always had a flair for innovative games. Unfortunately, this one massively flew under the radar, perhaps due to being an exclusive for the "Sega Channel" in 1995. In this title, a young hero, "Pulseman", must defeat his father - the tragic Doc Yoshiyama - gone mad from his loved creation, the artificial intelligence known as the C-Life. The game features amazing cutscenes and seven bosses battles spread across a good, no-baloney one-hour of frantic gameplay. The game clearly draws inspiration from the Astro Boy and Mega Man media and has an overall Osamu Tezuka feel to it that you just can't ignore.

OBSCURITY SCALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐