Welcome to a new edition of Retro’s Blog and I have a Sega related topic to talk about. For some reason Sega and the TurboGrafx have been heavily swimming in my thoughts in the past couple of years. It's thanks to channels on YouTube like Game Shack and Sega Lord X that made me remember why I loved the old Sega. Even they managed to help me appreciate the TurboGrafx more than ever as it’s easy to see why some loved NEC's console. On this occasion we talk about how the Genesis (also known as the Mega Drive internationally) became the ultimate arcade console. It is true the Super NES did get a fair share of these games, but the system is mostly known for the RPGs and Nintendo’s magical lineup. While TurboGrafx, despite its attempt at aiming for the arcade market, they still went under the radar that generation. Don’t worry, the TG16 is still a gem of a system and a console today’s gamers need to experience. Of course, there is the NEO GEO and it’s a console you can say is the true arcade system for home users. However, at the time and even now it is expensive to own which defeats the purpose of taking the experience home. Traditional console genres of platformers and RPGs will not be mentioned as the topic is about the system’s arcade style lineup. I will also break this into two parts as there are many genres to cover so fighting, brawlers and action license games will be talked about. When Sega introduced its second console the Genesis in North America, they sold this on bringing the arcade experience home. In their launch window the Genesis had Golden Axe, Ghouls N Ghosts, Alter Beast, Thunder Force II and Forgotten Worlds. Before they had Sonic as the mascot, that was always the selling point during its launch. Back in 1989 and the early 90s, porting over arcade hits to the consoles was a big deal. With the arrival of the 16-bit technology allowed these studios to take those same games and make them come close to the original experience. Often, the 8-bit systems mostly failed to emulate the same style properly thus getting an inferior version. With Contra and Ninja Gaiden being the exception, the 8-bit versions were almost never as good or better. The Genesis truly changed that and for once those same games came the closest to the original release. The port of Alter Beast packaged with the console’s release showcased the power it allowed the games to have. Compared to the TurboGrafx lineup, that system hardly had the same thing, NEC tried emulating from Sega. TurboGrafx’s pack in title was a generic platformer called Keith Courage which didn’t showcase the system’s capabilities. The only titles in its launch window that resembled arcade gameplay were mostly Shoot em’ ups like Blazing Lasers. With a pinball game called Alien Crush, a one hit brawler of Vigilante and two games on the Turbo CD is the reason for lackluster sales. The Genesis in comparison had a diverse library of Arcade titles in its first six months. When compared to Nintendo’s advertisement Sega really stuck it to them while bringing the Arcade experience home. The truth is the NES did get arcade games ported but they were never close to the actual visuals of those cabinets. The Genesis/Mega Drive was really the first to bring those intense 16-bit games home since they nearly came close. The caption above shows a three page spread advertisement from Sega Vision’s third issue. Before bringing PC gaming to home consoles was a thing, porting key titles from the Arcades to weaker systems was important. Sega did a fantastic job presenting those key titles for their time while showcasing how close they were to the originals. All you had to do was look at Ghouls N Ghosts and Strider as proof the House of Sonic delivered on their promise. Nintendo did go on to receive these ports from other titles like Final Fight and Fatal Fury on Super NES, but Sega knew how to bring it first. We begin with my favorite genre of brawlers or beat em’ ups since this was my go to on most occasions. The best one came from the Streets of Rage Trilogy as it was the strongest of the group. In fact, SoR was up there with Double Dragon and Final Fight. When you have the combinations of the underground style music by Yuzo Koshiro and hard hitting action with modern mechanics it’s the reason this series was the highlight. SoR even succeeded Double Dragon and Capcom’s Final Fight to the point it was Sega’s perfect counter to Nintendo. Truly a shame we would have to wait 25 years until SoR4 would finally come out. With the Golden Axe titles, the series followed a more fantasy theme rather than your typical city crime fighting in a modern era. You take the role of three warriors each with their own capabilities and strengths. Its gameplay still has some differences from SoR as it includes riding creatures and using magic power ups. It follows a similar level design of going from point A to B fighting hordes of enemies then facing a boss at the end. As you can tell Golden Axe was right behind SoR and most brawlers in the Arcades and on Super NES. Now, let’s talk about the Splatterhouse sequels that found a home on the Genesis after TG16’s sale dropped by 1992. Starting with SpH2 nothing has changed from the Original as mentioned in my review. When we take a look at the other Brawlers on the platform, it’s almost scraping the bottom of the barrel. It’s basically Vigilante with the difference being the theme is horror. Not all is bad since the visuals were the best thing about SpH2 creating many instances of unease in the environments. We can’t mention the beat ‘em up genre without talking about Streets of Rage 2, a true textbook definition of a sequel. The thing that made SoR2 a must play title are the improved tweaks the sequel had over its predecessor. The left caption has me play as Blaze where she uses one of her specials against the usual Thugs Mr. X employees. Even the visuals saw a nice bump in detail with a much improved soundtrack from Yuzo Koshiro. It is obvious the second game was among many titles that highlighted the Mega Drive’s defining library. That brings me to Golden Axe that broke away from the traditional crime fighting in modern settings. What makes the medieval brawler interesting is the player can ride beasts like a dragon and use magic spells to take a group of enemies out. That is a feature a development team needs to do to make this different from all the rest. Now, Splatterhouse 3 went in a different direction and actually improves what the last two entries couldn’t. For once there is a 3D plane designed as you can walk and attack at any angle. The level design was done in a different manner where you had to explore the house’s floors by going into each room. At the end of a floor, a boss awaits like in the previous entries. Another interesting feature comes from the presentation which is the best out of the entire trilogy. Between the animated intro and still images presenting the cut scenes made this a unique experience. That brings us to another one off title from Sega called Comix Zone that followed a simple 2D side scroller gameplay. Each enemy encountered goes by a health system, and you must beat them until their hitting points are empty. One of the unique features is the way the visuals were rendered by using a comic strip for a different area. That also plays into the challenge because the player had to destroy and maneuver through an obstacle to get to the next strip. I also forgot to mention another one off from the House of Sonic with a port of Alien Syndrome. Similar to their other beat em' ups, the players can pick from three characters; however, there isn’t much of a difference in their attacks. An area is broken up into three parts featuring different gameplay mechanics. There are the traditional brawler areas, the running segments and then the arcade style shooting parts. The problem with Alien Syndrome is a combination of a bland art style for the visuals and mixing up too many elements for the gameplay. Licensing for superheroes was also the norm half the time since they were usually turned into a brawler. Spiderman did get some use as a multiplatform release and Maximum Carnage was one of those. It wasn’t a bad game as I did give that edition a solid rating, but Maximum Carnage had several problems. With broken up levels and repetitive enemies is why this is on the bottom of the list to recommend. Fortunately, they fixed this in Separation Anxiety with playing like a traditional beat 'em up and no broken stages at least. The next one is no surprise as to why it’s being mentioned and Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist reaches the top of the list. It uses the same mechanics as Turtles in Time but thanks to the system’s speed makes this run faster than the base Hyperstone Heist was developed around. The level design was changed to make the stages longer, so the game could have fewer levels. I guess between limited memory and Konami being cheap for not using more than a 20 Megapower cart came into play. At least they turned this into an original title as opposed to porting Turtles in Time over. The next one to make the list is none other than Power Rangers the Movie. Why is a license of a corny show filled with all sorts of crappy writing making the list you say? It’s simply that damn good of a beat 'em up which puts the other versions to shame. Not only are the original rangers playable, but both the Thunder and Ninja Zords are selectable. In fact, Bandai provided better gameplay for the ground and Zord stages compared to the first game’s Super NES edition. Unfortunately, the game came out later in the Genesis’ life in 1995 when gamers were already looking at the PS1 and N64. The 16-bit era was the Golden Age for most license games considering they were produced by actual quality studios. Ninja Turtles and Marvel were probably the best of these licensing since it kept a consistent quality. The first caption shows a play session as Leonardo taking out Foot soldiers in the second part of the first level in Hyperstone Heist. Its engaging gameplay and keeping true to the 1987 cartoon are why Sega’s game and Turtles in Time on Super NES were the best. That isn’t to say other cartoon based releases weren’t good because some nailed the concept to a T. You will find this surprising for me to list Power Rangers the Movie since it did everything a quality license game should do. The thing that makes this stand out is the fact Bandai followed the standards of the genre from Capcom and Sega. One of my favorite aspects is you can play as third season Rangers and the original Yellow, black and red characters from the first. You can even play as the Thunder Zords in the third and fourth stages considering there was no game based on season 2. We move on to the next best genre in this area with tournament fighters that dominated the arcades. The 90s for this genre began its first boom with Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat leading the way. Even though the 16-bit consoles were not as powerful as the arcade cabinets however, they still were able to bring most features to these systems. It also allowed intense 16-bit fighters to come to these platforms with MK and SF being at the forefront. Let’s start with SFII: Special Championship Edition that the House of Sonic got a little later. While the Super NES and even the TurboGrafx (despite releasing in Japan only) received a port of the Championship Edition, there were no plans for Sega. That’s probably the reason they never got SFII Turbo instead received a specific version. Both editions tie each other since they had the same features with the exception of a few missing visuals on Sega’s part. SFII wasn’t the only fighter released in 1993 as MK1 and Sega’s Eternal Champions (a system exclusive) also came out. As always MK doesn’t need any explanation as to why the game took over the market. Unlike the Super NES’s censored port, on Genesis MK1 had all its blood and gore retained. Of course, we have Eternal Champions which didn’t have the popularity of other hit games. However, EC still had the core mechanics of most early 90s fighters and the art had some creative elements. As seen in the bigger releases, the environments had many instances of activity between environmental and animated backgrounds. Due to the influx of many tournament fighters coming to the platform, Sega introduced the six button controller. Compared to the traditional pack in pad, the six buttons allowed for more options of fluent action—It was better suited even compared to their arcade stick that Sega released prior. Using a three button controller was fine for early 90s fighters, however; the later ones from the mid-90s made this essential to play with the six button pad. You won’t last sticking with the original setup instead of using what was made for this genre on the consoles. We move to MKII and the updated Super Street Fighter II as the next big releases for the platform. SSFII had introduced the combo system for the first time before Rare could for Killer Instinct. Rare would take the concept further with several combos but that still doesn’t take away from SSFII. It’s a shame this was the closest Sega was going to get to having another great port from SF since Capcom skipped their console with Alpha 2. Now, the MKII port wasn’t as celebrated as the first one considering this time the exact game on Super NES didn’t receive any censorship. That still doesn’t make Sega’s one illegitimate as the same core gameplay and visuals appear despite some cuts. Unfortunately, the Genesis edition suffers from that same dark tint I always point out in my reviews. It also suffers from the tinny sounding music which makes me wonder why Probe didn’t have a good handling on the sound chip. Probe has no excuse not to work around this especially when other prominent studios got that right in most of their releases. On the Genesis/Mega Drive most third parties did a great job bringing over conversions to work around the hardware. Capcom would produce the best efforts especially when bringing over a hit title like SFII. However, the Special Champion Edition did get some cuts in sound effects and the removal of backgrounds. With SSFII Capcom went full throttle in this conversion by keeping as much as possible on a 32 Megapower cart. Williams Entertainment did get the rights to port the MK3 titles to home consoles. Both conversions on the Genesis/Mega Drive are identical since UMK3 did this the best out of the two. They also used a 32 Megapower cartridge while retaining 11 stages and not having glitches ruin the fun. The OST does have some tinny sound effects and a dark tint on the screen, but it still tried the best to retain the Arcade experience. Then when you throw in the six button controller would reflect that even more thanks to the layout. Out of all the SNK titles, Fatal Fury and Samurai Showdown probably saw the best efforts that matched Capcom’s quality. It’s because Takara the publisher did their best to bring anything, they could fit on more than a 20 Megapower cart. With the exception of scale downs and cuts of weather effects and animation, Takara did a good job retaining some visuals. In Fatal Fury the two plane mechanic remains compared to the Super NES’ edition. Samurai Showdown retained the massive sprites at the expense of stretching the backgrounds as a compensation. If only Takara used a 32 to 40 Megapower cart as Williams Entertainment and Capcom could have done wonders. The fact they were able to convert assets from 100 Megapower on a 24 Megs cartridge is amazing. The last notable fighter on the list is MK3 that saw the best effort of the Trilogy on the system. Despite the complaints from some — mainly spammers who don’t know how to play — MK3/UMK3 is what the series needed to evolve. Now, the ports were handled by Williams Entertainment this time, and the usual cuts were made to this version. Fortunately, they had a better grasp of the console’s hardware then Probe did as the tinny sounds were reduced in the OST. That same dark tint on the screen is still there and the background elements were retained as seen in the Soul Chamber stage. The music isn’t as good as its Super NES’ counterpart considering those same tinny sounds are still there but at least they tried working around the issue. Unlike the Arcade edition of UMK3, the console versions got additional characters like Rain, Noob Saibot and the hidden ones unlocked out of the box. There were also other multiplatform releases and even exclusive fighters for the system. The reason these titles weren’t mention is because they were either mediocre or average. These games came from licensing of TMNT, Power Rangers, wrestling and an exclusive one off title. The problem with the WWF and WCW licensing is they were far from what AKI did on the N64 and Yukes’ work on SmackDown for the PS1. Power Rangers based off the first season were average and nothing like the decent Super NES version. Hyperstone Heist might’ve been a nice addition to the library; the Genesis edition of Tournament fighters was also average. Once again, the Super NES got the better version as the art design and gameplay was handled well. Then we have Justice League and even though the game had potential the developers squandered the results. Speaking of average superheroes titles, Captain America and the Avengers was another one to list here. The Genesis port might have produced better results compared to the Super NES version; it wasn’t an improvement by much aside a slight visual difference. I couldn’t forget not mentioning Clay Fighters as many aren’t lining up to play another mediocre title. That also isn’t judging a title by its cover like so many instigators are doing with something similar to Claymates on Nintendo’s NSO. When you have a roster of creepy looking characters using the typical crude 90s art and terrible gameplay mechanics is a recipe for disaster. When it comes to intense 16-bit Arcade visuals, bringing them over to the current consoles of that generation made sense. Their hardware could at least bring most of the assets over by cutting a few effects. That’s because of the tech being close to those game cabinets compared to their 8-bit predecessors. However, porting assets to a 3D game into a demake as seen by Virtua Fighter 2 doesn’t work the same way. The caption shows Akira fighting Sarah in her stage by using limited stiff controls. It was one thing to bring over the first game to the 32X since the extra hardware was there to run the software. However, taking an intense 3D title for its time and bringing this to an aging console was a poor move from Sega. Despite this mantel Sega took on for the Genesis; the console did receive its fair share of bad porting. The Crush pinball titles from the TG16 were good examples of terrible porting while the Double Dragon games suffered the same treatment—For every Golden Axe and Street Fighter II, we get these crappy games in turn. The worst one came from Virtua Fighter 2 that for some odd reason got a 2D demake when it didn’t need one. Truly bizarre that Sega wanted to produce this in 1996, despite the fact VF2 was available on the Saturn. Did Sega really think gamers were going to shell out $60 for a game they can buy at the same price as the 3D title? That’s like purchasing a 32X at $150 six months before the Saturn was set to release. Time Killers and World Heroes were also perfect examples since the studios that bought them over did the bare minimum. The biggest surprise comes from SNK’s World Heroes as Sega would do a terrible job bringing the game over. Sega screwing up their edition is a surprise since they have done good work with home conversions in the past. It’s obvious this system had limits with 512 colors available and 96 to use at once compared to Super NES’s 32,000 hues and 256 simulative colors. However, that isn’t the reason these ports were terrible and if you can make SSFII and even UMK3 run smoothly then there is no excuse. It’s simply a combination of lazy programming and a lack of effort that plagues these versions. When it came to action and the arcade experience on a console, the Genesis/Mega Drive truly delivered an affordable system. Sega did hit home runs on most occasions with their in-house lineup of SOR and Golden Axe. The third parties did step up their efforts compared to the Master System by bringing the experience to the games’ homes first. We saw this with the releases of Strider, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat and even a few SNK titles. Even licensing games were handled as good as on the Super NES most of the time when compared to the 8-bit Era. Of course, there were several mediocre and if not, terrible conversions that were still released. Time Killers and Virtua Fighter 2 were among the worst offenders that weren’t needed on the system. No matter how you look at this, VF2 should have never been given a demake when the real deal was out in 1995. Before Sony and Microsoft threw their hat in the race, Sega had been the only company to take a nice market share from Nintendo. When looking at Atari, NEC and SNK’s attempts to compete, that showed Sega was actually a success story against Nintendo. Even though the blue company was looking strong going into Fifth Gen with the Saturn, the Genesis was the reason for them being a strong competitor. Sony would eventually succeed in dethroning Nintendo more than the blue company could ever do, but Sega was still the first to take it to their competition. Source Images of the Magazine: “Genesis Does What Nintendon’t.” Sega Vision, Issue no. 03. December 1990. PP. 20-22. Archive.org, https://archive.org/details/Sega-Visions-Issue-03/page/n23/mode/2up. Accessed 25 July. 2022.
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Retro Gamer has been an avid fan of the My Little Pony Series since the debut of Gen 4 in 2010. Whenever she isn't talking about gaming, Retro will give her thoughts on MLP and other pony themed brands.
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