Genesis Games That Will Always Be Enjoyable - Retro Bird 

Games played and the song I mentioned: Shinobi III (0:08), Sonic 2 & Knuckles (0:24), Ristar (0:44), Thunder Force IV (1:37), Gunstar Heroes (7:15). Here is the song from Thunder Force IV that I mentioned: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oTQIiIKummw.html

I honestly don't think rocket knight adventures will ever get old

NHL 95 on Genesis will never stop being fun. Not really a hockey fan and I don't play other hockey games but that game is such a blast.

My oldest son got into old Sonic games Bought a Genesis a few years ago Like it more now than when I was young Great video RB 👊💥👍💯

You crack me the hell up, man! Your videos are always a good time. 👍

Somehow despite being on the Sega side of the console wars I never had even heard of Lightning/Thunder Force. Now it's a mainstay in "top games" videos like this

I’m 14 years old and I’m really into retro games I have a retron 3 and GameCube and Wii. I’m really proud to be a retro gamer

That DDR dancing look-back face had me absolutely rolling. Another great vid, Thx!

I have the Sonic collections on he Nintendo GameCube and they have many wonderful Sonic and other Sega games on them. I love these classic Sega games. Cool video. ^_^

I remember being overwhelmed with possibility of what games I didn't know about when I had a sega and nintendo as my 2 systems when I was younger. I could never believe going to the rental shop and picking out games.

Genesis is one the greatest consoles ever made. SO many games I'm still discovering!!!

Hello there, Bird! Thank you for this video and your love of the Sega Genesis! Honestly, we need more Sega support nowadays. :) *SEGAA!!*

My always return to game is Elemental Master. Just the music of the stage select screen immediately takes me back to my childhood days. Thanks for the great video. Best regards.

For me: Streets of Rage 2, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Gunstar Heroes, Brian Lara/Shane Warne Cricket 96 and Aladdin.

Shinobi 3 is one of my favorite games of the '90s.

He is what Al Bundy would have become if he didn't meet Peggy

Ghouls n Ghosts.

Sonic 2, Bassmaster Classic Pro Edition, PGA Tour Golf 2 and its companion PGA European Tour, and Winter Olympics. Back in the days when my dad was still into gaming, and we and my sister would often play on Friday and Saturday evenings since it wasn't a school night.

Great video! Rocket Knight Adventures, Sonic 2, and Ristar were all childhood favorites of mine. Also, apparently Sonic was originally going to be a rabbit with stretchy ears much akin to Ristar's stretchy arms. I'm glad Sega brought the idea back with Ristar, but it is almost criminal we never got a Ristar 2! One of my personal favorites on the Genesis was Castlevania Bloodlines. I honestly love everything about it. The gameplay, graphics, music, and just general atmosphere. I can still go back to this game years later and enjoy it.

Rye-star is the way I pronounce it.

0:38 i've never seen a diamond with 16 BIT graphics and blast processing just saying 💎💎💎

You pinned that thunder force track for good reason, my banana obsessed friend.

Sonic 2, Streets of Rage 2, Golden Axe 2, Probotector, Castlevania The New Generation.

I’m just getting into retro collecting and just obtained a 27” Samsung CRT with all the connections from RF to component and purchased an NES. My next console is going to be the Genesis as I’m getting my favorite consoles in release order. The first two games I’ll be getting to go with that will be Sonic cause… DUH and, having watched maybe 88% of the videos on this channel now, Rocket Knight Adventures. The footage in the videos looks so fun and your undying passion for this game in most of the videos I’ve seen has me so excited to try it.

I was waiting for the random sparkster intrusion. I love rocket knight ever since I got it about 6 months ago. One of my favorites on the console

I remember i got a genesis pack w altered beast. Quickly got old and went back to Mario 3. Lol. Later got Phantasy Star 3 (amazing) and Sonic 1 (also amazing.)

Looking at the Japanese text, Ristar is actually pronounced "ree-star" with a long E sound, just to put the debate to rest. But I personally find it easier and more pleasing to pronounce it like you do. Anyways, great video as always.

Myself I grew up on quite a different line of mega drive games. I have love for Valis III, Shadow Blasters, and Demon Hunter Yohko and Arcus Odyssey, seemingly B-tier games.

Love your channel! Keep up the good work!

I agree about the grittier graphics. I like them. Genesis may not have had all the colors of the SNES, but it had all the right colors. I would also recommend Ultimate Quix (aka Volfied), and Dragon's Fury (aka Devil's Crash).

These are my picks of "Sega Mega Drive/Genesis" games that will always hold up and always be fun to get back too; Quackshot starring Donald Duck Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse Aladdin Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin The Punisher Streets of Rage 1+2 Golden Axe Batman 89 Altared Beast Ristar Sonic the Hedgehog 2 & 3 Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Dick Tracy NHL 94 Mutant League Football Mutant League Hockey Eternal Champions RoboCop versus The Terminator Mega Bomberman

Ristar could've used an extra megabit to include a voice capture of someone pronouncing the title character's name.

ive always liked the Scooby Doo adventure game, a guilty pleasure if you will.

I've always said Rye-star because the character is a star but I can see saying Wrist-ar because he uses his hands (wrists)

That homing gun you were using in Gunstar Heroes looks an awful lot like the homing gun from Cuphead. I suppose that’s where Cuphead got it from.

I'm a huge Nintendo guy so I've not played so many "Sega games". But these games for Genesis got my love: Sonic 2 Mega Man Wily Wars (games 1-3 converted into 16 bit, plus bonus content) Crusader of Centy ("Sega's Zelda") Streets Of Rage 2 (good fighting game) Crusader of Centy is one of the games on Genesis 2 Classic Mini. I got Genesis 1 Classic Mini and I wish I could find Genesis 2 Classic Mini so I could play Crusader of Centy 🤩

I like to imagine that whenever Retro Bird feels like eating a banana, he grabs his camera just in case he needs banana-related b-roll for his videos

I think you basically hinted at the perfect idea for your next video: Top 5 favorite Genesis soundtracks. Then follow that video up with your Top 5 favorite SNES soundtracks.

Wish my Nomad looked that fresh, & clean damn things old lol

Respectable list. I personally think Streets of Rage 2 is an absolute staple of the platform but yeah.

You can list a whole bunch of top tier games on the Sega Genesis. What makes the games fun is that you can basically play the games as intended or you make them Super easy with Game Genie codes, codes you input for games like the konami one, or save states. I'll keep repeating this. Modern games are trash when it comes to fun factor. Games are way to long for 1 & you can't adjust the difficulty settings to your liking. Sonic 1 vs Cuphead. I chose these 2 games to represent the 2D side scrollers for retro & Modern consoles. If you never played these games or you played them very little, they are challenging games to beat. Here's the main difference. If you keep on practicing Sonic 1 your gaming skills increase & the levels you replay 100+ times gets easier for you to progress. In Cuphead, you don't get this level of progresssion. If a boss was Super hard in Cuphead that it took you 100 + tries to beat him or her, you'll have the same difficulty again taking 100+ tries or more. Which sucks because you aren't gaining skills at all. In Sonic for example, lets say you die at the 1st boss 100 times, it won't be that way when you played the game over again 100+ times. You'll best the boss on the 1st try once you mastered the boss. The fact cuphead doesn't allow save states or game genie codes etc. That just means the game won't be easier. Which sucks.

So I'm one few that think Sonic 1 was the best in the series. When 2 arrived with the 2 stage Zones I assumed it was pegged back because the development was rushed, rather than by design. Sonic 1 is just so polished and was so fresh at the time. That sense of cutting edge gameplay has never been repeated in the Sonic series (whereas the Mario games have successfully adapted). So, Sonic 1 gets my vote.

Okay, I'm going to sit down and play Rocket Knight Adventures now. For the first time. For now, my five are: Bill Walsh College Football 95 NHL 94 Castlevania Bloodlines Mega Bomberman (annoying but addictive) Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Gleylancer got an Epic SoundTrack you must listen too...and i also like MUSHSA Aleste ❤

Always gonna love Altered Beast and X Men

Great vid Bird

I love all of the games in your list but to add to that list, Shadow Dancer and Streets of Rage 2 are all time favorites of mine on the Genesis. By the way, I believe every TechnoSoft soundtrack is amazing. They just don't make game music like that anymore and even if they did, it wouldn't be as good as TechnoSoft's exciting style from the 80s and 90s.

Rather than steal the diamond’s slogan, why not play off the word genesis? Like, “With these Genesis games, the fun is always beginning and never ending!”

It’s “Rie-Star” just like “tuh-MAY-toe”

Great video!

6:22 Have to admit, I like Sonic 1 a lot. Sonic feels really good to control even when he's slow and I think the lower velocity limit suits the leveldesign more. Dare I say it, I even like Labyrinth Zone >_> Want your Nomad though......

Lightening force is not misspelled. Removing weight. Lightening. Force

One thing I actually like more in the first Sonic game is getting the Chaos Emeralds is better in that it makes more sense to hold 50 rings by the end rather than explore the levels which the rest of the gameplay isn't really suited for. Also the chaos emerald mini-game in 2 and 3 (especially 2 with how easy it is for Tails to lose rings) are supremely annoying.

Ooh a DDR reference? Get on my lawn!

Zombies ate my Neighbours, Streets of Rage series, Castlevania Bloodlines, MK2, TMNT Hyperstone Heist. (Sol-Deace is best shooter on genesis, a close second is Bio Hazard Battle), Sol Feace is best 16 bit shooter :P) The Best shooter overall has to be Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth for the N64 though.

Earthworm Jim was my bud

Jerry Glansville pig skin footbrawl two player was the best. Single was fun as well.

Can't be more agree

It is true. This era of 2D games have aged the best. Saturn and PS1 games look so gnarly in retrospect. And OG Nintendo usually looks too primitive.

Greatest Heavy Weight Champions (boxing game)!

Streets of rage 2 for me of course but I'm sure no one wants to put that on their list cuz everyone does.

Just got a nomad last week would you recommend replacing the speaker? I'm going to do the lcd screen

Given how many hacks there are for it and even one labeled with 2023 edition is: NHL ‘94

Shinobi 3 is awesome

sadly i have some problems to play Thunder Force.. it is just too hard for me sadly :/

Looks like Rayman plays like Ristar

I JUST GOT MY REPLACEMENT COPY OF HYPERSTONE HEIST TODAY! CHILDREN ENGAGED!

Hey retrobird! If you were to recommend to me a CRT TV for consoles such as the original NES, SNES, and even the GameCube what would you recommend? Especially since I’m also looking for something that has much less imput lag compared to a modern TV especially smash bros melee on the GameCube thanks!

All AAA titles 👍

Streets of rage series, 2 in particular are still great beat em ups. And those soundtracks are timeless

The road rash series (especially 1&2) is one that I love playing - it never gets old and is so much fun beating up the other bikers and often hilarious at the same time! (Streets of rage series is the other obvious one, but I'm sure lots will mention it!)

imo, comix zone will always been fun to play. the writing and art style continue to set it apart nearly 30 years later.

I got Rocket Knight Adventures because of this channel, and I’m so glad I did. Thank you. One of my favorite games for the Genesis now.

Love the video! You have such a great sense of humor and presentation. I like the shots of you playing a game with just the screen and your hands working the controller. Makes me want to play some of those classics! I really like Alex Kidd and X-men 2 Clone Wars, but of course Sonic and the gang is always a classic

One of my all time favorite Genesis games, maybe my number one, was a game called Burning Force. It was a Space Harrier clone made by Namco in 1989. It was an arcade game that found a home on Genesis and was a lot of fun. On top of that, the soundtrack was amazing.

(0:08) don’t worry, younger 21 year old retro gamer checking in. Got myself a huge trinitron CRT recently to play my consoles on instead of converting the signal to HDMI cause it looks way better

Hmm... if I had to pick one game to highlight it'd be Streets of Rage 2. Hands down my favorite beat em up of the era and title in the original series.

1985 to 1995 will always be the great golden age of video games for me. whatever console you chose would serve up a great library of games to play, though you will only find a horror beatem up on the genesis/ megadrive in splatterhouse 3.

Here's an idea: Worst ways to experience a retro game. Maybe a terrible port (which might include bad bootlegs), or laggy emulator (My first experience with Phantom hourglass was this.. so I disliked the game even more)

I’ve always loved the get on my lawn hat. Funny bit. My two sons always reach for the snes before the switch. Keep up the good work #getonmylawn

I’ve had some pretty lengthy play sessions of Gunstar Heroes where my eyes dried out from lack of blinking. F-Zero GX also has that effect.

Sonic 2, Streets of Rage 2, the thunderforces, street fighter 2, beyond oasis, comix zone and Gunstar Heroes are the timeless classics that I could pick up at any time and have a blast playing. Always good in my opinion 🤘

How you don't have way more subscribers baffles me. Just found your channel and I'm binge watching. Keep up the good work dude

You are an incredible content provider. I greatly appreciate all of your work and your approach/style. Thank you

Absolutely love your channel mate. Your subtle (hilarious, smart) humour, coupled with in-depth gaming knowledge is outstanding. We all appreciate all the hard work you put in to making these videos. Cheers mate.

Those are all solid picks. Streets of Rage is another great one too.

Hyperstone Heist! I'm also one of those weirdos who prefers Sonic 1's design to 2's. the game seemed more focused on exploration vs speed run.

I've been beating games on the Sega Genesis Mini 1 & 2 consoles recently, and being a GameCube/Wii kid, I came to really appreciate what it had to offer back in the day. Dynamite Headdy is one of the most artistically creative games ever, Streets of Rage 2 is beat-em-up perfection, and the Sonic games will have a special place in my heart (yes, even 3D Blast with its wacky controls). I also have a small collection of original Genesis games, so finally I'd like to recommend Animaniacs and Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention. As a fan of both shows, these games are genuinely fun to play, an uncommon thing back then for licensed titles. 😅

Great top 5! "Gunstar DDR" is hilarious! I think mine would be Sonic 2, M.U.S.H.A., Herzog Zwei, Castle of Illusion and Ghostbusters, but there are SOOOO many more those could replace (Contra Hard Corps, Beyond Oasis, Castlevania Bloodlines, etc.). :)

Outside of Sonic and Streets of Rage, I'd add Phantasy Star IV to that list of Genesis games that will always be fun. I would say it's at least as good as the Final Fantasy games on SNES, if not better

Seeing the nomad with the Sonic and knuckles cartridge and then the Sonic 2 plugged in. It kind of looks like the handheld version of the Tower of power

Altered Beast will never stop being fun.

I’m sad McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure didn’t make the cut. I mean come on, you got Ronald McDonald and Treasure.

McDonald’s treasure land is my rocket knight adventure. I don’t know why

just found your channel yesterday and I love your attitude and all of your stuff. you're a good dude and ideal nerd!

That DDR clip will never not be funny. LOL

I have spent so much time playing Gunstar Heroes as a kid

The walking and discovering running folded me mate 😂 love your vids keep it up. 👍

GunDanceStar Revolution. You're welcome.😂

Loving the Nomad gameplay. SEGA was truly ahead when it came to hardware. The Genesis has some amazing games to it's name. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Streets of Rage 2, Castle of Illusion, Earthworm Jim, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Revenge of Shinobi, Castlevania Bloodlines, Lightening Force, Ristar, Comix Zone, Shining Force 2, Crusaider of Centy, Elemental Master, Mutant League Football, Phantasy Star 4, Rocket Knight Adventures, Gunstar Heroes. I could keep on going. That's not even scratching the surface. I personally factor in the Sega CD and 32x libraries when discussing the Genesis so that makes it even more amazing. Any console that lets you play Snatcher is an automatic win in my book.