Is the Genesis just not for me?

Hello. I want to ask you all this: is the Sega Genesis just not for me? Also, do you know of any games for it I might like?

Here's my issue. I've played a lot of Genesis games. Very few I really like or want to play again. I find almost all of them way too 'arcade-y'. E.g. very basic and straightforward, very short, not much depth. I much prefer my Super Nintendo and PC Engine so far, because I'm finding a lot more games with depth, more console-oriented titles, and less arcade ports. For example, Space Harrier, Outrun, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, G&G... all way too basic/lacking in depth, for my tastes. Even the console titles like Sonic games, for example, almost feels like they could be arcade games. Sonic definitely feels like it's an arcade game compared to Super Mario World for example, which has a world to explore, lots of going back and forward between levels, exploring etc. Sonic is just an example... I get the same impression from Shinobi, Ristar, Vectorman etc. which feel very much straightforward action games. Good action games, just not for me, not enough depth etc. Just to give you more of an idea of my tastes, I don't like racing games or shooters. I know the Genesis is very popular for its shooters (e.g. Thunderforce, MUSHA) but I really don't like shooters/shoot em ups. They don't grab me at all, too basic, limited? Maybe I am missing something when it comes to shooters (sorry i don't wnt to put the genre down).

I hope this makes sense. I hope people don't think I'm 'bashing' the Genesis. I'm not at all. So far, the only game I've truly enjoyed is Phantasy Star 4. I think it's excellent. I think I like it more than any RPG for the Super Nintendo, including Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. Everything else... just way too arcade-y, I'm not really into. I really like Snatcher for the Sega CD. It's one of my favorite games ever. I like Lunar too. However, don't get me wrong... I'm really not a 'story > gameplay' person which liking RPGs and an Adventure game (phantasy star, snatcher, lunar) would suggest. I LOVE Mario for example, particularly Super Mario World 1 & 2, but they've lots of depth, exploring etc. Real console titles. I LOVE Zelda (though not link to past oddly). I know I wouldn't like the Neo Geo at all and don't (although I do like Street Fighter 2, I'm really not into fighters, really most every arcade games etc.).

What do you all think? Is the Genesis just not for me? Sorry for my poor English (Genesis is actually the Mega Drive in my country and where I live now). Thank you.

edit: do you know of any real colorful games? i find a lot of games in the 16-bit era were really underprogrammed. some genesis games have amazing colours, like sonic and phantasy star iv which look like Super Nintendo games or at least in terms of color. others really garish, not nice looking. some games have fantastic music on the genesis, but very few ive found. many sound awful, while some, like sonic, sound excellent. very good music. i feel many games this era were underprogrammed. e.g. donkey kong country looks and sounds really good and amazed many but i think it could have been done day one on the snes and the genesis too!

edit2: i tried other rpgs. e.g. sword of vermillion, phantasy star 2 and 3 but feel too basic and outdated. i tried the action rpgs, a genre i really like (e.g. secret of mana), but i didnt really like landstalker (too confusing, hard to navigate, i dont like the isometric perspective, nice music and graphics, definitely good game), light crusader i didnt get into, and i quite like soleil. i forgot about soleil. it plays decently, and looks/sounds VERY nice like Zelda!

Some Mega Drive games which are good/very good and will likely appeal to your taste:
Beyond Oasis
Monster World IV
Phantom 2040
Quackshot
Shadowrun
Wonder Boy in Monster World

The first four games have good music and very good use of color IMO.

Do you like puzzle games? Puyo Puyo/Mean Bean Machine and Columns 3 are my favorites. There is also Zoop, which is pretty good.

You also might like Kid Chameleon. I love it, but a lot of people dislike it. Toejam & Earl is fun, and not really "Arcadey". I would give it a try, especially with a friend.
I would recommend going through this list of RPGs on the genesis, and seeing if there is anything that interests you.

As far as colorful games...

Of the top of my head:
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (the other sonic games too)
Comix Zone
Puyo Puyo
Decap Attack

I'm not sure if you want nicely colored games, or games with bright cartoony colors. Genesis definitely has some nice looking games though!

If you're wanting to give shooters another try, I would recommend Zero Wing. It's one of my favorite shooters. The visuals, music and gameplay are all great.

It's true the Mega Drive has a lot of arcade ports and original games with an arcade slant, that's the selling point for fans. But equating arcade-type games with having little depth doesn't make a lot of sense to me. RPGs are typically much shallower than your average well-executed arcade-action game IMO, this is especially true for scrolling shooters if you play for the 1CC.

Off the top of my head, Alisia Dragoon and Monster World IV might satisfy your criteria a little better, AD in particular has a ton of secret areas to find. But overall it seems the console's library might not be for you:)

Colourful games: the aforementioned MW IV is amazing in that regard. Pulseman, Ristar, Dynamite Headdy, Mcdonald's Treasure Land Adventure, Rocket Knight Adventures, Panorama Cotton, Mega Turrican, Gunstar Heroes... and there's plenty more that push the limited palette.

I disagree re the music - IMO you have to look quite hard to find a Japanese game with anything less than acceptable music. Most sound great and many sound awesome. Of course the western stuff is a different story...

I really hate to parrot OverDrone, but I suggest that you re-access at your definition of depth in regards to games. It's totally subjective first of all, but there is tons of depth in all those games you just mentioned. Whether it's something you want to dig into and uncover is another thing entirely, but arcade games have tons of depth, it just happens to require skill to uncover that. (This was not meant to be insulting, it's actually how the games are designed)

That being said, look at more RPG/Adventure titles in the library, and try some of those out. I agree that Sonic is more linear that SMW, but there are examples of other side scrolling games on the system that might be more along the lines of what you are looking for. The great Monster World games come to mind, as well as others. Of course, each console will have a larger library of this or that genre, but I truly believe that the Genesis has something for everyone. It DID have lots of arcade games and sports games, you are spot on with that observation, but there are great examples of most other genres as well.

Last, really try to bite into an arcade game you like. Try to beat Ghouls N' Ghost on hard with less than 4 credits. Get an A+++ Ranking in Golden Axe, speed run Sonic 2, set challenges for yourself. You'll really start seeing how deep these games are when you really play the hell out of them.

You mention that Sonic seems like an arcade title compared to Super Mario World, implying it lacks depth and exploration, but have you played Sonic 3 & Knuckles? The levels are fucking HUGE. That and when you have both cartridges locked together, you play through both games back-to-back for a total of something like 14 zones with 3 playable characters (with Knuckles having different paths and sometimes completely different levels and bosses than the other two). There's crap hidden everywhere. As long as I've been playing it, I'm sure I still haven't seen every route there is to see. It's way too epic a game to dismiss just because you played the first game (or two) and weren't that impressed.

I think the OP is looking for games that involve a lot of non-linear, methodical exploration, and have very strong presentation & production values. Unfortunately, that's not really a strong suit for the Genesis in my (admittedly limited) experience. I love the console, but it's much stronger in the "short bursts of intense arcade-style action" department than the "timeless sense of atmosphere and wonder in a gigantic world" department.

There are some games that involve a lot of non-linear exploration, but the OP named two of the best (Light Crusader and Landstalker). The others I can think of are computer > console ports with relatively weak graphics and sound, like Faery Tale Adventure, which is probably too primitive for the OP. Otherwise most of the Genesis RPGs I've played are very linear.

Sone have said the biggest gap in the Genesis library is the lack of a Super Metroid clone, and it almost sounds like that's what the OP is really looking for. Certainly there's no game in the SNES library that epitomizes that console's strengths so well (I've always thought Super Metroid was a masterpiece). Phantom 2040 sometimes gets nominated for that spot, but my impression is that -- whether or not it's a good game -- it's not nearly as atmospheric or expansive as Super Metroid. And of course, it's already on the SNES anyway.

All that said: OP, you have played Ecco the Dolphin, right? It might not scratch the nonlinearity itch but it's got atmosphere and exploration galore.

I came to prefer Genesis more than SNES in my later years after finding it had more obscure gems that were to my taste, but Genesis has always been a bit of a downer for RPG fans. I agree, alot of SNES/SFC's RPG library is incredible and as good as games like Centy/Soleil and PSIV are, there is still no way they can surpass what SNES offers. Also, I love all the main Mario games on SNES: All-Stars, World, Yoshi's Island, etc. are among my all time favorites. But SNES action games tend to lack the intensity to me of Genesis's offerings. So they each fill a different niche and the divide between the two is more complimentary than anything. I would then second most of the recommendations given in this thread.

If you enjoyed the graphics and music of Phantasy Star IV you also might like the Shining Force games, Rocket Knight Adventures and Golden Axe III. They all seem to share a similar color palette and/or sounds.

If you like Soleil then you'll probably love Wonderboy in Monsterworld, Monsterworld IV, Quackshot and Story of Thor (Beyond Oasis).

The equivalent of Super Mario on MD would be something like Revenge of Shinobi and Castle of Illusion.

All of the games mentioned do feature excellent use of color and music.

Some more games worth looking into: Streets of Rage 2, Super Fantasy Zone, Ecco (the Dolphin) II: Tides of Time, Dynamite Headdy, Ristar

If you like (real-time) strategy games: Dune II, Herzog Zwei, Warsong (Langrisser), Langrisser II

It's imperative to play Rocket Knight Adventures and Ristar on an standard def CRT with real video cables (RGB SCART or comparable).
Plain composite is a horrendously inaccurate impression of the system's capability.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barone

Some Mega Drive games which are good/very good and will likely appeal to your taste:
Beyond Oasis
Monster World IV
Phantom 2040
Quackshot
Shadowrun
Wonder Boy in Monster World

The first four games have good music and very good use of color IMO.

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Beyond Oasis has some of the worst music I have ever heard for the system, which was a real let-down for me as I'm a huge fan of Yuzo Koshiro's work. You've got epic soundtracks like SoR 1 and 2 (not 3 though), Revenge of Shinobi, Actraiser, Super Adventure Island, etc., and then he comes out with this soundtrack and I'm thinking his mind snapped.

...or you know, it's possible that it really isn't the console for SlantedRain. I'll play an RPG/adventure game here or there, but I love the arcade style. It's why I love Sega consoles.

There's always exceptions, but Sega consoles pretty much were for arcade gamers. "Bringing the arcade home" was Sega's thing.

However, if you are going to keep trying with the Genesis, and want depth, look to the western developed adventure/RPG games, like Pirates! Gold, Shadowrun, Starflight, etc.

It makes me cringe when action and arcade titles are said to not have much depth. Gameplay wise, that usually isn't the case.

When you say depth what you seem to mean is length and a developed story. If Phantasy Star IV is the only game you enjoyed, your genre is the late-generation 16-bit JRPGs. I suggest giving Shining Force a try, in your case particularly Shining Force 2.

I also recommend Sonic 3 & Knuckles in the platforming department. Huge explorable, colorful levels.

I also second all of Barone's suggestions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SlantedRain

[...] Phantasy Star 4. I think it's excellent. I think I like it more than any RPG for the Super Nintendo, including Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger.

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Agreed.

Not intending to discredit what you mentioned, but the arcade nature of Genesis/Mega Drive platforms is what makes the system better than SNES when it comes to challenging fun. About platformers, most of them in any system are simple; they aren't in all cases especifically fast paced like the MD or even PC Engine though. But while most of its games are fast-paced/short, they usually makes it for more challenging difficult, as IMO, most people I've talked to about or opinions I read around says MD platformers are more difficult than SNES in many if not most cases. The same can be said to the beat 'em ups like Streets that demands a lot more from the player than the Final Fight games and others of the genre.
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About your preferences, while you can find games that suit your tastes like some of the mentioned above, it's true that you have a more welcoming place on the SNES. Although do not get discouraged to explore more carefully the MD library for them, maybe you'll find more than you think.