Sega was always on the heels of Nintendo, trying to catch up to the company’s success. The Sega Master System was their answer to the NES, which didn’t gather much attention in North America. However, the Sega Genesis, which was Sega’s answer to the SNES, did seem like it was on more equal footing. It was released two years before the SNES’ 1991 launch in North America.
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Then, one year later, Sega released the Sega CD attachment to further boost the system’s graphics and performance above the SNES.Sonic CD, one of the most popular entries in the series, was released in 1993. There were some other great Sega CD releases in 1993 too, though most prefer to focus first on what theSega Genesishad to offer that year.
8Battletoads And Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
Battletoads and Double Dragon: The Ultimate Teamis a perfect name for this game. Separately, these two franchises were two of thebiggest brawler seriesof the era. Combing the two series together for a crossover co-op brawler was a stroke of genius that hit almost every platform during this generation.
The NES was the first console that the game was released on in June of 1993 before the launch of all other platforms including the Sega Genesis. Players could choose between Billy and Jimmy Lee fromDouble Dragonor Zitz, Rash, or Pimple fromBattletoads.
7Disney’s Aladdin
There is a strong debate amongAladdinfans on which movie tie-in game is greater betweenthe SNES and Sega Genesis versions. The SNES version was developed by Capcom while Virgin Games developed the Sega Genesis version.
SNES players got to experience better audio and pixel art while Sega Genesis players got to wield deadlier weapons like swords and the graphics were closer to the animation oftheAladdinmovie. There is no definitive answer as tastes will always differ. However, fans can at least agree that both versions are great action platformers from the 16-Bit era.
6Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machineis a retooled version of a game that came out in Japan in 1992,Puyo Puyo. The West would get a lot of reskinned versions of games in the 80s and 90s, seemingly to avoid copyright issues or to take advantage of an existing IPs popularity in the west.
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A famous example on Nintendo’s side wasSuper Mario Bros. 2, which was a game calledDoki Doki Panicin Japan.Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machinefeatures similar gameplay toPuyo Puyobut withSonic the Hedgehogcharacters in the background. It can best be described asa puzzle gameakinTetris.
5Gunstar Heroes
Gunstar Heroesisa platformer shooterfrom Treasure. That company made a lot of hits on the Sega Genesis including offbeat titles likeMcDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure. The gameplay inGunstar Heroesis similar toContraexcept this game isn’t as brutal.
Shoot enemies, pick up power-ups to gain some wild weapons, defeat giant bosses, and repeat. It’s a breezy game that can easily be finished in an afternoon but it’s the type of classic that is fun to go back to periodically.
4Sonic Spinball
Sonic Spinballisa pinball gamestarring this system’s mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. It was the perfect spinoff for the franchise because Sonic goes tucks up into a ball during the mainline games already.
It’s not the best pinball game on the console as the execution could have been tighter. It tried to incorporate elements of the platforming games into it but they weren’t needed. As sloppy as it was at times though, Sonic cleaned up rather well for his first pinball trial.
3Shinobi 3: Return Of The Ninja Master
The NES hasNinja Gaidenand the Sega systems had theShinobifranchise.Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Masteris the best of the bunch on Sega Genesis with great music and graphics. The gameplay is much better too, allowing players to be more precise with their ninja abilities.
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The movement still wasn’t as fluid as in theNinja Gaidenseries, butfew ninja gameswere at this time. The larger sprite ofShinobi 3’sninja at least created a different, more tactile experience when fighting enemies.
2Syndicate
Syndicatewas the first game in theearly cyberpunk RPGgenre. It was an advanced game for both the Sega Genesis and the SNES and was years ahead of its time. Players could approach situations differently depending on choices made outside and inside combat situations.
The computer versions were more advanced and they got expansions too, but the console editions still did the trick. EA tried to bring the series back in 2012, but it didn’t catch on. Maybe 2023 is the year they can try again?
1Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fightersis a fighting game based on the popular comic and cartoon. Every version of this game that was released was different. The music was altered, there were different stages, and the fighters changed too.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, which was released in 2022, included the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis versions for fans to compare. The Sega Genesis version, for example, got April O’Neil as one of its exclusive characters.
