Know any hidden SNES/Genesis gems?

[PliskinIroquois]

The library of both the SNES and Genesis are so huge that it can be pretty easy for some games to fly under most people's radars, (especially if they weren't released in NA/EU). I know some but I'm sure there are those of us who are retro-aficionados. I'd love to hear what people have to say about this!

Some of my favorite gems on the SNES are the Quintet games, including Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma, and Actraiser I + II.

Live-A-Live and the Treasure of Rudras were awesome, too. Rudras used a game engine very similar to FF6, so I felt right at home with it. Live-A-Live, on the other hand, was just so different, but a cool game. It certainly holds a special place in my heart.

I'm not a huge Genesis fan but I never hear people talk about Beyond Oasis. That game kicks all kinds of ass. There are also some other SNES games that I really enjoyed I never/rarely hear people mention, including: Shin Megami Tensei I + II, E.V.O., Alcahest (have yet to try this one), Lufia II, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, and the Dragon Quest games, (remakes of DQI-III, and DQV and VI). Of course, we can't forget the fantastic Front Mission, either.

[Bargainbin]

Thank you for mentioning Beyond Oasis, that game was pure awesome. Used to borrow that game as a kid and finally found a copy for my Sega Genesis and just also bought it on Steam because I love it so much. I know about Lufia games never played them and yeah I rarely hear anyone talk about it or know what it is. Plus I've not heard of Terranigma, Live-A-Live, and Treasure of Rudras I'll have to look up those games thanks for posting always great to hear about rare gems or games I've never heard about !

[TheonecalledTodd]

Genesis you have Altered Beast (personal favorite of mine) and SNES has the first 2 Breath of Fire games.

[Katzman79]

Ah, I loved the good old Mega Drive. I know of a few games that get seriously overlooked,most of them platform games.


There's the obvious ones of course like Sonic, Streets of Rage, Shining Force and Phantasy Star (though the third game is a bit poor in my view.) If you want some games that are pretty good then here's a few.


Sonic Spinball - Do you like Casino Night Zone or Carnival Night Zone? Well then here's Sonic purely in a pinball arena, but surprisingly it has a storyline and features characters from the 90's cartoon. The good one. Collect the Chaos Emeralds to unlock the boss room, beat the boss, move on. There's only 4 levels but the difficulty curve does really spike at the end. It's a decent game.

Soleil - I think this was called Crusader of Centy outside of Europe. Zelda clone where you pick up animals as partners which give you different abilities. New skills can be used by combining different animals. Kind quirky and entertaining.

Landstalker - Another Zelda style game, albeit with an isometric perspective like Mario RPG. Controls a little loose and because of the angle it can lead to frustrations with jumping, but still fun never the less.

Light Crusader - See above with Landstalker. Picture an action-RPG in the same style as Landstalker. Lots of puzzles to solve, monsters to kill, and dungeon levels to explore. Good fun.

Mick and Mack: Global Gladiators - McDonald's based platform game with a decent level of challenge. Kind of generic but doesn't stop it being a worthwhile distraction.

Alisia Dragoon - Man is this an excellent platform-gunner game. Slower paced than something like Gunstar Heroes but still fantastic. Fantasy style with four monsters that aid you in your battle which can be upgraded along with your health and life. One of the true hidden gems.

Cool Spot - Licenced based game that doesn't suck, in fact it's a very compentent, enjoyable platform game, if short and kind of easy.

Decap-Attack - Weird game that has you throwing your head to kill enemies. Be wary of lots of bad, bad puns.

Fantastic Dizzy - One of the many Dizzy games that was a bit of a cult classic character here in the U.K. Platform-come-puzzle game. Pick up items, use them to bypass obstacles, collect the stars, rescue the villagers.

Ristar - Released near the end of the Mega Drive's lifespan this was going to be the next big thing for Sega, perhaps even a new mascot. Cute, bright, and colourful game that is an absolute joy to play.

Toejam and Earl - Got two games, both very different. First one was an exploration game to try to find parts of your space ship, the second one a slightly generic platform game. Both good fun, more so in two-player mode.