After Burner 2

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

Alien 3

Alien Soldier

Alisia Dragoon

Altered Beast

Arch Rivals

Arcus Odyssey

Arrow Flash

Atomic Robo-Kid

B.O.B.

Battletech

Beyond Oasis

Bio-Hazard Battle

Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday

Cannon Fodder

Castle of llusion (starring Mickey Mouse)

Castlevania: Bloodlines

Centurion: Defender of Rome

Chaken: The Forever Man

Championship Pro-Am

Chuck Rock

Chuck Rock 2: Son of Chuck

Columns

Columns 3

Comix Zone

Contra: Hard Corps

Cool Spot

Crack Down

Crüe Ball

Crusader of Centy

Curse

Decap Attack

Demolition Man

Desert Demolition (starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote)

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf

Disney's Aladdin

Dragon's Fury

Dragon's Revenge

Dune: The Battle For Arrakis

Dungeons and Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun

Dynamite Headdy

Earnest Evans

Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim 2

Ecco the Dolphin

Ecco: The Tides of Time

El Viento

Elemental Master

ESWAT: City Under Siege

Eternal Champions

Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing

Exile

Faery Tale Adventure

Fatal Labyrinth

Final Zone

Flashback: The Quest for Identity

Flink

Forgotten Worlds

Gaiares

Gain Ground

Galaxy Force 2

General Chaos

Ghostbusters

Ghouls 'N Ghosts

Gods

Golden Axe

Golden Axe 2

Golden Axe 3

Granada

Gunstar Heroes

Heavy Nova

Hellfire

Herzog Zwei (good luck trying to find this one on eBay)

The Immortal

Insector X

Jewel Master

Joe & Mac

Joe Montana Football

Joe Montana 2: Sports Talk Football

John Madden Football

John Madden Football '92

John Madden Football: Championship Edition

Jungle Strike

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition

Kid Chameleon

King's Bounty: The Conqueror's Quest

Landstalker

Lemmings

Lemmings 2: The Tribes

Light Crusader

Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar (Thunder Force 4)

M.U.S.H.A. Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor

Marble Madness

McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure

Mega Bomberman

Mega Man: The Wily Wars

Mega Turrican

Mercs

Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators

Midnight Resistance

Might & Magic 2: Gates to Another World

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat 2

Mutant League Football

Mystic Defender

Mystical Fighter

NBA Jam Tournament Edition

Onslaught

The Ooze

Outlander

Out of this World (Another World)

Pat Riley Basketball

PGA Tour Golf

PGA Tour Golf 2

Phantasy Star 2

Phantasty Star 3: Generations of Doom

Phantasy Star 4: The End of the Millennium

Phelios

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure

Populous

Power Monger

Quackshot (starring Donald Duck)

Radical Rex

Rambo 3

Ranger X

Rastan Saga 2

The Ren & Stimpy Show Presents: Stimpy's Invention

Revenge of Shinobi

Rings of Power

Ristar

Road Rash

Road Rash 2

Road Rash 3

RoboCop vs. The Terminator

Rock N' Roll Racing

Rocket Knight Adventures

Rolling Thunder 2

Sagaia

Saint Sword

Samurai Shodown

Saturday Night Slam Masters

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi

Shadow of the Beast

Shadow of the Beast 2

Shadowrun (good luck finding this one on eBay, too)

Shining Force

Shining in the Darkness

Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master

Sol-Deace

Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Space Harrier 2

Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2

Splatterhouse 2

Splatterhouse 3

Starflight (in many ways, the spiritual predecessor to BioWare's Mass Effect)

Street Fighter 2: Special Championship Edition

Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage 2

Streets of Rage 3

Strider

Sub-Terrania

Sunset Riders

Super Fantasy Zone

Super Hang-On

Super Hydlide

Super Monoco GP

Sword of Vermillion

Syd of Valis

Syndicate

Target Earth (Assault Suit Leynos)

Taz-Mania

Tecmo Super Bowl

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist

The Terminator

Thunder Force 2

Thunder Force 3

Tinhead

Todd's Adventures in Slime World

Toe Jam & Earl

Toe Jam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron

Toki: Going Ape Spit (the original title for this game was simply, Ape Shit)

Trouble Shooter

Truxton

Turrican

Two Crude Dudes

Two Tribes: Populous 2

Ultimate Qix

Universal Soldier (more like Turrican, reskinned)

Urban Strike: The Sequel to Jungle Strike

Valis

Valis 3

Vapor Trail

Vectorman

Vectorman 2

Viewpoint

Virtua Fighter 2

Virtua Racing

Wardner

Warrior of Rome

Warrior of Rome 2

Warsong (Langrisser)

Weaponlord

Whip Rush

Wings of Wor

Wonder Boy 3: Monster Lair

Wonder Boy in Monster World

X-Men 2: Clone Wars

Ys 3: Wanderers From Ys

Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel

Zero Wing (All your base are belong to us.)

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

 Reply

I know Altered Beast came with the system, so that is my first game, and I purchased Ghouls 'N Ghost a week later (took me three months of off and on play to beat that monster), so that was my second game. And I think the next one after that was Mystic Defender. Other games I remember picking up during the first year (when the Genny's release schedule was still pretty slow) were Truxton, Super Hydlide, Kid Chameleon, Alex Kidd, Ghostbusters, Forgotten Worlds, Target Earth, Herzog Zwei, Strider and Thunder Force 3. But after that, it all gets hazy. I may have picked up Rolling Thunder 2, Super Monaco GP, ESWAT, Rambo 3 and a few of the shooters like Hellfire and Whip Rush during that first year, but I am not so sure if those were year one or year two releases. Like I say, the purchase order gets kinda hazy after a certain point.

Genesis was the first console I owned where I had the money to buy my own games, so it was the first console where my "gaming addiction" was allowed to set in proper - I lapped up games on it like a starving man at a 5-star restaurant with a free buffet. The following year, I bartered a friend out of his TurboGrafx-16 (and games), picked up the SNES at launch in 1991, and the rest was a hazy, gluttonous, 16-bit video gaming orgy that lasted until sometime in 1995/1996.

Those really were the golden years of this industry. These days, I often feel really sorry for all the younger gamers who missed out. Most of today's gamers did not show up until well into the Playstation-era, and consequently, the mass corporatization of the hobby, that has made the 'bottomline' unevenly more important than innovation, inspiration and in a lot of cases, overall craftsmanship. Many gamers still have no clue on Earth, just how good gaming can be when creators are allowed to dream a little and push the boundaries more, seemingly at every other release. We're seeing a resurgence of some of that now with the indie game movement, but it still has not gotten to the level it was, back when a devteam did not have to worry about where the next paycheck was coming from, while they were off being creative. Back in the day, when SEGA and Nintendo and Hudson and EA and Capcom, etc. had your back, in most cases you were being paid to go out and do something no one had ever seen before. If indie developers had stable financial partners behind them today, like they used to back in the day, then who knows . . .

I digress. Back on the subject of my list above, I wonder if there is a complete list somewhere of the proper order in which these puppies (the actual games in my collection) were released, that could help jog my memory on when I bought each one?

 Reply