games @hexbear.net TheronGuard [he/him] @hexbear.net 4 mo. ago

Recommend me some Mega Drive/Saturn/Dreamcast games

I upgraded my handheld emulation setup and can now do up to Dreamcast (N64 and PSP too) on the go but I don't really know what to try out. There are a couple of DC games I've played the PS2 versions of like Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Dead Or Alive 2, which I used to test out how well Redream and Flycast worked but beyond that I'm not sure what to grab thonk

It would be fun to give Saturn emulation a shot as well but I'm not sure if it'll even be playable. From what I've read, in terms of emulation on Android devices, Saturn sits somewhere between the DC/N64/PSP tier and the Gamecube/PS2/3DS tier in hardware requirements. I figured I might as well ask for MD/Genesis recommendations to round out the Sega systems.

21 comments

Mega Drive:

Gunstar Heroes

Dynamite Headdy

Ranger-X

Eliminate Down

Road Rash 2

Thunder Force II-IV

Castlevania Bloodlines

Rocket Knight Adventures

Contra Hard Corps

Saturn:

Blast Wind

Radiant Silvergun

Shinrei Jusatsushi Tarōmaru

Bulk Slash

Burning Rangers

Decathlete

Winter Heat

Sōkyūgurentai

Dreamcast:

Hydro Thunder

Soulcalibur

Virtua Tennis 1 and 2

Bangai-O

Border Down

Giant Gram 2000

Dynamite Cop

Ikaruga

Metropolis Street Racer
- Extremely seconding Gunstar Heroes. Great, silly bullet hell style sch'mup. Weird and colourful. Cool simple weapon combo system. Great sound.
Not sure if there were Mega Drive versions of any of these games but here's some I loved on the Master System as a kid:

Fantasy Zone

Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Asterix

Alex Kidd in Miracle World

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World
Soul reaver and Spiderman are very good dreamcast ports that are vastly improved over the ps1 counterparts.
- I always forget how the Dreamcast shared games with both the PS1 and PS2.
Soul Calibur is my favorite fighting game on the DC. Illbleed and Blue Stinger (both made by the same company & director) are fantastic survival horror b-movie games. Shenmue is a cult favorite of mine. Virtua Fighter 3TB is cool. Seaman would be a great pick for a quirky game if it didn't require a dreamcast microphone. Sonic Adventure 1+2 best action platformer games on the DC. Jet Set Radio for that rollerblading goodness. Skies Of Arcadia is the best JRPG on the dreamcast.

Those are a few I played off the top of my head back in the day on my DC.
- Oh also check out Gundam Side Story it's a fun mecha fps game that's pretty good for an anime game.
These three Sega consoles are my childhood, Saturn is one of my favourite consoles despite it being generally seen in a negative light.

Mega Drive:

Story of Thor

Chaos Engine

Micro Machines games (2 turbo tournament was my fav)

Sonic games but specifically I really loved Sonic Spinball as an outlier.

Mega Bomberman

Bonanza Brothers

I could go on but I don't know what you have played before without just listing the greatest hits like Streets of Rage and the like.

Saturn:

Nights Into Dreams

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Guardian Heroes

Darkstalkers Revenge

Burning Rangers

Fighting Vipers or Fighters Megamix

Die Hard Arcade

Sega Rally

Sonic R

Saturn Bomberman (the greatest bomberman version that exists IMO)

I strongly recommend just exploring the Saturn in general as there is some great stuff out there, some of it janky as fuck but it is of its time.

Dreamcast

Space Channel 5

Power Stone 1 and 2

Crazy Taxi

Jet Set Radio

Chu Chu Rocket

Rival Schools (some amazing special moves in the best em up, I always remember the synchronised swimming guy)

Shenmue

All of these consoles are worth exploring though and these are just a few that come to mind straight away for me.
- I started with the PlayStation so both the SNES and MD are a bit before my time. I have delved into the SNES catalogue since there's lots of well-known and still talked about games and series for an easy jumping-off point. Streets of Rage isn't actually a bad recommendation at all, it'd probably fit my handheld use case very well. Do you have any favored Mega Drive/Genesis emulator on Android? I assume there's a RetroArch core (or three) for that
  
  I have no idea I'm afraid. Never emulated on android, I used to use I think it was called K Fusion on PC for a bit but tbh I've mostly played on original hardware :)
- Bonanza Bros is a classic for me. I had it on the Master System but it ran better on the Mega Drive. Funny, full of character, stealth platformer where you get to shoot cops / security / agents / soldiers while doing crimes and using Laurel & Hardy style disguises. Basically proto-Hitman.
  
  Ah, didn't know it was on the master system as well. I started my video game journey when I was 5 with a Mega Drive and never really played much master system beyond one Alex the Kidd game!
  
  I don't see bonanza bros mentioned very often though, glad someone else appreciates it :D
Industrial Spy: Operation Espionage on Dreamcast has you play as a team who perform heists and stuff. Kind of like a Rainbow Six-Puzzle-Stealth hybrid thing with Japanese characters.
Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense for the Dreamcast is a fun vehicular combat game to mess around in. I always found the mechanics to be more satisfying than other games.
- I have played Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense... but on the PS1. Maybe I should look into PS1 games that I like that got DC ports, though I will say that the Dreamcast having only 2 shoulder buttons is annoying when you're used to a game being able to use more, like with DOA2 where you have two less options for binding button combos
jet set radiooooooooooooooooooo (and ikaruga and crazy tazi, of course) for dreamcast. if you like rail shooters theres also the panzer dragoon series for the saturn. for genesis and sega cd, theres also the shining force series which are (mostly) srpgs
Dreamcast:

Seaman(must have working mic). Narrated by Leonard Nimoy, you take care of a Seaman, a fish/amphibian with a human face. You feed, educate, clean his tank. He'll even get sassy with you.

It's a very weird game, but definitely worth a try, if you can. It has its own spin on the "pet care simulator" style of things. I believe there was a sequel being planned, but if I remember right, it was cancelled over the poor reception towards the first game and the Dreamcast as a whole.
Sonic 1, 2, 3 & knuckles, CD

Then sonic pinball and sonic 3d blast.
- I second Sonic Spinball
Illbleed and Blue Stinger. They're like B-movie survival horror games and weird as hell. They're awesome. Drink a Hassy!

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