Trox's Top 5 SEGA Genesis Games

          The second console in our multi-system Top 5 Friday marathon with The Best Podcast is the 16-Bit SEGA Genesis. Putting together a list of the 5 best games from the Genesis is a bit more tricky for me as this might be the console that I spent the most time with as a child. A couple of years after I got the NES, I asked for a Super Nintendo for my birthday, and through the blundering of a few relatives I somehow ended up with a SEGA Genesis, and a SEGA Master system instead. While the Master system wasn't long for my bedroom entertainment stand, the Genesis ended up being the envy of many of my friends because most of them were only 'allowed' to have Super Nintendo. BEST MISTAKE EVER!

Does anyone else even remember this P.O.S.? Didn't think so...

NOW! ON TO THE COUNTDOWN!!!

 #5

          Madden NFL is the longest tenured video game franchise in gaming history apart from Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. Since the first Madden game was developed in 1988 the series has shipped over 85 million units worldwide. The first time I played Madden I was just starting to really understand NFL football, and I purchased a copy of '92 from a used game store. My uncle was really into football and I was really into video games, so I thought it would be cool to bring a football game home, practice so I could get really good with a team he hated, and then beat his ass with it until he bowed before his master...The best laid plans of mice and 8 year old gamers...
          He crushed me mercilessly about twice a day for a year or so, which planted an evil seed deep within my soul. When the new Madden game came out each year, I always knew that THIS would be my year...It never was. I persisted and continued to buy the new Madden ever year. Year after year. Torturing myself to be better than him until eventually, the student overthrew the teacher. I still pick up the midnight release of Madden every July, and most years I take the following day off from work to play it ALL DAY. Nowadays, my uncle can't come anywhere close to beating me (like most people who dare to challenge me). He still reflects back on his glory days when "the games were more pure, and there wasn't so much other bullshit going on." Being a sore loser runs in my family.

#4

        One of the ways I cheat just about anytime I am asked to name a top 5 or 10 or 100 of anything is by making selections which are intended to represent an entire class from a given subject. Now there was an entire mob of well-represented 2-D, toilet humor based, side-scrolling adventure games with an oddball protagonist for the SEGA Genesis. It just so happened that Toejam and Earl were my favorite. I enjoyed just about all of those games, and they seem dumb now, but looking back, Panic on Funkatron was my favorite of the lot.It was always cool to me how it had two main characters that were playable. Most games to that point which allowed a single player to control multiple characters were RPGs. For me it was influential because it pioneered the idea of having an in-game sidekick. Sure, Mario already had Yoshi, but Sonic never started kickin' it with Miles "Tails" Prower until Toejam and Earl laid down the groundwork. Other groaty heroes that our parents didn't want us playing with included....

 #3-TIE!

 

          A big part of this collaborative with my boys from The Best Podcast is to anticipate each others next move. As you can tell from listening, we're all good friends, and we know each other pretty well. That's why I can say with a fair amount of certainty that right now, upon seeing that I have a tie between Mortal Kombat and Super Street Fight II at my number 3 spot, Phinny of TBC is probably saying something like, "Oh Come on, Trox! It's called a top 5. Not a top 6!" Touche, sir. I just had to pair these 2 together though, for a number of reasons.

1.) I loved them equally. If you had a gun to my head, I don't think I could wholeheartedly say that one is 'better' than the other.

2.) These were the original yin and yang of fighting games at the time, and they also both marked the first time any developer, (or gamer) actually took a fighting game seriously. I loved the motion captures and risky next-level violence of MK, but SSFII had more relatable characters and a better story line. Also, it didn't hurt that I was much better at Street Fighter back in those days.

3.)The formula behind MK and SSFII is tried and true. Today games like Marvel Vs Capcom, Tekken, and even the new Mortal Kombat reboot invoke all of the same basic concepts as these 2 SEGA masterpieces. That's why, at the time, these games were always imitated (and in some cases blatantly ripped off) by other developers....

Over

And over

And over

And over

And over

And over again

 

 

	#2

The bottom line on this #2 pick is that everything about Beavis and Butthead screamed fun. Everyone at that time tuned into Beavis and Butthead every single week just to see what that would do next. Being able to control the ridiculous antics of the dynamic duo was a dream come true for any fan of the series.The missions and the dialogue mirrored the MTV cartoon right down to the voice actors (if they could even be called that back then). While other animated series's (weird word) tried to come out with edgy games featuring our favorite cartoons taking punchy little shots at pulp culture, none of them could hold a candle to Beavis and Butthead for the SEGA Genesis. Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, and even the best Disney games like Lion King and Aladdin didn't have a prayer next to this one. The SNES version of Beavis and Butthead sucked compared SEGA's which in a lot of ways was a big win. Usually if a game was on both systems, the SNES would win out. Here at TroxTalk I always try to remember my roots, and this game was a huge part of them. Sure it was tough to beat, and I would probably still require a strategy guide, but B&B for SEGA had GWAR!! THAT'S RIGHT, F'N GWAAARRR!!! And to think, most internet countdowns you'd come across would probably be trying to sell you on one of these games at the coveted #2 spot. Not TroxTalk. These games were fine..but something was missing... What key element didn't they possess? GWAAAAAAR!!!!!

#1

NBA Jam: Tournament Edition finishes up the Top 5 all time SEGA Genesis countdown, and I think it's the obvious choice. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the guys at TBC came to the same conclusion. You simply can't pick anything else to top this chart. It's impossible. Jam united gamers and sports fans alike under one roof. Kids who hated video games played Jam. Kids who never watched a pro basketball game in their whole life played Jam. Hell, me and my buddies still play Jam in our annual tourney. Sure, people were kinda pissed that his Airness Michael Jordan and the star of Shaq-Fu, Shaquille O'Neal weren't in the game, but we were all kept busy because about every 2 days a new report would come out revealing some new code to unlock secret playable characters. You couldn't actually play as Michael Keaton, Zach Morris, or Balky from Perfect Strangers. However, you could ball out as Bill Clinton, Heavy D, Frank Thomas (YEAH BIG HURT!), DJ Jazzy Jeff, and the Fresh Prince.

They even tried to remake this game in 2010 with updated rosters, better graphics, and the original cast and crew, but it still came up short. I thought there was a new king in town when I heard they were bringing back the "BOOMSHAKALAKA!" voice over guy, but the new retooled model just didn't feel the same. And I don't think anything ever will. That's why if you don't have NBA Jam at #1...well...you're wrong.

       That wraps up this weeks Top 5. Be sure to see how I did against my buddies at TheBestCast.com in their 27th episode. I'm about to go give that a listen right now myself. I bet those knobs picked Ecco the Dolphin... Anyway, it looks like we're keeping this thing moving along and next week we're gonna do a little SNES Top 5 action. I'll have some other new stuff for you next week too, so keep checking back. See you next time.


"CAN'T WAIT" - Bart Scott


 P.S. OH YEAH! I almost forgot. Here are a couple of hidden gems from the SEGA catalog for my Obligatory Hipster Picks. Or whatever. I don't care.