This is my personal game selection. I also share any eventual reasons to get a specific version, use overclocking or apply a patch (hack).
A lot of Megadrive / Genesis games are the same for all regions (excluding boxes and artworks), but there are some exceptions especially if you want to play in 60hz.
Meaning of the columns :
- PAL OPT : tell wether the PAL version has been optimized for 50Hz, thus cannot be played at 60Hz
- PAL : the game has been released in PAL regions
- JAP: the game has been released in Japan
- US : the game has been released in North America as a Genesis version
- O/C : tell weither the game should be played with en overclocked console (10 or 12 Mhz)
It is important to note that an overclocked Megadrive should not be connected to a MegaCD as it makes the console crashes randomly because the MegaCD’s 68000 processor must synchronize with the Megadrive’s one
Last edited on : 06.11.2023
| Game | Type | PAL Opt | PAL | JAP | US | O/C | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Strike | Tactical shoot'em up | x | x | don't forget to straff (keep A button pressed). Better than Snes version because it is not censored and have a larger viewing area | |||
| Jungle Strike | Tactical shoot'em up | x | x | don't forget to straff (keep A button pressed) | |||
| Urban Strike | Tactical shoot'em up | x | x | don't forget to straff (keep A button pressed), good introduction to the "strike" serie as it is a bit easier than its predecessors | |||
| Marvel land / Talmit's adventure | Plateformer | x | x | x | Sometime a bit challenging but the game offers a password system and infinite continus, which makes it pleasant to play. Through, end level bosses are minigames that can sometime be very frustrating. Playing with overclocked CPU wipe off slowdowns at a price of some few graphical glitches |
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| Revenge of Shinobi / Super Shinobi | Hack & slash | x | x | x | You can apply a hack that allows to save progression each time you loose a life. Using the infinite shurikens trick makes the game a bit easier | ||
| Strider | Hack & slash | x | x | x | Prefer the Japanese version which has a few more digitized speaches and the has the orignal "wha" sound when using the saber | ||
| Tiny Toon Buster's Hidden Treasure | Plateformer | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ (there is no japanese version of this game) | ||
| Aladdin | Plateformer | x | x | x | x | Use US or JAP version to play in 60Hz | |
| Coolspot | Plateformer | x | x | PAL version is censored. Use US version to get the real original game. This version is better than the SNES one because enemies don't respawn, which makes level exploration a lot more pleasant. | |||
| Darius extra version | Shoot'em up | x | Exclusive reedition for the Megadrive / Genesis. The best way to enjoy this game (better than the arcade version) | ||||
| Sonic 1 | Plateformer | x | x | x | x | Prefer the JAP version as it contains more parallaxes than US and PAL version and the levels are in a better order regarding the proposed challenge. Note that the cheat code to get level select screen is not the same in the JAP version. With an overclocked system, there is no more slowdown when Sonic loose a lot of rings. | |
| Sonic 2 | Plateformer | x | x | x | x | The game automaticaly adapt the music for 50hz or 60hz during the boot. However, the code is the same in all cartridges, so PAL version can work without any problem in NTSC. Note that the controls react slowly in PAL compared to NTSC. This become an advantage only when you play super sonic. You should play it with an overclocked console to avoid slowdown (very frequent in 2 players mode). However, this makes the bonus stage a bit harder. |
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| Sonic 3 | Plateformer | x | x | x | The cartridge has a zone protection. If you want to play the physical version in 60Hz, use a modded console to use the US or JAP cartridge. Alternatively, you can put the cartridge on top of Sonic & Knukles to "disable" the zone protection. Playing overclocked is not recommended, even if it reduces slowdown, because it makes the game crash from time to time. |
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| Sonic & knukles | Plateformer | x | x | x | x | This game is not zoned and allows to play Sonic 3 PAL in 60Hz... But not at the correct speed. Playing overclocked remove some slowdown, typically when you loose all your rings. |
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| Sonic spinball | Pinball / Plateformer | x | x | x | x | x | Use US or JAP version to play in 60Hz. Playing with an overclocked console makes the game smoother and reduces slowdown |
| Burning force | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | Regarding the original physical version, I prefer the JAP artwork which takes the full box space. | ||
| Road Rash 2 | Racing | x | x | x | The best Road Rash game on the platform : better gameplay than the first episode and faster than the third. Playing with an overclocked CPU provides a better framerate. | ||
| Power Drive | Racing | x | x | x | Better gameplay than the SNES version : smoother framerate, bigger viewing area and nore detailled graphics. | ||
| Super Fantasy zone | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | Megadrive / Genesis exclusive game which is sometime considered better than the orignal Fantasy Zone. Vibrant colors et exellent musics : who said that the megadrive was not able to run games that look like SNES one ? 🙂 | ||
| Vectorman | Action / plateformer | x | x | x | One of latest game on the plateform. It clearly shows what the console had to offer in terms of graphical effects | ||
| Magical Hat no Buttobi T?bo! Daib?ken | Plateformer | x | This game has been converted to "Decap Attack" for US and PAL markets, but they are quite different games. | ||||
| Golden Axe | Beat'em all | x | x | x | Obviously dawngraded from the Arcade version, but graphics are more contrasted on Megadrive. I find this port better than the Pc-Engine CD and the Amiga versions | ||
| Golden Axe 2 | Beat'em all | x | x | x | Exclusive to the plateform. On real Hardware, the game does not work correctly with a 6 buttons pad unless you press the "mode" button while booting the game. Regarding the physical game package, I prefer the PAL and US artwork | ||
| Rolling Thunder 2 | Run & gun | x | x | x | I find the gameplay similar to the first Shinobi. It's more a "walk & run" as you have to take your time to shoot enemies and dodge attacks. This port provides extra stages and cut scenes in comparison to the Arcade version. | ||
| Rolling Thunder 3 | Run & gun | x | x | x | Similar tho Rolling Thunder 2 with the following mains differences : better graphics, you can shoot in all 8 directions, you can choose your secondary weapon, there is a password mecanism and there is no 2 players mode. | ||
| Virtua Racing | Racing | x | x | x | x | By far not the best home console version, but seeing this 3D game on Megadrive is pretty fun. The game use a dedicated processor in the cartridge to rasterize 3D graphics. On real hardware, use the JAP or US version to play in 60Hz because of the coprocessor that must be in sync with the refresh rate and the CPU (for this reason, it is not possible to play it with an overclocked megadrive) | |
| Castle of illusion | Plateformer | x | x | x | Exclusive to the plateform (the Master System / Game Gear version is a different game) | ||
| World of illusion | Plateformer | x | x | x | x | Exclusive to the plateform. Playing with an overclocked system remove slowdown in co-op mode | |
| Super Hang-On | Racing | x | x | x | Sequel to the arcade version, this one is more complete with an additional championship mode. You can hold A and START on main menu to get into an "hidden" option menu. Playing this game with an overclocked megadrive is a bit smoother. | ||
| Batman | Action / plateformer | x | x | x | Probably the game that best reproduces the original feeling of the 1989's movie. This version is basicaly the same as the NES one, but more polished and a bit easier. | ||
| Micromachine 2 | Racing | x | x | This second version has a wider playfield (320x224) than the first one or the SNES version. Regarding the physical cartridge, there is two versions. You should get the one with additional joypad ports as it allows saving and support up to 4 players without an additional joypad adapter (J-Cart) | |||
| Pete Sampras Tennis | Sport | x | x | May be considered as the best tennis game on the platform. The cartridge has two additionnal joypad ports (J-cart) allowing up to 4 players. The funniest game mode can be unlocked by entereing "ZEPPELIN" on the world tour screen. During the game, press START+DOWN+LEFT to protest against referee decision (no impact on the decision itselft) |
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| ESwat | Action / plateformer | x | x | x | The quality of this game is not unanimous. The game play is a bit rigid, but I find the game very pleasant if you take your time. The music stay in your ears, the digitized voices have a pretty good quality for its time and the difficulty is progressive. There is no save nor password, but level select throught a cheat code at Game Over screen (hold DOWN and LEFT, A, B and C, then press START until the music repeats) | ||
| The cursed knight | Run & gun / shooter | x | x | x | An exellent recipe of a modern game on a more than 20 years old hardware. Exellent die and retry game. | ||
| Puyo Puyo | Puzzle | x | The US and PAL is named "Dr Robotnik's machin" and miss some music and digits regarding the orignal JAP version. | ||||
| QuackShot | Plateformer | x | x | x | Exclusive to the system | ||
| Wonderboy in monster world | Action RPG | x | x | x | One of the few Megadrive games that allows to save your progression without a password. | ||
| Wonderboy III : monster lair | Plateformer / Shoot'em up | x | x | x | x | Play with an overclocked system to get rid of the slowdowns. You may prefer the PC-Engine Cd as it has better musics and more levels, at the price of missing parallax and animations |
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| Monster World IV | Action RPG | x | Exclusive to the system, released only in Japan. A patch exists to get english texts. One of the few Megadrive games that allows to save your progression without a password |
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| Dick Tracy | Action | x | x | x | Exclusive to the system (well, it has been converted for the master system) | ||
| Wizz & Lizz | Plateformer / puzzle | x | x | This game has been ported to the Amiga | |||
| Atomic Runner | Run & Gun | x | x | x | This port is superior to the orignal Arcade game : better graphics and more parallax | ||
| Jungle Book | Plateformer | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ | ||
| Streets of rage (Bare Knuckle) | Beat'em all | x | x | x | x | Play with an overclocked to reduce slowdown when there are a lot of enemies on screen. | |
| Streets of rage 2 (Bare Knuckle 2) | Beat'em all | x | x | x | Maybe the best beat'em all of the platform | ||
| Streets of rage 3 (Bare Knuckle 3) | Beat'em all | x | x | x | |||
| Animaniacs | Plateformer / puzzle | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ This game is exclusive to the system (it is not the same as the SNES version) |
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| Gouls'n ghost (Daimakamura) | Plateformer | x | x | x | |||
| Flashback | Action | x | x | x | x | Play with an overclocked to reduce slowdown in later stages. You may prefer the MegaCD version which provides more cut scenes and CD musics. This game was initialy created for the Megadrive, despite the Amiga version came first on the market. | |
| Rolo to the rescue (Zou! Zou! Zou! Rescue Daisakusen) | Plateformer | x | x | x | |||
| Tiny Toons : buster hidden treasure | Plateformer | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ | ||
| Magical Taruruto-kun | Plateformer | x | This game is another proof that the Megadrive was capable to output vibrant colors, like the SNES | ||||
| Dynamite Heady | Plateformer | x | x | x | Prefer the original JAP version, it provides a more fair challenge and 2 continues, whereas PAL and US versions has no continue and harder bosses. | ||
| Panorama Cotton | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | x | ||
| Thunder Force IV | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | x | ||
| Bio-Hazard Battle (Crying) | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | x | ||
| Castlevania (Bloodlines / Vampire Killer / The New Generation) | Action | x | x | x | The PAL version is censored, the US version is a bit harder than the JAP one as some boss need more hits All in all, I personnaly prefer the JAP version : not censored, 60hz and fair challenge. |
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| Comix Zone | Beat'em up | x | x | x | x | Use US or JAP version to play in 60Hz | |
| Mega Turrican | Run & gun | x | x | This game has been released on Amiga, but the Megadrive version has better graphics. | |||
| Empire of Steel | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | x | The game has been ported to GBA. It has better graphics but the actions is more zoomed-in. |
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| Acme All stars | Sport | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ | ||
| Battle mania (Trouble shooter) | Shoot'em up | x | x | ||||
| Battle mania 2 | Shoot'em up | x | A patch exists to get english text, but it's not really necessary to appreciate the game | ||||
| Aero the Acrobat 2 | Plateformer | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ Some may prefer the SNES version because it has more colors and better sound tracks, but the wider resolution and more contrasted colors of the Genesis makes the gameplay a bit better on it. |
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| Verytext | Shoot'em up | x | |||||
| Dinausaurs for hire | Run & gun | x | |||||
| High seas havoc | Plateformer | x | x | x | Get the US or JAP version, it has a addional "level 0" | ||
| Water Margin | Beat'em all | x | x | x | Thi game was released only in chinese and taiwanes market in 1996. It has been tranlated to english and published in 2018 for all Megadrive versions |
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| Toy Story | Plateformer | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ There is an SRAM patch that allows saving your progression. The game is a bit too long / too hard without this patch |
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| Phelios | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | |||
| Gynoug | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | |||
| Kid Chameleon | Plateformer | x | x | This game is practicaly unfinishable without SRAM patch to save your progession (99 levels !) | |||
| Ninja Turtles hyperstone heist | Beat'em all | x | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ A hack from "Pyron" enhance the graphics / provides better colors Playing with an overclocked system to reduce slowdown |
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| Ex-Ranza (Ranger X) | Run & gun | x | x | x | |||
| Splatter House 2 | Beat'em all | x | x | x | The PAL version can be played at 60hz and provides a password system : seems to be the best version on the system | ||
| Twinkle tale | Shoot'em up | x | |||||
| Joe & Mac | Plateformer / action | x | Better than the Snes version in terms of arcade feeling. A hack from "Pyron" greatly enhance the game's colors | ||||
| Rocket Knight adventure | Run & gun | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ | ||
| Contrat hard corps | Run & gun | x | x | x | The JAP release is more fair with 3 hits allowed before dying and infinite continues | ||
| Yu yu hakusho : makai touitsou sen | Fighting | x | This game allows up to 4 players if you have the required adapter | ||||
| Advanced Busterhawk Gleylancer | Shoot'em up | x | |||||
| Adventures of Batman and Robin | Run & gun / Shoot'em up | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ This game has plenty of graphical effects that show what the megadrive is capable of ! |
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| Alien Soldier | Run & gun | x | x | Use US or JAP version to play in 60Hz Playing with an overclocked system to reduce slowdown |
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| Clan of Heroes - Generals of the Yang Family | Beat'em all | x | x | x | Aftermaket game published on 2018 | ||
| Crusader of centy (Soleil) | Action RPG | x | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60HZ | |
| Donald in Maui Mallard | Platformer | x | x | x | The same exists for SNES, but the level design and gameplay are differents. | ||
| Dragon's Revenge | Pinball | x | |||||
| Gaiares | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | Playing with an overclocked system to reduce slowdown | ||
| Grind Stormer (V-five) | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | |||
| Gunstar Heroes | Run & gun | x | x | x | x | A game gear version exists | |
| Herzog Zwei | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | |||
| Insector X | Shoot'em up | x | A famicom version exists | ||||
| Jim Power - The Lost Dimension in 3D | Action | x | x | x | Aftermarket release. Beautifull game but very hard | ||
| Story of Thor (Beyond the oasis) | Action RPG | x | x | x | |||
| M.U.S.H.A | Shoot'em up | x | x | One of the best shooters of the platform. The Japan Version of Musha exists with "black-white" stiker (first revisions) and black one |
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| Midnight Resistance | Run & gun | x | |||||
| Pepenga Pengo | Puzzle | x | |||||
| Pulseman | Action | x | x | x | |||
| Shadow Dancer - The Secret of Shinobi | Action | x | x | x | |||
| Shinobi III - Return of the Ninja Master | Action | x | x | x | |||
| Space Harrier II | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | |||
| Splatterhouse 3 | Beat'em all | x | x | ||||
| Street Fighter II REMASTER | Fighting | x | x | x | The remaster (hack) makes this version superior to the SNES one | ||
| Valis III | Action | x | x | x | |||
| Xeno Crisis (Aftermarket) | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | Aftermarket release | ||
| Ristar | Platformer | x | x | x | The game also exists on Game Gear, but it has less levels and some differences in gameplay | ||
| F1 Championship | Racing | x | x | x | Also known as Vroom on Atari ST and Amiga. Play with an overclocked megadrive to get an even better framerate | ||
| Whip Rush | Shoot'em up | x | x | Relatively accessible for the genre in easy mode | |||
| Tanglewood | Plateformer / puzzle | x | x | Aftermarket release |
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Tournament Fighters | Fighting | x | x | x | Use the US version to play in 60Hz. A good game for sure, but not as good as the SNES version | ||
| Psycho Pinball | Pinball | x | x | x | The game cannot be played correctly in 60Hz (bad scrolling). No more slowdown with an overclocked CPU | ||
| Greendog | Platformer | x | x | x | this game is rarely appreciated, but I like its atmosphere despite its mediocre controls | ||
| Markos magic football | Platformer | x | x | Better than on SNES because of the wider viewport. There is also a version for MegaCD which is basicaly the same as megadrive but with rearranged music. |
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| Alien Storm | Beat'em all | x | x | x | Also exists on master system nad has beem re-edited a lot (ps3, wii-u, xbox, switch) | ||
| Hellfire | Shoot'em up | x | x | x | Interesting game play based on frequently weapon change. Console version is more playable (easier) than the original Arcade game. It also exists on PC-Engine CD, and deserves a try (even easier, with remixed music) but the megadrive version seems to be the more balanced port in every aspects. Beware not to get to many speed boost 🙂 |
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| Mr. Nutz | Platformer | x | The game is the same as the SNES one. The Megadrive version offers better contrast and a password system. As the game is pretty hard and long, it is better to play with this version. Also, a patch exists to get the game in 320x224 instead of 256x224, which definitly makes this version the best 🙂 | ||||
| Kawasaki Superbike Challenge | Racing | x | x | Based on the same engine as F1 Championship, but don't use overclock this time, or it become unplayable (too fast). Don't even look at the SNES version, there cleary not the same gameplay. |
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| Spots goes to hollywood | Platformer | x | x | The game also exits on Sega Saturn, but it is not the same. The megadrive version has more varied levels |