The Sega Genesis was Sega’s most successful game console. Like the Dreamcast, it sold well in the Unites States, well in Europe, but poorly in Japan, which caused most third parties to ignore it.

My Genesis/SNES comparison page has more info on the times and such.

A notable game is any game that featured unique gameplay mechanics, and/or featured an exceptional level of polish or completeness when compared to other games in its genre. If a notable game came out on multiple systems, without any losses that affect the gameplay on either system, it is included on both console's lists. If one version was first and/or better, the later/inferior version will have a comment about it, and it will be sorted out of the game count below as an inferior port.

If somebody finds game's status as notable questionable, all that somebody has to do is e-mail me and ask me why that particular game is on the list, or tell me specific gameplay related reasons why it shouldn't be, and I will reply.

This is not a list of popular games. The review site ratings are just an example of scores the games received, and have no influence on their placing on the list. If you want a popularity contest, go to www.gamerankings.com. They don't have any Sega systems but the Dreamcast though.

This list is also not just a list of my favorite games. For that list go to my favorite games section under game info and click on Library.

239 Notable Genesis, Sega CD, or 32X games, 16 more notable FMV games for Sega CD, 11 Sports titles and 6 import games.
E-mail me with suggestions or comments.



// Next Year //

August 1989

Altered Beast
Revenge of Shinobi
Herzog Zwei
Rambo 3
Thunder Force II
Super Thunder Blade
Space Harrier II
Ghouls N Ghosts

November 1989

Golden Axe
Super Hang On
Mystic Defender

December 1989

Truxton

January 1990

Afterburner II
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

February 1990

Phantasy Star II
MUSHA

March 1990

Air Diver
Granada (Month unknown)

June 1990

Ghostbusters
Target Earth (Shooter blend, Assault Suits Leynos)
Thunder Force III (Month Unknown)

July 1990

Batman (Sunsoft game)
ESWAT: City Under Siege

August 1990

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

End year 1: 24 Titles

// Previous Year // Next Year //

September 1990

Sword of Vermillion
Strider

October 1990

Dick Tracy
Super Monaco GP (1st, not the 2nd one)
Forgotten Worlds (Month Unknown)

November 1990

Whip Rush
Mickey Mouse Castle of Illusion

December 1990

Sonic the Hedgehog
Shadow Dancer
Streets of Rage
Hellfire

January 1991

Faery Tale Adventure
AeroBlasters/Airbuster
Arcus Odyssey
Abrams A-1 Battletank (release unknown)
Alien Storm
Atomic Robo Kid
Bonanza Bros.
Mercs

February 1991

Star Control
Rings of Power (Month Unknown)

March 1991

Valis III
Spiderman (Genesis version)
Gaiares (Month Unknown)
Wanderers from Ys: Ys III (Month Unknown)

May 1991

Crack Down
Decap Attack
El Viento
Flicky
Phantasy Star III
Quackshot
Warsong
Buck Rogers (Month unknown)
Star Flight
Two Crude Dudes

June 1991

Marvel Land
Pac-Mania
ToeJam & Earl (Original, Not Panic on Funkatron)

July 1991

The Immortal

August 1991

Shining in the Darkness
Outrun
Joe & Mac


End Year 2 : 42 titles
66 Titles total

// Previous Year // Next Year //

September 1991

Wings of Wor
Ms Pac Man (Two-Player Simultaneous)





October 1991

Wonderboy in Monster World

November 1991

Rolling Thunder 2
Gain Ground



December 1991

Golden Axe II
Hard Driven’ (higher framerate than SNES version)
Road Blasters

January 1992

Alisia Dragoon
Super Fantasy Zone
Outlander
Rampart

February 1992

Steel Talons (Polygonal Chopper game, no special chip)

March 1992

Captain America and the Avengers
Bio-Hazard Battle


April 1992








May 1992

Championship Pro-Am
Road Rash 2 (Software scaling, 2-player split)

June 1992

Kid Chameleon
Splatterhouse 2

July 1992

Mick & Mack: Global Gladiators


August 1992

Chakan: The Forever Man
Uncharted Waters
Galaxy Force II






End Year 3: 23 Titles
88 Titles Total

// Previous Year // Next Year //

September 1992

Liberty or Death
Lightening Force
Tazmania

October 1992

D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun



November 1992

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Soul Feace (Sega CD)
The Secret of Monkey Island (Sega CD)



December 1992

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist
World of Illusion:Starring MickeyMouse & DonaldDuck
Gemfire

January 1993

Streets of Rage 2
Cool Spot

February 1993

Battletoads vs. Double Dragon
Cyborg Justice
Jurassic Park (Sega CD)

March 1993

Final Fight CD (Sega CD)
Splatterhouse 3
Land Stalker
The Terminator (Sega CD)
Gauntlet 4
Sunset Riders
Shining Force

April 1993







May 1993

Batman Returns (Sega CD version)
Flashback (SegaCD)
Racing Aces (Unique airplane racing/combat) (Month unknown)
Pirates! Gold
Skitchin' (early extreme sports game)
Tiny Toons Acme All Stars

June 1993

Ecco the Dolphin (Sega CD)
Elemental Master
Sorcerer's Kingdom

July 1993

Battletoads
Shinobi III
Zombies Ate My Neighbors
ThunderStrike (Sega CD)
Gley Lancer
Pulseman

August 1993

Vapor Trail
Rocket Knight Adventures
Haunting Starring Polterguy
Tyrants
Eternal Champions
Silpheed (Sega CD) (Month and Year unknown)
General Chaos
James Pond 2: Robocod
Wiz & Liz

End Year 4: 46 Titles
137 Titles Total

// Previous Year // Next Year //

September 1993

Street Fighter 2: Special Championship Edition
Sonic CD (Sega CD)
Gunstar Heroes
ToeJam & Earl Panic on Funkatron
Ranger X (128+ Colors on Screen & Unique gameplay)






October 1993

Ecco the Dolphin 2 (Sega CD)
Dune 2 (Sega CD)
Saturday Night Slam Masters



November 1993

Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine / Puyo Puyo
Aladdin (Shiny developed full cartoon animated characters)
Spiderman (Sega CD)
Stellar Fire (Real time polygonal shooter) (Sega CD)
Sonic Spinball



December 1993

Jungle Strike










January 1994

Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Genghis Khan 2: Clan of the Grey Wolf

February 1994

Terminator 2 the Arcade game (With Menacer gun)
Lemmings




March 1994

Castlevania Bloodlines
Streets of Rage 3
Out of this World: Heart of the Alien (SegaCD)
Lion King
Mansion of Hidden Souls (FMV CGI, Sega CD) (Month unknown)
Virtua Racing (VDP chipped Genesis game)
Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition

April 1994

Super Street Fighter II
Side Pocket (Well designed pool game)
Vay (Sega CD)
Earthworm Jim (Shiny developed cartoon animation)
Fatal Fury 2
King of the Monsters 2
Rock N Roll Racing
Samurai Showdown
Zero Tolerance (FPS, no special chip)
Pac Man 2 - The New Adventures
James Pond 3: Operation Starfish



May 1994

Aerobiz Supersonic
Battletech
Shadowrun
Columns 3(Five player!)
Sparkster
Jungle Book

June 1994

Shining Force II
Mega Turrican
The Punisher

August 1994

Dynamite Headdy
Phantasy Star IV
Lunar the Silver Star (Sega CD)
Contra Hard Corps
Outrun 2019
Fantastic Dizzy


End Year 5: 51 Titles
186 Titles Total

// Previous Year // Next Year //

September 1994

Sonic & Knuckles (Combined with Sonic 3)
MicroMachines
Race Driven’ (higher framerate than SNES version)
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Darkside (Sega CD)(Month unknown)
Fatal Fury Special (Sega CD) Best home version (Month Unknown)
Spider-Man & Venom - Maximum Carnage


October 1994

The Third World War (Sega CD) (Strategy-SIM)
Rise of the Dragon (Sega CD)
MicroMachines 2 (Month unknown)









November 1994

Shining Force CD (Sega CD)
Dark Wizard (Sega CD)
Snatcher (Sega CD)
Crusader of Centy
Red Zone (polygons, full screen rotation, FMV in cart)
Virtua Racing Deluxe (32X)
Space Harrier (32X)
After Burner Complete (32X)
Starwars Arcade (32X)

December 1994

Mortal Kombat II (32X) *Only* *Best home version*
Soul Star (Sega CD)
Android Assault (Sega CD)


January 1995

Earthworm Jim Special Edition (Sega CD)
Shadow Squadron (32X)
T-Mek (32X)
Toy Story

February 1995

Light Crusader
Zoop


March 1995

Mickey Mania (Sega CD)
Beyond Oasis

April 1995

Knuckle’s Chaotix (32X) (Originally Sonic 5)
Popful Mail (Sega CD)
Samurai Shodown (Sega CD)(Best version off Neo)

May 1995

Xmen 2: Clone Wars
The Ooze
Doom Troopers
MicroMachines 96’

June 1995

Lunar Eternal Blue (Sega CD)
Lords of Thunder (Sega CD)
Subterrania
Mega Bomberman
Ristar

July 1995



August 1995

Blackthorne (32X)
VectorMan 1
Scooby Doo



End Year 6: 44 Titles
231 Total Titles

// Previous Year // Top //

September 1995

Ah! Real Monsters
Comix Zone
Weapon Lord
(Month unknown)


October 1995

Virtua Fighter (32X)
Mortal Kombat 3 (Sculptured Software developed)


































August 1996

Vectorman 2


September 1996

Earthworm Jim 2 (Shiny developed full cartoon animated characters)









March 1997

Virtua Fighter 2

January 1997

Jurassic Park The Lost World


Final: 9 Titles
239 Total Titles

// Previous Year // Top //

Sports:11
Joe Montana Sports Talk Football (Special mention for real time commentary in a cart game)
Sensible Soccer
Arch Rivals
NBA Jam Tournament Edition (32X)
NBA Jam
NHL 94' (preferably Sega CD)
NFL 94' (Rotoscoped Sports Talk game)
Madden (any)
Coach K
Rugby 95
World Series Baseball


Full Motion Video(All Sega CD): 16
Double Switch
Corpse Killer (32X&SegaCD!)
Cadillacs & Dinosaurs
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Real time full motion room movement)
Fahrenheit (32X optional)
Ground Zero Texas
C&C Music Factory: Make my Video
Night Trap (Got banned out of ignorance, 32X has the best version)
Price Fighter (Innovative Fighting game)
Road Avenger
Sewer Shark (Won awards!)
Supreme Warrior (32XCD) (Unique fighter)
Tomcat Alley
Ground Zero Texas
Time Gal
Dragon’s Lair

Imports:

Shooter:
Alien Soldier
Megaman The Wiley Wars

Beat-em up:
Bare Knuckle 3
Golden Axe 3

Action/RPG:
Monster World IV

Other:
Yu Yu Hakusho

Honorable Mention:
Sonic 3D Blast (Raster effect generated Mode 7 special zones)
Boogerman (Shiny developed full cartoon animated characters)
James Pond 2 Robocod