MD Reviews, Mega Drive Reviews - Page 2 of 4

It’s a dark and stormy night in the kingdom of Granseal when a thief steals two jewels from the Tower of the Ancients.

The original Shining Force was a massive success for Sega, granting the Genesis/Megadrive with a strategy RPG to rival Nintendo’s popular Fire Emblem franchise. A sequel of some description was inevitable and when it arrived the result was truly mind-blowing; it’s little..

Rick, once again encounters the Terror Mask and must use its powers to rescue his beloved Jennifer.

Rick is back! After the Terror Mask from the first Splatterhouse comes back and tells him his girlfriend (Who seemingly meets an unpleasant fate in the first game) can still be saved, Rick puts on the mask again, and goes back to the remains of the mansion to locate another house nearby, which is..

Take on the role of Opa-Opa, who is on a mission to avenge the death of his father.

Given that the original Fantasy Zone achieved quite a cult status in arcades and on the various 8-bit consoles of the time period, it's certainly no surprise that the game spawned a few sequels and spin-offs. Super Fantasy Zone represents what many fans of the series consider to be the best overall Fantasy Zone..

In the year 2025, a war breaks out between humans and a hostile alien race.

The Virtual Console certainly isn’t short of 2D shooters. We’ve seen some excellent (and not so excellent) examples of the genre come and go, but most of the games we’ve experienced so far are retro classics and will have been familiar to fans already. Gley Lancer, on the other hand, might not ring any bells with you..

As Rhys, the crown prince of the Orakian kingdom of Landen, you are engaged to be married to Maia, a woman from a rival kingdom.

By the time Phantasy Star III was released the series was well on its way to becoming a solid favourite with Western Sega fans, having already become pretty famous in its homeland Japan. With the third game Sega decided to make some sweeping alterations, but the core..

Eight different teams representing various nations are vying to become the Powerball champions, and you control one of the eight in your quest for the championship.

This forgotten futuristic sports game by Namco undoubtedly takes some inspiration from Speedball 2, which was really popular at the time. The basic premise is that Powerball is a futuristic sport that takes the brutal elements of rugby..

The Machine has enslaved the galaxy under its tyrannical rule.

I know what you’re all thinking: why have another Turrican title on the Virtual Console when we’ve only recently been blessed with the delights of the sublime Super Turrican – especially when you consider these 16-bit titles look very much the same? However, while it’s true that Mega and Super Turrican do share some design..

More Puyo Puyo fun for the Virtual Console.

We’ve already experienced the first Puyo Puyo title on the Virtual Console, although you may not have noticed as the western version was retooled as Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. As far as laying down the foundations of the Puyo Puyo franchise, it’s not a bad game at all, but it was undoubtedly trumped in pretty much every respect by this..

Hailed as one of the greatest games of all time by fans and media alike, Phantasy Star II is an RPG that features an epic storyline and turn-based battles.

The original Phantasy Star never really had the impact it deserved, mainly thanks to the fact that its host platform - the Sega Master System – failed to sell in significant numbers in the US. The series would have to wait until the..

Oooh it's the revenge of Columns - I'm really scared!

Sega’s answer to Tetris is back once again. The first Columns has already been released on the Virtual Console and Sega never bothered to port the Columns II arcade game to the Megadrive/Genesis, so we swiftly move on to Columns III. While not terribly innovative in terms of concept, the original Columns should be commended for paving the way..

Shape-shifting aliens have infiltrated the city, creating chaos and panic!

There’s an alien invasion. Save the people! Kill the aliens! Not the most original premise for a game, granted, but Alien Storm carries its heart on its sleeve. Pretensions of artistry and greatness are laid aside; the story serves only as fodder to introduce baddies that can be slain with minimal pangs of guilt and..

Take the role of Sir David in this action-RPG and get to the bottom of the mysteries of Green Row.

After dazzling Megadrive/Genesis owners with the likes of Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy (let’s forget Ronald’s McDonaldland Adventure for now), Treasure turned its talents to the Action RPG genre with this 1995 release. Published in the twilight years of Sega’s 16-bit machine, Light..

In this follow-up to the original classic, you are once again a member of Interpol's Rolling Thunder task force.

Rolling Thunder 2 is a conversion of Namco’s 1990 sequel to its original James Bond themed Shinobi-like game. The Megadrive home version is faithful to the arcade original in terms of gameplay and features a few improvements, including cut scenes between levels that feature some lovely..

This 2-D fighting game introduces a cast of different characters that met untimely deaths in their lives on Earth.

Released at a time when Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat were both selling like hotcakes, Eternal Champions may have had players thinking it was an exploitative cash-in to make Sega a quick buck. This could not be further from the truth. Eternal Champions may share many of the same..

The aquatic adventures of Ecco come to life for a younger generation of gamers.

Ouch - what happened here? Ecco the Dolphin, suddenly transformed into a kid-friendly educational game? In this game, you play as Ecco Jr., a younger version of Ecco, or one of his two friends (Tara the baby orca or Kitnee the baby Atlantic dolphin). There is no real difference between them besides looks, however. When..

As Epsilon-Eagle, you are an alien soldier who has been genetically-engineered to produce maximum intelligence and strength.

Treasure produced some of the finest games for the Sega Megadrive such as Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy, both of which are available on the Virtual Console. Alien Soldier follows in that great Treasure tradition by being a great game that shows off what Sega’s 16 bit..

The evil Dr. Eggman stumbles upon an alternate dimension where some odd birds called Flickies have the ability to travel anywhere.

After producing three Sonic titles for the Genesis/Megadrive Sega decided to do something a little different – instead of creating another platformer they produced an isometric adventure with CGI rendered graphics, and...

The once-peaceful kingdom so familiar to fans of the original Golden Axe is under threat once again.

If you’ve played Golden Axe 2 then you will no doubt be aware that it’s a little too similar to its predecessor. When Sega came to create the third game in the Megadrive trilogy it obviously realized that a sweeping change was in order. Sadly,...

Just when you thought the world was safe from the Syndicate and its shady leader, Mr. X, they have returned to torment the city once again.

Streets of Rage 3 has been the victim of much flak over the past few years. Coming after the sublime Streets of Rage 2, the third installment had a fight (ho-ho!) on its hands to better such a fantastic game. On paper, it certainly seems like it should be up to..