Four Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Games Have Been Added To Switch Online's Expansion Pack

Virtua Fighter 2? I'm completely down, will be playing!

Virtua Fighter was on Genesis? That's so weird to me, this is almost like a fan demake someone would make nowadays.

All of these are already available via the Genesis Collection that’s been out for a few years now.

I knew Virtua Fighter was on the 32X, but never that it was on the Mega Drive.

Apparently, and much like the MD version of Sonic 3D Blast, it wasn't released in Japan back then.

It’s nice to see people excited about Virtua Fighter, but unfortunately the Genesis version is awful. Hopefully the Yakuza games eventually come to Switch. Some of those games have the full arcade version of Virtua Fighter or Virtua Fighter 2 in them.

Good lineup. Golden Axe II in particular is very good.

@kkslider5552000 Sadly it was a 2D demake. VF only got 3D for the 32X port of the first game.

I actually liked the Mega Drive Virtua Fighter .. i know it's not the same and hated on some what but i kinda like its simplicity

@kkslider5552000 Yup, quite surprising really. I remember playing this on on Sega Channel back when I was a kid. It's cool they made it into a 2D fighter.

I also remember Sega making a Game Gear edition called Virtua Fighter Animation. Played that one later on though. It was crazy Sega tried to make versions of the games on older systems.

@GameOtaku Yup, played Virtua Fighter 2 on that collection, and I have the older PC release of this one Sega released a long time ago on their own website (thankfully, it was a DRM-free release too).

Didn't we do this one already? Did I die and got back in time?

Yay, 4 games I will never play because I won't buy NSO online expansion pass!

Wow that VF2 port is something I had no idea existed. It doesn’t exactly look great either.

Alien Storm and Golden Axe II are good.

Oh wow, aren't we all lucky! Nintendo has drip fed us plebs some more crumbs for 60 bucks a year!
Thank goodness for retroarch on series x, via dev mode (nothing else worth playing on that console as well) have been playing an abundance of genesis, snes, n64, gamecube games. Not to mention, the back compat 360 and og games, that's why for me, series x is best console at the moment.
I wouldve glady bought many of these games on switch if nintendo actually released any and "allowed" us to purchase them.

Probably not going to happen, but I'd like to have Splatterhouse and its sequel on this service.

Golden Axe II was a great choice though.

@nessisonett Didn't play great, either. A neat demake, for sure, but the fluidity of the Saturn game didn't transfer well.

I kinda have a soft spot for 16-bit Virtua Fighter 2.
It feels like a fan-made demake, and I kinda like it for that reason.
Plus the soundtrack makes good use of that crunchy Mega Drive soundfont.

Cool.

I love the Golden Axe games and Alien Storm looks like an interesting enough game.

No complaints about these titles, I just wish Nintendo showed more love to the SNES and NES. There are plenty more titles they can throw up on those two systems, but they just don't.

All already available on the Sega Collection :-/

When are you coming out with new SNES games, Nintendo??

I saw Virtua Fighter and got excited for a sec but then I remembered it's the Genesis Port.

Not bad, but man why won't Nintendo just put some newer consoles on?!?

@TruthisRare couldn’t have said it better myself! The greed is just ridiculous! The No purchase option is STUPID! Thank the lord I have a bunch of modded systems loaded to the max. And if You wait for Nintendo to get around to more modern consoles like Cube and Wii on the switch you’ll be dead and forgotten lol 😂

I think they really need to start adding SEGA/Mega CD games to the Mega Drive app to really make it more interesting and not repeatable. The Mini 2 had 12 so they could easily milk those with some MD games.

When will we get the actual Virtua Fighter 2? I'm surprise the Genesis version got re-release this many times over the real version, that version wasn't even that good.

I’m kinda surprised that quite a few people weren’t aware of a Genesis version of Virtua Fighter 2. I honestly don’t like that version.

@Sunsy Virtua Fighter Animation on Sega Game Gear and Sega Master System was based more on the Virtua Fighter anime than the games. The entire story mode of that game covers both seasons 1 & 2 of the anime. Strangely even though Jeffry McWild, Lion Rafale, and Shun Di were seen on the show as main characters, they were nowhere to be seen or playable in the game. Both Lion Rafale and Shun Di are the two new characters that debut in Virtua Fighter 2, if your version of Virtua Fighter 2 doesn't had both of them than you must had only ever play the garbage Genesis version which only had the VF1 cast.

Columns for me but I will be checking out VF2 just to check it out. Nice release this time around.

I’m surprised Columns wasn’t already in the system. I guess I just assumed it was because they put Columns on everything.

Already beat all four on the Mega Drive collection.

@Marioman2022 @kkslider5552000 @Thwomp_Stomper etc. The Mega Drive version of VF2 is full 2D. The characters are sprites rendered from the 3D models.

Virtua fighter 2 on Saturn is arguably the best 3d fighter of that generation. Why they never choose to rerelease that version is beyond me.
Virtua Fighter 2 on the Genesis on the other hand is hot garbage.

Golden Axe? Pshhh, what about Goldeneye?

@kkslider5552000 I had it on Genesis back in the 90's, lol .. Yeah, Saturn version is much better, lol

@calbeau I loved Splatterhouse 2 and 3 when I was a kid. Also loved the modern remake on PS3 as well. Splatterhouse 2 was the first thing I was wanting added when they decided to start adding Genesis games. The original was on TurboGrafx-16. I played it once on one in a Toys R'Us over 30 years ago, lol

This is a great update for me. Columns and Golden Axe II are 2 of my ultimate favorite Genesis games. I haven't ever played Alien Storm, but it looks cool.

Alien Storm is good fun and Golden Axe II is the best in the series, so I definitely recommend those for any hack 'n' slash fans.

I hated that port of Virtua Fighter 2 forever until the last few years. When you sit down with it and give it a chance, it works really well for what it is and is kind of impressive. It's nice having a Genesis fighting game that isn't the traditional street fighter or mortal Kombat style

Only 1 week left to give us GoldenEye for christmas! I’m so excited! (Crying inside).

Fox out

Still waiting on sega AGES to release VF.

These are nice, but where are the NES and SNES games?

We have not gotten any updates in months.

@GameOtaku @dustinprewitt Yeah but these versions don't have button input lag.

@Clyde_Radcliffe
At least I don’t have to pay $50 a year every year to play them on the collection. I don’t understand why they can’t offer them for individual purchases rather than as a part of the online sub.

@Axecon Go you! Do you want a cookie?

@SaturnHero Tell me about it. Sega have so many classic games locked away on old systems but virtually all they ever give us are the same old Mega Drive ROMs over and over again.

Not too bad. All four games are actually pretty good. Golden Axe 2 and Alien Storm in particular.

Others have pointed out that these are already available on Sega Mega Drive Classics - but isn't the emulation (much?) better on NSO?

Wow i remember Alien Storm from back in the day, memories!

@JustMonika Hahah, similar experience. In my case, my first exposure to Splatterhouse was playing the sequel at a small, obscure gift shop that had Genesis games for sale. My dad knew the lady manning the games section, so she frequently let me play the games whenever I was there. Good times.

Anyway, these games are okay, but I hope they start adding more NES and SNES games again. It's been a while.

@GameOtaku yes but not on switch online and now you can play it online on other player from other side of earth lol

we need more snes and nes games instead

Why aren’t there any options to purchase the games? Why can’t Nintendo offer a virtual console and subscription option for us to choose from? All retro games have to be behind a paywall. Nintendo needs a change of top managers to the executives who think like those in charge of Xbox team.

Golden Axe 2 is great, besides the "bleh" sound effect when you kill an enemy. Alien Storm is alright, and Columns is Columns (which comes with the AGES Switch version of Columns 2). Virtual Fighter 2 is just bad.

@Sinton
I believe M2 worked on the emulation for the Switch and Mega Drive mini. Which explains why the emulation is decent on both.

Virtua Fighter 2 is a wonderful surprise, will definitely be checking this out in due time! I've also heard very good things about Columns so that'll definitely be on the menu as well for some time in the future (plus it's one of the few classic puzzle games I haven't played so now seems like a good time to tackle it)!

Oh and Alien Soldier and Golden Axe II are cool I guess.

Sega model 1, 2, and 3 completions, when?

While Nintendo constantly releases good games on this service, they are coming too slow.

There are months where most games are good, but we still feel cheated since most people don't care about the games and they are giving us stuff that was on the bargain bin even in the 1990s while the classics are ignored, even when they do give us the classics, the slow rate of these games still annoys.

The biggest problem is that when Switch 2 comes, the library will likely reset, unless this time they won't, that's why the games are coming even slower than the Virtual Console.

@talllennart
Not everyone plays online. Kinda ridiculous to lock these games behind a subscription service to play online if you don’t care about playing online.

I just played these games for a few minutes each and they were good enough but I really connected with Alien Storm.
What a fun game. A joy to play.

3 really good games and an awful butchering of Virtua Fighter 2.

Alien Storm is exactly the type of thing I like to see on these types of service. Back in 1991 it didn’t feel like you got much game for your £40. Great fun, but very short. As part of a subscription it makes more sense.

@Serpenterror That's cool to know. Yeah, Virtua Fighter 2 Genesis felt like Virtua Fighter 2's arenas (as far as I can remember), but Virtua Fighter 1's roster. While I did initially play it on Sega Channel, I did play Virtua Fighter and Virtua Fighter 2 in the arcade. VF1 was at a campground, and VF2 was at a boardwalk arcade. I miss those kind of places.

For everyone talking about the VF game, have you played it? It's really not good.

I guess Nintendo has forgotten about adding games to the NES and SNES collection. Sheesh, it's been a while!

Columns and Golden Axe 2 are the main highlights for me (hopefully their respective sequels may show up later, too), but a pretty neat library update overall.

@TruthisRare Virtual Console was a thing for two generations and three platforms. If it's not on Switch to this day, it's safe to conclude Nintendo was underwhelmed with the results and won't be going back.

@Ryu_Niiyama
I don’t think SEGA AGES is a thing anymore. I was holding out for Enduro Racer.☹️

@GameOtaku you just said in your comment that there was no difference so i'm just trying to tell it with online part that the other one doesn't have was not to be rude in some ways

I still have and love every VF game for the Saturn and Dreamcast; but I remember seeing VF for the Mega Drive everywhere I went back in the day. Brand new, second hand, full price and then tons of price reductions for it, and soooooo many copies, and I could never understand why. I mean, it was VF. What's not to like?! Then I read a few reviews, eventually played my cousin's copy, and yeah, the penny dropped as to why everyone was either avoiding the Mega Drive version, or buying it and selling it lol. Gotta respect the fact that Sega at least tried though.

@nhSnork
If they were underwhelmed by it’s performance it was their own fault for not continually adding games to the service. So far it seems they have failed to learn this lesson but instead are forcing consumers to pay a yearly fee for a worser deal if you want access to the complete retro offerings.

I got the cute Mega Drive and N64 controllers but I refuse to pay the uplift for the retro games which Nintendo feel like gatekeeping.

I just have so much fatigue from the way they reset with each new console and then drip feed the games super slowly and make you pay for them all over again, with the exception of Wii to Wii U, though only by doing a one time transfer which I didn't like.

No thank you!

Just waiting for fatal fury

@nhSnork
I believe it's more of a greed thing actually.

@Tounushi
I didn't say they were 3D lol
Donkey Kong Country worked the exact way on the SNES-make 3D models, convert them to sprites, boom.

@GameOtaku "if you want legal access to the complete retro offerings"[/ftfy]. And the very prerequisite of fancying some old video games for nothing but personal entertainment invalidates any use of the verb "force to" in this context. Entertainment isn't owed to anybody, the fiction works in question have ways of being accessed or preserved regardless and it's hard to picture a universe in which Nintendo would counter low VC sales with pouring even more money [and [re]licensing] efforts into it for the only so many enthusiasts who want to play these games with a clean conscience instead of just stuffing a whole romset into their hacked PSP.

@TruthisRare greed goes without saying - if the intent doesn't involve making a tangible profit for a preferably low investment, chances are we aren't talking a business at all, let alone a corporation.

@nhSnork
I’d like to see some numbers that say VC sales were low. If VC sales were indeed low it would’ve been due to Nintendo not adding games to the service and not allowing crossbuy. Gamepass allows you to rent games on a sub but you can purchase individual games and play them for nonsubs. Nintendo call offer a similar deal.

@joey302 👍

@nhSnork
If vc games are not profitable enough for Nintendo to sell, why the NSO?
(Because they still do make money)
Xbox game pass has the best model.
You can "rent" games and/or purchase them.
Problem solved.

Ahhh Columns.. I remember getting it as a pack in with my Megadrive mk2 way back in the day. I played it a lot as I didn’t have much else for a while. It’s ok but will always be a poor man’s Tetris in my opinion haha.