Regardless of any double/triple/quadruple mentions, I'll name my favorite titles, in order to further advocate their greatness.
Ranger-X (aka
Ex-Ranza) - Ancient but awesome action platformer. It's a more complicated game than any first impression could ever give.
Contra: Hard Corps (aka
Mega Probotector) - Best Contra ever. This game includes much better boss-fights, bringing them to a higher level. It also includes choices you can make across the story, bringing you to different levels and different endings. Two player mode makes it as enjoyable as Gunstar Heroes, IMO.
Gunstar Heroes - Apparently, this is what you get when Konami's Contra team goes independent. Treasure made the gametype better in almost every aspect. Two player for double the fun. Boss fights are well done, sometimes even better than Contra's. This game debuts Treasure's well-known Seven-Force boss.
Alien Soldier - Treasure perfected boss-battling in this game IMHO. It also borrows some music and bosses from Gunstar Heroes, including an even better done Seven-Force. The game doesn't have a following as big as Gunstar Heroes, which surprises me, as it's pretty much superior despite its lack of multiplayer, IMHO.
Streets of Rage 2 - The port of the famous arcade Beat 'm Up. Quite frankly, there is no better than this one.
Streets of Rage 3 - In few ways considered an improvement over SoR2, this one is a worthy successor, but overall it stands in the shadow of it's older brother.
Eternal Champions - For some reason I can't explain, this fighting game is simply good. Though if you can, choose for the Mega CD version.
Another World (aka
Out of this World) - If you haven't played this platformer anywhere else, do it on your Megadrive.
Although the Mega CD version included with the sequel is considered superior for it's CD music (and better sfx?).
Shinobi 3 - Pretty decent action platformer. IMO the best Shinobi game in existance. Some people falsly refer to this game as Shinobi 2, which was in fact released on a different system.
Wonderboy V in Monsterworld III - Pretty fun platform adventure from the Wonderboy series.
Monsterworld IV (aka
Wonderboy VI) - This game knows no release outside of Japan, but there is a very decent and complete fan translation available. It's the successor to Wonderboy in Monsterworld. I don't know whether I can call it superior or inferior, I just like both very much.
Rocket Knight Adventures - Platforming at its finest. This one is as sweet as it is fun. It has quite a story told only through what you see and play, if you don't have the manual, but just that is in actuality quite sufficient and well done. IMO, the successor Sparkster doesn't even come close to this quality title.
Sonic 2 - This is one of the biggest classics in Megadrive history. It's one of the games that made the Megadrive II big, and for good reason. There's even a very fun two player mode well worth a try.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles - Don't play
Sonic 3, nor
Sonic & Knuckles, if you can play the complete game as they originally intended Sonic 3 to be. Play both the Sonic/Tails and the Knuckles storyline. This game is IMO the best serious 2D platformer ever. Even better than Sonic 2 (though some might disagree). And it's huge.
Shining Force - A great Strategy RPG, with a good story (in its time). It opened up the way for its successor, making this one of the most popular franchises on the Mega Drive. This first title has a remake on the GBA, but I don't know if it's any better other than in visuals. I do know the GBA version has some tidbits of info that were revealed in Shining Force Gaiden 3 included, as they add to this story.
Shining Force 2 - I dare say the best Strategy RPG on any system, though opinions may differ, and although I've never played Shining Force 3 on the Saturn. IMHO, it tops games like FF Tactics, Fire Emblem and Golden Sun, no sweat. Story and characters are great in this one too. This is not the direct successor to the first title though. The Shining Force Gaiden series on the GameGear play inbetween these two (first two Gaidens were also released on MegaCD as Shining Force CD, third was unfortunately only released in Japan while having much to do with the first title's main characters).
The Story of Thor (aka
Beyond Oasis) - Simply said, this is a gem. This game is an action "RPG" or Adventure, top-down like Zelda, but offers a unique system with its Beat 'm Up-like combat and the Spirits. This would have been a one-of-a-kind, were it not for its supposedly inferior sequel on the Saturn (which I never played).
Phantasy Star 4 - After the outsourced
Phantasy Star 3 which disappointed many fans, this RPG was a wonderful comeback in the franchise for the Phantasy Star universe. This game was huge for its time, with a deep and resolving story to the original series.
Shadowrun - This RPG is not like your Final Fantasies or Phantasy Star or whatever other console RPG. This one borrows a bit from the cRPG scene if you ask me, which might scare some people off due to any complexity that might arise. As Lobo already mentioned, this game is vastly superior to the SNES title, but also completely different. So it really boils down to your taste. Me as both a Console RPG and cRPG lover, I couldn't get enough of this grim game.
Sol-Deace - This sidescrolling shoot 'm up is awesome to me, but perhaps that's because I played the superior MegaCD version to death, and loved it.
Thunderforce IV - IMO, no other 16-bit sidescrolling shoot 'm up comes close to this one. It's an oldy, but you won't care if you dig the gametype since it's so good.
Mega Bomberman - Best bomberman game ever. IMO, this title is to the bomberman series what Contra: Hard Corps is to the Contra series. It has excellent multiplayer, by the way.
navilink said:
Just a FYI: Contra: Hard Corps is the fourth installment. The third is on the SNES.
fivefeet8 said:
If you like zelda type games, get Revenge of Centy.
I think fivefeet8 meant Crusader of Centy aka
Soleil.
TheCloudOfSmoke said:
Does any one know of any really good two player games for the Genesis that people dont really know about, excluding all of the ovbious popular ones that everyone knows about (SOR 1,2,3 Sonic 1,2,3 etc. X-men and fighting games like MK and SFII)
One of my favorite two player games of those that have barely any following is
Cadash. The game itself has some similarities with games like Faxanadu on the NES, it being a platforming action "RPG". The animations are horrid and the gameplay is outdated, but it sure as hell gave me a laugh by making fun of it with a second person.
Other great or otherwise fun two player games are Gunstar Heroes, Contra: HC, Mega Bomberman, and
Gain Ground, IMHO.
Lobo said:
Eternal Champions - obscure fighting game, a bit on the cheesy side today, but damn did me and my fam/friends have a blast with it. It does a lot of things right, mixes in some stage deaths (fatalaities if you will), and some chars have fatalities. I love the setting of the game. Would love if Sega could have made a sequel on the DC
.
In a way, you could consider Eternal Champions CD (Mega CD / Sega CD) as its superior successor / replacement.