Platformers

Contra 4 celebrated the series' 20th anniversary on Nintendo DS in 2007, developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Konami. Set after the events of Contra III: The Alien Wars, it follows mercenaries Bill Rizer and Lance Bean as they battle a new extraterrestrial...

Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension came to the Sega Genesis in 1994, developed by Gremlin Graphics Software and published by Electronic Arts. Zool is a ninja from the 2345th dimension, a nimble little figure with a gift for running straight up walls, and...

X-Men 2: Clone Wars arrived in 1995 for the Sega Genesis, developed by Headgames and published by Sega of America. The technorganic alien race known as the Phalanx has come to take Earth by assimilating everything that lives on it, and along the way...

X-Men brought Marvel's mutants to the Sega Genesis in 1993, developed by Western Technologies and published by Sega of America. The plot is comic book through and through: Magneto has created the world's deadliest computer virus, built for one purpose, to destroy the Uncanny...

World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is a Disney platformer developed by Sega Enterprises and published by Sega of America for the Sega Genesis in 1992, and it is often described as a follow up to Castle of Illusion. A magic...

Wiz 'n' Liz is a bright, fast moving action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Raising Hell Software and published by Psygnosis in 1994. Wiz and Liz are two magicians who live on the planet Pum, where they brew potions, cast spells and...

Virtual Bart puts Springfield's most famous troublemaker inside a virtual reality machine, built by Martin Prince for the elementary school science fair. Released in 1994 by Acclaim Entertainment and developed by Sculptured Software, it is a Simpsons platformer that throws away a single connected...

Vectorman was developed by BlueSky Software and published by Sega of America in 1995, late in the life of the Sega Genesis and clearly built to show what the hardware could still do. In 2049 humanity leaves Earth to colonise other planets, leaving mechanical...

Valis III, developed by Renovation Game and published by Telenet Japan in 1991, continues the story of Yuko Ahso on the Sega Genesis. Yuko is a student in the Human World, called to fulfil her destiny in Dreamland and defend it from the Dark...

Valis for the Sega Genesis was developed by Riot and published by Telenet Japan in 1991. It follows Yuko Ahso, an ordinary Japanese teenager whose life turns upside down when a monster attacks her in the street and a sword appears in her hands....

Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics! brings the world's wildest cat and mouse team to the Sega Genesis in a bright, cartoon styled action platformer. Developed by Beam Software and published by Hi Tech Expressions in 1993, it drops the pair into an all new...

ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron is the 1993 sequel from ToeJam & Earl Productions, published for the Sega Genesis by Sega of America. The dynamic duo of funk have finally made it home after plenty of interplanetary partying, only to find that...

Toki: Going Ape Spit is a 1992 action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Santos and published by Sega of America, bringing an arcade favorite into the living room. Toki is a young jungle man whose girlfriend Wanda is carried off by the...

Todd's Adventures in Slime World is an action platformer developed by Epyx and published for the Sega Genesis by Micro World in 1992, after the game's earlier appearance on the Atari Lynx. Todd and Rooney are two space exploration go getters who would far...

Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure is Konami's 1993 platform game for the Sega Genesis, built around the cast of the animated series. Buster Bunny sets out across a mysterious island on a 33 stage treasure hunt, with Babs Bunny and the rest of...

Thunder Fox is Taito's 1991 action game for the Sega Genesis, adapted from the company's coin operated release. Terrorists are on the move, and two acrobatic heroes, Thunder and Fox, are sent to stop them in the air, at sea and on land. Taito...

The Revenge of Shinobi is an action platformer developed by Sega Enterprises and published for the Sega Genesis by Sega of America in 1989. It was one of the first games that showed what the new console could do, and it still opens many...

The Terminator is a platform shooter developed by Probe Software and published for the Sega Genesis by Virgin Games in 1992. It opens in Los Angeles in 2029, a ruined future where machines rule and the elimination of humans is the only priority left....

The Ren & Stimpy Show presents: Stimpy's Invention is a platform game developed by BlueSky Software and published for the Sega Genesis by Sega of America in 1993. It begins the way the cartoon would: Stimpy builds a wondrous and diabolical machine meant to...

The Pirates of Dark Water is an action platformer developed by Iguana Entertainment and published for the Sega Genesis by Sunsoft in 1994. It is drawn from the Saturday morning cartoon of the same name, and it keeps the show's setting: a world of...

The NewZealand Story is a platform game published for the Sega Genesis by Taito in 1990, in a version developed by Visco. The setup is as charming as it is simple: a kiwi tribe is out playing beside the zoo when the scheming Leopard...

The Lawnmower Man is an action platform game developed by Teque London and published by Time Warner Interactive for the Sega Genesis in 1994, based on the film and its mind blowing take on virtual reality. Inside the shadowy research agency known as The...

The Jungle Book is a platform game developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for the Sega Genesis in 1994, drawing on the Disney film. You play Mowgli, an Indian boy raised by a pack of wolves, whose easy life...

The Lion King is an action platform game developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for the Sega Genesis in 1994, arriving alongside one of the biggest animated films ever made. You start life as Simba the cub with a savage...

The Incredible Hulk is an action platform game developed by Probe Software and published by U.S. Gold for the Sega Genesis in 1994. It sets the gamma powered green giant against the Leader, whose robot warriors and mutants stand between Bruce Banner and any...

The Incredible Crash Dummies is a platform game developed by Gray Matter and published by Flying Edge for the Sega Genesis in 1994, built around the crash test dummy characters that were everywhere in the early nineties. Junkman, a mechanical mishap with a grudge,...

The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey & Minnie is a platform game developed and published by Capcom for the Sega Genesis in 1994. Mickey and Minnie set out for a day at the circus, only to find that every performer has vanished and that...

The Flintstones is a platform game for the Sega Genesis, developed by Foley Hi Tech and published by Sega of America in 1996, based on the 1994 live action film. It is a different game from the Taito release that happens to share its...

The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure is an action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Realtime Associates and published by Sega of America in 1994. It takes the bear family out of the tree house and into the woods, with Brother Bear and Sister...

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends is a platform game for the Sega Genesis, developed by Imagineering and published by Absolute Entertainment in 1993, and it takes its sense of humor straight from the cartoon. Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, those Pottsylvanian...

The Adventures of Mighty Max is an action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by WJS Design and published by Ocean Software in 1994, based on the Mighty Max toy line and the cartoon that came with it. Max owns a magic cap that...

The Addams Family is a platform game for the Sega Genesis, developed by Ocean Software, published by Flying Edge in 1993 and built around the family's own mansion. The fiendish Abigail Craven has brainwashed Uncle Fester and shut Pugsley, Wednesday and Granny away somewhere...

The Adventures of Batman & Robin brings the celebrated animated series to the Sega Genesis in 1995, developed by Clockwork Tortoise and published by Sega of America. Mr. Freeze means to put Gotham under ice with an enormous cannon, and he has brought in...

Taz Mania is a platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Recreational Brainware and published by Sega of America in 1992, drawing on the Warner Bros. television series of the same name. Taz is hunting a lost giant seabird egg, which he intends to...

Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers is a 1994 action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Alexandria and published by Time Warner Interactive. Sufferin' succotash: that bad old puddy tat wants to get his paws on an elusive bird, and all Tweety wants...

Syd of Valis is a 1992 action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by I.S.C. and published by Shin Nihon Laser Soft. It takes the Valis series, known for its dramatic story scenes and its sword wielding heroine, and redraws the whole cast in...

Superman arrived on the Sega Genesis in 1992, developed by Thinking Rabbit and published by Sunsoft, a single player action platformer that puts the Man of Steel to work defending Metropolis. What makes Superman stand out is how willing it is to change shape....

Strider came to the Sega Genesis in 1990, a conversion of the arcade hit developed and published for the console by Sega Enterprises. You are Strider, a lone operative sent against the Master and the future empire he rules, armed with a laser sword...

Stormlord came to the Sega Genesis in 1990, developed by Punk Developments and published by RazorSoft after the game first made its name on home computers. You are StormLord, summoned to the valley of the Enchanted Realm, where the Evil Rotting Crone has captured...

Stargate for the Sega Genesis was developed by Probe Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment in 1994, arriving alongside the film it is based on. You play Colonel O'Neil, stranded on the far side of the gate with a list of problems: supplies to...

Sparkster is Konami's 1994 Genesis sequel to Rocket Knight Adventures, developed and published by Konami at the height of its sixteen bit run. You play Sparkster, a sword carrying opossum in a rocket pack, the toughest Rocket Knight ever to swing a blade, back...

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the 1992 follow up from Sonic Team, published by Sega of America for the Genesis, and for many players it is the high point of the series. Sonic is back and better than ever, a blur in blue with...

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an unusual entry in the Sega Genesis story: a special promotional cartridge created for the console by Paramount Pictures in 2024, with Sega, to promote the then upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film. Decades after the Genesis left shop...

Sonic the Hedgehog is the game that defined the Sega Genesis. Released in 1991 by Sega of America and made by Sonic Team, it answered the question of what a mascot platformer could be if speed came first. Sonic busts the video game speed...

Sonic 3D Blast is a 1996 Sega Genesis action platformer developed by Traveller's Tales in the UK and published by Sega Enterprises. Doctor Robotnik has discovered the Flickies, strange birds from an alternate dimension who can travel anywhere using large rings, and he is...

Sonic & Knuckles is the 1994 Sega Genesis platformer from Sonic Team, published by Sega of America, in which Sonic and Knuckles join forces against rotten Dr. Robotnik and his Death Egg invasion. It is best known for its Lock-on technology: other Sonic cartridges...

Socket is a high speed platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed and published by Vic Tokai in 1993. The star is a duck with an attitude and an electric cord for a tail, and the whole game is built around that idea: Socket moves...

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master landed on the Sega Genesis in 1993, developed by Megasoft and published by Sega of America, and it is the game most often named when people talk about the best action platformers on the console. Joe Musashi's...

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi came to the Sega Genesis in 1990, developed by SIMS and published by Sega of America as a home take on the arcade powerhouse. You play a master of stealth and the shuriken, avenging the murder of his...

Shadow Blasters arrived on the Sega Genesis in 1990, developed by Cyclone System and published by Sage's Creation. It builds on a simple and very appealing idea: the forces of darkness, the phantoms of Ashura, have spread across the Earth, and the only answer...