Platformers

Saint Sword is an action platform game developed by Cyclone System and published by Taito for the Sega Genesis in 1991. You are Macress, a mythical warrior called on to destroy the evil demon Gorgon before the world succumbs to his power. Saint Sword...

Rolling Thunder 2 is a side view shooter and platform game released by Namco for the Sega Genesis in 1991, following the arcade game that made the series' cover and shoot rhythm famous. You work for the secret agency Rolling Thunder, and the target...

Rocket Knight Adventures is an action platformer developed and published by Konami for the Sega Genesis in 1993, made at the height of the company's 16 bit run. You play Sparkster, a sword carrying opossum in armour whose jet pack turns an ordinary platform...

RoboCop 3 is a platform shooter for the Sega Genesis, developed by Eden Entertainment Software and published by Flying Edge in 1993. You step into the armor of Detroit's part man, part machine officer for a run of missions that includes rescuing colleagues who...

RoboCop Versus The Terminator is an action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Virgin Games and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in 1994, loosely based on the 1992 comic book mini series of four issues that put two of the era's great machines...

Ristar is a platformer developed by Sega Enterprises and published by Sega of America in 1995, arriving late in the life of the Genesis and all the better for it. Ristar is the son of a legendary hero who has been captured by the...

Rastan Saga II is an action platformer developed and published by Taito for the Sega Genesis in 1990, carrying the arcade sword fighting that made the Rastan name onto the console. The young warrior Rastan rises up to help his people recapture the Stone...

Radical Rex is a platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Beam Software and published by Activision in 1994. You play a fire breathing Tyrannosaurus on a skateboard, out to free the dinosaur race from the spell of an evil creature across ten levels...

QuackShot Starring Donald Duck is an action platformer released for the Sega Genesis in 1991, developed by Sega Enterprises and published by Sega of America. Donald unearths an ancient scroll that reveals a long lost treasure, and off he dashes on a dangerous expedition...

Pulseman is an action platformer developed by Game Freak and published by Sega Enterprises for the Sega Genesis in 1994, made by the studio that would soon become known worldwide for Pokemon. The story is pure 1990s science fiction: a 21st century scientist, Doc...

Puggsy is a platform game with a strong puzzle streak, developed by Traveller's Tales in the United Kingdom and published by Psygnosis for the Sega Genesis in 1994. You play Puggsy, a small round creature who has crash landed on an alien planet only...

Prince of Persia is the Sega Genesis version of Jordan Mechner's landmark 1989 game, developed by Domark Software and published by Tengen in 1994. The setup is simple and merciless: the Grand Vizier Jaffar has thrown you into a dark dungeon and intends to...

Pink Goes to Hollywood puts the Pink Panther in a platformer, and it is a cheerful, cartoon bright entry in the Genesis library. Developed by Headgames and published by TecMagik Entertainment in 1993, it sends the Pink Panther off to audition for an important...

Phantom 2040 takes the long running Phantom character into a cyberpunk future, and it is one of the more ambitious licensed games on the Sega Genesis. Developed by Illusions Gaming and published by Viacom New Media in 1995, it follows the animated series of...

Out of This World is a cinematic action adventure for the Sega Genesis, brought to the console by Interplay Productions and published by Virgin Games in 1993. It began as the work of Eric Chahi, who built the game almost single handed, and it...

Mystic Defender is an action platformer made by Sega Enterprises and published by Sega of America in 1989, one of the games that helped fill out the Genesis library in its very first season. You play Yamato, a warrior who fights with magic rather...

Midnight Resistance is a run and gun platformer released for the Sega Genesis in 1991, developed by Opera House and published by Data East, based on Data East's arcade game from two years earlier. You play the toughest soldier left in the Resistance, your...

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is an action platformer released for the Sega Genesis in 1990, developed by Sega R&D 2 and published by Sega of America. It casts you as Michael Jackson, searching for children taken by the gangster Mr. Big and his goon squad....

Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators is an action platformer released for the Sega Genesis in 1992, developed by Virgin Interactive Entertainment and published by Virgin Games. It began life as a promotional game built around McDonald's, then quickly earned a reputation on...

Mega Man: The Wily Wars arrived in 1994, developed by Minakuchi Engineering and published by Capcom, and it is the one time the Blue Bomber's earliest adventures were rebuilt for 16 bit hardware. For years a titanic struggle for control of the planet has...

Mega Turrican is Factor 5's 1994 entry in the Turrican series for the Sega Genesis, published by Sony Electronic Publishing. You are Bren McGuire, leader of the United Planets Freedom Forces, setting out on a crucial mission against the dark forces of The Machine...

McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure landed on the Sega Genesis in 1993, developed by Treasure and published by Sega of America, and its pedigree is the first thing anyone mentions. This is a licensed platform game starring Ronald McDonald, made by the studio that built...

Marvel Land brings Namco's arcade platformer to the Sega Genesis, in a 1991 version made and published by Namco itself. In the land of Coni, the inhabitants lived in harmony around a mountain called Peace, inside which the amusement park known as Marvel Land...

Marsupilami arrived on the Sega Genesis in 1995, developed by Apache Software and published by Sega Enterprises, starring the long tailed comic creature created by André Franquin. Marsupilami is a small furry marsupial with a tail that has as many uses as a swiss...

Kid Chameleon was made by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega of America in 1992, and it is one of the largest platformers on the Sega Genesis. The setup is pure arcade era fiction: Wild Side is the newest game in town, a...

Jurassic Park for the Sega Genesis was developed by BlueSky Software and published by Sega Enterprises in 1993, arriving while the film was still the biggest thing in cinemas. It drops you onto a tropical island where a violent hurricane has torn through the...

Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition is the 1994 follow up to BlueSky Software's first Jurassic Park game on the Sega Genesis, published by Sega of America. It keeps the look and feel of its predecessor, a side scrolling action game set across the island, while...

Judge Dredd arrived on the Sega Genesis in 1995, developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment. It casts you as the most feared lawman of Mega City One, the sprawling future metropolis of the 2000 AD comics, at a moment when the...

Journey from Darkness: Strider Returns is a 1993 action platformer for the Sega Genesis, developed by Tiertex and published by U.S. Gold. Strider is called into action to save the people of the planet Magenta, armed with a gyro laser and a matter converter,...

Joe & Mac brings prehistoric slapstick to the Sega Genesis in this 1994 version developed by Eden Entertainment Software and published by Takara. Joe, the green haired caveman, and Mac, the blue haired one, have had the girls of their tribe carried off by...

Jewel Master is a 1991 action platformer developed by Sega Enterprises and published by Sega of America, set in a land called Mythgard that has been overrun by an army of demons. You play the Jewel Master, the one figure who can turn the...

James Bond 007: The Duel brings the world's most famous secret agent to the Sega Genesis in a 1992 action platformer developed by The Kremlin and published by Domark. The setup is pure Bond: a mad professor is chasing the same dream as every...

High Seas Havoc was made and published by Data East for the Sega Genesis in 1994, and is also known as Capt'n Havoc in some regions. Havoc is a young traveller and treasure hunter who roams the seas with his shipmate Tide. One day...

Heavy Nova arrived on the Sega Genesis in 1992, developed by Holocronet and published by Micronet. It casts you into a set of simulated proving grounds, piloting a heavy combat robot through tests designed to measure what it can do. Heavy Nova stands out...

Gunstar Heroes landed on the Sega Genesis in 1993, developed by Treasure and published by Sega of America. It is the game that made Treasure's reputation. The setup is simple and urgent: with the military detained and the planet in serious peril, two brothers...

Gods is The Bitmap Brothers' platform adventure, brought to the Sega Genesis in 1992 and published by Mindscape. You play Hercules, who is aiming to achieve immortality by completing the task the Gods have set him, and the setting is an ancient Greece of...

Ghostbusters for the Sega Genesis was developed by Compile and published by Sega of America in 1990. If you thought the Ghostbusters went out of business after their last victory, think again: the ghosts are back in town, and Peter, Raymond and Egon are...

Ghouls'n Ghosts is Capcom's 1989 Sega Genesis version of its arcade quest for the knight Arthur, who must venture back to Lucifer's palace, destroy the demon and recover the Princess' soul so she can be brought back to life. Capcom both developed and published...

Generations Lost is a platform action game for the Sega Genesis, developed by Pacific Softspace and published by Time Warner Interactive in 1994. You take the role of Monobe, an adventurer searching for the past of his people, and his magic armour is what...

Garfield: Caught in the Act is a platform game for the Sega Genesis, developed by Point of View and published by Sega of America in 1995. The premise is pure Garfield: the lazy cartoon cat watches far too much television and ends up trapped...

Gargoyles for the Sega Genesis was developed by Walt Disney Computer Software and published by Buena Vista Interactive in 1995, drawing on Disney's animated series of the same name. You play as Goliath, whose stone crushing strength carries you through 1,000 years of Gothic...

Flashback: The Quest for Identity is a cinematic platform adventure made by Delphine Software International and published by U.S. Gold for the Sega Genesis in 1993. The year is 2142, and you play Conrad B. Hart, a man who has lost his memory. After...

Fantasia brings Mickey Mouse into a platform adventure drawn from the Disney film, developed by Infogrames Europe and published by Sega of America in 1991. It was one of the first Disney games to reach the Sega Genesis, and it leans hard on the...

Exo Squad is an action game developed by Novotrade Software and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in 1995, based on the animated series of the same name. It arrived late in the Genesis lifespan, when developers knew the hardware well, and it shows in...

Ex-Mutants is an action platform game developed by Malibu Interactive and published by Sega of America in 1992, drawn from the comic book series of the same name. The setting is a wasteland after a nuclear war, where almost everyone left alive has mutated....

ESWAT: City Under Siege is a side scrolling action game made by Sega and published by Sega of America in 1990, built for the Genesis after the arcade machine that introduced the Enhanced Special Weapons and Tactics unit. The home version is its own...

El Viento came to the Sega Genesis in 1991, developed by Wolf Team and published in North America by Renovation Products. The year in the game is 1928. A cult called the Hastur Group intends to summon the monstrous Hastur to Earth, using the...

Earthworm Jim 2 followed in 1995, again from Shiny Entertainment and Playmates Interactive Entertainment, and it is a bigger, stranger sequel in every direction. Jim is back in the suit, Psy Crow is still on his tail, and the chase runs across the galaxy,...

Earthworm Jim was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in 1994, built around a character created by Doug TenNapel. Jim is an ordinary worm who happens to be in the right place when an ultra high tech indestructible super space...

Earnest Evans reached the Sega Genesis in 1992, developed by Wolf Team and published in North America by Renovation Products. Earnest Evans is a brave treasure hunter following in his grandfather's footsteps. The old man was a famous archaeologist who spent the 1930s searching...