Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time

31. OutRun

OutRun was created by Yu Suzuki, the man behind Virtua Cop, Shenmue, After Burner, and Virtua Fighter and his games are known for their longevity just as much as their quality. He obviously loves his sports cars, too. He went on to develop an officially licensed Ferrari video game, Ferrari F355 for Dreamcast and the PS2. But before that came OutRun.

You and an anonymous blonde co-pilot took on all challengers in your blood-red Ferrari Testarossa. Well, it's not an officially-licensed Ferrari Testarossa, but you can clearly see the prancing horse on the back. Originally released in arcades, the game uses clever 2D trickery to simulate hills and dips in the road. Dubbed 'the beautiful journey' by its fans, OutRun is a lovely, lovely thing and this Mega Drive port is the closest any of the contemporary home ports came to replicating that astonishing arcade original.

Read more: Shenmue 3 - everything we know

30. Fantastic Dizzy

Players reared on early home-gaming computers like the Spectrum or Commodore 64 will know Dizzy well from his blockbuster series of adventures on those platforms, which catapulted Codemasters to international renown; but newcomers to gamings most resourceful sentient egg can rest assured that this is the hero's finest hour.

Retaining the item-ferrying platforming of its predecessors, this was the first title in the series to feature scrolling levels, a development which allows for far greater exploration and discovery than was possible on the humble Spectrum. The title also adds minigames to the mix, as well as so many egg-based puns you'll wonder if the whole thing is some sort of cosmic yolk.

29. Mortal Kombat II

Sega didn’t remove a drop of blood or a single fatality in its port of the arcade smash Mortal Kombat II. In fact, neither did Nintendo, since its censored version of the original MK sold so poorly. That meant Liu Kang and friends were free to disembowel, dismember, and generally beat the hell out of each other in full motion-capture glory, much to the chagrin of parents worldwide. Well, except Japan. The blood was green there.

Controversy abounded in MK2's wake. Parents protested, politicians filibustered, and the game was even banned for a while in Germany. That didn't stop it from becoming one of the fastest-selling Genesis games in 1994. In fact, it probably helped.

28. Quackshot Starring Donald Duck

Inspired by the Indiana Jones movies, Quackshot Starring Donald Duck is a tomb-raiding platform extravaganza boasting some of the Genesis most accomplished visuals and animation. The plot is a nightmare of avarice and subterfuge, with Donald uncovering a secret treasure map and determining to become "even richer than Uncle Scrooge," hampered by the villainous Beagle Boys effort to claim the treasure for themselves.

It belongs in a museum, Donald! Level progression offers more than the standard run-n-jump fare, with plunger-shooting Donald able to unlock new weapons for accessing new areas, and the music is superb. It may be an early-era 16-bit title (and it shows), but its intrinsic quality means it's still an absolute blast today. Especially when you get five chilli peppers!

27. Marko's Magic Football

Marko's Magic Football (or just Marko in the US) was developed internally by a team of Domark developers united in their love of animation. The influence shines clearly in this one-of-a-kind tale of a soccer-loving boy whose soccer ball gains magic powers after coming into contact with some of that all-purpose toxic sludge that was causing so many miracles in the 1990s.

Sumptuous animation and vibrant artwork mark the game as something special from the outset--an impression that only builds as you learn the advanced ball control skills and guide Marko and his magic ball through the charms of suburban Britain. Crashed UFOs and all.

26. Desert Strike

Electronic Arts wasn't afraid to fly the flag of freedom in this fictionalized retelling of the first Gulf War, which mixes true-to-life craft and ordnance loadouts with a willfully fantastic reimagining of the Persian theater of conflict. Get your briefing from a decidedly Stormin Norman-esque superior then fly inland, guns blazing and targets lit.

The free-form mission-based play offers you the chance to complete levels your way, so long as that way involves blowing the everloving heck out of each and every structure, vehicle, and miniscule human adversary unfortunate enough to venture onscreen. And rescue some dudes or whatever, great, now heres a bunch more things that need blowing up.

Love Retro games? Grab 5 issues of Retro Gamer magazine for just £5!

25. Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II

Boasting fluid full-screen play, Sega's finest first-party F1 offering on the Genesis presents a realistic simulation of high-speed racing that's not afraid to lean toward arcade action if that's what'll keep you interested. Besides providing feedback during the development process, Senna himself presents briefings on each course, as well as popping up in digitized form throughout to smile encouragingly or grimace at a poor placement. He even provided voice samples too.

A range of play modes include the bite-sized Senna GP series and a rival-based World Championship where you must advance through the ranks of the world F1 circuit by challenging a succession of other drivers.

24. Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole

As well as the tactics-heavy Shining series, Climax gifted Genesis players with this stunning action RPG, whose treasure-hunting play takes equal inspiration from A Link to the Past and dungeon-crawlers like Software Creations Solstice/Equinox - on which this game's fluid isometric play builds admirably to launch a series that would continue on the Saturn and Dreamcast.

OK, so the lead character is called Nigel. Perhaps not as legendary a name as Link, or Cloud Strife, but Nigel does have his charms. And the game's real-time combat, platforming and even dexterity challenges (like throwing a pot onto a moving platform) make for a much more involving game than the detached, turn-based RPGs that typified early 1990s role-playing. More ambitious even than Zelda LttP, though perhaps not quite as polished, Landstalker is an underrated classic.

23. NBA Jam

The Genesis was ground zero for 16-bit sports-gaming innovation, much of it driven by Electronic Arts; other players bent on driving the genre included arcade mainstays Midway. The company's stripped-down take on NBA two-on-two "jam" play put the emphasis on fast-turnaround arcade play; so when Acclaim brought the hit to home consoles, the biggest change was the omission of those pesky quarterly 'Insert Coin' prompts.

Pretty much everything else remained intact: the sizeable real-life roster; the furious two-on-two, drop-in-drop-out play; and the backboard-smashing theatrics that had drawn arcade crowds. A later Tournament Edition update further increased the roster - and added some of gamings most legendary Easter eggs, including the option to play as then-Commander-in-Chief William Jefferson Clinton.

22. World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck

Branching out from Mickey's lonely foray into the Castle of Illusion, this sequel sees stage-magic duo Mickey and Donald stumble upon a secret compartment in a prop for one of their tricks. But before Donald has time to chide, the pair are sucked into the titular World of Illusion, where nothing is what it seems - apart from bottomless pits and grimacing enemies, which are exactly what they seem and need dealing with post-haste.

The game's standout feature is its co-op play, allowing two players to brave levels inspired by Disney classics while controlling the differently-abled Mickey and Donald. Amazingly, there's a separate quest for each character, plus another for the pair in co-op, with only a few areas shared. In other words, you're getting three high-quality Disney Platformers in one.