25 Best Sega Genesis Games #5 – #1

Konami really brought the creepy with this installment of Castlevania. Several of the bosses are grotesque and macabre, like Stage 1-1's undead wolf which explodes into rotten gore when defeated. The music varies from intense and badass to haunting, including the very chilling, bordering on nightmarish, password screen tune. At its base, though, Bloodlines is much like any other Castlevania game of the time. You whip (or lance, if you play as Eric), your way through gothic-inspired levels, and eventually face off against the Big D himself. Your characters have a few more techniques at their disposal than the previous members of the Belmont clan did, so motivated players have a higher skill ceiling to shoot for when trying to master the game.

Ristar may have arrived at a time when the Genesis was being phased out, but that didn't stop it from being unbelievably awesome. Every level is a masterpiece, with pulsing, memorable music, interesting foes, and unique boss fights. Plus, Ristar himself is a bit different than other heroes of the time: his primary power was using his stretchy arms to grab his foes and headbutt them into submission. It's a shame the game didn't come earlier in the Genesis' lifespan, because its bright graphics and incredible sound design really showed what the system was capable of.

Four weapons. Two players. Endless action. You and a buddy can blast your way through Gunstar Heroes, decimating countless waves of mechs and generic badguys. Tight controls and a variety of player options are two of the main things that keep drawing players back to this Genesis classic. While most games would be content to let you choose between four different weapons, Gunstar Heroes gives you the option to combine them into brand new armaments, letting you fight in whatever style you found to be the most satisfying.

Beat 'em ups made the '90s seem like a dangerous time. Gangs of thugs roamed the streets en masse, vandalizing stuff and kidnapping people. Fortunately, there always seemed to be strong-willed and strong-fisted people like Axel and his pals to take them down. Much like the other games at the top of this list, Streets of Rage is the best at what it does: let players beat up bad guys. There are tons of different foes to pound, a plethora of techniques to pound them with, and a wide variety of locales in which to do the pounding. Plus, Yuzo Koshiro's score is one of the best the Sega Genesis has to offer. He made full use of the Genesis sound chip, creating music that was often dark, frequently thumping, and always memorable.

Yeah, we're lumping all of the Sonic games into one item. Deal with it, yo! Of all the 'tude having '90s heroes, no-one's 'tude was more 'tude-tastic than Sonic the Hedgehog. From the second you saw him on the cover of the first game, with his cocked eyebrow and smug smile, you knew this dude was cool to the bone. It helped, of course, that his games were also fun. Each one introduced something new, be it in the form of a second player, new abilities, or a playable rival. Modern Sonic games seem to focus too much on going fast and Sonic's buddies to remember what it was that made the original fun in the first place. Yes, you spend some of the time going really fast (thanks to the games' totally awesome blast-processing), but you'll also spend time performing skilled navigation of the many emerald hills, chemical plants, and lava reefs to be found throughout the series. And, again, the music is so, so very good. There's a reason Sonic was Sega's mascot, and Mario's only true rival, and it's because the games were original and a whole lot of fun.