No Genesis A+ Games?

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Breaker
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No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby Breaker » August 22nd, 2020, 10:05 pm

Every time I peruse the Genesis reviews, I'm a little bit surprised that there isn't a single A+ game in the bunch. VGC has reviewed 395 Genesis games, which is over half of the Genesis North American catalog... isn't there a single game that hits that pinnacle? I count 19 A's. I'd think one of them was just that little bit ahead of the rest. Sonic 2? NBA Live 95? Outrun? Rolling Thunder 2? NHL 94? Castle of Illusion?

Oh well, something to keep me coming back!

mbd36
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby mbd36 » August 23rd, 2020, 1:13 pm

Breaker wrote:Every time I peruse the Genesi+s reviews, I'm a little bit surprised that there isn't a single A+ game in the bunch. VGC has reviewed 395 Genesis games, which is over half of the Genesis North American catalog... isn't there a single game that hits that pinnacle? I count 19 A's. I'd think one of them was just that little bit ahead of the rest. Sonic 2? NBA Live 95? Outrun? Rolling Thunder 2? NHL 94? Castle of Illusion?

Oh well, something to keep me coming back!


Streets of Rage 2 is as good as console beat em ups get. It deserves an A+.

Roperious
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby Roperious » August 23rd, 2020, 4:09 pm

Fascinating. Even M.U.S.H.A fell short!

Robotrek
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby Robotrek » August 23rd, 2020, 6:17 pm

He rates games based upon their stature compared to other games on the same system. This says more about how great the Genesis library is than anything.

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JustLikeHeaven
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby JustLikeHeaven » August 23rd, 2020, 10:33 pm

A+ Games on the System

ToeJam and Earl
Gunstar Heroes
Shinobi III

VicViper
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby VicViper » August 24th, 2020, 2:58 am

mbd36 wrote:
Breaker wrote:Every time I peruse the Genesi+s reviews, I'm a little bit surprised that there isn't a single A+ game in the bunch. VGC has reviewed 395 Genesis games, which is over half of the Genesis North American catalog... isn't there a single game that hits that pinnacle? I count 19 A's. I'd think one of them was just that little bit ahead of the rest. Sonic 2? NBA Live 95? Outrun? Rolling Thunder 2? NHL 94? Castle of Illusion?

Oh well, something to keep me coming back!


Streets of Rage 2 is as good as console beat em ups get. It deserves an A+.


Honestly, I'm a bit shocked over Streets of Rage 2 being so hyped and having its cult status that it has when I think the other two deserve just as much credit, at least Bare Knuckle 3 in the case of Streets of Rage 3. Heck, I think Streets of Rage 4 is a better game too.

After touching 3 and the fan remake "SoRR", it made me realise how slow the gameplay of 2 was, and its level design is definitely the flattest out of all the Streets of Rage games, even Streets of Rage 1. You can imagine my frustration in 4 playing as Blaze when I double tapped right or down, and she wouldn't run or dodge roll down.
I got used to it after a while and its absence is more felt in 2 than in 4, cause 4's gameplay has some God-tier juggle physics, enemy AI & diversity, and moveset synergy that I haven't found in 2.

Even in terms of moveset, Streets of Rage 2 does better than 1 in most basic aspects, but it's also the only Streets of Rage game in the original trilogy that doesn't have team attacks, like vaulting over your friend doesn't launch you into a very strong jump attack. That's also a point against 4, you can't even grab each other in that one, so sad I was!

But I think the level design is my biggest gripe with it. In Streets of Rage 2, there are no pits, no hazards (aside from the extremely tame conveyor belts in the second to last level), no scene that changes up the gameplay style, there's not even a single elevator scene that acts really as an elevator scene with out of bounds areas (it's the only SoR game that doesn't have that!).
It's a bland "go straight" with a few admittedly interesting enemies, and attractive and diversified graphics & sounds that help hiding the lack of substance within the levels themselves, and that kills it for me. When you can go ahead and say "Super Double Dragon has more varied level design", you know your level design is barebones. That's why I wouldn't be able to even give it an A, let alone an A+.

I'm pretty sure if Streets of Rage 3 didn't have such a huge shift in soundtrack and the western versions hadn't been hit so hard with difficulty imbalance and story censorship, it would've been just as well received or even better received than 2 no doubt.

newmodelarmy
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby newmodelarmy » August 24th, 2020, 6:19 am

Funny, I think about this each time I look at the Genesis reviews. I think NHL 94 is a clear candidate for A+. That or NHL 98 which is my personal favorite.

Voor
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby Voor » August 24th, 2020, 11:54 am

I wonder if because the SNES had better versions of some of those games?

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DrLitch
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby DrLitch » August 24th, 2020, 1:00 pm

Well 97-100 is A+. Not many reviewers are going to give away 97+ like candy. The Genesis is a considerably better system (graphics, sound and game choices) than the SNES but there are one or two SNES titles that do prop up lists. At the end of the day, RPG fans really like the SNES games in this genre. Then there is Zelda Link to the Past and an occasional person that thinks Metroid is an A+.

Quite honestly I do not think anything I played on the Genesis is A+ - that is 97-100. Streets of Rage and Sonic are great games but A+ would be generous. Gunstar Heroes - if that gets A+ then you have to introduce greater than 100% in your ratings, there are much better shooters out there.

VicViper
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Re: No Genesis A+ Games?

Postby VicViper » August 24th, 2020, 1:23 pm

DrLitch wrote:Well 97-100 is A+. Not many reviewers are going to give away 97+ like candy. The Genesis is a considerably better system (graphics, sound and game choices) than the SNES but there are one or two SNES titles that do prop up lists. At the end of the day, RPG fans really like the SNES games in this genre. Then there is Zelda Link to the Past and an occasional person that thinks Metroid is an A+.

Quite honestly I do not think anything I played on the Genesis is A+ - that is 97-100. Streets of Rage and Sonic are great games but A+ would be generous. Gunstar Heroes - if that gets A+ then you have to introduce greater than 100% in your ratings, there are much better shooters out there.


Speaking of Gunstar Heroes, while I think it's superb, I also believe Alien Soldier by the same developer trumps it. However it's a very hard game to learn due to its weird controls, it's pretty intimidating to jump into it due to how complex they are and the 6 button controller isn't supported.
But when you put effort in learning the moves, after that it becomes absolutely exhilarating.


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