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taken great pains to ensure that there’s a game in the series for every console out there, and the Genesis, being dominant during its heyday, got just about every 2D version released. The last one to come to Sega’s wonder box was Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which included everything but the kitchen sink (though I think there was a coupon in the manual to send away for one), and the debate still rages today as to how it holds up versus the SNES version.
Epyx scored a series of hits in the late ’80s with its Games series, and the California edition was ported to every console ever conceived by man. Ok, maybe not that many, but it sure does seem like everyone had a chance to play California Games, no matter what console or computer they had. The Genesis got a port of its own, courtesy of Ecco wonder group Novotrade, but what could have been the best version of all turned out to be a major letdown. After spending time with this one and seeing all the lost potential, we think someone at Novotrade deserved to be smacked in the head with a solid steel footbag.
In 1990, Sega was riding high on the success of its licensed sports games. Joe Montana Football was a solid seller, and the company was ecstatic to have secured the license of the new heavyweight boxing champ – the man who defeated “Iron” Mike Tyson – James “Buster” Douglas. Unfortunately, Sega apparently made more of an effort to get Douglas’ moniker on the box than it did to make the actual game around it, as the licensed Final Blow game it used was mediocre at best. To add insult to injury, Douglas lost his championship belt to Evander Holyfield in his very first title defense a mere nine months later.
Sega has a long reputation of making quality sports games. Anyone who’s played the NFL 2K series (specifically the 2005 edition) or World Series Baseball can attest to the company’s prowess in the genre. Sometimes though, even the mighty can stumble, as was the case of NHL All-Star Hockey ’95. In an attempt to take on EA’s stellar NHL series, Sega came up short in several areas.
Mickey Mouse and the Genesis have quite a storied history together. Beginning with the grandeur of Castle of Illusion and continuing on to the great World of Illusion and Mickey Mania, the famous mouse has made a home of the 16-bit wonder. Sure, there have been some hiccups along the way (read: Fantasia), but the majority of Mickey’s outings have been highly playable and fun. Capcom’s foray into the Disney rodent arena, The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie not only has one long title, it’s also a great little two-player romp.