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So your Menacer is collecting dust, and you’re wondering why the heck you got one in the first place. Though unlikely, it’s possible that you let Terminator 2: The Arcade Game slip under your radar. A pretty decent conversion of the arcade hit, it’s actually quite playable with Sega’s unwieldy weapon of light, and it’s quite inexpensive nowadays.
Ah, licensed slop. It’s everywhere, no matter which console you own, and it’s managed to transcend hardware generations like some mutant virus that morphs into a new strain every five years or so. The Genesis was no exception, as evident by today’s poor example of wasted silicon. Sony Imagesoft continued its tradition of horrible licensed software with No Escape, a game surprisingly done by the mostly awesome-on-Genesis Psygnosis. What happened? Maybe it was an off day, or maybe the development budget all went towards women and booze. No one knows, and after playing this turd, no one probably cares either.
Sometimes, it’s good to take a break from all the great shmups, platformers, and run-‘n-guns on the Genesis. Occasionally a nice, laid back type of game hits the spots. Those who remember computer lab in junior high already know which game I’m talking about, and everyone else would do themselves a favor and check out Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, which spawned a lengthy series of edutainment games, as well as a cartoon series.
In 1991, Sega shocked Genesis owners with Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football. Aside from changing the game’s vertical perspective to a horizontal one (an internal team had been working on one for the original, but it was scrapped in favor of EA’s vertical game), Sega also added play-by-play commentary. Though it might seem cheesy today, this was unheard for consoles at the time, and it marked an important step in bringing realism to sports games.
Accolade brought the Amiga run-‘n-gun classic Turrican to the Genesis in 1991, sporting a great box cover by famed sci-fi and fantasy artist Boris Vallejo. Many Genesis gamers took the game at face value, unfamiliar with the decidedly different style of action game they were about to play. The result left a bad taste in the mouths of many, something that would remain until Factor 5’s stellar Mega Turrican arrived a few years later.