The Top 8 Wanted Genesis Games for the Switch Online

Welcome all to another edition of The 8 Ball! As I wrote this the Switch Expansion Pack Online stuff literally dropped tonight, so this column seems especially prescient. As with the last one, these are just the Sega Genesis games I wish would either be on the system at launch or will be quickly added, but we’ll see. Let’s begin!

#8: Comix Zone

Comix Zone is not a “good” game but it is a highly interesting one. It places you in the role Sketch Turner who is an underground comic creator/artist. Lightning happens to zap the comic Sketch is working on one night and he is transported into the comic world while the bad guy is transported to the real one, where he tries to end Sketch’s life by drawing enemies to defeat him. The game has a great soundtrack and overall look with Sketch jumping between comic panels and enemies being drawn in to make things difficult. The game isn’t “good” though because it’s punishingly hard and you take damage from just destroying elements of the environment you need to get through, which is just unfair.

#7: Mega Man: The Wily Wars

The Wily Wars is a bit of an odd game because it’s basically a compilation of the first three Mega Man games from the NES. You can play Mega Man 1, 2 or 3, now with some battery saving, slightly better graphics and redone music. It still holds up pretty well since Mega Man also holds up pretty well. This game also had a “Wily Tower” mode where you have to face a few new robot masters before you can finally take down Dr. Wily. The more this game gets out there the better it is for all.

#6: NHL ‘94

This seems to be one of the more fondly remembered sports games of its era. And wouldn’t you know, EA still has the NHL license, so this could come out with relative ease. I know EA already made “NHL ’94 Rewind” on the current consoles but hey, why not also include the original as well? I really can’t judge this game too much, but I have friends who still swear by it and that’s good enough for me.

#5: Jurassic Park

The SNES version of Jurassic Park sucks dinosaur eggs. The Genesis version was way better, letting you play as either Dr. Grant trying to make his way back to the visitor center, or as a Velociraptor whose goal is to eat Dr. Grant. Grant had access to various weapons and items like a gun or a taser while the Raptor was more melee focused but did have a pounce attack that was pretty useful. This version of Jurassic Park was basically “What if it was like Flashback but actually good?”

#4: Earthworm Jim

This is another one of those games that maybe wasn’t the best but gets by with having an actual personality and interesting things going on. Some of the actual fights in Earthworm Jim are downright unfair but the game does get a pass by just being really strange and having some good sound effects and music. Really, this is on this list because at this point Tommy Tallarico needs any money to put out that Intellivision Amico disaster, and this would put a little cash in his hand for it.

#3: X-Men 2 Clone Wars

The first X-Men game is a miserable little dumpster fire. While kind of impressive at the time, you mutant powers are governed by a small energy bar, the level layouts are brutal and it has an awful ending where you “need to reset the computer”, meaning you have to reset the Genesis at a certain point but only “somewhat”, otherwise you really will restart the entire game. X-Men 2: Clone Wars does away with a lot of this BS by letting you use your mutant powers at will, having levels you can actually complete. It also had a much expander roster, letting you pick between 7 X-Men for you to complete the stages.

#2: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Look, at this point, just replace the damn Michael Jackson music in the game. I don’t care if they want to admit it or not, just do it and save yourselves the endless headache this thing has caused. The issue is with Carnival Night and Ice Cap Zone music and Jackson doing uncredited musical work on it. So hey, just drop it. There’s already at least one version of the game, on the PC, with replacement music, so just put that one out and say “This is the reason why.” I like Sonic 2 but Sonic 3 is just a better game, and especially if they have the Sonic & Knuckles add-on as well. Sega, just be honest, finally, and explain it and move on. It’s really not that hard.

#1: Kid Chameleon

I love Kid Chameleon and honestly think it’s one of the best Sega Genesis games out there. You’re a kid who gets sucked into a weird virtual reality arcade game and has to win in order to get restored to the real world. Really though, it’s all about some hardcore platforming levels, picking up masks which bestow different abilities for you and just trying to survive. The game is fairly challenging but not really “unfair”, just kind of complex. It also has about 100 levels and is kind of a maze if you use the different teleporters, since you can never be too sure if they’ll be beneficial or not.

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For comments, list which Sega Genesis games you’d like to see on the Switch Online service and why.

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