Mega Drive games
From Sega Retro
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As the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis in North America) was Sega's most successful video game console, there were thousands of Mega Drive games released for the platform. In Japan, the console debuted in October 1988 with Space Harrier II and Super Thunder Blade as launch titles.
Many of Sega's early Mega Drive releases were aimed to steal as much market share from Nintendo as physically possible, with Sega porting many of its arcade hits such as Altered Beast, Golden Axe and Columns, as well as partnering with celebrities to produce Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Pat Riley Basketball, Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf, James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout Boxing, Joe Montana Football, Tommy Lasorda Baseball and Mario Lemieux Hockey. There was also a licensing deal for Disney games, starting with Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. Progress was still fairly slow until the release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991, prompting Nintendo to step up support for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Sega would then focus its efforts on attempting to beat the SNES on all fronts, releasing unsuccessful Mega CD and 32X add-ons with their own set of games, and attempt to beat games such as Donkey Kong Country and Star Fox with titles such as Vectorman and Virtua Racing respectively.
Before the Mega Drive, Sega would do all manufacturing and distribution for both first-party and third-party games. Beginning with Technosoft's Thunder Force II, however, Sega allowed third-party developers to manufacture and distribute their own Mega Drive games, on the conditions that the publisher be a licensed one and that various rules needed to be followed (with some exceptions).
Unlike the Sega Master System, box designs for Mega Drive games were not consistant between regions and changed numerous time during the console's run, mostly in an attempt to reduce customer confusion in regards to other Sega platforms on the market - the Mega CD, 32X, Sega Game Gear, Sega Saturn and even the Sega Master System whose box art standards were being phased out by third parties during the 1990s. Initially Japan abolished strict box-art rules while the west adopted a grey-on-black grid-like pattern similar to the Master System. Shortly before the introduction of the Videogame Rating Council in North America, Sega Genesis games were given a red labelling scheme with white text, and after that, Europe saw a similar redesign using blue. Japan would see such a redesign in late 1994 to bring the design in line with the Saturn's new layout rules — however, Acclaim, who produced the most third-party games in this timeframe, still broke the rules on some occasions (like WWF Raw, which used the EU box layout).
Like the Master System, cartridge shapes differed depending on your location. In the west, they were all physically identical but often region locked, while in Japan, the carts were slightly less easy to reproduce and required a slightly different cartridge slot. Notably Electronic Arts refused to obide by these rules, producing their own "square" cartridges complete with yellow EA tab on the side. Codemasters went one step further, creating the J-Cart, allowing extra controllers to be inserted into the cartridge itself. Other companies, such as Ballistic, also used custom cart molds.
Mega Drive games are still being released to this day, albeit in small numbers. Many games are bundled with plug-in-and-play systems, or through compilation packs or downloads. There have been some special releases, such as 2006's Beggar Prince, which was distributed on a cartridge.
Subcategories
This category has the following 19 subcategories, out of 19 total.
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Pages in category "Mega Drive games"
The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 1,274 total.
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- A Bug's Life (Mega Drive)
- A Dinosaur's Tale
- A Ressha de Ikou MD
- Aa Harimanada
- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
- ABC (video game)
- Action 52
- The Addams Family (Mega Drive)
- Addams Family Values
- Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer
- Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer (Columbus Circle)
- Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer (Retro-Bit)
- Advanced Daisenryaku: Deutsch Dengeki Sakusen
- The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Mega Drive)
- The Adventures of Mighty Max
- The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
- The Adventures of the Gummi Bears
- Adventurous Boy: Mao Xian Xiao Zi
- Aero the Acro-Bat
- Aero the Acro-Bat 2
- Aero the Acro-Bat 2 (Limited Run Games)
- Aerobiz
- Aerobiz Supersonic
- After Burner II
- Air Buster: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit
- Air Diver
- Al Michaels Announces HardBall III
- Aladdin 2001
- Aladdin II
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Alice Sisters
- Alien 3
- Alien Cat 2
- Alien Soldier
- Alien Storm (Mega Drive)
- Alisia Dragoon
- Altered Beast
- American Gladiators
- Andre Agassi Tennis
- Angry Birds (Mega Drive)
- Angry Birds in Russia
- Angry Birds: Star Wars
- Animaniacs
- Another World
- Aq Renkan Awa
- The Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and The Aquabats
- Arcade Classics
- Arch Rivals
- Arcus Odyssey
- Ariel the Little Mermaid
- Arkagis Revolution
- Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
- Arrow Flash
- Art Alive!
- Art of Fighting
- ASCII Wars
- Astérix and the Great Rescue (Mega Drive)
- Astérix and the Power of the Gods
- Atomic Robo-Kid
- Atomic Runner
- ATP Tour Championship Tennis
- Attack of the Petscii Robots
- Australian Rugby League
- Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt!
- Aworg: Hero in the Sky
- AWS Pro Moves Soccer
- Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II
B
- B.O.B.
- Back to the Future Part III
- Bahamut Senki
- Bai Bian Qi Qiao Ban - Magic 7 Block
- Ball Jacks
- Ballz 3D
- Bao Xiao San Guo
- Barbie Super Model
- Barkley Shut Up and Jam 2
- Barkley Shut Up and Jam!
- Barney's Hide & Seek Game
- Barver Battle Saga: Tai Kong Zhan Shi
- Bass Masters Classic
- Bass Masters Classic: Pro Edition
- Batman
- Batman Forever (Mega Drive)
- Batman Returns (Mega Drive)
- Batman: Revenge of The Joker
- Battle Golfer Yui
- Battle Mania Daiginjou
- Battle Squadron
- Battlemaster
- Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat
- Battletoads
- Battletoads/Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
- Beast Wrestler
- Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest
- Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast
- Beavis and Butt-Head (Mega Drive)
- Ben 10
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure
- Best of the Best: Championship Karate
- Bible Adventures
- Bill Walsh College Football
- Bill Walsh College Football '95
- Bimini Run
- Bio-Hazard Battle
- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
- Blades of Vengeance
- Blaster Master 2
- Blockbuster World Video Game Championship II
- Blockout
- Bloodshot
- Blow 'em Out
- Blowfish
- Blue Almanac
- Body Count
- Bomb on Basic City
- Bomb on BASIC City 2021 Edition
- Bomb on BASIC City Special Edition
- Bomber (Mega Drive)
- Bomboy
- Bonanza Bros.
- Bonkers
- Bonza
- Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure
- Boxing Legends of The Ring
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (Mega Drive)
- Brett Hull Hockey '95
- Brian Lara Cricket
- Brian Lara Cricket 96
- Brutal: Paws of Fury
- Bubba 'N' Stix
- Bubble and Squeak
- Bubsy II
- Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
- Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
- Budokan: The Martial Spirit
- Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble
- Bulls versus Blazers and the NBA Playoffs
- Bulls vs Lakers and the NBA Playoffs
- Burning Force
C
- Cadash
- Caesars Palace
- Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball
- Caliber.50
- California Games
- Cannon Fodder
- Captain America and the Avengers
- Captain Planet and the Planeteers
- Cascade
- Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Mega Drive)
- Castlevania: Bloodlines
- CD-ROM Multi Seminar Onsei Kaiseki Hakei Hyouji Cartridge
- Centurion: Defender of Rome
- Chakan (Mega Drive)
- Champions World Class Soccer
- Championship Bowling
- Championship Pool
- Championship Pro-Am
- Chao Ji Da Fu Weng
- Chao Ji Mahjong Club
- Chao Ji Poker
- The Chaos Engine
- Chase H.Q. II
- Cheese Cat-Astrophe Starring Speedy Gonzales
- Chess (Mega Drive)
- The Chessmaster
- Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool
- Chester Cheetah: Wild Wild Quest
- Chi Chi's Pro Challenge Golf
- Chibi Maruko-chan: Waku Waku Shopping
- Chiki Chiki Boys
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
- Chou Kyuukai Miracle Nine
- Chuck Rock
- Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck
- Classic Collection
- ClayFighter
- Cliffhanger
- Clue
- Coach K College Basketball
- Code Eliminator
- Coffee Crisis
- College Football USA 96
- College Football USA 97
- College Football's National Championship
- College Football's National Championship II
- College Slam