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Could the Sega Genesis have been successful if were released in the 00’s?

As far as retro consoles are concerned there is no secret that the Sega Genesis is considered to be legendary in the world of gaming. The Sega Genesis was initially released back in ’88 and since its release the 16-bit console has managed to reach at least 35 million units in worldwide sales. Despite, not selling as much as the Super NES console released back in 1990 it was still praised for its collection of games including the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy, Street Of Rage trilogy, Phantasy Star series and many other titles that are seen as classics from the early 90’s. While the 90’s was considered to be the golden era for video games involving 2D sprites and level design 3D gaming involving RPG’s, shooters and action-adventure titles were very popular during the 00’s. With consoles such PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Wii and the PlayStation 3 it would be easy to console that the Sega Genesis would have definitely been overshadowed in the 00’s.

There were consoles such as the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 that could run 16-bit video games better than the likes of The Sega Genesis or the Super Nintendo. In fact the PS2 and the PS3 could run arcade games with ease making consoles such as the Sega Genesis and the Super NES obsolete. While the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS were both highly successful during the 00’s many would argue that titles within the Pokémon, Super Mario and Legend Of Zelda series were still very big during that decade contributing to the huge sales of both handheld consoles. If Sega decided to release a Dreamcast 2 during early to mid 00’s than its possible that could of rivaled the Nintendo GameCube in popularity since the console sold less than 22 million units worldwide. By the 00’s decade technology had evolved far beyond what it was in the late 80’s-early 90’s so its was unlikely that the Sega Genesis would had as much success during that time period than it did following its initial release.

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Upcoming Switch Games- Moon: Remix RPG Adventure: (2019)

As far as classic RPG’s from the 90’s are concerned there are many titles that instantly comes Mind such as Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Mana, Earthbound, Final Fantasy VI-VIII and others that were very popular. Most of those RPG’s were titles that the whole world got to see back in the 90’s especially since they all appeared in other opposed to being Japanese exclusives. When it comes down to JRPG exclusive market one of the many titles that never appeared outside of Japan was a game developed by Love-de-Lic and published by ASCII Entertainment known as Moon: Remix RPG Adventure from 1997. Since its release approximately 22 years ago the game has been considered to be a classic by many fans and critics for various qualities such as its soundtrack in which 30 different composers had worked on prior to its PS1 release in October ’97. The graphics and visuals for Moon: Remix RPG Adventure was pretty cool especially since it utilized 16-bit sprites with 3D backgrounds similar to that of Square Enix’s Xenogears game from 1998. In fact, a couple developers who had previously worked with Square Enix in the 90’s prior to their respective departures from the company involved in the development of Moon: Remix RPG Advance.

Video Game developers such as Akira Ueda, Kenichi Nishi and Tarō Kudou had roles in the development of popular RPG’s created by Square Enix such as Super Mario RPG which was arguably one of the best games within its genre to have appeared on the Super NES during the mid 90’s. While Moon: Remix RPG Adventure was not nearly as big as other RPG’s that appeared on the PS1 such as Final Fantasy VII which was also released in ’97 it was a game that could have arguably shine a bit more outside of Japan if it came out between ’98-’99. Lucky, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure will be headed to western countries such as America sometime between now and January 2020. An official release date for Moon: Remix RPG Adventure has yet to be confirmed and hopefully it will be not be delayed until 2020. Based on what we know Moon: Remix RPG Adventure will have a different publisher known as Onion Games opposed to the original one ASCII Entertainment. It will be interesting to see how well this JRPG classic will be received in western countries approximately 22 years following its initial release in Japan.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story (1995)

When we think about classic JRPG’s from the 16-bit era of gaming from the early 90’s various titles instantly comes to mind for those who are retro gamers. During the early to mid 90’s memorable JRPG gems had emerged such Secret Of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy IV-VI and others were considered to be popular titles that are still talked about to this day. While a majority of the titles just mentioned eventually made it to America back in the 90’s there were titles such as Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story that remained Japanese exclusives which makes are retro gamers question why it was never released in the US. For those who do not know Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story was developed by Arc System Works and developed by Angel and was released as a SNES exclusive back in 1995. Sailor Moon: Another Story was a single-player JRPG that gave people the option of controlling any of the Sailor Scouts that they want to while leveling them up throughout the game.

This game featured the Inner Senshi characters such as Sailor Moon, Mini Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and the Outer Senshi Sailor Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Pluto as they attempt to defeat the main villain who is a sorceress known as Apsu from the 30th Century. As far as the plot for Sailor Moon: Another Story was concerned its was rather intriguing especially since emphasis was placed on time travel. Also, Apsu managed to assemble a group of warriors named Sin, Ishtar, Nabu, Nargel and Marduk known as the Opposito Solders who are supposed to be villainous counterparts of the Inner Senshi. In this game Apsu plans of altering the events of the past in order to make her mission of retrieving the Silver Crystal that much easier in the 30 century. In addition, to receiving new antagonists within the Sailor Moon series some the main villains from the first three story arcs reappear such as Queen Beryl, Black Lady, Mistress 9, Rubeus, Esmeraude and others who American fans were probably more familiar with by ’97-’98. In fact, Sailor Moon: Another Story was released in late ’95 the same year that the fourth season of the series known as Super S first aired.

As far as the game itself is concerned Sailor Moon: Another Story has nice graphics, impressive level designs along with mini-puzzle games and artificial intelligence that would force players to develop creative strategies on how to defeat their opponents. Each character had their signature attacks from the manga/television series along with HP (health points) and rechargeable EP (energy points) before battling various monsters and bosses throughout the game. Sailor Moon: Another Story also had interesting dialogue between characters along with multiple endings depending on what level players complete it on. While its unclear on how successful Sailor Moon: Another Story was in Japan in relation to sales many people often wonder successful this game would have been in America between ’95-96. Considering how popular the Sailor Moon series was during the mid 90’s after appearing on Fox Kids and Toonami this JRPG could have ended becoming an attraction on the PS1 considering that fact that the Super NES was starting to become old by 1995. Some fans would argue that the story for this game was arguably better than the Sailor Moon: Super S television series and deserved a non-canon movie release. Either, way Bishoujo Sailor Moon: Another Story is considered to be an underrated JRPG from the mid 90’s and is possibly the best game from the series in general.

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Will there ever be another Bloody Roar game?

As far as old school fighting games from the 90’s and early 00’s are concerned there are so many titles that instantly comes to mind. Retro gamers often remember titles such as the Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Killer Instinct and King of Fighters series from back in the day. Despite, how popular each of those franchises were there were games such as the Bloody Roar series which began back in back in 1997 on the Sony PlayStation which are considered to be highly underrated especially since they were overshadowed during the 90’s-early 00’s. In fact, the Bloody Roar series definitely had strong fan base especially since it was quite unique in relation to gameplay such as the “Beast Mode” mechanic and eventually “Beast Drive” in Blood Roar 2 which was released back in ’99. As far as the overall appeal of the series is concerned many would argue that Bloody Roar 2 was arguably the last strong entry despite there being three more games that came afterwards between 2000-2003. The latest entry in the set known as Bloody Roar 4 came out about sixteen years ago and since then there has been no indication of the possibility of a new game especially since Hudson Soft became defunct back in 2012.

While video game developer Eighting has worked on just about every Bloody Roar title within the series Konami was the publisher for Bloody Roar 4 which appeared on the PlayStation 2 between late 2003-early 2004. Even though, Konami is still a major publisher within the gaming industry today its unlikely that they have any plans on bringing back the Bloody Roar series. Bloody Roar 4 was nowhere near as popular as the first two games that came out between ’97-’99. In fact, some would argue with the notion that a new Bloody Roar game is not necessary but the idea of having HD releases if each title within the series would be something that would definitely turn heads within the gaming world. Despite, the fact that the fighting genre of gaming is not quite as popular today as it was during the 90’s a new project or release involving the Bloody Roar series could definitely be somewhat of an attraction anytime from 2020 onwards. But as it currently stands the idea of a new Bloody Roar game is one that seems unlikely to happen anytime in the near future.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Earthworm Jim: (1994)

As far as platform games from the early 90’s are concerned one the few titles that retro gamers instantly think about in relation that time period is Earthworm Jim which was developed by Shiny Entertainment initially released back in 1994. Earthworm Jim was released for 16-bit consoles such as the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in ’94 before it appeared on game systems such as Game Boy, Game Gear, Microsoft Windows and Sega-CD in 1995. Earthworm Jim had a rather basic but intriguing plot that was somewhat strange. The game starts of with a super-suit that falls from the sky which Jim gains access to. After acquiring the suit Jim has to deal with various adversaries who attempt to take it from him. Also, Jim is charged the the task of rescuing a Princess while trying to thwart off various foes throughout the game making for an exciting platform/run & gun adventure. While the original Earthworm Jim game was not quite as popular as other 16-bit platformers such as Super Mario World and the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy from the early 90’s it managed to spawn a sequel that was arguably more successful following its release in 1995. Some would probably argue that the damsel in distress aspect of the story was not needed especially considering the fact that the super suit discovered by Earthworm Jim was interesting enough.

Also, despite how bizarre yet fascinating the plot was the ending was considered to be somewhat dark since Jim accidentally crushes Princess What’s Her Name after rescuing her. As a 2D platformer Earthworm Jim is seen as a cult classic while being praised by fans and critics for various quality such as gameplay, graphics along being an adventurous title that gamers of any age could easily sink their teeth into. Finding hard copy retro titles such as Earthworm Jim is rare when visiting used game stores which only proves how valuable it was approximately 25 years ago. If anything Earthworm Jim was arguably one of the best non-Sonic or Mario platformers of the 16-bit era and is one that which will remain a classic in the eyes of many people.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Donkey Kong Country: (1994)

When we think about classic platform titles of the early 90’s that appeared during the 16-bit era of gaming one of the few names that instantly comes to mind is Donkey Kong Country. For those who do not know Donkey Kong Country was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo when it was initially released in November 1994. Donkey Kong Country was the first major game within the series to appear on a home based console during the 90’s. While Donkey Kong had first became very popular on the NES similar to characters such Mario & Link during the 80’s it seemed like the Country series stood out more. Donkey Kong Country had realistic characters sprites and a basic plot which involved a bunch of bananas being stolen by Kremlings. Players have to compete various stages while encountering numerous adversaries while controlling Donkey or Diddy Kong as they progress through 40 different levels within the game. One of the coolest features that Donkey Kong Country had was the multiplayer co-op mode which was similar to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 & 3 where one player got to be Sonic and other was Tails. The co-op two player mode in some ways made Donkey Kong Country better than older Mario games from the 80’s and Super Mario World to a degree as far as gameplay is concerned.

As far as overall success is concerned Donkey Kong Country managed to sell over 9.3 million units worldwide and ended up becoming the third best selling game for the Super NES during the 90’s. In fact, Donkey Kong Country ended up becoming the third best selling game for Nintendo’s 16-bit console while being surpassed by Super Mario World & Super Mario All-Stars. Donkey Kong Country was a title that spawned two SNES sequels which were both released between ’95-’96 and were largely successful as well. Despite, its release approximately 24 years ago Donkey Kong Country is a game worth playing for those who never had a chance to do so. As a 2D platformer Donkey Kong Country looked like it was ahead of its time following its release in 1994.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Twisted Metal: (1995)

As far as memorable games from the 90’s are concerned in relation to violence and mayhem one of the few titles that the world got to see during that decade was Twisted Metal. For those who do not know Twisted Metal was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and initially released back in November 1995 for the PS1. In countries such as America Twisted Metal was very popular among teens and young adults for its addictive gameplay involving vehicular combat where players have to struggle to stay alive in the streets of Los Angles. The plot for the game takes place in 2005 and centers around competition held by Calypso where participants go through various levels and try to destroy each other in order to stay alive. The concept of the Twisted Metal competition was very creative but some people have criticized the game on the past for having a weak single-player mode. Despite, some of the game’s drawbacks there were more positives than negatives in the first Twisted Metal game such as the arsenal of weapons players were provided. In the games players had the ability to carry over 20 different weapons giving players numerous options on how to destroy their enemies.

Also, the co-op story mode was interesting as well since players had to share six lives which really forced people to strategize as the difficulty of the game increased during progression. The idea of sharing lives during co-op gameplay can be seen as a negative in the eyes of some people since it was somewhat similar to the NES Battetoads game where two players had to share lives in a game that can be difficult. Various stages in game where the competition took place included skyscrapers, freeways, warehouses and even the suburbs which made Twisted Metal even more interesting. The graphics for Twisted Metal were pretty decent by mid 90’s standards especially since 3D gaming was still considered to be new during that time period. The original Twisted Metal game ended up spawning two successful sequels between ’96-’98 which both sold over one million copies worldwide on the PS1. As a vehicular combat game Twisted Metal was one of the most innovative titles the gaming world has seen and its a title that is still somewhat popular to this day. The latest entry that we got to see in the Twisted Metal series was back in 2012 and for the most part fans and critics were fond of that game. Hopefully, sometime in the future we will get a chance to see another Twisted Metal title for a current generation console such as the PlayStation 4 or even the upcoming PS5 game system.