Top 10 Sega Mega Drive Games of All Time

If you’ve been reading, you’ll know I’m a big fan of retro games and older games in general. I keep an eye on newer releases, but I always find myself coming back to older titles. I grew up with a Sega Mega Drive as our first family console, we moved on to the original PlayStation, Dreamcast and so on. But even with newer consoles, the Mega Drive always pulled me back. It’s definitely my favourite retro console out there. The Mega Drive might be simple by design, but there’s something almost magnetic about it. The game library is endlessly engaging with controls that instantly feel natural. It’s easy enough to pick up and play, but tricky enough to master.

This is my personal all-time top 10 list of the best Sega Mega Drive games. It might not match yours and that’s OK. These are the ones I still fire up even after all these years. Honestly, this entire top 10 list is pretty interchangeable and narrowing it down to a top 10 in the first place was a challenge. I’ve shuffled the top five more times than I can count.

Anyway, onto the list…

10. Mortal Kombat 2

The classic arcade fighter hits the home console! Mortal Kombat 2 was always a fun time, even if I was always pretty garbage at it. I still am. There is a story, but it really isn’t anything special. Basically the evil Shang Tsung convinces Shao Kahn to host a Mortal Kombat tournament in Outworld, which is his home turf and Raiden rallies a group of Earthrealm warriors to take them up on the challenge. But it really wasn’t about the story, it was about beating the absolute piss out of your opponent like you would in the arcade. The Mega Drive version isn’t considered the best port. That honour goes to the SNES release which looked more like the original arcade game including all the gore effects. But the Mega Drive had it where it counts, the controls. The controls are simply faster and more responsive. It was a smoother experience in terms of how it played, even if the graphics and audio took a bit of a hit. That is unless you had the superior version to them all, which I would be willing to bet my house that this is the least owned console version out there: the Sega 32X version.

9. Earthworm Jim

I still remember the cartoon back when I was a kid. I think we rented Earthworm Jim from Blockbuster Video before it landed in our collection. I can still smell the inside of Blockbuster, it haunts me in my dreams. Anyway, It’s a fun but fairly unforgiving action platformer. Earthworm Jim isn’t your typical hero, he’s literally an earthworm who lucked into a high-tech super suit which fell out of the sky into his lap… or.. er, whatever a worm has. He can now run, jump and blast his way through the slew of bad guys who want that suit back. True to Earthworm Jim style, Jim is on a ridiculous quest to rescue Princess Whats-Her-Name. It’s a pretty rough hike to the finish, but just as you think we’re going to see an ending with a happily ever after, the cow that Jim himself catapulted into orbit at the start of the game returns to flatten his would-be princess. It’s weird, chaotic at times and it’s exactly the kind of nonsense that made ’90s gaming so damn fun.

8. ToeJam and Earl

Seriously, what even is ToeJam and Earl? This is one of those games that only made sense on the Mega Drive. A couple of quirky characters in an even more quirky game. ToeJam and Earl is, I guess, an action-adventure exploration game about two alien rappers who crash-land on Earth and need to find the missing pieces of their wrecked spaceship to get back to their home planet, Funkotron. The levels are randomly generated and the enemies are pretty bizarre and over the top. You’ll also come across items wrapped up as presents along the way to assist you. Assist is a pretty loose term, while they may help you, they also might just kill you. Overall, it’s a really fun and frustrating time. The split-screen co-op made it a cult favourite, letting you and a friend share in the chaos. But it’s not really about collecting the ship parts, it’s about the sheer unpredictability of what you’re going to run into next. ToeJam & Earl proves that sometimes the strangest ideas make for the most memorable games. I honestly couldn’t see it thriving anywhere else at the time but on the Mega Drive.

7. X-Men 2: Clone Wars

We snagged this one out of a Blockbuster Video bargain bin just as they were starting to phase out Mega Drive rentals. I’m super glad we did, X-Men 2 is an underrated classic. It’s a side-scrolling beat ‘em up, kinda like the Batman and Spider-Man games but with an X-Men skin. You’ve got the usual suspects with Wolverine, Cyclops, Beast and Gambit with Psylocke and Nightcrawler in the mix. Each has their own skills to help you work your way through each level, battling enemies and the environment. The story comes straight from the comic book story-arc at the time it was developed. Professor X, with the assistance of Cerebro, reveals that the alien race known as the Phalanx have returned. The X-Men are sent to destroy the Phalanx virus, but the virus has already spread. After putting up a fight, Magneto eventually allies with the X-Men, agreeing to prevent the Phalanx from taking over Earth. The team trace the Phalanx to Apocalypse’s facility where, you guessed it, we have to defeat Apocalypse. The team move on to the Savage Land, where they are attacked by a Phalanx clone of Brainchild who has been controlling this hostile takeover. We then move through the Phalanx ship, taking on Deathbird and then battling through the clone factory to face twisted clone versions of themselves. This is really everything you could want from a more serious comic book beat ‘em up. I just think it’s worthy of more love.

6. NHL ‘96

I couldn’t make this list without an NHL game. I know a lot of people point to NHL ‘94 as the gold standard, that’s fair enough as it’s also a classic. NHL ‘96 was my first NHL video game and I still play it regularly to this day. The addition of fighting and an updated season mode on ‘95 kept my brother and I coming back for decades. I’ve still got ongoing seasons on both my Steam Deck and Anbernic RG CubeXX. What makes it so good is the simplicity. All we had on the Mega Drive was a d-pad and our trusty A, B and C buttons. No overstuffed controls, no convoluted skill trees and best of all no micro-transactions. The newer EA Sports NHL games pack in endless features and flashy abilities. Personally I stick to franchise mode for the management side of things, the actual gameplay feels a bit bloated in comparison. Back in the ‘90s, NHL ‘96 just let you drop the puck and play. It’s fast-paced and an overall straightforward experience. It’s still the hockey game I keep coming back to.

5. Road Rash 3 / Skitchin’

I really couldn’t separate these two. Road Rash 3 is the best of the Mega Drive Road Rash series and Skitchin’ is basically the same idea but on rollerblades. Both are top tier fighter-racing hybrids, each with their own quirks. The Road Rash concept I always thought was great. I’m not really into motorbikes, rollerblading, or even racing but I’ve always had a blast with these games whenever I pick them up. They’re racing games that aren’t entirely about being the fastest, they’re more about surviving the road. You dodge and weave through traffic, go over optional jumps and do gnarly tricks all while trying to avoid being knocked off by rival racers, while trying to knock them down yourself. Whatever you can grab, clubs, crowbars, it’s fair game. Road Rash 3 really nails the formula with great controls, better tracks and a straightforward progression system. Skitchin’ took that same formula and added its own twist. Instead of motorbikes, you’re on inline skates and can build your speed further by skitchin’ off the back of cars. Instead of upgrading your bike, you’re upgrading your skates and protective gear. Both feature banger soundtracks and strike a really good balance between racer and brawler. In terms of racing games, these two are some of the most fun on the system.

4. Zombies

Zombies, or Zombies Ate My Neighbours if you’re in the US, has bounced from #1 to #6 on my personal list more times than I can count. It’s a unique isometric run-and-gun shooter that really leans into that comical horror movie style. Would you believe it actually has a story? Well, I’ll be damned! So anyway: the mad scientist Dr. Tongue has produced an army of monsters in his castle laboratory and unleashed them on the public. Armed with some whacky weapons like water pistols, soda can grenades and even weed-whackers, you have to fight your way through the undead and rescue what’s left of humanity in this classic B-grade horror movie aesthetic, as you work your way through to Dr. Tongue himself. The levels are gruelling and become increasingly unforgiving as your enemies increase in numbers and difficulty. Zombies is one of those games you can just jump into and cruise through without overthinking. Kind of a cozy zombie shooter, if that’s a thing. I know a lot of people swear by the SNES version and sure, it may look a little better. But I’m a sucker for the Mega Drive version and the nostalgia glasses probably play a part there. The pretty damn useful radar may also have something to do with it. It’s just one of those games I’ll never get tired of firing up and blasting my way through.

3. NBA Jam

Midway’s 2-on-2 basketball classic had to make the list sooner or later. It’s been on consoles and in arcades, but my favourite version is still the non-tournament edition on Mega Drive. My original cartridge still sits proudly next to my console. NBA Jam popularised the fast moving, over-the-top action-sports genre. It includes all the NBA teams that were in the competition at the time of release with what they call ‘digitized likenesses’ of real players. It kinda feels like they only had a handful of player models that were recycled throughout the teams, but that didn’t even matter. We’ve got players who can jump something like 10-20 feet in the air and land slam dunks like gravity is optional. We’ve got barely any rules outside of a shot clock and knocking opponents down is not just allowed, it’s absolutely encouraged. This is classic ’90s exaggerated arcade sports at its finest. There’s nothing more satisfying than delivering a beat-down on someone with a flaming basketball hearing “HE’S ON FIRE” with every made basket. NBA Jam was a big hit in our house and I still fire up a few games from time to time. It’s one of those sports games that anyone can pick up and play, even if they don’t give a shit about basketball.

2. Streets of Rage 2

Side-scrolling beat-em-ups are just a fun time any way you slice it. The Mega Drive had a lot of them, but none better than Streets of Rage 2. It does everything really well and more than earns the number two spot on my list. Set a year after the first game, Wood Oak City must be cleaned up again as Mr. X and the Syndicate have returned. This time, they’ve Kidnapped Adam Hunter and created widespread chaos in the streets. We’ve got familiar faces with Axel and Blaze returning with two new characters in Adam’s little brother Skate and Max, a slow moving but hard-hitting wrestler. The team battles through the city to Mr. X’s lair to rescue Adam and defeat their old nemesis. There’s a few additional mechanics added to Streets of Rage 2 over the original and they’re not particularly complicated. We’ve got expanded standard attacks, special attacks and a new dash attack which they called a ‘blitz’ attack. Before I added Streets of Rage 2 to my collection, I only really saw it in an old Sega magazine we had. That magazine hype was real, Streets of Rage 2 delivers one of the best ’90s side-scrolling beat ’em up experiences there is.

1. Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Oh come on now, you knew Sonic 3 & Knuckles was going to take top spot. A top 10 Sega Mega Drive list and the top 9 conveniently didn’t feature a Sonic game? You knew what was happening here.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is my pick for best game on the Mega Drive. We follow both Sonic and Knuckles’ stories, with Sonic’s picking up right after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as Dr. Robotnik’s Death Egg crash-lands on Angel Island. Robotnik tricks Knuckles, last of the Echidna clan and guardian of the Master Emerald, into thinking Sonic wants it for himself. Sonic battles through the island, clashing with both Knuckles and Robotnik, until Knuckles realizes he’s been tricked and helps Sonic reach Sky Sanctuary, where the now repaired Death Egg rises again. Sonic ultimately brings it crashing down again, as is tradition. Knuckles’ story kicks off when one of Robotnik’s robots ambushes him, leading up to a final showdown with Robotnik’s Mecha Sonic in Sky Sanctuary. Using the Master Emerald to power up, Mecha Sonic takes on Knuckles, but is inevitably defeated. Sonic flies his biplane in to rescue Knuckles to return the Master Emerald and Angel Island to its former glory. If you’ve collected all the Chaos Emeralds, Angel Island returns to its rightful place up in the sky. If not, it crashes down HARD. The gameplay is exactly what you expect out of a Sonic game, or a Sega platformer in general, only tightened up on its previous titles. We have solid, satisfying and fast-paced platforming at its finest with plenty of crazy critters and enjoyable boss fights along the way.

The story and gameplay are only half the reason Sonic 3 & Knuckles stands out. The glue holding it all together is the soundtrack. It’s one of the Mega Drive’s most iconic collections of music. It’s one of those soundtracks that feels way bigger than the hardware it was running on. Michael Jackson and his team were brought in to work on the Sonic 3 soundtrack, Jackson himself was a Sonic fan. While he and his team went uncredited, the influence is undeniably all over the game and assisted in delivering some of its most iconic music. That influence helped shape tracks that are not just memorable but are thoughtfully layered, ridiculously catchy and so distinct that even if I hear the first few notes I could instantly tell you what stage we’re on. That’s the mark of a deadset classic.