>>131825
there are definitely a fair few top-shelf Genesis games, but if you're looking for stuff like what Nintendo was putting out... get a SNES lol, Sega wasn't doing games like that

if I mention a series name, I am including all the games in it
* Streets of Rage (if playing 3, play Japanese Bare Knuckle 3 because they fucked up the US version bad)
* Gunstar Heroes (chaser+lightning is cheating, but you should probably do it for your first run through the game anyway)
* Castlevania Bloodlines (honestly, my favorite CV game)
* Contra Hard Corps (US release removes the health system and goes back to 1-hit kills - apparently it isn't changed beyond that in difficulty though; abuse the slide, this game isn't nearly as hard as people claim)
* Musha Aleste (this one is on a lot of lists but I think it has a few too many dead bits where you're just kinda sitting there bored - 11/10 soundtrack though and I think it's still fun as fuck)
* Thunder Force (why the fuck did they change the name of 4 in the US)
* Alien Soldier (why the fuck did we not get this in the US on cartridge - allegedly, it was distributed via some download service back in the day; the controls are a bit fucked up and there are a ton of things you need to look up before going in or you'll time out on the very first boss, like how an empty gun actually does damage (a lot of it even!), or how the reflect mechanic works so you can refill your life and do the super attack and one-hit kill the first boss)
* Puyo Puyo 2 (the fact that there wasn't an export version of PP, even if rebranded, with the Puyo 2 mechanics is fucked up, PP2 is absurdly better than PP1 mechanically; the MD version is actually like arcade perfect beyond the voices since the arcade board is basically a Genesis with better audio hardware)
* Shinobi, Shadow Dancer (Shadow Dancer my favorite of the lot to play, Shinobi 3 has the wow factor, and The Revenge of Shinobi is still good despite being a hard as fuck 1989 release)
* Ristar (very pretty late release by Sega)

there's some shit I personally like too that might not get on the mega-hit classics lists
* OutRun (not the greatest port, but plays pretty well and is easier than arcade, OutRun 2019 is pretty fun too if a bit aesthetically drab)
* Space Harrier II (slightly janky launch title, but it's fucking Space Harrier with new levels and cool bosses, it's overall just cool as fuck)
* Granada (very cool top-down tank game, although it lacks that wow factor, it feels great to play)

I'm almost certainly missing a fair few games.