With well over nine hundred games to choose from on the Mega Drive/Genesis, you'd be forgiven for having not sampled everything that the good folks at Sega had on offer. Even back in the rocking nineties those little black cartridges didn't come cheap, and it was easier to grab that tentpole release than take a punt on anything even slightly more obscure. However, while the likes of Sonic looped the loop, Shinobi cut deadly moves, the Beast got altered and Ecco nudged crystals into an aquatic oblivion, there were games being developed and released that had all the hallmarks of a classic, but didn't necessarily become smash hits in their own lifetime. Still, in this instance hindsight can be a pixelated wonder, and as generations of machines followed in the wake of this console, retro fans have started looking for those lesser known gems that deserve another pop in the slot. All in all, this nostalgic feature celebrates the titles that the majority were guilty of overlooking, the ones that were overshadowed by glossier releases, didn't have the relatable qualities of a movie license or just looked less enticing when sat on the shelf wedged between Sonic 3 and Shaq Fu. Read on and be inspired to seek out, dust off and get immersed in these exemplary titles.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.