 When we're not playing Sonic the Hedgehog, what are the best arcade conversions to the Sega Mega Drive? The Sega Mega Drive is a 16-bit video game console developed by Sega and released in August of 1989. It is the third console from Sega and is a successor to the Sega Master System. The hardware was based on Sega's System 16 arcade board. The Mega Drive primarily competed with the Super Nintendo and PC Engine. By the end of its life, it had sold an estimated 40 million units and its games continued to be popular amongst gamers even today. Talk to me Goose! I feel the need! The need for speed! Kicking off with Afterburner 2 on the Sega Mega Drive. What a fantastic arcade conversion. Not perfect, but fantastic nonetheless. It loses the yoke stick of the arcade original and the fantastic arcade cabinet, but retains all of the speed and over-the-top action. Controls are tight, graphics convincing, and the sound and music will send you into a tiz. An instant classic for your Sega Mega Drive. Now this is a weird one. Sometimes I've seen reviews where this game gets panned as being boring, say me, but I absolutely love this game. It's fantastic, I've played it on many systems, but none play better outside of the arcade than on the Sega Mega Drive. It's two player as well, so killing aliens has never been so much fun. Alien killing grounds aside, the Sega Mega Drive is almost identical to the arcade original even in the sound department. So a mixed bag for some, but an absolute instant classic for me. Rise from your grave. What a fantastic arcade conversion. And one of the early Sega Mega Drive games I originally purchased. Back in 1988, this felt somewhat cutting edge. So you've woken up dead, raised from the grave by Zeus himself on a mission to rescue Zeus's daughter. And as you walk from left and right on the screen, you can pick up power-ups where you become instantly more muscular. And later on, a fearsome beast, still a fantastic challenge. The second you mentioned Goals and Ghost on the Sega Mega Drive, little Timmy, a Super Nintendo owning fanboy, will come along and say, ah, but it's better on the SNES. Well, Timmy, I'm here to inform you that, yes, it looks better, but it doesn't play better and playability is why we're all here at the end of the day. And if you don't agree, I'll see you at the back of Rackens. So Goals and Ghost on the Sega Mega Drive, essential. I spent quite a bit of time playing this on the Amiga 500. And whilst that's a fantastic arcade conversion, it's got nothing on the Sega Mega Drive. I also played it on the Amstrad CPC. And despite playing that game quite a bit and wanting to like it, something was lost in the translation. This conversion, however, I think really put the Sega Mega Drive on the map. And people still talk about this game today. So it had universal appeal. It's also one of those games that keeps on giving. My wife likes to dress up as Tyrus Flair. I was lucky enough to play this on the ZX Spectrum back in the day. I personally didn't experience the arcade original until much later on. But when I finally played the Mega Drive version, I was absolutely blown away. Yes, there was cosmetic differences, but I couldn't help keep away from it. I came back to it time after time when compared to the arcade original. The graphics on the Sega Mega Drive are brilliant. They're beautiful. In fact, I'm going to go out on a ledge and say, I prefer this to the arcade original. Oh, I'm serious. I mean, it's it's really good. Is that good? This game even now is gruesome and it's better than the SNES version for obvious reasons. Blood, guts and gore. But on both of those systems, it's an absolute classic for me. You can still load it up today and it's still a terrific blast. I was going to add one of the killer moves to this video. But I thought better of it in case I get a YouTube strike. Even now, some of the fatalities are still too ugly to watch. So it's slightly more difficult than the arcade original. And the level design is a little bit different as well. So that's a bit odd, but it oozes exactly the same class as the arcade original. The sound effects and tunes are just as cute as the arcade version. The sprites are cute and cuddly as well. I think also it's a little bit tiny bit slower than the arcade version. But in all honesty, you couldn't have wished for a finer arcade conversion and it still holds up today. When you consider the travesty that was outrunners and turbo outrun on the Sega Mega Drive, this is actually really good. It's lost the colour palette of the arcade original and the collision detection at times can be a little bit suspect. But everything else is there. It's here. There's even a super difficulty mode that you can unlock. They've even included the afterburner jet on one of the later stages that flies overhead. And along with the PC Engine version, I'm proud to have this in my collection. I'm not sure if this was ever released outside of Japan. I had it on import. Today, nobody cares because you can just use a ROM. Essentially, you get two games in one. In fact, the best way to describe it is that you get the arcade original plus extra bits bolted on. I think, personally, it's the best version of Rainbow Islands I've ever played. It's like an extension of the arcade original and it's one of Tato's extended classics. So a fantastic game to collect and one of the best arcade conversions on the Mega Drive. If you're a fan of the arcade original, they don't come much better than this. This is absolutely, I mean, look at it. It's almost perfect. And if, like me, you do like the arcade original, you'll be playing this for years to come. You'll need some rational thinking to make it to the end as it's a balance between fuel and energy. But I mean, look at it. It's almost an exact copy of the arcade original, a decade late, but an exact copy. For me, the best of the Shinobi series on the Sega Mega Drive, I just loved it. I originally played it on the Amstrad CPC and that, as far as I'm concerned, was a fantastic 8-bit conversion when you consider the restraint to the hardware. And although this conversion is not strictly faithful to the arcade original, the Shinobi connection is still strong. It's a huge game, nothing has been lost and any serious ninja fan would be absolutely crazy to not have this in their collection. For a game that came out in 1986, you really have to take your hat off to Slapfight because although this Mega Drive version is in new clothing and expanded slightly, the real testament is still with the gameplay. It's phenomenal. OK, so naturally you've got to be into shoot-em-ups to get anything out of this. But if you are, this is a true shoot-em-up classic. So to sum up, it's smooth, it's simple and it's addictive. What more could you want? For the time, this was fantastic. There was nothing really to match it, especially in the speed department. I love this game so much that I've even purchased the arcade one-up Street Fighter cabinet. And this is champion among other Sega fighting games. So it was worth the wait and you also got all the bonus stages that were missing from the SNES version. Apart from Sonic the Hedgehog, I think this was the biggest game to arrive on the Sega Mega Drive and computer and video games back in November 1993 claimed it was better than the arcade original. Now, this was absolutely fantastic for the Sega Mega Drive. And one of my first games, it's as fast and as furious as the arcade original in my mind. At the time, the acrobatics on display, including like a slide movement, made this the best game around and the graphics are well-coloured and defined and keep the feel of the arcade original. It really was great arcade-slashing fun and I still play this one today. And that's probably mostly down to the addictive challenging gameplay. Let's start by stating that this is a fantastic two-player, Shutama. I think for a while it was exclusive only to the SNES. So thanks to Sega and Konami doing some sort of a backhand deal, we got it for a game set back, way back in the Wild West. The firepower in this game is unbelievable. You've even got sawn-off shotguns and just wait till you experience some of the bonus stages as an arcade conversion on the Sega Mega Drive. This is a masterful stroke. When I heard this was coming in development for the Sega Mega Drive, I was a little bit worried. I didn't think they'd be able to pull it off. But after playing it, I realised quickly this was an essential purchase and it even comes with a career mode that prolongs the lifespan of the game over the arcade original and I thought to myself after playing this, if Sega can do arcade conversions like this, my god, we're in for a ride. We know better now it ended up to be a little bit of a hit and miss. What an unbelievable arcade conversion and I say, even though it doesn't look as good as the arcade original, I think it plays better. This is Sega Mega Drive racing at its best and all is forgiven for the abysmal port of Nigel Mansel's World Championship, which was excellent on the Amiga 500 and SNES. I think only Domark's Formula One championship competes with this. Maybe it pips it to the post, but don't know how Juri's out. There's also GP2, so it's a difficult one. If memory serves, I recall that this was really expensive back in the day, probably around 70 or 80 pound, but it was a next generation title on a 16 bit console. Like the Sucker I am, I went out and purchased it. But in my defence, I did so because this thing moves at 25 frames per second. If there is to be a downside, it's that there's only three tracks. But if you're into your racing games, your Sega racing games, this is highly accurate, despite the come down in graphics. Phew, glad that's out of the way. Not quite the end. These are the ones that almost escaped, almost got away, but equally worthwhile. Also, please bear in mind, this is just one man's choice. Ah! Ah! Ah! Finish him! This is Absolute Gold, and my favourite arcade conversion to the Sega Mega Drive. Why do I say that? It's because it's the game I go back to over and over again, the one I play the most. Two player action takes things to another level. And whilst playing as good and looking as good as the arcade original, it goes one better with even more tracks. There are loads of arcade conversions to the Sega Mega Drive. More good than bad. Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please like, subscribe, as it really helps the channel. Bye!