Sega was always on the heels of Nintendo, trying to catch up to the company's success. The Sega Master System was their answer to the NES, which didn’t gather much attention in North America. However, the Sega Genesis, which was Sega's answer to the SNES, did seem like it was on more equal footing. It was released two years before the SNES’ 1991 launch in North America.

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Then, one year later, Sega released the Sega CD attachment to further boost the system's graphics and performance above the SNES. Sonic CD, one of the most popular entries in the series, was released in 1993. There were some other great Sega CD releases in 1993 too, though most prefer to focus first on what the Sega Genesis had to offer that year.

8 Battletoads And Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team

Fighting enemies in Battletoads And Double Dragon

Battletoads and Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team is a perfect name for this game. Separately, these two franchises were two of the biggest brawler series of the era. Combing the two series together for a crossover co-op brawler was a stroke of genius that hit almost every platform during this generation.

The NES was the first console that the game was released on in June of 1993 before the launch of all other platforms including the Sega Genesis. Players could choose between Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon or Zitz, Rash, or Pimple from Battletoads.

7 Disney’s Aladdin

Exploring the world in Disney’s Aladdin

There is a strong debate among Aladdin fans on which movie tie-in game is greater between the SNES and Sega Genesis versions. The SNES version was developed by Capcom while Virgin Games developed the Sega Genesis version.

SNES players got to experience better audio and pixel art while Sega Genesis players got to wield deadlier weapons like swords and the graphics were closer to the animation of the Aladdin movie. There is no definitive answer as tastes will always differ. However, fans can at least agree that both versions are great action platformers from the 16-Bit era.

6 Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Playing a match in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a retooled version of a game that came out in Japan in 1992, Puyo Puyo. The West would get a lot of reskinned versions of games in the 80s and 90s, seemingly to avoid copyright issues or to take advantage of an existing IPs popularity in the west.

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A famous example on Nintendo’s side was Super Mario Bros. 2, which was a game called Doki Doki Panic in Japan. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine features similar gameplay to Puyo Puyo but with Sonic the Hedgehog characters in the background. It can best be described as a puzzle game akin Tetris.

5 Gunstar Heroes

Fighting enemies in Gunstar Heroes

Gunstar Heroes is a platformer shooter from Treasure. That company made a lot of hits on the Sega Genesis including offbeat titles like McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure. The gameplay in Gunstar Heroes is similar to Contra except this game isn’t as brutal.

Shoot enemies, pick up power-ups to gain some wild weapons, defeat giant bosses, and repeat. It’s a breezy game that can easily be finished in an afternoon but it’s the type of classic that is fun to go back to periodically.

4 Sonic Spinball

Playing a match in Sonic Spinball

Sonic Spinball is a pinball game starring this system’s mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. It was the perfect spinoff for the franchise because Sonic goes tucks up into a ball during the mainline games already.

It’s not the best pinball game on the console as the execution could have been tighter. It tried to incorporate elements of the platforming games into it but they weren’t needed. As sloppy as it was at times though, Sonic cleaned up rather well for his first pinball trial.

3 Shinobi 3: Return Of The Ninja Master

Fighting enemies in Shinobi 3

The NES has Ninja Gaiden and the Sega systems had the Shinobi franchise. Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master is the best of the bunch on Sega Genesis with great music and graphics. The gameplay is much better too, allowing players to be more precise with their ninja abilities.

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The movement still wasn’t as fluid as in the Ninja Gaiden series, but few ninja games were at this time. The larger sprite of Shinobi 3’s ninja at least created a different, more tactile experience when fighting enemies.

2 Syndicate

Fighting enemies in Syndicate

Syndicate was the first game in the early cyberpunk RPG genre. It was an advanced game for both the Sega Genesis and the SNES and was years ahead of its time. Players could approach situations differently depending on choices made outside and inside combat situations.

The computer versions were more advanced and they got expansions too, but the console editions still did the trick. EA tried to bring the series back in 2012, but it didn’t catch on. Maybe 2023 is the year they can try again?

1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

Playing a match in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters is a fighting game based on the popular comic and cartoon. Every version of this game that was released was different. The music was altered, there were different stages, and the fighters changed too.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, which was released in 2022, included the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis versions for fans to compare. The Sega Genesis version, for example, got April O’Neil as one of its exclusive characters.

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