Retro Video Gamer

So, I've not been very active in the retro gaming community recently due to other life commitments (OU degree and a new baby!), but it looks like I'll be able to pick up on a couple of unfinished projects over the next few months. Winner!

I had started to get together a collection of UK Mega Drive launch titles so I've picked up on this again, getting my hands on a few more games recently. Currently up to 14 of 18.

1   Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
2   Altered Beast
3   Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
4   Forgotten Worlds
5   Ghouls'n Ghosts   
6   Golden Axe
7   Last Battle
8   Mystic Defender
9   Rambo III
10   Revenge of Shinobi
11   Space Harrier II
12   Super Hang-On
13   Super League Baseball
14   Super Thunder Blade
15   Thunder Force II   
16   Truxton
17   World Cup Italia '90
18   Zoom!

Black font are the games I own, red font are the ones I need to buy (the pricey ones!, apart form Zoom!)
All excellent condition and complete in box.

I plan to have a good go at completing all these and reviewing each. Makes for a tidy little collection I reckon.

I'm trying to avoid the stoopid BIN prices on eBay on the remaining games so if anyone has these that they are happy to sell to a collector that'd be cool.

Any one else have small target collections they're aiming for?

Congratulations on the new baby and good to see you back!  How much do you have to go until you finish your degree?  Looks like you also have not far to go to finish your collection!

Cheers Trek! Still got a way to go with the degree yet but I've got until October before the next module starts, also the little one is a bit more predictable now, lol.

Not too many games left to get for this now. I'd love to go for a full PAL library but I need to be realistic. I think I'll just aim for sections like all the EA yellow spine games, all the 1990 releases or all the blue cover releases for example.

The game library for the MD is rather large, so you do have to pace yourself. 

Great to have you back around fella..

Great start on your collection..

That has to be one of the best launch lineups for a console, 18 games and most of them are really good too! Good luck completing it

Agreed fella..

You won't see many launches with a lineup like that again....if ever.

What an awful lineup. Altered Beast, Arnold Palmer, Last Battle, Mystic Defender, Rambo, Truxton, Super Thunderblade and World Cup Italia 90 are all utterly terrible. Zoom isn't great, Super Hang On isn't a good port, and Alex Kidd isn't as good as Miracle World on the Master System.

Quote from: "deKay"What an awful lineup. Altered Beast, Arnold Palmer, Last Battle, Mystic Defender, Rambo, Truxton, Super Thunderblade and World Cup Italia 90 are all utterly terrible. Zoom isn't great, Super Hang On isn't a good port, and Alex Kidd isn't as good as Miracle World on the Master System.

Crikey, that's a bit of a slating!

I've got to defend Mystic Defender, Rambo and Truxton from that list as I don't agree with those being awful. The rest are cack yeah, lol.
This was 1990 after all...

A lot of it is that much better, similar, games came along so after, I suppose. Actually, that baseball game wasn't great either.

Quote from: "deKay"A lot of it is that much better, similar, games came along so after, I suppose. Actually, that baseball game wasn't great either.

What other games? Back up your arguments wth examples!
bearing in mind the SNES didn't hit UK shores until 1992! I can sense Nintendo here....

Yes some of these games haven't aged well and some of the arcade ports are pretty watered down, but like you said Joe, this was 1990! For that time I stand by my opinion that it was a great lineup

Agreed there are a few cack games there but in the whole scheme of things i would say at least 10 are pretty awesome in my book and thats launch titles..

Xbox One and PS4 have been out how long and don't have 10 awesome games between them lol..

OK, breaking it down:

1   Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

Surely no arguments here that Miracle World is better, right?

2   Altered Beast

Always a terrible game, even in the arcade. Laughed at by all magazines on release for the MD.

3   Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf

PGA Tour, less than a year later, show how to properly do a golf game.

4   Forgotten Worlds

Decent, but suffers from not having the roll switch from the arcade. All the home versions were pretty broken as a result.

5   Ghouls'n Ghosts   

Excellent.

6   Golden Axe

Good, as a conversion, but Golden Axe was always a bit repetitive.

7   Last Battle

Terrible. Everyone knows this.

8   Mystic Defender

Wardner and Strider both came soon after, and both were far better.

9   Rambo III

It's no MERCS or Ikari Warriors. Or even Commando.

10   Revenge of Shinobi

Excellent.

11   Space Harrier II

Good, but like many MD conversions of Super Scalar arcade machines, pales next to the arcade.

12   Super Hang-On

See above

13   Super League Baseball

It wasn't even a good baseball game. You have very little control over your hits, and Sports Talk Baseball was better in every way, although that was 1992 I think. Hardball by Accolade was better too - not sure how early that was though, but was before they started being officially licenced!

14   Super Thunder Blade

Without the cabinet it was nothing. The MD version was awful, with terrible, game breaking collision detection, especially on the into-the-screen levels.

15   Thunder Force II   

Great, of course.

16   Truxton

It's no Thunder Force II :(

Quote from: "zapiy"Agreed there are a few cack games there but in the whole scheme of things i would say at least 10 are pretty awesome in my book and thats launch titles..

Xbox One and PS4 have been out how long and don't have 10 awesome games between them lol..

Well you say that, but the Wii U's launch lineup was bloody awesome:

007 Legends
Assassin's Creed III
Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition
Ben 10: Omniverse
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Chasing Aurora
Darksiders II
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
FIFA 13
Funky Barn
Game Party Champions
Just Dance 4
Little Inferno
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
Nano Assault Neo
New Super Mario Bros. U
Nintendo Land
Puddle
Rabbids Land
Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
Skylanders: Giants
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Sports Connection
Tank! Tank! Tank!
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
Transformers: Prime – The Game
Trine 2: Director's Cut
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
ZombiU

OK, breaking it down:

1   Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Surely no arguments here that Miracle World is better, right?
no argument

2   Altered Beast
Always a terrible game, even in the arcade. Laughed at by all magazines on release for the MD.
Ha, it is a bit cack. Has a lot of nostalgia attached to it for me so I love it. Don't remember all magazines laughing though.

3   Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
PGA Tour, less than a year later, show how to properly do a golf game.
Not great but not too bad relatively

4   Forgotten Worlds
Decent, but suffers from not having the roll switch from the arcade. All the home versions were pretty broken as a result.
I first played this on the Master System so appreciated the improved visuals of this

5   Ghouls'n Ghosts   
Excellent.
Agree. Hard a bloody nails though!

6   Golden Axe
Good, as a conversion, but Golden Axe was always a bit repetitive.
This was among the first Mega Drive games I played and it blew me away. This was next gen.

7   Last Battle
Terrible. Everyone knows this.
Yeah, lol. I can give it the time of day for nostalgia.

8   Mystic Defender
Wardner and Strider both came soon after, and both were far better.
Played this on import at a friend of mine. Always had that extra appeal for that reason
Its quick aswell. I've just been playing it actually...

9   Rambo III
It's no MERCS or Ikari Warriors. Or even Commando.
Doesnt need to be any of those. Its Stallone thats enough for me

10   Revenge of Shinobi
Excellent.
This is the jewel in the line-up. Absolutely stunning game

11   Space Harrier II
Good, but like many MD conversions of Super Scalar arcade machines, pales next to the arcade.
Yup, flawed by the lack of scaling but very playable in my opinion

12   Super Hang-On
See above
Quite boring but the story mode adds extra depth

13   Super League Baseball
It wasn't even a good baseball game. You have very little control over your hits, and Sports Talk Baseball was better in every way, although that was 1992 I think. Hardball by Accolade was better too - not sure how early that was though, but was before they started being officially licenced!
Bit of an odd one this as its the only Baseball game I've played. It can be a bit sluggish

14   Super Thunder Blade
Without the cabinet it was nothing. The MD version was awful, with terrible, game breaking collision detection, especially on the into-the-screen levels.
Cack

15   Thunder Force II   
Great, of course.
The only one I've never actually played! Looking forward to picking this up.

16   Truxton
It's no Thunder Force II :(
I can see where you're coming but I guess it adds a bit of depth to the line up


*EDIT: removed the quote box.

There actually is a thread dedicated to this very subject if you guys want to talk about launch lineups in general

http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/http:/ ... ic.php?t=9 (http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9) Mind you most of the people who posted in that thread are no longer members here or just don't come around any more, but feel free to bump it.

Just looked at that thread and it had a slightly different, smaller, Mega Drive UK launch line up that included Columns.

I found the list I used on Sega Retro. It appears to be different on Wikipedia which is where it looks like the other list is from.

Columns is quite a good puzzler.

It is, but the lack of a two player competitive mode, having played that exclusively on the superior Master System version, was a let down.