Here's a selection of some greats. Not all of these are exclusive, but I generally thing they either feel unique enough or are better than the equivalent versions to make them worth playing.heelsinc wrote:Just started digging into the SMS the past few weeks. No hardware just emulation for me. I don't use save states unless I'm going to stop playing for the night and I only revert to that state to pick things back up. I don't use it as a way to cheat. Heres the games that I beat my main complaint is that most of these seem much easier then NES games. I'd say out of this list the only ones that I didn't like were Alf, Virtua Fighter Animation and Bruce Lee. Give me some suggestions on what to play next. Only looking for SMS exclusives or ports that have enough changes to make it feel like a new game.
Alien 3 - Pretty good run and gun exploration game, despite being licensed. Quite challenging too.
Asterix and the Secret Mission - Better than the first Asterix game, but basically more of the same
Aztec Adventure - I love this game. A fairly slow paced arcade adventure with some cool ideas and fantastic music
Bubble Bobble - I think this is better than the NES version, has a few exclusive levels and bosses too.
Castle of Illusion - Completely different game to the Mega Drive one (maybe even better?). It's on Game Gear too, but the bigger screen size helps a bunch.
Fantasy Zone - I like this more than the arcade version - it feels more fluid and has a few cool secrets that aren't in the arcade one too.
Fantasy Zone 2 - This one's exclusive to SMS. The PS2 and 3DS Classics game is different. Slower paced but more involved than the first.
Golden Axe Warrior - This is Sega's attempt at Zelda. I like it more than the original Zelda.
Land of Illusion - The sequel to Castle of Illusion. Plays similarly, but is ultimately fairly unique. Also omn GG, but again, screen size is nicer here - less zoomed out.
The Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck - The game that comes before Deep Duck Trouble, it's less ambitious but probably a bit better and more challenging overall. Also on GG.
The Ninja - hard as nails Ikari Warriors style game.
Penguin Land - Puzzle game with a ton of stages and some very challenging levels.
Phantasy Star - Best RPG for the system, and perhaps of the 8 bit generation in general.
Psycho Fox - Momentum based platformer with some challenging stages.
Quartet - Arcade action game where you try and clear 5 stages and fly around on a jetpack. It's not amazing, but I love the main theme.
Sonic the Hedgehog - It's not the same as the Mega Drive one, and it's better than the Game Gear port due to more on screen. They had to change a lot for GG.
Wonder Boy - It's like Adventure Island, but I like it more.
Wonder Boy in Monster Land - Hard as balls, has more stages than the Arcade version. Fun, but be prepared to put in work to finish it.
Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap - Best game on the system. It's also on Turbografx, but I prefer this version. It's a matter of opinion overall though, both are great.
I've not played them, but I hear good stuff about these too:
Outrun
Golvellius
Power Strike 2
