A list of Western-Developed, Sega-Published Games for the Genesis, Sega CD, and 32X

I probably have written something similar to this before, but not in this format.  Here is a quick list I just made of what should be all Western-developed games Sega published for the Genesis, Sega CD, and 32X.  As you look down the list you will notice some classics and some forgettable games.  Games like sports games are important, they are some of the best-selling titles and sports games for Western markets were a critical part of the Genesis’s success.  Please note that I do say when games didn’t release in North America, but not necessarily when they didn’t release in Europe or Brazil; sorry about that.  This list shows the depth of the Genesis’s Western support.  It is one of the best consoles and has an outstanding game library.  I do not agree with people who dismiss the Genesis’s Western library.  Many of the best Genesis games may be Japanese, but American developers contributed many of the best-selling, and some of the best, games on the system as well.

I decided, for this list, to list games by their developer.  Sega’s few first party developers go first, followed by their third party studios.  Sega contracted a lot of third-party studios to make Genesis games, though a few, most notably Novotrade/Appaloosa and Blue Sky Software, released the most titles by far.  I think grouping it by developer is an interesting way to look at this information.  Each developer appears in the list at the point they made their first game published by Sega, so developer relationships go forward in time as you go down the list, though time bounces around depending on how long developers worked with Sega for.

Unfortunately for Sega, both the first and third party relationships listed in this list almost all broke down during the Saturn generation.  Sega mismanaged things badly after the boom years of the early ’90s.  But we all know that, so how about we focus on something Sega succeeded at instead, and that was making a lot of Genesis games for its largest market, the US?  I know that some people like to hate on Western Genesis games, but it’s not deserved; certainly there are many sports games and mediocre licensed games on the list, but there are also great classics like Vectorman, Comix Zone, and The Adventures of Batman & Robin.  And some of the licensed games are well worth playing as well; it’s a mixture for su1re.  Fantasia is awful, for instance, but Marsupilami is a somewhat unique and fun game.

And lastly, again, sports games are important!  They sell very well and are a key part of any successful console’s library.  People want to play them, and a more successful platform with the general audience usually has more sports games on it.  Sega’s many Western-made baseball and football games, and the smaller number of hockey and basketball games, are important and a key part of the system’s success in North America.   Sega published nine football games on the Genesis, all American-made; six baseball games, four American-made; and one hockey game and two basketball games, all made in the US.  I’m not a big fan of any of these games, my Genesis sports game loves are for the NBA Jam, Hardball, and EA’s NHL games, but they are mostly quality games and deserve to be remembered as such.

After the list, I did a quick list of my rankings for the licensed platformers.  I only covered those because Aladdin aside, they are often more overlooked than original titles like Kid Chameleon or Vectorman.

Note: Games are Genesis-exclusive unless noted.  A few titles do have modern digital re-releases, I am not counting those here.  None of the sports or licensed games have modern re-releases except for Aladdin, though.

Sega Genesis

FIRST PARTY
——————

Sega Technical Institute

1992 – Kid Chameleon
(1992 – assistance with development of Sonic the Hedgehog 2)
1993 – Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
(1994 – assistance with development of Sonic the Hedgehog 3)
1995 – The Ooze
1995 – Comix Zone

Sega Interactive (previously Interactive Designs)

1993 – Tom Mason’s Dinosaurs for Hire
1993 – Eternal Champions
1994 – Disney’s Bonkers
1995 – Garfield: Caught in the Act

Sega Midwest Development Division

1994 – World Heroes (port of the SNK arcade game)
1995 – NHL All-Star Hockey ’95

THIRD PARTY (or first/third party collaborations)
——————-

Electronic Arts

1990 – Joe Montana Football

Western Technologies, Inc.

1991 – Art Alive
1992 – Menacer 6-Game Cartridge
1993 – X-Men

Recreational Brainware / Sega of America

1991 – Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (first released here; game later was ported to other platforms)
1992 – Taz-Mania

Realtime Games

1991 – M-1 Abrams Battle Tank

Infogrames

1991 – Fantasia
1992 – Toxic Crusaders

Novotrade (to 1995) / Appaloosa (1996-later)

1991 – California Games (port of a multiplatform game)
1993 – Cyborg Justice
1993 – Ecco the Dolphin (first released here; game later was ported to other platforms)
1994 – Ecco: The Tides of Time (first released here; game later was ported to other platforms)
1994 – Richard Scarry’s Busytown
1995 – Ecco Jr.
1995 – Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus: Space Exploration Game
1997 – The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Ringler Studios

1991 – Mario Lemieux Hockey

Blue Sky Software

1991 – Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football
1992 – NFL Sports Talk Football ’93 Starring Joe Montana
1992 – Disney’s Ariel: The Little Mermaid
1993 – NFL Football ’94 Starring Joe Montana
1993 – Jurassic Park
1993 – The Ren & Stimpy Show Presents: Stimpy’s Invention
1994 – College Football’s National Championship
1994 – World Series Baseball
1994 – Shadowrun
1994 – Desert Demolition starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
1994 – Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition
1995 – College Football’s National Championship II
1995 – World Series Baseball ’95
1995 – Vectorman
1996 – World Series Baseball ’96
1996 – Vectorman 2
1997 – World Series Baseball ’98

ToeJam & Earl Productions

1992 – ToeJam & Earl
1993 – ToeJam & Earl II: Panic on Funkotron

ACME Interactive

1992 – David Robinson’s Supreme Court
1992 – Evander ‘Real Deal’ Holyfield’s Boxing

Extended Play Productions

1992 – Chakan: The Forever Man

Westwood Associates

1992 – Warriors of the Eternal Sun

Interactive Designs (afterwards this developer was purchased by Sega and became Sega Interactive)

1992 – Disney’s TaleSpin
1992 – Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude!
1993 – Home Alone 2

Malibu Games

1992 – Batman Returns
1992 – Ex-Mutants
1994 – Greatest Heavyweights
1994 – NBA Action ’94

Brian A. Rice, Inc.

1992 – Home Alone

Virgin Interactive

1993 – Disney’s Aladdin (first released here; game later was ported to other platforms)

NovaLogic

1993 – Captain Planet and the Planeteers (PAL and Brazil-only release)

Rare

1993 – Snake Rattle ‘n Roll (PAL-only release) (port of the NES game)

Rage Software

1993 – Ultimate Soccer (PAL-only release)
1994 – Striker (PAL-only release)

Graftgold

1993 – The Ottifants (PAL-only release)

Core Design

1994 – Asterix and the Great Rescue
1995 – Asterix and the Power of the Gods (PAL-only release)

Realtime Associates

1993 – Barney’s Hide and Seek
1993 – Berenstain Bears: Camping Adventure

Zyrinx

1993 – Sub-Terrania
1994 – Red Zone

Double Diamond Sports

1994 – NFL ’95
1995 – NBA Action ’95 starring David Robinson

HeadGames

1994 – Taz in Escape from Mars
1994 – Wacky Worlds Creativity Studio
1995 – X-Men 2: Clone Wars

Sensible Software

1994 – World Championship Soccer II

Waterman Design

1994 – Instruments of Chaos starring Young Indiana Jones (North America-only release, and probably the worst game on this list)

Artech Studios

1994 – Crystal’s Pony Tale

Probe

1994 – Bodycount (PAL-only release) (light gun game)
1994 – Daffy Duck in Hollywood (PAL-only release)

MicroProse

1994 – Star Trek: The Next Generation: Echoes from the Past (multiplatform game – also on SNES from a different publisher)

Apache Software Limited

1995 – Marsupilami

Farsight Technologies

1995 – Prime Time NFL starring Deion Sanders
1997 – NFL ’98

Clockwork Tortoise (founded by former Malibu Games staff)

1995 – The Adventures of Batman & Robin

Syrox Developments

1995 – VR Troopers

Eurocom

1995 – Donald in Maui Mallard (PAL-only release) (first released here, but a year later a SNES port was released.  The SNES version did get a US release.)

Cryo Interactive

1995 – Cheese Cat-Astrophe starring Speedy Gonzales (PAL-only release)

Gremlin Interactive

1995 – Premier Manager (PAL-only release) (multiplatform game based on a popular computer game franchise in the UK)
1996 – Premier Manager 97 (PAL-only release) (as above)

TecToy

1995 – Ferias Fustradas do Pica Pau (Brazil-only release)
1997 – Duke Nukem 3D (Brazil-only release) (based on the PC FPS game franchise, but this title is original)
2001 – Show do Milhao (Brazil-only release)
2002 – Show do Milhao Volume 2 (Brazil-only release)

Atod

1996 – Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble (also on Game Gear)

Traveller’s Tales

1996 – Sonic 3D Blast (first developed here, but would also be released on other platforms later)

Abalone

1996 – X-Perts

Al Baker & Associates

1996 – Arcade Classics (classic collection of three Atari classics — Pong, Centipede, and Missile Command)

 

32X

FIRST PARTY

Sega InterActive

1994 – Star Wars Arcade (port of a Sega of Japan arcade game)

THIRD PARTY (or first/third party collaboration)

id Software / Sega of America

1994 – Doom (port of the PC game, based on Jaguar version)

Flashpoint Productions

1994 – Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples

Artech Studios

1994 – Motocross Championship

Blue Sky Software

1995 – World Series Baseball starring Deion Sanders (different from the Genesis games)
1996 – The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire

Novotrade

1995 – Kolibri

Probe Software

1995 – Primal Rage (port of the Atari Games arcade game, on many platforms)

Paradox Development / Blizzard Interactive

1995 – Blackthorne (port of a SNES/PC game, with new 32X-exclusive prerendered graphics)

Frontier Developments

1995 – Darxide (PAL-only release)

 

Sega CD

FIRST PARTY

Sega Multimedia Studios

1993 – Jurassic Park (different from the cart game)
1995 – Wild Woody

Sega Interactive

1995 – Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side

THIRD PARTY (or first/third party collaborations)

Digital Pictures

1992 – Night Trap (first released here, but would be ported to many formats)
1992 – INXS: Make My Video
1992 – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch: Make My Video
1993 – Double Switch (first released here, but would be ported to other platforms)
1994 – Prize Fighter

ICOM Simulations

1992 – Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (port of a multiplatform game)
1993 – Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Volume II (port of a multiplatform game)
1993 – Dracula Unleashed

Malibu Games

1993 – Batman Returns (Genesis port with significant added content)
1993 – Joe Montana’s NFL Football (different from the genesis games)

Novotrade

1993 – Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis port with added content)
1994 – Ecco: The Tides of Time (Genesis port with added content)

Monkey Business

1993 – The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (enhanced port/remake of the Genesis game)

The Code Monkeys (programming) / Sega of America

1993 – Surgical Strike (first released here, would later get a 32X CD port)
1994 – Tomcat Alley (first released here, would later get a PC port)
1995 – Wirehead (a 32X CD version of this was in development but was cancelled.)

Park Place Productions

1993 – NFL’s Greatest: San Francisco Vs. Dallas 1978-1993

Core Design

1993 – Wonder Dog

Hammond & Leyland

1993 – Racing Aces

Delphine Software

1994 – Flashback: The Quest for Identity (port of a multiplatform title)

Stargate Productions / Sega of America

1994 – Midnight Raiders

Dynamix

1994 – Bouncers

The Learning Company

1994 – Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia (port of a multitplatform title)

Infogrames / Sega of America

1995 – Fahrenheit (came with the Sega CD and 32X CD versions in one case)

Orion Technologies / Sega of America

1995 – Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (an FMV game, different from the cart game)

Clockwork Tortoise

1995 – The Adventures of Batman & Robin (different from the cart game)

(Note: Prince of Persia, Eye of the Beholder, and SimEarth on Sega CD are Japanese-developed, Sega-published ports of games originally made in America for other formats. I am not including them here because the SCD versions aren’t Western-made.)

 

32X CD
(note: all 32X CD games are enhanced ports of Sega CD games.)

THIRD PARTY (or first/third party collaborations)

The Code Monkeys / Sega of America (filming)

1995 – Surgical Strike (Brazil-only release at the time)

Infogrames / Sega of America (filming)

1995 – Fahrenheit

Opinion: Ranking of the Licensed Platformers (and non-FMV action games)

When compared to Nintendo’s SNES library, it is incontrovertible that Sega released far more games and was much more willing to release mediocre games than Nintendo was.  Sega also relied somewhat heavily on licensed games.  However, most of those licensed games are actually at least decent, and some are great.  Here’s my quick ranking of the licensed platform, action, and RPG games in the list above.  Note: I’m not counting FMV games here.

Bad – These games are the worst of the bunch.  Taz-Mania, Fantasia, Instruments of Chaos starring Young Indiana Jones.  I’d pick Young Indy as being worst.  Fantasia may be the most popular pick, but Young Indy is just so stunningly unfinished!

Okay –  These overall average games may be fun. Jurassic Park (Genesis), Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition, Batman Returns, Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble, Bonkers, X-Men, Spiderman vs the kingpin (yes I know a lot of people love this game. I don’t.), Little Mermaid, Chakan, TaleSpin, Asterix and the Great Rescue, VR Troopers

Good – These are good games well worth a look.  Marsupilami, Taz-Mania: Escape from Mars, Desert Demolition, Jurassic Park (Sega CD), Dinosaurs for Hire, Garfield: Caught in the Act, X-Men 2: Clone Wars, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Shadowrun

Great – These all-time classics are some of the system’s best games.  The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Genesis), Aladdin, The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Sega CD)

I haven’t played any of the educational kids’ games ones so not rating those. I also haven’t played either Home Alone game though I imagine they’d go in “okay” at best. Also I haven’t played the PAL or Brazil-exclusive ones much if at all. I don’t have power rangers sega cd either but I’m sure I’d hate it. (edited)