Introduction Wild Guns was developed and published by Natsume, released for the SNES in 1994 as a rail shooter blending Wild West setting with anachronistic robots and laser weapons. Players choose from a small cast of gunslingers and shoot enemies approaching from all sides of a fixed-perspective arena, dodging incoming fire with a roll and…
Introduction Cybernator, known in Japan as Assault Suits Valken, was developed and published by Konami, released for the SNES in 1992 as a side-scrolling mech action game set during a war between Earth and its space colonies. Players pilot a Powered Armor Suit that can walk, hover, and boost through stages, mixing a rapid-fire machine…
Introduction Gunstar Heroes was developed by Treasure and published by Sega, released for the Genesis in 1993 as the debut title from a studio founded by former Konami developers. Players control one of two Gunstars, mixing and matching two weapon types on the fly, force, chaser, lightning, and flame, to create four unique combinations before…
Introduction The Goonies II was developed and published by Konami, released for the NES in 1987 as a loose sequel to the arcade platformer The Goonies, itself based on the 1985 film. Rather than repeating the arcade original’s stage-based action, The Goonies II restructures the series into a Metroidvania-style adventure, sending Mikey through a large…
Introduction Terranigma was developed by Quintet and published by Enix, released for the SNES in 1995 as the third entry in the studio’s loosely connected Gaia trilogy alongside Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia. Players control Ark, a boy from an underground village who accidentally releases the surface world from a sealed void, then sets…
Introduction Illusion of Gaia was developed by Quintet and published by Enix, released for the SNES in 1993 as an action-adventure following a young boy named Will who can transform into two other forms, the powerful Freedan and the healer Shadow, each suited to different combat and puzzle situations. The game sends players on a…
Introduction Romance of the Three Kingdoms was developed and published by Koei, released for the NES in 1990 as a home console adaptation of the studio’s PC grand strategy series based on the classical Chinese novel of the same name. Players take control of one of many warlords during China’s Three Kingdoms period, managing cities,…
Introduction Langrisser was developed by NCS and Masaya, released for the Sega Genesis in 1991 as the first entry in a long-running tactical RPG series built around large-scale unit-based battles rather than individual character movement. Players command a general who leads squads of soldiers, knights, archers, and mages across grid-based battlefields, with each unit’s effectiveness…
Introduction Road Rash II was developed and published by Electronic Arts, released for the Sega Genesis in 1992 as a direct sequel to the original Road Rash. It expands the first game’s combination of motorcycle racing and open brawling, letting players punch, kick, and club rival racers off their bikes with weapons like chains and…
Introduction Super Hang-On was developed and published by Sega, ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991 as a home version of Yu Suzuki’s 1987 arcade motorcycle racer. Players race a superbike across one of four continental tours, each with its own set of named checkpoint stages, managing throttle and lean angle through tight curves while…
Introduction Rad Racer II was developed and published by Square, released for the NES in 1990 as a sequel to Rad Racer. It follows the same pseudo-3D racing format as the original, sending players down a fixed set of named courses against the clock and rival traffic, but drops the original’s stereoscopic 3D glasses gimmick…
Introduction Top Gear 2 was developed by Gremlin Graphics and published by Kemco, released for the SNES in 1993 as a direct sequel to the original Top Gear. It keeps the Mode 7 pseudo-3D racing and nitrous-boosted overtakes of the first game while adding a proper career structure, a wider roster of cars to unlock,…