Johnny has always done such a good job of promoting old school JRPGs over the years. Thank you for talking me into playing Phantasy Star and Shining Force!
Agree! Johnny was the one who put me onto Ys:Books I&II I was lucky enough to have them downloaded from the Wii and I was blown away how much I enjoyed that game and the cutscenes and music and that I've never heard of it until I watched Johnny talk about it a bunch because of his love for the game! Thanks Johnny
It’s cool how different Andrew’s vibe is from Rob Man, but they’re both awesome guests and bring so much to the episodes they appear in in their own ways.
Always good to have Andrew on the show, he seems like a really chill dude and knowledgeable retro gamer. Moreover, I NEED that Godzilla ramen t-shirt in my life.
Naw, you're not alone. I grew up on Shining in the Darkness. So many cool secrets in that game. It could be grindy as hell, and that random encounter rate was brutal, but what a great game.
Shining force 1 and 2, phantasy star 4, and warsong were my favorites on genesis. Lunar 1&2, shining force CD, and dark wizard were my favorites on the sega cd. So many great memories came from playing through those with friends.
Really nostalgic reminiscing the old days of genesis. The feel, the emotion, and the senses oozed back from those memories really really made me joy & tearful. Really missing those experience in those days. Truly thank you & Andy.
Perfect timing! Just started up Shining Force 2, and was thinking about diving into Phantasy Star IV, and I thought "what are some other Genesis rpgs..." lol!
Amazing it’s been so many years, man. I’ve known you and the stories about “Andrew” for well over a decade at this point. If not longer. Also: The fact you mentioned M&M2 is awesome. That is one of my favorite rpgs of all time and that thing felt like Skyrim back in the day. The amount of time me and a couple buddies spent on it over a year or so is insane. Still love that series.
The only thing I would change about Shining Force II was something they took out of the American release that was in the Japanese version. There are chests in a few battles that are unreachable after a battle. One in particular is located in a shrine battle midway through the game. They took it out due to space restrictions when translating the game into English. Otherwise, it is one of greatest genesis rpgs of all time along with Phantasy Star IV
@@Tigerkingz1981 Yeah, I remember those chests. Back in the day we spent hours on end to find out how to get to those chests. These kinda things were one of the reasons why this game had so much appeal to us. Magical.
Gotta bring up the Genesis version of Shadowrun. I can't even begin to tell you just how many hours my friend and I spent staying up late playing that game. Now, while not STRICTLY a Genesis title, I'd like to add in Uncharted Waters: New Horizons. I know it had an SNES release as well but I only played it on the Genesis and just fell so much in love with it. There were just so many ways to have fun in it and I think it still holds up really well all these years later.
I finally completed the Phantasy Star Series I-IV this morning! I started playing through them with the Sega Ages Version of Phantasy Star on the Switch. From last January to today I started my playthrough of 2-4. Never heard of the Series until your channel. Thanks for talking about them!
Shining Force 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. So much nostalgia, and as an adult I think it's just a solid, pleasant, fun experience the whole way through.
It still makes me smile when I play it. Literally my favorite video game. My cousin gave me his cartridge like 20 years ago because he got into emulators, and I could not believe it. I felt like he had just handed me a brick of gold
Shining in the Darkness is one of the most underrated games on the Genesis IMO. The first few hours can definitely be a slog, but once you pick up Milo and Pyra and get into the real meat of the game, it actually has a lot of cool stuff for a dungeon crawler from 1991. Surprisingly funny side quests, an interesting if a bit shallow crafting system, and some absurd magical effects at very high levels were stand outs to me when I 100%ed it in the early 2000s (after finally getting my own copy, had only rented it before). The art and music were also absolutely stellar for the time; the animations on enemies made them feel SO much more lively than anything on the NES, or even FF2 on the SNES. I could go on about most of these games, I got a Genesis for Christmas in '91 (after begging for a SNES); so much nostalgia here! Thanks for sharing Johnny and Andrew!
@@michaeloffgrid Absolutely! Tied with the PS2 as my favorite console ever. Phantasy Star IV is probably my favorite game of all time (it's where my username came from, Rune the Esper).
Great seeing Andrew again, thanks to both of you for sharing your memories! Being in my teens during Genesis days and buying Super Hydlide, I had to make the most of it. While I do think it is a bad game, it does get very deep - I even called Sega support and they listed so many things my friends and I had not encountered. We missed like one thing and once we figured it out, thanks to Sega support, there was so much to do, like going into Space. Still not saying it's a good game, but funny how when you have few options, you find ways to enjoy. Thanks again!
Shining in the darkness was a pretty good game. I loved Eternal Sun also. I discovered Landstalkers in the early 2000s and it really wowed me. I couldnt believe how much content it has. It's like a Zelda game but with like 6 or 7 awesome big unique towns instead of just 1.
It's strange: I had a Mega Drive (I'm Australian) during the systems heyday, and I was into the Fighting Fantasy books and D&D. But for some reason, I never got a single RPG on the machine. I borrowed Landstalker from a friend for a couple of days and loved it, but that was about it. Indeed, the first video game RPG I owned and really got into was the first Baldur's Gate on PC a few years later.
Nice video, guys! One RPG that I remembered enjoying on the Genesis was Sorcerer's Kingdom. The main character was a little lame, but I remember loving how your party members get promotions (levels up) after every big quest and all the cool equipment you could eventually afford like in Shining in the Darkness.
I grew up with a copy of Landstalker with a dead save battery. I always enjoyed the beginning, but I never beat it... UNTIL now! After watching this video I finally went back and beat it. I can't recommend it, the platforming feels horrible, but it felt good to finally complete it. Thanks for the motivation to replay a classic.
What made Landstalker great was that no matter how frustrating it got I still wanted to keep going. I played it maybe a decade ago. I think I would have broken multiple controllers if I played it when I was younger. Played Exile on the TG16 and loved it. SOD was amazing in its simplicity. Phantasy Star III was the most expensive game I ever bought (at launch) for over 20 years. I still have to play a bunch of these and can't wait.
I grew up with SNES RPGs and though I had a Genesis, I had no idea the system even had RPGs. I never realized the Master System itself ever existed until recently. This channel has given me this strange sense of nostalgia for games I never experienced - maybe because they remind me of the 80s and 90s. Since, I have been having a blast experiencing these games - though Phantasy Star on the master system is my favorite so far. I really like how efficient battling is.
Y's III was better on the Genny than it was on the SNES, especially in terms of soundtrack. It was almost as good as the TurboDuo version in terms of the soundtrack. Great game.
Geat mentions! Just add Rings of Power and Starflight to make the list complete (I can't speak for those never translated Japanese games that probably feature a few gems).
nice video seeing to very old friends talk about games they played in their childhood, my fave RPG's (Traysia) (Warsong) (Shinning Force 2) (Phantasy star 3)
Two games not mentioned by you guys Pirate's Gold: the console port of Sid Meier's Pirates gave you the chance to treasure hunt, sword fight, and court the governors' daughters also had a unique aging mechanism that forced you into retirement guaranteeing you couldn't do everything you wanted in one playthrough Starflight: exploring hundreds of star systems mining for resources, different alien races that both can make up your crew and when you encounter them in the world you had to learn how to properly interact with them, and different ships and weapons for when things turned violent.
On civilization 6 they brought back pirates which is awesome! But I haven't played it yet so not sure if it's close to the classic but I'm sure it's good!
Phantasy Star IV is by far My Favorite Sega Genesis RPG and My favorite Phantasy Star Game ever... Monster Boy series were always great games... Beyond Oasis is another great one... Another of my personal favorites... So much Nostalgia here.... Thanks, Johnny and Andrew! 👍🏼
Excellent reminisce on genesis RPGs. There aren't really a lot, which probably contributed to those strategy guide inclusions. Love Phantasy Star 2, with its scifi storytelling and visually vibrant enemy types. Only other ones that comes to mind is Shadowrun with its brutal cyberpunk future, great memories blasting punks away, and eventually being able to cyberjack into the net. and Light Crusader. A fantasy action rpg with the diagonal 3d perspective and some of the best graphics on the system.
I started playing video game at 7 year old with the Sega Genesis and Sonic 1. The only RPG I played on this system was Shining Force 2. I still remember loving this game at around 9-10 year old. The music, the art style, the gameplay was completly new to me and strangely enough, I like it! I got stuck at the chess pieces fight cause I didn't really know that I only need to beat the king and wasn't really prepare for this point of no return... Still love the game to this day! Later in life, I've got a PS2 that reingnited the love for RPG that Shining Force 2 lighten up. My only regret is that I've never play Shining Force 3 on the saturn...
I want to add Shadowrun to this list. The Genesis game, imo, is far better than the SNES version. It has a dark, gritty, cyberpunk, top down action combat, 3 classes to choose from, acting as a sort of detective (Runner) trying to find out what happened, guns/magic/biotic enhancements, fantastic hacking sort of minigame (decking), dragons, orcs, elves... it's so amazing.
Genesis Shadowrun was like a 90s era open world action rpg on console. It predated similar games like Fallout 3 or Cyberpunk by 2 to 3 decades. Another game they forgot is Light Crusader, which was like a prototype Diablo 1 but with much more emphasis on puzzles. Genesis rpgs are seriously underrated.
My high school memories come back to me! Much appreciation. I also commented on the vid about the World’s Biggest Bookstore; find these vids highly relatable
Exile is a very good action RPG! I bought it when I arrived in Halifax and I liked to go through it again. I had then found out that player can put the controller down on a flat surface and place a weight on the attack button in order to have the character infinitely dispatch monsters in the first dungeon around floating platforms. Lots of leveling up is always nice when enterprising an RPG game!!!!! Nice video guys, keep doing what you are doing :)
I bought Landstalker used on a whim for about 11 bucks. Actually found a glitch by accident when trying to escape a puzzle room by standing on top of a rock and clipping into the next room through a locked door.
Great video. I love RPGs, but since I grew up with the SNES, I never heard about many of those games. I did play Shining Force 2 a lot at a friend's house though. We loved this game
It's not a Sunday without a HappyConsoleGamer video. The only channel where I instantly watch when I see a new video is up because I know I'll come out smiling for sure.
Sorcerer's Kingdom. It's right up there for me along with Shining force 1 & 2, Warsong, and Warriors of the Eternal Sun. Great stereotypical fantasy adventure and great soundtrack.
I love SK, its short and fun. Its not perfect, the scaling is ridiculous (the beginning is hard and then around 10 levels later you are unstoppable, there's no in between or bridge), but I still enjoyed it.
Fab fab episode. Funnily enough, my best mate called Andrew and I used to love playing RPGs. The shows with Andrew always make me think of that- especially loved your episode together on Legend of Zelda!
I remember when I was in Middle school I traded my friend a Genesis game ( I don't remember what it was ) for Phantasy Star 2 ! I wasn't into RPG's at the time . I never played one and wasn't really interested at the time until I played Phantasy Star 2 ! Omg I loved Phantasy Star 2 so much ! It's my very first RPG experience and made me fall in the love with RPG's ! And still love RPG's to this day and have never looked back !
Excellent video, Johnny! Apart from the genesis, I must tell you that you have inspired me to play earthbound. Loving it! Also, where is Rob!? Just hoping everything is OK with him. I still love these videos with other friends.
Warsong is my favorite. Realising 10 battles in, that mistakes you were making in the 1st few battles is going to stop you from winning the war. It is a great strategic RPG.
Fun List. Phantasy Star II for sure and mostly out of nostalgia. I was 19 with disposable income... did I actually pay $80 for this back in 1990, wow. Yeah, it's not prefect but playing it in early 1990 was something else. Also, it's a rare game my father actually picked up after I beat it and finished all on his own. Also, can't wait to take the time to play Crusader of Centy now that I have the Genesis Mini 2.
Hey Johnny, Thank you for sharing your passion and positive energy week in and week out. You help me a lot by influencing me with your positive passion. Much Love ❤️
Ok serious comment for a change, I gotta go to bat for might and magic. I got it in 5th grade when I was 10 so it took me a few days to figure out the interface and how to play. But once I did and everything clicked, it quickly became one of my favorite games ever. It was unique and unlike any other console rpg I was familiar with at the time, as it was a port of a western crpg as opposed to a jrpg. It's much more of a "simulation" type game than a "play through a linear story with anime characters and irrelevant stats" which is pretty much what console jrpgs were since the first dragon warrior or final fantasy on Nintendo. It is arguably also one of the first ever "open world" games 20-30 years before that was even a thing, and if you can give it a chance and really get into it it's basically skyrim back in the day(although it's also way more of an rpg than skyrim, which is basically a glorified 1st person action game with an elder scrolls skin). Having said that, the difficulty and game balance is border line broken, with the game becoming insanely difficult after the 1st town "starter" quests, it's like the devs just gave up and figured no one would make it that far anyway. However, if anyone has the time and desire to play a great, hard-core crpg style game with immense depth and a huge, vibrant fantasy world to explore, might and magic on the genesis is arguably the ONLY console game up to that generation and possibly beyond through until the "modern" generations that fits the bill. It is so beyond what most typical console rpgs were at the time as to practically be another genre. Despite its many flaws, it deserves better. Also, to Johnny in particular, if you ever have the urge to give it another chance, there is a fountain just outside of the first inn a few steps from where you begin. If you drink from it, you get an immensely helpful overhead map in the UI which makes the game much more playable. Anyway, rant over great vid guys really enjoyed despite the might and magic hate😉, just trying to do justice to one of my favorite games that really opened my childhood mind up to what an rpg could be. P.s. you didn't mention buck rogers, countdown to doomsday. It was another crpg port by ssi who brought might and magic to the genesis, and is another great rpg (sci-fi space setting obviously) for the system. Check it out if you ever get a chance, it has overhead tactical combat and plays nothing like might and magic so it could be more your thing. Thanks, sorry for writing a mini thesis here😁
I've been a Might and Magic diehard for decades - but always on the PC. When it went real time (M&M 6, IIRC), I had such fun trying to find ways to spam arrows while avoiding melee combat.
Warsong, Shining Force 2 and Phantasy Star 4 are the GOATS of the genesis for me personally. Johnny/Andrew, when recording footage for this episode, did either of you guys find any of these games nearly impossible to stop playing, maybe one that you werent expecting to grab you like it did and pull you in? This is wonderful, thanks for doing this!
I really wanted to keep playing Landstalker. Even with as much pain as it (and it's spiritual sequel, Alundra!) has given me over the years, it still surprises me how much I enjoy playing it.
@@retrosoul8770 i guess the good news is that Langrisser 1 and 2 were released here as remasters here a couple years ago but i would have loved to play Langrisser 2 back then for sure.
Glad to see Sword of Vermillion and Shining in the Darkness on this list. One thing about Sword of Vermillion that is kind of interesting is that boss fights have their own unique combat mode that is fully side-view with huge sprites. But for me personally, Shining in the Darkness is probably my favourite Genesis RPG. It has some of the same charm that would later epitomize the Shining Force series. And man, the music that plays in the first areas of the dungeon really captures that "marching into battle" feel. I still have all of my hand drawn graph paper maps of each floor of the labyrinth.
Traysia (Minato no Traysia in Japan) was a great RPG for the Genesis. When my friend was still alive I would spend the night at his dad's house and his dad would take us to rental stores and me and him got to choose one game for the weekend. I chose Traysia, and I did not know how to play it but years later I played it again until a few years ago and understood the game mechanics. Traysia is a good game if you give it a chance.
Nice episode. I remember Crusader of Centy was called Soleil over here in Europe and Beond Oasis was The Story of Thor. Both favorites with Landstalker. The Shining Force Series was my first love with turn-based rpg's. I also loved Shining in the Darkness, i remember drawing the corridors on paper to make a map. One that i realy loved and was not mentioned is Light Crusader. Thanks for the nostalgic video.
I've been playing the 3 Secret Of Mana games I just finished Final Fantasy Adventure now I'm about more than half way through "The Secret Of Mana" game, I've had the games for a long time but didnt think I would like it but since I dedicated some time into figuring out how to play them and now I love the games! I really wish they made more retro ACTION RPGs and JRPGs those are my favorite style of RPGs
With how MASSIVE Fire Emblem has become the last several years I’m actually pretty shocked that Shining Force just keeps collecting dust. The genre has never been more popular.
I only discovered Fatal Labyrinth when I bought the Sega collection on ps3.. it quickly became my favourite in the whole collection. Shining in the Darkness was great discovery too. There is a similar Fatal Labyrinth game on the Turbo Grafx 16 called Dungeon Explorer that is worth checking out 😁
Phantasy Star 3 is very dear to my heart cause its the first jrpg I ever played and played it with friends when I was young. But Phantasy Star 2 and 4 and games I played later but really loved. Especially 4.
Warriors of the Eternal Sun was the first RPG I ever played all by myself. My friends got stuff like Final Fantasy and the Dragon Warrior games on NES and SNES and I'd go over and we'd take turns grinding and exploring and stuff like that but 100 percent playing all by myself that was my first experience. Holds a very special place for me for that reason. The one thing about that game that rarely is brought up, if the game is mentioned at all, is it has one of the top 10 best soundtracks on the Genesis. The opening theme is my favorite Genesis music period. I used to hit reset a bunch just to hear it multiple times back when it was released.
Great takes. Thank you for the content. I played most of these. I’ll never be able to give Landstalker a fair shot but I’m definitely going to give Warsong another shot.
I played Landstalker at the age of 21. It was such a great adventure with tons of secrets. The platform challenge was super frustrating at times. I think I ruined video games for my wife with that one. She was always yelling, "Progress or protest!"
Landstalker was amazing, definitely my favorite on the Genesis! There was one game like it, Equinox on the SNES, but Landstalker was a better mix of action, puzzles, and story.
I have tried all the games in the Phantasy Star series (not finished them), and my favourite of the four is the fourth, End of the Millenium. Johnny Millenium talking about RPGs is a great pastime of mine. Keep up the good work, HCG!
Phantasy Star IV was my introduction to the series, played handheld on Switch via Genesis Collection. AAA game, has a great time. It sure what to play next in the series.
I played Phantasy Star 2 on a cheap family dollar mini system with like 40 games included and man I loved the music! That intro gets me everytime.. I ended up letting my friends son have it hoping he'd check it out but we mostly played Mortal Kombat 2 lol.
To this day, I can still close my eyes and hear the PS2 intro music! When I turned on the game for the first time in 1990, I had basically a full-on religious experience during the intro. It's something I'll never forget.
It's nice to see people who call these games RPG's and not JRPG's like the young'uns do today. And it was always funny to me that a LOT of games released back in the day in the US had name changes like Beyond Oasis but everywhere else (in PAL regions) it was Called Story of Thor. I'm about three quarters of the way through on the Mega Drive (Genesis) oh and for me Shining Force 1 & 2 was the pinnacle of RPG's on the Mega Drive closely followed by Phantasy Star IV. Thanks for the video it brings back a lot of nostalgia 👍👍👍
What's cool is that some of these games are part of the Sega Genesis Classics Collection, meaning one can relive these experiences if they so desire. I feel Phantasy Star III is an underappreciated gem of a game, I loved the generational approach it took with the storyline. It was ambitious in terms of overall design and it felt way different from the other games of the series, but that was part of its charm. It was cool that you could get four different endings depending on who you married. If they remade it and overhauled the battle system, I bet people would give it a go.
Man... I don't even know where to begin. This was SUCH good episode!!! I'm not a fan of dungeon crawlers but I did enjoy Vermillion (Shining in the Darkness not so much despite very nice graphics and sound. Vermillion's soundtrack was awesome as well. I played it almost to the end until one day, the backup went screwy and lost the progress!😭 Never touched it after that. I also started of with PSIII as my first PS game so I know it gets a bashing but it holds a place in my heart. Started PS on Switch and need to finish that... and need to get to PS2 and PS4 as well. I loved Shining Force and need to play SFII still. So many amazing RPGs to play!!! We need Andrew back at least once a year. It's so awesome Johnny has a crew still to this day that he grew up with and can reminisce the old days of playing hours and hours of video games together.
Thank you for this great, down to earth discussion. I grew up with NES and SNES RPGs only, and was interested but still in the dark about Genesis ones. Filled in a huge gap in info!
Johnny has always done such a good job of promoting old school JRPGs over the years. Thank you for talking me into playing Phantasy Star and Shining Force!
Recommended versions.
Phantasy Star 1: Switch
Phantasy Star 2: Modernization
Phantasy Star 3: Improvement
Phantasy Star 4: Generations 4 (though vanilla is fine)
Shining Force1: Gameplay Improve Hack (allows for EXP overflow)
Shining Force 2: Vanilla
Shining Force 2 is my best game of all time. It's absolutely flawless.
Agree! Johnny was the one who put me onto Ys:Books I&II I was lucky enough to have them downloaded from the Wii and I was blown away how much I enjoyed that game and the cutscenes and music and that I've never heard of it until I watched Johnny talk about it a bunch because of his love for the game! Thanks Johnny
@@diegoarmando5489I also recommend the GBA version of Shining Force 1
@@ant9925 well said!
It’s cool how different Andrew’s vibe is from Rob Man, but they’re both awesome guests and bring so much to the episodes they appear in in their own ways.
Always good to have Andrew on the show, he seems like a really chill dude and knowledgeable retro gamer. Moreover, I NEED that Godzilla ramen t-shirt in my life.
Shadowrun was always my absolute favorite from the genesis era, think it absolute still holds up today as well.
My favorite Genesis RPG has always been Shining in the Darkness. No one seems to like this game but me. I’m so happy to see it get some love.
I recently got Mega Drive Classics and started playing Shining in the darkness. It’s certainly got a charm to it.
It is a charming game with a catchy soundtrack and excellent graphics for its time. The only disappointment I have is that the game is pretty short.
I love it ❤
I liked it but it's not a true rpg- it's a tactical "rpg" with no exploration and very linear.
Naw, you're not alone. I grew up on Shining in the Darkness. So many cool secrets in that game. It could be grindy as hell, and that random encounter rate was brutal, but what a great game.
The Landstalker OST is still the bomb. "Treasure Hunter Ryle" and "Let's go on an adventure" are two of my all-time rpg tracks
Love these episodes with old friends!
Love watching Happy Console gamer on Sunday’s. It’s practically a tradition at this point.
Shining force 1 and 2, phantasy star 4, and warsong were my favorites on genesis. Lunar 1&2, shining force CD, and dark wizard were my favorites on the sega cd. So many great memories came from playing through those with friends.
Really nostalgic reminiscing the old days of genesis. The feel, the emotion, and the senses oozed back from those memories really really made me joy & tearful. Really missing those experience in those days. Truly thank you & Andy.
Perfect timing! Just started up Shining Force 2, and was thinking about diving into Phantasy Star IV, and I thought "what are some other Genesis rpgs..." lol!
I love the 30 minute videos. It feels like just hanging out with friends talking about games
Amazing it’s been so many years, man.
I’ve known you and the stories about “Andrew” for well over a decade at this point. If not longer.
Also: The fact you mentioned M&M2 is awesome. That is one of my favorite rpgs of all time and that thing felt like Skyrim back in the day. The amount of time me and a couple buddies spent on it over a year or so is insane.
Still love that series.
Shining Force II is one of the best video games ever.
Really hope they properly bring back this amazing series.
I'd go as far saying it's the absolute best. Honestly a flawless game.
The only thing I would change about Shining Force II was something they took out of the American release that was in the Japanese version. There are chests in a few battles that are unreachable after a battle. One in particular is located in a shrine battle midway through the game. They took it out due to space restrictions when translating the game into English. Otherwise, it is one of greatest genesis rpgs of all time along with Phantasy Star IV
@@Tigerkingz1981 Yeah, I remember those chests. Back in the day we spent hours on end to find out how to get to those chests. These kinda things were one of the reasons why this game had so much appeal to us. Magical.
I would sleep in front of GameStop for two weeks if they remade this series on switch.
9:30 Warsong
If you enjoyed Shining Force this ones worth checking out also.
Man, i have such great memories of Sword of Vermillion as a teenager. Was hoping you guys would cover this classic in the video!
Me too, my younger brother and me would play he would be my navigator lol
The protagonist in SoV has a blue sword all the way through the entire game. Vermillion is red, with a little tint of yellow.
Gotta bring up the Genesis version of Shadowrun. I can't even begin to tell you just how many hours my friend and I spent staying up late playing that game.
Now, while not STRICTLY a Genesis title, I'd like to add in Uncharted Waters: New Horizons. I know it had an SNES release as well but I only played it on the Genesis and just fell so much in love with it. There were just so many ways to have fun in it and I think it still holds up really well all these years later.
if anything that wrpgs do great it’s couch coop
I finally completed the Phantasy Star Series I-IV this morning! I started playing through them with the Sega Ages Version of Phantasy Star on the Switch. From last January to today I started my playthrough of 2-4. Never heard of the Series until your channel. Thanks for talking about them!
January of this year 2023 or last year 2022?
Last January. I didn't play them one after another, cause I didn't want to get burned out.
Great games
Shining Force 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. So much nostalgia, and as an adult I think it's just a solid, pleasant, fun experience the whole way through.
Shining Force was such a pinnacle. I really hope we get some new stuff someday
ikr man it was so good
It still makes me smile when I play it. Literally my favorite video game. My cousin gave me his cartridge like 20 years ago because he got into emulators, and I could not believe it. I felt like he had just handed me a brick of gold
Shining in the Darkness is one of the most underrated games on the Genesis IMO.
The first few hours can definitely be a slog, but once you pick up Milo and Pyra and get into the real meat of the game, it actually has a lot of cool stuff for a dungeon crawler from 1991.
Surprisingly funny side quests, an interesting if a bit shallow crafting system, and some absurd magical effects at very high levels were stand outs to me when I 100%ed it in the early 2000s (after finally getting my own copy, had only rented it before).
The art and music were also absolutely stellar for the time; the animations on enemies made them feel SO much more lively than anything on the NES, or even FF2 on the SNES.
I could go on about most of these games, I got a Genesis for Christmas in '91 (after begging for a SNES); so much nostalgia here!
Thanks for sharing Johnny and Andrew!
How did you feel about getting the Genesis? Did you learn to love it overall?
@@michaeloffgrid Absolutely! Tied with the PS2 as my favorite console ever. Phantasy Star IV is probably my favorite game of all time (it's where my username came from, Rune the Esper).
Love it! These episodes with friends feels so great to watch :D
Great seeing Andrew again, thanks to both of you for sharing your memories! Being in my teens during Genesis days and buying Super Hydlide, I had to make the most of it. While I do think it is a bad game, it does get very deep - I even called Sega support and they listed so many things my friends and I had not encountered. We missed like one thing and once we figured it out, thanks to Sega support, there was so much to do, like going into Space. Still not saying it's a good game, but funny how when you have few options, you find ways to enjoy. Thanks again!
Shining in the darkness was a pretty good game. I loved Eternal Sun also. I discovered Landstalkers in the early 2000s and it really wowed me. I couldnt believe how much content it has. It's like a Zelda game but with like 6 or 7 awesome big unique towns instead of just 1.
It's strange: I had a Mega Drive (I'm Australian) during the systems heyday, and I was into the Fighting Fantasy books and D&D. But for some reason, I never got a single RPG on the machine. I borrowed Landstalker from a friend for a couple of days and loved it, but that was about it. Indeed, the first video game RPG I owned and really got into was the first Baldur's Gate on PC a few years later.
This is a great one Johnny! Does Andrew also have a channel? He’s got a real knack for talking about this stuff! You guys make a good team.
Phantasy Star IV _and_ Shining Force II are my ❤
Nice video, guys! One RPG that I remembered enjoying on the Genesis was Sorcerer's Kingdom. The main character was a little lame, but I remember loving how your party members get promotions (levels up) after every big quest and all the cool equipment you could eventually afford like in Shining in the Darkness.
What a fantastic episode! So many great memories of that genesis era. Andrew is an awesome guest.
"It just turned my crank" lmao great video man, this one was right in my nostalgia pocket!
I grew up with a copy of Landstalker with a dead save battery. I always enjoyed the beginning, but I never beat it... UNTIL now! After watching this video I finally went back and beat it. I can't recommend it, the platforming feels horrible, but it felt good to finally complete it.
Thanks for the motivation to replay a classic.
I love that it’s 30 mins long. And love your friends on your channel. And love your stories
What made Landstalker great was that no matter how frustrating it got I still wanted to keep going. I played it maybe a decade ago. I think I would have broken multiple controllers if I played it when I was younger. Played Exile on the TG16 and loved it. SOD was amazing in its simplicity. Phantasy Star III was the most expensive game I ever bought (at launch) for over 20 years. I still have to play a bunch of these and can't wait.
I grew up with SNES RPGs and though I had a Genesis, I had no idea the system even had RPGs. I never realized the Master System itself ever existed until recently. This channel has given me this strange sense of nostalgia for games I never experienced - maybe because they remind me of the 80s and 90s. Since, I have been having a blast experiencing these games - though Phantasy Star on the master system is my favorite so far. I really like how efficient battling is.
This brings back good memories of playing Sword of Vermillion with my dad. Thanks for the nostalgia trip :)
A healthy dose of nostalgia in this video :) Here are some more Genesis RPGs to enjoy:
- Monster World IV
- Ys III
- Shadowrun
- Buck Rogers
Y's III was better on the Genny than it was on the SNES, especially in terms of soundtrack. It was almost as good as the TurboDuo version in terms of the soundtrack. Great game.
Geat mentions! Just add Rings of Power and Starflight to make the list complete (I can't speak for those never translated Japanese games that probably feature a few gems).
nice video seeing to very old friends talk about games they played in their childhood, my fave RPG's (Traysia) (Warsong) (Shinning Force 2) (Phantasy star 3)
Two games not mentioned by you guys
Pirate's Gold: the console port of Sid Meier's Pirates gave you the chance to treasure hunt, sword fight, and court the governors' daughters also had a unique aging mechanism that forced you into retirement guaranteeing you couldn't do everything you wanted in one playthrough
Starflight: exploring hundreds of star systems mining for resources, different alien races that both can make up your crew and when you encounter them in the world you had to learn how to properly interact with them, and different ships and weapons for when things turned violent.
every sid meyer games are worth playing
On civilization 6 they brought back pirates which is awesome! But I haven't played it yet so not sure if it's close to the classic but I'm sure it's good!
Phantasy Star IV is by far My Favorite Sega Genesis RPG and My favorite Phantasy Star Game ever...
Monster Boy series were always great games...
Beyond Oasis is another great one... Another of my personal favorites...
So much Nostalgia here.... Thanks, Johnny and Andrew! 👍🏼
Excellent reminisce on genesis RPGs. There aren't really a lot, which probably contributed to those strategy guide inclusions. Love Phantasy Star 2, with its scifi storytelling and visually vibrant enemy types.
Only other ones that comes to mind is Shadowrun with its brutal cyberpunk future, great memories blasting punks away, and eventually being able to cyberjack into the net.
and Light Crusader. A fantasy action rpg with the diagonal 3d perspective and some of the best graphics on the system.
I started playing video game at 7 year old with the Sega Genesis and Sonic 1. The only RPG I played on this system was Shining Force 2. I still remember loving this game at around 9-10 year old. The music, the art style, the gameplay was completly new to me and strangely enough, I like it! I got stuck at the chess pieces fight cause I didn't really know that I only need to beat the king and wasn't really prepare for this point of no return... Still love the game to this day!
Later in life, I've got a PS2 that reingnited the love for RPG that Shining Force 2 lighten up. My only regret is that I've never play Shining Force 3 on the saturn...
Warsong was Noriyuki Iwadare's first OST. :)
But he's better known for Lunar, Grandia, and Ace Attorney.
I want to add Shadowrun to this list. The Genesis game, imo, is far better than the SNES version. It has a dark, gritty, cyberpunk, top down action combat, 3 classes to choose from, acting as a sort of detective (Runner) trying to find out what happened, guns/magic/biotic enhancements, fantastic hacking sort of minigame (decking), dragons, orcs, elves... it's so amazing.
Genesis Shadowrun was like a 90s era open world action rpg on console. It predated similar games like Fallout 3 or Cyberpunk by 2 to 3 decades. Another game they forgot is Light Crusader, which was like a prototype Diablo 1 but with much more emphasis on puzzles. Genesis rpgs are seriously underrated.
I love Phantasy Star III. It's a great franchise. Shining Force was amazing. The first game I remember where you had class advancement.
I love this type of throwback videos to watch on a Sunday afternoon!
Phantasy star 4 is hands down one of the best games I've played. I still get weepy eyed at the end lol
+100 for mentioning Warsong... You are the man
I'm shocked Shadowrun didn't make the cut! :O
My high school memories come back to me! Much appreciation. I also commented on the vid about the World’s Biggest Bookstore; find these vids highly relatable
Shining Force II looks right up my alley. The character designs are so charming ❤ I need to try it out
Play Shining Force with the Gameplay Improve Hack (minor QoL improvements) and then play vanilla Shining Force 2.
Shining Force II is one of the best games I've ever played. The roster in the game is deep and bosses feel like bosses.
On Google play store.
I would play the first part first. Once you are done with the first part, you will appreciate part 2 a lot more.
Exile is a very good action RPG! I bought it when I arrived in Halifax and I liked to go through it again. I had then found out that player can put the controller down on a flat surface and place a weight on the attack button in order to have the character infinitely dispatch monsters in the first dungeon around floating platforms. Lots of leveling up is always nice when enterprising an RPG game!!!!! Nice video guys, keep doing what you are doing :)
What a great nostalgic episode! I have a soft spot for Phantasy Star IV.
I bought Landstalker used on a whim for about 11 bucks. Actually found a glitch by accident when trying to escape a puzzle room by standing on top of a rock and clipping into the next room through a locked door.
Great video. I love RPGs, but since I grew up with the SNES, I never heard about many of those games. I did play Shining Force 2 a lot at a friend's house though. We loved this game
It's not a Sunday without a HappyConsoleGamer video. The only channel where I instantly watch when I see a new video is up because I know I'll come out smiling for sure.
Sorcerer's Kingdom. It's right up there for me along with Shining force 1 & 2, Warsong, and Warriors of the Eternal Sun. Great stereotypical fantasy adventure and great soundtrack.
I love SK, its short and fun. Its not perfect, the scaling is ridiculous (the beginning is hard and then around 10 levels later you are unstoppable, there's no in between or bridge), but I still enjoyed it.
Fab fab episode. Funnily enough, my best mate called Andrew and I used to love playing RPGs. The shows with Andrew always make me think of that- especially loved your episode together on Legend of Zelda!
Im so glad that you and Andrew keep in touch after all these years, and that you share your memories together with all of us
Phanasty Star 2 , Shining Force 2, and Sword of Vermilion were my three favorite genesis games.
I was hoping you guys were gonna talk about Shadowrun :(
I remember when I was in Middle school I traded my friend a Genesis game ( I don't remember what it was ) for Phantasy Star 2 ! I wasn't into RPG's at the time . I never played one and wasn't really interested at the time until I played Phantasy Star 2 ! Omg I loved Phantasy Star 2 so much ! It's my very first RPG experience and made me fall in the love with RPG's ! And still love RPG's to this day and have never looked back !
Excellent video, Johnny! Apart from the genesis, I must tell you that you have inspired me to play earthbound. Loving it! Also, where is Rob!? Just hoping everything is OK with him. I still love these videos with other friends.
The great thing about the Genesis is all the excellent compilations. I have the Switch comp and I’ve played almost all the RPGs on it.
Warsong is my favorite. Realising 10 battles in, that mistakes you were making in the 1st few battles is going to stop you from winning the war. It is a great strategic RPG.
Top 5: Shining In The Darkness, Phantasy Star 2 and 3, Sword of Vermilion, and Warsong.
Fun List. Phantasy Star II for sure and mostly out of nostalgia. I was 19 with disposable income... did I actually pay $80 for this back in 1990, wow. Yeah, it's not prefect but playing it in early 1990 was something else. Also, it's a rare game my father actually picked up after I beat it and finished all on his own. Also, can't wait to take the time to play Crusader of Centy now that I have the Genesis Mini 2.
Hey Johnny, Thank you for sharing your passion and positive energy week in and week out. You help me a lot by influencing me with your positive passion. Much Love ❤️
What a great episode, I have so many fond memories of playing a lot of these games.
Ok serious comment for a change, I gotta go to bat for might and magic. I got it in 5th grade when I was 10 so it took me a few days to figure out the interface and how to play. But once I did and everything clicked, it quickly became one of my favorite games ever. It was unique and unlike any other console rpg I was familiar with at the time, as it was a port of a western crpg as opposed to a jrpg. It's much more of a "simulation" type game than a "play through a linear story with anime characters and irrelevant stats" which is pretty much what console jrpgs were since the first dragon warrior or final fantasy on Nintendo. It is arguably also one of the first ever "open world" games 20-30 years before that was even a thing, and if you can give it a chance and really get into it it's basically skyrim back in the day(although it's also way more of an rpg than skyrim, which is basically a glorified 1st person action game with an elder scrolls skin). Having said that, the difficulty and game balance is border line broken, with the game becoming insanely difficult after the 1st town "starter" quests, it's like the devs just gave up and figured no one would make it that far anyway. However, if anyone has the time and desire to play a great, hard-core crpg style game with immense depth and a huge, vibrant fantasy world to explore, might and magic on the genesis is arguably the ONLY console game up to that generation and possibly beyond through until the "modern" generations that fits the bill. It is so beyond what most typical console rpgs were at the time as to practically be another genre. Despite its many flaws, it deserves better. Also, to Johnny in particular, if you ever have the urge to give it another chance, there is a fountain just outside of the first inn a few steps from where you begin. If you drink from it, you get an immensely helpful overhead map in the UI which makes the game much more playable. Anyway, rant over great vid guys really enjoyed despite the might and magic hate😉, just trying to do justice to one of my favorite games that really opened my childhood mind up to what an rpg could be.
P.s. you didn't mention buck rogers, countdown to doomsday. It was another crpg port by ssi who brought might and magic to the genesis, and is another great rpg (sci-fi space setting obviously) for the system. Check it out if you ever get a chance, it has overhead tactical combat and plays nothing like might and magic so it could be more your thing. Thanks, sorry for writing a mini thesis here😁
I've been a Might and Magic diehard for decades - but always on the PC. When it went real time (M&M 6, IIRC), I had such fun trying to find ways to spam arrows while avoiding melee combat.
Warsong, Shining Force 2 and Phantasy Star 4 are the GOATS of the genesis for me personally. Johnny/Andrew, when recording footage for this episode, did either of you guys find any of these games nearly impossible to stop playing, maybe one that you werent expecting to grab you like it did and pull you in? This is wonderful, thanks for doing this!
I really wanted to keep playing Landstalker. Even with as much pain as it (and it's spiritual sequel, Alundra!) has given me over the years, it still surprises me how much I enjoy playing it.
It's really too bad we didn't get the sequel to Warsong Langrisser II in the states, the soundtrack is one of the very best on the console.
@@retrosoul8770 i guess the good news is that Langrisser 1 and 2 were released here as remasters here a couple years ago but i would have loved to play Langrisser 2 back then for sure.
@@MiamiSunrise I forgot that happened...I may have to purchase, thanks!
Excellent! More Andrew!!! I always enjoy the Johnny and guest episodes. Maybe Andrew got to enjoy some of these other RPGs more than Lunar 🙂
Wait, Johnny is almost 50? That's insane man you look great
It's even crazier when you go back to his early smoking/bandana videos from over ten years ago. He looks younger now than he did then.
Glad to see Sword of Vermillion and Shining in the Darkness on this list. One thing about Sword of Vermillion that is kind of interesting is that boss fights have their own unique combat mode that is fully side-view with huge sprites. But for me personally, Shining in the Darkness is probably my favourite Genesis RPG. It has some of the same charm that would later epitomize the Shining Force series. And man, the music that plays in the first areas of the dungeon really captures that "marching into battle" feel. I still have all of my hand drawn graph paper maps of each floor of the labyrinth.
Traysia (Minato no Traysia in Japan) was a great RPG for the Genesis. When my friend was still alive I would spend the night at his dad's house and his dad would take us to rental stores and me and him got to choose one game for the weekend. I chose Traysia, and I did not know how to play it but years later I played it again until a few years ago and understood the game mechanics. Traysia is a good game if you give it a chance.
Awesome video, I just subscribed. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.💯💪🎮
Nice episode.
I remember Crusader of Centy was called Soleil over here in Europe and Beond Oasis was The Story of Thor.
Both favorites with Landstalker.
The Shining Force Series was my first love with turn-based rpg's.
I also loved Shining in the Darkness, i remember drawing the corridors on paper to make a map.
One that i realy loved and was not mentioned is Light Crusader.
Thanks for the nostalgic video.
Always a treat to have Andrew from the old neighborhood
One of my favorite that you guys didn't mention. Was Kings Bounty. Ioved the video. Looking forward to more videos.
Love the episode. Did you or Andrew ever try shadowrun on the Genesis?
Still have my boxed copy of shining force 1 and 2, the smell of the cartridge transports me to another time
I've been playing the 3 Secret Of Mana games I just finished Final Fantasy Adventure now I'm about more than half way through "The Secret Of Mana" game, I've had the games for a long time but didnt think I would like it but since I dedicated some time into figuring out how to play them and now I love the games! I really wish they made more retro ACTION RPGs and JRPGs those are my favorite style of RPGs
With how MASSIVE Fire Emblem has become the last several years I’m actually pretty shocked that Shining Force just keeps collecting dust. The genre has never been more popular.
Completely agree, massively missed opportunity. Even a port of the SFIII 3 part series would be phenomenal.
Fatal Labyrinth was always an action RPG that I loved back in the Genesis days. Really need to find myself a copy.
I only discovered Fatal Labyrinth when I bought the Sega collection on ps3.. it quickly became my favourite in the whole collection. Shining in the Darkness was great discovery too. There is a similar Fatal Labyrinth game on the Turbo Grafx 16 called Dungeon Explorer that is worth checking out 😁
Phantasy Star 3 is very dear to my heart cause its the first jrpg I ever played and played it with friends when I was young. But Phantasy Star 2 and 4 and games I played later but really loved. Especially 4.
Absolutely love these videos! Very informative, great vibes, and just awesome discussions!
I love the Phantasy Star games, the Shining games, and The Immortal.
Warriors of the Eternal Sun was the first RPG I ever played all by myself. My friends got stuff like Final Fantasy and the Dragon Warrior games on NES and SNES and I'd go over and we'd take turns grinding and exploring and stuff like that but 100 percent playing all by myself that was my first experience. Holds a very special place for me for that reason. The one thing about that game that rarely is brought up, if the game is mentioned at all, is it has one of the top 10 best soundtracks on the Genesis. The opening theme is my favorite Genesis music period. I used to hit reset a bunch just to hear it multiple times back when it was released.
The Genesis was an RPG machine during it's first few years on the market, in spite of its eventual reputation.
Great takes. Thank you for the content. I played most of these. I’ll never be able to give Landstalker a fair shot but I’m definitely going to give Warsong another shot.
I played Landstalker at the age of 21. It was such a great adventure with tons of secrets. The platform challenge was super frustrating at times. I think I ruined video games for my wife with that one. She was always yelling, "Progress or protest!"
Landstalker was amazing, definitely my favorite on the Genesis! There was one game like it, Equinox on the SNES, but Landstalker was a better mix of action, puzzles, and story.
I have tried all the games in the Phantasy Star series (not finished them), and my favourite of the four is the fourth, End of the Millenium. Johnny Millenium talking about RPGs is a great pastime of mine. Keep up the good work, HCG!
Phantasy Star IV was my introduction to the series, played handheld on Switch via Genesis Collection. AAA game, has a great time. It sure what to play next in the series.
Best game ever made
I played Phantasy Star 2 on a cheap family dollar mini system with like 40 games included and man I loved the music! That intro gets me everytime.. I ended up letting my friends son have it hoping he'd check it out but we mostly played Mortal Kombat 2 lol.
To this day, I can still close my eyes and hear the PS2 intro music! When I turned on the game for the first time in 1990, I had basically a full-on religious experience during the intro. It's something I'll never forget.
It's nice to see people who call these games RPG's and not JRPG's like the young'uns do today. And it was always funny to me that a LOT of games released back in the day in the US had name changes like Beyond Oasis but everywhere else (in PAL regions) it was Called Story of Thor. I'm about three quarters of the way through on the Mega Drive (Genesis) oh and for me Shining Force 1 & 2 was the pinnacle of RPG's on the Mega Drive closely followed by Phantasy Star IV. Thanks for the video it brings back a lot of nostalgia 👍👍👍
What's cool is that some of these games are part of the Sega Genesis Classics Collection, meaning one can relive these experiences if they so desire.
I feel Phantasy Star III is an underappreciated gem of a game, I loved the generational approach it took with the storyline.
It was ambitious in terms of overall design and it felt way different from the other games of the series, but that was part of its charm.
It was cool that you could get four different endings depending on who you married. If they remade it and overhauled the battle system, I bet people would give it a go.
I played the first Hydlide game on the NES and it was a personal guilty pleasure of mine. Even though it gets bashed.
Man... I don't even know where to begin. This was SUCH good episode!!! I'm not a fan of dungeon crawlers but I did enjoy Vermillion (Shining in the Darkness not so much despite very nice graphics and sound. Vermillion's soundtrack was awesome as well. I played it almost to the end until one day, the backup went screwy and lost the progress!😭 Never touched it after that. I also started of with PSIII as my first PS game so I know it gets a bashing but it holds a place in my heart. Started PS on Switch and need to finish that... and need to get to PS2 and PS4 as well. I loved Shining Force and need to play SFII still. So many amazing RPGs to play!!! We need Andrew back at least once a year. It's so awesome Johnny has a crew still to this day that he grew up with and can reminisce the old days of playing hours and hours of video games together.
When sega came out back then i had no idea what rpgs were lol I was very young! I played sonic and wolverine!
Thank you for this great, down to earth discussion. I grew up with NES and SNES RPGs only, and was interested but still in the dark about Genesis ones. Filled in a huge gap in info!
Always good to see Andrew on the show! He reminds me of my best gamer friend growing up.