ToeJam & Earl (MD)
These days, the term ‘rogue-like' is bandied about with true abandon, but back in 1991, the genre was far less famous. It’s amazing to think, then, that Sega was bold enough to publish a title like ToeJam & Earl, which was produced by an external development team and was as oddball as they come. The titular characters are a pair of rapping aliens who crash-land on Earth and must explore randomly-generated levels and rebuild their spacecraft. The game’s two-player mode really opens things up and adds longevity, and the fact that ToeJam & Earl can only defend themselves with tomatoes makes the game stand out as surprisingly non-violent. ToeJam & Earl is unlike any other game on the Mega Drive, and well worth a look, even today.
Contra: Hard Corps (MD)
Alongside Castlevania: Bloodlines and Rocket Knight Adventures, Contra: Hard Corps stands as one of Konami’s greatest achievements on the Mega Drive. Like Bloodlines, it’s very much Contra turned up to the absolute maximum level of insanity; while the visuals and audio can’t quite match the SNES Contra III, the intensity of the on-screen action and sheer craziness of the levels means that this is perhaps a more hair-raising ride for fans of run-and-gun games. Contra: Hard Corps was the last game to be localised in Europe under the ‘Probotector’ name, and that version of the game features robots as the protagonists. All regional variants of the game are extremely expensive these days, but thankfully, the game is available as part of the Contra: Anniversary Collection for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows, and it was also included on the Mega Drive Mini – so you don’t need to sell a kidney to play it legally.
Beyond Oasis (MD)
As one of the console’s later releases, Beyond Oasis (The Story of Thor: A Successor of the Light in Japan and Europe) stands out as a technically stunning action RPG. Developed by Yuzo Koshiro’s studio Ancient, the game showcases large, detailed sprites and beautiful locations. The gameplay is of a high standard, too, with various locations to explore and puzzles to solve. While comparisons can be drawn with the Zelda series – and people certainly did so at the time of release – Beyond Oasis places a much stronger emphasis on combat and its world is arguably more alluring and detailed than Hyrule in Zelda: A Link to the Past. A Saturn sequel followed in 1996 under the title The Legend of Oasis (also known as The Story of Thor 2), but, despite the prettier graphics, it’s perhaps not as polished as this title.
Wonder Boy in Monster World (MD)
While series fans generally agree that this Mega Drive outing (which shouldn’t be confused with console stablemate Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, which is a scrolling shooter) isn’t quite as inventive and revolutionary as Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap on the Master System, it’s still one of the high points of the series. Granted, the monster transformations which made the 8-bit entry so unique are gone, but in their place, there’s a much stronger story, notably improved visuals and audio and a lengthy experience that keeps throwing new surprises in your direction. Interestingly, developer Westone also released the game on the PC Engine CD, but without the Wonder Boy branding, which Sega owns. That version is called The Dynastic Hero.