I started playing the Sega Genesis classic “Shining Force” on the recommendation of a friend this week, and I'm really glad he turned me on to it. I actually owned its dungeon-crawling predecessor “Shining in the Darkness,” but I had never tried the sequel.
The story involves your character assembling a group of adventurers and trying to stop the forces of darkness from resurrecting a powerful evil being. The opening hour is pretty cool, as you are sent out of town on an adventure, and the kingdom is invaded in your absence. You actually fight your way back in time to see the bad guy make his escape.
What stood out to me immediately about “Shining Force” is that you have a huge party. You can control up to 12 characters, and recruit even more. That's substantially more than most JRPGs (at least that I've played), and it gives a lot of depth to the turn-based combat. Because each class has it's own movement speed, and different attacks have different ranges, there are lots of ways you can approach a battle. I almost felt like I was playing chess when facing off against larger groups of enemies, and much like chess, you can make a few ill-advised moves and find yourself quickly outmatched. When your main character dies, you resurrect in the town church, having lost half of your money. You do keep all earned experience though, so even in losing battles you are grinding levels.
I'm only a few hours in, but I am already hooked on the battle system and the old-school storyline. I'd highly recommend checking this one out. I'm playing “Shinging Force” as part of “Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection” for the PS3, but you can get it on the GameBoy Advance, the Wii Virtual Console, and even the iPhone or iPad (for a ridiculously cheap $3).
classics and played them during the summer months. This year, we’re giving the same love to SEGA’s 
16-bit masterpiece of a console. Three months, three games, a summer of awesome.
” (1991). The mascot of of the SEGA Genesis, Sonic’s blend of speed and platforming was like nothing that came before it. Despite the fact that the series has gone downhill over the years, the original is still amazing.
” (1991) will be punching players in the face during the month of July. The side-scrolling brawler let’s you take on the role of either Adam Hunter, Axel Stone or Blaze Fielding, three rogue cops trying to clean up the gang-ridden streets of the city. 
: Return of the Ninja Master” (1993) is a fitting game to round out this year's trilogy. It combines the platforming and brawling of our first two games, and adds in some ninja flavor to make a casserole of carnage.
” for the PS3
and Xbox 360
. You can also find some of them on Wii Virtual Console, Steam, or iPhone
and iPad
. And let’s not forget, you could dust off your old Genesis
Back in my days of SEGA Genisis
I owned a game called World of Illusion
. An awesome game to play with a friend or family member. As Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, you worked your way through the world of illusion fighting enemies and helping your friend reach higher places by jumping off of them or lowering a rope. The graphics were pretty good for that time period and the platforming was spot on.
I was zipping around the internet today seeking retro game goodness, when I came across this image in google images. Kotaku.com asks their readers, "which game controllers do you own?" I'm pretty sure I own seven from this picture. Do I know what they all are called? Nope. But I've got them. How many do you have?