Every SEGA game with the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion at a glance
Ristar
This is one of my go-to desert island games. I love Ristar so much.
Ristar was supposed to be a huge launch of the Genesis, so much work and love was put into this game and the animation but got absolutely no ad time because the main SEGA officers released the Sega Saturn at the same time and it got swept under the rug of next-gen consoles.
Seriously. Watch the different animations Ristar does. Even his idle animation is different for every world.
Ristar is a side-scrolling platformer where you control Ristar, a living star with stretchy arms who must use them in a variety of different ways to get through diverse stages. The music is chill and well thought out. The boss fights are incredibly different, each requiring a different strategy, and, like in the Sonic games, there are multiple ways to go through every stage.
If you’ve never played Ristar before, you’re honestly missing out.
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Another one I can’t find a commercial for. Sheesh, Sega, get it together or you’ll never be able to afford making consoles.
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, despite sounding like the name of the world’s worse bike seat for men, is a frantic versus puzzle game.
Based out of the Sonic universe from the original Sonic cartoon. You know, that one with chili dogs, the “snooping around as usual” meme, Sonic Says, and, of course, the origin of “You’re too sloooooow.”
The game is a frantic puzzle similar to Dr. Mario but with some mild changes involving merging pieces to make bigger ones that do more damage to your opponent. It’s fun if you’re looking for some very stressful speedy gameplay as the A.I. goes HARD in this.
Shining Force
This game is incredible. Take Fire Emblem, remove “permadeath” and instead add tons of fantastical creatures ranging from bats to golems to robots to weird pirates and you got Shining Force.
I can’t tell you how much of my teenage life was spent going from this to Shining Force II to Shining Force CD. I loved these games. The characters were amazing. You had your mainstays like archer elves, swordy heroes who lost their memory, powerful wizards, dwarves with axes, and then you had other characters like a white wolfman that could summon spectral wolf spirits, a steam-powered robot driven by an armadillo, an old man on a gyrocopter and, my personal favorite, Domingo, an optional character who is an adorable little squid that hovers in the air and blasts ice spells.
Battle across very clever grip-based battles and when you engage your enemy, enjoy a gorgeous close-up of a well-drawn version of one character hitting the other. Something that felt WAY ahead of its time.