Mutants, vampires, aliens and racing around the bathtub – It’s The Retrogaming Chart Show.
We are here yet again on the last Thursday of the month to take a look at the gaming charts from years gone by, and it is the turn of the SEGA Mega Drive to be the focus of this month’s throwback. It’s October 1993 and the Mega Drive is still going strong and the Mega CD add-on finally made it’s way to European shores earlier this year after being available in the USA a year prior and in Japan a whole two years prior. This is reflected in this chart taken from issue 143 of Computer & Video Games, as this features releases for both the Mega Drive and it’s CD-based add-on.
Let’s find out how that changes things in terms of sales.
10. Super Kick Off (US Gold)
It feels like I’ve covered a version a version of Super Kick Off for almost every single console I’ve made one of these videos for and this Mega Drive version is no different to any other as it props up the chart at number 10. It’s a top-down football game, and that’s all there is to it. Considering the debut of FIFA was literally a couple of months away, I can assure you that Super Kick Off wouldn’t be in the charts for long.
9. PGA Tour Golf 2 (EA)
Another familiar game to the Retrogaming Chart Show is PGA Tour Golf, and here it is the second game in the long-running series, making it’s way to the SEGA Mega Drive at number 9. It’s a golf game that plays like so many other golf games. Next!
8. The Flintstones (SEGA)
The modern stone age family come in at number 8 this month – Yes, it’s the Flintstones in a generally average platform game where you play as the patriarch of the family, Fred Flintstone. Essentially, you’re the errand boy for the rest of Bedrock, finding various lost items including a collar and even your own daughter. As you can see, it’s all rather colourful and cartoony and while it isn’t unplayable – Just a little mediocre.
7. X-Men (SEGA)
Hard to remember a time before the trend of good superhero movies and the first X-Men movie was one of the first superhero flicks to actually be any good. However, years before that film came the much loved X-Men cartoon, and alongside it came a whole heap of video games based on the mutant heroes – Like this one, at number 7 in this month’s chart. Set in various scenarios of the team’s training area, known as the Danger Room, you can select from four of Professor Xavier’s finest, jumping and punching and doing various mutant things. This game is infamous for its fourth-wall breaking moment, as players are taken to a dead end after the second to last level and are advised to “Reset The Computer”. Yes, in a twist of Kojima-esque proportions, players had to reset the Mega Drive system to finish the game. But only tap the reset button, for if the button was held a little too long – The game would properly reset and they’d have to start all the way back from the beginning.
6. Night Trap CD (SEGA)
The infamous Night Trap is at number 6 – A cult classic in every sense of the word, and one of gaming’s earliest true video nasties, provoking the ire of politicians around the world, who effectively brought in the idea of age ratings in videogames. Despite the headlines, Night Trap is honestly one of the tamest games around, even by early 90’s standards. Nevertheless, it was an early hit for the SEGA CD as players had to set off traps to capture black-clad vampires who were intent on bothering the residents of the Martin household.
5. Flashback (US Gold)
In at number five – You can keep your Full Motion Video and CD-ROMs because games like Flashback show just what can be done with the humble SEGA Mega Drive in this sci-fi adventure that feels a bit like Prince of Persia. Featuring extensive use of rotoscoped animation, where frames of real video footage are digitally traced, it features some impressive cutscenes that look like they’re running on a far more powerful system. But it’s not all about looks, as Flashback is also an excellent game in its own right, as you navigate through environments, solving puzzles in order to piece together the main character’s memory.
4. Final Fight CD (SEGA)
Thought that the Super Nintendo cornered the market on Final Fight? Think again, with this CD version of Capcom’s arcade brawler. Featuring all three characters, something that not even the Super Nintendo version could boast, plus a glorious remastered CD soundtrack (including some awful new voice acting), it’s a damn fine port of a badass game and deservedly reaches number four in this month’s chart.
3. Bubsy (Accolade)
At number 3, Bubsy The Bobcat is an easy target for vitriol. And do you know why? Because his games just aren’t good. There, I said it. He’s an irritating mascot that was shoved down our throats because he happened to have a few lines of garbled speech, and the games he featured in were incompetent platformers. Bubsy is one of the least likeable mascots ever, and he commits the cardinal sin of being a pain in the arse to control. The less said about his awful cartoon pilot, the better. He’s apparently making a comeback, so look forward to hating him all over again.
2. Micro Machines (Codemasters)
Another familiar game to Retrogaming Chart Show viewers, it’s Codemasters phenomenal Micro Machines, in at number 2. A port of the original NES game, it’s not too much of an upgrade, but this game still has it where it counts – Raw gameplay. Whether it’s the single-player challenge modes or the always-chaotic multiplayer, this is a game that’s always been an absolute riot.
1. Jungle Strike (EA)
The world has forgotten about EA’s Strike series, and that’s a real shame because these isometric action games were fun and were a fresh take on helicopter simulations. Jungle Strike is the second game in the series, taking things away from the desert and into…well, the jungle. Complete mission objectives, blow stuff up and generally have a blast.
