Heh, i don't think this is really a 'Gem' but i used to play the 'James Pond' series (best being no.3)

It's a fun little game, so i guess that makes it ok to post here.

I love the second one, the Xmas themed. I think it is one of the best platform games ever released for 16 bit systems.

It only has one problem, which is common in all versions: the background scroll is so fast it is almost headache inducing.

I think Red Zone is a hidden gem of Mega Drive, well at least here in Brazil. I (and everyone i know) did not knew this game till i've got a demo rom of a game named Hard Wired. The demo was incredible, the sound, the graphics and all the technology input in the screen. The most amazing about this game is the message showed in the firsts screen, that says:

"This game features: Rotating background graphics, Rotating background texture, 3D vector sprite objects, 3D vect polygon graphics, Realtime zoom, Fullmotion video compression. All running without the use of additional hardware."

It basically says that SVP (Sega Virtual Processor) was useless. If i am not mistaken the final frase of the demo was "All running without the use of SVP.". I was very crazy about finish the game, play the full version, but i only found a hard wired demo rom. In the middle of 2007 i decided to play a lot of mega drive games that i didn't played before (In my opinion, good games deserves to be played a lot of times, and so, i did not have played unknow games for a lot of time) and then i find the final version fo Hard Wired, it had changed the name to Red Zone.

Think of this game as a Desert/Jungle/Urban Strike with different perspective and features. Its a must be played game.

I was very impressed with Red Zone when I played it recently. I had heard it was a 3D game without any special chips which is why I wanted to test it in RetroCopy. Kawasaki Superbike Challenge is also an impressive 3D game without any other chips.

The 68000 in Genesis is pretty fast so in can do a lot of things like Red Zone does, when you combine in the fact you have a Z80 processor you have a lot of room to move. The only limiting factor with the Genesis (for the time period) in my opinion is the color limits and the limited accuracy in digital samples. It can certainly afford a lot more gameplay possibilities than a system like the SNES.

Though of course what a system is capable of and what the majority of titles end up being are usually two different things. The Sega Master System was generally untapped (especially in PAL regions) due to developers. Of course the information they had and the time limits imposed probably greatly affect what developers could do, only by working on multiple titles for the system could they get the required experience to utilize it more efficiently.

I do not know if this is the place to talk about this game, because it doesn't exists yet to be a hidden gem, but i think the Pier Solar (it was know as Tavern RPG) project is a great iniciative to show what this great system could and can do.

By the stage of the game, i think it will be released this year. I am aware of this project since middle 2006, but as far as i know, this project is running since 2004. Imagine, a all new Mega Drive game released in 2010.

If all of you don't know this project, google it.

I, to have been waiting patiently for pier solar to be released. All the waiting has been driving me insane.

They do state though on their website that it will be 'emulator proof' as it uses programming tricks discovered after the Megadrive died. But as RC is cycle accurate that shouldn't be a problem should it ?

Oh and to make this post valid, I think Vectorman is quite a fun game, but it's quite well known so i don't know if its 'hidden'.

Perhaps dumping it can be a problem?

In theory you can make some software that is very very hard to emulate, especially if that is your goal. Simply require some core game features to be precisely emulated and without the precision it falls on its face.

RC isn't cycle accurate completely in MegaDrive yet - the 68000 isn't. So in theory it might be unplayable on the current version but at some point the MD will be cycle accurate in RetroCopy so it shouldn't be a problem. It would actually be a good test software for emulators if they come through on their goals.

This is Hellfire, an R-Type clone for the Megadrive, ported from the arcade. I'm not much into this kind of shooters, but as it happened with R-Type this one has a redeeming strategy element. This time you don't get detachable capsules, but different types of shots (diagonal, rear, etc) that need to be exploited well if you want to get anywhere past the second screen.

I'm pretty sure it caused people to throw away their pads in frustration back in the days, but it's nevertheless a great game.

I'm not sure newer generations are familiar to the Turrican series. The original was released for 8 bit and 16 bit computers, and it's legendary in its own right. It's a shooter, but the levels are huge and the player is encouraged to do as much exploring as shooting. In some levels, you can even reach next level without facing the bosses, if you know what route to take. All versions are great, but the Amiga one is the one with the real cult following. Then there's the sequel, "Turrican II", that was even ported to PC (MS-DOS only, I'm afraid).

Then there are the console variations. The GB has a pretty good port of the original, in a variety of green colors and with tiny sprites, and the Super Famicon its own "Super Turrican" series.

The Genesis has "Turrican", another port of the original which could have been great, but is just OK instead, because the controls are not as responsive as in the Amiga version, and it's also a bit disorienting finding out which button does what, because there are tons of different weapons to choose from.

But it also has "Mega Turrican", which is the game of the capture and easily the best of the apocriph Turrican games. The first thing you notice is the graphics, which are easily the best ever in a Turrican game, but also the playability. The character moves faster than ever, and the controls are awesome. They added a mechanical rope essential to reach some areas, but pretty much everything is about running and shooting, and it can reach frantic levels pretty soon.

Fans of the original may miss the exploration element, because the levels are pretty straight forward, but otherwise we're talking about one of the best shooters in the Genesis library. And that's saying something.

P.S: Stay away of the "Universal Soldier" games. You may come across them if you do some research on the Turrican series. They use the same game engine and were created by Accolade, who also made the console ports for "Turrican", but they are utter crap.

That would make a good review for the game Neville. Need to get the MD database up!

I was playing Musha Aleste today testing it for bugs, since it's a japanese only? title maybe not many have played it. Quite good, a big improvement on Aleste from the 8bit systems.

I agree with Hellfire,i also discovered `decapattack` and Mazin Wars quite late,they are quite enjoyable