The Sega CD

The SEGA CD add-on was big news back in the 90s, giving gamers the chance to upgrade their SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive and play a whole bunch of new and exciting titles, as well as remakes of the best Sega Genesis games with enhanced graphics thanks to the faster central processing unit.

The CDs that these games came on had a whopping 320 times more storage than the cartridges of old, paving the way for Full Motion Video (FMV) games like Numbers 12 and 11 on our list.

The 1st-gen Genesis consoles (that’s hard to say out loud) had a CD-ROM drive that stacked underneath like an old hi-fi system, but the 2nd gen looked a little more like a clip-on walkman.

1. Sonic CD

In Sonic CD, players can time travel to past and future versions of the same level. There are different bonus zones to uncover and lots of collectibles to pick up along the way.

This game introduces you to Amy Rose (such an annoying character) and Metal Sonic for the first time, and like the rest of the best SEGA CD games, it has a cracking soundtrack.

Defeat Robotnik, collect gems, and save the world. It’s a tried and tested theory and one that will always keep us occupied on rainy days.

2. Dark Wizard

Dark Wizard takes the silver medal in this list of the best Sega CD games of all time! It’s an epic RPG that fans of Fire Emblem will feel right at home with.As far as tactical games go, this is one of the leading players. Gamers take it in turns to fight enemies on a grid-based battlefield, watching the action from a top-down perspective.

Use weapons and magical abilities as you control one of four characters, levelling up skills and collecting items along the way.Strangely, the game is set in the world of Cheshire. I’ve spent a lot of time in Cheshire, UK, and it doesn’t exactly scream ‘RPG’ vibes.Play as a prince, a soldier, a sorceress, or a vampire. That’s a motley crew if ever I heard one!

Each player becomes the rightful rule of good ‘ol Cheshire in each instance, so there’s technically four different ways to play!It’s fun, it’s mind-bindingly difficult at times, and it’s a must have for people who refuse to believe that Middle Earth isn’t a real place.

3. Earthworm Jim: Special Edition

From the cartoon series through to the epic game, Earthworm Jim played a big part in my childhood, and the Special Edition of the classic game was a sure-fire-hit amongst my friends and I.This new edition contained over 1000 frames of extra animation and had a new and exciting remixed soundtrack. It even had extended levels and a brand new one to explore!If you haven’t played Earthworm Jim before, then I can best describe it as having a Donkey Kong Country meets Metroid feel to it.Oh, and with a worm wearing a super-suit as the main character.

You have to rescue Princess Whats-Her-Name from the people who want your super suit back, all while wielding an array of cool weapons with varying degrees of firepower.This version had alternate endings for the different difficulty modes too. Most of the weird facts that I thought I knew about worms as a kid came from these endings, and it turned out that nearly all of them were made up!

4. The Secret Of Monkey Island

Up next in our list of the best Sega CD games is The Secret of Monkey Island, a point-and-click adventure game where exploration is the ultimate key to success.So much so, in fact, that the developer decided to make it virtually impossible for the main character to be killed, allowing you to immerse yourself in the epic storyline and concentrate on having a ‘jolly good time’.

I used the word ‘jolly’ because I’m thinking about the Jolly Roger pirate ship, a theme that comes up a lot in this Treasure Island-inspired swashbuckling game.Choosing from one of nine commands (listed in the picture above), you must explore, chat, and ultimately complete a number of quests in order to become a pirate.

Expect ghostly figures, buried treasure, and a man with hooks for hands as you make your way through Mêlée Island in search of fame, love, and fortune.The plot in this game is fantastic and one that has received the accolade of ‘best game of all time’ from many critics over the years. It even went on to spawn multiple sequels that make up the ‘Monkey Island’ series!

5. Final Fight CD

Final Fight is one of the titles in our list of the best SEGA CD games that a lot of you should already have come across, as it featured on a number of REAL consoles like the SNES back in the day.

Originally meant as a sequel to Street Fighter, this Capcom classic follows the similar ‘beat ’em up’ premise and is great for destressing after writing an article about something dull…like the SEGA CD!

Set in the fictional Metro City, players can control 3 characters through six rounds as they fight their way to glory using combo moves and button-mashing punches to get through to the ‘final fight.

6. Road Avenger

Now we’re talking! Road Avenger, known as Road Blaster in Japan, is a gnarly revenge-racing title where ‘speed kills’ is the general aim of the game.

Driving around in a souped-up sports car, you play as a vigilante who is hunting down the biker gang responsible for his wife’s death.

He must seek out the gangs female boss and exact his revenge over the course of 9 stages in a Mad-Max inspired world.

7. Popful Mail

Popful Mail is a bit of a mixture of all of the above; a platform game with turn-based RPG elements where you can level up characters and build a team as you go.Each character that you can add to your team has a unique ability that can help you on your quest, and you’ll need them all if you want to defeat some of the insane bosses in this game.The SEGA CD version has bigger character profiles during cutscenes and more detailed Sprites compared to the PC version, but the game is essentially the same.

8. Star Wars : Rebel Assault

A game that involves blasting down Tie-Fighters from the cockpit of an X-Wing will always have a place in this list of the best Sega CD games.The sounds of space battle on any Star Wars game make me so excited, and Star Wars: Rebel Assault is one of my favourite rail shooter games of all time.At least you’re not called ‘Dogmeat’ in this one!

The game feels like Lylat Wars in the Star Wars universe. The pre-rendered areas, accompanied by continuous dialogue from your other fighter pilots, really help to draw you into the storyline and take your mind away from the recycling bin schedule and up into space.

9. Lunar : The Silver Star

The Lunar series is RPG-gameplay at its finest and one of the must-have titles that you need to try before its ‘Life Over’ time. The plot was actually created by a fantasy novelist, so this game really feels like you’re following a perfectly-crafted story as you battle your way through the fictitious world of Lunar.

The characters, the graphics, the gameplay, and the turn-based fighting style all account for this game’s unprecedented success.This title shows off SEGA CDs merits and is proof that this console could have been a best-seller had it had the proper backing. The use of the CD-ROM allowed for incredible audio interludes, FMV cut scenes, real-audio character narration, and a rich world in which to lose yourself after a hard day at work.

10. Snatcher

Snatcher was the SEGA CDs last hurrah, a final attempt to keep the sinking ship afloat.It was developed by Hideo Kojima, the same mind behind Metal Gear Solid, and set in a world similar to that of Blade Runner and the Fifth Element.It’s a cyberpunk graphic novel in a computer game – what’s not to love!

This Konami title was released towards the end of the SEGA CDs life, which makes it a bit of an unknown amongst most gamers. It had some pretty brutal scenes and mature content for a video game (way worse than Night Trap) and could be played with a gun controller in true arcade-style.

Players control an amnesiac named Gillian Seed who is on a mission with nothing to lose (mostly because he’s forgotten it all and can’t remember what he’s lost).He’s hunting down humanoid robots disguised as humans, and you have to guide him through Neo Kobe city to sort things out once and for all.

The overall concept is great, as is the story, but the controls let this game down. It’s mostly ‘choose an action, the character does it’ instead of getting out there and kicking some robot butt.If you like graphic novels and want to buy one that you can play on this niche computer accessory, then this is the title for you.