I really do love Fantasy Zone games, everything about them just seems to work, the look, the weapons, and especially the game play which eschews the usual scroll forward firing you usually get with shmups and goes for a more non-linear style, this one even has a melodramatic story of revenge! which can only be a good thing.

This was the only iteration of the Langrisser series popular in Japan to receive an official English version. Its a strategy RPG game which plays similarly to the Fire Emblem series. Has to be one of the best rpg's on Mega Drive.

I really couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw this game, it just took graphics and presentation to a whole new level and underneath it all was some perfectly honed game play too. If it had been a little bit harder it probably would've reached higher on the list but it's just over far too fast.

Another great release in the classic RPG series, Phantasy Star was one of the most impressive RPGs yet seen when it arrived on the Mega Drive in 1990 and wowed with its size and presentation, Its unfortunately a little bit dated these days but still certainly worth checking out.

Gaiares is yet another great shoot-em-up on the Mega Drive (there really were so many) and it has a fantastic original concept all of it's own whereby you clamp onto your enemies to steal their abilities and power yourself up. The game also represents a proper challenge as it stands as one of the harder shmups on the system.

Treasure prove that they're not just a one trick pony with this isometric RPG. The game has a very nice level of presentation and has a real atmosphere of its own with some brilliant music throughout.

A shoot-em-up for fans with a leaning towards strategy, here you're basically given a mission briefing at the beginning of the level with a list of targets needing to be accomplished. It Built upon the groundwork of the original admirably with more varied graphics and more missions.

Mega Lo Mania is easily one of the best and most fun real time strategies for the Mega Drive, it plays a bit like Populous. I like the way that the game progresses through time as you reach new levels.

Toejam and Earl is a weird game that is pretty short of focus, and let's you do whatever you want at your own pace. It probably shouldn't work but somehow does really well, I think it's something to do with it's high level of charm and likeability.

Lacking all the originality and fresh ideas that made the first game stand out so much, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was basically your run of the mill re-hash, a sequel which replayed the same levels again but with a change of background designs and some extra speed, it also started the series' unhealthy obsession with adding superfluous extra characters which would bog down later games so much. The game play, whilst overly simplified in comparison to other games of the series is still fun, and whilst the 2-player co-op mode is a bit of a design failure, the competitive mode is a very admirable and fun addition.