Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack lights up once again, this time with four absolute classics on the Sega Genesis.
The Revenge of Shinobi, releasing two years before Sonic the Hedgehog, was one of the platform’s early highlights and of the key games on the platform. Set three years after the first game, Joe Musashi goes after Neo Zeed after they kill his master and kidnap his bride. Joe gains a somersault attack, which can be used to jump upwards between walls and evade attacks. This is one of the best twitch games the Genesis saw, and naturally is part of nearly every Sega Genesis game collection.
The Revenge of Shinobi is also noteworthy for the unauthorized use of characters Sega did not own or license. That made succeeding rereleases interesting as Sega would keep revising those characters. There was even a version of the game where they officially licensed Spider-Man, but that probably won’t be in this rerelease.
Ghouls N’ Ghosts is the sequel to seminal 3D Capcom platform Ghosts N’ Goblins. This time, the Ghouls take it too far, slaughtering everyone in the kingdom including Princess Prin-Prin. However, if Arthur can defeat Lucifer, he can restore all their souls.
Ghouls N’ Ghosts stands as a direct contrast to both Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Bros 3, both releasing a year before. If Nintendo’s developers had explored ideas like backtracking and overpowered special abilities, Capcom doubled down on making a relentless skillcheck of a platformer. It also strongly rivals Nintendo’s games, as, at the time, it was an impressive port of an arcade game to Sega’s 16-bit machine.
Crusader of Centy is now something of a deep cut, but it’s one of those games YouTubers refer to as a ‘hidden gem’. Developed by Nextech, it is an action adventure game at a time when all of these games were considered Zelda clones.
It does have the same top down perspective of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past. But, Nextech deserves credit for making their own game, with an original premise surrounding a boy who stops talking to other humans, but can start talking to the animals.
Finally, Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole is also a forgotten but critically acclaimed action adventure, this time by a studio named Climax. This one takes an isometric ¾ view, and has a surprisingly deep storyline to match its addictive fantasy themed gameplay.
All four are delightful little throwbacks to an earlier age in gaming, and are worth checking out if you’re already subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. You can watch the official trailer below.
