Sega Genesis RPGs
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2025 9:52 pm
The SNES definitely had a greater number of RPGs than Sega's 16 bit console the Genesis. However that doesn't mean there isn't any RPGs on the Genesis! Here are some that I love that you might not have played since you might not have had a Genesis growing up like I did.
1. Shining Force
While this isn't the first game in the Shining series to make it's debut on the 16 bit console, that was Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force was a tactical turn based RPG that IMO was better than Nintendo's Fire Emblem. This was the game that got me into tactical RPGs, a genre of games I didn't like growing up despite being a fan of turn based RPGs. I sat down one day in 2015 and said to myself "I'm going to give this game another go!" I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it and even though I started playing the game on a emulator, I finished it up on my real Genesis. I'm not sure why I didn't just play it on my console...
2. Beyond Oasis
While this is more of an action adventure game similar to the Legend of Zelda, it's still worth mentioning in this thread. Beyond Oasis or Story of Thor has you control Prince Ali, who discovered a gold armlet once worn by a wizard that waged war against the bearer of a silver armlet that was used to bring chaos and destruction to the world. The gold armlet allows the bearer to summon four spirits. It's a really fun game with an amazing soundtrack made by the legendary composer, Yuzo Koshiro, the guy who made the Streets of Rage soundtracks.
3.Phantasy Star IV
Alright I never actually played this game, but I've seen numerous people say that this is the best RPG on the Sega Genesis. Yes it's on my huge backlog of games to play, so I do want to play it eventually. Phantasy Star was Sega's answer to Square's final fantasy. It made it's debut on the Sega Master System, and had more dungeon crawling aspects to it than IV does. Here's some gameplay footage of this game, maybe I shouldn't be mentioning games I've never played but eh.
1. Shining Force
While this isn't the first game in the Shining series to make it's debut on the 16 bit console, that was Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force was a tactical turn based RPG that IMO was better than Nintendo's Fire Emblem. This was the game that got me into tactical RPGs, a genre of games I didn't like growing up despite being a fan of turn based RPGs. I sat down one day in 2015 and said to myself "I'm going to give this game another go!" I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it and even though I started playing the game on a emulator, I finished it up on my real Genesis. I'm not sure why I didn't just play it on my console...
2. Beyond Oasis
While this is more of an action adventure game similar to the Legend of Zelda, it's still worth mentioning in this thread. Beyond Oasis or Story of Thor has you control Prince Ali, who discovered a gold armlet once worn by a wizard that waged war against the bearer of a silver armlet that was used to bring chaos and destruction to the world. The gold armlet allows the bearer to summon four spirits. It's a really fun game with an amazing soundtrack made by the legendary composer, Yuzo Koshiro, the guy who made the Streets of Rage soundtracks.
3.Phantasy Star IV
Alright I never actually played this game, but I've seen numerous people say that this is the best RPG on the Sega Genesis. Yes it's on my huge backlog of games to play, so I do want to play it eventually. Phantasy Star was Sega's answer to Square's final fantasy. It made it's debut on the Sega Master System, and had more dungeon crawling aspects to it than IV does. Here's some gameplay footage of this game, maybe I shouldn't be mentioning games I've never played but eh.