The Sega Genesis was an incredible system when it was launched in 1989. Featuring hit franchises such as the best Sonic games and best Mortal Kombat games, the console was able to go toe-to-toe with the best SNES games — an impressive feat when you look at all the series only available on Nintendo’s system. But the Genesis was no slouch in the games department. Not only was it home to exclusives such as Streets of Rage 2 and Altered Beast, but it also made use of a unique subscription service called Sega Channel. This gave owners rotating access to some of the best titles the system had to offer, much like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass do today.
Now that Sega has bowed out of the hardware space, it remains one of the top developers and publishers in the business. A couple of its games are even in our 50 best video games of all time. Let’s use our blast processing to look at the best Sega Genesis games of all time.
Originally called Puyo Puyo in Japan, Mean Bean Machine received a name change as well as new art direction, being remade as a Sonic-themed game for the Western release. It is a tile-matching puzzle game in which players control grids into which various colored beans will fall. Players must move the beans around, trying to group at least four of one color together to cause the beans to disappear. If a player’s grid fills with beans, they lose. The goal is thus to continue clearing your side of beans for as long as you can. Mean Bean Machine includes a few different modes to play. Scenario Mode pits players against a variety of enemies accessible via 13 individual stages, which eventually culminate in a battle with Sonic villain Dr. Robotnik. Exercise Mode is a sort of endurance test, gradually increasing the speed the beans fall as time goes on. Last but not least, Vs. Mode allows two players to battle one another, much like the original Tetris. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Machine is a rapid, addictive, and one of the best puzzle game, simple and timeless. The game is available on the Sega Genesis Mini.
The game leaves a lot to be desired in terms of graphics that make the original Zelda look modern and pacing that feels too rushed to make it fun. However, the game has a fun, nostalgic 90s style complete with a colorful world, fun characters, and humor. Since you’ll spend most of your time wandering among the various stages, you’ll have plenty of time to explore the worlds. Several temporary power-ups boost your movement speed to help you beat enormous hamsters, bees, and other opponents. The game ups the stakes with wrapped gifts that deliver either useful superpowers or massive obstacles. For example, a good gift might give you the power of flight or teleportation. A lousy gift might end your game by taking a life or draining your health. There’s no way to know which one you’ll unwrap – a little like real life. Players can opt for single-player or co-op mode. If you play alone, you’ll go through a storyline that follows Wiener and Funklord, while co-op lets you play directly with other gamers. ToeJam & Earl’s upbeat, Herbie-Hancock vibe of the soundtrack is excellent, and you can play it on the Sega Genesis Mini.
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes ample helpings of both. Previously, he was a perpetually heartbroken Cleveland sports fan. He spends his free time writing fiction that maybe someday you’ll read.
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career back in 2010 while still in high school, and subsequently graduated summa cum laude from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 2016.
In addition to video games, Gabe has also covered television, film, and music, and he has done everything from news to reviews and video work. You can follow him on Twitter @GamingAngelGabe.
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”
It’s turning into a pretty good time to be a Monster Hunter fan who plays on a phone. Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Outlanders will launch on Android and iOS on October 29, giving the series a new mobile-first game just as Monster Hunter Rise is also preparing to make the jump to smartphones through Netflix.
Outlanders is being developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group under license and supervision from Capcom. Unlike Rise, which appears to be the full console and PC game adapted for mobile, Outlanders is a free-to-play survival hunting game made specifically for phones.