Some of my recent purchases....

Just recently got a few good games.

For my genesis I picked up:

Batman and Robin (Cart only): My friend gave me this game. Not a bad little shooter. I had a little fun with it. Looks pretty good, but the sound is sort of distorted. Sometimes a little tough to control your character when lot's is happening on screen.

2.5 out of 5.0

Toe Jam and Earl (The original): This one has a case, but no manual (Is this game rare?). Another game my friend gave me. I honestly thought I would not enjoy this game, but once I got into it I must admit that this is a good platform game. It looks cool, the sound is good and there is lot's to do. If you have a chance to play this game give it a shot.

4.0 out of 5.0

Lightning Force (AKA: Thunder Force 4): I got the game complete with case and manual. I bought this one myself at a flea market. Awesome shooter, looks fantastic and sounds great. It has a large variety of power ups and each level is very unique. However, this game is very hard, but certainly not impossible hard like some shooters. I highly recommend this game to anyone who is a shooter fan. Now I also saw Thunder Force 3 at this flea market complete. Can anyone recommend this game? Need opinions please.

4.5 out of 5.0

Saturday Night Slammasters: This game came complete with manual and case. I remember playing this game for the SNES a long time ago. This Genesis version plays the same except no 4 player mode like the SNES. It looks almost the same as the SNES version minus some colour of course. the sound has that typical Genesis scratchy sound to the sound effects and voices. The music is good though. Certainly a pretty good port of the arcade original, but not as good as the SNES port though. I enjoy these types of games even though they are short on depth. Fun stuff.

4.0 out of 5.0

For Dreamcast I picked up:

Gunbird 2: I bought this game cheap. It's fun to play and looks very nice. However it's a cutesy type shooter that may turn some people off. I enjoy playing these games even though they are impossible to finish without continues. The levels are very short and you could probably finish it in a half and hour or so. Not as good Mars Matrix (Which I picked up a couple of months ago. This game is highly recommended to any shooter fans.). Can anyone give thier opinions on Giga Wing 1 and 2? I am looking to purchase these also.

3.5 out of 5.0

I would enjoy reading everyones opinions of these games and games that are similiar and that you could recommend purchasing.

definatly pick up any incarnation of the Thunder Force, those games rule on Genesis.

I dont think Toejam&Earl is rare, Sega sold the crap out of it when it was released and it even came with one version of the Genesis.

Its a pretty fun time, Its also coming out for the x-box.
Should be interesting to see how they can f that up with 3-D graphics.

GunBird 2 is a good shooter. Just don't continue if you think the game is too short or easy. It is definetly possible to finish the game without continueing if you practice enough. Also, with all the characters to choose from and the multiple endings for each character, there is some replay value in there as well. But you're right, it's no Mars Matrix.

If you like Mars Matrix, definetly look into GigaWing 2. It's a beautiful shooter and the gameplay is very similar to Mars Matrix. However, again you'll have to restrain yourself from sing continues if you don't want to beat the game in 30 minutes. Also, there aren't as many extras to keep you wanting to play like in Mars Matrix, but there are more than in GunBird 2 or the original GW, for sure. There is a nice gallery mode where you unlock the different pictures by seeing all the endings for each character. It's definetly worth checking out and you can find it goes for about the same price as Mars Matrix these days.

Unless you want all the DC shooters, you should probably just skip GigaWing and go for GigaWing 2. It's far superior. But then again, if you find it cheap I'd say it's worth getting, also. It's not awful.

Tony, yes, get Thunder Force III! TFIII ruled the day. I am not sure how well it has aged (can someone care to provide insight on this?) but I highly recommend it nonetheless.

It was an amazing game for its time.

First off- Thunder Force III is awesome. Definitely one of the Genny's top 5 shooters (If not best). If you can get one cheap and complete- DO IT

Now I'll list my recent little purchases:

Nosferatu (SNES): $9 complete/NM- For a horror/Halloween game lover like myself, this game is really incredible. Awesome semi-rendered graphics, coupled with Prince of Persia/Blackthorn/Flashback style gameplay. Nosferatu totally surprised me with it's excellence. Much better than I had heard. (Some creepy music too) A must play this Halloween.

Excitebike (NES): $6 complete/good- Such old school fun. Talk about 6th grade nostalgia.

Bionic Commando (NES): $10 complete/mint- One of the best NES games ever (My fave along with Castlevania 3 and Gun.Smoke) Awesome NES graphics for 1988 and some of the best gameplay on the NES.

Legend Of Kage (NES): $5 complete/good- So much shit is talked on this game, yet it is crazy fun 1980's ninja goodness. I like it. Save Princess Kiri!

I really like giga-wing 2

one of the best looking VGA games in my opinion

Ditto on the Giga Wing 2. Check out Zero Gunner 2 for Dreamcast as well, it's a Psikyo game. It looks absolutely fabulous in vga.

ZG2 is kind of unique for a shooter in that you can rotate your craft left and right and shoot in any direction as the screen scrolls vertically. It can be a bit disorienting at first but once you pick it up it can be a lot of fun. As far as I know ZG2 was import only, I picked up a copy at ncs after getting scammed on ebay. There's a pretty decent review and screenshots here:
<a href="http://www.ntsc-uk.com/MainContent/Dreamcast/ZeroGunner2/ZeroGunner2.htm" target="_blank">ntsc-uk review</a>