Quite recently I wrote about the release of an unusual long-build for the old Sega Mega Dive called Paprium. This game is remarkable because it’s not some ROM or mod, but a full-fledged project developed directly for the retro console, created using the original development methods, recorded on cartridges and able to work fully on obsolete hardware. Let me remind you that official support for Sega Mega Drive ended back in 1997.

But the most interesting thing about this situation is that Paprium isn’t the only game of this kind – a lot of new games were released for the moss-covered device in the last few years, and some are in development right now. I suggest you blow the dust off your Sega and check out five of the best games for it.

PAPRIUM .
WaterMelon Games took on the rather ambitious task of creating the most technologically complex and advanced game for Mega Dive. Development lasted more than 4 years, and some fans thought that Paprium would never come out. But at the end of 2020 the developers managed to lead their brainchild to the release and the result was quite decent. This oldschool Beat ’em up can be rightly called one of the most beautiful games for this console.

The joy is slightly tarnished by bugs and not the highest difficulty of the gameplay, but the graphics, sound and overall level of performance redeem these shortcomings. Fans of retro gaming should definitely check out this game.

Pier Solar and the Great Architects
Paprium was not the first project of WaterMelon Games. Before it these madmen created a full-fledged role-playing game Pier Solar for Mega Dive. It was a classic JRPG with tactical turn-based battles in the spirit of early editions of Final Fantasy. Even then, the developers were able to create a very beautiful game, squeezing the maximum out of the old console hardware.

Not pumped up and traditionally important to the genre story. After a rather trivial story manages to grow into a confusing narrative with interesting and well-described characters. Later the game was even re-released on modern platforms with updated graphics.

Coffee Crisis
Another Beat ’em up in the spirit of the very popular Streets of Rage series. From the gameplay point of view it’s a standard thriller, but the main distinctive feature of this game is a crazy thrash plot about invasion of aliens that want to steal all the coffee, heavy metal music and free Wi-Fi. It is up to the main character, who works as a barista in a coffee shop and loves heavy music, to stop them.

Xeno Crisis
Another popular genre on Sega was all kinds of shooters and this niche among new games decided to fill with Xeno Crisis from Bitmap Bureau studio. It is a top-down shooter with procedural level generation and a little touches of rougelike genre.

Here, too, players will have to fight with aliens, but this time the arsenal of the protagonist is not the ponderous fists, but a wide variety of firearms. The game’s graphics were created by the famous pixel-art artist Henk Neighborg and he managed to create a nice and catchy picture.

Tanglewood .
Finally, a representative of the most popular genre of 16-bit games. Tanglewood is a bright and colorful platformer with puzzles and puzzle elements, developed by one man by the name of Matt Phillips. This enthusiast wanted to feel the spirit of the times so much, that he used Assembler language to create the game and didn’t use modern computers. In doing so, he managed to achieve a pretty decent level of graphics and smooth game animation on the level of the big studio projects of the 90’s, like the official game based on the cartoon Pocahontas.

And since I decided to cover this topic, it would be strange not to talk about a few games currently in development. The following titles are planned for the next few years:

ZPF
A chiseling side-scroller in the vein of old arcade games. The game has incredibly stylish graphics and the level of detail can easily compete with the already mentioned Paprium.

PHANTOM GEAR
Pretty cute platformer in the spirit of the legendary Mega Man series. The authors wanted to recreate the atmosphere of old-school arcade thrillers with memorized levels and difficult bosses.

Demons of Asteborg
And here we have an action, very similar to the early Castelvania series. Even one of the three protagonists looks a little bit like the protagonist of Symphony of the Night Alucard. He also will have to go to dangerous journey to the dark lands to clear the world from the darkness. The game will have 9 different locations, and the developers are going to put not only the classic platform levels, but also the moments of flying on dragons with the view from behind.