Best Sega Genesis platformers

Just hearing the word "Genesis" conjures up memorable moments of past 16-bit goodness. I remember thinking that gaming had really reached "the next level," more so then than any other generation upgrade since. To continue the reminiscing, retro gamer Racket Boy writes: "While many of the platformers were simply Mario clones, the 16-bit era was kicked off with Sonic the Hedgehog and never looked back. The Genesis had an especially great selection of interesting and unique platformers that helped Sega compete with Nintendo and the more powerful SNES."

Here are some of the notable games making the best list:

• Sonic The Hedgehog Series

• Gunstar Heroes

• Contra: Hard Corps

• Vectorman & Vectorman 2

• Castlevania Bloodlines

• Revenge of Shinobi, Shadow Dancer, Shinobi 3

• Ecco the Dolphin

• Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse