European Club Soccer was far from perfection, but had its charm back when it came out, especially before we could play better games like Sensible Soccer, FIFA or International Superstar Soccer. Hence, it was short lived.
I thought the game could give us something more than it did, and back in 2023 I started thinking about how I could get more countries and more clubs into it, thinking that I could play it for myself since the game had been popular for a very short time before getting replaced by better games.
Was it necessary? No, but who knows, maybe someone else is gonna like this edition?

As of today, this edition has the following features:

• 3 European knockout tournaments with their original trophy art: Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, each with 64 teams unlike the original 32 teams. The Champions League is pretty much like the original game, but with more teams. The Europa League is a similar tournament, but the game doesn't randomly seed the bigger teams, the player can still choose them though. The Conference League only seeds the weaker teams from the top 5 nations, and randomly chooses more for the weaker nations
• Winning the Europa League or the Conference League now takes you to the European Supercup final. The Champions League still grants you the Intercontinental Cup final
• 172 teams split between all European nations taking part of a European club competition, that were absent from the original game. Former Yugoslavia nations like Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia etc., are now all into the game, just like the former USSR nations and you get Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia etc. Middle tier nations usually get from 2 to 4 clubs. Minnows like Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino and Gibraltar also get a single team for the sake of representation
• New and updated team crests
• Flags for the new nations
• Updated team jerseys, the most similar ones considering the game limitation of not having stripes or shapes
• Each country gets its own player portrait, choosen from one of those already in the game
• Each club has player names reflecting their country of origin
• Each country gets its own soundtrack taking into account their european region, just like the original game

Coming soon:

• Visible skill level for every club at the selection team
• Club stadiums, a text with random attendance in the pre-match screens

Working on:

• Club colours and flags for each team in the stadium, this will be difficult though

For those who don't already know, the 6 pak is a variety pack of six first party Sega games on one cartridge.

If you were tasked with designing another 6 pak to exist alongside the first with the goal of offering something for everyone, what six games would you choose?

Zeebo's Double Dragon is remembered as a hidden gem trapped on a completely obscure niche console. Derek from the Stop Skeletons From Fighting channel made a video showcasing this game a few years ago ( https://youtu.be/SXLEctgWe7I?si=_5vNDTA6bg5DCfAb&t=1012 ), and it's simply one of the best Double Dragon versions that unfortunately was never re-released.

A few years ago, the Zeebo finally got an emulator called Infuse, and recently Zeebx and its Double Dragon finally became playable (although there are still some sound issues in these emulators, but they will probably be fixed).

And now Zeebo's Double Dragon has simply been ported to the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The port started in 2025 by RJ Games and was only completed today, and it's free to play, working on both the original hardware and the emulator.

https://x.com/StuffZeebo/status/2114757900874997859/video/1

Beated Sonic Spinball which is one of my favorite Sonic games honestly felt pretty satisfying to finally defeat Robotnik after playing it for so many years.

Hello. I’m new to this sub. I’ve seen Moonwalker that I’ve been trying to get, on eBay but they’re repro carts from China. My question is not to validate a collection, but to ask if you guys have had good experiences with repro carts? I also found quite a few locally here in L.A. FBMKTP where people are selling repro carts of highly sought after games like Gaires and PS4. Should I stay clear of the eBay repro carts, or do you guys also buy them and have no issues with the quality? That’s my biggest factor. Thank you.

I think the only thing I might also want for the system are the Streets of Rage Trilogy and Ristar (which I haven’t gotten because theyre pretty pricy), but is there anything y’all would recommend that I might be missing? I really like platformers and action games

Hi all, I was an SNES kid growing up and now that I’ve picked up a Sony Trinitron I want to grab a Genesis and play some of the classics I missed from that era. Trouble is, my CRT only has hookups for S-video and composite. I’ve heard the Genesis is notoriously bad for composite, what are some options I have? Or is it still worth it even with just composite? If it helps or is relevant, I was going to grab a Model 1. Thank you!

This isn’t really for experienced collectors that fix or restore old systems you probably already know and use this. This is for the people out there that don’t know about electronics and just want carts that work.
When you go to clean the contacts most people use isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip and that 99% of the time is good. But if you get a stubborn cart or two that just will not play right or at all get some DeoxIT. Do not spray it into the cart put small amount of DeoxIT in a cup and dab your Q-tip in it and clean as normal. The DeoxIT will de solves the corrosion you can’t see.
I restore old vacuum tube stereos and thought that there would be some people out there that might not know this, and it could make an unusable cart good again. Not guaranteed to work every time, some are just too far gone for this to help.

I think I forgot how great this game actually was. I only played it on SNES but decided to get the Sega one because it was cheaper and I got everything with it. The manual, case and game much cheaper. This is just one of those things that brings me back

What's yours?

I think the only thing I might also want for the system are the Streets of Rage Trilogy and Ristar (which I haven’t gotten because theyre pretty pricy), but is there anything y’all would recommend that I might be missing? I really like platformers and action games

Here comes my take on the classic Sega Genesis debate. Why i love Shining Force 1:

-Beautiful graphics from the makers of Landstalker, Climax Entertainment. Blending cartoon with dark colors and gothic theme. Doesn't feel childish or generic.

-Memorable music.

-Very memorable characters. Including the hero, mascot and villain.

-Better story. No Snow White reference at the end.

-Leveling up is exciting because it's random. But at the same time there's rubberbanding, your characters will have enough stats eventually. Also you don't care about low stat rolls before promoting, what matters is in which level you promote.

-Open world in SF2 doesn't really excite me, sometimes it feels like a chore or confusing. There are random encounters in specific spots, you trying to figure out where to go next and searching for side quests, secrets or mithrils. And getting the mithril weapon you want is an RNG thing.

-SF2 is a significantly longer game and i think the length of SF1 is sufficient. This and linear progression makes me want to replay it with different teams.

-I don't like how the camera slowly follows when you're walking in SF2.

Strong points of Shining Force 2:

-SF2 has better AI. In SF1 enemies tend to wait in predetermined spots. This happens in SF2 too but they mostly move and get close to you. Not only the AI is more dynamic but also more reasonable when enemies are attacking.

-In SF1 some maps are too big which makes you walk without fighting for a while. There are also huge maps in SF2, but most maps are tighter and game runs little faster so that's helping the battle pacing.

-It's more balanced, especially difficulty balance. There are difficulty settings too. SF1 has more difficulty spikes and the final battle should have been harder.

-Leveling up doesn't waste your additional experience and training healers is easier.

-Various UI and control improvements. Talking and searching use the same button, inventory is little more polished.

My main point: Shining Force is a basic SRPG. 6 stats (HP, MP, Atk, Def, Agi, Move), 2 equipments (weapons and rings), basic SRPG battle system. It's easy too, losing only waste your gold so anyone can win by grinding enough. I think the unique vibes are the selling point of Shining Force. I get it, SF2 is bigger, longer and polished. But it doesn't have the same charm. And no, i've only played this game few years ago so there's no nostalgia from me.

Now I can play with my default custom ps3/4 stick!

I'm so excited for this, i didn't remember what it was called for probably 25-30 years and now i have it again

CRT: 20M2MDU