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Published May 2, 2026, 3:30 PM EDT
Joshua Speer is a Staff Writer at DualShockers who has been covering games professionally since 2013, with a focus on indie games, retro games, platformers, deckbuilders, roguelikes, and Nintendo titles. He began his career at Operation Rainfall, where he started as a writer before becoming Review Manager and later Head Editor.
Josh has also contributed to The Workprint and Hey Poor Player, where he continues to review games. Over the years, he has covered events including E3 and PAX West, attending PAX West regularly for more than a decade and producing extensive coverage from the show. He has also interviewed teams and organizations including Limited Run Games, Akupara Games, and Latinx in Gaming. Josh holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Washington, with a focus on creative writing.
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As a gamer who started playing during the NES era, I didn't actually start trying my hand at games with Strategy elements until the SNES. This was a mistake on my part, since plenty of amazing games got released on classic consoles, even the Sega Genesis. Though admittedly, a lot of those earlier examples of the genre were exceptionally weird and pretty rare.
In part, that came from Strategy games getting their footing and trying something new, which is always ambitious. That means lots of intermixing with other genres, most notably RPG and Tactics games. Regardless, because they weren't afraid to try new things, they proved very memorable, even today. Since many folks probably haven't played these, I'm going to rank them based on a mix of my own tastes and aggregate reception.
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That said, there are several totally unexpected offerings in this Strategy/RPG list, and some embrace modern expectations of the genre more or less. They range from seafaring adventures to classic Dungeons & Dragons, interpretations of classic science fiction, and much more. So let's embrace the weird and ambitious in this Strategy/RPG list!
10 Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
The Waves of War
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PC, Super NES, Sega Genesis |
|
Koei |
|
RPG, Strategy |
|
1994 |
I don't usually think about boats when I think about video games. I mean, sure, they have them in many, but I usually stick with watching pirates in fiction, not playing them. But there was one adventure that was all about naval combat called Uncharted Waters: New Horizons. A sequel to the first game which featured 6 possible protagonists from England, Spain, and beyond.
The adventure is pretty open-ended, only requiring you to advance the career of whoever you choose to progress the plot. That included the likes of Catalina Erantzo, Ernst von Bohr, and Ali Vezas. No matter who you pick, they'll manage a fleet of ships and do their best to be the victor of fierce naval battles.
The main downsides of Uncharted Waters: New Horizons were that the money management system was pretty archaic and that the graphics were relatively bare bones, even for that era of gaming.
9 Warsong
The Song of Langrisser
I didn't actually get into the Langrisser series until very recently, when a couple of their adventures got modern remakes. So I'm definitely a new adherent, and wasn't aware that stateside, the first Langrisser adventure was actually named Warsong. Name aside, it had what fans have come to expect from the series — tactical combat and JRPG features.
Like many older tactical adventures, Warsong was pretty brutal and features permadeath. But if you're able to strategize well, you'll level up and empower your commander, who can bring many soldiers to battle, even some mercenaries. Ultimately, your goal is to defeat the Dalsis Empire if you're strong enough.
As you might expect from the style of the game, it starts relatively grounded and then gets pretty fantastical, with world-ending stakes and battling against fundamental forces of the universe. It was definitely an ambitious first adventure, even if it was more than a little rough mechanically.
8 Sorcerer's Kingdom
Seal the Great Evil
Imagine the classic Zelda games. Now imagine that they're tactical, turn-based adventures instead. What you now have is essentially Sorcerer's Kingdom, a tactical adventure on the Sega Genesis that was mechanically fun, even if the plot was pretty lackluster. It's all vague promises of grand adventure and sealing an ancient evil, but not much more than that.
Besides strategically choosing your actions and moving your character around the field of combat, the main way that Sorcerer's Kingdom stood apart was how it handled experience. Though you didn't actually gain EXP, you could still level up your stats. Doing things like regularly using magical attacks enhances your magic stat, for example.
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Honestly, if this were a modern game, Sorcerer's Kingdom wouldn't be worth much mention. But since it was pretty unusual for the time it was originally released, this tactical adventure is still somewhat memorable.
7 Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
Glorious Sunlight
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Sega Genesis |
|
Sega |
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RPG, Strategy, Dungeon Crawler |
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August 1992 |
I'm kind of obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, I've never played a tabletop campaign, but I love the deep world-building. I'm also fascinated with how elements from the tabletop empire have been adopted by many games. Just like we see in Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun on the Sega Genesis.
You control a team of four, and they can be a pretty wide range of characters. That includes dwarfs, halflings, and elves, as well as classes including cleric, fighter, and thief. Mechanically, the game plays a lot like a traditional dungeon crawler. At least when you're not exploring the world map with an isometric visual style.
Either way, Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun offered a varied experience with a lot of replay value, which is always great for strategic adventures. Mix in attractive graphics, and you have a very solid offering that somehow found itself exclusively on the Sega Genesis.
6 Shadowrun
Putting the Punk in Cyberpunk
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Sega Genesis |
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Sega |
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RPG, Tactics |
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1994 |
I think we all know the Shadowrun series, but did you know it had an exclusive adventure on the Sega Genesis? It was a mix of cyberpunk action and JRPG, where you control a man named Joshua. Combat is split between the futuristic real world and the Matrix, where you instead control an avatar and can navigate nodes while engaging in strategic, turn-based combat.
As for upgrades, those are handled through the game's Karma system. Once you earn Karma points, you can spend them to improve your stats. All it takes to earn more is to take on illegal jobs, the titular shadowruns. But what are a few broken legal boundaries between friends?
What's perhaps best about this Shadowrun game is the absurd classes you can pick from, which range from samurai, decker, and gator shaman, the latter of which is so fantastic that it brought this adventure a bit higher in the rankings.
5 Rings of Power
Such a Naughty Dog
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Sega Genesis |
|
Electronic Arts |
|
RPG, Strategy |
|
January 1992 |
You know what really says "ambition"? Making a game for a console without the permission of the company itself. But that's exactly what Naughty Dog did with Rings of Power, which they made with a dev kit without Sega's permission. As for the premise of the adventure, it's about collecting eleven rings to defeat the evil god Void.
Rings of Power was really visually impressive when it came out, and the game makes great use of an isometric perspective. Combat is turn-based, tactical fare, and has main character Buc putting together a team to defeat the aforementioned big bad. The key thing to keep in mind is that if a character's stats get too low, they can actually die, or just be unable to cast anything other than pathetic spells.
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This made strategic choices huge in the game, since otherwise it could become unbalanced and frustrating. Overall, Rings of Power was still a fun, ambitious experience.
4 Romance of the Three Kingdoms II
Warlords Rejoice
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PC, NES, Sega Genesis, Super NES, PlayStation, WonderSwan |
|
Koei |
|
Turn-based RPG, Strategy |
|
1992 |
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of those stories with lasting power. So much so that it has been the basis for many historical video games, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms II on the Sega Genesis. The game has you pick from one of several warlords and then embark on various campaigns full of warfare and strategy.
Your ultimate goal in the game is to conquer all the territories in China, which is quite an undertaking. There are 40+ provinces, and some 200 characters to potentially bring under your banner. The warlords in question are all bigger than life, ranging from Dong Zhuo to Liu Bei.
No matter which you choose, the game is expansive and full of adventure. Key to it all is the reputation system, which helps determine how loyal your troops are to you. The game even allows the creation of custom characters to really mix things up. Romance of the Three Kingdoms II is chaotic, brutal, and incredibly fun.
3 Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
3, 2, 1, BOOM!
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
Buck Rogers is one of those series I know of, but haven't really immersed myself in, much like Flash Gordon. Having said that, as a fan of sci-fi and pulpy comic books, I'm glad they made Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday. It's a story all about conflict between the New-Earth Organization (NEO) and Mars' own Russo-American Mercantile (RAM).
The Sega Genesis version features isometric adventuring, as well as a solar system view of objectives, land-based combat, and ship-on-ship mayhem. It's all great, but perhaps best because of how faithfully the game translates the flair and style of the Buck Rogers series to a video game format.
Even if you're not familiar with Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday, the game sold exceptionally well and was well-received by fans. Which helps set the stage for two games that managed to eclipse even that popularity.
2 Shining Force
From Darkness to Dragons
While one of the first tactical, turn-based series I experienced was Fire Emblem, Shining Force was another amazing example. Not only did it tell a great fantasy tale, but it wove in sci-fi elements, 16-bit graphics, and a great cast of distinct characters. Not a ton, mind you, but a lot for such an early example of a strategic JRPG.
Like many examples of the genre, Shining Force is all about stopping a madman trying to amass a deadly supernatural power, in this case, an evil dragon. What's most surprising about it, though, is that the development team took inspiration from series like Dragon Quest, apparently.
Shining Force was very well received, especially because it managed to streamline a complex genre for gamers old and new. But the next game is one that will always be associated with the Sega Genesis.
1 Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Worthy Ending
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
It's not every day a game is considered one of the greatest video games of all time, but Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium is one of those games. It tells a tale of ecological crisis, manga-styled illustrations, and a wonderful cast of characters. It's also the last time the Phantasy Star series was a traditional roleplaying adventure.
One of the best things about the game was how it implemented combination attacks to really smash your enemies. In fact, gameplay is one of the best parts of Phantasy Star IV. That said, some fans complained that the graphics were a bit too basic even back then.
Regardless, the story and strategic gameplay make this a fantastic Sega Genesis JRPG that has made a mark on gamers all over the map. Here's hoping these classic games serve as inspiration for some modern masterpieces.
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