The Best of 1989.
Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to Georg Mack Plays the Classics. I’ve finally wrapped up 1989 and am looking forward to looking back on the year.
174 games were released on the NES, Sega Master System, TurboGrafx-16, and Sega Genesis in America in 1989. Four of them were Power Pad games on the NES that were rendered unplayable due to my lack of the peripheral.
Today we’ll take a look at the top 10 games of 1989 as graded by me, the Star of Destiny, Georg Mack.
But first, let’s break down the stats by system.
The NES released 108 games in 1989 and had both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows among them. The average grade for NES games in 1989 came out to a 1.6 (C-). This is down from 1988.
It’s plain to see that the Sega Master System is on its way out. Despite releasing 26 games in 1989, there aren’t even that many games left before the Master System fades away. Like the NES, the Master System averaged a 1.6 (C-), also down from 1988.
The Sega Genesis debuted in August of 1989 and released 17 games, mostly developed and all published by Sega. The Genesis games averaged a 2.3 (C+) grade.
The TurboGrafx-16, of which I had never played before, also debuted in August 1989 and released 19 titles, mostly published by NEC. The average came out to be a 2.0 (C).
My top 10 goes by overall grade, then ties are broken by fun factor, gameplay, graphics, difficulty, then sound in order. Without further ado, let’s get to the top 10!
Coming in at number 10 is DuckTales on NES. The adventures of Scrooge McDuck were tight on controls, great on music, and playable by all.
The number 9 spot goes to Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap on Sega Master System. A sprawling adventure with plenty of colors and interesting gameplay will likely end up as one of the best titles on the system.
Number 8 is Blazing Lazers on the TurboGrafx-16. Compile came through with another top tier shoot ’em up. It’s frenetic pace and variety of weapons is more than enough to keep you coming back for more.
Our number 7 game is one of two sports titles on the list that scored identically, Tommy LaSorda Baseball on Sega Genesis. Plenty of depth in this one, even though there’s room for improvement. We’ve seen a lot of baseball games, but this is the best so far.
Coming in at number 6 is Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf on Sega Genesis. I put this one above Tommy LaSorda because I spent so much more time playing it as a kid and I’d keep playing it if I didn’t have other games to get to.
The number 5 title is Ghouls ‘n Ghosts on the Sega Genesis. Way better than the NES title in the same lineage, Arthur controls better, fights better, and overall is better.
The best game for the Sega Genesis in 1989 is number 4 and is Golden Axe. This is a top tier title that is likely to stay on top for a little while.
At number 3 is Ninja Gaiden on NES. I give Ninja Gaiden the top spot for the year in the graphics department, bringing in awesome cut scenes between levels. The gameplay is tight, if a bit annoying when flying enemies come on stage.
Our runner up at number 2 is Faxanadu in NES. This is another sprawling adventure filled with platforming, grinding for money, and gruesome looking enemies. Saving the world tree is a good time that I’d be happy to do again.
And the game of the year of 1989 goes to Mega Man 2 on NES and there was never really any doubt. Not only is this the best game of 1989, it’s the best game of the 80s. Capcom improved on the original and gave us a masterpiece.
The highs were certainly high, but the lows were exceptionally low, I’ll be back to remember the worst games I played in 1989 before moving forward to the best decade ever, the 90s! I thought 170 games was going to be a lot, but 1990 is going to eclipse it with 292 titles before any unplayable games or compilations. But I’ll play what I can, because it is my Destiny.