Picked up a Sega Genesis today.

[Sasha Janre]

EARTHWORM JIM 1 and 2, if you can find them.

Also, putting my vote in for sonic 2 and 3. Sonic and Knuckles is also really fun to play and you can put Sonic 2 or 3 and play as Knuckles in them! (knuckles exclusively in sonic 2 if you attach sonic 2 to sonic and knuckles)

 

[Iori Branford]

Contra Hard Corps.
Thunder Force 3.
Lightening Force.

 

[Apo]

Get Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles if you can find them. Awesome games though they are out in the Mega Collection which probably costs next to nothing now...

 

[AspenSubie]

very cool the genesis was my fist system and i still have it. i play it quite a lot actually. there's a lot of games that are still genuinely fun.
1.Gunstar Heroes
2.Streets of Rage
3.Vectorman
4.Street Fighter II
5.Golden Axe
6.Any of the Shinobis

 

[Curbsidewhiskey]

Gunstar Heroes. Buy it. Enjoy the Explsoions. My all time favorite game.
Revolution X. If you like Aerosmith, chicks, guns and CD's for bombs. You will love this game.
Sonic 1-3 and Sonic Spinball.
Splatterhouse Series
Vector Man

 

[iamnotincompliance]

Twenty-eightthing anything involving the Sonic series or Vectorman, or Earthworm Jim, in the sense I don't feel like looking back to see how many recommendations for each there are, so I choose 28th. Also, Garfield: Caught in the Act if you want your ass handed to you be something that looks and sounds innocent and easy.

$85 seems a might steep for a Genesis and two games, but I wouldn't actually know, not being in the market for one so long as mine holds out. However, I agree: emulators are all fine and good, but the original system, the original controller, there is a certain je ne sais quoi that simply cannot be recreated.

 

[Livi70590]

Still one of the best consoles of all time, but maybe that's because it's the first I ever played.

 

[khufu23]

Two words:
Fantastic Dizzy.

If only you could save the thing. Why can't you?
If anyone knows how to save and I am being super dumb, please let me know. Because I have spent around 10 years thinking 'How did anyone complete this?'

Other than that try Micro Machines (any except the original one), the Sonic series, Psycho Pinball (best pinball game ever) and Mega Games 2 (which has Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and Revenge of Shinobi on it)

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Get all the Sonic games, earthworm Jim, Street fighter 2. Whatever you do, make sure you get Ristar..it's genius.

 

[Maveric1984]

I gotta say, considering that the Genesis was only 100 bucks 15 or so years ago, I think you got ripped off (I know where I can get one for 25), but it is a great system. As for games, I think most people here have pretty much covered what you should get. Sonic, Gunstar, Vectorman, Earthworm Jim, NBA Jam, and The Lost Vikings are all great. If you go for any fighters, you NEED the 6 button controller (I tried to play Clayfighters with a 3 button controller, and it was really weird, you had to press start to switch between kicks and punches).

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

Two words:
Fantastic Dizzy.

If only you could save the thing. Why can't you?
If anyone knows how to save and I am being super dumb, please let me know. Because I have spent around 10 years thinking 'How did anyone complete this?'

Yes! Fantastic Dizzy is a must buy!
The lack of saving was ridiculous though.
I never completed it but I got to that gay ass level at the end where the wizard chucks balls at you down some stairs. That was the only part of the game that sucked but it did suck hard. And those stars were a ***** to get.

 

[Spacelord]

Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2! Find it. It is AWESOME.
Also get Shaq Fu for laughs.

Toejam & Earl is a classic too.

I also remember this one game I once rented which totally blew me away, but I don't know the title. It was kind of a Streets of Rage-esque game where you could choose from 4 dudes which looked like either a pirate with shades or Indiana Jones. You could use guns and the boss was a dude in a top hat that transforms into a whirling ball of alien death after he's defeated. Oh man I have to find that game again. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please drop me a line.

 

[thisnameok]

Every sonic game i loved on that console(although one is not the best IMO) but im just a sonic fanboy... a 2Dsonic fanboy, and i still have mine, i loved the game "dinosaurs for hire" it was so fun at the time, and Shinobi was just fantastic.

 

[MRMIdAS2k]

Also try:
General Chaos
Comix Zone
Micro Machines 2/96 (96 has a track editor)