Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (Genesis / Mega Drive)

Good old anime that pits a typical high school girl that just wants to live a normal high school life against a world full of magic, fantasy, and evil.  Valis was one such game to do this on the Genesis, and arguably the most popular one to do so.  Tight controls, interesting enemies, and this anime-inspired theme were prevalent throughout the game as Yuko attempted to fulfill her destiny as the Valis warrior.

Elemental Master (Genesis / Mega Drive)

Back in the early 90s, it seemed like every issue of EGM had a bunch of ads for games by Renovations.  El Viento, Gaiares, and Master of Monsters all featured prominently, but one game that always struck me as being kind of neat was Elemental Master.  It was basically a shmup, but had the walking around like qualities of Ikari Warriors with the ability to shoot forward and back.  The game moved at a nice pace too.  It's certainly an often times forgotten game on the Genesis, but well worth playing.