Sega Master System was OK

[Bountybob]

I had a Sega Master System when it came out and I thought it was pretty good in its day.It was cheap to buy and the games where not too

expensive It certainly superceded all of the 8 bit home computers such as the Commodore 64 and the Atari 800 in terms of the quality of the graphics and colours.The sound chip was OK prob not as dynamic as the Sid Chip on the C64 but it was good enough.The music on some games like Space Harrier and Out

Run was nice.My main criticism was the lack of 3rd party software support.It's a pity that it was mainly Sega only games on the System.This wasn't

entirely a bad thing because Sega where an arcade force at the time with hits like Shinobi and Choplifter.

I liked the Sega Master System It held it's own for a couple of years before the Sega Mega Drive arrived.

[BassGuitari]

The Master System was a cool machine, one that I still have yet to acquire, actually. But where I grew up, "back in the day," it was like it didn't exist. None of the other kids had it, none of the other kids talked about it (and presumably had never heard of it), and I certainly don't recall ever seeing it or its software or accessories available anywhere.

 

When I was a kid, all we knew about was the NES, SNES, and Genesis. Sure, one kid had an old relic from the dawn of time (he called it an "Atari," which may or may not have actually been an Atari system) that probably belonged to a parent or older sibing, but for the most part, it was NES, SNES, or Genesis. I'd never even heard of the Sega Master System until my family moved across town in 1995 and the neighbor kid's older brother had one. I went over one day, and he had the thing collecting dust in the back of the entertainment center. I was like, "what the hell is this?" So we dug it out, dusted it off, and played it a bit, and had a great time with it. I remember Double Dragon, Alex Kidd, Space Harrier, Spy Vs. Spy, and some 3D missile-shooting Phaser game. His dad was somewhat annoyed, I think, because he had recently purchased the then-brand-spanking-new Sega Saturn, and we kids were spending all our time on the dusty old Master System.

[Video]

I actually liked the Master system, it had some pretty cool accessories, like the 3D glasses that Nintendo didn't have. As for the system itself, though, it totally sucked. I knew one person with one, and I think I saw it run precisely once in my life, I've come across over two dozen of the things over the years, and all have been dead. Maybe the thing was cheap, but that's definately because it was cheap, not as a ploy to make sales or anything.

 

I've never actually played on the system, but luckily, there's the master gear, for Game Gear, or for Genesis, and those have always been really reliable, though you have to play the genesis to get the glasses to work. It was cool too that some games came on cards, but as all I have ever seen also came on carts, What'sthe point? Maybe itwas like the million seller, except instead of different lables, it was a different cart

 

Anyhow, it did have Sonic, and Populous, and Untill I got Populous for the SNES, that was my biggest game for it.

 

Just to bad the hardware is apparently so fragile, it would be cool haveing one, with it's sleek pyramid design, instead of the cancer wart on top of the genesis (poor bastard already has enough crap attached with the SaCD and 23X )

[akator]

I knew one person with one, and I think I saw it run precisely once in my life, I've come across over two dozen of the things over the years, and all have been dead. Maybe the thing was cheap, but that's definately because it was cheap, not as a ploy to make sales or anything.

...

Just to bad the hardware is apparently so fragile, it would be cool haveing one

 

Your experiences are the complete opposite of mine. I haven't come many non-working SMS consoles. Even the ones that have been beat to hell with cracked cases have worked.

 

I bought one in 1988, it wasn't cheap at all. It was more expensive than the NES was selling for at the time. I suspect that is one of the many reasons the SMS didn't sell as well as the NES.

[STICH666]

The rarity aspect is the same here on Long Island. There is just nowhere that has games which in turn makes it impossible for me to play it as the ones I do have got old very quickly.

[Wickeycolumbus]

It is also rare where I live, I've only seen like two in the wild. I think they still sell it in Brazil if I'm not mistaking. Brazil also got some cool looking exclusive games.

[Bountybob]

It was cool too that some games came on cards, but as all I have ever seen also came on carts, What'sthe point? Maybe itwas like the million seller, except instead of different lables, it was a different cart

 

The reason the Sega Master System had a Card Input was to make it backward backward compatible with the earlier Sega SG1000 console card

catcher card media and software.The Card catcher was an add on for the SG1000.In addition it also enabled Sega to provide an instant budget range of Software for the Sega Master System.The Sega Master System 2 did not have a Card input.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_SG-1000

[STICH666]

It was cool too that some games came on cards, but as all I have ever seen also came on carts, What'sthe point? Maybe itwas like the million seller, except instead of different lables, it was a different cart

 

The reason the Sega Master System had a Card Input was to make it backward backward compatible with the earlier Sega SG1000 console card

catcher card media and software.The Card catcher was an add on for the SG1000.In addition it also enabled Sega to provide an instant budget range of Software for the Sega Master System.The Sega Master System 2 did not have a Card input.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_SG-1000

So would Japanese SG-1000 cards work on a US Master System?

Edited April 17, 2009 by STICH666

[nonner242]

It was cool too that some games came on cards, but as all I have ever seen also came on carts, What'sthe point? Maybe itwas like the million seller, except instead of different lables, it was a different cart

 

The reason the Sega Master System had a Card Input was to make it backward backward compatible with the earlier Sega SG1000 console card

catcher card media and software.The Card catcher was an add on for the SG1000.In addition it also enabled Sega to provide an instant budget range of Software for the Sega Master System.The Sega Master System 2 did not have a Card input.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_SG-1000

So would Japanese SG-1000 cards work on a US Master System?

 

?

[BydoEmpire]

I had an SMS growing up, and I loved it. I only knew one friend of a friend that had one, but when I happened to play Alex Kidd on his machine I had to get one. So many great arcade ports (Afterburner, Shinobi, Outrun, Space Harrier), lots of great originals (Phantasy Star, Penguin Land, Kenseiden), and the best light gun games (Rescue Mission, Rambo III).

 

I reacquired an SMS off of ebay years ago (I must have sold my original at some point, I don't remember exactly), and some of the games haven't held up quite as well as I remember, but some are still a blast. For nostalgic reasons it's one of my favorite consoles. Objectively in 2009, it's middle of the pack.

[Stan]

The cards will only work on the Japanese model, as far as I know. I have a bunch of them (the Japanese-specific games anyway), and I never tried it, but as far as I know they will not work in an NTSC or PAL model. The master system is really an incredible little machine, in my opinion. The NTSC market got jacked by Nintendo's third-party policy, which put a huge damper on Sega's ability to get the machine going anywhere. Lots of people think it was Tonka's fault, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Talking to the former head of R & D, and the guy who did most of the Master System's marketing back in the day as well as the early run of the the Genesis in the states, Tonka actually saved the system from total disaster. Nintendo just clamped down on them with that policy, and that's really what did it in. For example, Sega was set to release Tetris for the system before the whole rights war started on that game, and that's why the Megadrive version of Tetris is one of the 'holy grails' of video game collecting, they had to scrap it and used the code they had left to make Columns. Nintendo managed to basically backhand them on that one too. It would have been interesting to see how the system would have faired when that was released.

 

Anyway, just like any other system, it has its share of bad games, but I've found that the Master System's percentage of quality to suck is much higher than you'll find on the NES. The NES, true, has some real killer titles, but the Master System does as well, especially when you factor in some of the PAL games we never got here. Asterix, Land of Illusion, Dynamite Headdy, there are a substantial higher percentage of good games for it. Plus, overall it's much easier to collect in spite of the incredible rarity of a few of the titles. The only problem is it's an incredible bitch to program for...

[STICH666]

The cards will only work on the Japanese model, as far as I know. I have a bunch of them (the Japanese-specific games anyway), and I never tried it, but as far as I know they will not work in an NTSC or PAL model. The master system is really an incredible little machine, in my opinion. The NTSC market got jacked by Nintendo's third-party policy, which put a huge damper on Sega's ability to get the machine going anywhere. Lots of people think it was Tonka's fault, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Talking to the former head of R & D, and the guy who did most of the Master System's marketing back in the day as well as the early run of the the Genesis in the states, Tonka actually saved the system from total disaster. Nintendo just clamped down on them with that policy, and that's really what did it in. For example, Sega was set to release Tetris for the system before the whole rights war started on that game, and that's why the Megadrive version of Tetris is one of the 'holy grails' of video game collecting, they had to scrap it and used the code they had left to make Columns. Nintendo managed to basically backhand them on that one too. It would have been interesting to see how the system would have faired when that was released.

 

Anyway, just like any other system, it has its share of bad games, but I've found that the Master System's percentage of quality to suck is much higher than you'll find on the NES. The NES, true, has some real killer titles, but the Master System does as well, especially when you factor in some of the PAL games we never got here. Asterix, Land of Illusion, Dynamite Headdy, there are a substantial higher percentage of good games for it. Plus, overall it's much easier to collect in spite of the incredible rarity of a few of the titles. The only problem is it's an incredible bitch to program for...

Hmm kinda like how the Wii is being flooded by terrible shovelware titles but on the other hand, it has more AAA titles than the 360 and PS3.

[108 Stars]

Hmm kinda like how the Wii is being flooded by terrible shovelware titles but on the other hand, it has more AAA titles than the 360 and PS3.

 

Actually the Wii has the lowest percentage in AAA games, but also the lowest number of AAA titles compared to both competitors I believe.

 

The SMS was a very fine system indeed, especially in Europe. It´s a shame that many of the best games never reached the US, because especially the later games really showed the technological difference between SMS and NES.

It has a much smaller number of games, especially of japanese games; but on the other hand it has great ports of classics such as Popolus and Lemmings, and the Sonic and Disney-games are among the finest jump´n runs of their time. Land of Illusion was even regarded as one of the best platformers ever on any system when it was released in late 1992. Ninja Gaiden has an awesome yet super difficult SMS-exclusive incarnation, and the Power Strike games, Bomb Raid and R-Type were great action games for the time. And the Wonder Boy series....just great classics. Phantasy Star is by far the most impressive RPG of the generation too.

It´s true that most games were surpassed by 16bit counterparts, but that´s not the point, you could say that about any new generation. For 8bit systems the SMS was much more rewarding than the little success it had in the US and Japan makes you believe.

Edited April 18, 2009 by 108 Stars

[Lord Thag]

The only SMS I saw back in the day was in a kiosk at Montgomery Wards. My brother and I played it while ma went shopping. We always liked it (particularly Fantazy Zone), but never got one.

 

This past summer, my friend swlovinist stumbled across a guy who hand 3/4 of the entire set. A couple weeks later, so did I , including a bunch of rare stuff like Power Strike.

 

It's a *fun* console, but I can see why it didn't compete well. It's library is fun, but lacking in star power. Still, it's well owrth your time to track down. Lots of eight bit goodness to be had

[STICH666]

Because Nintendo controlled the media and the toy stores.

[Pixelboy]

I have a love/hate history with the Sega Master System. On one hand, I could never stand the controllers, because the D-pad was too loose and registered diagonal movement when I just wanted to go left or right. That ticked me off to no end. Also, when I was a kid, I found most SMS games mostly uninteresting. I was more into Mega Man, Super Mario, Ninja Gaiden, Contra, Castlevania, and all those other great games on the NES, so the SMS didn't measure up in my book (and it still doesn't, by the way).

 

Another thing that didn't help the SMS was that most of its more notable titles were also available on the Genesis, with much better graphics and sounds (and a better gamepad too).

 

But then again, there was Phantasy Star, and Wonder Boy III, both of which I absolutely fell in love with. I never had a chance to get into Golden Axe Warrior, but judging from the YouTube video I saw recently, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it very much. So the system wasn't without its quality titles.

[108 Stars]

basically much of the SMS misfortune was Nintendo´s slave-contracts after the first wave of success; they basically made it impossible for developers to develop for the SMS, and by the time these contracts were judged illegal it was too late for the SMS to catch up; but not for the Genesis.

Once the NES sold good and Nintendo could "enslave" the 3rd party hits like Mega Man or Castlevania as Nintendo-exclusives it was easy to intrude the kid´s program with cartoons, Happy Meals at McDonald´s and what not.

Basically the SMS was isolated, and even shops feared consequences from Nintendo for carrying it.

 

The star franchises on NES became popular in those days. Who knows, if it hadn´t been for Nintendo´s iron grasp on the US market and both systems would have gained a comparable popularity games such as Power Strike/Aleste could have become big franchises in those days.

 

For me being from Germany it is a bit bizzare to see the differences when hanging around German forums and those frequented by Americans, because those days were so completely different in Europe and NA. For so many in the USA the NES is an important childhood memory, the synonym for videogaming in the 80ies; not so here in Germany. The NES was moderately successful, but far from being a massive hit in youth culture of the time. The SMS was launched before the NES and had secured a marketplace already when Nintendo tried to conquer, and in the end the SMS even survived the NES by a few years here. But none of the two was what had most influence on gamers here looking back at the time; what really left a big impression was the homecomputers, first the C64, then the Amiga. While the US were in an NES-craze people played on those machines here. Nintendos biggest hit here was the Game Boy, and it was more important than the NES from the beginning.

[Classic Pac]

Even though I have played more SMS games on an emulator rather than the console I own. I think the SMS was a great system.

[DracIsBack]

I find this system a treasure trove now. Had it back in the day (a model II actually) in North America and liked a lot of the games. But when I bought it again and started getting Euro titles (which outnumber US releases something like 3 to one) the fun really began.

[yuppicide]

I think the Master System sucked. I hate all Sega products just about 'cept for maybe Daytona USA.

 

I had a Nintendo when they first came out with the robot and everything. I got Super Mario when it first came out. More people in my area had NES and one kid around the corner had a Sega. He tried to play it off like he was cool and had the better system, but nobody agreed with him.

[roland p]

I think the Sega Master System was a great system. I find its color palette more appealling then those of other 8-bit consoles.

[schuwalker]

I think the Master System sucked. I hate all Sega products just about 'cept for maybe Daytona USA.

 

I had a Nintendo when they first came out with the robot and everything. I got Super Mario when it first came out. More people in my area had NES and one kid around the corner had a Sega. He tried to play it off like he was cool and had the better system, but nobody agreed with him.

 

 

Dude, you hated the Genesis?