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Sega Master System games and memories..


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#1 Austin OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:17 PM

Attempting to get some discussion or reminiscing going on here, have you played a Master System before? If so, what are some of your favorite games, and why? Do you have any other interesting stories or experiences to share? To me, it seems that most people my age have plenty of NES memories, but few when it comes to Sega's first US console, if any!

For me, I most certainly grew up as a NES kid. My parents had an Atari VCS when I was born that initially provided exposure to videogames at an early age. Around my fifth birthday though I also received a Nintendo Entertainment system. Immediately I was thrust into the midst of Nintendo-mania that had been taking the country's children by storm. I really can't complain about this one bit as I loved my NES (and still do), and it's easily one of my favorite systems of all-time. However, I was also fortunate enough to be able to experience the NES's competition at the time, including the Sega Master System and the Atari 7800, to name a few.

Looking at the the Master System in particular, my earliest memories with it stem from a set of neighbors my age down the street that owned one. Often times on Fridays or Saturdays I would stay overnight at their house and we would play the Master System until early in the morning. Be it After Burner, OutRun, Alex Kidd, or even the snail game built into the system, I have plenty of fond memories of the system and games. Eventually--and unfortunately--my neighbors also received a NES and would go on to sell their Master System. For many years after I would not have the opportunity to touch a system again, and not even until well after the SNES was available would I even have personal access to non-portable system outside of my NES. All the way through the 16-bit generation and even into the middle of the 32-bit generation, those old memories of the Master System would still stick out like something that just happened yesterday. They were always well-cherished, well-remembered.

Later down the line in the late '90s I began collecting. Naturally I started with platforms I fondly remembered from being a small child. The 2600 came first (and was the most easily accessible), and the second would be the Sega Master System. The games and accessories were dirt-cheap back then and I would eventually rack up quite a large collection of titles. I was able to relive some of my memories from a young age, and of course I discovered several classics I initially missed out on, many of which I didn't know exist. With that, here are some of the stand-out games on the platform, from my perspective. You may not agree with these entirely, but these are ones I have fond memories of for one reason or another:

Alex Kidd in Miracle World/Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars: These were two games I played frequently at my neighbor's house. They were both very different from one another, yet we as kids didn't think twice about this (likewise with Super Mario Bros. to Super Mario 2, Castlevania to Castlevania II, and Zelda to the Adventure of Link). I have especially fond memories of The Lost Stars, and I think this is mostly because it had very large, colorful visuals, very distinct stages, and strange, strange enemies and bosses. That and I think I was the only one of my friends that could finish it (this was the case with a lot of games back then). I still love to go back to this one especially, but regardless, both are excellent platformers in their own right and prove to be great Master System games.

Gangster Town: Now THIS is a light-gun shooter. This is another I played at my neighbor's house while very young. It was fast-paced with tons of action on-screen, and the bonus stages were great. I especially liked the brick-wall shooting sections where you had to find a key. Playing this game more recently, I have to say, this has to be one of THE greatest lightgun shooters up until Sega's own Virtua Cop in the mid '90s. The action is fast and frenetic, something very unlike most other non-arcade light gun shooters of the day. It holds up very, very well.

Time Soldiers: There was a campground that my family would drag me to on a regular basis, and the small arcade gameroom they had often had this cabinet. I fell in love with the game as it was just a blast to play. Everything was done so well, from the music, to the sounds, to the smooth visual style, to the awesome control with the rotary joysticks. As a kid in pre-internet times though, it was tough to find out what was available on home consoles, and naturally I wouldn't find out there was a SMS release until later on. By the time I did get to try it, I was of course a little disappointed, but thanks to my fond memories of the arcade game, I still enjoyed it. Despite the necessary cutbacks, I think it is still a solid port, and outside of the arcade game, it's essentially a SMS exclusive. The time travel mechanic gives it a slightly deeper feel than other games in the genre, and it definitely holds up as one of the better Ikari Warriors-style console games of the day, in my opinion.

Wonder Boy/Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap: The original Wonder Boy has always been a standout title to me and much like Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars especially, I have fond memories of it. The unique gameplay style, the large sprites and colorful visuals and the fun, addicting gameplay make it stand out. Naturally I would eventually discover the Adventure Island series and fall in love with that as well, but that is another story altogether! Anyways.. While collecting Master System games, I eventually discovered both SMS follow-ups--Monster Land and the Dragon's Trap. Monster Land was interesting for what it was, but seemed like a downgrade from the original. The Dragon's Trap, on the other hand, really stood out to me. Sure, it was still different, but I really enjoy this hybrid of action and adventure, and I certainly got hooked to it. Despite never completing it, I plunked a lot of time into it and made it quite far. The semi non-linear gameplay is great, and again, the large character sprites, interesting scenery and great soundtrack add well to the addicting find-items-and-defeat-bosses-to-unlock-other-areas gameplay style it has going for it. Definitely a must-have if you remotely enjoy games like Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and Ys III: Wanderers From Ys.

Fantasy Zone/Fantasy Zone II: Fantasy Zone is another unique SMS title (that I didn't find out until later was originally an arcade game) that sticks out easily, much like the Alex Kidd games, for its own specific quirks. I didn't get to play Fantasy Zone II until I began collecting for the system, but when I did I was naturally hooked thanks to it expanding and improving on the original's concept in just about every way. Both are still excellent games though, and Master System must-haves in my opinion!

So, what are some of your own memories? Do you have any personal favorites? If so, why? How about some interesting experiences or stories to share? Post a response below! :)

#2 BydoEmpire OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:37 PM

I love the Master System. I had an NES, and I was happy with it. I went over to a friend of a friend's house and played his Master System - Alex Kidd in Miracle World. That got me hooked and I started looking into the system and realized I wanted it!!! I bought the NES (and 7800) with my own money, so I didn't feel too bad about asking my parents for the SMS for my birthday.

I woke up, saw my birthday presents, and noticed none of them were console-sized. I opened a shirt box and inside was a little piece of paper that said "under the bathroom sink." I ran to the bathroom, opened the cabinet and there was a Master System in all its glory! Good stuff.

I got the SMS w/ Hang On/Safari Hunt and Afterburner, Of course I was up early, ran to the basement, hooked it up and started playing. My dad came down later (or maybe it was the evening or something), watched me play for a bit, and chatted. That was the only time since the family's Intellivision he ever talked to me about games, or watched me play a game, let alone play one with me.

I kept the NES and 7800, and I still got games for them occasionally, but the SMS got the most play time after that. Definitely my favorite 8-bitter of the era.

Random Memories:

Loved the pack ins, as well as Afterburner. Really solid titles to have with the system for a while.

I actually finished Miracle Warriors, with only one call to the helpline - that was to find the final dungeon, which was unmarked to you just had to know where to go.

Played a ton of Phantasy Star, but my friend owned it so I never finished until years later when I played through the whole thing on the GBA rerelease.

SMS Shinobi is one of the all-time great arcade ports. Looks amazing, plays great.

Penguin Land was a blast. Kind of an under-the-radar game, but I spent a ton of time with it. I've played it recently and it's freaking hard.

For some reason I got really hooked on Parlour Games as well. Not sure why I even bought it, but it was a blast. Maybe it was just something different...

I've said it many times - the Master System has the best array of light gun games of any console. Rescue Mission is brilliant, plus Rambo III, Gangster Town... even Safari Hunt is cool. Never played Missile Defense 3-D, but hey, a 3-D light gun game? It's gotta be at least a little cool...

There are too many great SMS games to go through here. About the only dud I can think of is Thunder Blade. I generally like the arcade ports on the SMS, but that game just didn't seem to come across well.

Edited by BydoEmpire, Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:39 PM.


#3 save2600 OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:43 PM

I'll always have a special place in my heart for the SMS. My brother, who is 2 years younger than me, first bought one around the time of its rollout. I don't know where the kid came up with all the money, but seemed he had a pretty good collection off the bat. We played the living snot out of Reggie Jackson Baseball, Great Wrestling, Great Golf (lots of other great titles I'm sure), Monopoly, R-Type, Gangster Town, some kinda boring vertical shoot 'em up I can't remember the name of off hand and Missile Defense. Yeah, he even had the 3D glasses and some of those credit card games like Ghost something or other. He even belonged to some Sega fan club where he'd get posters and promo literature about stuff coming out. Incredible little system hardware and marketing wise I thought and I loved the look of the boxes sitting on a shelf. Pretty slick. I also remember him having Psycho Fox, Captain Silver and Golden Axe Warrior. Wow, those were some pretty cool games.

The wrestling game always pissed me off though. Compared to whatever I was playing at the time (probably Nintendo... yeah, must have been), the gameplay totally sucked. I remember specifically, the SMS wrestling game had a delay of some kind when button mashing. It simply did not do what you needed it to do when you wanted. Whatever wrestling game I had for the NES, totally blew it away, gameplay wise. It got to the point where we simply stopped playing SMS Wrestling - it sucked that bad. lol

In later years, after I moved out in the late 80's, I acquired my own SMS and had a blast with Montezuma's Revenge, Rambo and Y's. One of the greatest RPG's ever. Early 90's, SMS games were to be found and on the cheap everywhere. Gurnee Mills outlet mall was new and the stores kicked ass. Sears outlet rocked (they even had Amiga stuff!) as well as Kay*Bee and maybe a music store that sold Sega stuff. Kay*Bee in the early to mid 90's was sooooo friggin' fun to shop at. All the greatest games for the SMS and Jaguar - dirt cheap. I remember seeing Sonic, Golden Axe Warrior, Psycho Fox, etc. for next to nothing. $10-$20. $30 for a SMS game, even though they had 'em, seemed really, really expensive at the time.

Kinda wish I still had a nice complete SMS still, but would probably just end up collecting dust at this point. Glad I have the memories though, 80's-90's were the best times for that kind of gaming and cart collecting IMO! :)

Edited by save2600, Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:49 PM.


#4 NE146 OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:49 PM

I had a Famicom and NES first, but then quickly bought an SMS since I wanted R-Type, but also after reading about Phantasy Star in EGM (or rather, it's incarnation in that day). It was definitely far and above anything I had experienced on the NES.

Anyway.. my SMS & NES stood by next to each other. The cool thing was always going to the stores to shop for games and not feeling limited. :lol:

#5 DemonoidTentacle OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 7:28 PM

Greatest experience on the SMS? Playing Phantasy Star. Flippin love that game.

#6 kgenthe OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 7:29 PM

Great thread! :thumbsup:

I didn't even know the Master System existed until I finally got access to the internet in 1998. What a trip!

Anyway, I finally secured a Master System and a handful of games from a friend in 2001 for $10. I was supposed to pay $20, but didn't quite have enough. He said $10 was fine and that was that. Sadly, the none of the game grabbed me at all and my Master System collected dust until 2009. That's right, I never really played the master system till 23 years after it's arrival on our shores.

The first title that finally hooked my is the excellent Psycho Fox. This little platformer completely changed my view of the Sega Master System. The colors are excellent, the graphics look nice and detailed, the controls are wonky, but in a good way, and the level design is generally quite nice. I played this for hours the day I received it and probably finished it the next day, on another marathon run. Such a great little exclusive title. Not only that, it's infinitely better the Kool Kid on the NES.

eBay can be a strange site. I bought a box of random crap on eBay for $21 shipped which included a Master System console, an NES console, some random controllers/cables for both, along with R-Type and Teddy Boy. I eventually cleaned both of the consoles and sold them both for a nice profit leaving me with 2 excellent games and a handful of cash.

R-Type is in my opinion, the best game on the system. In fact, i'd say it's the best 8-bit shmup of all time. It's that good. The graphics easily surpass anything I've ever seen from such primitive hardware, and the music is some of the best on the Master System. While most SMS games tend to have fairly primitive sound, especially when compared to the rival NES, R-Type sounds amazing. And that's without the added FM synthesizer hardware available on Japanese Master Systems.

Teddy Boy is a fun little game released on the Sega Card. One of the few Card games actually, which makes it even cooler. The game itself is oddly addicting, with the screen looping in every direction with the simple goal of killing everything on the screen. The game is tough as nails, but there is a cheat code to get around the limited continues. Everything about Teddy Boy is charming, and it remains one of my favorite SMS games.

A few other honorable mentions include Enduro Racer which seems more inspired by Excite Bike than it's arcade counterpart. But that's not a bad thing. This isometric racer is fun, challenging, and short. It's perfect for 10 minute bursts of gaming, and if you like doing time attacks, it satisfies that need as well. This isn't a standout title by any stretch, but one of my favorites none the less.

Lastly, I'll include Hang-On on my list. This is kind of a bad game, but after playing through it once for a written review, and a second time a year later for a video review, it's simplistic charm has finally won me over. It's crude and simple, but I don't care anymore. The game play is spot on, the physics are great, and it's just a lot of fun to play.

My knowledge of the Master System is still rather limited, and I have a backlog of titles waiting to be played (included Cloud Master and Wonder Boy) but over the last two years, the silly little wedge of black plastic has won me over.

#7 YAGRS OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 7:33 PM

I got my Master System for Christmas one year along with a couple of games (I believe Choplifter and Ghostbusters).

At the time, I was the only person in my town to have a Master System. It started a loyalty to Sega products that would last up to the release of the Saturn.

I have a lot of love for the SMS. Special memories include receiving Spellcaster, which began my love of RPGs. Yes, I realize that the game wasn't RPG-heavy, but it got me interested in the genre, which would lead me to play Phantasy Star. After that, I was hooked.

I sold my Master System in 1990 to help me buy a Genesis. I kept all of my games, though, and played them with the Power Base Converter.

I now have another Master System, which I've modified for composite output and FM sound (which I am now able to appreciate, thanks to a Master Everdrive). Though a lot of the games have not aged well, I still power it on now and then, if only to play through Rastan one more time.

#8 sheath OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:28 PM

The Master System was the first console I actually bought. I went to the specialty electronics shop back in 1988 intending to buy an NES, but walked out with a Master System. The Sega Scope 3D games were what actually sold me, secondarily to my favorite Arcade games being available. Wonder Boy, Quartet and After Burner were the games I walked away with that day. Zillion, Zillion 2 Triformation, Shinobi, R-Type, Golvellius Valley of Doom and others affirmed my decision until I bought an NES summer of 1989 and a Genesis that November.

I ended up selling my Master System and NES to get my TG16 in 1990. I regret doing that and selling my TG16 in 1992. I have since recollected all of them and the games I played back in the day. My Master System is the same model I originally owned with the worm maze game built in, but I have added the Yamaha FM module to it thanks to SMS Power.

Edited by sheath, Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:38 PM.


#9 zylon OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:51 PM

My faves were and always will be Hang-on/Safari Hunt. :love:

http://www.atariage....s-and-counting/

#10 DemonoidTentacle OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:11 PM

I also LOVE Sonic the Hedgehog for the SMS. I recon it's better than the Mega Drive / Genesis game.

#11 UberArcade OFFLINE  

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Posted Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:32 PM

I had a Master System before the NES and I thought it was awesome. I remember the games being expensive and I never had that many as a kid. I played the heck out of hang on / astro warrior that came with it. Rambo was good but really hard. Shinobi and Thunder Blade were excellent arcade ports. All time favorite would have to be Phantasy Star. I think I spent a whole summer playing that game. Finally beat it. Still my favorite 8 bit rpg. Final Fantasy sucks in comparison. :-)

#12 Crazy Climber OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:57 AM

Sometimes I am amazed I was a NES kid with all the history I had with the master system. Some random memories...

I actually played quite a bit of Sega when it came out, 2 of my neighbors/friends that I hung out with daily had Master systems and a fair amount of games. Also my cousin who was 9 years older than me, and at the time the coolest person in the world had a near complete SMS collection (which I now have sitting in my attic :)

I can go on and on about how cool the games were or how much fun I had but I will just mention a few of the odd moments that stand out...

I remember to this day my good friend/neighbor buying Shinobi the day it came out. It was later in the evening so he was going to have a sleep over with all of us neighborhood kids to play it. For some reason my Mom wouldn't let me go, it seriously almost brought me to tears. Yes, I was way to old to be that upset but I wanted to play it so bad. Of course the next day they were all sick of it and he didn't want to play it anymore so I didn't get to play it until much later, lamest night ever :(

I remember my Cousin bragging about how he scored a version of My Hero that was directly from Sega and was used for testing. I can still remember him showing it to me and my Mom back then and my Mom saying something like "that is pretty special" or some general comment like that. I now know that this is a prototype game. I asked him about it a few years ago (we recently started hanging out again after 20 years or so) and he has no idea what I am talking about. I am sure somewhere in his hoarders style garage he has a My Hero prototype, yeah, not a goldmine or anything but it drives me nuts that he has no idea where it is or even what I am talking about because I remember him showing it to me so long ago. Hope it turns up someday.

Out of my two neighbors/friends that owned SMS one was my age and the other was much younger. The younger kid ALWAYS bought the exact same games as the older one so there collections were near identical. The only game the younger one owned that the older one didn't was Rastan so about 95% of my memories of playing Sega at the younger kids house are Rastan memories. To this day when I hear the first level music it is like a time warp right back to that kids basement.

When the Genesis came out I bought a power base converter to play SMS games. My neighbor friend wanted NOTHING to do with SMS games anymore as he was strictly Genesis and I purchased almost his entire collection for just a few bucks each with the exception of Teddy Boy because "you could only get it in Japan and it was worth a small fortune" He told me his Dad had a connection and thats how he got it, he used to keep it in a trunk wrapped inside a towel to protect it - lol. I talked the younger guy into selling me Rastan for $5 and later that day his Dad came over and made me give it back because it was half owned by his younger brother, I reluctantly gave it back.

SMS was the first system I "retro" collected for. When everyone was hellbent on Genesis I was scoring SMS games cheap. I owned every game except Power strike since I had no idea how to get it (the dark ages before the internet) Around my senior year in high school I was far more interested in girls than video games and sold them all to a local game store that bought anything. Can't remember how much they gave me but I remember feeling totally hosed.

Not proud of this but one of the last things I needed to complete my SMS collection back in the day was a box for Wonderboy 3 the Dragons trap. The local game store would not sell me just the box so I stole it since it was out on display, I remember feeling guilty about it. It was the same store that bought all the games from me for pennies years later though so I guess they got me back in the end - lol.

I remember a truckstop on the way to my Grandpa's house in DeKalb IL had sega games which was unusual. The only thing I remember is I bought a Dead Milkmen cassette single and they wanted $60 for Penguin Land. I eventually scored one for $5 years later I thought I got a crazy good deal.

I basically only used my Gamegear back in the day to play SMS games, I really did not like the gamegear, not sure why but seems I was not the only one - lol. I really should give it a try now and see what I think.

Well, thats it for mow, if I think of more I'll be back :)

#13 Austin OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:36 AM

Awesome responses, guys! It's great to see others with fond and interesting memories of this system as well. :)

#14 Crazy Climber OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:40 AM

View PostAustin, on Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:36 AM, said:

Awesome responses, guys! It's great to see others with fond and interesting memories of this system as well. :)
What no +1's? :D

#15 SlowCoder OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:32 AM

Until recently, never had a SMS. But I did (and still do) have the Game Gear with the SMS module. I played R-Type and Ghouls and Ghosts (my favorites), and to a lesser extent a few other games.

Now that I have my SMS console, I bring it out periodically. But I generally just play my SMS ROMs via the multicart on my Genesis. I also very recently got the SMS adapter for my Genesis 1, which admit looks very cool indeed, when in use.

#16 so_tough! OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:15 AM

The master system was the first console me and my brother had. I first played one on Holiday, it just so happened that my brothers friend was staying in the same hotel as us and brought his ms. I remember playing Golden axe and Wonderboy. Really great times. The hotel also had a game room, which had a pool table (I LOVE pool!!) and an arcade game. I think it might have been Mercs by Capcom.

Anyway, not along after this we got a Mastersystem 2. To this day Mastersystem is still my sisters favourite console, we all had a lot of fun playing it. Unfortunately I don't own one right now. Maybe one day.

Edited by so_tough!, Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:16 AM.


#17 Bloodreign OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:40 PM

A cousin of mine back in the day had an SMS, she was the only person I knew who had one, another cousin had one for a short time, but got rid of it in favor of the Genesis. These days I now own one with 20 games, including the amazing Bubble Bobble. The NES version was good, but the SMS version was so much more colorful and truer to the arcade game, it's still astounding.

#18 HuckleCat OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:32 PM

I was always surprised back then that the SMS was not more popular, although I also had no idea at the time what Nintendo was up to with the 3rd party devs, and what the "Nintendo Seal of Quality" really meant.

One game that really impressed me then was the totally-faithful-to-the-computer SMS version of Ultima 4. The NES Ultima games were just flat out stupid, but the SMS one got it completely right. Easily the best console port of any Ultima game.

#19 Austin OFFLINE  

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Posted Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:41 PM

View PostCrazy Climber, on Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:40 AM, said:

View PostAustin, on Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:36 AM, said:

Awesome responses, guys! It's great to see others with fond and interesting memories of this system as well. :)
What no +1's? :D

lol, sure thing man.. I'll pass out as many as I can.. :)

#20 DickNixonArisen OFFLINE  

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Posted Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:37 AM

Lessee.. The real classics.

Phantasy Star - of course; although I couldn't hack those featureless dungeons until the internet was born.
R-Type - excellent version; LOVE fighting the big ship.
Golvellius - once you got used to it, was a great game
Spy Hunter - nice version
Phantasy Zone tears of opa opa - got close to the SHMUP/RPG hybrid I am still waiting for (so did sigma star saga and guardian legend, but ain't none of 'em done it right yet)


and some not-amazing titles that I really enjoyed for some reason; maybe their off-beat half-translated quality? A lot of these titles were sort of like sidescrolling RPG's, and they weren't easy to figure out compared to NES games.

Lord of the Sword - Very clunky mechanics and frictives, but interesting structure. I'm a sucker for a generic fantasy setting.
Kenseiden - Decent graphics, good challenge.
Spell Caster - Strange one.
Rastan - This one was always really cool to me as a kid and I really wanted to get it.
Zillion - hard to figure out! Loved the light-gun tie-in and puzzlish feel.
Miracle Warriors - although it was a sub-standard if amusingly off-kilter RPG; the (second) most weapon-breakiest game I've ever seen. Weapons break so often that a travelling blacksmith is eventually available as a kind of item that you carry. (The first breakiest is Fragile Dreams farewell ruins of the moon for WII, incidentally, where you can't hit a ghost with a golf club more than a few times before the .. i don't know, you'd think a golf club could stand up to a ghost pretty well. Ectoplasmic corrosion, I guess.) The last dungeon in miracle warriors was invisible on the map and VERY hard to find; a key tactic in this game was to replenish your nuts.
The Ninja - Not a great title, but I've been enjoying it for more than a decade, so it must have something to it.
Double Dragon - some people hate this version; most people do. I like it quite a bit.

#21 UberArcade OFFLINE  

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Posted Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:47 AM

On those old school map less dungeons always go right. It works. :)

I agree with the Ninja. It is so hard that I always want to play it just one more time.

Alien Syndrome was a cool game.

The SMS is also one of the few places you can play a good port of Rastan and Vigilante.

#22 Spoon OFFLINE  

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Posted Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:52 AM

So I'm sitting around my house on a lazy summer morning playing Popeye on my C64 when the phone rings. It's my best friend who asks if I want to go over his house. I ask my mom who tells me it's too close to lunch and I have some chores to do. So I tell him I can't go over. All he says is, "I got a Sega Master System".

"I'll be right over!"

So with my mother fuming out the ears, I hop on my bike and race over. Not only did he get a Sega Master System, but he also got Tag Team Wrestling, Choplifter, and Great Baseball. We played all day pausing only for the occasional bathroom break, raid of his dad's library of Penthouse, or random prank phone call. I arrived home to find myself in hot water, but it was well worth it. And to this day Choplifter for the SMS is one of my favorite games. Was quite disappointed when I bought my copy for the 7800.

#23 BydoEmpire OFFLINE  

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Posted Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:47 PM

I made it to the final boss in Wonder Boy III and tried a couple times to beat him, but kept failing. I was getting pretty ticked, so I turned the machine off, got up, and went out for a walk around the block for half an hour. I came home, turned the game on and beat him easily. Lesson learned - sometimes you need to take a step back and relax.

I haven't played it in ages, but I spent a lot of time with Ghost House. Definitely my favorite card game back then, I'm curious to see if I'd still like it as much today.

I forgot about Rastan, too, another unbelievable arcade port. Right up there with Shinobi for me. I bought the sequel for the Genesis and it's one of those games you just know is going to be terrible but for some reason you still have to buy it. Ever have those? Yup, pretty bad.

#24 FujiSkunk OFFLINE  

FujiSkunk

    River Patroller

  • 4,769 posts
  • Behold the Fuji!
  • Location:Planet Houston

Posted Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:45 PM

My first exposure to the SMS system was when my mother's then-boyfriend had one. He had Hang On, Fantasy Zone, Zillion II and Double Dragon. I played all four to death, and eventually he gave me the system. There is a longer story there, but very little of it has anything to do with the console. The short version is, the relationship didn't last, but the Sega did.

Fast forward about a decade. After getting laid off from my first "real" job and during a six-month period of unemployment, I finally beat Fantasy Zone. I think in retrospect I was a little disappointment in how the game has less to do with skill and more to do with knowing which weapons to buy at which points of time. Even so, it felt like a great accomplishment finishing the game... even if it didn't pay much.

I've since added many games to the SMS collection, including some of the European and Brazilian exclusives. I still get a kick out of how games like Mortal Kombat actually got an official 8-bit console release, thanks to the Master System's longevity.

Edited by FujiSkunk, Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:47 PM.


#25 Austin OFFLINE  

Austin

    Quadrunner

  • 5,577 posts
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:09 PM

"You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day"




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