Official Sega Master System Thread

[digitalpress]

We've done this for a few other systems (example: Atari 2600), an "official" thread for all fans of the system to chime in on.

I'd like everyone who has ever played a Sega Master System to share their thoughts here.

Sega's first US attempt would start a fan's paradise of fabulous consoles and at the same time cause complete frustration to that same fanbase. As with other Sega systems to come, on paper the console was better than its competition but for various reasons simply did not "catch on" or missed other opportunities that caused the competition to prevail. In this case, the competition was the venerable Nintendo Entertainment System. There was really no competition at all in the US though Sega's Master System certainly had a fine library of games.

So tell me:

- What is your favorite game on this system?
- What are some of your other favorites?
- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?
- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
- How many games do you have for it?
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Go time! Have fun with this, but by all means, share your thoughts!

NOTE: to jog your memory, here's our complete list of games:
http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/listing.cmf?system=11

[autobotracing]

I just got a boxed master system !


Its the sega scope 3-d set but it didnt have the glasses .
Good thing I already have a set , even though 1 side of them is broken..
I only payed $13 at goodwill in jacksonville.



I always liked the 3d glasses and thought that was the coolest when I got my first set years ago.


My fave game would have to be outrun.

The other thing I thought was cool was the built in snail game! I use to play that game allot also.

[anagrama]

You mean this one hasn't been done before?! Well it's about time, dammit

I've been a serious SMS-junkie for a few years now, and am currently 3 games shy of the complete European collection (280 total). Got all but one of the 6 US-exclusives, a few TecToy releases and a Mark III with a dozen Japanese games aswell (plus another dozen SG1000 titles). Around 300 altogether.

While I never had one 'back in the day' (got my first SMS2 around '95), it was the 8-bit console I spent the most time with, playing on my cousins and friends systems. I must admit it never really 'blew me away' at the time, since I was mainly an Amiga gamer and used to a higher standard of sound & graphics. Spent many a happy afternoon with Alex Kidd, Sonic & Astro Warrior though
Since rediscovering the machine, I've really grown to love the simple 8-bit style graphical style, and the SMS does this better than just about any other system.

It was probably the first system I contemplated collecting all the games for, and had been buying up anything in the wild that I didn't have, before moving chiefly to eBay to fill in the gaps a couple of years back.


Favourite game: probably Fantasy Zone, although there's several close runners up. Fantasy Zone II is also excellent, but I haven't spent as much time with it as the first one. FZ epitomises the short, intense & fun style of game I'm most fond of, and it's always ready to have a quick go on while I'm waiting for Windoze to load up or something.

Other games currently occupying my time: I've been playing the excellent Pit Pot on/off for the last few months, and am gradually making progress through the later levels. It's a beautiful little game, simple but rewarding, and for one of the earlier releases (on My Card in Japan) it really grabs you.
Galactic Protector has also been getting plenty of attention since I got it a couple of weeks back - it's a Mark III-only game since it uses the paddle controller, and is another deceptively simple one - you're OpaOpa, orbiting around a planet and attepting to stop the various space debris that comes hurtling towards it. Nice simple & colourful graphics, good fun, and a steep challenge with just 1-player. Still haven't made it past the 3rd Round yet.

Spent most of last week playing Jurassic Park since it was the sms.com Game of the Week, and will be playing Batman Returns this week in the same capacity.

btw, anyone who was mourning the loss of segamastersystem.com last week will probably be happy to hear that it's in the process of being passed over to Andy Allison (owner of excellent newcomer sega8bit.com), and will hopefully amalgamate with his site to become a truly useful resource for all sorts of SMS-related info again in the near future, after a couple of years of intermittent (at best) updates. The sms.com forums are still very active aswell, with a pretty lively community. Come and have a look @ http://shinobiman.proboards15.com !

Oh and of course, and it's simply in a different league to that ugly grey breezeblock

[Ernster]

- What is your favorite game on this system

Not that Ive played many SMS games, but I like Alex "the" Kidd best

- What are some of your other favorites?
N/A

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of
N/A
- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?
N/A
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I remember my mate Andrew had a SMS, only person I knew with one, and I loved playing Alex "the" Kidd

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Neve have and never will, but I did try to buy one ages ago, but couldnt find one so I got a Mega Drive instead. I also wanna try those cool 3d glasses.

- How many games do you have for it?
N/A

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
well even though its called Alex Kidd, I refuse to call it that, I will always called it Alex the Kid, thats what everyone calls it anywyay.
I also hate the SMS scene how they always bag the NES, when the NES has a million times more better games than SMS :P

[Lord Contaminous]

So tell me:

- What is your favorite game on this system?
- What are some of your other favorites?
- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?
- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
- How many games do you have for it?
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

- As much as it kicks my ass alot, Phantasy Star
- Astro Warrior, Shinobi, Kenseiden, Maze Hunter 3-D, Spellcaster, Rescue Mission, Wanted, Rambo 2/3, Y's: VO, Cyborg Hunter, Wonderboy III: Dragon's Trap, Zillion 1/2
- The first time I recall seeing SMS in action was the demo setup at a Roses Dept. store. Several guys were playing Rambo: FBP2. But I was too young back then to notice graphics and other stuff like that.
- Not in its heyday, but way back in summer 1993, my dad got a SMS set with 10 games from a TRU sidewalk clearance sale. They were phasing out their stuff.
-10 games for the next 7 years, but I found www.alexkidd.com while being new to the internet, and that's when I started SMS collecting. Currently, I now have 59 games.
- Well, lol the best I can say is I knew someone that had Y's: Vanished Omens, and didn't like it cause he thought it was too hard for him. Then when I told him I beat the game, it got him motivated.

[anagrama]

I also hate the SMS scene how they always bag the NES, when the NES has a million times more better games than SMS :P

It's a contractual obligation that comes with the terrain, I'm afraid. :P

[slip81]

I never owned a SMS untill about 8 years ago, and did't start collecting for it till maybe a year ago. I was always a bigger Sega fan than Nintendo so I think that's part of what drew me to the SMS. It has a great library of games, and they are fairly easy to find cheap and complete.

Of all the games I've played so far I'd have to say Rocky impressed me the most in the graphics department, plus it's also damn fun. Other faves are Phantasy Star, Altered Beast, Crash Test Dummies and the Zillion series.

What else draws me to the system is it's design and the coll accesories it has like the sports pad and 3D glasses (that I don't own yet unfortuneately).

Right now I only have 15 games, but that's mainly cause Ionly buy CIB ones. Currently I'm working on complete U.S and U.K collections, and I have a far fun way to go

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Favorite game on this system: Wonder Boy 3 or Phantasy Star

What are some of your other favorites: Only played it via rom, but Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of: No, not really

Which games had the best graphics? The best sound: Phantasy star

Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction: I remember going into a closing toy store ( i'm thinking Child's World) when I was about 4 or 5 and seeing Alex Kidd: in Miracle World. For years I rattle my brain trying to figure out what that game was.

Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now: No I didn't. Although I know a couple of people who did.

How many games do you have for it: Only sixteen so far.):

[slip81]

I also hate the SMS scene how they always bag the NES, when the NES has a million times more better games than SMS :P

Well it's really a matter of opinion. The SMS has a lot of good games the NES doesn't and vice versa. I think most people though agree that the SMS has the better graphics of the two consoles though.

[jslithy]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Tie: Phantasy Star and Ys Vanished Omens

- What are some of your other favorites?

Power Strike, Psycho Fox, Sonic, Wonderboy, Alex Kidd, Ultima IV.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?

Power Strike 2 is faster and more intense than I ever thought an 8-bit shooter could be.

- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?

I think Phantasy Star has the best graphics and sound. The music is memorable and nobody forgets the first time they see the scrolling first-person dungeons.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I don't think I can even remember the first time I saw it in action.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

"Back in the day," I played Master System games through the Power Base Converter. In case you've never seen it, it's a device you plug into the Genesis that allows you to play Master System games. It's the closest I ever came to owning a Master System.

- How many games do you have for it?

I think I've only got about 5 games still for it.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I had about 5 friends who had the Master System back in the 80s. It seemed like all of them got it from parents who had some salesperson tell them it was more powerful than the NES, and therefore a better system. These kids were seriously bummed because they couldn't play Mario and Zelda. The funny things was, I went over their houses all the time to play great games like Psycho Fox, Zillion, Phantasy Star and Wonderboy, because I was bored to death with my Nintendo.

[imanerd0011]

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

The first time I saw the SMS was a local TRU when I was around 6. It was set up so you could play it, and the game was Altered Beast. It (A.B) had just come out, and at the time I had a NES, and I had no idea what this thing was, but I thought the graphics were top notch!

[Gapporin]

Awesome. Finally, a thread deciated to one of my favorite systems:

- What is your favorite game on this system?

It's either Phantasy Star or Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Choplifter, Double Dragon, Gangster Town, Lord Of The Sword, Monopoly, My Hero (I know, I know), Outrun, Penguin Land, Psycho Fox and Zillion.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?

Wonder Boy III made awesome work of the SMS's sound capabilites. Also, playing games like Outrun and Space Harrier almost made it seem like you were actually playing the big brother's arcade version inside of a console.

- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?

Best Graphics: Phantasy Star
Best Sound: Wonder Boy III.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I remember as far back as I can, playing this system at about age 6 because my parents had gotten it for us kids. I remember playing some Choplifter, Gangster Town, Wonder Boy III and Zillion. I really didn't know there was anything "better" out there, because I never knew about the NES back then.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Yes and yes.

- How many games do you have for it?

About 15-16.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

One time when I was over at a friend's house a long time ago, he owned a Master System, but he also owned a Genesis as well. Just for kicks, we decided to plug a Genesis controller into the SMS, and to our surprise, it worked! We also did that with a Atari 2600. Talk about a discovery!

[NeoZeedeater]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Wonder Boy III. Back then I would have said Phantasy Star or Shinobi but today I think this holds up the best. I would go as far as to say it's the best game of the 8-bit era.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Besides the ones already mentioned, Kenseiden is brilliant and underrated. Fantasy Zone series, Kung Fu Kid, Thunder Blade

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?

Later stuff like Power Strike 2 and Sonic Chaos really show off the graphics.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I saw Safari Hunt early in the system's life. I was blown away by the graphics and the gameplay. I was already a huge Duck Hunt fan and now I needed to own a Sega too.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Yes and yes.

- How many games do you have for it?

Currently about 50. I have owned more different ones over the years.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Not really except that I think the system is truly underrated and deserves its place and respect alongside the NES. I owned and loved both systems back then and while the SMS didn't have the NES' Japanese third-party support, Sega's own games were often among the best of the time.

[blissfulnoise]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Kenseiden really impressed me very recently. Excellent graphics, very challenging, and some interesting gameplay elements (multiple sword styles).

- What are some of your other favorites?

Phantasy Star (obviously), Fantasy Zone (series), Wanted, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (short but sweet) among others.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?

Phantasy Star was superior to Final Fantasy in nearly every way. It was an amazing show piece on the system. Again, Kenseiden was extremely impressive graphically. Power Strike also holds its own against the shooters of the age. I think it can be said in the same breath as R-Type and The Guardian Legend. And Montezuma's Revenge is still a lot of fun, and a great port of the famous addcitive game.

- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?

lol, Kenseiden again. Aurally, Phantasy Star is up there with the best, as are some of the Alex Kidd series tunes.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Hang-On / Safari Hunt. My cousins owned a SMS (we had an NES). I thought it was cool that the games came built in. We played a lot of Fantasy Zone too. Thought it was a lot cooler than Abadox.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

No, not "back in the day", but I'm 3 games short of a complete US library now. So I guess that's a yes for the present.

- How many games do you have for it?

123. Vast majority complete, all boxed.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Other than the fun of playing the game over at our cousins’ house, not really. I had a friend around 1994 that had one too. We'd play a lot of The Ninja since it may have the radest name of all time, but we'd only play it for a little while before turning on the C64 for real retro fun.

Since I didn't grow up with the SMS, my amusing anecdote factor is quite low. Oh, I can say the light gun was much cooler than the NES kapang-er.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Wow, even I am surprised this thread hasn't started earlier...but thank you Joe!

- What is your favorite game on this system?
It would have to be Space Harrier

- What are some of your other favorites?
Shinobi, Alex the Kidd The Lost Star, Alex the Kidd in Shinobi World, Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Outrun, R-Type, Astro Warrior, Gauntlet, Wonderboy, Castle of Illusion, Rambo: The First Blood, Alien Syndrome, Spy Vs. Spy, Rescue Mission.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?
Yes, I feel Space Harrier or any of the 3D games could not have been done on NES by far during that time.


- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?
R-Type, Space Harrier, Renegade. Music and Sound Effect wise...Ghouls N' Ghosts, Space Harrier

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
First time I saw it on action was on a commerical I barely remember, but Hang On was the first game I saw in action. My reaction was "Hey that looks pretty fun I wonder what it's for"


- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Oh yeah, sure did, it was the first game console I have ever owned.
Now, I just recently picked one up and it's been 17 years since I have seen one in person....and I tell ya, it's been worth the wait.

- How many games do you have for it?
Back then, about 12...
Now, I just started, so 7 titles and still growing

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
The first day I got the system was in August of 1987. Even before I knew the word "Nintendo"...there was Sega. Normally we were a Commodore 64 family, but I think my parents wanted me to have a game machine that allowed no interrupts whenever they would use the Commodore 64, since it was mainly used for business purposes back then.

So I was 6 years old at the time, I had no idea this was coming, we hooked it up and I was excited as ever...."NO MORE SHARING STUFF WITH MY BROTHER! WOOT!" is what I probably had running in my mind lol

I remember filling out the warranty card and their was a free game offer with it....had the choice of three games to pick from...one being Ganster Town....Double Dragon and some flying game....could have been F-16...I'm not too sure.....but I picked Double Dragon. It showed up 2 weeks later...and I played that game to death...that's what really made the SMS a more enjoyable experience to be embedded into my childhood memories.

Ever since then, the SMS really started it all for me and just holds a unique position in the history of games in my life.....as the first true rival of Nintendo...

[Raccoon Lad]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Fantasy Zone II, Great, Great game, and I really wouldn't even consider shooters to be my favorite genre.

- What are some of your other favorites?
About half the system's library, seriously. The SMS has a VERY high percentage of awesome games. Asterix is great, and Enduro Racer kicks much ass as well.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?
Out Run 3-D (in 3-D) is a sight to behold. Phantasy Star's dungeons are quite impressive too.

- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?
Graphics: Wonder Boy in Monster World is a pretty poor port gameplay-wise, but the graphics are stunning! Alot of the Disney titles have awesome art (Mickey/Donald series) and have you seen the backgrounds in Aladdin? The buildings shift in perspective!!, quite an impressive effect, indeed.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
I think I saw a Kiosk in a sears around '87, the bouncing ball lyrics thing on the Ghostbusters game was showing. I didn't know what this mighty bohemoth was when I saw it, but I KNEW it was cool.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
I think I got a used system lot (with about 10 games) for $20 in about 1992. I have about half a dozen SMS's now.

- How many games do you have for it?
Well, I have the COMPLETE US collection, and ALOT of imports. An educated guess would put my collection at around 180 complete games.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
not really, too busy playing R-type to have any interesting stories.

[LAGO]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Out of the few i've played, it's going to have to be Miracle Warriors. I had this RPG when I was around 10 or 11 and it kept killing me faster than anything. On a side note it seems that hasn't changed.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Shinobi, Rocky, Monopoly, Missile Defense 3-D, and I used to love great basketball.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?
Not really but I had no concept of technological limits at the time.

- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?
I used to think Rocky was top notch.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
I was pretty young, remember playing Missile Defense 3-D with the glasses. Wow. I really thought they where coming at me. Didn't help matters that my uncle told me the only thing protecting me from the missiles where the 3-d glasses.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
yup and yup

- How many games do you have for it?
roughly 60 i'm working for a complete US set.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
when I first started collecting for the system, about a year ago, I had picked up a couple sms games at a pwan shop, I believe they where Rescue Mission and Gangster Town. I was testing them out and I put Rescue Mission in the sms and Hang-on and Safari hunt came up on the screen. I double checked the cart and tried it again. First thing ran through my mind was somebody put the wrong label on this cart! I swear if I hadn't accidentally turned the SMS on without a game in it I would have never knew it had a game built in.

[DynastyLawyer]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Tough call. I'd probably have to say Fantasy Zone: The Maze.

- What are some of your other favorites?

It's tired in terms of being called a classic by people who don't even know why, but Phantasy Star. Wonderboy III is a game with the dubious honor of it's creative idea not even attempted to be emulated on surperior consoles. It likewise gave birth to a Tarantino-style narrative structure of fighting the last boss of the previous game first. Double Dragon made the one on NES look laughable, and Alex Kidd in High Tech World was interesting, probably the Shenmue of it's time.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?

Not really. But then, this was a time before "Next Generation Hardware" was really an issue.

- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?

Depends. Most games looked good for 8-bit games. Phantasy Star probably would get both votes, in my opinion. Comparing it to Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior really shows how ahead of the pack that one was for it's Genre.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Why, Christmas Day, of my 8th Christmas, or something of that sort. My father got me it and eight games. Needless to say, I was pleased.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I did, but no longer. My mother caught wind of the fact that the Genesis had the converter that was as good as the system itself. Thus, giving it to charity would be a good idea, she said...

- How many games do you have for it?

Lucky number 13, plus some more that I got recently but don't consider "elite."

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

About a thousand. 2 player Phantasy Zone and Double Dragon pretty much raised me. :-)

[blue lander]

Favorite game:
Phantasy Star. Probably the greatest of the original Japanese style RPGs, and still stands up well today. I was pretty excited to find a boxed copy of it at a pawn shop.

Other favorites:
Aleste 1 and 2, also known as Power Strike 1 and 2. Those are both good on the Game Gear, too. Fantastic shooters from Compile. I prefer the MSX2 Aleste 2, though.
Psycho Fox. I think this is one of the best platformers of all time. It's hard to put my finger on what I like about it, but everything about it works perfectly. It's better than the semi-sequel Decap Attack on the Genesis.
Zillion's great fun, although I was dissapointed with it at first. I heard it described as "Metroid on the SMS". While it's a good game, it doesn't stand up to Metroid in my opinion. Writing down all those passwords was annoying, too.
Wonderboy III is great, the best in the series. Another great action/RPG.
Ys gets an honorable mention, too. I love Ys, and the SMS version is decent, but it doesn't hold up compared to the Turbografx 16 version.
R-Type falls in the same category. Good port, but not as good as later versions on the PC Engine and Playstation. That version had an added secret level, though.

- Did any game exceed what you thought the system was capable of?
Not really. All SMS games seem to be of more or less the same caliber. I bet some of the later Europe-only titles were technologically impressive, though.

- Which games had the best graphics? The best sound?
I guess I'd have to say Phantasy Star in both categories. It has the only memorable SMS soundtrack I can think of right now. Ys comes in second. Ys has a fantastic soundtrack too, but it doesn't sound so good on the SMS.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
Hmm, good question. The first time I saw it in action was probably when I bought it. I think the first game I got was it was Double Dragon, when I first bought a Power Base Converter in the mid 90's. I was impressed that it looked better than the NES version. I was also impressed it could take card games as well as cartridges.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
I never even heard of the Sega Master System back in the day. When I was a kid, there was no video game system other than the NES. I knew of older systems like the Intellivision and Atari 2600, but never heard of competition to the NES. I recall being vaguely aware of the Turbografx 16, but I never heard of the SMS.
Now I have an SMS 1 and 2, plus a Power Base Converter and an adapter to play SMS games on the Game Gear.

- How many games do you have for it?
Not many. About 25, 10 boxed.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
Not really. Except that back in the mid/late 90's, I found a SMS to Game Gear adapter for something like 2 dollars at a thrift store. I didn't have a Game Gear at the time, they were still too expensive, but I bought it anyways and stowed it away somewhere. Later when I did buy a Game Gear, I couldn't find the adapter! I looked for that thing for years, and I only finally found it a few weeks ago.

[Sothy]

Good fun system. Some very good examples of horendous butt ugly box artwork.