Master System vs NES

[bangtango]

I've noticed this as well. I'm not sure if it's a result of the Master System's hardware or sloppy programming, but it shows up in a lot of SMS games. Psycho Fox, for example, has terrible controls. And unremarkable level design. In fact, it's an awful game. Why do people like it again?

Why do people like Psycho Fox? This quote from the DP Guide Entry here on the web site might shed some light.

"One of the last games released in the US......"

What about all the later day stuff released for SMS in Brazil, Europe or elsewhere?

Somehow I doubt most (casual) Master System owners of the late 80's and early 90's were importing lots of games that were never released in the US. A lot of owners simply gave up on the system when Sega did.

Psycho Fox came out at a time when SMS owners in the US were starving for games, especially a platformer. With such a slow stream of games for the system in the US, naturally anything that did come out was going to get overrated by people who wanted something new to play.

[j_factor]

That doesn't explain why people still like Psycho Fox, why people who got into SMS after the fact tend to like it, or why European people also seem to enjoy the game. Personally, I like it. The controls take some getting used to, but they're not bad, they're just "different"; they're that way on purpose.

But since we're crapping on well-liked games, I must say, Mega Man is a terrible game.

[PresidentLeever]

Not as terrible as Metroid...

[zektor]

I had a NES and games of the era at the same time I purchased Psycho Fox on the SMS. While I was playing many titles on the NES at the time, I remember really enjoying PF on the SMS. It was just a good game in my honest opinion.

[tom]

There was a post on AA about the huge amount of rubbish/terrible games on the NES, and one NES kid's answer was, 'yes that's true, back in the days we always got some games from Blockbusters for the NES, tried them out, but after a few minutes they were put on the table waiting to be returned and we got back to the NES games we already owned, eg SMB, Zelda, Mega Man...'

[krooper13]

Psycho Fox's contorls are intentional, if you think about it having to build up speed and slow down actualy makes more sense and I would think would be harder to programme than using a character that moves at either one or two speeds. As for "A" titles there are loads of games that didn't make it in America that are frankly awesome;
Asterix and the Secret Mission
Power Strike II
Smurfs 2 is pretty fun, but only if you can find it!
Fantastic Dizzy
Cosmic Spacehead
Air Rescue
Sagaia, the opening level looks better than most 16 bit games!
Battle Out Run
Bonanza Bros.
Buggy Run
Bubble Bobble
It also has a fair few versions of Megadrive games that are great fun like Mean Bean Machine, Sonic Spinball, Sonic 2 is a completly different game, Streets of Rage I and II, Wonderboy in Monster World and Micro Machines to name but a few.

[PresidentLeever]

Psycho Fox's contorls are intentional, if you think about it having to build up speed and slow down actualy makes more sense

Not really, anyone can (in real life) jump at least a couple of meters without having to build up any speed at all. In Psycho Fox you could barely jump the characters distance from a standing position so you had to keep going backwards which broke the flow of the game. And you couldn't just keep running and jumping after having built up full speed because there were many leaps of faith.

[krooper13]

I think that aspect is fairly realistic too, long jumpers take a huge run up and can leap much further than anyone could from standing.

[ccovell]

Videogames aren't realistic!!!!

What kind of physics model would you rather play a platformer with, that of Mario from Donkey Kong, or that of Mario from SMB1/2/3...?

[CRV]

What kind of physics model would you rather play a platformer with, that of Mario from Donkey Kong, or that of Mario from SMB1/2/3...?

At least you can still change directions in mid-air in Psycho Fox, unlike Alf.

Psycho Fox automatically cannot be awful since Alf exists.

[Zap!]

It wasn't just Master System games that stores weren't allowed to sell in competition with Nintendo, it was Atari games too, so much so that Atari ended up suing Nintendo over it.

I've heard this but have never seen it with my own eyes. Back in '87, '88, '89, etc. I shopped in Toys R' Us mostly, and a little in Kay Bee and Crazy Eddie. All three stores carried Nintendo, Sega, and Atari games. Did Nintendo just threaten small stores, since they would be shooting themselves in the foot by doing it to Toys R' Us?

[Zap!]

Wow, I thought Miracle Warriors was great. But either way, any system will look bad if you randomly pluck 5 mediocre games from its library. SMS had some great stuff, too. Don't forget games like Phantasy Star, Master of Darkness, Ninja Gaiden (better than the NES games IMO), Cyborg Hunter, Zillion, etc. For better or for worse, the SMS tended to have more sophisticated offerings compared to NES. Compare Miracle World to Super Mario Bros. I personally think Mario is a slightly better game overall just in terms of fun, but Miracle World is definitely a more "advanced" game in many ways.

When I first got Miracle Warriors, I thought it was the best RPG ever (before Phantasy Star came out, of course). Totally under-rated.

Ninja Gaiden was a SMS? You wouldn't be talking about The Ninja, would you?

I think AKIMW is far superior to SMB, but I am in the minority, as judging from a poll I put up several months ago.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Ninja Gaiden was released on Master System and Game Gear. Not ports of the NES or arcade, but unique entries.

[Greg2600]

I've heard this but have never seen it with my own eyes. Back in '87, '88, '89, etc. I shopped in Toys R' Us mostly, and a little in Kay Bee and Crazy Eddie. All three stores carried Nintendo, Sega, and Atari games. Did Nintendo just threaten small stores, since they would be shooting themselves in the foot by doing it to Toys R' Us?
I don't recall that either, not to mention that is easily illegal outside of an exclusivity contract, which I think could still be sued against. However, smaller stores, like in my area, were Service Merchandise, Consumers, and the video game rental stores, had smaller shelf space and probably wanted almost all Nintendo, because that's what sold. Nintendo did limit the quantity of what each could sell. One of the reasons Kay-Bee wouldn't sign up with them at first. People were still buying 2600 games well into 1987 (I was one of them). By 1988, the NES was the only system you "had" to buy. It was often the only one rental places had, and most stores.

The bottom line is the Master System still did pretty good in the USA back then, and it did what SEGA wanted it to, established them as a reputable console maker, and gave them the pipeline through which the Genesis was delivered. Genesis had the right marketing, too, which SEGA wisely didn't spend a ton on with SMS.

[Ruudos]

Ninja Gaiden was released on Master System and Game Gear. Not ports of the NES or arcade, but unique entries.


Great game too.