Sega Master System Games

[8-Bit Archeology]

I have recently expanded my SMS collection from 5 to 20 games. I know its not much but collecting so many different systems I am happy with it so far. Anyhow I am really getting into this console for quick relaxed gaming. The games that drew my attention big time are

Wonder Boy III
Psycho Fox
Ghost House
Fantasy Zone
Penguin Land

Do you have any awesome SMS games you remember or have that pop out? I like hearing about key games and must haves. From now on I am keeping my eye out for this console.

[Tanooki]

Had a SMS up until a year ago, just never could make time. Golden axe warrior if you like Zelda knockoffs that improve in some Ways on the old classic is good. Ninja gaiden, strider, many of the sega arcade conversions, an Alex Kidd in miracle world and shinobi world are both good. Phantasy Star is a must have RPG.

If you are ok buying pal stuff since it all works, you have lots of great choices from streets of rage 1&2, multiple sonic games, world of illusion(Mickey sequel), and master of darkness a castlevania clone.

[Rickstilwell1]

If Alex Kidd in Miracle World seems to control too sloppily for you I recommend instead Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars. Something about Miracle World just seemed to slippery when it came to the physics and jumping/landing. It felt like Mario was on the moon or something.

[The Adventurer]

I picked up Rastan at a Flea Market a couple of weeks ago and I hear its pretty good as far as action platformers go. Unfortunately I can't play it because I don't have a Master System (or Power Base Converter) yet.

[fergojisan]

I second Rastan and Golden Axe Warrior; add Choplifter, R-Type and Y's 3 from me.

[Alianger]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World*, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World
Ashura/Secret Commando/Rambo: First Blood Part 2
Asterix
Bubble Bobble/Final Bubble Bobble*
Castle of Illusion*, Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse*, Legend of Illusion
Cyborg Hunter
Deep Duck Trouble
Enduro Racer
Fantasy Zone, Fantasy Zone II*
Golvellius: Valley of Doom*
Golden Axe Warrior
Jurassic Park*
Kenseiden*
Lucky Dime Caper
Machine Gun Joe
Montezuma's Revenge
Ninja Gaiden*
Phantasy Star
Power Strike, Power Strike II*
Psychic World
Psycho Fox
Renegade
Road Rash
R-Type*
Solomon no Kagi (Solomon's Key)*
Sonic the Hedgehog*, Sonic Chaos
Shinobi*
Vampire: Master of Darkness
Wimbledon II
Wonder Boy, Wonder Boy in Monster Land/Super Wonder Boy: Monster World, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap/Monster World II*
Zillion*, Zillion II: Tri Formation

* My favourites.

Good Top 100s:
http://www.smstributes.co.uk/view_page.asp?articleid=69
http://www.retro-sanctuary.com/TOP%20100%20Master%20System%20GAMES%20page%201.htm l

[Alpha2099]

Haven't played too many SMS games, but Phantasy Star is a must. Probably one of the most popular games for the console, and of course the game that launched a big franchise. Granted, it may not hold up as well as it successors, so keep that in mind if you get it and play.

Also, if you're a fan of such things, you might want to pick up Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. To my knowledge, it's the only console release of any Ultima game that actually comes closest to replicating the PC version, and it's pretty well-liked.

[bigbacon]

castle of illusion is great. It is sort of like Sega's version of Duck tales or recue rangers.
Govellius is awesome
Phantasy star is a great RPG
Golden Axe warrior is good (though tough to me)
My Hero is a great little game.
I oddly like aztek warrior
Fantasy Zone
Spellcaster

i can't remember anymore right now that I really liked.

depending on where you live, some of the games people are mentioning are Euro releases only so keep that in mind, makes them a tiny bit harder to find.

[8-Bit Archeology]

Thanks for all the suggestions. rastan and phantasy star look good and i need bubble bobble and ultima. I had no idea they had games on this console.

[Tanooki]

That's because a good deal of the solid multi-platform third party titles were kept out of the US due to Nintendo's nazi tactics and control freak contracts of the 80s. Few of the games came to the US, a few slipped by though like Rampage for instance (superior to the NES too.) Much did though arrive in the UK/PAL region and thankfully they're not totally expensive to get.

I would recommend being careful with Brazilian only releases as they had games coming out for many years into the SNES/Genesis lifespan, but having come from only that region buying them today gets very competitive and very expensive. Stuff like Battletoads, Dynamite Headdy, the third Mickey ...of Illusion title, Street Fighter 2 of all things, and a few others came to it. Some of the games could cost you over the $100 mark just for a game, total crazy rates with manuals and boxes.

[The Adventurer]

Is the SMS region free?

[retroman]

Is the SMS region free?

Most PAL games do work. So yes.

[Alpha2099]

Is the SMS region free?
It is indeed. It also plays SG-1000 games, which were all released in markets outside of the U.S., so region free is a must.

[Koa Zo]

Is the SMS region free?

Sega 8-bit system compatibility is some of the most convoluted that I know of.

afaik there is no adapter to play Japanese games on North American or PAL consoles.
Some late release PAL games will not display on a NTSC system, but that is just a handful of games.

I have no idea what Alpha2099 is talking about regarding SG-1000 games. They will not play directly on US Master System.

I personally use a Japanese Master System with a convertor to allow US Master System games.
And for SG-1000 games I use an SG-1000 II console since the color palettes will display incorrectly on a Mark III and Master System. All too often people say the color issue doesn't matter - sure you can play the game, but why would you want to play a game with all the wrong colors? as well as the fact that a couple games are made stupidly difficult by enemies which then blend into the backgrounds.

[Tupin]

Wouldn't a Dina 2-in-1 be best for SG1000 games?

[theclaw]

Is the SMS region free?

No. That perception stems from lack of interest in Japan, Korea, or SG-1000 games.
Then again it goes both ways. Their consoles can't normally fit our games, giving them an even smaller library.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Is the SMS region free?

Yes but no.

Purely talking about the hardware, all Master System games worldwide use the same hardware regardless of region, and so yes, all games run on the same hardware and thus are region free in that sense.

However, like the Famicom and NES, the Japanese Mark III and Master System have different cartridge sizes meaning they won't physically interface with each other. There are pin adapters to get around this issue, but truth be told there isn't even a single Japan-only Master System game I can think of that would warrant doing this.

Master System games are region free across NTSC and PAL, but a very small handful of PAL-only titles will not display properly on an NTSC Master System such as The Jungle Book. The among of games that have this issue make up something like 2% of the entire library, and so this can largely be ignored.

[SparTonberry]

The other problem is the BIOS issue.
Since the western SMS supported both cards and carts, it has a BIOS that detects which port to boot from, but checking for a header within the ROMs.
The Mark III only had a cart port (requiring an adapter cart to play cards), so it did not need a BIOS to figure out which to boot (and it wanted support for the SG-1000). (yes, there is a Japanese Master System that does support both out of the box, but it had to use a different method to detect if a cart was inserted while maintaining compatibility with older games)
So Japanese games usually don't have a valid header. Thus, even with an adapter the BIOS will usually not detect that a Japanese cart is even inserted.
It is possible to use an adapter to play a western cart on a Japanese console, but not a Japanese cart on a western console unless a replacement BIOS is installed (which of course requires some skills to do without breaking the console).

[Koa Zo]

yes, there is a Japanese Master System that does support both out of the box, but it had to use a different method to detect if a cart was inserted while maintaining compatibility with older games

I have both a Mark III and JPN Master System, and unless my memory fails me, both display incorrect color palettes with SG-1000 games.

[Neb6]

I was particularly impressed with:

Astro Warrior
Bubble Bobble
Rastan
Virtua Fighter Animation (no, it isn't true 3D -- but it's fun to play)
Wonder Boy

[devilman]

I have recently expanded my SMS collection from 5 to 20 games. I know its not much but collecting so many different systems I am happy with it so far. Anyhow I am really getting into this console for quick relaxed gaming. The games that drew my attention big time are

Wonder Boy III
Psycho Fox
Ghost House
Fantasy Zone
Penguin Land

Do you have any awesome SMS games you remember or have that pop out? I like hearing about key games and must haves. From now on I am keeping my eye out for this console.

If you like the original Fantasy Zone, the sequel is definitely worth picking up. It's more of the same, but with added polish. You've already named my two favourites for the system in Wonder Boy III and Psycho Fox. I'd add Golvellius and California Games too.

[8-Bit Archeology]

If you like the original Fantasy Zone, the sequel is definitely worth picking up. It's more of the same, but with added polish. You've already named my two favourites for the system in Wonder Boy III and Psycho Fox. I'd add Golvellius and California Games too.

Those where in my collection expansion. Havent played Golvellius yet but i did like cali games.

[parallaxscroll]

Got the complete Master System SegaScope-3D package with Light Phaser, 2 controll pads and Missile Defense 3D at the start of 1989.

Yet, for the life of me I cannot remember which one I had. One came with Missile Defense 3D as a cartridge, the other had it built into the system.



http://alexkidd.com/images/segascope_box_front.jpg

http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad227/killerkobra/6809l0g_20.jpg

Favorite SMS games are:

Phantasy Star
Wonder Boy III The Dragon's Trap
R-Type
Choplifter
Shinobi
Double Dragon
Missile Defense 3D
Zaxxon 3D
Poseidon Wars 3D
Blade Eagle 3D
Rambo III
Golden Axe Warrior
Zillion
Golvellius: The Valley of Doom
Bomber Raid
Rastan
Kenseiden
Golden Axe
Black Belt
Maze Hunter 3D
Outrun 3D
Rocky
Astro Warrior
Space Harrier 3D

oh and just for the hell of it, Cyborg Hunter

[Doommaster1994]

I only have 3 Master System games (California Games, Hang-On/Safari Hunt, Shinobi). Out of the three, I'd definitely recommend Shinobi. A good game, but a hard SOB.

[jammajup]

Being from the UK I do like the Sms console and have some fond memeories,I am sure i have posted this somewhere else or something similar but anyway the games that impressed me personally are-

Alex Kidd In Miracle World
Ghouls`n Ghosts (the only version of the game I know of that has a shop!)
Master Of Darkness
R-Type
Power Strike / Aleste
Outrun
James Pond II:Robocod
Robocop Vs Terminator#
Enduro Racer
Super Space Invaders
New Zealand Story
Xenon II
Ghost House
World Grand Prix
Montezuma`s Revenge

[CRV]

Master System games are region free across NTSC and PAL, but a very small handful of PAL-only titles will not display properly on an NTSC Master System such as The Jungle Book. The among of games that have this issue make up something like 2% of the entire library, and so this can largely be ignored.

Even then, there are a number of games that are running too fast in NTSC (but are still playable) when compared to their Game Gear counterparts.