Best/Worst of the SG-1000

[Snapple]

I know most people haven't played much if any SG-1000 games, but I've now played about 90% of the small library (about 60 games), so I thought I'd give my thoughts to anyone who might in the future want to play some games on Sega's first gaming system.

The games aren't the easiest to track down since they're all Japanese, but they're very easily emulated, since any emulator that can play SMS games can play SG-1000 games.

I'd put the SG-1000 on par, technically, with the Atari 5200. They came out around the same time, and graphically, some of the games are similar. So it's mostly arcadey titles. You know what I mean.


Good SG-1000 games, in no particular order:

-Girl's Garden

This was the first SG-1000 I played, and it's still very fun. It's a very charming arcade-like title, and it also happens to be the first game ever designed by Sonic Team's founder, Yuji Naka. You basically play a girl who collects flowers for her boyfriend in a garden. In each round, you have to collect 10 flowers, while avoiding obstacles and bears. Difficulty scales up quickly, but I've gotten to about level 10 or so. I also wrote a short FAQ for this game over on GameFAQs a while ago.

-The Castle

If I said this was the prequel to Castlequest for the NES, some people I think would be turned off by it. Because as I understand it, Castlequest has a lot of very negative hype around it. But, for an SG-1000 game, it has great graphics. It is the most expansive game for the system, with a lot of exploration and platforming. Maybe not for everyone, but I think it's quite fun.

-Elevator Action

You know what Elevator Action is. I think everyone has played this game, and the SG-1000 port is pretty good. Maybe slightly worse graphically than the NES version, but just as fun.

-Gulkave

One of several shmups for the system. This game is graphically the most impressive thing on the system by far. You might even say it's downright beautiful for games of its day. It even has paralax scrolling. It also is more fast-paced than other shmups for the system, and it has plenty of stuff on the screen to shoot. It's a horizontal shmup. The one downside is that I find it REALLY hard.

-Exerion

There is a version of this vertical shmup for the Famicom, and remarkably, this version for the more outdated system may be superior graphically. Although, it's nowhere near as good looking as Gulkave. It's a vertical shmup, and while it's not as furious as Gulkave or good-looking, it's not as unfairly hard as Gulkave either. So take your pick on best shmup.

-Drol

I don't think there's a point to this game other than shooting bad guys, but maybe I just missed the great objective. It's still fun though, because it's one of the few action games for the system that isn't hard, and the little robot guy you control is cute. The controls are very responsible, too.

-Flicky

If you've played Sonic 3D Blast, you probably remember what Flickies are. They're little birdies. This is a very simple game where you play an adult Flicky, and you hop around platforms to collect baby flickies and bring them back to home base. You have to avoid cats, and it's a cute, mildly addictive title. I only had two problems with it. First, the backgrounds are drab looking, and secondly, I kept hitting my head on the ceiling when I tried to jump to a higher platform.

Honorable mentions (also decent):
Doki Doki Penguin Land
Golgo 13
Star Jacker
Hustle Chumy
Bomb Jack
Dragon Wang (not a typo)


Worst games. Don't touch with a 10-foot pole:

-Ninja Princess

I REALLY wanted to like this game. It's basically a "Pocky and Rocky" style shooter, and I really like Pocky and Rocky. Plus, it had a female hero, and we needed more of them in the 1980s. Unfortunately, your character moves SO SLOWLY, that it's impossible to dodge anything. This game is borderline completely unplayable. And speaking of borderline...

-Borderline

This is a very crappy game where you drive a slow car and shoot things. Don't let that make you think it's like Spy Hunter. It's not. The controls are sluggish, the game is ugly, and it's not fun.

-All the sports games

The sports games aren't very good. Some of them suck more than others. Champion Tennis is probably the worst one. And Champion Baseball makes "Baseball" for the Gameboy look like MLB 06 The Show.

-N-Sub

Probably short for Nuclear Sub. It's not a hard game, but this game plays so slowly, you will probably fall asleep while playing it.

-James Bond

Really lame game with ancient graphics and ugly, repetitive levels. You don't even get to run around and act like Bond. It's just a vehicle-based game.

-Lode Runner

I love many Lode Runner ports, but not this one. This is one of the ugliest games on the system, if not the ugliest. It also lacks good level design.

-The "Clone" games

Pacar and Sinbad Mystery are Pac-Man clones. Congo Bongo is a Donkey Kong clone. All three of these games blow big time, although Congo Bongo for the SG-1000 looks a lot better than the Atari 5200 version.


There are a lot of other games that I think fall somewhere in the middle of good and bad, like the several racing games for the system.

I'm not passing judgment on the couple of games where I couldn't figure out what the Hell to do, like Pop Flamer, and the archaic RPG called "Black Onyx."

I'll also briefly comment on Dragon Wang, since if you're like me, the title alone makes people curious. It's a very cool concept. It's like Kung-Fu, with platforming, and more variety of enemies. It had the potential to be the very best game on the system. But it is insanely hard (Hehe, hard wang). The few times I've played it, I go for about two minutes, then I make it to the first mini-boss guy, and he slaughters me. If anyone can master this game, you'll have a blast, I'm sure. I can't play it though.

Hopefully, one or two people find this information helpful. Even if you don't find it helpful, perhaps you'll reply anyway just to make me feel good. :)

[anagrama]

I've got about half the library, and tend to agree with you on most of the above - of the games I have, Girl's Garden, Flicky & The Castle are certainly the pick of the bunch. Flicky is a lot tougher than the MD port though, thanks to the jumping controls you mention.

Star Force is another quality shooter, and Shinnyushain TooruKun (a port of the Highschool Graffiti Mikie coin-op) is pretty decent too once you get to grips with it.
I've not played it, but The Black Onyx is meant to be good - it was the last SG game, dating from '87 (I think) and the graphics look pretty hot considering the system's capabilities.

Of those I have, Pop Flamer, Sega Flipper, Pachinko II and most of the sports games are the ones that failed to impress, but most of those can be excused thanks to the limitations of the era. At least Champion Boxing & Wrestling offer a slightly different approach with menu-based move system.

[CRV]

- The Castle
The Castle and Castlequest are basically the same game (not sequels/prequels), I believe

- Gulkave, Championship Lode Runner, Borderline
All brought to you by Compile (I like Borderline, BTW)

- Ninja Princess
Don't write off this game completely. The arcade version's pretty good and it got a male-centric update on the SMS (The Ninja)

- James Bond 007
Also released on the Colecovision (maybe MSX1?), but the stages are in a different order

- Dragon Wang
Prequel to Kung Fu Kid on the SMS

The SG port of Zoom 909 is pretty good and is probably the best port of the game on any system (though I guess it still doesn't have everything from the arcade game). And you might want to try Champion Billiards (decent pool game from Compile similar to NES Lunar Pool).

[Snapple]

I have not played Shinnyushain TooruKun or Champion Boxing. Those are two of the about ten or so games I haven't played for the system.

I'll keep an eye out for the other port of Ninja Princess, too.

I called The Castle a prequel, and maybe that's not the right terminology, but it's not exactly the same as Castlequest. Of this I am sure. They have mostly the same mechanics. They have the 100-room dungeon and all that. But, the room layout is different. The rooms don't look the same. Plus, in The Castle, the hero guy doesn't have a dinky little sword like in Castlequest, and he doesn't have 50 lives. So perhaps you can call it a redesign of the same game instead of a prequel/sequel deal, but they're not exactly the same.


EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot. For Wonderboy fans, there's also a Wonderboy game on the system. It's rather "eh," but maybe it's worth checking out if you're a WB fan and are curious.

[fishsandwich]

Isn't Congo Bongo for the SG-1000 straight 2-D? I know the 5200 version is also 2-D but it has got that funky isometric perspective that makes it LOOK a bit 3-D (like Zaxxon.) I like the SG-1000 version better playability-wise but the 5200 looks much more like the arcade.

[NeoZeedeater]

Girl's Garden is probably my favourite game on the system.

The remake of H.E.R.O. is really good. After playing all the versions again I prefer the Atari and Coleco versions for the speed and feel(The C64 port bugs me now) but the SG-1000 version has the best graphics and a cool soundtrack that reminds me of Quartet. Someone forgot to tell Sega that the "H" stands for "Helicopter" as they made the guy without a propeller.

I actually like the SG-1000 version of Ninja Princess although I prefer the arcade and SMS versions.

[vintagegamecrazy]

The SG is comparable to the Colecovision not the 5200, it has the same chip as the CV and graphically superior to the 5200.

I have played many of the games in the library, some good but most are bad.

Ones I reccomend.

Hero
Galaga
Exerion
Pachinko II
Sinbad Mistery (it's a decent game it just has some clunky controls)
Star Jacker (some of the best Shmup music I've heard)

ones to avoid.

Pacar
Pitfall II
pop Flamer
Orguss
Safari Hunt
Congo Bongo
there are more but I haven't played them in a while.

I have to get my console working so I can play them on something other than an emulator.

[Snapple]

Ah, alrighty then. I'm not exactly an expert on systems released before the NES, so if you say it's closer to the Colecovision than the 5200, I believe it.

I really couldn't stand Pachinko II, but that might just be a matter of taste. I don't understand the appeal of that type of game.

[CRV]

Ah, alrighty then. I'm not exactly an expert on systems released before the NES, so if you say it's closer to the Colecovision than the 5200, I believe it.

ColecoVision, SG-1000, and the MSX1 all basically have the same hardware.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colecovision

"The ColecoVision contains the same CPU and graphics chip as the MSX1 and Sega SG-1000/SC-3000. It also shares a sound chip with the Sega machines, making them identical in hardware capabilities. The MSX contains a different sound chip that is very similar in capabilities, the General Instruments AY-3-8910. For this reason it proved very easy to port games between the three systems."

[Ed Oscuro]

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot. For Wonderboy fans, there's also a Wonderboy game on the system. It's rather "eh," but maybe it's worth checking out if you're a WB fan and are curious.
Almost snagged it. There's a lot of hype around it, naturally, so whenever it appears on eBay it's likely to sell for a good bit. Think $100 or so.

HERO, on the system, is apparently better than the VCS version. It looks pretty good, in my estimation.

ZOOM 909, aka Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, is a decent arcade port. It's in the tradition of Space Harrier. Not much else to say about it ;)

I'll have to check out Gulkave. Thanks for the picks.

[CRV]

Almost snagged it. There's a lot of hype around it, naturally, so whenever it appears on eBay it's likely to sell for a good bit. Think $100 or so.

It's definitely worse than the SMS version (though the music may actually edge it out).

[anagrama]

Almost snagged it. There's a lot of hype around it, naturally, so whenever it appears on eBay it's likely to sell for a good bit. Think $100 or so.

That's a bit of an over-estimate - last couple of boxed ones I've seen have been more like $60-$70.

[Ed Oscuro]

Almost snagged it. There's a lot of hype around it, naturally, so whenever it appears on eBay it's likely to sell for a good bit. Think $100 or so.

That's a bit of an over-estimate - last couple of boxed ones I've seen have been more like $60-$70.
That's more reasonable. I don't recall if this one had a nice flipcase or a worn one. It's a game I'm keeping an eye out for. :)

[Raccoon Lad]

Of all the versions of Chack'n Pop I've played (Arcade, Famicom, SG-1000), the SG-1000 version is the only good one.

I come back to this game time and time again.

I don't understand why I love it so... but it is cool playing the forerunner to Bubble Bobble.

[Snapple]

I was intrigued by Chack'n Pop, but I couldn't get the hang of it. That, or I'm missing some common technique. I needed many tries to beat the first level, and then I couldn't beat the second one. :/

It looks nice, at least.

[idrougge]

I also vote for Gulkave, one of Compile's few horizontal shooters. Could that be Randar's first appearance?

Has anyone tried the Othello Mulltivision exclusive, Space mountain? Seems like it could compete with Zoom 909. The Othello MV also had Q-bert.
Another Othello title is Space armour, with Xevious-like gameplay. Both Space mountain and Space armour are described as "rare", even in Othello Multivision terms(!).

http://www.ngy1.1st.ne.jp/~momochi/untiku_c2.htm

[vintagegamecrazy]

Are those Multivision games compatible with the SG? I'm not aware of those and i wrote the master list for the DB, I am curious as to what they are because I could add them to my list for another update.

[NeoZeedeater]

Could that be Randar's first appearance?
Maybe but Guardic dates from the same year and he appears in that game too. I don't know which came first but I'm curious.

[idrougge]

Are those Multivision games compatible with the SG? I'm not aware of those and i wrote the master list for the DB, I am curious as to what they are because I could add them to my list for another update.

Unless they require the controller setup of the MV. Neither of the Space games seems to have been dumped (L@@K R@R€!!!), so it's difficult to tell.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Could any of you give me a list of those MV exclusive games? I would really appreciate any info and details on those games.

[Jorpho]

The SG port of Zoom 909 is pretty good and is probably the best port of the game on any system (though I guess it still doesn't have everything from the arcade game).

Even better than the Colecovision or ADAM version? I recall rumors that Coleco developed its ports of the game in-house, whereas Sega was responsible for the more sub-par entries on other systems. Odd that it didn't come out for the Master System in the US; it was available for almost every other system in the end.

Also, Drol was released for the C64 by Broderbund, and is fondly remembered by many. Good ol' Broderbund!

[CRV]

Even better than the Colecovision or ADAM version?

Well, I guess I shouldn't say that as I haven't given them a fair play (I don't think the CV version worked right when I was into CV emulation).

The SG-1000/MSX1 version lacks the pylons and the trench isn't quite as impressive-looking, but it does have a new overhead section that's somewhat similar to Time Pilot. Overall, it does look nicer (IMO) and it has a nice musical score from Katsuhiro Hayashi (Gain Ground, Super Hang-On).

[Snapple]

The overhead area is HARD. I was okay with the Space Harrier shooting goodness, but when I got to that grid area, I gameovered pretty quickly. I think I might enjoy the other versions of the game better if they don't have that part.

[rbudrick]

Castlequest was known as Castle Excellent in Japan, indicating it was the better, or "excellent" version of The Castle. I believe The Castle also came out for PC88 and MSX, though I think the PC88 one may be identical to the NES one (it may actually be called Castle Excellent...I forget).

It would be cool to see a map and walk though of The Castle...there isn't jack for info out there on the game that I could find.

-Rob

[Raccoon Lad]

I've got the OMV Guzzler cart, and I can confirm it works on an SG-1000.

The trick to Chack'n POP is to try to time your bomb's explosion with the enemy movement.

and SMSPower has a map for the Castle IIRC.
*Edit* Kind of hard to find , but yes, there is a map: http://www.smspower.org/misc/maps/TheCastle.png

[idrougge]

The SG-1000/MSX1 version lacks the pylons and the trench isn't quite as impressive-looking, but it does have a new overhead section that's somewhat similar to Time Pilot. Overall, it does look nicer (IMO) and it has a nice musical score from Katsuhiro Hayashi (Gain Ground, Super Hang-On).

Where did you get that piece of info? It isn't mentioned on GMCL.

[Pete Rittwage]

Are you comparing "Zoom 909" for the SG-1000 against the ColecoVision "Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom"?

I think that's what the game changed into. The SG-1000 Zoom game is a little more primitive graphically, but as you said has the nice music. I don't see an overhead display or anything, though.

And it still doesn't work in emulation, I don't think. Either the game does something funny or all the dumps are bad. :)

-

[Snapple]

Zoom 909 works fine on my emulator. I use Kega Lazarus for SMS/SG-1000.

It has overhead parts... not the whole game, just part of it. And as I said before, I think the overhead portions are pretty hard compared to the normal trench stuff.

[CRV]

Where did you get that piece of info? It isn't mentioned on GMCL.

I got it straight from the source, his own website:
http://www.iris.dti.ne.jp/~haya-c/funkykh/index.html

Other SG-1000/SC-3000 games he did:

Uranai Angel Cuty
Girl's Garden
Zaxxon
Zoom 909


Zoom 909 works fine on my emulator. I use Kega Lazarus for SMS/SG-1000.

I think he was referring to the CV version.

[Pete Rittwage]

Yes, ColecoVision Buck Rogers doens't emulate properly.

[Jorpho]

How so? I was playing that not so long ago without any problems, though I forget which emulator I was using. (Probably ColEm.)

[Snapple]

I bet there's an emulator that runs it. Some games are problematic for certain emulators, but but necessarily all emulators.

[rbudrick]

and SMSPower has a map for the Castle IIRC.
*Edit* Kind of hard to find , but yes, there is a map: http://www.smspower.org/misc/maps/TheCastle.png

Yep, The Castle's map is definitely different than Castlequest's. Thanks, RL!

-Rob

[Ed Oscuro]

On the subject of Zoom 909 versus Buck Rogers...

Buck Rogers has the annoying whine of the arcade game (faithful, I guess), and the screen's bigger, but the frame rate is less. I didn't see any pylons in the three levels of it I played (I got up to the mountain range, anyway).

The SG-1000 game has a much smaller playfield but seemed to do everything better - music, fuel capsules to collect, and it does have obstacles, but here they're just blank sections of wall instead of pylons.

The SG-1000 version's got some nice cover art, too (the enemy battleship in the middle reminds me of an Xbox, heh).

[CRV]

I didn't see any pylons in the three levels of it I played (I got up to the mountain range, anyway).

The ADAM version has them.

http://www.classicgaming.com/rotw/buckrogers/


The SG-1000 game has a much smaller playfield but seemed to do everything better - music, fuel capsules to collect, and it does have obstacles, but here they're just blank sections of wall instead of pylons.

I was just playing the arcade version (MAME doesn't mention any problems, but it seems too fast) and it, too, has walls in the trenches.

On a side note, I referred to the SG-1000 version before as the SG-1000/MSX1 version. There are actually two MSX1 versions. One is "Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom," which is more in line with some of the other console/computer ports, and then there is "Zoom 909," which is exactly the same as the SG-1000 version.

[Ed Oscuro]

Whoa, that's almost too much Zoom 909 to handle. I'll definitely be looking into that.

Side note - does anybody know if the original arcade version of Zoom 909 is emulated properly in MAME? The color palette seems wrong (maybe a hasty palette alteration), but it looks right in Buck Rogers.

[idrougge]

Could that be Randar's first appearance?
Maybe but Guardic dates from the same year and he appears in that game too. I don't know which came first but I'm curious.

In Diskstation #0, it says that he first appeared in Madofukigaisha no Swing-kun, usually known just as "Swing". Apparently, he was an enemy in that game, and was turned into a bonus first in Final Justice.

[alexkidd2000]

Gulkave sure looks alot like Transbot to me.

Also, the SG1000 games sure look alot better then most ColecoVision games. Is it because the Japs are better game makers? Also the sound seems to kill ColecoVision.

[NeoZeedeater]

Also, the SG1000 games sure look alot better then most ColecoVision games. Is it because the Japs are better game makers?
Keep in mind a lot SG-1000 games were made after the death of the ColecoVision. I don't think the full potential of the CV was ever tapped.

[NeoZeedeater]

Also, the SG1000 games sure look alot better then most ColecoVision games. Is it because the Japs are better game makers?
Keep in mind a lot SG-1000 games were made after the death of the ColecoVision. I don't think the full potential of the CV was ever tapped.

[Ed Oscuro]

Also, the SG1000 games sure look alot better then most ColecoVision games. Is it because the Japs are better game makers?
Keep in mind a lot SG-1000 games were made after the death of the ColecoVision. I don't think the full potential of the CV was ever tapped.
It also should be mentioned that the SG-1000 was trying to survive against the Famicom, while the Colecovision was considered pretty much top-of-the-line. No need to put more effort (and money) into programming the games when you've got a strong position.

[idrougge]

Also, the SG1000 games sure look alot better then most ColecoVision games. Is it because the Japs are better game makers?
Keep in mind a lot SG-1000 games were made after the death of the ColecoVision. I don't think the full potential of the CV was ever tapped.

Last year, a Canadian man was porting Gulkave to the Colecovision. His webpage has since disappeared, though.

[Snapple]

Well, obviously not *all* of the SG-1000 games look and sound superior to the ColecoVision. Some of them, like Lode Runner which comes to mind, look like crap.

It's very interesting when you see how The Castle looks exactly the same as Castlequest for the NES except with a different layout, yet there's such a huge disparity in many of the other games, like NES Lode Runner vs. SG-1000 Lode Runner.

Gulkave is definitely the best LOOKING game on the system, that's for sure.