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There is a version of this vertical shmup for the Famicom, and remarkably, this version for the more outdated system may be superior graphically.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.