Being that I was primarily a Nintendo kid during the consoles wars of the 90's, and giving the lack of presence the Master System had in North America, I never really gave this console much of a chance. But I've come to a realization. There are some great games on the consoles. There are games that play very well, and games that look very good (some even better than the NES). But almost every game sounds horrible! The Master System sound chip is closer to a Gameboy, and I just hate how shrill it is! The sounds that come out of this thing just seem to irritate me. Which is a shame because it seems like there's some awesome exclusives that are worth playing.
Yes, I know about the FM sound module.
For those that are unaware of the SMS FM sound...
The Sega Master System had an FM sound module that, as far as I know, was only available in Japan. It's pretty much a hardware sound expansion kit that adds MUCH better sounding audio capabilities to the console.
Tim Worthington (same dude that made the NESRGB kit) has made a FM sound module that can be added to a SMS console. Link also includes a list of games that support FM sound, as well links to a few games that hackers added FM sound to!
Stone Age Gamer carries a product called the PowerBase Mini FM. Basically, it's an adapter that will allow you to play SMS carts on a Genesis with FM sound support. Link also includes a list of games that support FM sound.
Another way to experience FM sound (without the legit hardware) is with a Mega Everdrive X7. This is a flash cart for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive. It can play SMS games on a Genesis and supports FM sound.
The problem is that not all games support FM sound. There's some great games that you will just have to suffer with the horrible SMS sound chip if you want to play them. I just discovered Castle of Illusion Staring Mickey Mouse for the Sega Master System. It looks like a great 8-bit platformer. The problem is it sounds so horrible that I don't even want to play it!
There are some games that don't have FM sound and don't sound too bad at all. Another game I recently discovered is Master of Darkness, which is a sort of Castlevania clone. It doesn't sound bad at all.
The SMS's sound module (TI SN76489) is a very simple PSG unit. Same one that was in the TI-994 (it's first appearance). The chip is venerable, certainly, but limited. I'm not surprised Sega went with it because at the time they were focused on cheap and good enough. But it's so noticeably lacking in bass. The chip is just so shrill most of the time. There are some composers that managed to do some good stuff with it, but that's more on the artistry of the composers than any capabilities of the chip itself.
I'm as big a sega fanboy as any. Even I have to admit that the Sega Master System PSG music generally sounds bad. There are a few exceptions to that rule, sure, (Double Dragon comes to mind) but MOST of those PSG tunes just don't sound good to me. I tend to play SMS games on mute, and listen to some music that I like.
Those FM sound modifications seem interesting to me, but I haven't invested in any of them. Why not? Because they can only support the games that offer FM sound (and the handful of fan-made hacks). I just don't see the cost/benefit justification. I like playing the FM sound on emulators though.
samsonlonghair wrote:Those FM sound modifications seem interesting to me, but I haven't invested in any of them. Why not? Because they can only support the games that offer FM sound (and the handful of fan-made hacks). I just don't see the cost/benefit justification. I like playing the FM sound on emulators though.
I don't actually own any SMS hardware. My only means to play is an Everdrive on a Sega Genesis. That said, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that the Mega Everdrive X7 supports FM sound!
marurun wrote:There are some composers that managed to do some good stuff with it, but that's more on the artistry of the composers than any capabilities of the chip itself.
So, I guess since everyone agrees, it might be fun to all make suggestions...
What are some good sounding (non-FM) Master System games?
Since I'm still very new to the console, I only know of one so far. Master of Darkness (as mentioned in the first post). But I'm very interested to learn of more.
marurun wrote:There are some composers that managed to do some good stuff with it, but that's more on the artistry of the composers than any capabilities of the chip itself.
So, I guess since everyone agrees, it might be fun to all make suggestions...
What are some good sounding (non-FM) Master System games?
Since I'm still very new to the console, I only know of one so far. Master of Darkness (as mentioned in the first post). But I'm very interested to learn of more.
I'm not an expert in video game music composition, but I can try to come up with what sounds good.
I mentioned Double Dragon earlier. Let me stop and think about what makes the PSG music in Double Dragon sound good... It has a quick tempo, and it's polyphonic. You can hear multiple "voices" simultaneously. There is a bass line playing underneath the melody. A SMS game with poor music like Alex Kidd in Miracle World plays music in a slow tempo with only a single monophonic "voice" for music. Alex Kidd simply plays one note at a time - a simple melody with no harmony. I guess the other sound channels must have been reserved for sound effects. The slow tempo just accentuates the poor quality of the monophonic sound by giving your ears the time to soak in every note.
So, if I try to think of SMS music which is polyphonic with a quick tempo... I have to think of R-Type. That's got to be my favorite music on SMS.
Other SMS games with a quick tempo and multiple "voice" channels: Astro Warrior Wonder Boy III The Dragons Trap
SMS games with multiple "voice" channels that work even with a slow tempo Golvellius Zillion
PresidentLeever wrote:Except that's all wrong: It's all polyphonic, the leads are double harmony at times such as on the title screen, in the main theme, in the underwater theme and in the bike theme, and some tracks like the main theme are faster than the level 1 theme and title theme in Double Dragon (can't give you the exact bpm off the top of my head but should be obvious if you just drum along to these tracks).
Look man, I told you straight up that I'm not an expert in video game music composition. Since I'm not an expert like you are, tell me this: what's worse, monophonic music, or supposedly polyphonic music that sounds monophonic?
I don't doubt you're right. I believe you when you say that it's polyphonic. I'm saying that it does absolutely nothing to take advantage of multiple voices.
To draw an analogy, it's like a stereo recording with the exact same audio in the left and right channels. What a waste of the format!
Edit: I guess a closer analogy would be a midi keyboard. Imagine a musician buys a really nice midi keyboard with a million simultaneous voices, and then he just plays one finger. That's what Alex Kidd in Miracle World sounds like to me. It reminds me of a child playing one finger keyboard. If you say that it's polyphonic, then I believe you because you have no reason to lie about it. It darn sure doesn't sound polyphonic just like that keyboard player playing one finger.
