The Master System Appreciation Thread

[IrishNinja]

ehh before anyone knocks the SMS library, i like to point out that with rare exceptions (parker bros, activision?, some complie/taito stuff i wanna say was reprogrammed) remember that sega and its sweatshops were basically running that show solo, its kinda impressive they put out as much as they did.

[Snatch1414]

Kinda drudging this topic up from the dead but it's still on this very same page:

The other thing about the SMS library was that yeah, today it seems like it's all ports of 16-bit games or something, but if you walked into a store in 1987 I can tell you for certain those weren't the games you were choosing from. When I got a good report card we'd go to the store and I'd be picking from titles like Kung Fu Kid, Time Soldiers, The Ninja, Alex Kidd, Choplifter, Alien Syndrome, R-Type, Shinobi, etc. (ok so I DID partronize a little by typing a list). Sure some of those games are better than others and some were on other systems at the time but the ports were good and there were a lot of solid titles in general. I didn't even know there were SMS ports of Castle of Illusion, Altered Beast, etc. until much later. To my knowledge they weren't advertised in the posters that came with the games.

I (or I don't think anyone for that matter) is trying to say it rivaled the NES' library, just saying there's plenty good on the system and most of these titles you can get CIB for $10-20 right now.

[Gunstar Green]

Time Soldiers is underrated. I think it's a lot better than most comparable overhead run 'n guns on the NES.

Castle of Illusion is one I wouldn't consider an inferior port of a 16-bit game because like Sonic it's different than its next-generation counterpart and in a lot of ways better. Land of Illusion builds on it and is a fantastic platformer that deserves as much praise as stuff like DuckTales.

Is the Master System the NES? No, but it doesn't have to be. There's still quite a lot to appreciate including some experiences that are unique to it.

[G-Darius]

I have been playing Penguin Land and Teddy Boy,I am finding Teddy Boy really difficult so I imagine there must be some technique as I seem unable to last more than twenty seconds per life lol.

[Snatch1414]

I don't have Teddy Boy yet, but Penguin Land is a good one. Those puzzlers are pretty much timeless on any system.

[DeadPark]

A few months ago i played phantasy star. it was the first game i ever played for the system and i was blown away. the huge enemy sprites and the pseudo 3d dungeons were way beyond what i expected from the system.

[mas]

I have been playing shinobi again and I thought the cart was having problems turns out the controller was a really bad controller. Going to have to get a new one.

[alienjesus]

I picked up this Power Base FM converter from stone age gamer recently that lets you play SMS games on Mega Drive with FM sound. I was delighted to have it!

Unfortunately, I don't own a huge amount of games with FM sound capabilities right now. I have Rastan, Shinobi and Aztec Adventure that support it right now.

Wonder Boy 3 technicdlly supports it, but only if you boot the game in Japanese mode, which requires a region switch to be installed It's a shame, as it's one of the reasons I bought the adapter in the first place.

I also own Ys and Phantasy Star which have FM soundtracks, but only on the Mark III version of the game, which is a shame.


Still, I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of Aztec Adventure in FM sound (that game is incredibly underrated), and there's plenty of other games I want to pick up that can make use of it:
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars
Cloud Master
Fantasy Zone 2
Galaxy Force
Golvellius
Kenseiden
Miracle Warriors
Power Strike
R-Type
Spell Caster
Ultima IV
Wonder Boy in Monster Land

[Thierry Henry]

Recently had my Sega PAC recapped, and so have been using it now quite regularly.

I've played a few Sega Card/MyCard games. Do these count as part of the Master System library?

Anyway, the game I'm busy now with is Kenseiden.

It has some flaws which I feel make the game far harder than it should have to be.
So there definitely is some frustration there, enough to make you at least consider inflicting some pain to the controller.

That said, though, I'm enjoying it thus far. It has quite a bit of depth to it.

[marlowe221]

Someone tell me which games I need for my Master System.

I already have OutRun, Golvellius, and Adventure Island. Oh, and Hang On is built in.