Your favorite super nintendo games

[o.pwuaioc]

In alphabetical particular order:

Action Fighter
Choplifter
Golden Axe Warrior
Golvellius
Kenseiden
Paperboy
Power Strike
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Zillion

[mobiusclimber]

In no order, but I'll number them so I know when to stop:

1) Phantasy Star - excellent sci-fi RPG
2) Spellcaster - side-scrolling beat em up mixed with point-and-click adventure levels
3) Ys the Vanished Omen - not my favorite version of this game, but it's still fun (my favorite is actually the Famicom version)
4) Golvellius - excellent Zelda/Neutopia-style action adventure
5) Wonder Boy in Monster Land - arcade action-RPG
6) Golden Axe Warrior - another Zelda clone, but fun
7) Power Strike - excellent shmup
Lord of the Sword - side-scrolling action adventure a bit like Rastan or Astyanax
9) Psycho Fox - platformer action adventure game where you can switch between team mates for different abilities.
10) Master of Darkness - Castlevania-style action platformer.

[nightrnr]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World (SMS, 1986)... It's disappointing how even Sega fans in the US dismiss this one as a SMB clone when there's a lot more to it. The one thing that doesn't hold up, janken, isn't even that prominent in the game.

It's prominent enough to make me rage quit (or quite me more like) every time I come up to it and lose (every damn time it seems beyond the 1st or 2nd one). Not to mention that it robs you of satisfying boss battles (normally a highlight in a good platformer).
The game is decent, even clever at times, and plays well enough otherwise, but janken really soured and ruined the experience for this Mario veteran (yes it's unfair to compare and I don't care).
One day I'll learn the tricks and nuances required to get past those parts (read faqs and cheat, and I've been to stubborn and annoyed for that), but honestly, I had more fun with the Lost Stars than Miracle World.

Now that I'm done ranting, (and I find your other opinions worthy of a nod) I would be remiss if I didn't at least my current top SMS games (they are mostly typical).

1. Wonderboy III (too few of this type of ARPG, Metroivanias notwithstanding)
2. Golden Axe Warrior (I'm also a sucker for Zelda type games)
3. Phantasy Star (still need to beat this)
4. R-Type (so impressive for an 8-bit shooter)
5. Cloud Master (quirky and fun)
6. Shinobi (not sure why really, just fun to pick up and play)
7. Fantasy Zone (1st one just feels the best)
8. Gouls 'N Ghosts (don't ask)
9. Bomber Raid (maybe an odd choice, but I always have fun with it)
10. Wonderboy in Monsterland (practically my 1st game for the system)

But I do find most of the library interesting. A lot of other Master System games I really like so far, but haven't played enough to get (good enough to) anywhere (Power Strike, Zillion, Golvellius, etc).

Half my picks change with the day though...

[alienjesus]

I guess I can do a top 10 too:

1. Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap - Undoubetedly the system's best game in my eyes, even if newer versions mean it's not necessary to play it on SMS.

2. Sonic the Hedgehog - This is a real showcase for the system, and I prefer it to the Mega Drive game. Sonic 2 is better on Mega Drive for sure though.

3. Bubble Bobble - This is a great game on any platform, but for my money the SMS version plays a bit better than the NES one.

4. Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse - This game recieves far too little love - it's a fantastic 8 bit platformer, and potentially the best in the series. All 3 8-bit Illusion games are great, but the last one is mainly only available on Game Gear.

5. Golden Axe Warrior - It's a Zelda clone, but it's a good Zelda clone. We played this for Together Retro years ago and I enjoyed it more then than the original Zelda.

6. Ninja Gaiden - It's not as good as the NES game, but it's a completely unique playing entry in the series that's not available anywhere else.

7. Phantasy Star - It's a bit lower down my list than many because how much you like it is going to be very defined by your tolerance for 8-bit RPG jank - grinding, difficulty spikes etc. It's undoubtedly one of the best RPGs of the generation though.

8. Fantasy Zone - I almost put R-Type on the list, but then I remembered this game and I prefer it. The SMS Fantasy Zone is my favourite version - for my money it feels fairer and easier to control than the Arcade game.

9. Alex Kidd in Miracle World - There's some jank to this game, it's not as polished as Mario games - but once you learn how it plays, there's lots to love here, and plenty of ambition. Multiple game mechanics, a long quest, items to buy and use - it's great. Also, the about of random elements is greatly exaggerated, as there's an item that can be found before the second boss to allow you to read minds in rock-paper-scissors games. Also, the first boss always does the same pattern everytime you replay the game. Choose Rock, then Scissors, and now you never have to worry about randomness again.

10. Wonder Boy in Monster Land - This game is certainly not as polished as it's successor, and it brings over a very definite amount of arcade hard difficulty. But as you learn it, and progress a little further each time, it manages to weasel it's way into your affections. I spent a long long time trying to beat this game, but when I did it was super satisfying.

Honourable mentions:
- Alex Kidd in Shinobi World
- Asterix
- Asterix and the Secret Mission
- Aztec Adventure
- Castle of Illusion
- Deep Duck Trouble
- The Lucky Dime Caper
- Penguin Land
- Quartet
- R-Type
- Sonic 2
- Sonic Chaos
- The Ninja
- Wonder Boy
- Ys: The Vanished Omens

I think the fact I struggled to whittle down the list to 10 is a good sign that there's more to like about the system than many give it credit for. There's also plenty of cool games on the system I haven't tried yet, such as Master of Darkness, SpellCaster, Golvellius, Ultima 4 and more.

[pook99]

@Bone: I havent played phantasy star but I agree that cobbling together 10 good master system games is difficult, at some point I will try and ape games off of peoples lists here and expand my horizons but my overall experience with this system has been abysmal.

@mobiusclimber: I never heard of spellcaster, sounds like something I may like so I will add that to the list of games I need to try.

@nightrnr: agree completely, I don't know what genius thought it was a good idea to put a chance based game as a boss battle, I thought the game was pretty shitty even without the janken but the inclusion of that definitely put me off completely

@aj: master of darkness is great, probably my favorite game on the system, plays a lot like castlevania, and while I don't think it is as good as vania it certainly is close, it is also graphically very good for an 8-bit title.

@everyone who mentioned zillion: I never played zillion but I did play zillion 2 which was one of the worst games I have ever had the displeasure of playing, is the original better? Is it worth trying if I hated the second one?

[Sload Soap]

Zillion is very different to its sequel so is worth a go. People say it's sort of like Metroid but for me a closer comparison is Impossible Mission. You go around collecting keycards and stuff, I seem to recall there where elevators dotted about. I've never been too fond of it but it is definitely different.

[mobiusclimber]

@Bone: I havent played phantasy star but I agree that cobbling together 10 good master system games is difficult, at some point I will try and ape games off of peoples lists here and expand my horizons but my overall experience with this system has been abysmal.

It's a little unfair to knock the system for having maybe at most 10 good games considering how small the library is. I don't think you could buy 50 SMS games without dipping into European exclusives. According to Wikipedia, there are a grand total of 312 titles across all regions, including Japan! Compare that to the Super Nintendo with over 1700 titles. It's definitely going to be more niche, especially considering it came out around the same time as the NES but only really lasted a few years (until the Genesis came out, I mean; I know SMS games were still being made fairly recently). If you take the system on its own terms, there's a lot to like here. But expecting it's going to rival more successful consoles? that's just wishful thinking.

[pook99]

@president leever: yes, I definitely hated the auto scrolling missions so I will check out the first one at some point.

I completely disagree that the quality of the top master system titles rival that of the nes, lets forget about quantity for a minute, obviously the more popular system will have more, but the quality of the top master system games are completely overshadowed by the quality of the nes titles.

There is no platformer on the master system even close to as good as Super Mario 1, let alone mario 2 and 3, no action game as good as the mega man or contra series, no action rpg as good as zelda, I could keep going but you get the idea.

Even the best master system games are often praised as lesser versions of similar nes games, just look at this thread and you see things like, ninja gaiden is great, not as good as the nes games or play golden axe warrior, its close to zelda, but not as good. Phantasy star may be an exception and I think a strong case can be made for dragons trap as well but outside of those 2 its not even close

@mobiusclimber: I, and every person on this thread, are including european releases so I don't think its unfair to knock the system for not having 10 good games. The N64 has less than 300 North American releases and I don't think anyone would have a problem naming 10 great games for that system, the fact that some on this thread, myself included, have trouble even getting to 10 speaks to the general quality of that system.

I am also not comparing it to the NES, I am looking at it for what it is, and in my opinion it has a library that is overall pretty trashy. Having said that, part of the fun of a topic like this is doubters like me get to look at other people's lists and try out games I have never heard of which can potentially change my view of the system.

Every so often I like to have a master system day where i just load up an emulator and spend the day playing all sorts of different games, as a whole these days have been unsuccessful for me but I have discovered a few gems and am always looking to find more.

[Syndicate]

...it's always cool to see SMS talk and looking at my top 10 SMS games I'm going with:

1. Phantasy Star
2. Zillion
3. Kung Fu Kid
4. R-Type
5. Cloud Master
6. Castle of Illusion
7. Aztec Adventure
8. Golvellius
9. Penguin Land
10. Outrun

[NotLuke]

Probably ranked like this, although I do love Rambo, Chopifter, and Shinobi. I love Reggie Jackson Baseball like Snes Drunk loves Ken Griffey Jr.