Master System: Not for me? Or am I just not "getting" it?

[Erik_Twice]

you guys are F'd in the head. SMS is amazing.

I'm the guy who dimisses the SNES, of course I'm insane

You have indeed listed some very good titles Noise, and that probably speaks more to my gaming habits than anything else. The thing is, will you play Phantasy Star over it's Megadrive sequels? Or Ys over later releases? It's not that they are bad, I just think they are better done elsewhere, so as to speak.

In a certain sense, I think the SMS suffers from having a lot of tier two material and for someone who is not going to get Donkey Kong Country because it isn't good enough compared to its sequel, yeah, that hurts. But if you aren't as pompous as I am, it really has some good solid titles, like Zillion.

Seriously. I'm saying this loud and proud: Phantasy Star is better than Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. Come at me bro.

Spot on, bro

[pierrot]

If I were going to play the Phantasy Star games I'd start with the SMS one, personally. In all honesty, it's the only one I've really played so far, though.
I can't speak to a comparison of the stories (although the original is pretty 8-bit, bare bones) and it may not have the polish of the later titles in the series, but it's definitely a very memorable game with some classic RPG style.
I'm sure if I had played the original as a kid I would have gone nuts over it, since FFIV on the SNES made me associate any RPG where you eventually travel to another planet, with unadulterated awesome.
Anyway, if I had an SMS, Phantasy Star would be the first game I'd hunt down for it.

[sheath]

My likes (in general): fighting games, Zelda, Front Mission 3, Civilization and Total War, RPGs with a lot of dialogue trees and Katamari Damacy

Double Dragon and Black Belt ought to whet your whistle for Beat-em ups. The Master System versions of Golden Axe and Altered Beast are kind of framey but challenging unique games. They made Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat in the UK, but I wouldn't worry about them.

For Adventure titles you can't go wrong with Golvellius Valley of Doom and Golden Axe Warrior. The former is totally unique, though some will compare it to Guardian Legend on the NES. Don't let Golden Axe Warrior's art style make you think it is a Zelda 1 clone, it is totally different when you get into it.

Role Playing Games with a lot of dialog, well there is Phantasy Star, but I also highly recommend Miracle Warriors and Ys The Vanished Omens. None of these are particularly dialog heavy though, not like the endless diatribes of a Final Fantasy game.

Really though, it sounds like you might be looking for the wrong genres for any Sega system. Sega's strength was always in the Action department. Fast paced Action games that are easy to pick up to play but challenging and rewarding to master was Sega's staple. If you go into any of Sega's console libraries expecting to find unique Action games you won't be disappointed.

[Blu]

Honestly, I know it's a matter of tastes, but SMS has some very memorable and catchy tunes. It has some very playable games that I still find very enjoyable. To recommend some games by genre, I'd go with the following:

Shmups:
Time Soldiers - Feels similar to Rush'n Attack
Bomber Raid
Scramble Spirits
Astro Warrior

Action:
Wonderboy III The Dragon's Trap is much better IMO than the earlier games. Don't know if you've tried that one, but I find it to be cool.
Zillion
Govellius
Golden Axe Warrior.

However it might just be one of those consoles that you're going to have a hard time getting interested in.

[flojocabron]

The master system did not get the attention that it deserved.

Nintendo simply owned the market and they had a stranglehold on publishers.

Tonka, who had the rights simply could not utilize the product correctly.

Nintendo's exclusivity contract really hurt SEGA. Only untill the genesis did SEGA gain ground in the US.

Simply have a look at other (world) markets. Brazil loooves their master system.

It makes me wonder what games would have been opitimzed or better ports on the master system?

I'm sure that if you find one real cheap or someone gifts you one, you'll take it home.

[Duane Dibbley]

Just to get this out of the way first: I don't like sidescrollers, and I especially hate colourful, cheery cartoony sidescrollers with happy, chirpy music and a main character who happens to be some offbeat anthropomorphic animal with attitude or somesuch. On my list of favourite games, the only people you will find moving from left to right are Sketch Turner, Kirby and the Belmont family. Otherwise, I really don't go for them...

You seem to be contradicting yourself.

[Stark]

Just to get this out of the way first: I don't like sidescrollers, and I especially hate colourful, cheery cartoony sidescrollers with happy, chirpy music and a main character who happens to be some offbeat anthropomorphic animal with attitude or somesuch. On my list of favourite games, the only people you will find moving from left to right are Sketch Turner, Kirby and the Belmont family. Otherwise, I really don't go for them...

You seem to be contradicting yourself.

Nah, come on. He's basically saying he's not into brunettes, but thinks Jennifer Connelly is hot. Which, obviously.

[CFFJR]

Seriously. I'm saying this loud and proud: Phantasy Star is better than Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. Come at me bro.

I will come at you bro.

And give you a great big bro hug, 'cause I love you man.

[Breetai]

Wonderboy III The Dragon's Trap is much better IMO than the earlier games. Don't know if you've tried that one, but I find it to be cool.

I have to agree with this.

Yan, you said you don't like Wonderboy games, but I call bullshit on this one? Which Wonderboy games have you played? Most of them are so different from each other, that it's surprising they are even in the same series. Wonderboy 1 is like Adventure Island (well, it IS Adventure Island), but Dragon's Trap is more like... Cartoony Metroid with a sword (you did say you liked Kirby, so don't say you don't like cartoony stuff sometimes!).

[Gunstar Green]

The Master System really got screwed over by Nintendo's fascist grip over third parties of the time but it still has a few great games for it. It's not a console I currently collect for but I'd like to pick up a Power Base Converter sometime and buy a few of the gems.