The Master System Appreciation Thread

[Betagam7]

I hit a bit of a rough patch with my Master System earlier this year. Some of the supposed classics really turned me off, Psycho Fox, Golvellius and Action Fighter especially. Very briefly thought of doing a massive purge.

It is a system I rate highly though and it's a lot of fun to collect for. Graphically it's superior to the NES but its sound is worse, even with the FM sound.

Ha, I have a portable Master System/GG clone with built in games.

Pyscho Fox is on it and is easily one of the worst games I've ever played. I had no idea it was regarded as a classic. All of the Alex Kidd games are build in too. I've no idea what the deal with their "classic" status is either other than people's strange nostalgia for rubbish games that were their only option as a kid.

[Gunstar Green]

Pyscho Fox is on it and is easily one of the worst games I've ever played

Then you obviously haven't played its predecessor, Kid Kool. Now that's an awful game.

I like Psycho Fox and Decap Attack for what it's worth and really have no nostalgia for either. The momentum based platforming is of interesting and really satisfying once you get the hang of it. It's kind of like and early attempt at what Sonic would come closer to perfecting.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is fine for the 1986 platformer that it is. It's certainly not the Mario-Killer they were hoping for, but I can only imagine it left a big impression on anyone who played it before Mario.

[Betagam7]

Pyscho Fox is on it and is easily one of the worst games I've ever played

Then you obviously haven't played its predecessor, Kid Kool. Now that's an awful game.

I like Psycho Fox and Decap Attack for what it's worth and really have no nostalgia for either. The momentum based platforming is of interesting and really satisfying once you get the hang of it. It's kind of like and early attempt at what Sonic would come closer to perfecting.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is fine for the 1986 platformer that it is. It's certainly not the Mario-Killer they were hoping for, but I can only imagine it left a big impression on anyone who played it before Mario.

That one is definately the least worst. Some of the later ones are just awful.

[Gunstar Green]

I pretty much agree with that.

The Lost Stars was some weird Wonderboy-esque platformer since they decided they wanted to do an Alex Kidd arcade game. It didn't really work.

High-Tech World was an already terrible licensed game they just threw Alex Kidd into.

Shinobi World is the one exception. It's a fun parody of Shinobi.

Enchanted Castle is the only true sequel to Miracle World, only it's bad.

[Betagam7]

I pretty much agree with that.

The Lost Stars was some weird Wonderboy-esque platformer since they decided they wanted to do an Alex Kidd arcade game. It didn't really work.

High-Tech World was an already terrible licensed game they just threw Alex Kidd into.

Shinobi World is the one exception. It's a fun parody of Shinobi.

Enchanted Castle is the only true sequel to Miracle World, only it's bad.

Shinobi world isn't on the system that I had. Unfortunately the other terrible Alex Kidd games are. In fact most of the free games on the system are awful. It's sole redeeming quality is Dragon Crystal: My favourite Game Gear game of all time and the reason I bought the handheld.

It's called the "Brain games Colour". If anyone is interested.

[nightrnr]

Shinobi world isn't on the system that I had. Unfortunately the other terrible Alex Kidd games are. In fact most of the free games on the system are awful. It's sole redeeming quality is Dragon Crystal: My favorite Game Gear game of all time and the reason I bought the handheld.

Glad to hear of another fan of Dragon Crystal. I love that game and it was my 1st non-PC rogue style.
I will probably never beat the game, but I always have a good time with it.

Also, I kind of liked Alex Kidd the Lost Stars for some reason (enough to beat it anyways).

I would like Alex Kidd in Miracle world more, but I always felt cheated that the boss battles were just a stupid game of Paper, Rock, Scissors (which I have an unusual talent for losing most of the time; I think I'm missing a pattern or something).
Seriously though; what's the big idea of taking a climatic boss battle for each world and reducing it to a non-action (and frustrating) bore... in a platformer? Mario would have never stooped so low.

[alienjesus]

I would like Alex Kidd in Miracle world more, but I always felt cheated that the boss battles were just a stupid game of Paper, Rock, Scissors (which I have an unusual talent for losing most of the time; I think I'm missing a pattern or something).
Seriously though; what's the big idea of taking a climatic boss battle for each world and reducing it to a non-action (and frustrating) bore... in a platformer? Mario would have never stooped so low.

If you look it up online, they actually have a set pattern you can follow as long as you don't get any wrong.

In addition, there's an in-game item you can grab in the volcano level (just before the 2nd Rock-Paper-Scissors boss) that allows you to preview which they'll use if you want to try it more legitimately. This way youll only have to beat one of the jankenpo bosses through luck. They're prone to changing their mind a lot, so it's still challenging, but it becomes more about fast reactions then luck.

Also, there are 7 rock paper scissors bosses, 4 of which fight you after losing. There are also a handful of other bosses including a bear with a sword and a charging bull who play like more conventional boss battles, so it's not exactly true that the game reduces it to a 'non-action bore'. Admittedly though, these are all later in the games 17 stages.

[nightrnr]

Also, there are 7 rock paper scissors bosses, 4 of which fight you after losing. There are also a handful of other bosses including a bear with a sword and a charging bull who play like more conventional boss battles, so it's not exactly true that the game reduces it to a 'non-action bore'. Admittedly though, these are all later in the games 17 stages.

I did not know that
Yes, I jumped to my own conclusions there and assumed that they all must be like that. Admittedly, I have not played very far into the game (2nd or 3rd boss, can't remember), just got way too annoyed to continue, which was a shame, since I actually did like the levels that I played.

I'll give it another go sometime.

And yeah, for some reason I just don't want to look up a walk through on this one, but I'll keep an eye out for that "jankenpo preview" item next play; Or maybe I'll just cheat and play with save states , but I'd really rather play fair.
Thanks for the info

[alienjesus]

Also, there are 7 rock paper scissors bosses, 4 of which fight you after losing. There are also a handful of other bosses including a bear with a sword and a charging bull who play like more conventional boss battles, so it's not exactly true that the game reduces it to a 'non-action bore'. Admittedly though, these are all later in the games 17 stages.

I did not know that
Yes, I jumped to my own conclusions there and assumed that they all must be like that. Admittedly, I have not played very far into the game (2nd or 3rd boss, can't remember), just got way too annoyed to continue, which was a shame, since I actually did like the levels that I played.

I'll give it another go sometime.

And yeah, for some reason I just don't want to look up a walk through on this one, but I'll keep an eye out for that "jankenpo preview" item next play; Or maybe I'll just cheat and play with save states , but I'd really rather play fair.
Thanks for the info

No problem. I remember thinking the game was impossible when I started trying to beat it years ago, but you start learning little tricks. Certain items from the shop I consider all but essential for passing certain segments as they make sections that would otherwise be nigh on impossible and make them a lot easier. Unfortunately, that means you'll have a lot of trial and error when working through it!

That said, the game is still pretty tough. Even now I don't manage to beat it most of the time I play, even with the continue cheat.

[Gunstar Green]

The jankenpon bosses are an incredibly stupid design decision.

You can almost forgive it because scrolling platformers were still sort of a new thing and all of the tropes weren't set in stone. It was still ultimately a bad idea though.

If you don't get the item that lets you read their minds you're pretty much screwed. It's alright for a game that has an open world to require a needed item of you but in a game where you can't backtrack that's just poor design.

I hate that about Wonder Boy in Monster Land too. If you don't find the answers to the Sphinx's questions you just have to guess because there's no going back for them.

Neither of these things are a big deal now because we have the Internet but back when the games were new (or even now if you don't want to have to look at a guide) they were serious asshole moves.