Games That Defined The Master System

Post by **racketboy** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:45 am

The Master System is one of the few consoles I have never played on (although I have done some emulation).
Please share your thoughts on what games really defined the system...

Post by **Jakanden** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:27 am

SMS was pretty light on great exclusives but here were some notable ones:

Phantasy Star
Zillion
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Sonic the Hedgehog

It did have a few great games from other systems as well:

Fantasy Zone
Ys
Wonder Boy III: Dragons Trap
Golvellius

Overall though, the system was fairly weak in my opinion.

Post by **Mozgus** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 5:56 pm

I've only played one game on actual Master System hardware in my life; Spy vs Spy.

Post by **Jakanden** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 6:43 pm

Mozgus wrote:I've only played one game on actual Master System hardware in my life; Spy vs Spy.

I picked one up shortly after the Genesis came out =)

Post by **Wanderer - Vega** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:50 am

I think the Sega Master System actually beats the NES. Here are the games I've grown up loving from my brother's collection;

Shinobi (great, GREAT game on par with the Genesis sequels)
Phantasy Star (greatest RPG of the 8-bit era, IMO)
Double Dragon
Ghost House
Zillion
Zillion II
Rambo First Blood Part II
Thunder Blade
Wonder Boy in Miracle Land
Out Run
Rampage
Alf (for a laugh)

I'm sure I missed some good ones, but the above are really classic SMS games that you absolutely must play and were mostly really popular during the console's era. By the way, stay away from Sonic and Moonwalker -- they make their Genesis counterparts weep.

Post by **lordofduct** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:33 am

The SMS had some very good games on it... the problem I see with the console is the quantity of really boring crap games on it (remembers Ghost Busters... I still today don't understand what you are supposed to do in that game). Now I'm not saying the NES didn't have its fair share of crap; it is just that everyone had an NES so your friends could give you tips on what crap to avoid. No one had an SMS and buying a game (except for the top of the line no brainers like Shinobi) was really a half hazard risk taker of throwing away 40 bones. Not freaking cool. I get pissed when I piss away 15 dollars on a crap game (remember buying Time Stalkers for the DC... Landstalkers and Dark Savior were amazing... this game made me cry... CRY!)

So that's my synapsis of those games available for SMS... even today you have problems getting SMS games. I get bummed wasting my bandwidth downloading a crap ROM and not realizing it until loading it on my emulator.

Post by **Jakanden** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:45 am

The problem is that most of the good SMS games were available elsewhere in better versions.

Post by **Clockwork** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:12 am

Jakanden wrote:The problem is that most of the good SMS games were available elsewhere in better versions.

definitely right...

in my opinion it were the small-cart-games for the second slot on SMS I, which were often great and for free with other games

Post by **alexkidd** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:44 am

Here are my favs:

ANY 3D GAME! especially the one w/ the gun Mission Control I think and Zaxxon, those were sweet man, wish I hadn't sold them. I was impressing people with them up until like 1999.
Phantasy Star
Rastan (nearly arcade perfect and not on NES I think)
Alex Kidd in Miricle World
Wonderboy I, II and III (especially III)
Golvelious
Zillion I and II
Pyscho Fox
Double Dragon, Rampage, Ghosts n Goblins (arcade portst that embarrassed the NES versions)
Golden Axe Warrior (a zelda ripoff, but well done)
R•Type
Shinobi
Outrun
Bomber Raid (like 1942 and 1943 on NES but destroys them graphically)

Actually if you were an arcade junky the SMS holds its own against the NES because what it did have was a lot closer to the arcade experience than NES. Rastan, Rampage, Afterburner, HangON, Outrun, Double Dragon, Shinobi, Ghouls n Ghousts, R•Type were all much closer to arcade or only available on SMS. But for original non-arcade titles there are only a handfull of classics to combat NES which had tons. I was and am an SMS fanboy, but it was worth owning just for Phantasy Star, Wonderboy III and the 3D games, those hold their own even against SMB3, zelda, ff and other NES giants.

Post by **alexkidd** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:57 am

couldn't remember the name earlier... Missile Defense 3D

The game requires the light gun and glasses, but it's the biggest reason to track down the actual hardware as opposed to just emulating other games like PS and WBIII. Don't get an SMS II though because it doesn't have the card game slot that the glasses plug into.
If you're into classic light gun games it is pretty sweet.