The Master System really is the console with a thousand lives. I appreciate you're digging into it here, especially since you've just recently acquired it.
I've played about 50-60% of the Master System library and compared to the NES, the highs aren't as high, but the lows aren't as low either. There are some shockingly terrible NES games, but surprisingly, most Master System games are either good or mediocre, not truly terrible.
I like the design of the Master System a lot, especially compared to the boxy NES. It's a shame it never made more of an impact here, but I still wonder... even if Nintendo's monopolistic impact wouldn't have been in full effect, would the Master System have made much of a dent? Nintendo's marketing machine was fantastic. Tonka's was terrible.
Also, and I know this might be sacrilege, but outside of a handful of must-have titles in the late 80s like Hang-On, Phantasy Star, and OutRun, I'm not sure what would have drawn Americans to the system.
It took an incredible mascot for Americans to care about Sega and once we did, we were hooked on the Genesis, to the point where Sega had almost 50% market share. Then Donkey Kong Country came out and everything shifted back to Nintendo again.
Anyway, this comment is already too long, but one more thing.
I personally like that you write about whatever games you want. I support you if you want to just talk about retro games for the foreseeable future, but definitely don't limit yourself.
Whatever you decide to write will be great, so just keep going!
It's a really cool machine, I also agree that the highs are lower but the lows are higher and to be honest, I feel this way about every Sega console compared to Nintendo; the Mega Drive has no Super Metroid or A Link to the Past-level masterpiece but in general most Mega Drive games are better than most SNES games and I personally feel that Sonic during the 90's was equally as good as Mario, until the N64 took Super Mario to a whole new level.
I prefer the design but not the form-factor if that makes sense? These rectangular consoles are a bit of a pain to store with my current set-up.
It has to be said too that the Master System did outsell the NES in Europe 9apart from France and Italy and the USSR's console of choice was an NES clone called the Dendy) but the gap was quite small: 1.6M vs 1.1M in the UK if I remember.
Aw, man, just that brief mention of Golden Axe Warrior as a decent Zelda clone and now I've got to give this game a shot. Might be because I'm getting into Zelda fangames lately, but I've also always had a soft spot for another console's Zelda knockoffs - the Neutopia games for TG16.
It's always really impressed me how much better Master System stuff looks than even the best NES games - it's really not much of a gap from MS to Mega Drive compared to the jump from NES to SNES.
And I've known about Brazil keeping the console alive for a while now, but it was great to read a first person account. Reminds me of how the Vietnamese are completely dominant in the Age of Empires 1 tournament scene - it was pre-installed on almost all of their PCs sold, and on every computer in a net cafe, so everyone who ever touched a computer probably played it and they basically spent two decades doing LAN tournaments against each other.
It's not the cheapest on OG hardware (about £80 here which isn't bad compared to a lot of Saturn/Dreamcast games) but I'm sure you can emulate it. I don't own it but the graphics look miles better and it's generally well-regarded.
Completely agree. NES to SNES is like night and day but comparing Master System Ninja Gaiden to something like Mega Drive Altered Beast is pretty close.
I love these regional communities. Tekken has something similar with Pakistan, they have overthrown Korea as the strongest region in the past 10 years, they were just previously completely unknown because the Pakistani passport doesn't allow them to visit most places easily so no tournaments and Tekken's fanbase has always been centred around the UK, France, South Korea and Japan.
As the proud owner of a Steam Deck, I have no qualms about emulation, and massive Popeye-like forearms to boot.
I'm not very in tune with the FG scene in general so I'd not heard about that, but it is in a way very cool when conditions conspire to forge players in a crucible unthinkable in the wider world... and then they are unleashed.
As the owner of a Dreamcast and a Sega Saturn... my wallet is empty.
I recommend this short documentary on it (only 12 minutes) but essentially? That's exactly what happened, the wider world realised Lahore, Pakistan had become an underground fight-club for world-class Tekken players in its hand-made arcades with rough-hewn cabinets
Glad you liked it! It’s such a well-made video that I’ve shown other non-Tekken people before and they also loved it.
There’s a similar documentary from a channel called Cloth Map too about the Brazilian grey markets I discussed in the article, it’s not quite as desperate a situation but still really impressive.
This was an interesting read. It took a long time for me to learn about the Sega Master System (I was an NES kid). It wasn’t until the late 90s/early 00s that heard buzzes of it on video game listing sites, but only by name.
Around 2003-ish I learned it was the precursor to the Genesis/Mega Drive and I was in my collecting phase, so I had to try the Master System for myself.
Admittedly, I didn’t vibe well with Alex Kidd in Miracle World. But I really enjoyed stuff like Marksman Shooting & Trap Shooting, the Fantasy Zone trilogy, and Shinobi.🥷
The only thing that irritated me was that the pause button was on the console deck rather than the controller. Was that also due to the patent Nintendo had on their controller?
I also didn't really know of the Master System until I first got into retro back in 2020 and even then I didn't start buying original hardware until '22 and fully intended to skip this console.
I don't know what it is but US Master System owners always seem to really dislike Alex Kidd while it was really beloved in EU and BRA, funny how things differ sometimes.
It is a really annoying quirk of the system and I've crashed a game once already by knocking the cart when I went to pause, so I know it will be a constant pain. As for why? I have to assume it was a hold-over from the ancient days of video game consoles like the Odyssey and Pong consoles where they were sat on your lap and everything besides movement and actions were controlled from there, this is still weird though because the Master System was actually Sega's 3rd 8-bit console, the others were obscure and JP only though
It's pretty unfortunate (and honestly surprising) that the Master System never got its moment to shine in the US. I really appreciated how you framed things in the article; it gave me a chance to see the bigger picture.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for including me in this article! It was so much fun to reflect on my childhood memories with the system and contribute to such a fantastic piece. You're awesome!
I'm so glad you and Marcio wrote about the Master System, thanks so much. When I saw your screenshot of the Model 2 I immediately remembered my own one playing the games on it.
I'm thinking back to that era and now I think about it, I can't really remember knowing anyone who had a Nintendo , NES or SNES, me and my friends always had a Master System or Mega Drive (this is in the UK). Sega certainly seemed more popular in the UK, maybe it was the price difference like you alluded too. I remember coming from my ZX Spectrum to the Master System because it probably was the most accessible way of playing console games at the time.
And some of the games were truly special. Sonic was different to the Mega Drive version but I desperately wanted to play Sonic. I also remember Castle of Illusion being better on the Master System. And you didn't mention this one, but Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap was a wonderful proto-Metroidvania. It's probably thanks to the Master System that I stayed with Sega through the Mega Drive and Saturn years too.
The Master System really is the console with a thousand lives. I appreciate you're digging into it here, especially since you've just recently acquired it.
I've played about 50-60% of the Master System library and compared to the NES, the highs aren't as high, but the lows aren't as low either. There are some shockingly terrible NES games, but surprisingly, most Master System games are either good or mediocre, not truly terrible.
I like the design of the Master System a lot, especially compared to the boxy NES. It's a shame it never made more of an impact here, but I still wonder... even if Nintendo's monopolistic impact wouldn't have been in full effect, would the Master System have made much of a dent? Nintendo's marketing machine was fantastic. Tonka's was terrible.
Also, and I know this might be sacrilege, but outside of a handful of must-have titles in the late 80s like Hang-On, Phantasy Star, and OutRun, I'm not sure what would have drawn Americans to the system.
It took an incredible mascot for Americans to care about Sega and once we did, we were hooked on the Genesis, to the point where Sega had almost 50% market share. Then Donkey Kong Country came out and everything shifted back to Nintendo again.
Anyway, this comment is already too long, but one more thing.
I personally like that you write about whatever games you want. I support you if you want to just talk about retro games for the foreseeable future, but definitely don't limit yourself.
Whatever you decide to write will be great, so just keep going!
It's a really cool machine, I also agree that the highs are lower but the lows are higher and to be honest, I feel this way about every Sega console compared to Nintendo; the Mega Drive has no Super Metroid or A Link to the Past-level masterpiece but in general most Mega Drive games are better than most SNES games and I personally feel that Sonic during the 90's was equally as good as Mario, until the N64 took Super Mario to a whole new level.
I prefer the design but not the form-factor if that makes sense? These rectangular consoles are a bit of a pain to store with my current set-up.
It has to be said too that the Master System did outsell the NES in Europe 9apart from France and Italy and the USSR's console of choice was an NES clone called the Dendy) but the gap was quite small: 1.6M vs 1.1M in the UK if I remember.
I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the feedback!
The Master System was by far the dominant console here in NZ, a trend that continued with the Mega Drive. We were definitely Sega country.
Aw, man, just that brief mention of Golden Axe Warrior as a decent Zelda clone and now I've got to give this game a shot. Might be because I'm getting into Zelda fangames lately, but I've also always had a soft spot for another console's Zelda knockoffs - the Neutopia games for TG16.
It's always really impressed me how much better Master System stuff looks than even the best NES games - it's really not much of a gap from MS to Mega Drive compared to the jump from NES to SNES.
And I've known about Brazil keeping the console alive for a while now, but it was great to read a first person account. Reminds me of how the Vietnamese are completely dominant in the Age of Empires 1 tournament scene - it was pre-installed on almost all of their PCs sold, and on every computer in a net cafe, so everyone who ever touched a computer probably played it and they basically spent two decades doing LAN tournaments against each other.
It's not the cheapest on OG hardware (about £80 here which isn't bad compared to a lot of Saturn/Dreamcast games) but I'm sure you can emulate it. I don't own it but the graphics look miles better and it's generally well-regarded.
Completely agree. NES to SNES is like night and day but comparing Master System Ninja Gaiden to something like Mega Drive Altered Beast is pretty close.
I love these regional communities. Tekken has something similar with Pakistan, they have overthrown Korea as the strongest region in the past 10 years, they were just previously completely unknown because the Pakistani passport doesn't allow them to visit most places easily so no tournaments and Tekken's fanbase has always been centred around the UK, France, South Korea and Japan.
As the proud owner of a Steam Deck, I have no qualms about emulation, and massive Popeye-like forearms to boot.
I'm not very in tune with the FG scene in general so I'd not heard about that, but it is in a way very cool when conditions conspire to forge players in a crucible unthinkable in the wider world... and then they are unleashed.
As the owner of a Dreamcast and a Sega Saturn... my wallet is empty.
I recommend this short documentary on it (only 12 minutes) but essentially? That's exactly what happened, the wider world realised Lahore, Pakistan had become an underground fight-club for world-class Tekken players in its hand-made arcades with rough-hewn cabinets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2SQgjYmVYY
That was awesome. Thanks so much for showing me that. The old school repair shop full of parts machines in particular really brought back memories.
Glad you liked it! It’s such a well-made video that I’ve shown other non-Tekken people before and they also loved it.
There’s a similar documentary from a channel called Cloth Map too about the Brazilian grey markets I discussed in the article, it’s not quite as desperate a situation but still really impressive.
This was an interesting read. It took a long time for me to learn about the Sega Master System (I was an NES kid). It wasn’t until the late 90s/early 00s that heard buzzes of it on video game listing sites, but only by name.
Around 2003-ish I learned it was the precursor to the Genesis/Mega Drive and I was in my collecting phase, so I had to try the Master System for myself.
Admittedly, I didn’t vibe well with Alex Kidd in Miracle World. But I really enjoyed stuff like Marksman Shooting & Trap Shooting, the Fantasy Zone trilogy, and Shinobi.🥷
The only thing that irritated me was that the pause button was on the console deck rather than the controller. Was that also due to the patent Nintendo had on their controller?
I also didn't really know of the Master System until I first got into retro back in 2020 and even then I didn't start buying original hardware until '22 and fully intended to skip this console.
I don't know what it is but US Master System owners always seem to really dislike Alex Kidd while it was really beloved in EU and BRA, funny how things differ sometimes.
It is a really annoying quirk of the system and I've crashed a game once already by knocking the cart when I went to pause, so I know it will be a constant pain. As for why? I have to assume it was a hold-over from the ancient days of video game consoles like the Odyssey and Pong consoles where they were sat on your lap and everything besides movement and actions were controlled from there, this is still weird though because the Master System was actually Sega's 3rd 8-bit console, the others were obscure and JP only though
It's pretty unfortunate (and honestly surprising) that the Master System never got its moment to shine in the US. I really appreciated how you framed things in the article; it gave me a chance to see the bigger picture.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for including me in this article! It was so much fun to reflect on my childhood memories with the system and contribute to such a fantastic piece. You're awesome!
I'm so glad you and Marcio wrote about the Master System, thanks so much. When I saw your screenshot of the Model 2 I immediately remembered my own one playing the games on it.
I'm thinking back to that era and now I think about it, I can't really remember knowing anyone who had a Nintendo , NES or SNES, me and my friends always had a Master System or Mega Drive (this is in the UK). Sega certainly seemed more popular in the UK, maybe it was the price difference like you alluded too. I remember coming from my ZX Spectrum to the Master System because it probably was the most accessible way of playing console games at the time.
And some of the games were truly special. Sonic was different to the Mega Drive version but I desperately wanted to play Sonic. I also remember Castle of Illusion being better on the Master System. And you didn't mention this one, but Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap was a wonderful proto-Metroidvania. It's probably thanks to the Master System that I stayed with Sega through the Mega Drive and Saturn years too.