Top 25 Master System Games

[ivortheinjun]

Land Of Illusion - absolutely stunning. Improved massively on the original and at a time when every other release seemed to be a platformer, it showed up everything around it on every system.
Alex Kidd In Miracle World - the perfect bundled game. Bags of character and variety, loads of replay value and no little frustration when deaths came later on. Struck the balance beautifully though - at no point did I feel like giving up on trying to finish it.
Micro Machines - the best multiplayer game on the system. Lovely and smooth, perfectly playable, and with completely satisfying controls. The single-player campaign was outstanding too.
Fantasy Zone - lovely to look at, but a nightmare to get through. Superb conversion and for me one of the best shooters of the era.
Populous - brilliant version, and a game that opened up the system to my parents, who wanted nothing to do with blue hedgehogs and the like. Astonishing depth and one of the biggests time mangles on the system. One of the few 8-bit games I accidentally pulled an all-nighter on.

Honorable mentions:
Road Rash. STUNNING conversion. Looks every inch a 16-bit game.
Mortal Kombat. Time's been unkind but when it came out I was deliriously happy with it. Suddenly huge characters and big-system beat-em-up gameplay was available to us 8-bit devotees.
Sonic 2. Sega were spot on in giving the MS its own game instead of paring down the 16-bit version. And this has a good claim to being one of the best in the series. Watching my sister fail to control the hang-glider despite showing her a million times will stay with me forever.
Asterix. One of the hardest platformers to finish I've ever come across. Such a good game though.
Lemmings. Gets forgotten, but this game was such a huge deal at the time and the MS got such a beautiful version. The emergence of the lost sequel recently was a real joy as well.

[ArchaicKoala]

as well as the course design it also sneaked in layouts for real tracks

I never knew that about the real tracks, i'll have to look into that a bit more when I next play it

[flatapex]

as well as the course design it also sneaked in layouts for real tracks

I never knew that about the real tracks, i'll have to look into that a bit more when I next play it

its all tracks from the 70s

[sidney]

Picked up a 60hz modded Master System from a wonderful South London retro store and I have been revisiting all my games in this glorious mode, it is like a Master System rebirth. Put simply -What a Fantastic Console, and 26 years after I first enjoyed it I am still playing the hell out of Wonderboy, what a game this is- the very definition of underrated- not by me though! I have played most versions of it including Arcade and Adventure Island and I say without hesitation that the Master System version is king. Long Live the Master System!!!

[Lorfarius]

Picked up a 60hz modded Master System from a wonderful South London retro store and I have been revisiting all my games in this glorious mode, it is like a Master System rebirth. Put simply -What a Fantastic Console, and 26 years after I first enjoyed it I am still playing the hell out of Wonderboy, what a game this is- the very definition of underrated- not by me though! I have played most versions of it including Arcade and Adventure Island and I say without hesitation that the Master System version is king. Long Live the Master System!!!

What difference does 60hz make? I've no experience with that at all as I grew up on 50hz, wouldn't it just break the games or make most unplayable?

[Mentski]

Not a single one of you has mentioned Quartet.

You are all terrible people.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Sorry.

[flatapex]

Picked up a 60hz modded Master System from a wonderful South London retro store and I have been revisiting all my games in this glorious mode, it is like a Master System rebirth. Put simply -What a Fantastic Console, and 26 years after I first enjoyed it I am still playing the hell out of Wonderboy, what a game this is- the very definition of underrated- not by me though! I have played most versions of it including Arcade and Adventure Island and I say without hesitation that the Master System version is king. Long Live the Master System!!!

What difference does 60hz make? I've no experience with that at all as I grew up on 50hz, wouldn't it just break the games or make most unplayable?

its a higher screen refresh rate, it wont break anything.

some modifiers add a switch so you can just flick a switch to go between the two.

[ArchaicKoala]

It could just be because I grew up playing Master System games at 50hz but I find that many titles just don't play right at 60hz... Actually I'll rephrase that, they play ok but the music just seems way too fast in some titles, Quartet being a recent title I've discovered to have this issue.

I play my Master System titles via a Mega Drive which I fitted a 3-way 50/60/JP switch if that effects anything...

[Pointman]

Love the SMS however one thing I will never understand is the exclusion of it's FM sound capabilities in the West. Hearing Japanese games using FM sound is almost like thinking the game is running on a different machine, it's insane how much difference it makes. What we got over here was the most tone deaf console in existence, it's almost as if Sega wanted it to fail. There are still a few great tunes on the system mind you (level 2 of Sonic 1 comes to mind)

Back on topic though, 5 favourite games...

Dynamite Dux (dead easy but has so much charm)
Kenseiden (started it in school, finished it in college. Age hasn't dulled it's blade)
Rastan (not quite as mythical as the arcade but a solid conversion)
Safari Hunt (ace lightgun game. Was one of two games my Mum could finish)
Sonic The Hedgehog (first one of course, miles (hoho) better than the MD version)

Hi there...Welcome! Great post#1...because I'm pleased I'm not the only one who voted for Kenseiden. It's a great game, looks good and quite a tough challenge in spots

Hey there, thanks for the warm welcome. Kenseiden is a fantastic game, mainly because the clear took me so many years to achieve. I still have nightmares about the moth boss, if ever there was a game that required essential boss pattern memorisation then this was it. It also holds a lot of nostalgia as it was the first topic of conversation I had with my mate who I met back in school 26 years ago and we are still good buddies to this day.

[ArchaicKoala]

Hey there, thanks for the warm welcome. Kenseiden is a fantastic game, mainly because the clear took me so many years to achieve. I still have nightmares about the moth boss, if ever there was a game that required essential boss pattern memorisation then this was it. It also holds a lot of nostalgia as it was the first topic of conversation I had with my mate who I met back in school 26 years ago and we are still good buddies to this day.

I don't think I played Kenseiden as a kid but I would often pore over screenshots in magazines and those lovely catalog/posters you get in many game boxes back then. It was one of those games that just looked awesome in screenshot form.

I picked it up a couple of months ago and bloody hell it is brutal! It's a great game but it is with out a doubt the hardest MS title i've ever played

[Pointman]

Hey there, thanks for the warm welcome. Kenseiden is a fantastic game, mainly because the clear took me so many years to achieve. I still have nightmares about the moth boss, if ever there was a game that required essential boss pattern memorisation then this was it. It also holds a lot of nostalgia as it was the first topic of conversation I had with my mate who I met back in school 26 years ago and we are still good buddies to this day.

I don't think I played Kenseiden as a kid but I would often pore over screenshots in magazines and those lovely catalog/posters you get in many game boxes back then. It was one of those games that just looked awesome in screenshot form.

I picked it up a couple of months ago and bloody hell it is brutal! It's a great game but it is with out a doubt the hardest MS title i've ever played

It is a tricky game, compounded by the fact that when you get hit your character suffers a huge knockback animation that can completely knock you off your stride (or off a platform). I remember the last boss being nigh on indestructible what with his attacks and the falling boulders. I finally did it though, I got more satisfaction from finishing Kenseiden than from finishing anything like COD or GTA.

[Lorfarius]

Just set mine up and done a vid:

http://youtu.be/LYyTu-QMRbM?list=UUiJB7 ... oYHQfqSFVw

[rupert]

No mention of Zillion yet

I love Zillion, it's easily in my top 3 games. Its much more than just a platform/run and gun game, you have to use your brain a fair bit. Back in the day I remember playing all the way though to the end part not realising you then need to exit the base quickly and didnt have a map! Straight away I started again but drew a map of the complex as I went along.

Now you can get a map off the internet but if you havnet played this before I recommend drawing one as you go, for me it adds to the experience of the game.

I could write a lot about this game but this review sums it up very well.. http://www.gamefaqs.com/sms/588176-zill ... view-59176

[flatapex]

No mention of Zillion yet

I love Zillion, it's easily in my top 3 games. Its much more than just a platform/run and gun game, you have to use your brain a fair bit. Back in the day I remember playing all the way though to the end part not realising you then need to exit the base quickly and didnt have a map! Straight away I started again but drew a map of the complex as I went along.

Now you can get a map off the internet but if you havnet played this before I recommend drawing one as you go, for me it adds to the experience of the game.

I could write a lot about this game but this review sums it up very well.. http://www.gamefaqs.com/sms/588176-zill ... view-59176

its a great game and has a lot of historical significance as well, no zillion would mean no mgs i reckon.

the off putting thing for a lot of people is no cib copies and a lot wont take a punt with no manual or box (their loss)