Brazilian here, I would say that another reason for the success of SEGA consoles here is due to Tectoy. They were responsible for officially producing and distributing Sega consoles in Brazil and Latin America, while Nintendo had only clones at the time. Sega did opt out of the console market, but Tectoy didn't, so they still re-release these old consoles every now and then.
Yes I was aware of Tec Toy, I should of mentioned it really, I thought I covered it. But regarding manufacturing I only mentioned Xboxs being manufactured in Brazil.
Yeah, it was the one I saw before this one. Have to say you´ve got a helluva collection there, and it´s ever more impressive considering you live overseas, so assembling all those cartridges together must have really been a challlenging task! Glad to see your collection keeps growing bigger and greater, and glad to be your subscriber as well! Keep up the good retrowork!
Man, I've been trying to get some of the TecToy Brazil games for my collection but they're sold at such a high price! Are there any that are cheap to pick up? I don't care if it's even a reskinned game.
Actually, the Sega Master System did become the most popular gaming platform in the UK. But not necessarily during the late '80s, when microcomputers (a.k.a. micros) were still ruling. It was right at the end of the '80s that the Master System started outselling micros. And then the Master System dominated the UK market in the early '90s, up until 1992, when the Mega Drive eventually overtook it. Nevertheless, it's clear that the Master System wasn't even competing against the NES in the UK, but was competing against micros. What's more is that Sega actually supported their micro rivals by licensing their arcade games to be ported to those platforms, something Nintendo would never do. Yet that actually helped Sega in the UK, as many of those micro players became Sega fans and moved on to the Master System.
Correct. Even though I had an A500, I found myself lusting after my friends Master System as games seemed to play better/smoother. Outrun, my favorite arcade racing game, was a joy on the master system, but an abomination on the Amiga.
Correct, first played one in 88, it felt much closer to the arcades than my spectrum, bought a second hand one with a few games a year later, the arcade feel, great graphics and sound and no loading times turned alot of British kids on to the Master System.Fond memories of a brilliant console!
Funny fact: when Tec Toy oficially released Master System here in Brazil, the console was so bloody expensive that we had to stick with cheap Famiclones instead, since Famiclones didn´t have to pay licensing fees and royalties back then. I spent all my childhood believing Alex Kidd in Miracle World was a better game than any Mario iterations just because you could fly planes, ride bikes and stuff.
@@skins4thewin he's not. What he's talking about is that, due to the fact that the Master System was an official product, and how taxes worked here at the time, most people bought Famiclones that came from Paraguay. These would even become an official product. Some Brazilian companies like CCE and Dynacom, for example, created their own Famiclones, sold as legit products in stores. One of these, the Phantom System, is one of the best (if not the best) Famiclone ever made. It has two cartridge slots, so it can play both NES and Famicom games (its not compatible with VRC6 chips). It also has a controller that's basically a clone of the Mega Drive one. It's shell is a repurposed Atari 7800 shell (there's a complex story about that). Edit: my bad, the Phantom didn't have two slots; the Famiclones with two slots were the Turbo Game and the Dynavision 3.
I'm from the Alex the Kidd universe too! Anyway, Sonic 1 and 2 SMS version are, in my opinion, really good. But probably the biggest hidden gem on the system is Land of Illusion, outstanding platform!!!
castle of illusion was my favourite :) We never see themes and settings like that anymore like the stationary levels(pens n pencils, rulers etc) great memories
I love gaming videos by Brits, particularly about the 80s. They're such a cool look into a world where things were more 3 dimensional than it was in the US, where the NES was basically the only console 90% of Americans ever heard of.
Master of Darkness (Castlevania clone), Robocop vs Terminator, Aliens 3, Kenseiden, Ninja Gaiden, Rastan, R-Type, Zillion 2, Lord of Sword, and way more great Master System games.
I didnt forget! There is a bit of footage of the game playing, however in these console reviews I make, I only tend to focus on five core games, other wise the videos would be a million minutes long! haha
Aahahahahaha yeah, u always could make part 1, 2... cheers! I like your style and the way u treat big N fan boys, finally someone with balls to say the truth about retrogames. Keep doing this excellent job!
Nice vid. Wish I had kept mine but I sold it to buy a Megadrive back in the day. Still got a Powerbase Converter though and some Master System Games. It was my first console, loved it!
I remember finally getting a Mega Drive second hand for my birthday and foolishly selling up to fund the purchase of Mega Drive games - received a bloody pittance. I think I managed to get a tatty version of Altered Beast and an annihilated copy of Streets of Rage that you had to wiggle to get it to load. I had a couple of the more sought after titles for the SMS too :/
dude, some words from a Brazilian: - the console success really was a little about poverty there (my mom herself bought it because it was cheaper than Genesis), but it were much bigger reasons that made the console a big hit, even today: 1 - TECTOY!!! this company translated games to Portuguese, lanuched other ones (like Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Battlemaniacs, etc.), did very cool ads in the local TV and converted some games like Wonder Boy to characters much more known in the Brazilian culture (Monica, TV Colosso, Sapo Xule, Chapolin, etc. ). 2 - not parents poverty, but parents IGNORANCE! For them, Master System and Genesis were the same thing, and they bought what they tought was cheaper. It was in the TV, so why not? 3 - Brazil always had consoles from the top generations, the problem is, with the high government taxes, people buy consoles from US or Paraguay and just avoid the taxes, but they still buy them (I had SNES, N64, Playstation 1 to 4, etc.). Master System still sells today because it is really cheap with many games in the memory... but it seels just a little bit, not much. - Sonic 1 and 2 were way better than Sonic Chaos... this last one it is considered too easy compared with the other ones. - Master System had the best 8 bits RPG: Phantasy Star, with a simulated 3D effect and a beauty and sound totally ahead of its time...
I bought an everdrive x7 for my master system and really recommend it as allows to play home brew and hacks and even patched game gear games like cutthroat island and mega man
i had a master system growing up and loved it, it was my uncles, he gave it to my nan for the grandkids to play on when visiting, she gave it to me, so many great games and memories
Great vid! There are so many good MS games that most people have no idea about here in the US. I only knew 2 people who ever even had 1. I finally got Golden Axe Warrior and just about to play it for the very 1st time. Great channel, looking forward to more good vids. I'm subbin'
Huh, I always thought Alex Kidd was a pretty common game since I only paid a few bucks for it but you're right, it's gotten quite expensive for a Master System game. Glad I already have a copy. My favorites for the console are probably Golvellius, Psycho Fox, Choplifter, Fantasy Zone 2 and Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap. It also has an excellent Ninja Gaiden game.
I had a favorite Master system game when i was young but for the life of me i can't remember what it was called, It was a side scrolling platformer set in an underground lab or base with 3 playable character each with different abilities where you had to explore and find people trapped in pods I wish i could remember what it was called as a local charity shop (where i volunteer) had a box of Master System and Mega Drive games donated, we aren't allowed to sell electronics but i took my break early and went after the guy, gave him 50 quid and took the box off his hands (I got a SNES+games the same way a few months ago) so i dusted of the Master System.... i'd almost forgotten how good the little system was and i'd love to find the game and play it again
I grew up with a Master System MK2, holds a very special place in my heart, in fact, just the other week, I turned it on again so I could replay a few games
I remember Nintendo's biggest problem in UK was it cost a lot more than C64 and other UK computers, but at first glance, it didn't look any better. Master System looked much better than the 8-bit computers and loaded games instantly. It wasn't as powerful as the Amiga, but then, it was a lot cheaper. It fell in a good niche and was spoiled with UK/EU third parties.
North American here, I played a couple Master System games via a weird bootleg multicart on GBA - including Alex Kidd and Sonic Chaos - and I'm from the "Alex Kidd in *the* Miracle World" universe
Although the SMS was a hit in Europe, it didn't sell well in the U.S. and the Japan. Because of the console's non-success in the U.S. and Japan, Sega was considering to leave the console market in order to make attempts to secure a Nintendo license, but attempts failed so Sega could focus on the development of the Mega Drive/Genesis, which Sega granted a license for console games (ala the Nintendo Seal of Quality) and made Sega into a superstar name for the Mega Drive/Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog. After failures to make the post-Genesis consoles, Sega successfully granted a license to Nintendo in 2001.
The NES clearly won in Australia too, I've hardly ever seen a Master System around and have virtually no nostalgia for the system other than Alex Kidd, we also got the top loader redesign of the NES too
Why play the Zelda clone on the Master System when you have PHANTASY STAR??? Great video and game on!!! The Master System still provides awesome gaming to this day!!! THGM ROCKS!!!
While the NES itself was not released in Brazil until 1993, I think, there were numerous NES clones in the market: BitSystem, Dynavision and the most famous of them all, the Phantom System. The Phantom System, or simply Phantom, was actually released a few months before the Sega Master System, in December 1988, and with great fanfare, featuring a high profile TV commercial and media coverage. So, for Brazilians, the 8-bit battle was very much a Master System vs. Phantom System battle. I, for instance, only first saw an NES years later in a friend''s house...
Some games were released for the Master System in Brazil well into the late 90s. And only in Brazil. Like, Mortal Kombat 2 had an official Master System version in Brazil.
I am brazilian and have had a Master System. Actually, there was some NES clones that where very successful at the same time (phantom system being a famous one that has a awesome history) But they divided the Nintendo share. If you have all NES/Famicon clones added, they might tie with Master System popularity. I would be delighted to tell you more about that era in Brazilian gaming.
You forgot to mention that the first release of the joypad had the ability to screw-in a little joystick, that was included, to the d-pad. Later revisions removed this feature.
Does anyone remember the first two versions of the Master System controller? The first one had the wire coming out of the controller from the side and the second one had a hole in the center of the D-Pad where you screw a little plastic joystick in it.It was like one of the 4 controllers the CD-i had.Check it out,but good luck finding one cause those plastic pieces i mentioned are rare.At least during my research on e bay.
I grew up with the NES but my childhood best friend had a Sega Master System. Whilst preferring the games on my NES, I used to really enjoy playing Gain Ground on the Master System. It was such an enjoyable game!
I first played it when I was about 9 years old, in hospital after a serious astmha attack. I remember this horrible kid having a Mega Cd and the nasty little shit wouldn't let anyone else play it. The Master System kid though was generous with his system. Tells you a little bit about spoilt children.
I grew up with a Famiclone in Brazil and I remember drooling for Phantasy Star - specially with official guides everywhere. Phantasy Star alone makes the Master System worth playing; it's an 8-bit JRPG masterpiece. In Japan the Mark III library was much, much larger, too. But whose games console of the time wasn't?
Currently in Brazil the master System is sold to The market where parents do not care for videogames and buy for small children. The issue of "poverty" cited in the video did not prevent a large number of people from buying and playing The PlayStation in the mid-90s. And at the moment the most popular videogame in Brazil is The PlayStation 4.
Probably still my overall favourite console platform. It certainly practises the "die, repeat, die, repeat, succeed" mantra. I was definitely from the Alex "the" Kid (sic) universe. There's a fair few differences between the built-in games and the stand alone cartridges too. Alex for example has hamburgers on the built in game instead of rice cakes, jump and punch buttons are reversed & the copyright year is 1990. Recently completed Sonic Chaos again on my Master System II just before the new year and it was great to play through again 👍 Golden Axe Warrior was another game from my childhood which I still play to this date. A friend of mine once asked me many years later "how the hell did we play Zelda on your Master System?". It's a great game and I'm a big fan of the BGM (especially the intro). The Ninja is just an absolute swearfest and yet another game from childhood. I've still yet to actually finish this game.
Here in Oceania the Master System also reigned supreme over the NES, seems to mirror UK/Europe that the Master System II was the one everyone had. I remember the Master System II coming out here in New Zealand around 1991 at an insanely low price, noone really had consoles before exept the odd Atari or Pong Consoles. All of a sudden kids from every background had a SMSII. The best way to see which console dominated was the video stores. The SMS had about 6-8 rows on the shelf for games to rent at my local video store, whilst the NES was probably like 30 games. This continued through with Mega Drive and Super Nintendo with Sega being top dog. N64 did eventually beat the Saturn, but by that point Playstation had taken over the world.
Wow I can buy a brand new one from Brazil!!! That's awesome u missed out here in America never heard of it till this year I can't wait to get a new one!
not exacly the newer revisions they put in stores(i dont remember if is MS3 or MS4) dont have a cardrige port,just a bunch of games save in the memory,but you still can find Master System 2
Alex Kidd in Miracle World was great. I had Alien3 on there, that was good fun. Operation: Wolf with the Light Gun. Ultima IV was a great RPG, I still want to play it if I still had my console. Populous and Lemmings too! E-SWAT was a bit rubbish though.
My brother had an NES. I had a Master System and bloody love it. You should review Wonder Boy in Monsterland as well as Wonder Boy: the Dragon's Trap (a remake of this title is currently in the works as well).
The Master System version one still looks great now. The Master System 2 looks cheap in comparison. The Master System is truly one of the most underrated console's. I absolutely love the design of the Mark 3, personally think Sega always had the best looking console's.
i LOVE the Master System when i was a kid my cousen (who was older then me) had one and whenever we went over to visit my aunt and uncle he never let me play it.... then he got an N.E.S. and my aunt made him give me his SMS and all his games... best console i own to this day...
Great video, but the system specs are a bit off. The Master System's specs are actually on its box; 256x192 res, 32 of 64 colours at once, plus if we're going to give the NES a fifth sound channel, I think it's fair to count the MS's white noise generator as a fourth channel. The NES had a palette of 54 colours (48 plus 6 greys). The 7800 can display 25 colours per scanline, therefore it can display its whole palette on the entire frame. The NES's higher res but lower power reminds me of the SNES vs. the MD. I always preferred the look of the first model MS. :)
Top Hat Gaming Man Sorry, didn't mean to sound harsh! :) Turns out that the MS could indeed match NES resolution but I'm unaware of any instance of this. Wikipedia has a decent article on the third generation console war... en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_generation_of_video_game_consoles
Not the best game on the SMS but I sank hours into Asterix. Loved the fact you could use the adaptor on the Game Gear too, gave it such a large library to enjoy. We were lucky the SMS did so well in the U.K.
I never had a Master System but I did get a Hong Kong Megadrive really early (before the UK version official launch) because I was moving to Cyprus and wanted to take one with me so didn't want to wait. I always knew it as Alex Kidd (no "the") :)
Yeah, my one friend had a SMS, and a lot of the games I enjoyed playing at his house were never remade for another system (some got Genesis ports, but many didn't). I've kicked around the idea of getting a SMS, but they've become too expensive on the retro market.
Alex Kidd, we used to have a good chuckle at my mother, who called it "Alex the Kidd", pointing out that it was like calling me "Troy the Wilkins", hahaha
My first console was Master System. Amazing times playing on it. Preferred it over NES as well as SEGA over NIntendo. I did enjoy playing on Nintendo as well, but the Master System Sonic I'll never forget. 😄
I got my MS2 free with a new TV. LOVED it. I still have it. Ah. Great little thing. I played it more than the MD since we had more games for it and we had to rent MD games.
And we did call him Alex THE Kidd. My sister even made up lyrics for the song. Alex the Kidd, Alex the kidd don't you go lose your new pair of sandals. It was funnier 20+ years ago... One of those silly memories that's only nostalgic to your own family.
This is the video that made me want to subscribe to your channel. What can I say? Most underrated console ever and better than the Nes. Terrific games to play on it, amazing stuff.
Problem with the SEGA master system is the D PAD breaks. riscman on eBay does some awesome REPLACEMENT 3D prints of these SEGA D-PADs. Really cheap and great quality too!! Check it out!
Sega was always the biggest push of hardware, it does disappoint a little when they could never really sell the best other than Sega Mega Drive and arcades.
The only game I like on SMS is WonderBoy The Dragon's Trap. A Metroidvania before the term was coined. Nice! By the way, I like this video format a lot! Great stuff!
Aaah, the console from my youth. Some of my favourite games on it were Shinobi, E-Swat, The Ninja, Robocop vs Terminator, Sagaia and Ghostbusters (yeah the one that was also on the NES is a lot better on the SMS). To this day I still hook it up and play it from time to time. btw I had the original model with built-in Hang On and Safari Hunt. (wait why am I sayin had? I still have it!)
Yeah to be honest until AVGN, I always just assumed that version of Ghost Busters was exclusive to the SMS. I didnt realise the NES had a version. It was in my original set of SMS games too. I bought an SMS and 8 games off one of my friends for £15 when I was 13. He was too preoccupied with his PS1 to care about it anymore.
im 33 and it was the master system 2 most of us had up here in scotland. mine was loaded with sonic so I would need to go to my mates to play Alex THE kidd. Was only recently I seen the game cover image and thought ALEX KIDD????
a funny side note is I was about 4 when I got my first master system and the only spare tv I could get in my room was an old black n white tv. sonic the hedgehog in black n white!
Actually Rambo (Secret Command in Europe) and Gain Ground for the Master System were far better than The Ninja IMO, what is your opinion of these titles? Also the original Golden Axe and Altered Beast were also ported to the Master System in scaled-down versions.
Good video mate, my first console was the Mark I and that bloody Ninja game took me literally months to complete. I loved how you could use the master system controllers plugged into a spectrum +2's built in joystick ports, that was a real bonus to those of us who were rubbish with joysticks and keyboard controls! Keep up the good work buddy:-)
Hell yes it is. I definitely got ripped off as a kid in US not even being aware it existed. Nintendo's illegal practices didn't help that. I will say I have a difficult time with just the feel of games on SMS as I was ingrained with NES. But it's been a few years and I'm getting better with it. Great system that if it had been allowed to have versions of any games back then, whoa. Would love games from Capcom and Konami.
When I was a kid, I used to have a ZX Spectrum and a Commodore 64 (totally pimped out with a mouse, Action Replay cartridge and 5 1/4" floppy drive that I used to save my games to so they'd load in about 6 seconds, rather than 10 minutes off the tape. When I was about 10, most of us at school had a NES, very few people had Sega Master Systems, I had both though and played my NES the most, the same when I went to secondary school, the Super Nintendo dominated at my school and only a few people had Megadrives, again, I had both and played on my SNES the most. Later on I got an Amiga and an Atari ST, not many people had either, I think I knew two people with Amiga's and three with Atari ST's. I was from the Alex Kidd world, my friend always referred to him as Alex "the" Kidd.
Brazilian here, I would say that another reason for the success of SEGA consoles here is due to Tectoy.
They were responsible for officially producing and distributing Sega consoles in Brazil and Latin America, while Nintendo had only clones at the time. Sega did opt out of the console market, but Tectoy didn't, so they still re-release these old consoles every now and then.
Yes I was aware of Tec Toy, I should of mentioned it really, I thought I covered it. But regarding manufacturing I only mentioned Xboxs being manufactured in Brazil.
So in a sense, Sega consoles are still a thing in Brazil?
@@superawesomemario1331 yup, it's like an alternate universe where HD-DVD beat out Blu-Ray.
Greetings from Brazil, the world´s top Master System collecting country!
Aperte Start Greetings to you too, have you seen my video on Brazilian exclusives yet?
Yeah, it was the one I saw before this one. Have to say you´ve got a helluva collection there, and it´s ever more impressive considering you live overseas, so assembling all those cartridges together must have really been a challlenging task! Glad to see your collection keeps growing bigger and greater, and glad to be your subscriber as well! Keep up the good retrowork!
Aperte Start thank you sir!
Man, I've been trying to get some of the TecToy Brazil games for my collection but they're sold at such a high price! Are there any that are cheap to pick up? I don't care if it's even a reskinned game.
Actually, the Sega Master System did become the most popular gaming platform in the UK. But not necessarily during the late '80s, when microcomputers (a.k.a. micros) were still ruling. It was right at the end of the '80s that the Master System started outselling micros. And then the Master System dominated the UK market in the early '90s, up until 1992, when the Mega Drive eventually overtook it.
Nevertheless, it's clear that the Master System wasn't even competing against the NES in the UK, but was competing against micros. What's more is that Sega actually supported their micro rivals by licensing their arcade games to be ported to those platforms, something Nintendo would never do. Yet that actually helped Sega in the UK, as many of those micro players became Sega fans and moved on to the Master System.
Correct. Even though I had an A500, I found myself lusting after my friends Master System as games seemed to play better/smoother. Outrun, my favorite arcade racing game, was a joy on the master system, but an abomination on the Amiga.
Correct, first played one in 88, it felt much closer to the arcades than my spectrum, bought a second hand one with a few games a year later, the arcade feel, great graphics and sound and no loading times turned alot of British kids on to the Master System.Fond memories of a brilliant console!
Funny fact: when Tec Toy oficially released Master System here in Brazil, the console was so bloody expensive that we had to stick with cheap Famiclones instead, since Famiclones didn´t have to pay licensing fees and royalties back then. I spent all my childhood believing Alex Kidd in Miracle World was a better game than any Mario iterations just because you could fly planes, ride bikes and stuff.
Aperte Start To be fair even In England we looked at it on par with Mario. Great game
I think you're using the term Famiclone incorrectly..... Fami stands for Famicom aka the Nintendo. I think you mean Master System clone.
@@skins4thewin he's not. What he's talking about is that, due to the fact that the Master System was an official product, and how taxes worked here at the time, most people bought Famiclones that came from Paraguay. These would even become an official product. Some Brazilian companies like CCE and Dynacom, for example, created their own Famiclones, sold as legit products in stores. One of these, the Phantom System, is one of the best (if not the best) Famiclone ever made. It has two cartridge slots, so it can play both NES and Famicom games (its not compatible with VRC6 chips). It also has a controller that's basically a clone of the Mega Drive one. It's shell is a repurposed Atari 7800 shell (there's a complex story about that).
Edit: my bad, the Phantom didn't have two slots; the Famiclones with two slots were the Turbo Game and the Dynavision 3.
i never actually owned a master system, but i played a bunch of the games --- it's a very underrated console
It is.
I had a Master System 2 when I was a kid
I played all of the Sonic games on the Sonic Gems Collection and other compilations
Phantasy Star is a PHENOMENAL game.
I'm from the Alex the Kidd universe too!
Anyway, Sonic 1 and 2 SMS version are, in my opinion, really good. But probably the biggest hidden gem on the system is Land of Illusion, outstanding platform!!!
castle of illusion was my favourite :) We never see themes and settings like that anymore like the stationary levels(pens n pencils, rulers etc) great memories
I love gaming videos by Brits, particularly about the 80s. They're such a cool look into a world where things were more 3 dimensional than it was in the US, where the NES was basically the only console 90% of Americans ever heard of.
It's like looking into a parallel universe
Master of Darkness (Castlevania clone), Robocop vs Terminator, Aliens 3, Kenseiden, Ninja Gaiden, Rastan, R-Type, Zillion 2, Lord of Sword, and way more great Master System games.
Who let Bill Cosby in and why do I suddenly feel so very sleepy?
Thank You for the review! You forgot the excellent Lord of Darkness, a Castelvania clone with bloody steroids! cheers from Brazil!
I didnt forget! There is a bit of footage of the game playing, however in these console reviews I make, I only tend to focus on five core games, other wise the videos would be a million minutes long! haha
Aahahahahaha yeah, u always could make part 1, 2... cheers! I like your style and the way u treat big N fan boys, finally someone with balls to say the truth about retrogames. Keep doing this excellent job!
Thank you! Ill be doing some stand alone SMS game reviews soon!
You mean Master of Darkness. Still feel the best Castlevania game is Master of Darkness.
Nice vid. Wish I had kept mine but I sold it to buy a Megadrive back in the day. Still got a Powerbase Converter though and some Master System Games. It was my first console, loved it!
I remember finally getting a Mega Drive second hand for my birthday and foolishly selling up to fund the purchase of Mega Drive games - received a bloody pittance. I think I managed to get a tatty version of Altered Beast and an annihilated copy of Streets of Rage that you had to wiggle to get it to load. I had a couple of the more sought after titles for the SMS too :/
Golvellius and Rastan!! Bad ass Master System Titles
dude, some words from a Brazilian:
- the console success really was a little about poverty there (my mom herself bought it because it was cheaper than Genesis), but it were much bigger reasons that made the console a big hit, even today: 1 - TECTOY!!! this company translated games to Portuguese, lanuched other ones (like Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Battlemaniacs, etc.), did very cool ads in the local TV and converted some games like Wonder Boy to characters much more known in the Brazilian culture (Monica, TV Colosso, Sapo Xule, Chapolin, etc. ). 2 - not parents poverty, but parents IGNORANCE! For them, Master System and Genesis were the same thing, and they bought what they tought was cheaper. It was in the TV, so why not? 3 - Brazil always had consoles from the top generations, the problem is, with the high government taxes, people buy consoles from US or Paraguay and just avoid the taxes, but they still buy them (I had SNES, N64, Playstation 1 to 4, etc.). Master System still sells today because it is really cheap with many games in the memory... but it seels just a little bit, not much.
- Sonic 1 and 2 were way better than Sonic Chaos... this last one it is considered too easy compared with the other ones.
- Master System had the best 8 bits RPG: Phantasy Star, with a simulated 3D effect and a beauty and sound totally ahead of its time...
I bought an everdrive x7 for my master system and really recommend it as allows to play home brew and hacks and even patched game gear games like cutthroat island and mega man
i had a master system growing up and loved it, it was my uncles, he gave it to my nan for the grandkids to play on when visiting, she gave it to me, so many great games and memories
Great vid! There are so many good MS games that most people have no idea about here in the US. I only knew 2 people who ever even had 1. I finally got Golden Axe Warrior and just about to play it for the very 1st time. Great channel, looking forward to more good vids. I'm subbin'
The best games came out post 1990.
Huh, I always thought Alex Kidd was a pretty common game since I only paid a few bucks for it but you're right, it's gotten quite expensive for a Master System game. Glad I already have a copy. My favorites for the console are probably Golvellius, Psycho Fox, Choplifter, Fantasy Zone 2 and Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap. It also has an excellent Ninja Gaiden game.
I had a favorite Master system game when i was young but for the life of me i can't remember what it was called, It was a side scrolling platformer set in an underground lab or base with 3 playable character each with different abilities where you had to explore and find people trapped in pods
I wish i could remember what it was called as a local charity shop (where i volunteer) had a box of Master System and Mega Drive games donated, we aren't allowed to sell electronics but i took my break early and went after the guy, gave him 50 quid and took the box off his hands (I got a SNES+games the same way a few months ago) so i dusted of the Master System.... i'd almost forgotten how good the little system was and i'd love to find the game and play it again
Sounds like Zillion
I just googled Zillion and checked around TH-cam and that's the one
Thank you :)
Anarki471 No worries. It's a great game!
Yeah I remember it as 'Alex THE Kid' actually! Gotta be the 'Mandela effect;' 0_0
I grew up with a Master System MK2, holds a very special place in my heart, in fact, just the other week, I turned it on again so I could replay a few games
That's insane! I also referred to Alex "The" Kidd for long enough!🤣
I remember Nintendo's biggest problem in UK was it cost a lot more than C64 and other UK computers, but at first glance, it didn't look any better.
Master System looked much better than the 8-bit computers and loaded games instantly.
It wasn't as powerful as the Amiga, but then, it was a lot cheaper. It fell in a good niche and was spoiled with UK/EU third parties.
SMS wasn't as powerful as the Amiga because it was 8bit while the Amiga was 16bit.
North American here, I played a couple Master System games via a weird bootleg multicart on GBA - including Alex Kidd and Sonic Chaos - and I'm from the "Alex Kidd in *the* Miracle World" universe
Although the SMS was a hit in Europe, it didn't sell well in the U.S. and the Japan. Because of the console's non-success in the U.S. and Japan, Sega was considering to leave the console market in order to make attempts to secure a Nintendo license, but attempts failed so Sega could focus on the development of the Mega Drive/Genesis, which Sega granted a license for console games (ala the Nintendo Seal of Quality) and made Sega into a superstar name for the Mega Drive/Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog. After failures to make the post-Genesis consoles, Sega successfully granted a license to Nintendo in 2001.
The NES clearly won in Australia too, I've hardly ever seen a Master System around and have virtually no nostalgia for the system other than Alex Kidd, we also got the top loader redesign of the NES too
So mad I sold all my old consoles whenever I bought new ones.
I would have pretty much every system made since the Genesis.
Why play the Zelda clone on the Master System when you have PHANTASY STAR??? Great video and game on!!! The Master System still provides awesome gaming to this day!!! THGM ROCKS!!!
The Master System was released here in Australia in 1986 and was very popular due to Sega’s strong presence in the arcades.
While the NES itself was not released in Brazil until 1993, I think, there were numerous NES clones in the market: BitSystem, Dynavision and the most famous of them all, the Phantom System. The Phantom System, or simply Phantom, was actually released a few months before the Sega Master System, in December 1988, and with great fanfare, featuring a high profile TV commercial and media coverage. So, for Brazilians, the 8-bit battle was very much a Master System vs. Phantom System battle. I, for instance, only first saw an NES years later in a friend''s house...
3D glasses was electronic liquid crystal lens. Way ahead of its time
Speaking of the Sega Master System, there is a Master System converter for the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive and the Sega Game Gear.
Great video. One of my favourites still, is Wonderboy III the Dragon's Trap. Decades on and I'm still freaked out by it.
Some games were released for the Master System in Brazil well into the late 90s. And only in Brazil.
Like, Mortal Kombat 2 had an official Master System version in Brazil.
SPELLCASTER was my favourite game. Along with gangster town.
I am brazilian and have had a Master System. Actually, there was some NES clones that where very successful at the same time (phantom system being a famous one that has a awesome history)
But they divided the Nintendo share.
If you have all NES/Famicon clones added, they might tie with Master System popularity.
I would be delighted to tell you more about that era in Brazilian gaming.
You forgot to mention that the first release of the joypad had the ability to screw-in a little joystick, that was included, to the d-pad. Later revisions removed this feature.
Still have mine here in the U.S. It still works well, while I had to repair my NES which I also still have.
Does anyone remember the first two versions of the Master System controller?
The first one had the wire coming out of the controller from the side and the second one had a hole in the center of the D-Pad where you screw a little plastic joystick in it.It was like one of the 4 controllers the CD-i had.Check it out,but good luck finding one cause those plastic pieces i mentioned are rare.At least during my research on e bay.
I grew up with the NES but my childhood best friend had a Sega Master System. Whilst preferring the games on my NES, I used to really enjoy playing Gain Ground on the Master System. It was such an enjoyable game!
I first played it when I was about 9 years old, in hospital after a serious astmha attack. I remember this horrible kid having a Mega Cd and the nasty little shit wouldn't let anyone else play it. The Master System kid though was generous with his system. Tells you a little bit about spoilt children.
I grew up with a Famiclone in Brazil and I remember drooling for Phantasy Star - specially with official guides everywhere. Phantasy Star alone makes the Master System worth playing; it's an 8-bit JRPG masterpiece.
In Japan the Mark III library was much, much larger, too. But whose games console of the time wasn't?
Currently in Brazil the master System is sold to The market where parents do not care for videogames and buy for small children. The issue of "poverty" cited in the video did not prevent a large number of people from buying and playing The PlayStation in the mid-90s. And at the moment the most popular videogame in Brazil is The PlayStation 4.
Lovely job! Good to see a fellow Brit doing retro reviews! :-D
I LOVE Golden Axe Warrior. The music is just glorious!
Probably still my overall favourite console platform. It certainly practises the "die, repeat, die, repeat, succeed" mantra. I was definitely from the Alex "the" Kid (sic) universe. There's a fair few differences between the built-in games and the stand alone cartridges too. Alex for example has hamburgers on the built in game instead of rice cakes, jump and punch buttons are reversed & the copyright year is 1990.
Recently completed Sonic Chaos again on my Master System II just before the new year and it was great to play through again 👍
Golden Axe Warrior was another game from my childhood which I still play to this date. A friend of mine once asked me many years later "how the hell did we play Zelda on your Master System?". It's a great game and I'm a big fan of the BGM (especially the intro).
The Ninja is just an absolute swearfest and yet another game from childhood. I've still yet to actually finish this game.
Here in Oceania the Master System also reigned supreme over the NES, seems to mirror UK/Europe that the Master System II was the one everyone had. I remember the Master System II coming out here in New Zealand around 1991 at an insanely low price, noone really had consoles before exept the odd Atari or Pong Consoles. All of a sudden kids from every background had a SMSII. The best way to see which console dominated was the video stores. The SMS had about 6-8 rows on the shelf for games to rent at my local video store, whilst the NES was probably like 30 games. This continued through with Mega Drive and Super Nintendo with Sega being top dog. N64 did eventually beat the Saturn, but by that point Playstation had taken over the world.
you have great video games knowledge,, Educational videos :D
Wow I can buy a brand new one from Brazil!!! That's awesome u missed out here in America never heard of it till this year I can't wait to get a new one!
not exacly the newer revisions they put in stores(i dont remember if is MS3 or MS4) dont have a cardrige port,just a bunch of games save in the memory,but you still can find Master System 2
Alex Kidd in Miracle World was great.
I had Alien3 on there, that was good fun. Operation: Wolf with the Light Gun.
Ultima IV was a great RPG, I still want to play it if I still had my console. Populous and Lemmings too!
E-SWAT was a bit rubbish though.
that Alex the kid tune was burnt in to my brain as kid - not sure if I love it or hate it
My brother had an NES. I had a Master System and bloody love it. You should review Wonder Boy in Monsterland as well as Wonder Boy: the Dragon's Trap (a remake of this title is currently in the works as well).
I only heard Alex referred to as "Alex Kidd." Not that I heard about him very much. I only ever saw 2 Master Systems.
The Master System version one still looks great now. The Master System 2 looks cheap in comparison. The Master System is truly one of the most underrated console's. I absolutely love the design of the Mark 3, personally think Sega always had the best looking console's.
I quite like the SMS II.
i LOVE the Master System when i was a kid my cousen (who was older then me) had one and whenever we went over to visit my aunt and uncle he never let me play it.... then he got an N.E.S. and my aunt made him give me his SMS and all his games... best console i own to this day...
yeah my Uncle would never let me play his SNES either, I know the pain lol
I'll be puting these roms on my wii. Thanks Tophat!
Great video, but the system specs are a bit off. The Master System's specs are actually on its box; 256x192 res, 32 of 64 colours at once, plus if we're going to give the NES a fifth sound channel, I think it's fair to count the MS's white noise generator as a fourth channel. The NES had a palette of 54 colours (48 plus 6 greys). The 7800 can display 25 colours per scanline, therefore it can display its whole palette on the entire frame. The NES's higher res but lower power reminds me of the SNES vs. the MD.
I always preferred the look of the first model MS. :)
Thanks, I know nothing about bloody specs, I just know what I like haha. The Spec list was just something I grabbed off google images lol.
Top Hat Gaming Man Sorry, didn't mean to sound harsh! :)
Turns out that the MS could indeed match NES resolution but I'm unaware of any instance of this. Wikipedia has a decent article on the third generation console war... en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_generation_of_video_game_consoles
Not the best game on the SMS but I sank hours into Asterix. Loved the fact you could use the adaptor on the Game Gear too, gave it such a large library to enjoy. We were lucky the SMS did so well in the U.K.
8 years old when I got my first console the master system. I will always think it worthy of playing.
I bought mine to get zaxxon 3d and spyhunter.
My first video game was a pong box in black and white.
This system and celecovision were my favorites.
I
I never had a Master System but I did get a Hong Kong Megadrive really early (before the UK version official launch) because I was moving to Cyprus and wanted to take one with me so didn't want to wait. I always knew it as Alex Kidd (no "the") :)
Its a shame SEGA never jumped on the mini classic bandwagon. I would love a Master System and Genesis/Mega Drive etc consoles.
love and enjoy the video Love the Master system here in Australia too
I prefer the Nes despite the better hardware of the Sms due to the sound being not as good to my ears for me on the Sms
The Master System is definitely worth playing. Games like Outrun, Shinobi, The Ninja, and Wonder Boy are must plays for me.
Yeah, my one friend had a SMS, and a lot of the games I enjoyed playing at his house were never remade for another system (some got Genesis ports, but many didn't). I've kicked around the idea of getting a SMS, but they've become too expensive on the retro market.
Just recently got into the master system. The games are fantastic
Yes, in terms of quality, toe to toe with the NES in my opinion.
Alright I'm gonna go move to brazil and stay there until 666k gaming happens
Alex Kidd, we used to have a good chuckle at my mother, who called it "Alex the Kidd", pointing out that it was like calling me "Troy the Wilkins", hahaha
In my Universe we laughed at Mothers who called it 'Alex Kidd'.
I love that in both universes, we're all having a good laugh at our mothers :)
My first console was Master System. Amazing times playing on it. Preferred it over NES as well as SEGA over NIntendo. I did enjoy playing on Nintendo as well, but the Master System Sonic I'll never forget. 😄
I got my MS2 free with a new TV. LOVED it. I still have it. Ah. Great little thing. I played it more than the MD since we had more games for it and we had to rent MD games.
And we did call him Alex THE Kidd. My sister even made up lyrics for the song. Alex the Kidd, Alex the kidd don't you go lose your new pair of sandals. It was funnier 20+ years ago... One of those silly memories that's only nostalgic to your own family.
I never played the Zelda styled golden axe!!!
the beat em up on Genesis was one of my favorite games though.
it looks awesome! I wanna get it.
Shining force will forever be my favorite Sega game. don't think it was on the master system though right? only gensis and Saturn?
I never played a single phantasy star game! I have to find them
I remember getting a Master System 2 for christmas in 1992. Think it cost £80 at the time...
Got mine in 1999 with 8 games for £15. I was retro gaming before it was the cool thing to do lol
God I wanted a master system badly. I saved up the money, and then on whim, I purchased an Electric Guitar instead. Never did learn how to play :/
Great video my man, had fun watching
This is the video that made me want to subscribe to your channel.
What can I say? Most underrated console ever and better than the Nes. Terrific games to play on it, amazing stuff.
Did the 80’s just became the 90’s?!
8:21 Collect money? I wonder if he evolved into a character in the Mario universe....
Big Ol Greedy Wario maybe?
Love "The Ninja" never finished it but gotten to the second last level
Problem with the SEGA master system is the D PAD breaks. riscman on eBay does some awesome REPLACEMENT 3D prints of these SEGA D-PADs. Really cheap and great quality too!! Check it out!
much better than the nes fire and forget 2 , sonic chaos , asterix , james bond duel, some of my favs
Did you know that there is a port of the first three on the gba?
Sega was always the biggest push of hardware, it does disappoint a little when they could never really sell the best other than Sega Mega Drive and arcades.
The only game I like on SMS is WonderBoy The Dragon's Trap. A Metroidvania before the term was coined. Nice!
By the way, I like this video format a lot! Great stuff!
Aaah, the console from my youth. Some of my favourite games on it were Shinobi, E-Swat, The Ninja, Robocop vs Terminator, Sagaia and Ghostbusters (yeah the one that was also on the NES is a lot better on the SMS). To this day I still hook it up and play it from time to time.
btw I had the original model with built-in Hang On and Safari Hunt. (wait why am I sayin had? I still have it!)
Yeah to be honest until AVGN, I always just assumed that version of Ghost Busters was exclusive to the SMS. I didnt realise the NES had a version. It was in my original set of SMS games too. I bought an SMS and 8 games off one of my friends for £15 when I was 13. He was too preoccupied with his PS1 to care about it anymore.
What game was shown at 4:16?
freddyvidz Think it was called Action Fighter?
It's like asking whether water is wet. Of course it is!
im 33 and it was the master system 2 most of us had up here in scotland. mine was loaded with sonic so I would need to go to my mates to play Alex THE kidd. Was only recently I seen the game cover image and thought ALEX KIDD????
a funny side note is I was about 4 when I got my first master system and the only spare tv I could get in my room was an old black n white tv. sonic the hedgehog in black n white!
Actually Rambo (Secret Command in Europe) and Gain Ground for the Master System were far better than The Ninja IMO, what is your opinion of these titles? Also the original Golden Axe and Altered Beast were also ported to the Master System in scaled-down versions.
love the master system especially built in Alex kidd and Rastan and Dynamite Dux 👍
GREAT Brother Nero reference!!!
I knew you'd come
Good video mate, my first console was the Mark I and that bloody Ninja game took me literally months to complete. I loved how you could use the master system controllers plugged into a spectrum +2's built in joystick ports, that was a real bonus to those of us who were rubbish with joysticks and keyboard controls! Keep up the good work buddy:-)
It is still being sold in retail.
in south america was only popular in Brazil. In the rest of the countries, rules the clones of famicom
attack of the clones
I love SMS. My best games are Psycho Fox and Wonder boy 3: Dragons Trap
Hell yes it is. I definitely got ripped off as a kid in US not even being aware it existed. Nintendo's illegal practices didn't help that. I will say I have a difficult time with just the feel of games on SMS as I was ingrained with NES. But it's been a few years and I'm getting better with it. Great system that if it had been allowed to have versions of any games back then, whoa. Would love games from Capcom and Konami.
Forgotten worlds was a great capcom Sega title
I too remember Alex THE kid.
Isn't the master system controller a bit smaller than that of the NES? I only have USB NES controllers here but they're a fair deal bigger I think o_o
DesRoin Nope there like for like the same size.
I find it so funny that people say the Nes controller is nothing like the SMS one when they're both clearly the same bar a couple of differences.
When I was a kid, I used to have a ZX Spectrum and a Commodore 64 (totally pimped out with a mouse, Action Replay cartridge and 5 1/4" floppy drive that I used to save my games to so they'd load in about 6 seconds, rather than 10 minutes off the tape. When I was about 10, most of us at school had a NES, very few people had Sega Master Systems, I had both though and played my NES the most, the same when I went to secondary school, the Super Nintendo dominated at my school and only a few people had Megadrives, again, I had both and played on my SNES the most.
Later on I got an Amiga and an Atari ST, not many people had either, I think I knew two people with Amiga's and three with Atari ST's.
I was from the Alex Kidd world, my friend always referred to him as Alex "the" Kidd.
Great video, very informative :)
Master System did okay in Australia
LOVE AND RESPECT FROM GREECE Γεια σου παιχταρά SEGA MASTER SYSTEM 2 FIRST LOVE !