16-bit arcade hits on the Sega Master System that might surprise you!

Some of the best games of the 16-bit era era including Outrun, Double Dragon, Paperboy, Rampage and more! At no point will I compare the SMS to the NES. Probably…
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00:00 Introduction
00:24 Background and History
03:30 Outrun
06:47 Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
13:02 Marble Madness
14:45 Rampage
16:08 Double Dragon
20:07 Shinobi
22:45 Paperboy
24:41 Space Harrier
27:23 Conclusion
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[@bernardmarais3521]

I am from South Africa, I first saw a NES when I was about five. Then When I was about 7, our local stores had a sale on the SMS and from then on they were as common as the NES. It was always known that the SEGA games had something special about them. We loved the colours compares to the NES. Good times!

[@jeffm5056]

I always felt that the SMS had a better version of Double Dragon. You had better music, the levels stayed true to the arcade, and most importantly, it offered 2 player simultaneous play.

[@rustymixer2886]

The FM music version was epic compared to its regular audio

[@RaginKavu]

Can confirm. I'm a Brazilian, and got a SMS as bday present, waaaay back in 92. It was my 1st videogame console. The funny thing? At the same time, I was given the G.I.Joe tank that I was wanting! It took me 2 days to go see what that SMS thing was all about, and my mom telling me that my dad was kinda sad, that I didn't appreciate the more expensive gift. Little did he knew, I'd wind up in programming...

[@lyrand6408]

I often read about how SEGA really captured the gamer crowd in South America, but in particular Brazil, where basically the Genesis (specifically) was Brazil's Super Nintendo basically. But I wouldn't be surprised that the Master System also worked well. I think SEGA simply had a lot of success in South America. But I wouldn't know why. Was it due to pricing Vs Nintendo? Or were Nintendo consoles simply not available as much?

[@RaginKavu]

@@lyrand6408 sure, it was due to pricing. We had a company called TecToy here, which manufactured Sega's consoles. The SMS was the cheap one, "for the masses", and the Genesis (Mega Drive as it was known here) was the "rich kids" one. That's not to say Throughout the 90's, Brazil went to a colossal inflation crisis. I'm talking about 50% increases and upwards *per month* ! I vividly remember a woman begging to a market worker, to let her buy a product before he changed the price tag, or else she wouldn't be able to afford it (it came to a point where it was changed daily). Add the stupid taxation of imported goods we had to the mix, and one can see why a console made in the country was super successful.

[@lyrand6408]

@@RaginKavu I see, that explains it. It must have been very hard times, sorry to hear it man. But I'm glad at least Sega stood above the crowd because they did deserve it.

[@RaginKavu]

@@lyrand6408 it was, but I was a child back then, so I just remember the general atmosphere, and what I saw at the news. Got my SMS when I was just 7. Too young to fully comprehend what was going on, but not totally oblivious. We still had the NES around here, but it was waaay more expensive. That's what I was going to write after "That's not to say". Sorry, was in a rush, had to stop mid sentence.

[@keopsequinox1624]

I loved my Master System when I was a kid, it was wonderful.

[@dougr8646]

I loved my kid when I was a master system! Small world

[@maxxdahl6062]

I did too, had two back in the day. Now I just use a 3rd party converter for my genesis to play SMS.

[@KingStr0ng]

​@@dougr8646 💀

[@qwanathomas735]

I remember waiting for mine on Christmas day, I'd already brought myself a copy of Choplifter, buzzing.

[@EmperorMegas]

The Master System actually had lots of marketing. I couldn't go a hour without a SEGA Master System commerical with that narrator with the deep voice. While I had both the SMS and NES growing up, I was a huge Master System kid. It's still tied with the TG-16 as my favorite retro console.

[@JiNXX9500]

I had an SMS before I had an NES. My dad bought the SMS new sometime in '85. I was almost 5 years old. Still remember playing Choplifter, Hang On, Safari Hunt, Great Football, and My Hero. "Now, there are no limits." was absolutely a slogan.

[@pyjama9556]

Choplifter, Wonder Boy, Fantasy Zone, Action Fighter & Alex Kidd in the Miracle World are essential plays!🙌

[@retrobitstv]

I have tried all of those except for Action Fighter! I'll put it on my list, thanks :)

[@mrmaxaxl]

Wonderboy in Monsterland, and Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap, are the best sms games!

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Nice list, I'll add Kenseiden, Black Belt (aka Hokuto No Ken/ Fist of the North Star), Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog (different from the 16 bit).

[@AstralWolf86]

Don’t forget Sonic 2

[@JaviSurre]

And Asterix, is awesome!

[@Wrekkshoppe]

The SEGA MASTER SYSTEM was my very first console back in the mid 1980s. My father bought it for me. Played the hell out of it.

[@magnus547]

Just wanted to add, in case others didn't mention it. In the video, you mentioned that in Double Dragon, there's no way to grab your opponent reliably. There actually is a way: Opponents can't be grabbed right away. You have to weaken them first. For example. Jump kick an opponent twice. Afterwards, they should be weak enough for a headlock once you move your character on top of theirs.

[@HollowRick]

This ^

[@mr.pavone9719]

R-Type was an excellent arcade to home port.

[@justz00t48]

For real. Very impressive for a 8 bit port.

[@virtuactual4087]

Especially with FM sound!

[@markchambers3833]

R Type is awesome on the Master System. Personally I prefer the PSG sound on the game. The FM sound is richer and has a better range of tone. However, the PSG somehow has more force and for me it suits the game better. Both soundtracks are excellent though. I thought it was amazing back in the day that you could access a sound test on the game over screen and play all the tunes.

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

I absolutely loved my Sega Master System. Rampage & Double Dragon were my favorite arcade ports on it but I loved so many other games.

[@misterlexx2721]

I had Rambo , Rambo 3, Hang On, and Altered Beast and others

[@wm437]

The Sega Master System and the Dreamcast were two of the best systems that were made for their times. Pity that they were so underated and under-appreciated.

[@Svante]

Double Dragon, Out Run and Shinobi, used the FM expansion, in the japanese MarkIII/Master system, which is why the music sounds better, than what we got in the west. Often it sounded very close the quality of the Mega Drive/Genesis.

[@rustymixer2886]

Cant genesis everdrive pro repro fm sms music?

[@TanjoGalbi]

The Sega Game Gear handheld is basically a Master System in handheld form with stereo sound capabilities. I used to own a Game Gear and had an adapter cartridge for it that allowed me to plug Master System games into it.

[@fattomandeibu]

Those things like draining batteries, mind you.

[@jeffreyjohnson5823]

Yes. The Master Gear Converter. Had one also. It was a big plus if you had a Game Gear.

[@philfrank5601]

I gotta be the only guy I know who back in the day played a Sega Master System before anybody had an NES. One of the guys had parents who bought them every game you could imagine, so the SMS was always a system I admired. It was for people who loved arcade games and computer games of the era.

[@fattomandeibu]

@@philfrank5601 They sold more Master Systems than NES consoles here in England, though most gamers used computers(like the Commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum, Amiga and Atari systems) here back then.

[@bit-ishbulldog2089]

I'm from the UK, I've owned my SEGA Master System from 1987 still in fantastic condition.. good memories and was the first system I personally owned. My brother had a Atari 2600, a Commodore 16 and a Commodore 128 before I owned that so they were my first home experience of gaming in the early to mid 80's. I was a SEGA fan before I owned the Master System via Arcade games.

[@RockyFluffyWhiskas]

I’m from the U.K. too and we loved the master system. My elder brother also had C64, commodore plus 4. Friends had spectrums, Amstrads, master systems but I only new one person with a NES and it seemed lame 👍

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

I love my UK Master System. ❤

[@chanimpresario4968]

Innit Mate!

[@chanimpresario4968]

I used to play Outrun on my Atari ST with Micheal Jackson style glasses on to feel "RAD" 🤣🤦🏿‍♂️ I was 12 man stfu 🤣

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

@@chanimpresario4968 Since you were a pre-teen, any chance you played the Atari 2600 growing up?

[@returnofmerenguespersempre6664]

Ghouls and ghosts is such an underrated gem.

[@rustymixer2886]

9/10

[@TCGView]

16:09 Oh, how I remember playing DD on the Master System. We got the Master system for Christmas and when my mom bought it, they had a deal where you could get a copy of Double Dragon free if you mailed in the UPC and proof of purchase. It took TWO MONTHS to get to us - the longest two months of my life up until that point. My brother and I logged so many hours playing this game. It was indeed very different from the arcade version, but it still had its' charm.

[@mikereyes2488]

When i was a kid in the late 80s early 90s all my friends has NES, i was one of the only few who had Master System. I vividly remember playing (owning) outrun, after burner, altered beast, Ghostbusters, spy vs spy, and some safari shooter (i cant remember the name) a few years later i got nes then snes. But ya i never had genesis or any other sega consoles until the DreamCast (my favorite system). Good ol days

[@CarfDarko]

Still the most aesthetically pleasing console ever released in my book

[@f.k.b.16]

With the ugliest game boxes

[@markchambers3833]

​@@f.k.b.16Who do you know that plays game boxes? 😄 The graphical capabilities of the system are superb. The best looking 8 bit system by a considerable distance, light years ahead of its competition.

[@f.k.b.16]

@@markchambers3833 true that! If only SEGA had good lawyers and a better sound chip than the SMS had and I think they would have mopped the floor with Nintendo in the 80s! (Oh and better boxes lol! Joking)

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

I love Outrun on the SMS. It's flickers a bit but it's includes almost every detail the arcade does including the map screen, choice of music, and dozens of different backround levels. Its one of the best 8-bit racing games imo.

[@SlCKB0Y-sb1kg]

Whilst I understand the nostalgia around a game like Alex Kidd, it is an objectively bad game. Terrible level design a excruciatingly bad controls/physics

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

@@SlCKB0Y-sb1kg are you talking about Alex Kidd or Outrun? I would agree Alex Kidd is an overrated franchise where the games got worse each time until Shinobi world which was OK. Wonderboy should of been the SMS mascot after Opa Opa, that was the much better series. Even the NES cloned it and renamed it Adventure Island through Hudson gaming

[@SlCKB0Y-sb1kg]

@@pinebarrenpatriot8289 Sorry, I didn’t mean to post my comment as a response you - that was an accident.

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

@@SlCKB0Y-sb1kg I would still agree with your comment. The Alex Kidd series was average at best. Miracle World and Shinobi world were just ok. The Lost Stars and part 3 were terrible. Just like the Mario Brother series on the NES every Wonderboy game got better up to part 3. Wonderboy should of been their Mascot back in the 80's

[@JD.78]

Prince of Persia, Submarine Attack, Wonder Boy III, R-Type, Master of Darkness and Sonic are some of my favourite MS games. I loved this console when i was a kid, the NES was excellent too, but the MS held it's own without a doubt.

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

This was my first game system after ColecoVision (I had graduated to a C64) and I LOVED IT! FANTASY ZONE remains one of my favorite games ever! The graphics & music were trippy and awesome!

[@Idelacio]

Sigh, as a Brit this was a system I genuinely coveted. So many good games like Rampage. :D I mean I loved my NES too, I would have been happy to have had both. :3

[@random_gamer_guy82]

I've just found out your channel now and honestly your definitely in need of more subs, I'm going to share your channel. Really really interesting and easy to follow, too many youtubers talk far to fast and fail to put things across easily. Brilliant stuff man, every credit to you 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks for your support and I appreciate the encouragement!

[@jeremyc7786]

Great video, you've just inspired me to switch on the Mister! Also noticed the SMS Paperboy has the background music from Zippy Race/Traverse USA.

[@MaggieKeizai]

I remember the first time I saw one, an in-store demo. People were standing around saying "this thing's graphics are so much better than the nintendo's". I wanted one, but my cheap parents made sure I was stuck with my Atari. A friend's brother had one, though, so I got to play on it. Definitely my favorite 8 bit console, it just put such better pictures on the screen.

[@misterlexx2721]

The failure of its poor sales was due to a lack of 3rd party titles . Nintendo was buying out the 3rd party developers who were making titles for Sega Master System. It was when Genesis came out things changed.

[@billysmidway7032]

I was lucky that one of my older brothers bought a SEGA Master System at launch and we all loved it so much that he bought one for my father that Christmas but it was essentially mine. There were so many great games for the SMS that I didn’t even care about the NES. My friends loved to brag about their NES but when they saw my SMS, they stopped bragging and begged to play with it. I still have both of the Master Systems I grew up with and I’ve added many more games but I still go back to the ones I grew up with. There are card games that slide into the front slot and some are quite good.

[@systemchris]

I had a master system 2 as a kid. Loved it, especially the sonic games on it and double dragon

[@systemchris]

And the wonder boy sequels

[@ess3360]

I grew up with one. Sega master system, I was 9? 1986 my dad got it for us and it was amazing. Alex the kid, zillion so many. We didn't get an nes till mario 3 came out. Astro warriors omg so many memories there, thank you!

[@pr3st00]

This thing was INSANELY popular in Brazil, mostly because of a company called Tec-Toy and the amazing advertising they did here. It was also insanely expansive, reason why I've never had one as a kid.

[@bee2377]

I lived right in the middle of America and my uncle had a master system. I had a Nintendo at home, but i couldn't get enough of outrun, afterburner, choplifter, safari hunt and hang on!!

[@LeMecanoDuDimanche]

thank you for this video, that bring lots of good memories. We used to play Alex Kidd, Shinobi, Battle Outrun and Double Dragon 2 with my brother, back in the days... greetings from France

[@brentwalker5726]

Loved my Sega Master System as a kid. I was just about the only one in my group of friends who had one. Everyone else had an NES. My favorite game was Wonder Boy in Monster Land.

[@gregledbetter5942]

When I was a kid I was one of the lucky ones who had the Master System. Ghouls and ghosts was definitely my favorite. I remember the first time on the second level that game started lagging... me and my brother play that game forever passing the controller back and forth... Years later doing a bit of research I discovered it's a fairly difficult game, like Castlevania 3 on NES... Me and my brother love that one oh, but it turns out it was a masterpiece let alone a fairly difficult game. They put a lot of craftsmanship into building some of these games..

[@BadgerOff32]

The Master System was a lot more popular in Europe than it was in America. One amazing thing about it was that when Sega released the Mega Drive, they didn't abandon the Master System, like console companies seem to do today! They simply repositioned it as a 'budget' console alongside their newer, more powerful console and kept producing and selling it. That meant it got supported with games for far longer than it normally would have, and ended up outliving the NES by quite a way. They even ported new games from the Mega Drive over to the Master System, so even if you had the cheaper 'budget' system, you could still play new games like Sonic, Road Rash and Altered Beast.

[@Owazrim]

I picked up my first Master System a few years ago and have really enjoyed exploring the library and finding new games. It's the little system that could but didn't get much love stateside. Marble Madness is a lot of fun with the Sports pad and it's a fun controller to use with Y's and other games.

[@tom11zz884]

Let's not forget the underrated classic Fantasy Zone 2 That game was a Two-Meg cartridge, and was awesome!

[@EmperorMegas]

'Fantasy Zone II' is probably my favorite game of all time. I played it daily as a kid, almost religiously. I could probably play through it to the end, blindfolded, on muscle memory alone. The music was also incredible, and it even had a touching, albeit simple, story. I've played scores of (technically) better games in my life, but FZII was just the right game at the right time of my life, so it may never get dethroned.

[@maxbspqr]

Great video. Nice, composed, objective and yet witty writing! Enjoyed it immensely. Greetings from Rome. 😊

[@YouTubeAddict50]

Have to admit, when I was debating between a SMS or an NES back in day, the SMS game boxes just never caught my eye cuz they were so bland; yet I would spend hours looking at each and every NES game due to the cool box art.

[@Dangic23]

I still have my Sega Master System I got for Christmas 1986. Still works great.

[@jmac79ers]

Really enjoyed this! I had never played or even seen a sms, but managed to pick one up for a great price a few years ago. Games are so scarce here, locally, but mine came with wonder boy, wonder boy 3, double dragon, and altered beast.

[@frizankrizizzo]

Double Dragon on Master System was my introduction to the series! And I’m in NA! My family had one before I was born so I grew up with it. And we never had an NES. But we did have both SNES and Genesis later on

[@ricashbringer9866]

I have one from the 80s. I love the system and still play it on occasion. I recently bought a game for at a gaming convention. I only found one vendor who had any SMS games.

[@ceeece]

I loved my SMS. I had so many games for it. Outrun was one of my favorites. Later i got the converter for the Genesis. And I still have it and the games.

[@DrJ3RK8]

There were actually quite a few commercials for it, but only for a short window I think. They featured R-Type in one of them, which is actually what made me decide I wanted one. That was a little bit later in the product life though.

[@PapiBocaChula]

I grew up in The Bronx, New York. And The Sega Master System was the First Console I played. Space Harrier was one of my favorites. Choplifter

[@JonoHalle]

I grew up in the UK, and out of all my friends they mostly had a SMS, but there was one kid that had a NES.. The NES was not really that popular in the UK. It was very expensive to buy games for it.

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

Didn't the NES start to find an audience when it came bundled with the Hero Turtles game?

[@JonoHalle]

@@fictionalmediabully9830 Not really, when it was between £20-30 for a SMS game, then you see a NES game starting at around £50-60 it was a no brainer really.

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

@@JonoHalle I found a NES UK commercial from the late '80s, and it said the prices ranged from £20 to £40. I then found one from the early '90s, and it seemed like prices began shooting up to £50, which must have annoyed parents on a budget. I've been doing some research on the UK NES Vs SMS story, and I think I might have found one of the main reasons it didn't catch on. It seemed like, early on, a lot of its game library mainly comprised games you could already get on home computers with hardly any improvements visually and sonically. Who would want to buy a cartridge of "Donkey Kong" for £20 when they could get the same game on ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64 for vastly cheaper with the added bonus of making a pirate copy for their friend or cousin? I find it fascinating, despite it all being way before my time.

[@perfectlemming8394]

I only knew one person with a nes too , same kid was one of the only ppl I knew with a snes too . He lent me his nes after he got his snes . There was an issue with the power button where the console would never power one . If you rapidly press the power button fast about 30 times it would eventually stay on

[@JustinEdwords]

your voice is so soothing love your presentation i was a master system kid born in 1980 had the deluxe version with the 3d glasses ive always been an underdog for tech since love the atari ST as well cheers

[@retrobitstv]

Nice, I will had to look into finding the 3d glasses to try out some day. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@BenjaminGlatt]

My brother had this bad boy growing up. Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on SMS was the very first game I ever beat as a kid.

[@truecrony]

Loved the stereoscopic feature like Xaxxon 3D! I had the MegaDrive add-on and had a good collection.

[@phantomharlock999]

I live in the USA and I owned a Master System and a C64 instead of an NES. Three of my closest friends did as well. We were well aware of how much better the SMS was than the NES. Veteran of the console war here 😉

[@LeonardCrassman]

R-Type is a fantastic port as is WonderBoy in Monster Land, two of my favourite arcade games.

[@orchid9]

I adore your "tech dad" vibes. You deserve more subs, that's for sure. Keep the good stuff coming.

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks! I will certainly try :)

[@Matthewissillyaf]

Hang-On/Astro Warrior was built in to mine back in the day.

[@apr2499]

Phantasy Star was my favorite SMS game. I played it mostly on the Genesis with a power base converter, but Also had an adapter for the game gear to play SMS games. It plays great on the Game Gear too!

[@CJScratch]

im looking at my Master system right now i loved this system as a kid … Space Harrier is my favorite arcade game of all time …. the game play and the sound track are amazing .. i recently modified my master system to have direct AV Out put to connect to my current TV..

[@EmperorMegas]

'Rampage' is an AMAZING port on the Master System. BTW, if you're playing for a high score, when you grab the woman in the red dress like you did in the game capture footage, try to hold onto her as long as you can (i.e. stop punching). Your points add up like crazy for as long as she's in your hand. Wait for her to eventually break free before you eat her (assuming you opt to eat her rather than letting her escape). Again, great port of a great arcade title. 'R•Type' is another amazing arcade port, as is 'Fantasy Zone', though 'R•Type' is a far better game, IMO. Also try out 'Choplifter', 'Quartet', 'Rastan' and 'The Ninja' if you'd like to play more quality arcade ports on the SMS. Great video my guy.

[@jorge1170xyz]

Oh man, not "The Ninja". I still have nightmares about that game lol.

[@EmperorMegas]

@@jorge1170xyz I loved that game. I used to be really good at it but when I was a kid, but I KNOW I would get my ass handed to me playing it today. I always tried to get the best hit percentages when I played. That's where the real challenge was. If you run through it without caring how many shirikens you throw/waste it's a LOT easier.

[@retrobitstv]

Great tips, thanks for sharing!

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

​@@retrobitstvjust so you know,the reason why you can't use ninja magic on shinobi is because you must kill 10 enemies first - ergo you can't use it on the boss...crap aye?

[@markchambers3833]

Sagaia is a technically impressive arcade port of Darius II. Obviously heavily cut but a good looking game and it plays well. And, of course, the superb MS version of Bubble Bobble with 100 extra levels. Many happy memories and it remains my favourite game of all time. Never finished it, there was one item I couldn't find in the game. If you don't get all the items, level 199 loops endlessly. Maybe one day...

[@FrankiesWorld]

I had a master system shortly after I got my nes in 1986. You stand correct, living in North America I cant recall any of my friends owning one of these or even heard of it. EVERYONE had an nes. Great console, I owned outrun along with choplifter, hang on, astro warrior, ghostbusters and california games. Matter of fact I still own my sms till this day.

[@lyrand6408]

One of the few memories I have about the Master System is one day walking into a RadioShack in the 90s when they had (sometimes) one or two consoles on stands you could play (if of course a game was inserted, which wasn't always the case; sometimes it was there and just turned off). So one stand had Road Rash playing. I was absolutely stunned by what I was looking at. I had heard of "this console from Sega", and I knew it preceded the Genesis... but at the time the Genesis was already out. However, from my experienced of a few years worth of playing NES games at the time I just couldn't believe "this console" could even do this. The Master System really was an 8-Bit powerhouse, and unfortunately under-used by a bunch of the games on it (which can be attributed to the developers not fully understanding what the system can do, and how to do it efficiently enough; similarly to what happened with the Saturn, all things considered).

[@retroelectrical]

Sega was SOOOO far ahead of everyone in 1985 when they released Space Harrier in the arcades. When I first saw it in 1985, I thought I was playing a movie, or a laserdisc.

[@MrMarz82]

Born and raised in the US and the SMS was my first game console ever… and you’re right, I was the only kid in town with it lol

[@MCastleberry1980]

I had ONE friend, in first grade that had a SMS. Got to play a few pretty cool games for it, but we mostly played Rambo when I was over there.😊

[@AronBezzina]

I’m in Australia, when I was 3 or so in around 93 I got one of the gen 2 ones with Alix kid built in. I had one, my cousin had one, my uncles had one. Even tho I didn’t play any of the games you have shown the audio really brings back memories, the games for the sms had a distinct sound

[@MetalGateDragon]

Here are the games I used to own on the Master System...Double Dragon, Ghostbusters, Choplifter, Kung Fu Kid, Out Run, Hang on, Safari Hunt.

[@lifeofvinyl3003]

Nice trip down memory lane - thank you. I had a Sega Master System in the late 80s/early 90s before upgrading to the Megadrive around 1991. I used to love the Master System I had some great games - Alex Kidd and Wonderboy spring to mind. I still have the Megadrive all these years later and still works perfectly, but alas I no longer have the Master System - sadly.

[@____0____]

Im from Australia - I grew up with both the Master System and Mega Drive (Genesis in America). My older brother owned them. Loved them - I could never work out how to play Ghost Busters though.

[@MrChristopoop]

The first game system my family had that was a new release when purchased was the master system. It was a birthday gift for me, I wanted that over the Nintendo due to my love of Afterburner in the arcades. It was a good system. I went to a Genesis after that, and never owned a Nintendo. So many other friends did, I was never deprived of playing any Nintendo games

[@inphanta]

UK gamer here. Good to see the SMS get some love from across the pond for a change. Props also for knowing about the home computers that were here too. Colour me subscribed! 😊

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks and welcome!

[@Eth3realwarrior]

I'm from southern California and this was me & my brother's 1st system. Still have it & 20 games all still working, great games and great times. I knew 3 people who had one in elementary and Jr high. Oh! And some of the early pack in posters that came in the cartridge had the "Now there is no way limits" slogan.

[@rallerallesson408]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World was sooo great. First game I ever played. The Sonic games was great as well.

[@danielmclaughlin2190]

Liked and subscribed. This was my 1st games console!

[@retrobitstv]

Thanks and welcome!

[@HellTantrumbull]

For Double Dragon, to get the enemies in a headlock you have to lower their life first before it will work. trying to do it while the enemies are still strong will just make you pass through them.

[@Chavesillustrations]

It was the biggest video game system in Brazil at the time, and my very first system. Edit: I loved Space Harrier!

[@michaeldemers2716]

I really enjoyed Sydney Hunter Homebrew for the Master System a lot. Golden Axe Warrior, Phantasy-Star, Double Dragon, Y's and Choplifter were favorite games as well along with the whole Wonder Boy Series. Great games.

[@Voyager_2]

There's not a lot of love for the master system, but its a very nice system indeed. I was surprised when I played James pond II on it, its a really good port and pushes the system to the max I think.

[@michaelromeo9567]

This arcade ports are not impressive compare to some other games. And the system was beloved outside of USA. More SEGA in the UK Brazil and parts of Europe. USA is not whole planet..! I live in France there were more SMS in Highschool than Nes

[@Voyager_2]

@@michaelromeo9567 I never said anything about the arcade ports. I said that James pond was a nice game that pushes the system to it's max. I'm from the Netherlands, I never said anything about the usa being the whole world, that's something you made up. and again I did not say the master system was not loved back in the day, but from a collectors point of view the system does not get a lot of love, even tho it's a very capable system.

[@michaelromeo9567]

@@Voyager_2 I agree with you. My bad

[@zuokia]

I have the sega master system 2 with Alex Kidd in miracle world built in. Played it soo much in the early 90s. Had the nes as well, loved them both. Good old days

[@jackson5116]

The Master System being the Mark III means it was closer to 16-bit than previous 8-bit NES and ColecoVision.

[@RacerX-]

I had one friend with a Master System. He used to sing its praises and compare it to the NES. When the Genesis came out with the Power Base Converter I picked that up and a ton of games on the cheap for the SMS. Mostly RPGs and such. I also picked up a couple SMS pads and the arcade stick. It was odd but I seem to recall that you needed a SMS game pad for a couple of the games as they didn't work with the Genesis and converter without it. Try out some of the cards if you can. There are a couple good ones.

[@retrobitstv]

I picked up a used Genesis a few years later and it came with a Power Base Converter. The only game on card I remember playing was My Hero.

[@kousakasan7882]

I still have that system. I also have my coleco vision that I pre-ordered after working a summer job in high school. And my Sega 3d. I am thinking of setting up all my systems and having friends over for a game day.

[@flyinghippo5767]

Nice list! I'd have never thought to play the SMS version of Ghouls n Ghosts, but now I'm gonna give it a shot tonight or tomorrow after seeing how much easier it is.

[@invicta6110]

Brother had the NES so I got the SMS. I was happy with it, The colors were much better and it reminded me of going to an arcade. My favorites for the console were Shinobi, Astro Warrior, Choplifter, Double Dragon, F-16 Fighting Falcon, Monopoly and Outrun. I guess that's essentially all the games I had for it. I remember cutting the UPC off the back of the cases for a send away item, but I can't remember what it was.

[@puciohenzap891]

Ghouls and ghosts must've been infuriating to play with the character going backwards much faster than forward.

[@flatvoxel5861]

That's a great selection of arcade ports, and there are a few more that are quite impressive. Wonder Boy, Vigilante and R-Type are as arcade perfect as they could be on the SMS. Several others are excellent: Choplifter, Rastan, Gain Ground, Cloud Master, Dynamite Dux, Fantasy Zone and probably others I forgot right now. Shadow Dancer borders on unbelievable (even if it's only half the arcade version). Finally, I'd add Time Soldiers as a personal favorite (not an accurate port, but a great game anyway).

[@EVandMe]

I'm from the US and was a Sega kid starting with SMS. Zillion and spy vs spy was my joint

[@Gambit771]

I've never heard it called the 'sms' out loud until today. I loved my master system growing up.

[@retrobitstv]

Yea, I don't think anyone ever called it an SMS back in the day, but like any good writer I wanted to define the acronym in the video before I started using it so as not to confuse anyone later!

[@mancman-bu4kz]

I loved this system, I'm from 🇬🇧 many many great memories including playing dead angle enduro racer with my dad

[@SenorNavel]

I had one as a kid in Australia, it was the Sega master system 2 which had Alex Kidd miracle world built into it. It was awesome.

[@DJWHITE_]

I had no idea 8-bit could perform like that! Thanks!

[@SteveBrandon]

The Sega Master System wasn't as popular as the NES in Canada but I suspect it was relatively more popular in Canada than it was in the United States considering I was able to rent Sega Master System games for a couple of years in the late 1980s into 1990 at several small town video stores near where I lived on the western outskirts of Montreal. Canadians also were able to buy some European Master System games not officially available in the United States at Compucentre, the Canadian equivalent to Babbages.

[@kethdredd]

Really quite shocked at how good this system is. Completely ignored here in the US.

[@projectw.a.a.p.f.t.a.d7762]

I had a friend who had one and I love in Louisville KY, but that the only place I've ever seen one or ever played one and that was in the 80s.

[@kevinmeyers7821]

I had the 3D Space Harrier, I used to play that game for hours. My friend Brian was the only other kid at our school that a SMS.

[@christopherbaar4498]

To this day, I have no idea why Sega chose to leave the FM synth out of the American SMS. Especially since a good deal of the American releases do still have the FM music in them if you play them on a Japanese SMS or Mark III with slot converter. There is an expansion slot on the system, so maybe they were going to release it separately, but the lack of popularity just killed that from happening.

[@alexojideagu]

It was also left out of the European and South American Markets, which was even more strange because they were its biggest markets.

[@colonelkomarov622]

japanese always gives low cost versions of their console to foreign market (the nes losed all audio chips of famicom and all greater capabilities) like "westerners don't deserves quality" ...

[@christopherbaar4498]

@@colonelkomarov622 The reason the NES lost all the audio chips of the Famicom is those chips were embedded in the cart, and Nintendo said that in the US (and possibly everywhere else but Japan) that the devs can only use the mappers developed by Nintendo. That, and they didn't even wire up the cart slot to connect the audio pins, but that's a different story.

[@ArcadeFreak-gw5rp]

I was one of the kids that had the master system because none of my friends had it and quickly regretted it only for the reason of I couldn’t borrow games from people. Eventually I got the nes and the turbo grafx but between the master system and the nes I thought the master system was better.

[@Jbcomedystl]

Man I loved that thing. I went from a Atari 2600, to a NES then a sega master system .. I had hang-on and a shooting game as the internal games

[@BlackuLaLa]

I had a Master System. You're right. I was the only one I ever knew who had it. There were some great games on there and I loved it. But back then I wished they mom would've got me an NES too lol. Oh well. Great times!

[@elsquibbs]

I loved Phantasy Star, Altered Beast, Space Harrier, 3D Maze Hunter, Wonder Boy, Shinobi, and Rastan.

[@lawsnewton]

Loved my Sega Master System, especially the 3D Glasses!

[@chanimpresario4968]

Coming from UK it's nice to see a video from the US talking about the first system that really brought the arcade home. Nintendo used and has always used tactical and clever marketing methods to sell a machine that was not good for arcade lovers, a home console. In Europe and Japan Sega done pretty well even down to the SNES compared to the Megadrive. I remember my friend always wanting to borrow my Sega to play titles like Golden Axe After Burner and REAL leading arcade classis at home. Nothing to date has beat Sega in the Arcades with systems like the model 3 board and Am2 tech.....and let's stop before I get into the R360 cabinate and others of the sort. To go home to have a practice run on Outrun after showing of to the chick's as a 12 year old how badass you can drive, was a great feeling. BRING BACK THE ARCADES! I wanna show the wifey I can drive at 110mph in my car without her chest being crushed by my seatbelt while playing the outrun music 😫

[@miltonbates6425]

Great game picks here. I was one of the few people in North America that grew up with the Master System. I still regularly play the Mark III and SMS on my MiSTer. The Japanese version of Enduro Racer is such an addictive game and the California Games on the SMS is by far the best version out there.

[@retrobitstv]

I will have to give those both a try. I used the MiSTer core quite a bit for video capture making this episode :)

[@DenGreatshot]

Enduro is a great little game. Real shame the western port was as stripped down as it was.

[@Hidyman]

I also had an SMS and loved it, but I'd have to say the Lynx version is the best version of California Games.

[@MercenaryTau]

I had a Master System back in the day, but I don't think my parents understood what cartridges where so all I had was the built-in Wonder Boy. Oh, the 80s. Not that I'm complaining though, good times.