Sega's American adolescence: Master System / Snail Maze / Hang On & Safari Hunt | Segaiden

[@alanelkins2408]

At last, the Snail Maze coverage we've all been waiting for!

[@toastrave7820]

I can confirm i was genuinely waiting for it

[@alanelkins2408]

@@toastrave7820 In all seriousness, so was I.

[@gui_saba]

as a Brazilian, my earliest gaming memories are from Master System games

[@AverageDrafter]

It is pretty crazy when you think about a 32X SegaCD MegaDrive is literally an SG-1000 with at least 4 massive upgrades stretched over three generations.

[@JeremyParish]

Really makes you think how cool ColecoVision could have been if those cowards at Coleco had just stuck it out

[@AverageDrafter]

Distracted by those damn orphan vegetables.

[@dumpnchase]

My cousins moved from Italy to USA and lived in our building. They were ecstatic when the Master System came out. So we had NES in our apt and Master System in theirs. Great times.

[@dillontam9752]

You mention that a lack of space might've been the reason Hiro's Theme of Love didn't show up on Master System/Mark III Hang-On, but in fact the full song is present on the cartridge/card, and will play in its entirety if you insert the game into an SG-1000! If I had to guess why they don't play it in-game, it'd be because they didn't want it to be compromised by the sound effects like in Hang-On II.

[@dillontam9752]

@@dtester I don't think that would've been a problem at the time of release, considering Hiro was working for SEGA at the time. I believe they still own the tune, and not Hiro.

[@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77]

I didn't realize there were so many Brazilian releases for SMS. That could be a fascinating channel of its own.

[@HPRshredder]

Happy new year, Jeremy! Thanks for all the great content over the years and thanks for continuing on! I think your “video works” series provides tremendous value and has just the right balance of professionalism and dry humor. There really isn’t another channel quite like it - and I really admire your consistency. It’s important to document things like this, and with all this content in one place I believe it’ll prove to be a fantastic resource moving forward for anyone who wants contextual looks at the history of gaming through one consistent mostly unbiased lens. Video games are so unique in that a lot of us were here for when they really *became* a relevant medium. I actually wasn’t, as I was born in 92, but I can still reach my hand back in time and get real experiences on real hardware. That won’t always be the case. So I think what you’re doing is really important. If you ever get a chance, check those Instagram DMs, but if not that’s okay too. Thanks again for the content. Looking forward to seeing where it goes in 2023 o7

[@wantsomecorn]

Never realized the Master System wasn't even technically named that. Love how your videos always drop facts like that.

[@ginormousaurus8394]

The console itself was also called the Power Base, which is why the adapter that allowed Master System games to be played on the Genesis was called the Power Base Converter.

[@twmanga]

The Master System was the console I wanted as a kid. I have such wonderful memories playing those games. Some of them are still favorites of mine (Zillion, Phantasy Star, Power Strike, Snail Maze). While everybody I knew as a kid had a NES, me and two others had Master Systems, We got to know each other and trade games amongst ourselves, Also, everybody else liked playing our games because they we were the only way they would get to play Sega games. When I got my Genesis back in the day, I bought a Power Base Converter just so I could continue playing my Master System games. That's why Sega has the "Nostalgia" feel for me and not Nintendo.

[@DefendYoungstown]

I'm so glad I've algorithmically stumbled upon this series. Aside from the the purely educational information, in some cases, it provides context to things that may have seemed weird at some point to me when I was exposed to it. Examples: I was too young to actually understand "The Crash". I had an Atari 2600 about as far back as I can remember things (which, for earliest vivid memories, was 2-3), and an Atari 800XL (and about a year later, my mom found a book on "Atari BASIC" coding). Of course, my main concern with any of that was gaming, and it got harder to find Atari games, but when I found them, they were plenty affordable. I vaugely remember the release of the Sega Base/Master System. I remember thinking that the relatively short-lived display at my local Hills Department Store with its combination of simplistic font on a white box made it look like something "generic". Specifically, the lowest low-tier generic foodstuffs found back then (white box with black or blue lettering - like what you'd find from low income giveaways), next rung up were the yellow box with black block text. Then, store brand, then the "off brand", and finally "name brand". So, finding out the white packaging and tiny icon sketches was s decision done by a big deal marketing firm for it to come off in execution (at least around where I live) like the story of when Tropicana paid a bunch of money for a ultimately counterproductive facelift. At the time, it looked like an uninteresting also-ran to the already established Atari. Remember, I was ignorant of any sort of game crash, and I thought it was an interchangeable console much like how Atari cartridges could fit in like 12 different consoles that were on the market at one point. Nintendo's US launch a couple years later on carried a mystique and excitement with the vivid packaging and backlit display cases in a darkened aisle. The SMS white wall o' stuff that all blurred together? Not so much. Also, apparently someone got the memo about the Jungle Hunt title screen artwork at some point. I eventually owned a copy (years later and through other circumstances) and that part wasn't present... just the music and the words. So, I'm guessing it was from a later production run? Also also, the SMS I eventually owned didn't have Snail Maze. After the SEGA jingle, I'd just get some screed about the "need to insert a game cartridge or it may cause damage to your SEGA system" or somesuch. I feel somewhat cheated on my (at the time of aforementioned circumstances) $20 console purchase!

[@KabukiJoe44]

Fantastic! My consoling days started on the Master System with the built in Snail Maze. Looking forward to this

[@BasementBrothers]

The problem with the Master System for us growing up in the 80's was that so much of the library consisted of arcade ports, while we wanted a more console-like experience we could sink our teeth into (which the NES often delivered). Our jaws sure dropped when we borrowed Wonder Boy 3 from a neighbor though.

[@ginormousaurus8394]

And the arcade ports for the Master System may have been impressive for an 8-bit home console in the 1980s, but there's little reason to play them today when better versions are available. It was Master System originals like Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap and Phantasy Star that made the console truly shine.

[@Mechanicoid]

I'm happy with my Japanese Master System. The backwards compatibility, the FM sound and fun library. I'm looking forward to more Sega, especially since I missed out on this era when I was younger.

[@allluckyseven]

Nintendo has an interesting history here in Brazil at that time, with Gradiente making a clone of their system and later selling actual, officially licensed, Nintendo products.

[@Atomhaz]

As always. Criminally underrated content to pass a beautifully raining afternoon while I stare out the window thinking of a bygone age. Thanks Jeremy.

[@HybridAngelZero]

This is really cool! I never really hear many videos talking about the Master System in the US specifically outside of Sega Lord X. Heck, I didn't even know the core model was just called "The Sega System", it's actually really interesting how the Master System ended up with its name

[@HybridAngelZero]

@@dc9662 I'm already subscribed to her xD I love her videos, too, she always covers really cool stuff

[@ccffire6666]

The NES first showed up in 1985 in a store called nickels in upstate New York. I remember it well when I first saw the council and the test multi-game council. Little did I know that not even a year later the NES would explode in popularity. One of the great memories of video game history I have

[@richardsherman2286]

Awesome ate beet council

[@MrERLoner]

The cunt rollers for this council were revowlooshunary

[@noemedmedia]

Glad Jeremy is clear that this series is about the US chronology, but I still want to remind everyone (in the US) that "Europe" is not a single country and not a single market. If using numbers/market shares, please state WHICH market you are referring to. In Norway (and surrounding PAL regions) everything happened about two years later than in the US - so when I really took an interest in NES in 88, it is simlar to what my US alter ego experienced in 86. For me, I don't think I saw the Master System before I got my NES - everything was in toy stores back then and I fully understand unwillingness to stock TWO different systems. When Sega arrived, I think they were first as rentals? but eventually I saw them in stores, and i testet some games at a friends house. I was deeply unimpressed - in my eye not up to Nntendos standards and had someone said "more powerful" back then I would have laughed. Alex Kidd was no Mario. It did not help that the "wireframe" game packs looked cheap - in fact, similar to an own-brand "basic" line of food products in a national food chain. When a market is small (even by Euro standards), of course the number two will suffer the most, and can not see the Master System in Norway/Scandinavia as more than a foot in the door for the Mega Drive, and I don't see a lot of MD nostalgia compared no NES.

[@noemedmedia]

Because of this video, i spent most of my weekend digging into MD info and I found the reason Master System was so poorly marketed/displayed compared to the Mega Drive. MS was importet by an very small import tech firm in Sweden, and they did business in Norway also. Extremely small sales team who had to debate with toy stores who saw "a knock off Nintendo". By the Mega Drive, the biggest toy chain took over, and that changed the whole picture. As for me, I find it somewhat troubling that a japanese console that is discontinued in Japan, gets new life elsewahere even after the Mega Drive is out. It feels like "cheating" to include these games in top lists. I guess I am a child trained on "planned obsolescence" - when I got my SNES, I still had my NES hooked up I just never used it. Currently going through games from the first three years NES and MS was available in my region (according to Wikipedia) to asses, in theory, how much I could have appreciated the choices avaialble. I have to say, Nintendo is damn strong but one game stands out from Sega: Phantasy Star. I saw this at my friends house and was impressed with the 3D mazes. While my friend enjoyed that, I waited for titles I only new from text mention in official communication; Dragon Quest and something called Final Fantasy would come our way in the future - surely to be better than Sega. Oh, the irony - our NES got NO turn based RPGs (and we even got shorted on the PAL SNES compared to the PAL MD). I guess I lost out :)

[@bio_cat]

Yes! The Sega master system was such a mystery to me. It wasn't until I got into emulation in the mid 90s before I started exploring its library.

[@jamesmoss3424]

The Sega Master System is still excellent today. 😀👍🎮

[@nathandaniels6757]

Thank you for this coverage! I used the Snail Maze game as ammunition (along with Hang-On/Safari Hunt and Sega’s free game promotion-then the two-player Double Dragon) to convince my dad to get my brother and me a Master System instead of an NES for Christmas. I did eventually beat all 12 mazes, which is why I have that damned tune forever burned into my memory. As was said elsewhere, I suspect Hang-On’s lack of music during gameplay was due to the limitations of the SMS sound chip. Most SMS arcade conversions like After Burner or Outrun traded engine noise for music; Hang-On did the opposite.

[@michelegambierazzi]

Hang On was also a built in game for later revisions of the console, at least in Europe. 🤩

[@Giltygear]

US and Canada as well.

[@massivepileup]

Huh, I only knew about Alex Kidd.

[@robintst]

Same in the US, my Master System has both Hang-On and Safari Hunt built in plus still retaining Snail Maze.

[@cyborg728]

@@robintst The Master System I had also had Hand-On and Safari Hunt built in. I didn't think you could access the snail maze though. It just booted right into hte game. A friend of mine had a Master System that had the snail maze. I was so jealous of him. How do you access it?

[@robintst]

@@cyborg728 Should still work by holding up and both fire buttons on the SEGA logo screen before it boots to Hang-On/Safari Hunt.

[@play_history]

1:40 Have to note that Sega OWNED Gremlin, it wasn't a partnership. They were extremely well-situated in the US, and that was part of the problem. They overinvested. Sega was also not Gulf + Western's first divestiture, they did several before even the American Sega, let alone the Japanese one. There's a lot to be said about the transfer from one Sega to another, which does inform the Master System stuff. Talking to some of the people there during the Master System era has been very interesting for me. 18:13 Lynx/Jaguar Atari is Atari Corp, not Inc.

[@demonsty]

i had this exact version. im so glad i found your channel recently. the algorythim knows me well. you are the most articulate retro game reviewer ive ever seen. love the old school look vhs style when it cuts to you. cant wait to watch all you got so far!!

[@AQuestionofCharacter]

Couldn't agree more about the excellent presentation of the Sega system. It felt like a leap into the future for all of the reasons mentioned in the video.

[@Owazrim]

The Master System is great. It really deserves more attention. Looking forward to future videos.

[@boatofcar3273]

Looking forward to this new endeavor! Thanks for all your hard work Jeremy.

[@a.calder8217]

IF you're wondering why the NES didn't do well in Europe besides the native microcomputer scene, there was also the fact that two different manufacturers handled distribution, with carts incompatible between releases. Nintendo didn't capture the European market until the SNES, which they handled themselves. (Super Play, a popular magazine that also helped with the British anime boom, also helped. Since they were not official affiliated with Nintendo like Nintendo Power was, they also gave tips on how to mod systems to play NTSC games, perfect for the RPG fan bummed that only Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Breath of Fire II, Lufia II and the Quintet trilogy came over)

[@sweetasbloodredjam]

Early console sales history in Europe is fascinating because it really isn‘t a unified market yet and the results vary widely. I wrote this elsewhere too, but as a German, Sega really doesn‘t seem to have a presence as a console manufacturer in the wieder cultural consciousness here and I always wondered why, because ‚Sega did well in europe‘ is such a prevailing narrative. Well, turns out, for some reason they really didn’t do well in Germany, where the NES outsold the SMS 3 to 1. The NES also apparently outsold the SMS overall in Europe, surprisingly. It seems like the NES was trailing the SMS for almost all of their lifespan until it pulled ahead in the early nineties, just before/around the SNES launch. Sort of similar to the Xbox 360/PS3 situation, where the 360 is remembered as a runaway success over the ps3 but actually sold less lifetime.

[@noemedmedia]

@@sweetasbloodredjam It is a misnomer to call it "Europe" When we know there are multiple "european markets". Thank for for sharing your view from germany, one of the buiggest markets at the time, I am from Norway, the third to last MS country in sales, according to an anecdote from the Swedish importer.

[@WalrusFPGA]

Ah, what a great introduction to the Master System! I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series- something I would have never imagined myself saying a couple years ago before first digging into the library on MiSTer. The light gun library has some surprise stand-outs. I really enjoy when devs try something different with the genre, and there are a few notable examples on Master System. Even ones that seem samey like "Gangster Town" have cool environmental additions that let you do things like squish enemies with signs instead of shooting them, along with the mixed-mode gameplay that changes format at times. Loved Lone Ranger on NES for it's mixed-mode light gun gameplay also. Cheers to a great start to 2023 with the mighty Master System!

[@zubizuva]

Three of my favorite arcade games in here: Carnival, Space Harrier, and Arm Wrestling. Lots of eye candy this episode.

[@ClusterShart]

Having RGB cables for my model 1 genesis has also allowed me to play snail maze in obscene quality on my Master system.

[@MrKanjidude]

As a Swede it is always surprising to hear of Sega's success on the European continent, as up here Nintendo was the leader. I knew of Sega, but me and my friends all had NES's and SNES's.

[@BobbyOxygen]

You had a strong distributor in Bergsala, who had a really close relationship with Nintendo.

[@goranisacson2502]

What Bobby said- the relationship between Bergsala and Nintendo is remarkable and well-worth looking into, there's a video out there somewhere on how Owe Bergsten discovered Game and Watch during a business trip to Taiwan and made it his damn MISSION to become Nintendo's distributor in Scandinavia. Not too sure how true it might be, but at least the video makes it out like Bergsala were very important to helping Nintendo see Europe as a market in the first place, or at least get started here because, you know, Nintendo and playing it safe and slow. We were their first step, so they beat SEGA to the punch HERE, but even if we mattered Scandinavia is quite a small market compared to UK, France and Germany so we couldn't really help them "win the war", so to speak.

[@noemedmedia]

@@goranisacson2502 SEGA (before MD) was imported by Dennis Bergstrøm import. I read this store in a pdf book i found when googling "Master System i Sverige" It was really a David vs. Goliath situation, apparently. Whatever legends you hear about Owe Bergsten, please rememeber history is always written by the victors :)

[@samfrito]

The handle on my Master System box really spoke to my 'wanna-be' James Bond or Dr. Quest. Like a villain with an attache case full of life changing WMDs I visited my friends apartments. I believe Parlor Games and Great Golf foiled my plans. Thanks Jeremy. You must not fail. Sega is depending on you.

[@Dustin_VG]

Great video as always, Jeremy. Looking forward to more Master System!

[@TomGarrett73]

Another excellent video. These are always extremely well-written, in particular, and obviously quite informative.

[@sonicmario64]

The Master System console that one of my cousins had was able to include "Hang-On" and "Safari Hunt" built into the console when played without any cartridges inserted into it.

[@MattoMakesLetsPlays]

Now we just need "its been ___ days since Tower of Druaga reference."

[@LorenHelgeson]

Or whatever SEGA's equivalent will turn out being.

[@SnakebitSTI]

It would be amusing to have actual counters for how many videos go by without mention of games like Tower of Druaga, Heiankyo Alien, and so on.

[@glennmanifold6345]

Wahay! Master System Segaiden is here! The console of my childhood! I was surprised about the comment about safari hunt difficulty, I feel that safari hunt is quite easy to get through three or four cycles of the levels, but hearing your super fast hang on theme reminded me that I’m in 50 Hz 😂 Great episode Mr Parish, love your graph paper graphics.

[@chaospoet]

I love the Master System. Extremely underrated system. I didn't have one back then (I do now with a bunch of games) but my friend the next street over from me did. I still vividly remember playing a ton of Rambo and Double Dragon with him. I'm glad you kept it in the context of at the time instead of the modern view of it. I do recall thinking the game boxes looked really cool and fancy. One thing you did miss with that part was how the games came in plastic clam shells instead of cardboard boxes. I remember that amazing me back then. I had never seen any home video game of any kind that wasn't in a cardboard box. Seeing Hang On on a home console blew my mind. And say what you will about Snail Maze I was insanely jealous that it had a game built into it and my NES did not. Very much looking forward to this portion of Segaiden and learning more about this system and it's games.

[@BookerCan]

My First system! My mom bought one since they were all out of NES' - Compucentre in canada, only had Sega Master systems. - 1987

[@NineteenEightyFive]

I love the grid design! So clean

[@BocaRetroGames]

Great vídeo. Master system with hangon and safari Hunt was my first console back in 1990 here in Brazil. I was also granted a double dragon cart which I loved. I thank my daddy to this day for that amazing gift I received back in the day.

[@spindriftprime]

As always, I really enjoy the thoughtful look at the movements of console manufacturers and game developers behind the scenes of the actual games. It's coverage of that sort of stuff that elevates this channel to one of the best game history projects out there. I'm over here going "ooh! i can't wait to learn about the Master System!" and looking forward to the concurrent comparisons with NES releases.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

In hindsight, possibly one of the most underrated and overlooked consoles of all time.

[@djvoid1]

The Master System was also a big hit here in Australia, outperforming the NES in sales (I think)

[@8BitBoyUK]

Great video mate. I'll check out a few others you've done. Nice one!!

[@musclesforsupes]

Love my Master System. Been over 35 yrs. and I still haven’t beat Miracle Warriors lol Additionally did anyone ever get the Hang On speed over 300 mph? I think I got to 298 a few times lol.

[@johnofthewired]

i remember being a kid in america and owning a master system and wondering, why isnt this bigger than it is? i loved my master system!

[@melasnexperience]

Having the ducks turn into roast ducks to indicate they've been hit is actually kinda hilarious.

[@JeremyParish]

Oh, for sure. I love the wacky comedy vibe of this era's Sega games. Wish the games were sometimes better!

[@Melf00]

Former SOA President Bruce Lowry told me that he came up with the Master System name, and when questioned about it by Okawa, his SVP Bob Harris ad libbed a response that similar to how one is declared a master of the martial arts only after demonstrating superiority over all opponents, Sega had to demonstrate that its console was superior over its competition.

[@Melf00]

Similarly, the white grid design was explained as simply choosing the opposite of Nintendo and Lowry liking Apple's grid design. The clamshell cases were a new thing from Sega's Taiwan distributor.

[@JeremyParish]

I had completely forgotten this anecdote!

[@jbanks979]

Very excited to start the official American version of this series! I think so much of this business is timing and marketing, in that it was far from a sure thing Nintendo would get a 90% 8 bit market share in the summer of 1986. It seems like all three were on equal footing that Christmas, if my 36 year old second grade memories hold true (our family got a 7800 because Atari! That’s a name that will be around forever!) I just don’t think there was ever a point where it was widely understood then that sega offered the superior graphics and sound. (I really don’t remember seeing much of Sega at all until the Genesis era) That version of hang on should have been a highlight of every commercial aired

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

I bought a bootleg Brazilian Master System earlier last year in hopes to finally discover the library for myself, so I'm glad to see Jeremy covering this oft-ignored B-Side of the 80s home gaming scene.

[@steuph1976]

The draw of seeing Hang On run was quite something. When we got the console for Christmas 1987, we set it up in a room to play it, and my dad, grand dad, uncles, they all wanted to give it a try. In Europe it was bundled as a Sega Card as well so even with the "base" model (I don't believe it was called that here) we had two bundled games.

[@RndStranger]

I kind of like the grid trade dress myself, though the iconography chosen for the games often didn't work. I think it looked better later on when they started breaking the format a little bit by opening up the art and logos. You got a good baseline "This is a Sega game" branding mixed with a more eye catching package that way. Which would probably be why they just photo negatived it for the original Genesis trade dress.

[@PizzaDinosaur]

I can appreciate the Master System branding now, but the first time I ever saw it in the wild was well past its heyday (I want to say 1999?) when I was at a department store that still had Master System titles in their electronics clearance rack. I pick up a Master System game case to give it a look and it's Pro Wrestling - you know, the one where a headless torso has another man in a headlock? It definitely made an indelible, utterly baffling first impression.

[@madspunky]

The Mark III looked so awesome. I wish that look was available in the West.

[@jasonblalock4429]

I love the look of the Mk III too, but I feel like it would have been too 'industrial' for mid-80s American households. I think they made the right call, redesigning the case to look more futuristic. Also, they may have also been concerned about the mostly gray color scheme being too similar to the NES. The red-and-black of the SMS was instantly distinctive.

[@JeremyParish]

The Mark III is peak ’80s Japanese industrial design. Like an ’85 Toyota Celica, or the U.S.S. Excelsior from Star Trek (which was designed to look like "what if the Enterprise had been designed in Japan in the ’80s"). It was too good for our sad, sorry half of the globe.

[@Cameront9]

As an American kid born in 83 I wasn’t even aware the Master system existed until I was a teenager. That pretty much says it all.

[@marccaselle8108]

Same here. My cousin on my dad's side was the only person I knew that had a master system. Everyone else in the USA had a nintendo. I did get to have my own master system till 2013. I got to see what I missed out on and boy it was fun. 🙂

[@marccaselle8108]

The master system sure is fun. I play it on my retropie these days.

[@PaulSoth]

Thankfully the Sega Ages version of Phantasy Star kept in the FM music as an option.

[@Monkey_SK]

Still remember getting my birthday money and having just enough to buy the twin controller and light gun pack. £99 I think it was, did have my eyes on the 3D glasses pack but at £120 my Dad was not going to go any further. Did manage to persuade him to get some Pick n Mix, as we were buying it in Woolworths at the time, he was a sucker for some fudge. However I've hit my quota of British 80s things so will leave it there.

[@JeremyParish]

You’ll be glad to know we had Woolworth’s and Pick-A-Mix in the States, too!

[@wusstunes]

I love the thumbnail you put together for this one.

[@nobodynoone2500]

Got the Master System the year it came out. It was, for a few years, miles ahead of the NES.

[@plainlazy2097]

Love this channel! Keep it up, Jeremy!

[@AFnord]

I feel like the dominance of the Master System and SEGA in general in Europe is often exaggerated. While it is true that it got more of a foothold here than in the US, Europe was a heavily fragmented market, and the success of any given system would very a lot from one country to another. In the Nordic countries for an example the NES was the dominant system, and the then often aging home micros remained a dominant force into the 90's in some other places like the UK.

[@JamieJoseph88]

Same applies for Australia, I've hardly seen anything Master System and only played two games for it and my first gaming experience was with the NES, you mention Duck Hunt and everyone gets the nostalgia vibes

[@noemedmedia]

Have you ever met an Amercian who really understands that Europe is a continent, not a country?

[@Poever]

And so Jeremy gave into the inevitable and made 2023 the year of SE~GA~!

[@jirkatorres]

In Spain most kids had Master System and people with NES were rare. We kind of made fun of them because we thought Master System was better. I see that in the US it was the other way around, that's interesting.

[@JuddMan03]

In Australia, the Master System came with no cartridge. Hang on and Safari Hunt were built in, and the snail maze trick worked too, though the input window to start it was quite small because of the built in game menu starting if no cart wss plugged in. The master system 2 had either Alex Kidd in Miracle World, or Sonic 1 in later models.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

My earliest memory of Sega was going to the Tandy Electronics (I think) up the road with my parents and seeing the display copy of the Master System II running Alex Kidd in Miracle World and getting to play it for a few precious minutes, knowing that this was built into the console. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen at the time. I still ended up as a Nintendo kid (eventually), but that's still a treasured memory for me.

[@cloudbloom]

The first console we had was one of these, only had a few games like ghost house, choplifter and Rambo 2 but I was obsessed with it as a kid.

[@sweetasbloodredjam]

I’ve always been really confused by the claim that the SMS was a runaway success in the ‚European Market‘, because here in Germany there‘s near zero nostalgia or awareness for Sega as a console manufacturer. As far a cultural awareness goes, the two console behemoths are Nintendo and PlayStation. At first I thought it must be people conflating the UK with the wider European Market, but as it turns out Germans just didin’t like the master system very much. The NES outsold the master system 3 to 1 in Germany. The NES seems to also generally have outsold the SMS in most Western European countries (as well as in Europe overall), but not nearly to such a dramatic degree. The SMS was definitely much more of a close competitor to the NES in Europe though.

[@noemedmedia]

3 to 1 (75% marketshare) is still a good showing, compared to Sweden., where the best pre-MD SEGA year was 1989 with 74% Nintendo share. Rest of the Master System years, Nntendo never had below 85% share (Lindell, 2017)

[@kalesan6887]

today we are eating good, Jeremy Parishers

[@JeremyParish]

The proper term is "Parishoners"

[@taidan19]

So did the Sega Base System not have the built in game? Or does it instead flash “Base System” at startup like it shows “master system” at 12:01 ? Or does it show “master system” on all of them?

[@vix_in_japan]

Fantastic introduction to the Master System. I very rarely see any Mk III stuff here in Japan, but then I live in the boonies.

[@JeremyParish]

You don't see a lot of it in most big city shops in my experience! I think the most I've ever seen at once was this summer at Super Potato Akihabara, and that was only because the two-year absence of tourists left shops flush with stock.

[@vix_in_japan]

@@JeremyParish Yeah that has certainly been the case that the last 2 years have been good to me as a modest collector of Super Famicom and GameBoy. I did notice a Mk III system the other day in Morioka but no games from what I could see.

[@bit-ishbulldog2089]

I still own my OG Master System from mid 80's and I have all three games mentioned built-in to the actual system, no cartridge needed. I got the Master System Plus package when I was about 9 years old.. I'm now 46. So the Master System in the UK had the games built into the unit on some versions like I have.

[@TanookiSuit]

Great opening to the SMS chapter, always did wonder why people insist a very limited release in the LA area didn't happen either in 1985. I got a pre-Deluxe test system for Christmas in 1985 and lived just outside the county, my mom never would have been able to get something like that in NY. That wasn't the era of HSN/QVC and it wasn't in catalog order until 1986 more towards the following holiday season. SMS had a great system, limited in its own ways, but also earlier on trumped what the NES could do before they got wisely into memory modules. A bit more color, a bit bigger and more detailed sprites, music was a good attempt but not as obvious in betterment. I never owned one, had a friend early on with it and we had fun with Shinobi, Alex Kidd, Afterburner, and a few others. I've owned a few over time, wouldn't object to another if it weren't for the ugly market that exists now. The boxes though on games were awful, did not grab my kid eyes at well as it looked trashy compared to the strange and varied sprite or goofy to serious drawn NES box art on games.

[@sewart]

Speaking of the Zillion light gun, apparently Tec Toy's successful partnership with Sega to distribute the Zillion-styled laser tag system is what lead to it ultimately distributing the Master System in Brazil.

[@jonnyeh]

I could swear my friend has a Master System with a built-in Hang-On. I never saw Snail Maze. This was in Canada.

[@dheaddy]

I'll never forget when I accidentally discovered Snail Maze on my Master System.

[@darktetsuya]

I remember seeing a system that had Hang-On, but the other game was Astro Warrior! my aunt had a system and a few of the games so there are definitely a few I'm looking forward to getting covered.

[@JeremyParish]

Yeah, Hang On/Astro Warrior was a combo cart, but I think it might have been EU-exclusive. I am still a little muddled on the combo cart particulars.

[@nathandaniels6757]

Hang-On/Astro Warrior may have been an eventual pack-in for the Base System. They went through multiple variants over time.

[@darktetsuya]

yeah I think I remember it being built into the system in lieu of the snail game? unless there's some mandela effect going on there I'm pretty sure there wasn't a cart involved

[@Larry]

It's bizarre in all of Sega's efforts to push their light gun in an anime series and released two Zillion games on the SMS, they never released an actual Zillion light gun game. Though there's some suspicion that Assault City might have been a Zillion light gun game at one point, as a lot of the enemies are eeriely similar in design.

[@matthuck378]

Phantasy Star was the first RPG I'd ever played. It's still the best from the era, IMO.

[@RabbitEarsCh]

So the Zillion gun laser tag toy did somehow make it to the UK via Matchbox, apparently; I thought it was a Japan-only device where they had no Light Phaser and therefore no preconceptions about the piece of plastic. Makes you wonder if any kid in the UK got both the Zillion laser tag gun from Matchbox and the Sega Master System for Christmas and wondered what the heck was going on.

[@JeremyParish]

Must have been like trying us to puzzle out why Jetfire from the Transformers looked just like a Robotech Veritech but had a different name and design in the cartoon while the Robotech toy line didn't have any transforming jets.

[@Fattydeposit]

I am so hype for this subseries

[@RollinH]

My childhood master system had hang-on directly on the system like snail maze.

[@infernal_monkey]

The Master System was also extremely popular in Australia and New Zealand, going as far as getting some exclusive budget-priced double packs published by Sega Ozisoft (most of which seem completely random, like Road Rash and Asterix included in the same box).

[@noemedmedia]

Which is why "the american Master System" is a poor choice for a documentary series, at least without "Gaiden" or "Extras" or whatever thi sis called in Portuguese. I mean, developers in Japan making games only for publication outside Japan and America, thats pretty crazy to me.

[@philmason9653]

I know it's not dealing with as many objects on screen, but it's always perplexed me how much smoother Hang-On runs on the Mark III as a whole than basically every other home super scaler game up until...I dunno, the 32-X? It was like Sega put some of their few available university graduate ace programmers who knew math & assembly on the project, and gave them enough time to make it work(mostly, game was on card so not enough room for music?), then this being the 1980s and talented programmers in short supply, had to resort back to their high school grads for everything else. And if Mark Cerny is to be believed, worked them to the bone with one designer, one programmer and three months to complete a project. An approach which allowed them to float a console solo, but I think very much shows through the in scattershot quality of 1st party Master System releases. Nintendo's record is hardly flawless but they would never have let major titles like Master System's Golden Axe or Strider reach shelves in the state Sega did. Even poorly remembered titles like Gyromite or Urban Champion are conceptual failures rather than technically dodgy or lacking polish. I'm sure it was the right choice for a pack-in in Japan in 1985 - the arcade game held the #1 spot on Japan's charts for 6 straight months, which is incredible when you think about the competition it was up against in that period. But for North America it just didn't have anywhere near the same appeal, I never heard anyone talk abut the game. In fact until seeing Hang-On next to Mach Rider in this video, I never appreciated how much better it ran than Nintendo's clone.

[@steuph1976]

I’m really looking forward to when you’re hitting the era of games like Kung Fu Kid, Kenseiden or Wonder Boy In Monster Land. You’re doing an awesome job of stepping out of the usual Nintendo centric bubble with these videos, and challenging memes and cliches. Keep up the great work in 2023 !

[@JeremyParish]

I'm not a fan of Kenseiden, to be honest. However, Wonder Boy is always a good time.

[@holdingpattern245]

I guess Safari Hunt is the game I played as a kid at someone else's house, now I know.

[@sarcophagist4097]

It's a common misconception that the Master System did well in Europe while the NES didn't. In the 80s, there was no such thing as a European market. Sega and Nintendo didn't have European headquarters and relied on distribution deals in each country. It's true that the Master System did very well in the UK. Here in the Benelux, both systems were more or less equally successful.

[@AtrocityVector]

Yes, and in Sweden the NES had like 95 % of the market.

[@noemedmedia]

@@AtrocityVector 87: 97% 88: 93% 89: 74% (good SEGA year!) 90: 85% 91: 88% Lindell, 2017 "Segaboken"

[@AtrocityVector]

@@noemedmedia Cool to get some actual statistics. I only remember I read some article from a video game magazine years ago.

[@BobbyOxygen]

Regarding the Light Phaser games, I remember being slightly mindblown when I found out Gangster Town supported 2 guns for local coop. I never understood why more light gun games of the time didn't support this, as it drastically boosted the fun factor of that type of game when you could play them with a friend.

[@TheRestartPoint]

The Japanese Master System does support the Light Gun, even better it has a port for the 3D glasses too, so you don't need the sega card adapter, and one more bonus it has a rapid fire button ON the console where reset used to be. It's the Rolls Royce of Master Systems with it's built-in FM sound and RGB-out

[@JeremyParish]

The JP SMS does, but the Mark III does not, and that's what I'm using.

[@nakamaswarrior292]

A very well made video.

[@skRapKlan]

Presentation - 100% Information - 99% Style - 100000000000000000000000000000000000

[@IanDunbar1]

I really like the Master System's industrial design and packaging design. I wasn't aware that people these days see it as a bit of a joke, but then I'm not very plugged into the online retrogaming discourse.

[@tolindaniel]

I grew up in the UK and more far more of my friends had a Master System than an NES. In fact, the only friend I remember who had one said it was a "boring game" and I probably wouldn't like anything on it... And then we played Alex Kidd instead... What the hell was wrong with the English youth of the 80s? I legitimately love the SMS though. Back before I had to sell my collection, I had 48 of the NA releases complete in box - including my babies Ys and Wonder Boy 3!

[@massivepileup]

I remember back in the day thinking that the differences between the Master System and Mega Drive didn't seem all that big, after all the MS already had full colors and both of them ran Sonic. I only knew the MD from store kiosks running the Sonic 1 attract mode though. A friend had a MS2 but nobody I knew had an MD.

[@mattl_]

Around 6:40 you mention an IDE port. Can you expand on that?

[@JeremyParish]

Expansion is its entire point!

[@andrewkaye2108]

Safari hunting for the SG 1000 is an apatation of a Sega arcade game called Tranquilzer Gun.

[@JeremyParish]

Yes. See my Safari Hunting video.

[@MaxW-er1hm]

Laser ghost seems to be one of the rare Sega Master System games that genuinely shows the superiority of Sega ms graphics

[@Danthrax40]

SEGAIDEN IS BACK YES

[@superleviathan]

4:55: Sega's lack of foresight with third parties was a grave mistake, because Nintendo was able to sign all the biggest third parties to their notoriously draconian exclusivity contracts. How different would history had been if Sega had hit on their Genesis playbook in 1986, and offered third parties better deals than Nintendo?

[@noemedmedia]

If you are first, you usually get the first bite. Nintendo really ate the whole cake. SEGA did what they could with arcade and computer games, but Nintendo was the ultimate anti-consumer in this story of this era.

[@robintst]

For a long time it irked me that we lost out on the FM synth module in the US but in more recent years I think I've retained that fondness for the stock PSG sound more. Like Phantasy Star is one of my favorite games and when I first heard the FM version of it's music I thought it was cool but scrutinizing it enough over time has left me of the opinion that it sounds kind of flat and hollow. The PSG music at least "pops" with a brighter sound you can more easily hum or whistle to even if it is being produced by that old dirt simple SN76489 Ti sound chip.

[@JeremyParish]

The Mark III FM Synth module unfortunately lacks the sophistication of the more advanced chip Sega used for Genesis, and you can really hear its shortcomings in the likes of Out Run. I still think even mediocre FM synth sounds pretty awesome, though.

[@somebaker2613]

Thank you!