Arcade Power! - The Best of the Sega System 16

[@dexocube]

I'm so glad I grew up in the era of arcades

[@yousefslimani99]

And me I don't what a bummer!

[@tournaline3448]

The arcades are where I fell in love with Sega.

[@Gatorade69]

@@JulioCesarjero "Freaky Games." What the hell do you mean ? Arcades were fun. If you didn't enjoy your time at an arcade you were either a spoiled child with everything at home or just a miserable person who brings others down. That or you were broke as hell and couldn't afford to play the games.

[@Gatorade69]

My first dat was to the pizza place/arcade where we beat The Simpsons Arcade game. She was awesome.

[@Smiteforce]

Some of my most fond memories include my grandpa taking me to an arcade.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

"Lets make our home console a scaled back version of our arcade hardware!" was a winning strategy in the late 80s, but man did that philosophy come back to bite them later on.

[@SieffrePlays]

One thing I loved about arcade games during this era was that many titles had some kind of music or sound effect that was meant to stand out from the cacophony of audio from all the other cabinets. The sound effect of collecting a hostage in Shinobi will always be seared into my brain.

[@davidt3563]

Yea the Shinobi hostage save, Power Uuuuup from Altered Beast and the Thank you! from Metal Slug!

[@DDRPriest]

This is why as an operator of arcades today, I always make sure you can here the game. Sounds and music make up so much of the experience. A lot of arcades today forget this.

[@miguelroman4294]

Good times!

[@AnthonyFlack]

The entire soundtrack to Shinobi is seared into my brain. The music is just tremendous. The game over theme is almost worth losing for.

[@nicholasbullock1709]

Killer Instinct had many phrases that rose above the rest of the arcade clamor. “Ultraaaa Combooo!!”, “Kiiing Comboh!”, “Ccccombo Breakerrr!” Jago, Thunder and Orchids moves. As well as the music itself. Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam had plenty, too.

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

Dynamic Duck was Blue with big Red shoes. Can't help but to notice the similarities to a speeding hedgehog Sega would create a year later.

[@chrislaustin]

I've been gaming since gaming became a thing(late 70's, early 80's), and SEGA was always one of my favorite arcade coin-op makers. Depending on when you might ask, they could easily take the #1 spot, and System 16 powered some of their best efforts over the years.

[@atariforever2002]

Fascinating look at the System 16. Please do a System 18 & 24 documentary! Absolutely love your work!!

[@lazarushernandez5827]

The Master System was pretty valiant taking on some of these System 16 titles. I had Quartet, Alien Syndrome, and of course Shinobi.

[@kahuna1247]

I was disappointed with Alien Syndrome on the SMS back in the day, graphically it could have been better.

[@guardianbeardizer6361]

Shinobi brought back memories of an old barber shop my mom used to go to that had the arcade machine along with Play Choice 10 that I played everytime. Had a couple others in the back but sadly they were broken. Tried to get mom to buy a broken one from him for me to fix but she wouldn't

[@neilmclean1527]

Love the passion you have for all things Sega. Well researched and well put together as always. I was at an arcade last week playing some of these. These boards still offer so much entertainment even today.

[@Oysterblade84]

Gotta respect the arcades. If it wasn't for the arcade scene during the 1980's and 1990's we wouldn't have what we got in the home maket. Rieko Kodama (Phenix Rie) a former graphic artist who worked at Sega said once in an interview on Alex Kidd In Miracle World that the home market was always a generation behind the arcades and that's very true. When Sega was doing Sega system 16 scalers, we had 8-bit hardware at home, when the move came to 16-bit at home, arcades were already venturing into the 32-bit era with super scalers. It's like a generational lag between arcade and home video game hardware.

[@michielkroder4031]

I'm very fond of Dynamite Dux. When you don't carry a weapon, don't walk up to enemies and simply press attack, as your default punch is very stubby. You need to charge up your attack by holding the button to wind up and let go to whallop 'em with a massive punch. The game looks like a belt scroller, but it doesn't play like a typical one. It's not about combos, but more about timing your hits, like doing melee attacks in Shinobi. Loved the video!

[@MaxAbramson3]

Another great look at the games of our childhood. Kids these days don't know what they missed out on!

[@johnmghanks]

Our local skating rink was lucky enough to have Aurail. Played it as often as I could along with DJ Boy. Whoever was in charge of their arcade did a great job because we also had Dynamite Duke & Toki and some other great cabinets that didn't see the placement in larger arcades in the area. Glad to see Aurail highlighted here as it's still one of my favorites I wish would get a classics release today.

[@atariforever2002]

Thanks! Please keep doing the arcade stuff! Love it!!

[@SegaLordX]

Thanks! Will do!

[@EhHold]

Damn this is a powerhouse showcase of Sega ultimate arcade gaming. These games are my all time favorites from Sega without a doubt. Good thing they came out with the Astro City Mini to play these…

[@BigSnipp]

Alien Syndrome was an arcade favorite of mine. I loved the constant action and gross graphics of aliens exploding.

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

I love Quartet. I still love that it found its way into the Sega Ages 2500 series for PS2. 4 player Quartet is just a blast.

[@pixhell]

the System 16 was such a thing for all the people who love to go to an arcade room back during the 90's. most of my first a more memorable discover in video game was by this hardware, the specific color palette and obviously the rising golden age of Sega. wow.... when i remember that..... 90's was a really great time to be a kid and a video game lover with a lot of quarter's.

[@asmrdestiny]

Riot City did get a home port called Riot Zone as a Super CD on the TurboDuo!

[@SegaLordX]

Similar, but not a direct port.

[@asmrdestiny]

@@SegaLordX yep - graphics and characters were greatly altered by Hudson Soft, but the core DNA of the game is still evident. The redbook audio for the SCD port was pretty awesome (by T’s Music if I’m not mistaken!)

[@jollyrogerxp]

Never considered Shinobi as a game that took inspiration from Rolling Thunder, but it makes perfect sense. Namco truly has been (and still is of course) a pioneer an a giant of games, from arcades to home, and probably SEGA's greatest rival.

[@AnthonyFlack]

And for extra fun, you can see how Rolling Thunder was inspired by Elevator Action.

[@jollyrogerxp]

@@AnthonyFlack by all means!

[@pixelgoat7317]

I always loved Alien Syndrome and it's derpy off-brand xenomorphs just bumbling around the ship looking for yummy humans to non-nom X3

[@cabbitkisser2620]

i did have this game for the master system. but the bad side was you & a friend can't play tougher like on the nes

[@pixelgoat7317]

@@cabbitkisser2620 Aww....co-op is where it's at!

[@BearfootBob]

great game and not as common in my region - no arcades had it, but whoever selected the 3 rotating games for the local grocery store knew their stuff. Alien Syndrome, Gauntlet, Outrun, Rolling Thunder, etc.

[@tylerwerrin41]

Aw, I loved Dynamite Dux! That opening stage music - I still hum it from time to time!

[@jpetersongaming]

That tune was so catchy

[@graymars1097]

sega had some fantastic games on arcades. i just recently tried out Spikeout on sega model 3 (using an emulator not the cabinet itself)…and i’m i’m telling you it’s a fantastic 3D beat ‘em up game ❤ it is so freaking good 👍

[@davidt3563]

I wish I had a time machine/bus to take us all back in time and bring along a million or 2 in quarters and just spend a week playing in the arcades. I will never forget those days! Thank the gods for arcade games and thank the gods for attract modes!

[@Llukario]

Arcade gaming is always awesome to see. I was born in the 90's so the arcades were on the tail end but every time I walked in one a smile was on my face! Great review and Great selection of games SLX!

[@Marc_Araujo]

Shinobi, ESWAT, and Golden Axe are stone-cold classics. I'm glad I have the Sega Astro City mini where I can easily play these and most of the other games on this list. P.S. I vaguely remember seeing Tough Turf as a kid and always wondering "what was that beat-em-up with the guys wearing ties?" Thank you m'lord for finally putting my mind at ease.

[@adamofgrayskull7735]

E Swat is too hard

[@Gatorade69]

@@adamofgrayskull7735 I never liked it. Dynamite Dux > E Swat.

[@Gatorade69]

Does the Astro City Mini have Revenge of Deathadder ? When did Tough Turf come out ? I see that and I think of the movie Falling Down.

[@Marc_Araujo]

@@Gatorade69 The Astro City mini has both Golden Axe and Revenge of Death Adder. Tough Turf came out in 1989 apparently.

[@OllyDee123]

This video reminds me of going to pubs in the late 80's and early 90''s. I can almost smell the stale lager and cigarettes. Altered Beast was always in one of my locals pubs and they also had a table cabinet trackball game which I've never seen anywhere else.

[@adonian]

Quartet was one of my favorite... The MUSIC was ROCKIN'... I have the ROM on my work pc (Shhh lol)

[@AntiHeroFett]

The fan conversion of the System 16 version of Shinobi for the Genesis that's being worked on is incredibly accurate! It would have been a must purchase back in the day had they put out the arcade original prior to Revenge of Shinobi. Also hoping to see somebody take a stab at an arcade E-SWAT conversion for the Genesis some day!

[@Oysterblade84]

I'm hoping the dude finishes that game. Shinobi on the Mega Drive has been in limbo for 6 years now.

[@mjdf122]

Sega Lord X Back Again To Show Us The Way Thanks For All Your Work

[@highandmightykayz]

So glad that this video was made. Literally just got my Sega System 16b with Darksoft multi in the mail and I am loving it!

[@Ledobakes]

Our nickel arcade opened in 94. All the sounds bring me right back there 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@projectmayhem6898]

Thanks!

[@SegaLordX]

You bet! Thank you too!

[@jhl5093]

Always great to get some videos on these arcade boards. Hope we see more in the future.

[@adventuretaco7140]

Love the system 16 core on my MISTer!!

[@MrMartellSincere]

This is worth watching of Sega arcade games 🎮

[@brandonfarfan1978]

Dude, I'm glad I was there, to see alot of those arcade games, during the arcade days. I was very small too.👍😄

[@MrThunderwing]

Ahhhh, the nostalgia is strong in this one! Stuff like Shinobi and Golden Axe was what got me into Sega as well as the super-scalers. The Sega Master system port of Shinobi was the first game I ever got for the console - and a really decent 8 bit port it was too! I never got to play ESWAT in the arcade, but I loved it on Megadrive. When, years later, I got to try out the arcade version of ESWAT in MAME, actually though the Megadrive game was better.

[@tonberrymasta]

Fabulous video! I was always curious about this era as I was just a bit to young to experience it (until now that is!).

[@iiiiii3673]

I bought a Sega System 16 PCB and bought the multi kit on arcade projects. Love it

[@stevetb7777]

Nuh uh.. you did NOT have to confuse my brain at 2:05 like that! Playing Golden Axe music on top of Altered Beast visuals... LOL! =D

[@jamiefrisby1914]

Had a master system I did, loved playing Shinobi, Alex Kidd, Wonder boy, Contra, (Had this on Sega Game Gear, and Shinobi), Altered beast, Golden Axe, Mickie Mouse, Ecco the Dolphin, loved Sega, and enjoyed playing those games. Thanks for video

[@AnthonyFlack]

It was a great day when System 16 emulation finally arrived, up there with the Capcom CPS2. Well maybe not such a great day for arcade owners in retrospect. But I was thrilled.

[@johnellis3383]

I have such great memories of these games! Dude, Sega needs to pump out collections of these old arcade games.

[@RicardoRandom691]

For real. It sucks that the only way to play some of these is through the Astro City mini or Arcade1up machines. They need to make them more easily accessible. Sure, emulation is right there, but they could make so much money with an arcade compilation for consoles and PC, it's nuts that they're not jumping on it.

[@deniskenn]

Space harrier and shinobi are definitely my top favorites

[@jpetersongaming]

Space Harrier in the arcade was epic!

[@deniskenn]

@@jpetersongaming yup especially the deluxe machine with the hydraulics. Used to play it at FunSpot in Laconia New Hampshire. I actually went there yesterday but it's gone unfortunately. They do still have afterburner, hang on and crazy taxi

[@jpetersongaming]

@@deniskenn The hydraulic machine was unreal! Way ahead of its time. That sucks they dont have it anymore. I haven't been to Fun Spot yet... But I will make it there one day. Afterburner is another great arcade game. I remember it being a bit claustrophobic to sit inside, but I love it

[@deniskenn]

@@jpetersongaming yeah it's a great place. Luckily I live only 2 hours away so I got at least once a year. But arcades are definitely making a comeback there are more popping up everywhere

[@jpetersongaming]

@@deniskenn I noticed the same trend! I think the younger crowds love the retro vibes that the arcades bring

[@dingo-by-the-sea1296]

Yes!!! Didn’t play arcade Alien Syndrome until the Astro City Mini, but I loved it on my Game Gear! And been a big fan of Shinobi, Golden Axe and Altered Beast since the 80s!

[@BF4pawntard]

Im glad I grew up a 80’s kid and witness sega’s greatness .

[@TboneTenEighties]

Man I love Sega. My Japanese Saturn collection is getting bigger by the week. Dreamcast too. Altered Beast is one of my favorites all time. Fell in love at first sight as a kid. Good vid 👍 SEGA!!!

[@henrymatos9551]

Experiencing Alien Syndrome and Quartet in the arcades have been so pleasant, truly a joyful entertainment. I hope to see them again available in the home console. Fantasy Zone I truly recommend and Action Fighter is a complete fun shooter. Great video and Sega please make Alien Syndrome, Action Fighter and Quartet available for the current home console! 👍🏼

[@AnthonyFlack]

You can see why people were disappointed with Fantasy Zone II in the arcades, but I love the Master System version. The re-imagined arcade game is fantastic, but is really a whole new game and not a substitute.

[@Nelbroth]

Such a great time for home gaming. Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Strider, Ghouls n Ghosts, Shinobi, and on and on... Sure, they weren't arcade perfect but they were darn close and arguably better than their big brothers thanks to additional content, modes, and tighter gameplay. Long live Genesis!

[@willrobinson7599]

Whilst I loved the home consoles of the late 80s early 90s. I still loved the atmosphere of the arcades. We was lucky and had a great one in our town that had most new machines within a few weeks of release. So many amazing sega games like shinobi , golden axe

[@thehound1359]

I remember getting the genesis for Christmas, along with golden axe. That was a great day.

[@BrusqueLee]

I learned about Quartet from Project Diva, of all places. There's a remix of the Stage 1 theme that's one of my favourite songs to play in it. I wouldn't mind trying the source game one day. You're right when you say it's designed for multiplayer though.

[@fluttershystayshigh4202]

Those beat'em ups you showcased all looked super fun, its a shame we never got those in the states.

[@turboterminator7]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

[@jpetersongaming]

hahaha that line is forever burnt into my memory. Altered Beast was the first game I played on the Genesis. Good times

[@turboterminator7]

​@@jpetersongamingvery good times 👍

[@bradtraq1]

Damn dude slow down your output is insane. I love it!

[@HansBoopie]

Another great episode! Thanks.

[@raedvalenzuela5085]

Finally! Someone talking about the Sega system 16 arcade hardware! The most transcendent board of all time. Konami used it, and even capcom to name a few has used this board in their arcade games! Also it is the board of the Sega Genesis, aside with cost cutting measures for selling it.

[@ravagingwolverine]

Fun retrospective for a significant arcade platform. As a beat-em-up fan, I consider Golden Axe, TMNT, and Final Fight the big three of 1989. They were all very important games in the genre at the time and looked way more advanced than almost anything else. It's funny how Sega and Konami both had other 1989 releases, Tough Turf and Crime Fighters respectively, that looked way behind their big releases I mentioned. I wonder if they were started earlier on. It goes to show that a lot of progress was being made in 1989 and 1990 but it was a period of transition in game development. You can see the same thing with the early Neo Geo games with some looking far more advanced than others. I've been wanting to go back to Aurail. It was good when I tried it, but the difficulty ramped up pretty quickly and I just wasn't ready for that then. But I did like the look and feel of it.

[@PONTOCRITICO]

I'll just say one thing: many of the Master System conversions from the System 16 may not have been perfect, but they were still excellent, and Fantasy Zone on the Master System was incredible and brings back a lot of nostalgia. Especially considering that you couldn't take an arcade home with you.

[@leandrojimbo7652]

239 lives in altered beast, that was my childhood dream, to have money enough to beat a arcade game to the end

[@GameSack]

The Sega System 16 boards are pretty notorious for their suicide chips. I hope I can say "suicide" without KZbin flagging the comment. I have one System 16 board (Shinobi) and I love it. I want to get a few more but it's kind of annoying that they don't adhere to the JAMMA standard.

[@ProcyonAlpha]

Thanks for the video will watch later!

[@kaikiske7436]

A "System 16" series or compilation later in the Genesis' life would've been awesome.

[@mattm7798]

The fact that a Genesis was kind of a Sega 16 at home was huge when it launched. While def not arcade perfect, it made porting those games I'm sure alot easier.

[@jonathanlisowski5618]

FYI, Riot City looks like it did get a home port on the PCE CD/TG-16 CD called Riot Zone. I had no idea this was previously an arcade game. I thought it was designed from the ground up for the PCE CD/TG-16 CD.

[@jm2621]

I definitely wished that sega ported the original shinobi to the Genesis

[@ProBreakers]

Going to the local pizza place used to be a huge deal as a kid. Pizza and video games at the attached arcade. What a great Friday night that was as a 10 year old. A real arcade, not the sad remains you get these days that contain nothing but a few old shooting or driving games.

[@chrisredfield-wq8wi]

Even though Sega didn't do a home version of Riot City, the TurboGrafx Super CD got a version called Riot Zone. It's single player, with 2 playable characters that were changed appearance wise from the original arcade version.

[@michaelh.8945]

Yes, you sure could hear an Altered Beast cabinet clear across the room!

[@nickbarrett5673]

Has anyone else noticed that dynamite duck section the back ground of the first level shown here is the first level off streets of rage 2 but reskinned Heavy

[@joshoshea3194]

I'd really like to see one of your side by side videos on arcade releases next to their Megadrive versions. Would be nice 👍

[@Crono_Triggered]

Excellent video!

[@VBrancoPT]

Sega should make arcade collection volumes. Available on digital stores and such. But that's just me, though. lol

[@AnthonyFlack]

And they could call the series Sega Ages. Why'd they ever stop doing this?

[@VBrancoPT]

@@AnthonyFlack Weren't those released only in Japan?

[@rogerspacebucks450]

My license plate says 'Sega 16'

[@Zahir658]

Those were the great arcade games I have played 👍

[@SharifSourour]

Loved this one too! These are great! Comments from a longtime subscriber.

[@Jokerwolf666]

Honestly fantasy Zone 2 on the Master System and the new one they made both have their place and play differently enough that it's worth going back to both.

[@youuuuuuuuuuutube]

That Duck game actually looks pretty good, gameplay wise, it's a bit like Streets of Rage, but you can even throw items in diagonal direction! How many beat em ups can do that??

[@AnthonyFlack]

I always had a bit of fondness for it. It's very much its own thing, much more focused on projectile attacks to the point where it's more of a brawler/shooter hybrid.

[@dogsauce19]

Got me wanting to play through all these games again. Love alien syndrome. Somehow the gg version is my favourite.

[@JohnSmith-ff2pb]

Interesting. Early arcade games aren't my favorite style but this is a nice look back.

[@AnthonyFlack]

Kind of breaks my heart to hear the System 16 board described as "early".

[@thecunninlynguist]

Now you're playing with power....sega 16 power

[@Riz2336]

Some of these are all time classics and some I've never played ever

[@phoenixmixgaming4625]

Oh yeah dynamite dux is my favorite system 16 game

[@jpetersongaming]

The tunes in that game were catchy too

[@KovesVids]

Dynamite Dux was one of my favourite beatem ups as a kid. The thing I liked about it seems to be missing from your video. When you held down the punch button you could perform a stronger punch.

[@loganholmberg2295]

Isn't the sega ages version of Shinobi available on the switch? I thought those where supposed to be the arcade versions where possible?

[@adventuretaco7140]

That fantasy zone dx game is also on MISTer

[@stinkypinkeee5085]

I never understood the love for "Fantasy Zone"...

[@AnthonyFlack]

Not even the music?

[@stinkypinkeee5085]

@@AnthonyFlack I reckon that's pretty good, but the game is not my cup of ovaltine...

[@tursilion]

Haha, I loved Dynamite Dux. The toon aesthetic worked for me, and I liked the gameplay. I also liked the two-player bonus rounds where you beat each other up (can't remember if you got more than points and bragging rights). I usually agree with you fully, but there's one we differ on! ;)

[@edhaworth8151]

The main thing I remember about this game was the master system version had a cheat code that made the damsel in distress get her boobs out.

[@barryklinedinst6233]

I still miss going to the arcade with a bunch of quarters

[@RetroCak]

You were spot on in this vid. I absolutely love the system 16 games. Shinobi, Golden Axe, and Wonder Boy III are personal favorites . I couldn’t agree more about Riot City. It lacks that special sauce that would have made it great. Wasn’t Riot Zone on the PCE/Turbo-CD a port of it?

[@SegaLordX]

Riot Zone was based on it, but it wasn't a port. It had heavily modified visuals, stage design, enemies, sound, and lacked 2 player co-op. The gameplay has a similar feel, though.

[@RetroCak]

@@SegaLordX I see. Westone and Hudson/NEC did have some kind of relationship. I've played City, but not found a way to play Zone yet. I would get it for the Turbo and then wait for my Analogue Duo to arrive, but I haven't decided which kidney to sell yet.

[@jpetersongaming]

I loved Action Fighter! It was Sega's version of Spy Hunter but way better

[@paulmodjeski8958]

Riot City did have a home port in Japan and US for the PC engine CD and TurboGrafx-16 CD as Riot Zone.

[@SegaLordX]

Not a port exactly. More like a new game based on it.

[@AlanAndalon]

Riot City got a port for the Turbo Grafx 16 & PC Engine Super CD. These japanese version is called Crest of Wolf and the character sprites look different, like Axel Stone from Streets of Rage

[@sneakyskunk1]

"like Contra but with jet packs" is one heck of an elevator pitch.

[@Sandlot1992]

I didn't grow up on these back then since I was born in 1992!

[@BestGirlsBiggestFan]

I got lucky, I was born in 1999, but my first was the MegaDrive and Sonic The Hedgehog. And I was raised the same way as those before me with 4th gen, then 5th and 6th gen hardware. I do miss the arcades that slowly fizzled out into the mid 2010's though. Games like Daytona, House of The Dead and others were a real blast; people today don't know what they're missing out on.

[@azforu29]

What came first? Hudson's Adventure Island with Master Higgins? Or Wonderboy? They are like they same game.

[@AnthonyFlack]

The Wonder Boy arcade game was first. Adventure Island was licensed from Westone, who created Wonder Boy, but the Wonder Boy trademark was owned by Sega so they changed the protagonist.

[@azforu29]

@@AnthonyFlack thank you!

[@rigues]

Riot City was "remixed" into Riot Zone for the PC-Engine. Funny to see a "SEGA" game that only saw a release on a competitor's console. But when you have Streets of Rage...

[@alexbrookner5331]

I still play fantasy star on my switch on a regular basis. By far my favourite shmup. I just wish they would release a compilation or some of the sequels (the sun soft one looks good).