Post by Mws2 on Sept 21, 2015 14:54:18 GMT
On my bus home from work this morning I was thinking about what my all time favourite titles of each genre are for this grossly underrated system. I'm pretty sure I have played most of the library and so I've come up with mine, let me know what yours are too if your also a fan of the console. Heck you can do it for the NES or any other system you want really just have fun with it.
Platformer
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
I opted for the Kidd over one of Sonic's offering himself since to me he is the Master System. The game is a little weird (boss battles are games of rock paper scizzors) and its very Japanese but this is where my gaming world began. The first game I ever played. Not only that but to play it you had to not put a cartridge in the system which to my child self meant he was kinda part of the machine. Playing it today the jumping seems a little floaty and its very difficult but theres a lot to enjoy here in the level variation, bright colours and earworm music. Out there somewhere is a weird japanese monkey boy hybrid keeping the dream alive im sure of it.
Honourable mentions: Sonic 2, Wonder Boy, Asterix
Sports
Speedball 2
I wont lie, the SMS is terribly poor for sports games. What it does have however is a port of the best future sport game of all time. Speedball 2 (originally an Amiga game) is like a cross between soccer, ice hockey and the thunderdome from Mad Max. The only aim is to get the ball in the opposing teams net and there are no rules about who you kill to get it there. The port itself is a bit bare bones but for an 8 bit version its a lot of fun.
Honourable mentions: California Games, Sensible Soccer... literally nothing else
Shoot 'em ups
Fantasy Zone
This will probably sound weird but I think the SMS version is the best version of Fantasy Zone (yes even better than the arcade). The colours look absolutely incredible, the gameplay isnt as hectic as other ports and the music is the best soundtrack for the platform (even with the shit sound chips we had in the western SMS). If youve not played it before, youre basically a living spaceship on a mission to rescue your dad and defeat an evil army of bugs and plants. The ending is even more bizarre than the premise.
Honourable mentions: Astro Warrior, Transbot, R-Type
Racing
World Grand Prix
It was difficult to choose between this and Hang On since they are so similar but I let nostalgia choose for me. Its the classic formula of race to the checkpoint without hitting anything'that we all came to love. Some great variety in locations (it is world grand prix after all) but my one gripe is some of the sound effects were grating even back in the early 90s. Very cheap and easy to find so definitely worth getting.
Honourable mentions: Outrun, Hang On, Enduro Racer
Action
Shinobi
Easily the largest genre for the system but contains mostly just scaled down versions of Genesis games. I went with Shinobi as I think its one the few games that feels like it was made with the SMS in mind and not just a watered down port of a 16 bit game. It has the same tight controls that other ports have and the difficulty curve remains both exciting and smooth throughout. If you like ninja action games its either this or 'The Ninja' which is cool but it doesnt beat Shinobi.
Honourable mentions: The Ninja, Alien Storm, Zillion
RPGs
Havent picked anything for this as I really don't like RPGs but if you do then you can fill in this category. Ones that seem worth a go though are Phantasy star, Y's and Golden Axe: Warrior.
Other
Sega Chess
A category for games that fit in none of the others. I opted for Sega Chess which may seem a little bland in terms of todays games but its a good chess simulator and wont bog you down with wacky animations and long loading times like others. Will your kids be excited to play it? Probably not but if you appreciate the game of kings then you might.
Honourable mentions: Rampart, Populous, Monopoly
Platformer
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
I opted for the Kidd over one of Sonic's offering himself since to me he is the Master System. The game is a little weird (boss battles are games of rock paper scizzors) and its very Japanese but this is where my gaming world began. The first game I ever played. Not only that but to play it you had to not put a cartridge in the system which to my child self meant he was kinda part of the machine. Playing it today the jumping seems a little floaty and its very difficult but theres a lot to enjoy here in the level variation, bright colours and earworm music. Out there somewhere is a weird japanese monkey boy hybrid keeping the dream alive im sure of it.
Honourable mentions: Sonic 2, Wonder Boy, Asterix
Sports
Speedball 2
I wont lie, the SMS is terribly poor for sports games. What it does have however is a port of the best future sport game of all time. Speedball 2 (originally an Amiga game) is like a cross between soccer, ice hockey and the thunderdome from Mad Max. The only aim is to get the ball in the opposing teams net and there are no rules about who you kill to get it there. The port itself is a bit bare bones but for an 8 bit version its a lot of fun.
Honourable mentions: California Games, Sensible Soccer... literally nothing else
Shoot 'em ups
Fantasy Zone
This will probably sound weird but I think the SMS version is the best version of Fantasy Zone (yes even better than the arcade). The colours look absolutely incredible, the gameplay isnt as hectic as other ports and the music is the best soundtrack for the platform (even with the shit sound chips we had in the western SMS). If youve not played it before, youre basically a living spaceship on a mission to rescue your dad and defeat an evil army of bugs and plants. The ending is even more bizarre than the premise.
Honourable mentions: Astro Warrior, Transbot, R-Type
Racing
World Grand Prix
It was difficult to choose between this and Hang On since they are so similar but I let nostalgia choose for me. Its the classic formula of race to the checkpoint without hitting anything'that we all came to love. Some great variety in locations (it is world grand prix after all) but my one gripe is some of the sound effects were grating even back in the early 90s. Very cheap and easy to find so definitely worth getting.
Honourable mentions: Outrun, Hang On, Enduro Racer
Action
Shinobi
Easily the largest genre for the system but contains mostly just scaled down versions of Genesis games. I went with Shinobi as I think its one the few games that feels like it was made with the SMS in mind and not just a watered down port of a 16 bit game. It has the same tight controls that other ports have and the difficulty curve remains both exciting and smooth throughout. If you like ninja action games its either this or 'The Ninja' which is cool but it doesnt beat Shinobi.
Honourable mentions: The Ninja, Alien Storm, Zillion
RPGs
Havent picked anything for this as I really don't like RPGs but if you do then you can fill in this category. Ones that seem worth a go though are Phantasy star, Y's and Golden Axe: Warrior.
Other
Sega Chess
A category for games that fit in none of the others. I opted for Sega Chess which may seem a little bland in terms of todays games but its a good chess simulator and wont bog you down with wacky animations and long loading times like others. Will your kids be excited to play it? Probably not but if you appreciate the game of kings then you might.
Honourable mentions: Rampart, Populous, Monopoly
