A-Z of Sega Master System Games , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Kieren Hawken

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

112 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

The A-Z of Sega Master System Games: Volume 2 features reviews of three different games for each letter of the alphabet. The games range from the very earliest releases in the mid-eighties to the modern homebrew games of today. This book shows you just how diverse the library of titles is for the Sega Master System and how it Sega on the path to success.

Sujets

Indoor games and sports

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	04 février 2019
Nombre de lectures	1
EAN13	9781789820188
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

The A-Z ofSega Master System Games
Volume 2

Kieren Hawken

Digital version published by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2019 Kieren Hawken
The right of Kieren Hawken to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
The opinions expressed herein belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK Limited.
Game screenshots are included in this publication legally under applicable fair use law which allows such material for the explicit purposes of commentary and criticism.

Introduction
The Sega Master System is a console with a very interesting history indeed. It was originally released in Japan in 1985 as the Sega Mark III and was the follow up to the Mark I and Mark II, which are better known to most people as the SG-1000 (Sega’s first console). It took the existing hardware and added more memory, as well as a better graphics chip, so it could better compete with Nintendo’s best selling Famicom console. When Nintendo released the Famicom as the NES in the west, Sega soon followed, skipping the SG-1000 hardware completely and renaming the Mark III as the Master System. While it failed to capture the North American market as Sega had hoped, being overwhelmed by the NES, the situation in Europe, Australasia and especially South America was very different. In these territories the SMS (as it became known) ruled supreme and the many of the best games for the 8-bit Sega console were only released in these areas. New versions of the console continue to be sold in Brazil by the official distributor Tectoy to this day, while a handheld version of the machine with built-in games is available in the west from AtGames, both helping to keep the machine alive.

In this book I take you through the life of the Sega Master System, and also its older backwards compatible brother the SG-1000, looking at a varied cross section of the 500+ games available with a small review and screenshot of each one. This is not a list of the best games, a list of the worst or indeed a complete guide to what’s available. The A-Z of Sega Master System Games: Volume 2 is just that, the second volume of my look at a selection of SMS games in alphabetical order. There are up to three games featured for each letter and these range from the earliest titles released to modern homebrews, protoypes and even unofficial bootlegs! Hopefully this book gives you some inspiration to try games you’ve never played before or bulk up your personal collection. You might even find it that brings back happy memories of unwrapping treasured Christmas presents or inviting your friends round after school for some multiplayer madness. But most of all I hope you enjoy reading it and remember what makes the Sega Master System such a great home console to own and collect for.
Kieren Hawken
Author

A
After Burner
Activision - 1988

Originally unleashed on arcade audiences in 1987, After Burner is one of Sega’s most popular and beloved franchises. In the arcades this game relied heavily on its custom super-scaler hardware to wow audiences, which was also seen in games like Galaxy Force and Space Harrier . I am sure I don’t need to tell you that the humble Master System really struggles to replicate this advanced technology. All you actually do in After Burner is fly your F14 Tomcat over the different landscapes through night and day taking out enemy planes with your guns and lock-on missiles and occasionally take part in the now famous mid-air refuelling sequence. There really isn’t that much too it and this is made even more obvious in this heavily compromised SMS port. The hardware struggles to keep up with the action with a poor frame rate and the lack of any scaling doesn’t help matters at all either. Graphically the game is quite lacking as, aside from those problems already mentioned, the scenery is quite bland and featureless. That said though the sprites look quite nice. The iconic music has been created fairly well though and that is without doubt the best part of this lacklustre title. The gameplay is not only tedious but is greatly hindered by lack of “wow factor” that arcade original had. You will just want to turn SMS After Burner off after a few minutes and play a proper shoot ’em up instead.
5/10
Action Fighter
Sega - 1986

This game is a very nice conversion of Sega’s little known sequel to the classic Spy Hunter , which they originally released in conjunction with Bally/Midway who had just bought Sega’s US arcade division out. Keeping all of the original’s fast-paced game play, but adding new elements to the mix, it retains much of the same appeal. The action is still viewed top down and the theme of the game is still very reminiscent of James Bond but instead of a car, in Action Fighter , you climb onto the seat of a high powered motor bike. That’s not the only form of transport in the game though, one of the best new features is when you jump into the cockpit of a plane for a vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up style section that is very reminiscent of Namco’s classic Xevious . There are also some new gadgets and special weapons to get your hands on too that include rockets, fighter jets that fly over head and the ability to transform into the original Spy Hunter car! The levels vary nicely as you make your way through built up cities, jungles, deserts and over the ocean too. The game looks and sounds pretty much identical to the original arcade game with its brightly coloured graphics, high tempo music and screeching sounds. It might get a little samey at times but this is a worthy follow-up to the classic Spy Hunter and fans of these old school top viewed arcade games will really lap this one up!
8/10
Alien Syndrome
Sega - 1987

Hot on the heels of Atari classic arcade game Gauntlet came this Sega coin-op Alien Syndrome , which many described at the time as Gauntlet in space. It’s certainly not an unfair comparison but there is a little more to this game than meets the eye. It is also interesting that it has been recently resurrected for many of the current gen consoles. The levels are smaller than Gauntlet and are much less maze like and a bit more open plan. Before you can go into the exit you must also rescue all the hostages too, meaning it’s not all about just blasting away. Another feature of this game is the end of level bosses that must be defeated and, a further addition to the gameplay over Gauntlet , is that there are also various weapon upgrades too. One of the other objectives of this game is to rescue your stranded colleagues and this must be done before you can enter the door to the next level. Visually the game is very nice indeed, although it does use flick screen scrolling, which is not ideal, but doesn’t really hinder the game. In the audio department this title is also very strong, the music really adds tension to the game and the sound effects are spot-on. Alien Syndrome is a bit of a lost gem for the Master System in my opinion. It’s a lot of fun to play, especially in two-player mode, and if you are a fan of these types of games then this really is a title you should hunt down sooner rather than later.
8/10

B
Bonanza Bros.
Sega - 1991

Bonanza Brothers is a 3D-styled, but actually 2D, strategy platform game that was first released into the arcades in 1990. This game is certainly a real welcome departure from all the racing and shooting games Sega were churning out around this time. It’s a rather original game that in ways reminded me of Activision’s classic Atari 2600 game Keystone Kapers. Bonanza Bros. is a split screen game for one or two players where you must run around each level stealing a number of objects with a time limit. The many locations that you must burgle include a museum, bank, art gallery, casino and a millionaire’s mansion. Objectives are set out before each level and you need to plan ahead to beat the clock and steal all the objects in time. The main thing you have to watch out for though is the guards trying to stop you committing your crimes. They can be stunned for a shot time using you gun so you need to react quickly to this. The graphical style is really unique and has a kind of futuristic cartoon look to it. The graphics are essentially 2D but have been cleverly shaded and given perspective to create a 3D effect. Bonanza Brothers also wins out in the sound department too with great tunes, effects and even some digitised speech! This is a really fun game, especially in two-player mode, and while Bonanza Brothers is not one of Sega’s most famous games it is certainly one of its most unique.
8/10
Baku Baku Animal
Tectoy - 1996

I have to start off by saying that Baku Baku is one of the best puzzle games of all time and a criminally under rated game that deserved a million sequels (ok slight exaggeration but you get the point). It plays quite similar to another Sega puzzle game, the equally brilliant Columns , except with an animal theme. In Baku Baku you have two types of blocks, animals and food. The idea is to line up rows of food as big as p