Console Debate #1: Sega Master System/Mark III

[Nintegageo | 582]

14 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I respect what you're saying, but the scoring guidelines are set by @fox.  A 1 and 5 and 10 are what he says they are.

I encounter this with the other debates as well.  People give something a 10 because it's "important" to the medium.  Okay, but that's not what I said a score of 10 was.

Good point. By that logic though, only people who have delved into the console should be able to vote no?

[Reed Rothchild | 9,515]

2 minutes ago, Nintegageo said:

Good point. By that logic though, only people who have delved into the console should be able to vote no?

That's the tricky part, and why I haven't voted.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

I will say that my SMS experience is with a genesis model 1 with the backward compatibility attachment. I can't comment on the paddle.

 

And my experience is with 10-15 games. Just the ones my Grandmother bought for us grandkids at her house. At the time, it was the very first video game experience I ever had. Hindsight only gives it a score of mediocre though, especially after revisiting some of these games via emulation and realizing how unspectacular most of them are.

[CMR | 519]

People still only choosing to play one of the consoles in 2020 are the real losers.  I did think the Double Dragon port was a disappointment though.  It was also ported by technos and published by sega.  I think a lot of SMS and Genesis ports were done like this to get around Nintendo's exclusivity agreement.

I would also suggest that anyone new to the system should go over to www.smspower.org and check out the hombrew section.

Edited November 11, 2020 by CMR

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

The few games on it I have played have been pretty good, but not as much warm fuzzy feelings as the NES

6/10

[Sumez | 2,935]

14 hours ago, The Strangest said:

we had people posting their honest to God opinion that Sega never had a good console or hell, even a good game. I grew up with Nintendo the entire way but come on, that’s embarrassingly wrong. Brand loyalty is a hell of a drug and I think it affects the ratings of a lot of Sega’s consoles these days

I do think that's weird when people with obvious Nintendo nostalgia and barely any familiarity with the MegaDrive talks about how that console doesn't really have anything they want to play (spoilers: it's jam packed with awesome stuff).

But the Master System really is something different. It's a really cool system, and it has some cool games. But it just doesn't have something that really stands out in my opinion, and I think all the talk I've seen so far in this thread (especially the posts in "defense" of the SMS) only backs up that notion.

It's a good platform, and the library isn't awful by any means, but I don't see anything able to elevate it over at least decent mediocrity. Arcade ports that play similarly to the original games but not as well aren't really interesting to me, I'd rather take one that goes in a different direction or adds new mechanics (SMS Ghouls 'n Ghosts is at the very least interesting). Hell, IMO the NES Double Dragon is better than the original arcade game.

[Sumez | 2,935]

EDIT: Good ol' patented VGS double-post

Edited November 11, 2020 by Sumez

[Strange | 1,700]

10 hours ago, Sumez said:

I do think that's weird when people with obvious Nintendo nostalgia and barely any familiarity with the MegaDrive talks about how that console doesn't really have anything they want to play (spoilers: it's jam packed with awesome stuff).

But the Master System really is something different. It's a really cool system, and it has some cool games. But it just doesn't have something that really stands out in my opinion, and I think all the talk I've seen so far in this thread (especially the posts in "defense" of the SMS) only backs up that notion.

It's a good platform, and the library isn't awful by any means, but I don't see anything able to elevate it over at least decent mediocrity. Arcade ports that play similarly to the original games but not as well aren't really interesting to me, I'd rather take one that goes in a different direction or adds new mechanics (SMS Ghouls 'n Ghosts is at the very least interesting). Hell, IMO the NES Double Dragon is better than the original arcade game.

My defense of it is more against the people who think it’s a dumpster fire, not so much the ones who are indifferent or think it’s mediocre.

I guess I should expand upon my “brand loyalty” hypothesis: If this thread were about the Atari 7800, another NES contemporary, I really do think the response would be a bit more “meh” or “indifferent” instead of the hate we saw here. But by every metric the 7800 is a much worse console than the Master System, and I think this sentiment is leftover from the bitter “Sega vs. Nintendo” console war, and in some people it affects their opinions on Sega products. It’s not a slight against Nintendo fans, it’s just how we as humans are. Look at Xbox vs. PlayStation now. I could very well be wrong but it’s just my hypothesis.

I don’t think the Master System is among the best consoles over, but I think it’s far from being among the worst.

(If you want to see an example of brand loyalty clouding people’s judgment, go on AtariAge and see how many of those dudes think the NES is trash or worse than the 2600.)

[MagusSmurf | 577]

3/10.

Got into it for the first time earlier this year (had previously played Phantasy Star on GBA though) and played 23 games (generally some of the most well-known and popular ones); was very disappointed. A few good games, some okay ones, nothing I thought was great. I'd say it's the worst major home console from the launch of the NES onwards (by which I mean the major non-add-on consoles from Nintendo/Sega/Sony/Microsoft plus the Turbografx/PC Engine) by some distance.

[CMR | 519]

I love both Nintendo and Sega's systems, but Sega fanboys are far worse than Nintendo fanboys IMO.  Just look through some of the comments in the comparison videos on youtube.  Some of those guys are delusional, especially when it comes to the sound chip on the Genesis.  Only the C64 kids and their SID chip obsession are worse.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Solid system I've owned twice, emulated quite a few more times over the last 25 years, and even now have both an official licensed closed system handheld of, and also one of those blatant piracy 100in1 carts for my GBA that runs SMS Advance.

What I can say for it, it's easy.  Is it the better system than the NES?  No.  Did it get a fair chance either?  No.  Would it have made much of a difference at all?  Nope.  Even looking outside of the US the Nintendo impact wasn't that killer, the system itself was just a product of Sega's own limitations as much as the Nintendo strangehold in the US market.  IT's a great little system, but it wasn't made to do more than what the hardware would allow, or at least Sega had no interest in expansion in cart (like NES with its memory mappers.)  So early on it was the better box to color and audio than the NES, had the nicer put up arcade conversions of their own goods in some ways too.  But it didn't take long for the system to show how much outside of its bigger color and display palette how lacking it was.  I've enjoyed it over the years, it has a lot of really nice games, some that stand out on their own like Phantasy Star or Golden Axe Warrior, but others that only do as conversions/downgrades of Game Gear stuff like Streets of Rage, Master of Darkness, and Sonic.  I've probably owned around a quarter of the US library with a handful of PAL region stuff so I know it has some quality there, but less quality to Nintendo when it comes to staying power and more willing to return to do something again too.

[Sumez | 2,935]

9 hours ago, CMR said:

Some of those guys are delusional, especially when it comes to the sound chip on the Genesis.

I don't know, I've seen a lot of fanboys being pretty delusional about the SNES sound chip too XD

Edited November 12, 2020 by Sumez

[Sumer | 221]

I gave it a 6.  Definitely fun to fire up once in awhile.  I never owned one as a kid (had the NES, of course), but was always intrigued by the "look" of it, since one of my friends had one.  Years later, I bought one in the early 2000s with the 3D glasses and still have it.  I enjoy playing Wonder Boy on it.  Barely touched my copy of Phantasy Star, but from the little I have played of it, it seems more fun than Final Fantasy 1 to me.

[T-Pac | 7,531]

On 11/7/2020 at 3:15 PM, The Strangest said:

For those that watched Regular Show (still oddly enjoyable as an adult) the creator is a self-proclaimed Sega nerd and in the show they’re always playing Master System. Although they did use a Power Glove with it in one episode, lol.

You've got great taste in cartoons, my dude! Regular Show is amazing...

-CasualCart

[T-Pac | 7,531]

I've always been fascinated by the Master System (and the SG-1000 to a lesser extent). But every time I look into the game library, there just isn't enough suited to my tastes to justify diving into the console. It's a shame, but if I ever got a Master System I'd just end up playing Astro Warrior every time I powered it on.

-CasualCart

[fox | 1,665]

Last call to vote you sega masters!

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

[Jicsan | 589]

I gave it a 6.  Never played it when it was current.  In fact, I don't think I'd even actually seen a Master System outside of game mags until way after it was old news.  It must have had very little or no distribution where I live.  Probably would have been into Phantasy Star or Golden Axe Warrior back then.  I've played Master System roms a bit since getting a Mega SG, but haven't dug in very deep yet.  I only own one cart, a loose Outrun, that I snagged at the local game shop just to have one to play on it.

Added Master of Darkness to my 'want to play' list, after some youtubers talked it up.  Haven't gotten around to it though.

[SilverspoonGaming | 332]

SMS has a small place in my heart because its my dads all time favorite system.  He still plays Great Baseball all the time to this day, but I found it very late, and actually after its life cycle.

I had never heard of the Master System before around 1995 when my friends dad, now my foster dad, had one hooked up in his bedroom.  I was 10 at the time, and wanted to play it badly.  My favorite games on the system were Rocky, Rambo, and Choplifter.  I have never found much in the wild as far as collecting so it seems pretty scarce around here, and at this point I only have 19 NTSC games for it.

I dont feel I have much reason to go back and play it these days, but I just downloaded the Wonderboy remake on PS4 since so many of you talked highly of it in this thread.