After spending October taking a trip down memory lane with the Wii U i figured i would take a look back at the very first games console i played and had as a child. Although considered an oddity in North America and Japan the mighty Sega Master System was a massive hit in Europe and South America! Its combined sales in these two regions is actually MORE than the Wii U, Dreamcast or PS Vita managed worldwide but for some reason it is often forgotten by the larger gaming world.
The Master System was Sega's 8-bit console that competed mainly with the Nintendo Entertainment System for most of its life. I wont get into a massive comparison between the two here but power wise i feel the Master System had a clear edge particularly with Colours but the NES has a far more lauded game library.... outside of Europe anyway.
So where do my memories of it begin? Well way back in 1993, My parents got a Master System Model 2 mainly for themselves i suspect but as a fresh faced 3 year old i got to play it too! The first video game i ever played was Paperboy and it blew my tiny little mind. In Paperboy you... well... you deliver papers! But you do this by throwing them into post boxes and at door mats whilst avoiding obstacles, angry house pets and your own bad aim. I remember as a kid the cathartic feeling of "Missing" and throwing papers through house windows and cars and it was great arcade fun.
The next genre of games i got to get to grips with was platformers! Now at the time platformers were the big game genre, characters such as Mario, Sonic and the amazing Disney titles were the staples of video games and i fell in love straight away. The first one i got to play was the often forgotten SEGA mascot platformer Alex Kidd: In Miracle World which was actually built into the Model 2 we had at the time. Alex Kidd is platformer in a similar vein to its big rival Mario games, you run, jump and punch your way through a variety of very bright and colourful worlds, collecting baums and playing Rock Paper Scissors with bosses,,,, ok so its slightly different but it was fun nonetheless! One of things i loved about Alex Kidd as a child was the levels where you got to control Alex in Vehicles such as a helicopter and motorbike. Although somewhat forgotten now it is still a great game and if you were to ever pick up a Master System it is a must buy!
Of course Alex Kidd was replaced by this point by Sonic The Hedgehog and here in the UK we got a few cool Master System game based off Mega Drive titles. The one i got to play at the time was the amazing Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Yes it actually came to Master System! Although there isn't a single level carried over from the Mega Drive title the game still feels like its much faster counterpart. Sonic 2 on Master System wasn't actually the first Sonic game i had played, my best friend at school had a Mega Drive so Sonic 1, 2 and Streets of Rage 2 were games i had played on that BEFORE i got the Master System versions for myself, it was the first one that i owned and as such i have fond memories of it and all its weirdness. The gliders, the special stages and the dark "Omg tails is dead" ending you got if you didn't get all the gems!
When it came to racing games the Master System provided me with an early memory too with the outstanding port of Outrun. Outrun was an arcade racer where you tried to get to the end of the level being the timer ran out by drifting around corners and just generally driving fast. There was also an F1 game i remember too but it was never as much fun Outrun and certainly not as fast!
Lastly for my quick look at my early gaming memories i have to talk about the outstanding Shoot em Up series Fantasy Zone. Fantasy Zone was a side scrolling shooter which puts you in control of the adorable Opa Opa who must complete certain objectives and blast bosses to move to different worlds. Fantasy Zone 2 was the version i had and its bright colours and wonderful soundtrack stuck with me throughout my journey into game development years later. The master system has great arcade ports of Hang On and Space Harrier as well but Fantasy Zone 2's unique looks and gameplay were always more appealing to me.
So i could go on for pages about all the Master System games i played growing up and the great series such as Phantasy Star and Wonder Boy i missed but perhaps i will keep that for a few retro reviews in the future! Overall the Master System was a fantastic little console that i loved to bits, sadly mine broke when i was in my Teens and we foolishly threw it out and sold the games, im sure now i would be able to fix whatever went wrong now but alas it was not meant to be. As gamers we always have fondness for our first console and games and for me the Master System and SEGA as a whole will always have a very special place in my heart.
