sega master system recommendations

[louisg]

Yes! That's what I was about to say. I got this just recently and it really plays like an 8-bit Outzone with Ninjas. What's not to like?

That they didn't give the Ninja Princess more visibility. Sexism!

Hmm, I have yet to play many SMS games, like Lord of the Sword / Golvellius / etc.

Kenseiden probably doesn't get more fans because of the rather strange way you exit the first stage (don't just walk to the end). Kind of like Platoon on the NES ("the fucking bridge!")

I liked the Ninja Princess main character a lot more than the generic Ninja, but it probably didn't play as well with their 10-year-old-boy test audience Luckily I've got that one on my Saturn!

Kenseiden rocks. I'm surprised it doesn't get more hype. It's a little stiff, but that was about par for many 8-bit platformers.

[BIL]

Kenseiden's good. It has an unfortunate, amateurish problem with sprites just popping into existence somewhere vaguely up ahead, instead of sticking to the screen edge, making certain areas total memorisers. But it plays a great economical sword action game, and the character building + nonlinear elements are truly excellent. A seamlessly accessible, growing move repertoire beats menu fiddling any day (>Demon's Blazon), as does acquiring items in the field instead of grinding for cash (>Ys III, a million other sidescrolling ARPGs). It's also very cool how you can take your time crisscrossing the map for an ultimate character, or go on a kamikaze run straight for the last stage, or anything in between. Great feudal Japanese horror atmosphere too, love how it's always dark out.

Wild out / geek out about it here!

It's currently the only Mark III game I own. I'm still looking for other good stuff, but honestly I've found most of the machine's stuff completely sub-par compared to the Famicom's library. Shinobi in particular is shockingly poor, totally lacking the AC's fluidity and further undone by jarring vertical scrolling and idiotic unlabeled (+highly situational) weapon switches. Dead Fox/Codename Viper's speed and smoothness outclass it even with its protagonist's lack of trousers. Alien Syndrome, Ashura and Ninja get blown out of the water by the precision fury of Guevara (though I do like having Ninja Princess on Saturn). I'd love to try out the Rastan port but I'm limited to Mark III atm unfortunately.

[muckyfingers]

I'd love to try out the Rastan port but I'm limited to Mark III atm unfortunately.

Rastan was my favorite game on the Master System, I played that thing to death. I used to play the arcade version at a shop near my house until it closed down. I was so happy when I was able to play it at home. Definitely not the same quality as the arcade, but it was done well and the music was great.

[BrianC]

I still need to pick up that one. I'll see how it plays on my JP SMS when or if I get it. BIL, I use a tototek adapter to play US SMS games on my JP SMS. It works very well. The majority of the games work with, but for some reason Bubble Bobble (which some have gotten to work. especially odd since the Mark III Final Bubble Bobble cart works fine) and Wonder Boy III don't. I also noticed some confusion about FM going around on some forums. The only games that removed FM from their US counterparts are Ys and Phantasy Star.

All of the US/EU games I tried with FM on the cart play the FM fine on the JP SMS (though I couldn't get Wonder Boy III to work on the JP SMS and I'm not alone with the issue). Most of the games that don't work on the JP SMS, like Walter Payton Football and Wanted, have unfinished FM. I heard these still work on Mark III. Some gun games will play, but won't notice the gun due to the header (If I remember correctly Rambo III and Gangster Town notice the gun, but Rescue Mission, Safari Hunt, Shooting Gallery, and Missile Defense 3D don't).

Kenseiden definitely has FM, though the hair doesn't change to blond like the JP version (as far as I know the only difference between US and JP versions, aside from text).

[BIL]

Ta for the info Brian! I'm currently just dabbling with a Mega Converter + JP MD, but I might well get a proper SMS if I find more stuff I like.

[Turrican]

I've read that someone made a custom-PBC with FM chip built in. That sure would be nice to have!

[BrianC]

While I don't have the stand alone Mark III, if I remember correctly, Wanted does work in JP mode on my switched Genesis with PBC with the gun. Not really my favorite, though. I want to like it, but it focuses too much on small targets that you can't shoot until they pull a gun out.

[ryosnk]

What is the going price range for Power strike 2 with box and game but no manual? I have a chance to buy one for $110 but not sure yet to pull the trigger.

Any help would be appreciated.

[TransatlanticFoe]

If you're looking in the US, you can probably expect to pay a premium.

Complete ones tend to go on ebay for around £70-120 ($120-200) depending on condition and bidding wars. Here's a recent no manual copy which went for silly money: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWER-STRIKE- ... 7675.l2557

I'm sure you could get it cheaper than the above and indeed $110 in a normal auction, but probably not much so unless the condition was off. If it's in great condition and you aren't bothered about the manual, it's worth a punt.