Recommended Master System games (general SMS thread)

[louisg]

Since there's been so many "recommend me..." threads, I'm starting a SMS one. I recently acquired a Master System, and have been really digging a few of the games: Choplifter, Gangster Town, Alex Kidd, and Fantasy Zone II. I also just ordered Rescue Mission. What other games do I need, and what makes them good? Recommendations off the beaten path are definitely good.

[junkeR]

I thought Ninja Gaiden on the SMS was awesome. Fast action, great music/graphics.

[EinhanderZwei]

Fire & Forget 2, both Power Strikes, will think of more later...

[Arasoi]

Not sure how off the beaten path these are but:

Bubble Bobble (100 more levels than the arcade)
Kenseiden

[Ed Oscuro]

Not to be a downer, but find that with the SMS the farther off the "beaten path" one goes, the more kusoge you find. Digital Press has some top SMS games threads, and to be honest a lot of them I only find average at best. Some names that get mentioned a fair bit:

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (seems a bit empty for a Shinobi title, but there's a number of fun things to do i.e. swinging around lampposts)
Ninja Gaiden (ugly but a decent challenge)
Power Strike II (Compile shooter with a 1930s plot, unfortunately expensive and PAL-only so it provides extra challenge for NTSC players; there is a Brazilian version though)
Golvellius (MSX ports on SMS are pretty common)
Lord of Sword (have had for years but never played)
Spellcaster (another haven't played; is in the same series as Kujaku Oh, aka Mystic Defender for the Genesis, and a couple Famicom point-and-click adventure games)
I've heard the SMS port of Shinobi has different powerups than other versions, but it seemed more or less similar to the others when I played it.
Castle of Illusion gets lots of praise, not sure how similar it is to the SMS version.
Y's, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. Outside the action genres, there's Phantasy Star.

Some people recommend, but I generally don't:
Psycho Fox (didn't seem special to me, but you do like Alex Kidd, maybe there's something hidden levels deep into these games)
Time Soldiers (blah port of a rather middling rotary game, without rotary control; on the other hand First Blood / Ashura is worse)
Bomber Raid, a shooter - why the hell do people like this one? So bad.

There is also a port of the Treasure game Dynamite Headdy, though I don't think they did Gunstar Heroes (which is on Game Gear instead).

[BrianC]

Which model of SMS did you pick up? If it wasn't Hang On/Safari Hunt, I would recommend picking the cart up. Not the best, but they are fun and dirt cheap.

Here are some I recommend:
Bubble Bobble (EU) - great port with some nice extras
Kenseiden - Castelvania-ish game with branching paths and abilities to earn
Zillion - cool Metroid-ish game
Rampage - One of the better ports of the game with some nice music
Time Soldiers - Cool Ikari Warriors like game with time travel elements
Fantasy Zone - Port of the arcade with a couple unique bosses and levels that feel a bit different from the original
Fantasy Zone the Maze - Neat mix of Fantasy Zone and Pac-Man
Phantasy Star - fun RPG with first person dungeons
Wonder Boy - The original game Adventure Island is based on with easier difficulty and an extra stage exclusive to SMS
Wonder Boy in Monster Land - sequel to Wonder Boy with more RPG style elements, but more arcade style than WBIII
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap - One of the best games on the system. Zelda II-ish.
Gain Ground (EU) - Not as good as the MD/Genesis version, but still a wicked cool Gauntlet-ish game with more emphasis on strategy and unique levels and bosses not in any other versions.
Mickey Mouse Land of Illusion (EU) - Excellent Mario-ish platformer with some minor puzzle elements
Rambo - First Blood Part II - Fun commando style game
Rambo III - fun Operation Wolf-ish shooter
Quartet - Different from the arcade, but a great action platformer in its own right
Bomber Raid - Nice 1943-ish shmup
R-Type - Impressive port of the classic shmup
Space Harrier - Not the best version, but well done for SMS with an exclusive final boss
Space Harrier 3D - Original for SMS, different from Space Harrier. best if used with the glasses
Zaxxon 3D - Original Zaxxon game, exclusive to SMS. Fun game pseudo 3D shooter. Doesn't require 3D glasses, but recommend for use with them.
Missile Defense 3D - Fun light gun game where you protect areas from missiles. Requires 3D glasses.
Penguin Land - Nice puzzle game where you try to guide an egg to the bottom of the vertically scrolling stage.
Sonic the Hedgehog - Similar to the Game Gear version, but better due to more challenging bosses. I recommend picking up the EU version since it's much cheaper with the exact same stuff on the cart (and it plays at the correct speed in 60 Hz too).

Golvellius (MSX ports on SMS are pretty common)

I heard the MSX ones are different. MSX ports aren't that common on SMS. The only ones I can think of based on MSX games, not including Korean or SG-1000 games, are F-17 Fighting Falcon, Aleste, and Golvellius. Rastan and Cloud Master/Chuuka Taisen are similar to the SMS versions, but I think these are ports from the SMS, rather than the other way around.

[ROBOTRON]

Power Strike
Shinobi
Fantasy Zone I and II
Action Fighter
Transbot
Zillion
R-Type

[Herr Schatten]

There are already two near-identical-threads, so I'm closing this one.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 8&p=421137
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 5&p=254269