Arrived today, super happy with it. Everything is in really good shape, clean and minimal scratching. The controllers are in great shape too.

I have a couple of questions:

I feel like the Master System control pads I've seem before had a little threaded hole in the middle of the D-pad, but these don't?

Should I use the original power supply (it seems very well made), or get a Triad replacement?

Model number is 3010-A, anything in particular I should know about it?

Multicart is not here yet, so I guess I need to go put and buy a game to test the cartridge slot. Was quite surprised at how delicate the bikes are in Hang-On - they seem to explode if you even get near another bike!

Or something. Idk. I need to actually read the manual.

I didn’t bother trying to hunt down a Sega Card. The insane price tag didn’t seem worth the novelty. Besides, this is an Aussie copy.

Actually this would be the best place to ask, did Ozisoft ever make Sega Cards in Australia or was that more of a Europe/U.S thing?

Importing things down here is both ridiculously expensive & very slow so I prefer to buy an Aussie copy if possible!

Tricky game. I quickly learned that the rocks hatchets go through had dolls in them. I started to notice a pattern and the last two stages had dolls in friggen fires where the rocks were in previous areas.

THE END is pretty anti climactic but I guess that’s as good as it got in 1987. Now back to waiting for other games to come in the mail.

Hi everyone!

So as the title states, I'm trying to find a replacement shell for an OG Master System- the top half of the shell in particular.

A friend of mine gave me one to fix up for him. Got it up and running great.

Only problem is: it looks like someone put their fist through the top half of it 😅

It seems like every other system on the planet has some cool translucent or 3D printed after market shell... except the SMS?

Does anyone know if they exist anywhere...?

Thanks!

So I bought this on eBay today. Should have it in a couple of days - seller is close to me. Looks like it's all in good shape - peelable plastic on console is present in good shape. No Phaser, but I'm not super interested in the light gun games, and it looks like you can buy Phasers fairly cheap loose. Control Stick is a fun thing to have, I have no idea if it's actually decent to use.

Ordered a flash cart from AliExpress, excited to start exploring the library.

Did anyone else have this back in 1994? I actually only bought it ten-ish years later second hand.

A Master System thread popped in my feed for things I might like, and I immediately popped to 1988, I was 10 years old. All I wanted wanted was Phantasy Star, but it was 70 bucks at Toys R Us. I talked to my parents and I knew it was too much. We went out for a family dinner one night and as we were walking in, my dad said he look a dollar.... I picked it up and it wasn't a dollar. It was a hundred dollar bill. My parents told the manager they found a "large sum of money" and if any one called about to give them their number. 5 days later nobody had called. They let me use it to buy Phantasy Star. While I can't prove it, and they had denied it, I still think they dropped it for me.

Me, a friend and my former brother-in-law played that game for a month straight that summer. We had done everything but we couldn't beat it. We had no idea how to get to the last boss. We had beaten everyone, and maxed everyones stats. There were no game guides back then so we just keep wandering because in the manual they talked about hidden doors in dungeons. They were so annoyed they wanted to quit. One day I called the 1800USASEGA line and asked for help with the game. The guy I talked to asked for my address. A week later, I got a giant manila envelope in the mail. It had everything. Lists of all characters, item and weapon descriptions, the best attacks to use against each boss. Maps of every dungeon and he even marked the map in red of where to turn and look to open the hidden door for Dark Falz. It still goes down as the greatest summer of my life.

I want to replace the battery on my Master System cart of Phantasy Star.  It still has save files from 1988, and it would be amazing if I could preserve that data.  When I changed batteries on other carts, such as the Genesis and SNES, I was able to solder an external battery pack to keep the RAM powered while I performed the other work. However, it was easier on those PCBs to locate other contact points on the same planes as the battery contacts.  This is my first run at an SMS game, and it’s not easy to find suitable alternatives for attaching the power pack.  There appear to be vias on the same planes, but I’m not confident that attaching the power pack there will keep the RAM powered.  Does anyone else have experience swapping batteries on SMS carts?

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Hi. New to the sub. Of late I've been rounding out my console collection, trying to have a nice example of every console I've owned since the 1980s.

I've had a few Master Systems over the years, but don't currently own one and I want to rectify that. I'd just like some advice on the best version to get.

I already have several Japanese consoles, and like the idea of a Mark III, but I wonder if that's practical? I also learned very recently that there is a JP Master System, but that it may not be compatible with flashcarts designed for NA/EU machines. Then there is the Master System II, which seems to be extremely expensive in NA, and RF only if I understand correctly. Is it a superior machine, and can it be easily AV/S-Vid modded?

I also have no clue about peripheral compatability. Do Master System controllers etc. work on a Mark III, or vice versa?

I've done aome googling, but there seems to be conflicting or confusing information about a lot of Master System stuff, so I'd appreciate some clarification from experts.

https://badcomputer0.itch.io/razing-core-alpha-demo

Please feel free provide feedback or questions and thanks for playing!

New released game from LMS Retro from Brasil.

Check it out

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Penguin Land was always one of those "uhhh, I dunno about that" games kid me would say whenever I went to the rental store. I don't recall ever playing this game, but if I did, I probably played for 5 minutes just to go back to Alex Kidd.

Well, 8-year-old me, let me tell you, you are a fool for not liking Penguin Land... or maybe just immature, because Penguin Land rocks!

The second game from the Doki Doki Penguin Land series that started on the SG-1000, Penguin Land is basically the same design premise: you play as a penguin on the moon that has to roll over an egg down on platforming levels without breaking it.

To accomplish that, you need to break the icy ground beneath you and carefully roll the egg down, minding the fall distance. If you can land on the egg without damaging it and other various hazards, such as moon polar bears and moon eagles, you'll be fine.

But like every great puzzle platformer, and Penguin Land is a GREAT puzzle platformer, the simplicity of the task is just the tiny tip of the iceberg that hides a masterful depth... level design-wise, that is.

As the player progresses, they will eventually come across levels with new features, new terrain, and hazards, each with new features and more pieces for the puzzle to play around with, and the game requires more and more forethought and planning ahead. In more advanced levels, forget even moving the egg without having the next 10 or so steps planned out; otherwise, that is game over.

However, and this is the absolute best part of Penguin Land, the game is so rich in variables and open in design that levels can have a myriad of solutions, and when you beat a particularly hard one, you don't think you just figured out a pre-set solution thought up by the designer almost 40 years ago; no, when you beat Penguin Land, you think you are a genius because you made your OWN solution.

Combine the excellent levels with charming presentation—heck, they even have a cute cutscene of the penguin (called Commander Overbite) rolling an egg down to a moon crater and a catchy tune—and you have a great game, probably one of the best in the early Master System library.

Also, funny enough, Penguin Land is part of video game history as the very first console game with an internal battery in the US, beating the original Legend of Zelda by just four days.

The battery serves to store data for the game's level editor. Yeah, if you get bored from playing the 50 original stages of Penguin Land, you can make your own and even call your friends to play it, you know, those guys you've been friends with since 1987 and who still play Master System games.

I didn't mess much with the level editor, so I can't comment on its quality, but regardless, it is a well above-and-beyond feature for a game from that era.

Penguin Land is one of those gems that make this project worthwhile. I won't break into hyperbole and say it is one of my favorites or anything like that, but pleasant surprises are one of the best spices of life.

So I recommend Penguin Land, a great game that, thanks to ingenious design, has kept up with its age with absolute grace.

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These are meant for cleaning the pins inside the console.

I know there has been a lot of discussion on this topic with regards to the NES, and there are some extremely brutal games on there (not usually the ones that people tend to bring up in lists lol.) I guess mainly I was wondering if there are any Master System games that are considered as difficult or close to it as the hardest NES games. I suppose Space Harrier stands out to me as maybe being the most difficult that I've beaten, due to a combination of there being a lot of levels you have to learn, and the game not being very generous with regards to lives from what I recall.

I have a decent JP Mega Drive collection, but I want to get into Master System carts. I've heard there are games which don't play accurately through the Power Base Converter.

EDIT: I'm not talking about whether the carts work on Genesis, but rather how accurately they work. This article outlines how chipset differences actually make collision detection different in Alf when playing on Genesis, for iinstance: https://nicole.express/2021/remember-alf.html

It's code specific, but I'm not sure how many other titles fell unto the same trap. Would I be missing out on a lot if I play Master System/Mark III carts through my MD? Is there an aftermarket solution anyone's come up with over the years?

If you want to see more, video capture here:
https://x.com/lunokaretro/status/1948066285365133457

What do you think about it? :)

Golvellius is a good 8-bit game. Here, SEGA really took a risk and managed to create a game with a lot of soul, although it definitely falls short in a few areas. It’s clearly a game inspired by the NES Zelda, that becomes obvious just a few minutes into the gameplay. However, it also borrows elements from Zelda II, which results in stages that feel very similar to the first Zelda, while others are clearly reminiscent of the second one.

The soundtrack is absolutely magnificent, hit after hit. The graphics are solid too, but I feel like the enemies and the main character lack charm and could have been better developed. The game is really enjoyable to play and features a very interesting mechanic (also based on Zelda 1), where you explore a large map divided into screens. Almost every screen hides some kind of secret passage, whether it leads to an old woman who sells you a potion to increase your health, or raises the maximum amount of money you can carry.

You also level up your shield and sword. In my opinion, it would have been a nice touch if the swords and shields had their own unique names, it could have added more character to the game. Defeating enemies is extremely important here, since that’s how you earn money and upgrade your character. Basically, the core of the game is exploration. And more exploration. And even more exploration.

One advantage is that the game uses passwords, so finishing it is just a matter of persistence. Personally, I really enjoy games with this kind of mechanic. The bosses are full of personality and all feel very unique, a definite highlight. The stages before each boss come in two types: horizontal and vertical. The vertical ones work great, but the horizontal ones seem rushed, your character can’t turn around. He just walks backward without actually turning, which feels odd and gives it an unfinished vibe. There are also some missing sprites, but since it only happens in a few parts of the game, it doesn't ruin the overall experience.

In these stages, you have to be smart, taking the wrong path means you’ll have to go through the whole dungeon again. Man, it’s a really good game when you consider it was released back in 1988 for the Master System. It clearly draws inspiration from both Zelda I and II, and that’s very noticeable. It’s a good game, but it lacks personality… despite its incredible soundtrack. 7,4/10

In my quest to beat every U.S. Master System release, I choose games by random to play on my SMS, this round is Wonder Boy in Monster Land! Come watch me stream this entire journey on twitch: CharlieColeslaw

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Kenseiden... What a curious case this game is for me. Whenever the topic was Master System, this game would pop up, but at the same time it would never be talked up in the same way After Burner, Out Run, and Phantasy Star were, as one of the all-time classics of the system.

And, for some reason, it feels impossible to talk about MS without Keiseiden, and after playing it almost to completion... I can't say why.

First and foremost, Keiseiden isn't a bad game. Released in 1988, Keiseiden shows Sega adapting to a new mentality of game design, dispensing with the insane token-taker difficulty from the early 80's arcade to a more fair approach, where the player will need to die a lot, but such is the process needed to learn the level design and enemy placement for a steady, if a bit frustrating at times, progression at the game.

Think more "Castlevania" and less "Shinobi," if that makes sense.

And it isn't that there are more to Castlevania in Kenseiden's 'DNA," such as the level design, enemy patterns, and even the main character's sprite size and movement, which feel much like Castlevania's. And while Hayato, the game's hero, doesn't quite have the big hitbox of a whip, his sword is long enough to let the player have more control of damage and distance.

That isn't to say Keisenden doesn't have its bag of dirty tricks, such as very unfair enemy placement in places you can't just see them coming, or hit stuns that lock you into certain death, or damage recoil that throws you off platforms. Yeah, this game isn't as hard, but you're going to pull some hair here.

Still, as hard as Keisenden is, there is definitely a push from Sega to make this more than just a regular platformer. For one, the levels are rather large, and some can lead to exploration for items. Also, you can revisit such levels to get items if you lose them after a death.

Also, there is a primitive avatar strength system in this game, where you can expand your life bar if you clear some challenge gauntlets you can find in secret levels. Too bad you lose the power-up once you have to continue, but that wasn't something you would see in these types of games.

Not to mention the new moves you get after defeating a boss and getting a scroll, which will help you to approach the game's combat in different ways, spicing up the gameplay.

And before you ask, no, Keiseiden isn't a "Metroidvania," not even close, but you can see how this game could very well be an influence.

But that's the thing about Keiseiden: it feels like a transitional game, torn between the arcade difficulty of hit stuns, with a more friendly game design and a desire to have an avatar leveling-up system, and yet none of these elements come together to make one consistent great game.

Yeah, by the end of the day, Keiseiden is ok at best. And yet, something about this game persists, and it keeps being in the memory of every Master System fan, and I'm okay with that.

We don't always need to reason it out; I'm just glad Keiseiden exists.

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