The Sega Master System was released in October of 1986 to compete with Nintendo's 8-bit console, the NES. With a Z80 processor and 128k of RAM, the Master System was actually more powerful than the NES and it showed in the graphical prowess of many of the system's games. Sega, being primarily an arcade game manufacturer, released the console with the arcade hit "Hang On" as the pack-in game for $139. The console was also available bundled with a light gun and "Safari Hunt" in addition to Hang On for $149.

Altered Beast

Rating: 1.0

Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Genre: Action Released: 1986

Rarity: Uncommon Value: $

Altered Beast is a side-scrolling action game in which the hero, a shape-shifting resurrected Roman centurion, must rescue Zeus' daughter from an evil demon god. Through the collection of power-ups the protagonist grows incrementally stronger before finally turning into a non-human creature with special powers. Once the final shape shift has taken place, a boss battle takes place and the level ends at which time all of the power-ups are lost. This process repeats itself 4 times, after which you will have rescued the kidnapped Athena. Although not a particularly impressive game on any platform, Altered Beast served a purpose on the Genesis in that it showed that arcade-quality games were possible on a home console (and served as the system's original pack-in game.) The Master System port of the game seems to have served no purpose other than to give birth to the trend of offering SMS owners inferior ports of games already available for the Genesis - a tradition which continued with games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Shinobi, and Streets of Rage. The controls feel cumbersome and unresponsive, the frame rate is extremely choppy and the game suffers from intense flickering. These problems, along with obvious mistakes such as the text "...rise from your crave..." being included in the intro, give the impression that the game was rushed out the door without a proper quality control process taking place. Sega tried including digitized speech similar to the game's big brother on the Genesis, but it's full of static and barely understandable. It takes a lot for me to call a game "unplayable", but this game clearly falls into that category. Altered Beast for the Master System is a horrible port of an already mediocre game.

Choplifter

Rating: 4.0

Developer: Dan Gorlin/Sega Publisher: Sega Genre: Arcade Released: 1986

Rarity: Common Value: $

Choplifter is a game that should be familiar to anyone who was playing video games in the 80's. Originally released on the Apple II in 1982, the game later appeared on almost every gaming platform of the era, including a 1985 coin-op release. In fact, my first experience with the Commodore 64 was playing this game at a friend's house. The basic premise of the game is that you as a helicopter pilot must fly into enemy territory under heavy gunfire from other aircraft, tanks, and anti-aircraft guns to land in front of enemy buildings and rescue escaping hostages. You then fly back to your own base to unload said hostages, before flying back for another load. Although it is possible to destroy all of the stationary guns in each level, tanks and planes regenerate endlessly, putting you under constant threat. When you have landed to pick up the hostages, you're especially vulnerable, as you are basically sitting there helplessly. The difficulty level of the Master System version of this game is brutal, with more and a wider variety of enemies in each stage. It takes a while to get proficient enough with the game to even get passed the first stage, but the addition of new environments in subsequent levels makes it well worth the challenge. While the original game took place solely in the desert, this version of the game features 4 unique environments, each with their own distinct enemies. Being released a few years after the home computer versions, this version of Choplifter has noticeably better graphics, which are more detailed and more realistically colored (the sand in the Apple II version was purple.) While the unforgiving difficulty of this game will be a turn off to some, those looking for a new arcade-style challenge will eat this one up.

Great Golf

Rating: 2.0

Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Genre: Sports/Golf Released: 1987

Rarity: Common Value: $

Released in 1987, Great Golf was the only golf title released on the Master System here in the United States. While the game is far from terrible, it does little to live up to its name. It supports match and stroke play and allows up to four players, which is generous compared to most NES golf games. Like many golf games of its age, it includes only one course. During play, the left half of the screen shows an overhead map of the hole, while the right side of the screen displays a view from behind the player. The map leaves you with no way to even estimate distances, making it basically useless. To set up a shot, you choose a club, adjust your footing, and then set the direction in which the ball will be hit. The game does not employ a 3-click swing system, instead using a power meter that automatically rises and falls, requiring you to simply tap the button when the meter reaches its desired level. To putt, you have to look at a pair of cross-sections of the green to determine if the shot is uphill or down and which way the ball will break. Before each shot, it takes a couple of seconds for the player view to be rendered on the screen which slows the game down a little bit. The graphics are a bit more detailed than the average NES game, but the poor animation makes it appear as though the ball slowly floats off the tee and drifts off into the distance some time after the golfer completes his swing. The unrealistic ball physics further detract from the game as even a mild breeze has a dramatic effect on the ball, making it feel like wiffle golf. Great Golf does a poor job of recreating the feel of playing the game of golf, and it's a shame that it's the only option available on the Master System.

World Grand Prix

Rating: 4.0

Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Genre: Racing Released: 1986

Rarity: Uncommon Value: $

At first, World Grand Prix seems like nothing more than a Pole Position clone, but spending some time with the game reveals that it has a lot more going for it. Like Pole Position, WGP is a basic, totally flat Formula One-style racing game. Although there are other cars on the track, you're racing against the clock and your place at the end of the race is determined by where you stand on a pre-determined list of race times. A minimum time must be achieved in order to move on to the next track. Like Pole Position, there are an endless number of other cars weaving around on the track which must be avoided, as well as billboards along the side of the road which can be crashed into if you take a turn too short or too wide. Seriously, who puts billboards on the side of a race track? Unlike Pole Position, World Grand Prix includes 12 unique tracks, each of which is modeled after real Formula One tracks. The first track is the Japanese Fuji Speedway, which is also the track featured in, you guesses it, Pole Position. The 11 other tracks are from various places around the globe, and each even has scenery to match their locale. Your car uses a 2-speed manual transmission which you shift by pressing up and down on the D-pad. As with all old racing games, the touchy digital controls make it difficult to turn your car in small amounts, but this is just part of the challenge. The coolest aspect of this game has to be the track editor. True, you can't make much of a track with just curves and straight-aways, but just the fact that you can make your own tracks at all is pretty cool. It's a shame that you can't save them, but this is to be expected in a game from early in the 8-bit generation. Back then I would have just drawn the track out on graph paper if I wanted to drive it again later (or more likely, I would be sitting in math class drawing the tracks out for use after school!). It's a shame that we don't see this feature in newer racing games, Trackmania for the Windows platform being a notable exception. You aren't going to find much depth in any racing game from the 8-bit generation, but for a game of its age World Grand Prix is a great arcade racing title.