Master System



"Now, there are no limits."

Japanese and American gamers may remember the Master System (or Sega Mark III) as a flop, if they have heard of it at all. That's understandable: Nintendo had a stranglehold on the market, not only because the NES came out first, but because they demanded exclusivity from third-parties. Also, Sega licensed the distribution in the US to toy truck maker Tonka, who had absolutely no clue about selling video games.

Elsewhere, however, things were very different. In Europe, Sega marketed the Master System by themselves; in Brazil, Australia, and South Korea, they partnered with companies that actually knew what the fuck they were doing (respectively: Tec Toy, OziSoft, and Samsung). Thus, in these regions, the Master System was very successful, in fact more than the NES.

Specs
Hardware-wise, the Master System was possibly the most powerful console of the third generation; it had a far more powerful CPU than the NES, and four times the memory. It took two media formats: the usual cartridge, and the cheaper but lower capacity "MyCard" or "Sega Card" (inherited from their previous console, the SG-1000). The card port was also used to plug in the system's LCD shutter 3D glasses. The Master System also had a light gun, that was heavily featured in the anime series Zillion (seriously, check this out, it puts that lame Captain N cartoon to shame).

The Mark III had the optional FM Sound Unit module, which was used by certain games to play a higher quality soundtrack (compare PSG vs FM). The redesigned Japanese Master System had it built-in, but the western Master System lacked that entirely... unless you do the FM mod.

Backwards compatibility
The original Master System is backwards-compatible with all SG-1000 games. However, the Master System II and later models lack the Sega Card port.

The Game Gear, a portable console derived from the Master System, can use its games with an adapter, the Master Gear Converter. However, the reverse is not possible.

The Mega Drive / Genesis is backwards-compatible with Master System games with a simple adapter, the Power Base Converter. While the official one doesn't have FM, the retro modding scene has come up with one with integrated FM sound.

Korea's Samsung Gam*Boy
A short mention on a curious study...

Like Russia and its Dendy, most countries trying to catch up with others in gaming often had official re-issues of systems. More often than not, said re-issues also have unofficial and/or pirate carts of games. What's curious about this case worth mentioning then? An interesting cross-platform situation, that, despite failing to reach its highest potential, is nonetheless interesting.



Yeah. That's an MSX game on the motherfucking Master System and it plays nearly perfectly. What the hell is going on. Simple. Some software programmers noticed extreme similarities between the two hardware which allowed for the two to share software with some tweaks. But it doesn't end there...

When SMS met Korea


A number of independent and/or pirate efforts were made as well. Some of which utilize existing game aspects and elements, and others remix them or modify them.



"The Micro Xevious" being one example. It took an MSX-like Xevious concept, but added its own (then-retro/now-super-retro) look and even an option for a newly composed song instead the original's doop-a-boop loop.

Due to original carts being extremely hard to find now, even the ROM files are hard to find unless you go deep into the undernet (not saying you should!). You likely won't get to play any of these games due to their difficult-to-obtain nature. These games are also imperfect. Some require strange conveniences (like 2 controllers for Galious) and others may crash due to certain bugs. As a result, none will be listed here. Still, if you are curious after all of that...

Further Reading for the Curious:

Intro in Hardcore Gaming 101 - HG101's study on Korean gaming. In addition to bringing up the Samsung Gam*Boy and games on it, it also brings up lots of other neat info.

SMS Power! - SMS Power's list of Korean-Exclusive games. Neat to look at and find out any flaws and perks about different ones (when mentioned).

Brazil and Tec Toy
There isn't much to say about this that isn't already known, but it's a neat little tidbit. If there's one thing that Brazil is known for vidya-wise, it's a steady support of the SMS even after most of the world gave up on it. Why? Well, let's be frank. Vidya costs money, often a shitload. Add import prices plus store price-spikes and shit gets Australia-level expensive. So someone looked for a budget-friendly system, and found something enjoyable in the SMS. Supply-Demand factors worked favorably and Sega was able to at least partially profit off of older systems and games most other countries wouldn't even look at compared to the NES, MSX, C64, etc. What's best about all this is that the SMS has a pretty damn good hit-to-miss ratio, so about half of the time, you knew you were getting a decent-to-good game. But it doesn't end there...

Monica and Friends to the Rescue!


Good games are always a boon, but what really helps boost sales are properties and licensed characters. At least once, all of us wanted to play at that one game with our favorite character, series, etc. Of course, Brazil has its own stars as well. The most well-known to the world being Monica of Monica's Gang (Mônica of Turma da Mônica in original Portuguese). A feisty little girl with super strength and a child's sense of wonder. How perfect for games could you get? Here's where it gets fun. Don't just put the character/series in a half-ass original game, but instead do an OFFICIAL graphics hack to integrate them into an already good game. The most famous example of this being Turma da Mônica em: O Resgate a revision of Wonder Boy III/Monster World II: The Dragon's Trap. And it wasn't just Monica's Gang either. A number of licenses were utilized including Sapo Xulé, Pica-Pau (Woody Woodpecker), and so on, even motherfucking Bumblebee Man's inspiration. There were some unofficial/pirate graphics hacks and even some original games made as well, but the quality of those is uh... not good.

Long Story Short: If you ever want to get some actual Master System systems and carts for wallet-friendly price and don't mind unfamiliar characters and a bit of Portuguese, or are just a curious collector, hit up the bros in the BR. Odds are they'll know what you're talking about, or at least know somebody else who does.

More Info and Further Reading:

Official English-language Monica page- Learn about the Monica universe and those in it, along with a hefty comics archive

SMS Power's Brazil list- A list of some Brazilian exclusive SMS games and game variants.

Tectoy's Wikipedia's Entry- Further info about the site.

Tectoy's Main Site- A main site to browse their wares. Not much reason to check it other than curiosity.

Tectoy Mobile- barely related to this, but still a neat little site with a cute design.