My first video gaming system was the Sega Master System. To this day it’s one of the least talked about retro video gaming systems out there. We all know Atari. Before Nintendo, Atari was on top of the video gaming world before the infamous “Video Game Crash” of 1983. In 1985, Nintendo released Super Mario Brothers and dominated the video game industry for years to come.
Forgotten in this mess is the Sega Master System. As a child I went to two flea markets with my dad. Both had arcades. A few of the machines were Sega games. When I asked my mom for a video game system at age 5 she asked “Do you want a Nintendo, Atari or Sega?” Now, remember, Nintendo was just taking off around this time. I knew Sega from the arcades. I said “Sega” and I only regret not loving this system more when I owned it as a child.
The Sega Master System was amazing. Believe it or not, it actually had superior graphics 9 out of 10 times when compared to the Nintendo. Unfortunately Nintendo basically had a monopoly on third party games. This meant for every game Sega made, the Nintendo could make five. Sega missed out on a lot of Konami, Sunsoft and Capcom classics to name a few. Less great titles meant less popularity and sells.
Sega also suffered from not having a mascot that could compete with Mario. Super Mario Brothers 1 was huge. While part two didn’t do as well, Super Mario Brothers 3 became one of the greatest and well-known video games in history. Before Sega made Sonic the Hedgehog famous, their mascot was Alex the Kidd. While many of his games were great, they were nowhere near the near perfection of Super Mario Brothers’ games.
Sad that so many people in the United States never owned a Sega Master System. They had some great games. I will even argue that some of their titles that Nintendo had also were better on the Master System. Take Alien Syndrome for instance. The Master System’s version had better graphics by far. The Master System’s Ninja Gaiden was more like the arcade and a completely different game than the NES version. The Master System’s Shinobi was a masterpiece. The NES Shinobi, not so much. I also preferred the gun games. The NES had Duck Hunt and Wild Gunmen. The rest of their gun games pretty much sucked. Safari Hunt on the Master System had better levels, more targets and looked better than Duck Hunt. Gangster Town was as fun as Wild Gunmen. Rescue Mission was way better than Gotcha on the NES.
In the long run, the Nintendo destroyed the Sega Master System. The original NES was a hit in North America and Japan, as well as most of the world. The original NES currently has sales of 61.5 million worldwide. The Sega Master System sales stand at 13 million. While widely popular in most of Western Europe and parts of South America, it failed in the United States and Japan.
I love the NES. I understand why it killed the Master System in sales. It had way more great games due to third-party developers. Even I prefer and love the NES more. With that said, the Sega Master System holds a dear place in my heart. I loved games like the Kung Fu Kid, Shinobi and Alex Kidd in Miracle World. I am very lucky to have been one of the few Americans that got to experience the underrated greatness of the Sega Master System.
Father O'Malley's Gaming 