20 Best Sega Master System Games of All Time
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Published 2023-11-17
By the end of 1985, it seemed as though the home video game market was recovering (albeit slowly) from the infamous crash of 1983. Sega would try to get their foot in the door through a partnership with toy manufacturer Tonka, but this proved to be pointless. By the end of the 80s, the Sega Master System had done underwhelming business, but was not a complete failure either. Enough was accomplished to compel Sega to stick around and try again with the Genesis.
Unless you live in Brazil, where the Master System sold some 8 million units and continues to receive new games to this day, we’re celebrating an ambitious flop. The Sega Master System may not have outperformed the NES, but we’ll see from this look at the best games for the console that it had and still has plenty of fun to offer.
00:00 Intro
01:34 20. The Lucky Dime Caper
02:25 19. Ghouls n Ghosts
03:24 18. Psycho Fox
04:24 17. Bubble Bobble
05:21 16. Master of Darkness
06:21 15. Ys: The Vanished Omens
07:17 14. Fantasy Zone
08:08 13. Power Strike
09:16 12. Road Rash
10:16 11. Operation Wolf
11:14 10. Prince of Persia
12:17 9. Golden Axe Warrior
13:08 8. R-Type
14:04 7. Shinobi
15:10 6. Out Run
16:05 5. Wonder Boy 3
16:59 4. Land of Illusion
18:02 3. Sonic the Hedgehog
19:06 2. Phantasy Star
20:09 1. Alex Kidd in Miracle World
👉Want to see what other consoles have to offer in terms of their best games? Here's our complete playlist: • 20 BEST Game Boy Color Games of All Time
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All Comments (21)
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THE BEST SONIC GAMES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_wIpSwgAPM
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As someone born in 1980, this was the first system I had after the Atari. Fantasy zone was huge in my world
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We love the Master System! Kenseiden is another masterpiece.
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Not sure why but when I think of the Sega Master System, the very first game that comes to mind is Golvellius - The Valley of Doom. I was addicted to that game!
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I've been playing a lot of SMS lately and have gotten through half of these. I would add (or replace with) Alien 3, Double Dragon, Rastan, and needs more Wonder Boy games.
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Zillion (1) is my absolute favourite. Still play it every year. Love it ❤️
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Such a great system. I'd add Miracle Warriors, Spellcaster, Blackbelt, Zillion, and Cyborg!
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Alex Kidd in Miracle World was a nice early response to SMB for us Master System owners; a needed platformer to keep us satisfied. That being said nothing topped Phantasy Star; easily the best JRPG for any 8-bit console, and well ahead of its time. It still holds up great today, especially with the re-localization and improvement hack applied, or even if played vanilla. Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Miracle Warriors, Power Strike II, and Kenseiden would also be in my top 20.
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Being a SMS owner as a kid, there’s A LOT of titles I LOVED that aren’t on this list…Penguin Land, Rescue Mission, Time Soldiers, Zillion, Montezuma’s Revenge, Keinsieden, Wanted, Safari Hunt, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (but it’s basically Shinobi so that’s fine) I’m glad you had Dragon’s Trap on here. I’m also assuming if it was on the Nintendo (like King’s Quest, Double Dragon, Rampage, After Burner, Choplifter, etc) it wouldn’t make this list.
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Just replayed phantasy star last year and it still holds up. The visuals blow everything coming out on nes out of the water.
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You can't talk about best SMS games of all time without mentioning all the great light phaser games like "Gangster Town" and "Jungle Hunt".
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Rastan, Golden Axe, Black Belt, Choplifter, Action Fighter, Alien Syndrome, Double Dragon, Rampage, Wonder Boy & Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Enduro Racer, & Micro Machines are ones I really like a lot. Astro Warrior/Hang On I both really like as well was what my system came with when I bought it from KB toys in 1986 with money I earned to buy it. Many Friends & Family had the NES so I decided I want the SMS. I still love it and it’s Color palette that doesn’t hurt my eyes like some NES games. However I feel both systems are great with some great titles. My 4 current go to favorites are SNES Super Castlevania 4, Mario Cart, Sega Genesis Ghouls & Ghosts & Castlevania Bloodlines. Good list & thanks for the flashbacks!
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From a Lover of Retro Games, Great Video this system brings back so many memory's My fave was Kenseiden
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Good selection. Feel free to use footage from our channel in the future. We literally finished the entire Master System library a few weeks ago and the videos tend to be in better quality than you'll find on other channels
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Great video and a really good list. I'd have included New Zealand Story (probably the most awesome 8-bit arcade conversion) and James Pond 2 (looks like it could have been a 16-bit game)
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Minor correction: the original Apple II version of Prince of Persia was released by Broderbund Software in 1989 but the Sega Master System port was released by Domark in June 1992.
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Prob my fav game was Astro Warrior followed by Global Defense. Loved those games when I was 12
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Missing some amazing games:. - Kung Fu Kid - Action Fighter - Astro Warrior - Space Harrier - Double Dragon
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GREETINGS FROM BRAZIL! I've paused the video in very first minutes to confirm. Here SEGA was miles away in front NINTENDO. Here kids used to play on Master System and teenagers on Genesis ( known here as MEGA DRIVE). And we had Tec Toy developing so much titles not only for our culture (like "Sítio do Pica Pau Amarelo) but for entire world ( Like STREET FIGHTER II FOR MASTER SYSTEM). ... Resuming video....
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Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap was my absolute favorite.
