1988 Sears Sega Master System Love

See more of Sears here.

Stoking Up On Master System Games

God, all it takes is the mere mention of a mention of the MSJY in the wonderful Retro Gamer magazine, and all of a sudden I've remembered where it is and the fact that I've neglected to post here for a while.

A while back I let you know about the Master System titles that Gamestation were knocking out, and how pricey some of them were.

Those good people over at Retro Scene are also well stocked with a good supply of 8 Bit wonders, so why not nip over and take a look?

Amongst them you'll find these two classics, Ecco and After Burner. Now I remember these two games as Megadrive/Genesis titles. The two systems lived in harmony with one another for quite some time, before the Master system was phased out, rather like the way the PS2 and PS3 co-exist today.

Because so many people owned the older hardware, were happy with it and weren't rushing out to buy the newer and more expensive hardware (rather like the PS2 and PS3!) It made sense for publishers to bring out different versions of the same game on the older and newer platforms.

Obviously the Master System versions were simpler and less elaborate, but developers were more used to the older hardware and very often the 8 Bit versions stood shoulder to shoulder with their 16 Bit brothers.

Anyway I think I'm going off on something of a tangent! the point is, click on the Retro Scene link and grab yourself some Master System goodness!

The archaic SMS vs. NES video battle

There's nothing better than a flame war, even though I wouldn't dare hope for one right now, what with the SMS Junkyard's audience being less than 5 (rather old) guys, a dog and a blind little girl. Still, the video above, created by BitterPoetMadman (!), is a brilliant way of showcasing just how powerful Sega's 8-bit console seemed when compared to the NES. Light years ahead and that's probably why it half-conquered Europe. Well, that, and Nintendo taking ages to bring their offerings to the old world. Oh, and here's one more comparison vid.

We're back and we got our 8-bit Sega thingies with us

This humble Junkyard really deserved better. It's wasted its youth with us lazy bastards and never managed to truly shine or get the attention it deserved, what with taking the back seat to everything else and sadly looking on as other blogs lustfully enjoyed post after post. Still, as long as the SEGA Master System cunningly avoids death we wont give up. In fact, we might just give the blog a push, probably by providing a rather more steady stream of content.

Please, do watch this space...

Ghostbusters - Sega Master System

A lovely looking game here, and one which by all account was sumptuously superior in terms of graphics to its NES incarnation. So don't forget.... "If there's something strange, in your neighbourhood, Who y' gonna call?"

Gamestation's Sega Master System Section

Gamestation may have been swallowed whole by corporate monsters Game, meaning that Retro Gamers are now unable to walk into their Blockbuster based stores and pocket some enticing Retro Treasures, but online things are looking healthier than ever.

Newly opened on the Gamestation website is a specific Master System section with some quite pricey, but classic 8 Bit games...

Let's take a look at three featured on their Master System page and whince at the outrageous prices...

Wonderboy in Monster Land "Out Now: A drastic departure from the original, Wonder Boy in Monsterland thrusts our hero into a medieval world and arms him with a sword and shield. Buying new equipment is something you're going to want to do, but you can spend your hard earned cash on some booze as well. The gameplay is a far stretch from the strict run-and-jump platforming mechanics of the original, with some interesting RPG elements tossed into the mix."

Price? A whopping £9.99!!!! FK Rating... "Bloody Steep!"

Smash T.V. "Out Now: Smash TV is set in a futuristic game show (with the 'future' being, according to the game, '1999') in which one or two players attempt to collect prizes, cash and keys, while fighting off hordes of attacking enemies. The Classic Robotron game-play is enhanced further with the addition of power-ups and imaginative and challenging end-of-level bosses."

Price? A very reasonable £1.99!!! FK Rating... "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

Alex Kidd - The Lost Stars
Out Now: "The Lost Stars actually gives you unlimited lives but forces you to play against a timer. Getting hit or falling down a pit will reduce the timer or send you back a few screens, making the game much more forgiving. The graphics are bright, colorful, and full of detail, and the music is horribly catchy."

Price? A still not-too-cheap£6.99!!! FK Rating... "About the price of a Wii VC Download..."

So if you wanna purchase these classics, just click on the links... They're based on eBay prices and remember, you'll have to pay an additional £1.00 postage!

Lovely Sega Ladies!

All of these lovely ladies love the Sega Master System... I know because they told me in a dream ( or was it???) that I think I had about them all last... night... It went a little something like this (please imagine the picture going all wobbly and then fading out...)

...Father Krishna adjusted the belt on his crimson silk smoking jacket, as he strolled around his luxuriously furnished condominium, overlooking the opulence of the San Fernando valley. He chuckled silently and smugly to himself as he gazed across the vast living room at the ultimate and most expensive entertainment system, ever possessed by one man...

The multitude of gleaming 56" plasma screens were each hooked up by a single cable to a game console, chronologically encompassing the last 30 years of gaming history... All the major players were there... The Colecovision, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Megadrive, Saturn, NES, N64, PS2 and so on... Every limited edition Dreamcast displayed neatly and compactly stacked side by side, and on a golden plynth, the Hi Saturn Navi, The Divers 2000 and the sparkling jewel in that jaded console crown... The Sega Master System.

A garrison of top secret Soviet prototype androids, each one bought with cocaine dollars from the Russian mafia after the collapse of the Berlin wall, stood erect, yet lifeless, souless, their Stalinesque visages smiling beatifically. Clasped in each cold robotic hand was a portable gaming system.

The rest of the room was furnished in a complimentary vulgar fashion... gaudy antiques, original masters in gilt edged frames, thick leather sofas, lazyboy recliners, vast bookshelves filled to the brim with sleazy 1950s pulp fiction, Liberace's jewel encrusted grand piano, framed Warhol screen prints, life size waxworks of Elvis, Joe Strummer and Fidel Castro. The thick lurid day glo pink shagpile carpet was festooned with skinned endangered animal rugs... hermaphrodite Lion, two headed Zebra, silverbacked Gorilla, albino Siberian tiger and so on...

Golden bowls, filled to the brim with exotic mushrooms and pungent narcotic herbs, lay scattered randomly on top of the over stocked bar... Every ale, wine, spirit and tincture known to man were crammed tightly amongst the cut crystal glasses, reflecting shafts of smoke filled sunlight from the narrow cracks between the heavy black velvet curtains.

As he swirled his 100 year old cognac around his diamond encrusted golden goblet, the stout, (yet ruggedly handsome) priest glanced at the heavy steel door that was slowly beginning to open... Silhouetted against the light was a three foot creature with a long grey beard and pointed hat, muttering in an ancient Mediterranean tongue, accompanied by an Elderly looking gentleman who seemed to be humming a long forgotten Celtic lullaby...

Father Krishna clapped his gnarled and weathered hands together, his many platinum rings clinking together as he did so... A platform rose from the centre of the room, and from it spilled a heavenly host of sweetly scented beauties, each clad provocatively in tight fitting white t-shirts bearing the legend "SEGA"...

... Sorry, my memory gets a bit hazy after that... Gnome? Can you remember what happened next?

Master System Monday # 16:The Master System Rap

Well hello there! its been a while hasn't it? I think I've missed Master System Monday for the last three weeks, but I'm glad to say it's back! And what better way to announce it's comeback gig than with a song?

Yes those fabulous types over at UK Resistance hav unearthed a 'rap' tribute to the Sega Master System! And with rhyming lines like these, you know it's going to be a winner!

"Master System costs from eighty pounds, 128 colours, three channel sound"
"Check out your local dealer, not for drugs, but for Sega"
"Yeah, we got the Sega Master System in the house, yeah boyee"
"3D glasses will blow your mind, Better peripherals you cannot find"

I stumbled across it on the wonderful Kotaku site, but why not go straight to the horses mouth and laugh your ass off!

Master System Monday(?) # 15: Michael Jackson Moonwalker Game Mission 1-1

I've already posted a review of this Master System Masterpiece some time ago. With Michael Jackson's dominance of the pop charts and financial muscle in the early '90s and Sega's rising power at the same time, this game could only be a runaway success. Released in arcades, on the 16 BIT Megadrive and 8 BIT Master System, the game was/is a classic! It was cerainly the game that first revealed to me what a great console the Master System is and inspired this particular thread a long time ago on The Saturn Junkyard, before moving here via Gnomes Gaming On The Go... Enjoy!

Master System Monday # 14: Master System Mods...

Wow! Its like me and Gnome are psychic twins or something... whilst he was looking at Master System Emulation (see excellent post below...), I was looking at some Master System mods...

Including a way of modding your fabulous 3D Master System Glasses, for use on your PC...


Whilst I don't claim to understand what the Dicken's they're talking about, I do get the feeling that its all very clever, and therefore worth a look...

Who knows? If they develop some sort of intelligence enhancing drug some day soon, I might be able to tinker with my 8 Bit wonder in the future!

Oh and for a great look at Master System Peripherals look here...

Oh! And BTW, I've found a place where you can play the Secret SMS Snail Maze game, celebrated by my esteemed colleague a few posts ago... Look here...

MEKA Sega Master System Emulation

Looking for the best in freeware SMS emulation for your PC? Hoping to also taste the pleasures offered by such obscure retro consoles as the Sega Game 1000, the Sega Super Control Station or even the Colecovision? Praying for some truly 8-bit hardcore pr0n? Well, sorry, can't help with the pr0n bit, but the excellent MEKA multi-machine emulator will more than make it up to you.

Download it here (for free) and don't forget to try some themes, have a look at the lovely Meka Configurator utility and the SMS Checker ROM organizer.

RAD Retro Reviews: Altered Beast Review

Altered Beast Review

Originally a game brought out for the MegaDrive/Genesis in 1988, Altered Beast has appeared on virtually every gaming system known to man! Currently enjoying its Billionth reincarnation on the Wii's Vitual Console, it was ported to the wonderful Master System in 1989.

Despite a restricted amount of levels (4), and besieged with in-game slowdown at times... This side scrolling beat 'em up is still a lot of fun. The whole game has a very mythological theme and you play as a dead Roman Centurion, who has to battle the undead, monsters, animals, giant wasps and whatnot, to rescue a Goddess.

As you defeat your enemies, you collect power ups in the form of pulsating orbs which allow you to transform into... you guessed it, an Altered Beast! Your greater size and power then allows you to more easily defeat your enemies! (Which is good because as you progress through the game, the bad guys come thick and fast... )

And what would a beat 'em up be without a boss fight at the end of each level? This game has everything you want from a video game... Proof of its brilliance is that it is still being downloaded by Wii owners today. A quick read of this Wikipedia Article will explain more than I ever could...

I actually own both the Master System version, and its 16 bit incarnation, which was released on The Dreamcast's wonderful US only "Sega Smash Pack".

I'll try and post a bit of video above...

The hidden SMS Snail Maze Game

Owners of the original Sega Master System Power Base (and not the SMS II) are also owners of the pretty nifty Snail Maze Game too, as the SMS was the first console ever to come with a built-in almost hidden game. Read a review of said game here.

And in case you've lost your console's manual and can't remember how to actually access Snail Maze, well, here's what to do: Turn on the console (without having a cartridge inserted), pick up the controller and press up and both fire buttons. Simple as that.

Master System Monday # 13: Art

Well I've been trawling Google Image for some eye candy, to herald the move of 'Master System Monday' from Gnomes Gaming On The Go , to it's new home over here on The Master System Junkyard.

My blogging skills are at an all time low, I just don't seem to have the energy or creativity to post anything of relevance. Still, the need to blog is undiminished, and the sterling work of the mighty Gnome, must not continue unsupported!

So, I've cobbled together a series of illustrations that have some connection to the Master System. If I was more talented, I'd have created some montage worthy of Peter Blake. But I'm not, so you'll have to just see them in their individual glory...

What is perhaps worthy of a mention however, is the source of the sulking Harrison Ford oil painting. It's from an art exhibition entitled "I Am 8 Bit". Consisting of art inspired by retro video games, this is a veritable feast for the eyes. Apart from the obvious Master System tributes, there are some lovely Nintendo and Pacman inspired pieces.

Plus there was an accompanying set from the wonderful "8BitWeapon"... Check 'em out... They rock!

A few pointers on buying a Sega Master System

Judging by the fact that I bought my (obviously used) Sega Master System II from a downtown retailer, in absolutely top condition, thoroughly checked for hardware problems and with a rather impressive 6-month warranty for a mere 25 euros (roughly 33$ or 17₤), it's pretty obvious nobody should ever have to pay more. Unless of course one is either getting a host of extra goodies such as games, peripherals and controllers, a boxed/rare/Japanese unit or an original Master System I, but we'll come to that later.

Now, as we're such the web-savvy happy bunch we are, you'd be better off knowing that the average Ebay.com & Ebay.co.uk price for the console is 10₤, 15 euros or 19$. Again, expect slightly higher prices for boxed, 100% unused or Japanese consoles. Naturally, both this very blog and Retro Treasures will strive to alert you for any bargains, so ...uh... guess you should keep reading us. Please?

Anyway. Back to the Master System I - II subject. First of all, the original Master System is slightly rarer, especially in Europe. Then again, it's usually slightly more expensive too. Also, it features a handy reset button, a card slot (allowing the use of some pretty wacky peripherals such as the 3d glasses and a small variety of card-only games) and a very 80s, very interesting pyramid shaped design. The SMS 2, on the other hand, always comes with a built-in game (either Alex Kidd or Sonic) is slightly smaller and way more curvy.

The original Sega Master System (pic from the Armchair Empire)

Sega Master System II (pic from Vidgame.net)

The system's games -not the particularly rare ones, mind you- usually come with a price tag of 3-10$, and you can find tons of them, both at Ebay and even brand new ones at Amazon. The best titles and the ones you should first pick up include such gems as: Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, Sonic the Hedgehog, After Burner, Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Out Run, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Space Harrier, R-Type, Golden Axe Warrior, California Games and Double Dragon. Give 'em a shot, they 'll be worth your time...

A gnome's Sega Master System

Till the day -less than a month ago- I bought meself a glorious Sega Master System II, I had never owned an 8-bit console in my life. You see, back during my days of creative adolescence when 8-bit consoles were popular (not so much in Europe, mind you) I didn't think they were that much interesting compared to home computers and PCs, and even though I did enjoy playing the odd NES or Atari 2600 game, I couldn't help but feel it was far too unsophisticated. Kiddy, even.

Then again, all those years later, it's the exact same simplistic games that make the Master System such an alluring machine. Two fire buttons (one of them doubling as a start button), a simple d-pad like thingy, no load times, no saves, no fancy manuals to read, no huge overcomplicated epics and some truly accessible pick-up-and-play games make it perfect for quick and refreshing gaming bursts. And it does feature it's own collection of retro classics too. Games like the very first Phantasy Star, Asterix, After Burner, Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone and the 8-bit version of Sonic.

So, uh, as mentioned above, I bought one, and I've already enjoyed quite a bit of Alex Kidd and the Italia 90 footy. And as the whole lot only cost me 25 euros (including a lovely 6-month guarantee), it was a) very reasonably priced b) highly recommendable.

Oh, and welcome to the SEGA Master Sytem Junkyard everyone. We got tons of content coming right (well, sort of) up.

Tribute to Sega Master System

Nuff said... :)

Sega Master System ad late 1980s-early 1990s

*Note to cheesy voice-over guy...* Did you know that the company name was pronounced "Say-ga" and not "See-ga" you knob...

Well Look Who's Here...

Holy Master Systems Batman!

It gives me VERY great pleasure to register my arrival on this particular site.

At some point in this esteemed blog's lifespan, I will transfer all my Master System allegiances and wafflings, from GGOTG to this wonderful establishment. Then mine and Gnome's blogging partnership will continue to grow like a stick of celery deprived of sunlight...

For the time being, I'll throw in a piece of Master System advertising from Youtube, so you can familiarise yourself with it's fabulousness... A lazy blogger's trick I know...Expect something a little better in the future!

Under (heavy construction)

Nothing to see here yet. Come back in June, provided of course the Sega Master System is what makes you go PING.