Shanghai (Master System)

[travistouchdown]

Title: Shanghai
System: Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega (1988)

After playing several hours of Shanghai: Eye-strain Edition, I must say it is growing on me. Being a huge fan of the Lynx version, and having recently acquired a Sega Master System, I decided to pick up Shanghai, one of the best puzzle games of all time for my SMS. Shanghai received Japan-only ports to the NES and TG-16, but the SMS edition is the only home console release in North America. So how does it hold up to the spectacular Lynx edition? Well...sadly....not well. The opening screen is an appealing dragon and logo, but as soon as you hit start, the game starts without need for a menu! There is only one map (Dragon) compared to the Lynx ~8 maps (Butterfly, Turtle, Bear, etc.) and the menu is built into the game screen, with "Help" and "Game" text up top. When you are in "solitaire mode" the game doesn't even tell you when you are out of moves, you just need to go restart the game.

The Bad:
-Tiles are very hard to see, the screen looks like a mash of white/black/green/florescent orange. I played this on a 27" CRT through composite and I HIGHLY recommend getting a RGB cable if you want to enjoy this game more.
-Only one map - Dragon
-Menu built into main gameplay screen, no other menu or home screen options
-No tile animation when you clear tiles, they just disappear
-No warning when you run out of tiles, except for in tournament mode.
-Tournament mode repeats tile-set over and over, so it may be unbeatable, and there is a need to re-start for a new tile pattern.

The good:
-Ability to create your own maps (though time consuming)
-Various modes - Solitaire, Challenge, and Tournament, though only tournament makes much sense, as it warns you when you have reached your limits
-Tournament mode--The preferred way to play--though you need to start a new tournament each time if you want a different tile set.
-Ability to play two players.
-It's Shanghai, so it's still a fun game despite the developers best efforts.
-Tiles highlight in purple when you select them, which is very visible.

Ultimately, this version pales in comparison to it's Atari Lynx counterpart. There are a distinct lack of options and the game feels rigid and inflexible in comparison, clunky even. With only one map and one mode that is functional, (will have to try two player and report back), I think replay value will be limited. Still, if you want to play some Shanghai on a home console, this is one of your only options, and for that it must get it's due.

Travis Touchdown score: C- This score is more a reflection of this port than the game of Shanghai, which is an A+ game when executed well.

[VideoGameCritic]

I've always shied away from this because it looks so complicated! Is it hard to learn or easy like Solitaire?
Does it have an addictive quality? Is the goal to remove all the tiles?

[travistouchdown]

I've always shied away from this because it looks so complicated! Is it hard to learn or easy like Solitaire?
Does it have an addictive quality? Is the goal to remove all the tiles?

Its very easy to learn (you just match tiles on open edges) and as someone who is skeptical of complicated puzzle games I can honestly say this one is not. It also looks very Japanese (aka potentially hard to understand) because it uses Mahjong tiles, but you are literally matching the shapes and symbols from the tiles and its pretty straightforward. Everything is an exact match, OR, season match season (4 tiles) and flower match other flowers (4 total tiles as well). The Lynx port is one of my all time favorites, awesome puzzle game all around!