Master System: Console Review

[stika1]

So I was reading the console review for the Master System and I found this:

" but side-by-side comparisons of games indicates that the NES may have had a slight edge in graphic quality."


I'm sorry but this is quite simply not true. the Master System could display anywhere from twice to four times as many colors as the NES. It also had a faster processor and 4 times the RAM.

The only aspect in which the NES had a slight graphical advantage was the resolution (256x224 vs  240 x 226)

If you compare multiplatform games it's easy to see the Master system versions usually have more color

For example, Star Wars on the NES

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqisImnDJmk[/video]

Star Wars on the Master system 

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UXWPA_5lc4[/video]

Shinobi on the NES

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GaOqsl1gEk[/video]

Shinobi on the Master System

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWcZMYPcjgs[/video]

[Orion1]

It's all in the eye of the beholder.  In cross-platform games, Master System may have some that are better, but others that are not.  For example, I believe the NES versions of Bubble Bobble looks better than the SMS verison.  The SMS version has a lot more flickering and disappearing graphics when the screen gets full of bubbles.

Over time, NES programmers mastered the art of the NES, so there are games like Super Mario 3 and Mega-Man 2 which are hard to find graphical equivalents to on the SMS.  So even though SMS had many technological advantages, that mastery of the NES hardware more than made up for it.

[darkrage61]

Also Ghostbusters as shown in the AVGN review, the SMS versoin is much more colorful and less bland looking then the NES version.

[mbd361]

"Altered Beast" provides the starkest contrast between SMS and NES capabilities:

NES:

 



SMS:

[Atarifever1]

No eye of the beholder here. SMS is better on paper and there is no "edge" for the NES. Any difference making the NES superior is in time or talent for programming. Remember, the OP was debating Dave's statement that the NES had a graphical edge, not that it had a "talent" edge.

[TheLastNightmare1]

Let's compare Super Mario 3 with Asterix: The Secret Mission. Both feature odd body shapes and proud facial hair, and both represent each system at its best...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUgVSneSt8I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Ui3ZDX9MI

There's really no competition. The Master System can create sprites twice the size, with 16 colors per sprite. The main character sprites look better than the player controlled characters in some Genesis games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2XEOuU7vSE

[Greisha1]

Huh. Asterix looks AWESOME +!

I always thought that NES ports of Sega games (Shinobi, After Burner, etc.) were sloppily done to make the SMS look superior. Looks like I might have been wrong.

[Orion1]

[QUOTE=Atarifever]No eye of the beholder here. SMS is better on paper and there is no "edge" for the NES. Any difference making the NES superior is in time or talent for programming. Remember, the OP was debating Dave's statement that the NES had a graphical edge, not that it had a "talent" edge.[/QUOTE]

So if I'm a talented painter, and I paint the outside of my house to look more beautiful than my neighbor's house, it's not really more beautiful because he had more colors stored in his garage?

We are discussing the graphical end result.  It doesn't matter how it got there. 

As far as the side-by-side comparisons already posted, anyone can pull any two games to support their argument.  For example, I can pull Zillion and compare it to Metroid.  Metroid looks 10 times better graphically.

This thread would basically go on forever if you get a two NES defenders and two SMS defenders in here.  My point is that it's a pointless argument.

Maybe the Critic's statement should have read:

 "but side-by-side comparisons of games are inconclusive."

[txsizzler1]

Orion, here is what you have to remember. What is being discussed, is the fact that the SMS had the CAPABILITY of having better overall graphic capabilities than the NES. The simple fact of the matter, is that the NES was way more popular, therefore had a much larger pool of programming done. If both systems were equal in the games being made, the SMS would have raked the NES over the coals.

Simply put, the NES was inferior to the SMS technically. Realistically, the NES was way more popular, and just simply had more games being made, both in variety, and in genres.