2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

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2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 20th, 2016, 2:55 pm

More summer Sega Master System reviews. The Captain Silver review is kind of a "make up" review, since my opinion has changed a bit since discovering there's a superior European version. Feedback is encouraged!

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scotland
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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby scotland » August 20th, 2016, 3:48 pm

For Wanted, is there a better word than 'dames'? It just has a 1930s-1960s feel, instead an Old West feel. Can you say school marms or saloon girls or pioneer women or something more period appropriate?

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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 20th, 2016, 7:37 pm

If you saw what these dressed-up ladies look like I think you would agree that dames fits quite well.

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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby Sonicx9 » August 21st, 2016, 1:36 am

Critic, the review of the Europe Captain Silver proves that many games have been given bad export/localization of many games from the past and present. And I probably will request you more games in the same situation like Captain Silver!

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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby Retro STrife » August 21st, 2016, 1:47 am

So the Captain Silver reviews beg the question of whether the European version will be as enjoyable for first-timers as it is for people who have already tried the US version. Here's what I mean...

My entire life, I didn't own either version. Then, your review last month and the discussion with other readers encouraged me to finally buy the game, and I got the European version. Haven't played it yet. But now your review says that the European version is much harder and it's hard to make progress. Nowadays, it's tough to enjoy a game where you're stuck at Level 2 for weeks. So, was your score of the European version perhaps enhanced by playing the US version first, since the European version felt like an expanded version and you could forgive the difficulty? And will first-time Captain Silver gamers like me consider the European version just a "B" or "C" game because it's so hard to make progress and we won't have the benefit of comparing it to the US version while we play through it?

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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby scotland » August 21st, 2016, 9:28 am

Retro STrife wrote:... now your review says that the European version is much harder and it's hard to make progress. Nowadays, it's tough to enjoy a game where you're stuck at Level 2 for weeks. So, was your score of the European version perhaps enhanced by playing the US version first, since the European version felt like an expanded version and you could forgive the difficulty? And will first-time Captain Silver gamers like me consider the European version just a "B" or "C" game because it's so hard to make progress and we won't have the benefit of comparing it to the US version while we play through it?


This is an interesting big picture question.

Its hard to unlearn anything, like having played a particular game first, or having skills in a particular genre, or other things. Dave's reviews are based on the amount of fun he had playing the game at that time. Yet the fun in a game is dependent on a lot of things, like a players skill and time to devote to playing the game. A 'feature' of 8 bit gaming is the general lack of difficulty settings. The expectation was a player would enjoy devoting the time to learn each level, each cheap death or boss AI, and learn the skills to execute well enough to beat the level and eventually the game. Difficult was the flavor of the period. This community knows that, but honestly, I don't enjoy that style of gaming as much anymore since I have access to so many more games than I did then its hard to stay focused on mastering one game. Yet I've learned to expect that difficulty. A game is going to be measured against what people expect, whether its No Mans Sky today or the European version of Captain Silver decades ago. The expectation for the Euro Captain Silver is going to be set against the experience of tne American version for many of us.

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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 21st, 2016, 9:53 am

Retrostrife,
I don't think the difficulty would deter me from recommending the European Captain Silver.
One thing about this game is that enemies always attack in particular patterns, so while it might require a lot of replays to figure them all out, you'd make gradual progress. It's not like you'd be hitting a wall or dying at random.
VGC

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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby Retro STrife » March 14th, 2017, 7:22 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:Retrostrife,
I don't think the difficulty would deter me from recommending the European Captain Silver.
One thing about this game is that enemies always attack in particular patterns, so while it might require a lot of replays to figure them all out, you'd make gradual progress. It's not like you'd be hitting a wall or dying at random.
VGC


I've had my Master System hooked up this week, so I finally got around to testing this out. Quick recap--last fall, we were debating whether the difficulty of the UK version of Captain Silver made it inferior to the US version, even though the UK version had more levels and features. Well, after that, I bought the UK game on your recommendation and then grabbed up the US version when I unexpectedly stumbled upon a cheap loose copy in a game store a few weeks later. Both had been sitting since then, but I just played them together. I have to say, I think the difficulty does make a difference and makes the US version better. Yes, the UK version had more to it, but what good is that if you never see it? Maybe I just suck, but I was able to get much further with the US game and had more fun as a result. That being said, I'm still glad I bought the UK version, because it's cool to play the two of them together and see the differences.

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Re: 2016/8/20: Sega Master System: Captain Silver, Captain Silver (Europe), Wanted

Postby Arnold » August 18th, 2018, 11:43 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:More summer Sega Master System reviews. The Captain Silver review is kind of a "make up" review, since my opinion has changed a bit since discovering there's a superior European version. Feedback is encouraged!


It was very sad this fate of Captain Silver in US market. I blame Tonka for that, but I'm not sure... There are other Master System games in similar (or even worse) situations. Great Soccer for instance. There is a complete different game with the same name, also developed by Sega in the same year (1987) and released in ohter regions outside the US! It's a hundred of times better in terms of graphics and gameplay! Another sad example is Enduro Racer. The game was dramatically cut down for the Western release in order to fit the game onto a cheaper 128kB ROM as opposed to the original 256kB Japanese version! Five of the original ten courses were cut!!! The US version also miss the post-game map that charts your progress, as well as the dirt bike image on the title screen. These factors associated with delays in launching various games in the US marked and the fact that half of the Master System library was not released in the US explain a poorer performance in this market. Even with Nintendo's policy of exclusivity with Third party developers, Master System has sold far better than the NES in almost every other major market including Europe, Australia, South Korea, and Brazil (with about 80% market share in those markets).Only in 1991, Nintendo was found guilty of violating United States antitrust law and forced to abandon some of its licensing practices.


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