Sega Master System Reviews A-B

Its name would suggest a side-scrolling brawler, but Action Fighter is actually a vertical road shooter along the lines of Spy Hunter. Its bright, colorful arcade graphics feature inviting palm trees, building-lined city streets, and ports with shimmering blue water. And there's certainly no shortage of action. You begin on a red motorcycle, where you tend to be knocked around by other cars and cyclists on the road. As in real life, you need to retaliate by shooting them from behind. This is the first game I've played when you earn points by shooting ambulances.

Your speed is determined by how high you are on the screen, and it's best to move at the same rate as other traffic. Keep an eye out for the red Sega truck, which effectively upgrades your weapon from a weak peashooter to devastating rockets. Collecting letter icons in the road lets you upgrade to a sports car and eventually a jet! At that point, the game turns into a Xevious clone as you shoot down aircraft and bomb targets on the ground.

The concept behind Action Fighter is absolute money, but a few rough edges prevent it from being an elite Master System title. First off, I hate how you instantly explode when you touch a freakin' guardrail. Since the road tends to suddenly branch or become narrow, you'll be crashing on a regular basis, disrupting the flow of the game. If the guardrail just slowed you down, that would have made the game much better.

By the same token, I found the controls to be extremely touchy. There's nothing worse that being outfitted with brand new weapons, only to suddenly veer into a guardrail accidentally! Other flaws include the cheesy looping soundtrack and the fact that your score doesn't truly seem to convey how well you played. Action Fighter is fast and addicting, but could have benefited greatly from some fine tuning. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.

I'm always in the mood for a rapid-fire shooter and Aerial Assault fits the bill perfectly. This might just be the most addictive game I've played on my Sega Master System. In this intense side-scroller you pilot a fighter jet against formations of planes, battleships, and missile bases. The graphics looks terrific. The jet on the title screen looks practically digitized, and the cockpit interior shown on the mission screens looks awesome.

As you begin your assault you'll face small but relentless waves of enemy planes. I like the way they rotate and peel off their formations. My wrist gets really tired from tapping the fire button, but then I remember I can just hold it in. Duh! The second button drops bombs. Aerial Assault is extremely challenging, partly due to crossfire conditions created by planes in the air and anti-aircraft fire from land. The first stage is set over water with gorgeous clouds blooming on the horizon. You can fly low to take out ships but be careful not to crash into the water.

Icons provide power-ups but it's hard to tell them apart. The triple-shot weapon is sweet, but many other weapons are just plain irritating (like the one that fires in the direction you move). A speed-up icon is helpful, but if you grab more than one you'll find yourself careening out of control! The problem is, these icons move so far up and down they are almost impossible to avoid!

The first boss is a mammoth battleship but the fact that it doesn't sink after a protracted battle is anticlimactic. The second stage takes place up in the clouds where you'll contend with missile barrages and... lightning? How am I supposed to dodge that?! The looping music is okay but some of the "bloop bloop bloop" weapon sounds are weak. It has its flaws, but there's something about Aerial Assault that keeps me coming back again and again. © Copyright 2015 The Video Game Critic.

The Master System was in way over its head trying to handle a graphically intensive shooter like After Burner. You view the action from behind your F-14 Tomcat, shooting down enemy planes that quickly scale in from the horizon. You can fire machine guns or unleash missiles that lock onto enemies. The action begins with an animated sequence of your plane taking off from the deck of an aircraft carrier, and I have to admit it looks pretty cool.

The graphics are not the problem with After Burner - it's the animation that sucks. The frame-rate is so choppy it's hard to tell what's going on in the heat of battle. When your plane goes down in flames you usually have no idea what the [expletive] hit you. There's little sense of speed or control. You can survive by shooting like a madman and continuously performing barrel rolls, but that's not much fun. Your heads-up display is sparse with a useless map in the corner and no score displayed.

The planes are exceptionally well detailed but the flat scenery is dull. Are those trees sticking out of the ocean? Those gray "smoke" circles that trail your plane before you crash look absolutely pathetic. The music sounds like it's being played on a toy piano, so unless you're a toddler it's not likely to pump your adrenaline. Lacking even a minimal degree of playability, After Burner for the Master System should have never seen the light of day. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

Retrogamers will recognize Air Rescue as a fleshed-out version of Choplifter (Atari XE, 1982). You pilot a rescue helicopter through a series of harrowing side-scrolling missions. Each requires you to venture into dangerous territory, take out terrorists, destroy armaments, and pick up hostages.

Each scenario is unique and exciting. The first takes place at an amusement park with working rides like a roller coaster and ferris wheel. In the second stage you must rescue people from burning skyscrapers. The next is set in an airport, and the fourth takes place on a sinking ocean liner. There's a fifth but I didn't make it that far.

I love the surgical nature of these missions, calling to mind Desert Strike (Genesis, 1992). You need to navigate through some tight areas and use bombs to clear away hazards. The second button deploys a ladder which realistically sways with your momentum. You only rescue the white people in this game. What's that all about? They scurry up your ladder like little spiders, which struck Eric as kind of creepy.

The controls could be better. The helicopter has a weird momentum thing happening that's hard to get a feel for. You really need to make careful, deliberate movements. The shoot button only seems to work sporadically, as in every other time you press it. And I can't stand the floating, indestructible mines which look like tiny Death stars.

The layered scenery looks terrific but you can't tell what's in the foreground and what's in the background. You sometimes get destroyed by small, often unseen hazards. In the skyscraper stage the bad guys appear to be dropping giant carrots on you. Not many games feature a "death by vegetable", so I guess that's something. When you lose a helicopter the stage is completely reset, including hostages you've already ferried to safety. This irritating flaw cost a letter grade.

That said, Air Rescue looks amazing. The manner in which your helicopter rotates is realistic and the high-energy music is very good. I would sum up the game as: awesome premise, terrific graphics, bad controls, vaguely-racist gameplay. Suffice to say, my relationship with Air Rescue has been strictly a love/hate affair. © Copyright 2024 The Video Game Critic.

The first two Alex Kidd games were nothing to write home about, but Alex hit rock bottom in High Tech World. If making bad games was a crime, the designer of this one would have gone to the chair years ago! High Tech World is a clumsy combination of puzzle solving and platforming. The main character is "Prince Alex" who resides in a sprawling mansion. In the first stage he discovers there's a new arcade in a nearby town, but the only way he can locate it is to find and assemble eight pieces of a map. That's the kind of stuff people had to do before we had the Internet.

Fortunately for Alex, all of the pieces are conveniently located in his house. To gather them up you'll move between floors, explore rooms, speak with people, and collect random items. It's like Maniac Mansion, except for the fact it makes no sense. If you try to put on a suit of armor, you die. If you turn on a computer, you die. There are bizarre messages posted on the wall like "Sega #1" and "Katie is the fattest".

When you ask your father for a piece of the map, he'll give you a "fake" one the first time, so you have to ask a second time. Who came up with this garbage? In one case a lady won't give you an item unless you take an actual test with math, science, and history questions! I actually failed the first time! Stage one is mainly trial and error, so thank goodness you get a password after completing it.

Stage two is a shoddy side-scroller where you battle ninjas in a forest. It's crazy hard thanks to unforgiving collision detection and deplorable controls. A single hit sends you all the way back to the beginning of the stage. The final two stages include a village area where you need to "pray" exactly 100 times in order to acquire a critical item! This game is an atrocity, and I'm still trying to figure out why it's called "High Tech World". I've played my share of bad games, but this one is Verizon Customer Service bad! © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

Was Alex Kidd really supposed to be Sega's answer to Mario? Really Sega? Miracle World's bright graphics and happy-go-lucky theme are appealing, but the control and stage design is pretty shabby. Alex Kidd is supposed to be human, but he looks more like a monkey (or Monchichi) with those big ears and red suspenders (which seem to be all the rage in the monkey world of fashion).

The game's opening stage makes a terrible first impression as you make your way down a series of platforms nestled between two cliffs. Instead of bumping blocks and pouncing on creatures, you use your fist to break blocks and defeat enemies. Hitting certain blocks reveals a bag of money, but sometimes a "phantom" will appear and take your life.

The controls are not exactly crisp and the collision detection is also erratic. My friend Chris noted that the control scheme is the exact opposite of Mario, which can be a little disconcerting. The first stage is a bear, but if you survive that, things improve dramatically. You can shop for items between stages, and if you can afford a motorcycle you'll be able to plow through stage two with no trouble at all.

The boss encounters are literally rock-paper-scissors contests. Who could have possibly thought that was a good idea?! I can see how someone who played Miracle World as a kid would have fond memories of it, because the game has an innocent charm. But any objective observer would have to agree that this has some serious issues. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

It's a shame this game is so rare, because of the four Alex Kidd titles made for the Master System, this is the only one truly worth hunting down. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World ditches the puzzle-solving garbage of High Tech World in favor of good, old-fashioned hack-n-slash action. Think of it as Shinobi Light. The levels are thoughtfully designed and the graphics are simple yet fun. Alex looks awfully funny with those big red ears though. My friend Chris thought he had a flower in his hair!

In the first stage you battle ninjas in the streets and the colorful scenery looks terrific. It's easy to slash bad guys with your sword and there are plenty of power-ups including darts and a screen-clearing "tornado". Best of all, you can transform into a fireball by swinging on poles and fence posts! Not only is this a great attack, but it also lets you break through walls or soar over dangerous obstacles. The collision detection is very forgiving, and you can even fall into water without dying!

Alex is easy to control, with the exception of when he's on a ladder, in which case he tends to get very squirmy. Advanced levels are tricky to navigate (plenty of spikes and pits) but there are plenty of hearts to replenish your life. The stages are reasonable in length and even contain hidden areas and alternate routes. There's no password, but a limited number of continues are available. Alex Kidd has put his fans through hell and back, but those who kept the faith are in for a pleasant surprise. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

I'm not sure why this is called "the lost stars" since your objective is clearly to collect magic balls. Whatever the case, this second Alex Kidd adventure represents a major overhaul. The objects are much larger and Alex himself is easily twice as big. He must have had a growth spurt. The stages are nicely detailed but ugly. There are too many bright fluorescent colors and flashing objects.

Stage one is practically blinding at times with its pink and yellow color scheme. There's a modest amount of voice synthesis ("find the magic balls!") but the piercing sound of Kidd's digitized scream will make you cringe. The more you hear it, the more you want him to suffer. The stages feature a hodgepodge of disjointed themes including a toy land, an aquarium, a desert, a forest, and a space station. There are some truly bizarre sights, like the dog who regurgitates the letters B-O-W-W-O-W, and a naked guy in the Halloween stage who farts bubbles in your direction. Stay classy, Sega!

The controls are improved from the first game. You can't punch but you'll collect some kind of weapon during each stage. It would be nice if you had that weapon up front so you didn't have to sustain so many cheap hits. The stages are now timed - and they don't leave you a second to spare! Each stage feels like a speed-run, with each hit knocking a few seconds off the clock. The game features fourteen stages, and with unlimited continues, it's quite possible to see them all. Whether you'll want to is another story, because this weird platformer is more obnoxious than fun. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

This overhead shooter has elements of Berzerk and Robotron, but doesn't come close to delivering the frenetic action of those classics. Your mission in Alien Syndrome is to rescue the crews of seven alien-infested space stations. Moving your soldier between contiguous rooms, you must locate and touch each crew member before the exit opens. Alien Syndrome's graphics are pretty slick, and pulsating background music ratchets up the intensity.

The space stations look generic, but each stage introduces a new set of large, colorful aliens. Predictably, the first set is inspired by the creatures from the Alien films (except they are red). Although the aliens look terrific, they aren't very bright and tend to wander aimlessly. Your initial firepower is woefully inadequate - a peashooter that fires about three feet.

The severely limited range forces you approach aliens to kill them, and it's usually safer to avoid them altogether. I recommend you upgrade your weapon as soon as possible to lasers or fireballs. Each stage ends with an obligatory boss encounter on a black screen with just you and the monster. I will admit that some of these shape-changing freaks are pretty disgusting.

The one thing I hate about Alien Syndrome is how the aliens simply materialize out of thin air with little warning. Not only does it look cheesy, but it accounts for too many cheap deaths. I also found the controls to be somewhat slippery and inexact, making the game harder than it really should be. Alien Syndrome is certainly playable but ultimately unremarkable and forgettable. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

This is a generic shooter if I ever saw one, but that doesn't mean I didn't have any fun with it. Astro Warrior is a vertical scroller that gives you a full range of movement around the screen. The game throws waves of choreographed enemies at you (like Galaga). You also fly over pseudo-3D platforms with plenty of squares to shoot out (like Xevious). And naturally there's a big ol' boss at the end of each stage.

The first thing that bugged me about this game was the lack of a rapid-fire button. In order to get off a lot of shots, you need to tap the fire buttons incessantly, which is annoying and hard on your hand. The gameplay is good though. The enemies come in all shapes and sizes and there's never a dull moment.

The bosses are large but static; they simply float side to side while dropping bombs on you. The repetitious background music got on my nerves. The best aspect of this game is the power-ups. In the first stage, you can accumulate a great deal of firepower, and this can carry you a long way. Unfortunately, once you die, it's back to the weak single-shots, and after the first level the power-ups are few and far between. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

Produced "under the supervision of Ayrton Senna", Super Monaco GP II is even more fun than the Genesis Super Monaco games. I love the simplicity of its behind-the-car view, short races, and no pit stops. You can even opt to skip the qualifying lap. Before each race you make adjustments to your car with regard to tires, wings, and...umm... mission? Ohhhh - they mean trans-mission! That's an odd way to abbreviate the word.

Choosing manual or automatic makes a huge difference. With manual all you do is toggle between six gears. When you want to slow around corners, you shift down. My friends found this unconventional scheme very intriguing, but felt more comfortable with the standard accelerator and brake buttons.

The steering is highly forgiving. When you approach a turn you'll want to take an inside line and let off on your speed. Colliding with a sign or another car will bring you to a standstill as you watch other competitors to go whizzing past. I noticed there's only one opposing car on the screen at a given time.

One element that's sorely lacking is the sensation of speed. The game may claim I'm going 328 KPH but it feels more like a Sunday drive! There's a map of the course on top of the screen, but of the dozen competitors, only you and Senna are visible on the map. He's always leading the pack and to beat him you'll need to run a flawless race. I haven't done it yet but came close enough to believe it's possible.

Each race is about five laps, each running a little over a minute. After each you're issued an easy-to-write-down password. That's good because the "championship" runs 16 races with locations spanning the globe from Japan to Portugal. Each location offers distinctive scenery from the hazy green mountains of Brazil to the seaside resorts of Monaco. I noticed a "Sonic" sign on the Italy track.

I had a great time playing Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II, and can't say enough about the two control schemes that provide completely different but equally-fun racing experiences. This is the type of game you can play a little each night, gradually improving your skills until you're ready to take on the legend himself! © Copyright 2023 The Video Game Critic.

For me the name Aztec Adventure calls to mind fun romps like Montezuma's Revenge (Colecovision, 1984) and Aztec Challenge (Atari XE, 1983). Don't be fooled though - Aztec Adventure is a tedious, slow maze crawler that's anything but fun. You move your hat-wearing explorer between contiguous screens, fighting adorable puppies and bunnies decked out in traditional garb. You can only swing your tiny sword downward, and it's infuriatingly hard to hit anything. It doesn't help that enemies hop around the screen and can absorb several hits.

Add in poor collision detection and over-caffeinated music and you have the makings of a major headache. The ability to collect weapons like cannonballs, fireballs, and arrows seems promising but it's awkward to cycle through them and most prove useless. The boundaries of the maze are lined with colorful vegetation but the screens look so similar it feels as if you're moving in circles. Aztec Adventure does have one uniquely bizarre feature, and that's the ability to make animals "join up" with you and fight by your side.

You do this by - wait for it - throwing money at them! Who came up with this idea? Well, in the 1500's the Spanish conqueror Cortez did in fact ally himself with indigenous Mexican tribes in order to defeat the Aztecs. Still, it's tacky, and the execution of this feature is flat out abysmal. Instead of mauling enemies the animals just sort of meander around aimlessly, eventually drifting off the screen. This game is horrible! Aztec Adventure is Sega's attempt to create a cute, cuddly version of one of the most bloody, destructive chapters of history. I am at a loss for words. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

I was pretty psyched up about this European import, but I held off playing it until my friend (and renowned Batman expert) Eric arrived in town. The opening stage of Batman Returns looks inviting. Christmas decorations adorn the streetlamps and the dark background makes the purple and red accents really pop. The characters are small but nicely animated, and I like how Batman's cape flutters in the wind. In terms of audio, Eric described the theme music as "the same song they use in all Master System games". He has a point.

Using your Bat-a-rang to defeat the Penguin's lackeys is fun. You'll take down bomb-tossing acrobats, trigger-shy bozos, and fat rolling clowns. You'll battle through the streets of Gotham, Shreck's department store, and the rooftops before descending into the sewers. Swinging between platforms with your grappling hook is an integral part of the game, but the controls are absolutely abysmal. Sometimes you can pull yourself up onto a higher ledge, and sometimes you can't. All too often you'll just plunge into the abyss. Touching a villain means instant death, and even touching a parked truck is fatal! C'mon now!

In the department store clowns spring out from any door you approach, so keep your distance. Collecting bat-shaped icons let you improve your speed, increase your Bat-a-rang damage, or earn a new life. The best part of the game is how each stage offers two routes to choose from. I like how this adds challenge and variety, but Eric was not impressed. The game has no score and no password. Batman Returns isn't a bad-looking game but its clumsy controls and one-hit deaths prove a lethal combination. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

Black Belt features the worst box cover art in the history of games, with a single foot in the lower left side of its plain white box. How lazy is that?! The game itself isn't half bad. Black Belt's fighters are realistically-proportioned and the kung fu action is non-stop. The first stage takes place in a courtyard as a parade of henchmen who all look exactly the same approach from both sides. You can punch and kick in a rapid-fire fashion, causing foes to literally shatter into block-shaped chunks! Good times!

The real challenge lies in trying to snag the food icons that occasionally travel across the top of the screen. You need to press down-and-up to leap, and it's hard to get the timing right in the heat of battle. Periodically the thugs clear out and a sub-boss appears to break up the monotony. These specialized martial artists each have their own distinctive fighting style, and many carry weapons.

At this point Black Belt is already on par with most fighting games of its era, but then it takes things to the next level. The end-of-stage boss battles are presented in a "close up" view with larger, more detailed characters! They don't exactly fill the screen, but for the Sega Master System, they look positively huge. And these guys really mean business!

The best strategy is to let the boss unleash his fury, and then move in to land a few quick hits when he's catching his breath. Upon defeating a boss, your character will automatically unleash a flurry of rapid-fire kicks or punches as a "finishing move" of sorts. It's kind of awesome, but mostly silly. Black Belt won't win any awards, but if you can embrace this game in all of its absurdity, you might be surprised by how much fun you have. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

I'm going to venture a guess that this was Sega's first foray into 3D, because they clearly had no idea what the [expletive] they were doing. Blade Eagle 3-D is your standard vertical space shooter with formations of alien ships and cannon-fortified space stations. But there's a twist. Using button 2, you can toggle between high altitude and low, making your ship appear larger (closer) or smaller (further away). In theory, you can attack aliens on two separate planes, but it's never quite clear which one you're lined up with.

The 3D effect is not good, and it made my eyes dry out. You'll experience a lot of double vision that will have you wondering if you're looking at a pair of objects, or just bad 3D. Not only is it hard to tell what you can or can't shoot, but you also don't know what things can hurt you! Unfortunately, that means you'll need to assume that everything can hurt you all the time!

Your only saving grace are the power-ups. If you can crank up your firepower and tack on a few escorts you can inflict substantial damage - at the cost of substantial slow-down. Unfortunately, you'll often pass through a vital power-up because you're on the wrong plane! Ugh! The visuals improve with the second stage which features metal towers rising out of water, but the steep difficulty makes it hard to get that far. Blade Eagle 3D is an ill-advised title that serves as a cautionary tale for future shooters with 3D aspirations. Note: This game requires the Sega 3D glasses. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

I enjoy games with depth and intricate strategy, but sometimes I just want to blow [expletive] up. Bomber Raid gives Master System fans the destruction they crave. This vertical shooter puts you in a WWII bomber against plane squadrons, tanks, destroyers, and submarines that actually submerge. The vibrant graphics are extremely easy on the eyes with bright orange beaches, deep green foliage, and inviting blue waters. The action begins with a nice cut-scene of your plane taking off as your crew waves you on. Once in the air you can fire your cannon rapidly, but alas, there's no rapid-fire option. That said, I felt lucky as hell to own a rapid fire attachment (bump up the grade by a letter if you own one). The second button is used to unleash cluster bombs.

Bomber Raid's gameplay is simple and fun as you blast targets over jungle, desert, and sea locations. The looping enemy planes and huge destroyers look great, but what in the heck are those rotating flying square things supposed to be? Keep moving when tanks or cannons are in the vicinity, because their turrets are always trained on you. Bomber Raid's power-up system is bizarre. The icons appear almost constantly! Most reveal either a weapon boost (P) or speed increase (S). At first the weapon icons cause your narrow missiles to become longer, which frankly doesn't make much of a difference. After collecting a few more your shots become wider, and eventually you're firing large circles.

Enjoy it while it lasts, because losing a plane puts you all the way back at square one. The speed power-ups are helpful at first, but eventually your plane becomes hard to control, at which point you'll want to avoid them like the plague. On rare occasions you'll encounter a special power-up which adds an escort plane (or two) by your side. These escorts would be great if they didn't tend to fire sideways and backwards! WTF? Also annoying is the monotonous, happy-go-lucky music. Your high score is displayed at the end of each game, egging you on to try again. Bomber Raid could have been better designed, but at least its heart is in the right place. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.