This was a good mix of humor, callbacks, and personal experiences (which I liked the most). I always find stories about childhood to be the most interesting; we all have different events and occurrences from when we were kids, and hearing your tale of the Master System White Whale-- and what happened after you landed it-- really resonated with me. Interestingly enough, the Master System is one of the few platforms that I've not yet had in my collection. It's really neat to hear about and see the games running; it seems like it was generally a solid console. Happy New Year to you and the entire crew. Here's looking forward to even more awesome stuff here in 2015!
I agree with your sentiment, but ehh... there is a reason the master system lost that war. Hardware wise it's rather quirky (pause button on the console, for one, crazy "I'm not really a d pad" for another) and software wise..... well I hope you like primitive sega games or inferior ports of genesis titles, because that's all your are getting. Mind you it wasn't their fault, Nintendo made companies sign exclusivity clauses for the NES, but the end-result is that you just didn't have many quality games. Rastan might be one of the few exceptions. The arcade version is the best, so play that these days, but it didn't get ported to anything but the MS. Rastan II got a genesis and tg 16 port, but boy did it suck.
Interesting comment about the childhood memory thing - I have a blog about how games bring back specific memories from childhood, and go into them with as much detail as I'm comfortable sharing. It's a bit personal at times, but I don't regret putting it all out there. I was thinking of making video versions of the posts as well at my alternate (primary) channel, but wasn't sure if people would be interested. Glad to know some people might actually be! :)
The enemies that he thought looked like goombas, actually look a lot more like dharmas... which is definitely a weird choice for an enemy, but they're not goombas.
+Joy Lobo Your picture looks like you just fondled someone and still can't decide whether you find the smell to be disturbing or surprisingly enjoyable. XD
+Abelino Jara yes. Its like if you compared SNES to the Genesis. Both SMS and SNES came later though. But that third party issue almost killed the poor SMS
I'm just surprised to see Ian in your video again after he said he would never be in another video. How many Ballast Point's did you have to bribe him to get him to reappear Pat?
me too! I thought that was different this time but I thought I just never noticed it before, glad you mentioned it so i know i wasnt imagining things lol
Wow Pat, you out did yourself with this video! I take back what I said about wanting to see improvised game reviews, great job and happy new years! "Rastan" looked like a solid game for it's time, you can see the work that went into production like the day/night transition and the details that went into the sprites and animations.
My only experience with the Master System was at my dad's friend house. He had Double Dragon for it and I was jealous because I thought it was a better version compared to the NES version. Great video Pat!
As an avid CU Podcast listener, when Ian mentioned having to scalp Amiibos and PS4 price-matching I lost my shit. Great episode Pat and it was cool to see Ian in one of these again. As a UK-based gamer in the early 90s, I actually only played one Master System that had Alex Kidd built in (I think) - the majority here had Sonic.
Pat I really enjoyed this episode, much more so then previous ones (which I also loved, don't get me wrong). I love that you seem to be taking the Pat character in a less goof ball direction and giving a little more serious analysis towards reviewing a game. Looking forward to seeing what you do next and still loving the podcast.
The bouncing enemy in Alex Kidd is actually a winged version of a Daruma, a paper mache doll that students use in Japan to start and end a project (kind of like a charm). The doll is actually based on a famous Zen monk named Bodhidharma (Daruma is from Dharma), who supposedly brought martial arts to China and founded Shaolin monastery.
My first experience with the Master System was my sister's at-the-time husband's console in 1989. I thought it was awesome, but I didn't get to experience the goodness of my own till 1992 when I got my Genesis and a Power Base coverter, as well as a huge shit-ton of Master System games some guy was selling at a garage sale for 50 cents apiece. Still holds a special place in my heart.
So funny when Ian appeared, and Frank, was hoping for your dad, oh wait, maybe Frank is... never mind. Great video, thanks for posting. (I also loved the Tuba at the end, nice touch)
"It looks like Alex's hand was stung by a bee." Yep... That is what just happened to me the other day and that is what my hand looks like... Itches like nuts too.
I used to have one of these lol...my dad's friend told my dad he had a Nintendo his son never used anymore so he gave it to us, turns out he didn't understand the difference between systems, any video game system was "a nintendo" to the guy given that home consoles were pretty new at the time and he was an older dude. So I got it, was disappointed at first but after I got home and played it actually grew to really love the system. Had a copy of Rampage too :) only trouble was finding games for it. Eventually got an NES and SNES and loved 'em but this always held a special place being my first 8-bit or higher console. Blew me away compared to the Commodore 64 "data tape" games and Atari 2600 games I'd gotten used to. Sadly, it got ruined when my basement flooded years later...RIP old friend, you're missed.
"Is that a shot at Mario?" No, that one enemy looks like a Japanese dharma/daruma doll. Sega actually did try to take a shoot at Mario in Alex Kidd in Shinobi World. The first boss was going to be Mario, called Mari-Oh (King Mari in Japanese), but I assume their legal team made the developers change him. :)
Thank you Pat for this video. In 1987 when i was 6 I asked for a nes and got a sega master system which turned me into a sega fanboy. I never got my nes :-( even so, ive been watching you for over a year . I enjoy your reviews but just you talking about the SMS made my year. Thanks
I was 4 when I was playing Alex the Kidd. I can tell you that I was fully aware of the boss patterns and memorised them. Pretty sure 8 year olds were fine too..
I wasnt allowed a sega mega drive christmas 1993, so I got a new master system II from woolworths, (uk they lasted longer) with a pack in of six games! None of my friends had one as it was so late in the systems life but I loved that system and still own it. I was laughed at a bit having it and still playing it throughout the 90s but one friend got jealous of me even though he had a mega drive and it started my habbit of buying systems once they were out of fashion, as a result brought cheap, never sold and even though I was always behind the times...refined a quality collection of the best games of the 90s/early00's. thank you for doing a feature about the master system.
This is the meanest review of "Alex Kidd in Miracle World" I've ever seen! But all you said was true so... I mean, this game is very important to us brazilians because for most of us is the first game we ever played (Master System was [is] hugely popular around here) and it carries a lot of nostalgia for us.
I never noticed before that Alex Kidd's death animation is him flapping his arms, not actually turning into an angel. also that the bosses petrify you if you lose the rock/paper/scissors match I kinda like this game, for all its flaws.
I don't get why you needed to forgive your father at all, it's not like he made you sell your Christmas presents. He got you what you asked for for Christmas, and then you decided that you wanted a SNES instead. He said that he wasn't going to buy you one (understandably) and he suggested that you sell your Christmas presents if you really wanted one. It was a choice you made so the only one you have to forgive is yourself. You could have just as easily waited and saved your money and earned it in other ways or waited for your birthday or next Christmas. I hate to be so blunt about it but it was your fault you didn't keep the Master System.
Seriously dug this episode, not just because of the Sega games, but your humour really fits in well around this time of the year :P Super refreshing. Here's to an awesome 2015 and hoping the Let's Players don't start fighting back.
I'm 27 and I remember no-one knowing what a Sega master system was. We had always called the genesis just Sega and when I snagged an sms at a yard sale I thought it was the coolest thing. My brother and I always just called it "the original Sega" mostly I think we played double Dragon on it.
FYI Pat, the power up boxes arent random, the first in a level is always a power ring, the 2nd in a level is a ghost, the third in a level is an extra man.. there are a few exceptions to this, but through 90% of the game that's the way it works
Pat! The Holiday season is so much more jolly with your videos in it. I did NOT have a good Christmas. My father was trampled to death by wildebeests, and it was all my fault! But at least your video made me laugh for a few minutes.
LOL, During Rampage, at the moment Pat says: 'I'm bored with this review... I hope you did not click off the video yet, it get better, I think. VLAN: a pub !!
Great video, i laughed so much. I had a mastersystem 2, me and my brother used to have speed run contests in alex kid :) Oh Frank, so grumpy when you disturb his cooking, ha ha.
Rampage - the second game I ever beat on the NES. It was a LOOONG game. With a typical NES 'A Winner Is You' type ending. I was spoiled by Ninja Gaiden's ending.
