SpellCaster for Sega Master System - Review | hungrygoriya 

I knooow. I'm super late to the Master System party but I've been loving it as hard as I can here. I have a small but mighty Master System collection. I love that it's just more NES, which is what I always hoped for and finally found a few years ago when I discovered the system. Any favourites?

Thanks very much! I enjoy putting these kinds of things together but I need to find more time to play.

You can bust your sword out just about everywhere. When in doubt, try sword with everything! And thanks for subscribing. Hopefully you'll enjoy what I'm doing here.

Did you watch the video?

Yeah dude like literally everybody knows that.

I'm very grateful Daria has mentioned this video to others, and I'm glad you decided to come have a look at this review. Thanks very much for stopping in here! I'm glad you felt the review was well-rounded... this was one of my first review videos and I worked a long while and was pretty nervous about it when I first released it. And I was cracking right up at the dancing bit. I'm a pretty shy person and the idea of being put on the spot like that made my ears go red immediately. Poor Kane!

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed the review. I'm definitely impressed by SpellCaster. When I picked it up I hadn't even heard of it before, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that it was such a fun game. I honestly laughed out loud when I went into that final section the first time. It was such an unexpected turn! Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one out there that had troubles with stairs! That pyramid in general was pretty tough. I used a map in the end to save my sanity. I knew SpellCaster was loosely based on a manga, but I didn't know which specifically. I'd like to see how the game grew out of the story! It's a pretty interesting premise, and they set the game up well to continue on with other plots. Hopefully someone will translate it someday.

@@hungrygoriya The manga (The Peacock King, which is what the video games Spell Caster and Mystic Defender are based on, as well as the anime movie series "Spirit Warrior", all of these are based on the Peacock King manga) is similar to the story present in Spellcaster. HOWEVER, Spellcaster is a "PG" story. Th Peacock King manga is a very strong NC-17 (definitely above rated R). It is incredibly violent as all hell, very sexual at times (sometimes in a very disturbing and nightmarish way) and has very disturbing mature themes. The game Spellcaster is an incredibly edited PG version of an NC-17 story. I can't read Japanese, but I own the original Mangas (which have never been translated in English). The anime movie series (Spirit Warrior, which is in English) is rated R, but even then those rated R anime series movies have many things left out compared to the incredibly disturbing NC-17 manga. On a side note, the game Mystic Defender, while still being a Peacock King game like Spellcaster, doesn't have much in story present in the actual game. If you want the story to Mystic Defender, you'll have to see the anime movie Spirit Warror: Castle of illusion (definitely a hard rated R). Also, two versions of Mystic Defender exist... one with nudity at the end and one that Sega later heavily censored.

@@johnpenguinthe3rd13 I wish I was more familiar with the source material, but this is a pretty good summary. And thanks for the heads up about Mystic Defender. I'd hate to stream that game sometime and get banned for accidental nudity if I happened to have that version!

I can totally understand that feeling! That last stretch was tough!

That's awesome! I'm glad you made some good memories with your family with this game.

Ohhh there are a plethora of great games for the system if you like RPGs. Miracle Warriors, Golvellius, Golden Axe Warrior and Psychic World are a few that are either my favourites or that people swear by as excellent games! I hope you can find something entertaining here. Thank you so much for subscribing :)

Hey

Thanks for your kind words! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the review. I just discovered the Master System myself a few years ago and fell head over heels in love with it. I've been slowly collecting for it over the last little while and I can't get enough. I'm glad you have yours up and running for the first time. Games pop up rarely here too but I try to get out to some game swaps and exchanges and there are usually some poking around there.

That is so cool. I rarely find people who enjoy the console as well. So it's super cool you are enjoying g it as well. And hope your channel keeps getting more interest. Have a new fan here!

This was such a fun one! I tried mapping the pyramid and just couldn't make sense of the looping floors and how they connected to the floors above, so I eventually caved and looked up a map for that part. I'm sure your console will still work well... I've rarely met a console that stopped working unless it was damaged in some way, especially by water or humidity. It sounds like you have a really wonderful selection of games. Enjoy them if you get your console hooked up again!

@@hungrygoriya Yes I agree. Mapping this game was a huge nightmare, but I persevered and I used a graph book chart to do it. What a challenge that was!! Must try and dig this game out again sometime in future and play it all again. Good to know that my Master System should work again after not being used for so long. Thanks :-)

Hey you're welcome! I was thrilled a few years ago when I found out about the Master System and immediately dove in. I haven't looked back since! And yeah, I'd heard it was Soba at one point... it looked a little too thick to be spaghetti. I couldn't imagine a spaghetti vendor on the streets of Japan!

Yakisoba to be precise. Soba and Yakisoba could be different as much as ramen and spaghetti. I once bought Maruchan instant noodle thinking it was ramen, had a nightmarish lunch, only to later notice Yakisoba printed on its plastic cover firmly stating that I "must drain hot water BEFORE mixing it with sauce and serve it." After that, I googled it feverishly to never make a similar mistake again.

I miss her videos a lot. I hope she'll make some new stuff someday, but her old videos are wonderful in the meantime. Thanks for checking out the channel here!

That's too funny... I am not too familiar with Dragon Ball (I had to look up the reference) but yeah, I imagine people shouted whatever variant of energy attack they knew at the time!

Also, I couldn't agree more about Faxanadu. Had it as a kid and it was one of the first games I bought when I started trying to rebuild an NES collection.

I'm so glad you found me then! I have many, many hours of let's plays, reviews and other videos here, all retro. Daria's a godsend for shuttling so many new faces my way. I'm so grateful! Thanks in advance, by the way!

I'm glad to have found another Faxanadu fan! There seem to be lots of us in the woodwork but nobody's talking about that game much, unfortunately. I had a really great experience this past fall with a streamer friend and we tag-teamed the game. I'd play an hour and give him the password and he'd pick it up from there for an hour and pass it back, etc. It was such a great experience to share that game with him and everyone else watching for those streams.

I agree about the cutscenes being very Phantasy Star-like, most definitely. Hopefully if you play SpellCaster that you'll enjoy it as much as I did! And if you like channels dedicated to older games, that's pretty much all I do here!

This one is fun albeit a bit tricky at times. It definitely has a captivating story though! Enjoy!

Good luck with it! I thought it was a really interesting melange of a few genres. I haven't experienced anything else quite like it.

If I'd had this when I was younger, I would've gotten stuck in the pyramid too! I wish I would've had this console growing up.

That's awfully kind of you to say. Thank you very much!

Oh wow! It's cool that it had such a big influence on you!

You're very welcome! Thanks for taking the time to watch :)

Thanks so much for your kindness! It's one of my favourite Master System games for all the reasons I mentioned here. I was pleasantly surprised playing it after a mediocre first impression. Definitely play it sometime if you can!

@@hungrygoriya Of course! I'm super interested after watching your video, at the very least I'm gonna check out your let's play of it and hopefully someday I'll get a chance to play it myself!

@@coinlaundrytv That's awesome! Thank you in advance for checking that out. I hope you especially enjoy that surprise ending :D

@@hungrygoriya I'm hyped! A surprise ending? Double hyped! lol

@@coinlaundrytv Yep! When I streamed the game I laughed for a long while at how the game switches up. It's pretty awesome.

I haven't played Sweet Home yet... I've heard it's quite spooky!

I haven't seen the anime, but it'd be interesting to see what it's all about after playing the game. I think the game is free to play on Internet Archive if you feel like dabbling in it for just a little while. Thanks very much for popping over and subscribing. I hope you enjoy the content here!

I think prior to playing this, Indra was the only one that sounded familiar to me. This makes sense though! I know absolutely no Japanese so I'm no help in digging deeper!

I'm so glad! Thanks so much for having a look around :)

The soundtrack was definitely a highlight! I watched someone play this with the FM music and I didn't like it nearly as much.

I don't think such a game exists. I have qualms with even my very favourites! And thanks so much about the videos. I'm very grateful for NESFriend and SNESDrunk for having me on a couple of times. They're such nice people to hang out with!

Thanks very much! Daria is awesome for sending so many folks over here, and I'm glad you wandered over here. I can't agree with you more about the simplicity of retro gaming. I play virtually no modern stuff and am still really surprised when I turn on my Switch or load up Steam and all of a sudden I have to wait for things to update or download. I'm glad you enjoy the narration. I'm pretty softspoken and have a nice microphone so everything seems to come out alright in the audio department.

It's really fun eh? It was really memorable!

​@@hungrygoriyaa lot of fun😊even now I think I would enjoy it, which might not be the case of some games like Lord of the Sword😅

I don't believe I would've fared well with it as a kid just because of the complication of the localization, but also that pyramid maze... what a nightmare! The spaghetti man was very memorable to me, as well as scary Midori on the dock. That really stuck with me! I haven't tried out Mystic Defender yet but I hope to sometime. It looks great, but I'm sad they got rid of the story elements.

@@hungrygoriya yeah none of the rpg elements were kept for Mystic Defender. Its a snappy action game.

Good luck tackling this one again. It's worth trying to finish it, and I'm sure you'll knock it out of the park. Thanks for watching!

group = grew

You're too kind! Thank you so much! I've been really blessed with a non-grating voice, so I'm glad it's enjoyable to listen to! I'm happy you found the review well-rounded. This was one of my first review videos and I was really happy it came together the way that it did. I've more or less stuck to this format so if you enjoyed this, I hope the other reviews and videos I've put together here will also interest you. Thank you so much for subscribing. I owe Daria so much for letting people know of my existence!

Thanks very much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Hopefully if you play it you'll enjoy the game as much as I did.

Thanks for stopping by and for subscribing! Daria was awfully kind to include my video in hers and it's nice to see so many new faces over here. I can't say I've played any new RPGs to know how deep or involved they get but what you're saying here sounds about right from what I've heard. I love the simplicity of retro games, and they're packed with enough charm to keep me interested. I'm glad 12 minutes isn't too long. I feel like I get awfully longwinded sometimes but being concise just doesn't come naturally to me when there's so much to talk about!

I do have Mystic Defender but haven't played it yet. What you've mentioned here (the story trimming) is what's been deterring me most. I liked the story bits much more than the action sequences.

@@hungrygoriya I hear ya. Weird how a game that followed on a more advanced system was dumbed down in that aspect, but the action and early Genesis style graphics are still worth the shot. Though I first played back as a kid, I enjoy it now. I'll have to Spellcaster some day.

@@MrSerpico145 Right? It's a lot like Act Raiser on SNES. I bought the second game hoping it'd be like the first, and nope! Not the case at all!

Awesome! Thanks so much for watching. I'm so glad you stumbled upon the review and that you enjoyed it. I wish I had gotten to play this one as a kid because I think it would've been a great game to get lost in (literally in that pyramid, of course...) I loved the mash-up of genres here. It was a pleasure to play through. Did you ever play Mystic Defender on Genesis? It's the sequel to this one, but I'm not sure how much they retained between this game's style and that one.

A@@hungrygoriya Actually, I did get to play Mystic Defender, it was not as good as Spellcaster. In fact, It was bad that I stopped playing in early stages. Mainly, it lacked the story and drama that were in Spellcaster. I expected the sequel to be with the same style and gameplay. You mentioned the pyramid, I recall that I stopped playing my first playthrough because it was impossible at the time to finish. After a few months, I heard from a friend that he made it through and I had to continue my game. finally finished it and got very excited when I saw Kane on the cliff watching the sunset...

@@oferasis1 It's too bad that Mystic Defender didn't live up to the tone of the first game. I had the impression that it wasn't as dramatic or good as the first game since it's strictly an action game from what I can recall... it's really too bad. I won't lie - when I did my playthrough of the game I used a map for the pyramid. I don't know how anyone would find their way out. I tried mapping it and it was really tough, especially because the place wraps around in some spots! And those hidden upgrades... good lord!

@@hungrygoriya I believe that mapping the pyramid was the solution at that time, it was a long long long time ago... :)

Nice! The pause menu's essential for this game.

@@hungrygoriya Yeah, he felt pretty dumb not figuring that one out lol

Oh you never used Mars? I am heavily reliant on saving/healing mechanisms in games since I'm paranoid to get destroyed, but that's amazing that you were able to make it through! Sometimes I'd use the charge attack but not always. I need to replay this some day knowing what I know now and have a much better time with it. I enjoyed it my first playthrough, but some parts were a real struggle!

Hey thanks for checking this out. I don't mean to alarm you, but I did a review and an entire Let's Play of Miracle Warriors. No pressure of course, but here's a link to the review: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ydl_BGRBzn8.html

@@hungrygoriya Awesome, I'll check out the review!

It was definitely enjoyable to play! Thanks for watching.

I spent sooooo long trying to get by Mt. Hinokami. It was a true nightmare and definitely the hardest part of the game for me. Have you ever considered playing it again now that you're older?

@@hungrygoriya Well I have still got an original Mega Drive with the Master System converter in storage. I think I'll dig it out over the weekend, and yes I do have Spellcaster so that might be played too :D

@@pyro609 That's what I like to hear! I hope it's everything you remember it being.

Thanks very much! I only wish I had gotten a chance to play this as a kid. I think I would've really enjoyed it then too. I can't even imagine what it must've been like realizing that the spells could be accessed through the pause menu later into the game! Sounds like you got through a big chunk of it on hard mode if it took you a while to figure that out :D I really do feel like this game did so much beyond what others did or tried to do. It's definitely underrated! I'm always glad to meet another fan!

Hey

Totally! I still need to play Zero Wing someday!

I'm happy Daria mentioned my channel in her video because it's brought a lot of new faces out my way. Hello there! And it's awesome that you've played this before and pulled some old memories out after seeing this. I was pleasantly surprised by SpellCaster, and if you're itching just to play that one, it's free to play online at Internet Archive in your browser. A clone system sounds awesome though, because then you can enjoy lots of other awesome Master System games. I just discovered the console a few years ago and fell in love with it. My favourite so far has been Golden Axe Warrior.

I hope you'll have an opportunity to play it sometime. It's really enjoyable!

Oh, your username's reference just clicked. Surprised I forgot that one. Also subscribed.

Goodness, no need to apologize! I'm glad you wandered over here and enjoyed the review. I'm pretty much head over heels for the Master System so that always ends up being my focus here despite playing other things in between. I grew up with an NES and a Genesis but had no idea the Master System existed until a few years ago. As something that fits snugly between NES and Genesis, the SMS was right up my alley and I haven't looked back. I hope you have a chance to play some of the games sometime. They're amazing!

@@w.qualls7930 I'm glad it clicked. That hungry little guy was a stumper for me growing up so it seemed like a good thing to become online. Obscure enough to not seem fangirlish but also still rooted in a founding game in a wonderful series!

@@hungrygoriya , the reference was obscure enough that it almost slipped past me entirely and I love that series, so I'd say you hit that mark perfectly. You've definitely piqued my interest in the Master System. A local shop has a power base converter for the Genesis. Might at least try to grab that.

@@w.qualls7930 Do ittt! Collecting for the Master System can be a bit expensive depending on what you're getting, but some of my favourites are Psychic World (PAL exclusive but awesome!), Miracle Warriors (turn-based RPG), Golden Axe Warrior (very expensive but well worth it if you can find a copy), Phantasy Star, Master of Darkness... I could go on, but those are excellent! I also played Ultima IV on the Master System and loved it more than most other games, but there are much cheaper/easier ways to play that one if you're interested in that series.

Well thanks for stopping in! There are so many good Master System games out there. I just found out about the Master System a few years ago and discovering its library has been awesome. I grew up with NES so being able to find out about an entirely new 8bit library was a dream come true.

That whole area with the stairs was the worst part of the game, no question. I tried mapping it and it wraps around at points so I felt like it was impossible. I definitely used a map for that part! Totally something the AVGN might cover. Thanks for watching!

It's a great game. You should play it sometime!

Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy the rest of the channel.

Thank you!

I'm glad you liked the review! SpellCaster was really special for me since it pushed me right out of my comfort zone into a non-turn-based RPG/action/adventure game. I feel like bit by bit, I'm growing my gaming interests outside of the tiny box I've been sitting in for a long time! It's a wonderful feeling!

I know how you feel! I've been stretching my comfort zone with gaming lately, but I've enjoyed doing so. The gaming world is so much bigger than what I used to play as a child and enjoy playing most.

Oh right on! It was a fun game... lots of mystery and fun to be had. And thanks very much :)

@@hungrygoriya Subscribed! Thinking of doing dioramas for retro games! Started customizing action figures and would welcome suggestions for future projects, as I know there's not official action figures for most of these hidden gems characters. Please visit my channel if you got the time. Cheers!

This was my first experience with a genre mashup and I was quite pleased with the results! I'm sad that they stripped the storytelling out of Mystic Defender. It's one of the main reasons I haven't played it yet. I think this game is free to play on Internet Archive if you don't want to sink money into the game.

Awww thanks! I hope you enjoy the channel. I just subbed to you a few days ago but I haven't had a chance to get too far into your stuff yet. My channel's a bit of a mishmash, but hopefully you can find some stuff you like. I couldn't believe how captivated I was by SpellCaster. I dreaded starting it because I didn't think it'd be up my alley at all, but I ended up loving it at the end of it all. Did you play it recently or back in the day?

I have Spell Caster but haven't got to put enough time in it to decide yet.

I definitely loved the story bits of SpellCaster. If you check out the LP, I hope you enjoy it. It's not a very long game and I really enjoyed playing through it again.

I really liked it!

I was pretty surprised at how gripped I was by the story. Definitely dive into the Master System whenever you can. It's a great system and I can't believe I didn't know about it for so long! And thanks about the voice. I'm pretty blessed.

@@hungrygoriya Definitely, I wish I had dove in a while back, but no time like the present.

@@StephenWilds Better late than never. You're absolutely right! I think this game can be played free on Internet Archive if you aren't looking to purchase it.

Thank you very much! I really enjoyed playing through this one and I've been loving the other Master System games I own as well. I think Spellcaster is still relatively cheap if you want to try out sometime, though the stairs might end you, haha!

Maybe someday down the line, as I don't have a Master System.. but I sure love the 8-bit era of games..

I think you need one. I'm surprised you have gone on so long without one! Master System and Famicom exclusives are where it's at for me right now. I'm in love.

Damn.. you're making me think about this now.. well, I am just getting into Famicom games so that'll will definitely keep me busy.. it's nice to know that someday I can always get a Master System too and discover all that 8-bit glory :)

I wish I knew who to direct your question to, but better late than never! Welcome!

Please do! The Master System library is full of awesome games that I've been enjoying and imagine others would too.

I could write a love letter to Faxanadu! It's coming out on this channel at some point, just not sure when. And honestly, the magic system in the game really makes the action sections bearable. Makiri gives you the option to fly out of the way whenever you need to, and having a healing spell is pretty convenient. Mt. Hinokami was the absolute worst stretch but grinding for magic helped with that section a whole bunch. If I can do it, so can you!

@@hungrygoriya as soon as you mentioned being able to fly I thought back to those horrible looking stair sections.

You fly really, really slowly so it doesn't help in the stair spots too much. Most enemies are moving faster than you!

@@hungrygoriya And I thought Castlevania stairs were special! My feelings about the gameplay aside, I really did enjoy learning about this game. It's always fun to hear about older games that mixed things up. I imagine many of the development teams for games this age had much in common with modern indie studios. Trying to innovate on a smaller scale.

I still need to play it. Would you say it's on the harder side or is it relatively easy to pick up?

@@hungrygoriya It's a game that can be really hard at times but is it relatively easy in the beginning

@UCvk-niD5IDofWQnIEwcTD8A Oh that's really interesting! I'll have to keep an eye out to see which version I have when I do play it. I only have the cartridge so I won't know until I get going with it I suppose!

@@hungrygoriya There are supposed to be two International versions of this game. In an earlier International release of this game. (wich I played) the sprites of some of the enemies have the same color as in the Japanese version. For example the creepy baby-like enemies in Stage 2 has flesh-colored skin but in later versions it was changed to green.

I'm not sure if the fireball enemies are meant to be significant or not. They're a pain though! And yeah, totally just a house full of stairs would do the trick. Even if they don't go anywhere.

It was a great time!

Thank you very much! I'm happy you enjoyed the review.

:( I'm sorry your Master System met such a terrible fate, but nice to know that you have some good memories with it. It sounds like you had a great bunch of games!

Going for the low-hanging fruit, eh? :D Nope, nobody's made that joke but I was thinking someone would eventually! You take the crown! Thanks for stopping in. I'm glad you enjoyed the review, and I hope you'll like some of the other stuff I've been working on here. I hope you love SpellCaster when you play it. I was really surprised at how good it was!

Me too! Did you play it when you were younger or just recently?

@@hungrygoriya The Master System was my first console.. I played it, when i was 12. Long time ago ^^

I still need to play Mystic Defender!

Haha you'll get it back soon enough, I'm sure. SpellCaster is awesome though, and I hope if you do play it sometime that you enjoy it. It was definitely a wonderful surprise.

Thanks so much for subscribing. I've been at this a while now and if you like the Master System, there's quite a bit of that hanging around here.

It is a very cool game. Thanks for your kind words!

Always! My collection for that system isn't very big. What would you recommend?

Alright, I'll recommend lesser-know ones worth trying out then: Choplifter Galaxy Force Golvellius: Valley of Doom Kenseiden Maze Hunter 3-D Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord Penguin Land Psycho Fox Rastan

This is a really great list! I've played Miracle Warriors already and loved it (I reviewed it as well), and I own some of the others you mentioned here but haven't had a chance to play through them yet. I'll definitely be seeking out Galaxy Force, Maze Hunter 3-D, Penguin Land and Psycho Fox. I don't run into those too often.

Haha well, being an English-only speaker, it's spaghetti to me! But I hope you'll give some Master System a try! If you like classic PC as much as you say, Ultima IV on the Master System is one of my favourites and I've heard it's very faithful to the original.

I hope you have a great day too! Thanks for stopping by.

It really is! I was really impressed by how good it turned out. When I first turned it on I had no idea what to expect.

Oh thanks so much! Glad you stopped by!

Thanks! I was happy to put something together on this game. It's a great one!

Yes, Kuma and his spaghetti are great. The hippies are definitely a close second though :D

It's a pretty affordable game compared to some of the others out there, most definitely!

Yeah, they're far from my favourite.

Oh you're deep in the weeds now! :D

I find it funny when they localize foods in some games and not others. I'll admit if I'd played this as a kid, I would've had no idea what yakisoba was. A missed learning opportunity!

I've definitely played worse, but this one's not for everyone.

:D Thanks for stopping in and giving me a chuckle this morning.

I had a really great time with it! The story is pretty good and mixing up the gameplay is always a treat because it keeps things feeling fresh and interesting. Thanks so much for subscribing. Hopefully you'll find some other good videos here and enjoy what I'll be putting together in the future!

Is it no longer in good shape? Basements can be that way :( I have a few things I've bought from folks over the years that have a little bit of humidity/water damage. I still love them though!