The Final Days of the Sega Master System 

Quick correction. Seems the Zillion anime did make its way to the US. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zillion_(TV_series)

A console dearly loved in Brazil still to this day

The Master System was very popular in Europe because they followed a very different route, it was marketed as the entry level Sega console, with an acording price, it was very cheap, so if you couldn't afford a Megadrive you still could play Sega games at home, which was great, because they really cared about bringing 8bit versions of 16bit hits, you knew it wasn't gonna be the same, but for the price it was more than enough.

I plugged in my Phantasy Star cartridge, and my game was still saved. Talk about a blast from the past!

I really like to play the Genesis version of Dick Tracy after spending some time with the SMS version. It makes it feel like an awesome arcade game in comparison.

Golden Axe Warrior is such a good game. I wish more people would play it.

I’m from NYC and I literally knew only ONE person who owned a master system as the NES was what everyone had at home so I didn’t really have much exposure to it but I remembered thinking it was really kool and would’ve loved to have one. The way Sega of America handled its games and hardware in the states will forever elude me

Growing up in the UK the Master System was great and supported long after everywhere else it seems. Games like Sonic 2 and Land of Illusion were amazing and I regularly played the system even when I had the Megadrive. Weirdly it was the NES which I never came across with any of my friends or even in stores

here in the Netherlands the master system was for sale well into 1993. despite the succes of nintendo the master system was very populair overhere. great system, great memories 🌟👍

Such an underrated console.

SMS still got one of the best colors for 8bit systems

I have very fond memories of having a master system as a kid. Loved a lot of games for it and being from Australia the console was supported for a lot longer. I'm glad I was able to experience classics like asterix and obelix and wonder boy in monsterland.

Make a video about Master Systems European Games! That was awesome with Buggy Run, Sonic 2, Legend of Illusion, Asterix 1 & 2, Aladdin and so on! The best Master System games came out here in Europe in the years 92, 93 and 94!

Growing up in the 90,s in the UK, it has to be said that the Master System seemed way more popular than the NES. Nearly all of my schoolmates had a Master System. And I actually prefer it over the NES. It went on to release the likes of Mortal Kombat and MK2 and they are decent ports more surprisingly.

I loved this console and I never hear it talked about. So many memories with it

Master System II was quite popular in Spain in the early 90s, toe to toe with the NES. Even in 92 there were plenty of releases. I played Sonic 1 and 2, Shadow Dancer, the Mickey games, Bubble Bobble...

I was a NES Kid, odd for a British person, although I had the standard ZX Spectrum/Amiga computers too. But my wife was a Sega Master System Kid. I bought her one as a surprise for Xmas a couple years back, and we’ve been exploring the library together. I think the Disney games are great for one thing, and very different to those on the NES (Duck Tales/Chip’n’Dale etc) 👍🏻

I never had a SMS as a kid, but I always marveled at screenshots that I saw. The color pallet seemed so alien compared to the NES.

No Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap? I am disappoint! Of the best on the system.

Like you said at the end, Europe got four more years of the system. I'm British and had a Master System before we upgraded to a Mega Drive. Weird to think you guys bowed out with Castle of Illusion and Sonic 1 while we went on to get Sonic 2, Sonic Chaos, and Land of Illusion to name just a few. Also, very happy to see Kenseiden get a shout out. Great game, sorely overlooked.

The final days....nooooo! Come back Master System!

It did pretty well down here in Australia ! Sigahhh

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the entire world who actually loved (and loves) the Golden Axe SMS port.

as an NES kid, I always wanted an SMS to a lesser extent growing up. Had some games I wanted. When I finally got to experience its library a little more in depth as a teen/adult, I did miss out on some gems.

Slap Shot is essentially Blades of Steel for SMS

I always wanted a Master System model 2. That thing is great looking. I've only ever found the larger, earlier model at any stores.

My brother still has all his Sega systems. We play every once in awhile.

while i never owned a master system as a kid, but i do own a master system 2 with alex kid built in now , i can respect the MS for one thing at least, the great usage of colors on screen, most MS games i see , have 1 advantage over nes games, and that is the bright colors, most nes games tend to have really drab colors , even the most colorful ones like DUCK TALES , but master system games have a spark of joy in them, and that is something, considering the superior genesis is the king of drab colors as a contrast and the snes is the pastel king of 16 bit games, the MS has the EGA charm to it that i was fond of on my IBM pc, and explains why many sega ports to the ibm pc in the early days, looked like master system games.....good console, even from a nintendo kid point of view, it was nothing to laugh at , not in the lightest.

Miracle Warriors was the first role playing game I'd ever played and I was hooked. I loaned it to SMS owning friends after beating it and they got hooked too. We compared notes heavily. To this day I still remember seeing one of my friends maps for the caves and all his notations and thinking "this fucker should be a cartographer".

It's quiet a surprise to learn that in the USA, your last game was sonic. Here in France, we still saw new games released until 1994, maybe 1995. We got titles like Sonic 2, sonic chaos, Jurassic park etc.... The last one released in europe should be The Smurfs 2 but i'm not certain. I can't help but feel sorry for you guys.

Wow, that bounce back when Spider-Man gets hit. Simon Belmont is saying he needs to tone it down.

A SMS 24 min video? My dream now is true 😁

The Ultima 4 port to SMS is one of my favorites and probably the best port from Origin to a console ever made.

I found this channel rather recently and have been enjoying it greatly. I wasn’t a sega guy back in the day, but a friend of mine had a master system which I liked playing. Thanks for these little pieces of info, they are very interesting.

As a kid I had never even heard of the Master system. However, having heard of it for the first time in the last few years, it looks graphically more impressive than the NES, and appears to have a lot of games that would really appeal to me.

Hey man your channel is my favourite channel on RU-vid overall by far aswell man. I grew up with Nintendo but I have always liked sega better for some reason I just do. Your channel is my favourite thing I like to watch on tv while I'm resting in my bed not well man. Thanks for the entertainment been watching for about 6 months or so but never commented before.

Please make a part 2 - The final days of the Master System in Europe and brazil. Btw. personally I like Ghouls Ghosts. Top 10 on my list😁

One of the most nostalgic systems ever, I got my SEGA Master System Plus package in 1987 in the UK. I had a good collection of games, I would rent a game every week and had a older friend that lived in the same street that had a large collection that was always happy loaning me a game or two when I had nothing new to play.. I played my SMS up until I got the SEGA Mega Drive.. I still own all my original systems and will never part with them (I did sell some of my games back when I got the SMD, regret that now)

04:12 just a minor correction. Zillion the anime was released in the States. Streamline pictures had a dubbed version of it on VHS. There was even a OVA release that took place after the war in the series. I loved the guns in the series. It was basically a pistol version of a Mega Smasher/Wave Motion gun. In other words it destroyed it disintegrates its target on impact. I always thought it odd but cool it looked like the light gun from my beloved SMS . It wasn’t until many years later that I learned Sega was directly behind Zillion and that’s why the similarities. Edit, I added “that I learned” before Sega in the last sentence.

I had a Master System Model 1 with Alex Kidd built into it. I really loved "The Ninja", "Rampage" and "Quartet". I liked "Golvellius" too, but could never get very far, because I didn't understand a single Word English as a Child.

Dude, vigilante on the sms was so good.

i owned the master system rather then the nes and i loved it. the 3d games blew me away at the time. so many good games and memories.

This video brought tears to my eyes. The Master System was my first console (well, we used to have an Atari 2600 in my household but my parents played it more than me) and it was BIG here in Brazil, I have fond memories of the games I played back then (and still do via emulation). Thank you for talking about the system with so much care. I love your content, man

The graphics were much better than the NES but the sound was just not as pleasant and sounded very shrill in a lot of areas.

The nice thing about the Sonic games for the Master System is that they did eventually get them all overseas, as in all the ones that came out here for the Game Gear, they all had Master System ports in Europe, and they were essentially the exact same game but with more visible screen real estate due to the superior resolution. They are excellent playing ports for those that were fans of the Sonic games on the Game Gear. All of them came to the Master System, including Sonic 2, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Spinball, Etc. I think the only one that didn't get ported was Sonic Triple Trouble.

Fantastic video. More SMS please. Great console. Underrated to the max.

I am proud to say that I NEVER had an NES. i instead started my game playing with Sega Master System. got it in 1986, sold it in 1991 with 16 games for $189 and same night, bought a Genesis w/ Sonic 1.

Here in Italy the SegaMaster System 2 has been very popular, many people have switched from the Sega Master System 2 to the Playstation

Brazil had some pretty impressive ports made by Tectoy, such as Mortal Kombat 3 and Street Fighter 2.

I wish Sega would release a Master System collection.

I have always had a soft spot for the Master System. Absolutely love it! It's one of my favorite systems to collect for even to this day. I don't know what it is, just something about it has loads of charm in my eyes. I also love how there are so so many games that only came out in other regions that were simply fantastic, so if you really want the best experience you need to import a good many of the games. Am also kind of glad that the system still doesn't get tons of attention and thus the prices are not too terribly thru the roof, at least for the stuff that isn't uber rare. Speaking of which, I happen to have three complete boxed copies of both Phantasy Star and Golden Axe Warrior :) That's how much I love this system.

master system is still sold to this day here in Brazil, the difference is that the games come built in

Have to say that your "Last days of X" series is one of my favorites here! Excellent job, moreso because it's mostly for Sega consoles!

How about a " Last Days of the Sega Game Gear?"

To me, the Master system never even got started in the USA. I had one friend with the system, and our fav game to play together was Double Dragon.

I don't have the same memories of the Master System that many of you do, but was impressed with what it could do graphically. If Nintendo didn't have such an iron grip on third party support, and if they left the FM driver in the North American versions, I guarantee it would've done so much better and we could've seen ports of games like Castlevania, Dragon Quest, etc. Shame that Sega screwed the pooch royally after the Genny's lifespan came to an end though, a part of me wishes they still made hardware.

The video is more like a full history of Master System rather than it's final days.

I had the NES growing up. Got it at Christmas of 1987. No one at my school had a Sega Master System. Like seriously, no one. My cousin; however, got the Sega Master System for Christmas in 1987. He was the exact same age as me and our 2 mothers were 2 sisters in a pool of 7 brothers. So they were close, which meant growing up, my “cousin” was really my brother. We spent a lot of time together. A LOT. I was able to experience both sides of the 8 bit war from 1988-1990. It was an amazing 3 years. Looking back now, I realize how lucky I was to have been able to play Shinobi, R-Type, Wonderboy, Kenseiden, Phantasy Star and so many more. And play them in their day when they were fresh new releases. All while enjoying my NES and all it brought. No other friends I knew ever even touched a Master System. I was so lucky.

Love it. Love the SMS. Thank you, Lord😃

Recently discovered “Buggy Run” a late release that’s one of the best games on the master system. Definitely worth checking out.

The Master System was so badly slaughtered here in the US, I still can't physically find this console or it's games in the wild to this very day.

Really well done! These are my favorite types of videos of your's.

I still have mine and it works till this day.

Sonic was the last game in the USA? I was in Brazil during my childhood and most of my teenage years and clearly remember loving playing sonic 2 and sonic 3 on the master system. I used to prefer these versions over the Mega Drive (Genesis) ones. Also castle of illusion and Land of illusion were two of my favourites as well!

Still have the Sega Master I got for Christmas 1986. That machine is precious.

the Super Monaco GP engine noise sounds like a spooky ghost

British view, Nintedwho? ahh that computer you can buy from toysrus (there are about 6 in the country at the time) with brown graphics.

Been subbed for awhile...really impressed with your work ethic.

Sega tried to keep it going with the Game Gear, where there was an adapter for it to play Master System games, and another adapter on the Genesis. What Sega should have done was made the bottom of the cartridge the same shape as the Master System, kept the card slot, and remapped the Start button on the controller instead of have it on the console. As far as I know, the Genesis was simply a beefed up Master System, which is why the Power Base Converter was nothing more than a pass-through and contained no additional hardware outside of connections for the Pause button, and connections for the cartridge and card slots. At this rate, Sega should have kept backwards compatibility a priority continuing with the Saturn, since the Saturn already has a cartridge slot for expansions such as memory cards, adapters for online play in Japan, and cheating devices. If they could have played their cards right, it would have been compatible with the Sega 32X and Sega CD on top of Genesis and Master System, to at least made it more appealing for potential buyers (even though unlike prior systems, the Saturn's architecture was bizarre and a nightmare to develop for).

I think this episode could get a sequel about the console's European time before retiring completely. Lots of good games over here to talk about :)

The Final Days of the *NOMAD* ? :)

I’m one of those rare Americans who owned an SMS and absolutely loved it with a passion. Most other kids I knew owned an NES at the time instead. Some of my fondest memories were staying up late summer nights in the late-80’s playing my favorite SMS games like… Aztec Adventure Hang-On Black Belt Alex Kidd in Shinobi World The Ninja Kenseiden Quartet Wonder Boy Choplifter My Hero

I miss my Master system...it's in my closet but doesn't function anymore 😢 😭

Wow Golden Axe Warrior looks awesome, I had no clue any games like it existed on the master system.

Zillion's anime came to brazil and still has their fans here.

Its crazy how this system was ahead of its time I remember playing this in 1990 my uncle had the system

It was the same marketing over here in Australia as Europe and our distributers were SegaOzisoft. The Master System over here was marketed as the cheaper alternative to owning a Mega Drive. The Master System was marketed in such a way that Sega made consumers feel that they were not missing out on owning a Sega system if parents couldn't afford the Mega Drive because they kept advertising the Master System and it's library of new releases in these catalogue flyers that came with a game you bought. On one side in black checkered squares of the catalogue it advertised the ground breaking Mega Drive and it's library of games while the other side in white checkered squares it advertised the cheaper solution being the Master System II console and it's library of new games. With lots of Master System games being added every month from 1991 through to mid 1994 the Master System had a damn good life span over here in Auz and i'm grateful to have been a part of that era as I first owned a Master System II in 1992 and kept it for two years until late 93 when I finally got the Mega Drive bundled with Sonic 1 & 2. To that day to this i've never really left the 8 and 16-bit generations of video games, the 5th generations 3D polygon stuff killed it for me.

When younger i had every Nintendo system and later on the Sega systems, and Sega to me had better graphics but no longevity as a staying company - smh.

Fantastic work as always Sega Lord X. Really enjoyed every second of this. The Master System was my first games console when I was a kid and loved it. I still enjoy playing certain titles to this day.

I will go on record saying that the SMS was the single most underrated great console in video game history. Also, Slap Shot was a blatant, low budget ripoff of Konami's Blades of Steel for the NES. And to this day, I still say that Wonder Boy has, by far, the best in game music of the 8-Bit era.

Keep on bringing these great memories back!

Brazilians read the title and are like "When?"

My first console, extremely popular in the UK, I still love playing it to this day. Long live the Master System.

Maybe you should change the video's name to "Last Days of the MS in the US"? Americans tend to think of the MS as a failure, but it was quite a success for Sega, only not in the US...

I love this system but it was my first console so I have some bias no doubt. BTW Psychic World is an underrated gem from 1988.

Sega really F up when they downgraded the audio for the US version.. the master audio is sooo annoying...the FM SYNTH sound chip made a huge difference.

The SEGA Master System, the SEGA Saturn, and the N64 were the most influential system I've ever played. I was in my young teens when I got a N64 for Christmas, so you can imagine how young and impressionable I was when my parents upgrade from the Atari 2600 to the master system. My favourite game: Wonder boy. WB monster world WB The dragon trap Sagaia Psychic world Ghools & ghosts Golden axe warrior Ultima 4 (dad game) Sonic 1&2

The Master System was great, all Sega consoles and arcades were great, but the management was absolute trash

Underrated console.

Like Europe and South America, Sega Master System reigned supreme here in Oceania. Before 1991 not many people had a console, I saw 1 NES at someones house, a few really rich kids had an Amiga, and my best friend had an Atari 2600 in 89-90. When Sega released its budget Sega Master System II in 91thats when it took off, I got one, my friends got one, it was now affordable. The stores were maybe 60-80 Sega Master System Games and 12 NES games, same went for the video store rentals, it was just always 2 shelves of SMS and a few measly NES carts on a row of a shelf next to it, this continues in the Mega Drive/Snes era too, but the Master System was still hella popular in 1994, new games still coming out, and they were really good games this late in its life as the makers/designers obviousy had had a decade to push it to its limits. I almost never saw a Nineno console ever till 64, they beat the Saturn in that era, but PS1 had taken number 1 spot by this point. So yeah in Oceania, around the same time USA was getting its last games was when the Sega MAster System was about to explode here

The 8-bit consoles weren't advanced enough relative to the arcade, so I didn't jump onto the console bandwagon until the 16-bit generation...

Would love to add a master system to our collection. Only got to play 1 once.

That hockey fight at 11:06 is hysterical 🤣🤣

Thats crazy as the last UK PAL game was in 1996 and many kids still bought SMS games in 1994. The shops were still full of them and each Mega Drive release also saw an SMS release alongside it.

Every time someone says “it gets tiresome doing this or that” .....I say “that’s called a challenge. The game is supposed to be challenging.”

the SMS lives on with Mordecai and Rigby

Mickey's Castle of Illusion is probably my all-time favorite platformer on this system. In total, the games I played the most war Castle of Illusion, Alex Kidd (god that game was hard), Spy v Spy, Rampage, Ghostbusters, and Outrun. We had a large collection of games, but those are the ones I remember playing the most.

My next door neighbor, a girl who was ten when I was eleven, had a Master System. I had an Atari 2600 and an Nes,so I was somewhat fascinated by them odd looking machine. She only had three games for it, that light gun game in the jungle, a tennis game and one of the Alex Kidd games. Obviously the first two didn't hold much appeal, but the Alex Kidd game did, as it was kinda like Mario except you weren't always moving from left to right and you could buy stuff (a totally novel concept in a game for me at that time). She never played the thing but I'd often sneak away when I was over at her house to play it. I couldn't consistently get past the "rock paper scissors" part, so I eventually gave up on it. I wish I had known that such a thing called Phantasy Star existed at the time, because after getting the first Dragon Warrior for the NES, I was hooked on RPGS, and I would have foumd a way to buy Phantasy Star and play.

Loved my Master System, and I still do - it's under my desk. My original RF cable and switch adaptor broke, as did my Mega Drive's power adaptor, so both consoles share the same leads. Also, mine is one of the rare machines that has Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in ((c) 1990 on the title screen instead of 1986), yet isn't a Master System II - model no. 3005-05-B if anybody fancies a Google. It's a huge shame how it fared in North America, especially given the longevity it enjoyed in Europe and particularly Brazil. We never had many games, but what we did have was of decent enough quality - After Burner, Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, Action Fighter, Sonic The Hedgehog and Psycho Fox to begin with, and in later years I bought Golvellius: Valley of Doom and Sonic The Hedgehog II - and we knew one or two people who also had Master Systems, including one with the 3D glasses. One or two people at school used to tease me about having one, to the point that they actually believed that the Master System II was a superior piece of hardware - I guess we were all fanboys at one point in time.

What i loved as well about the sega master system was that its controllers worked for Atari 400 as well as the snail maze game built into the system.