Beware The Spaceman

Tag: Master System

  • Retro Reaction 2.2 – We Have Sonic at Home

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours

    I immediately went into bragging mode down the street. I have a Sega and it’s better than yours. Yes, I was that naïve and that big‑headed as a kid.

    But my Sonic looked different to Steve’s. He ran through Green Hill Zone, sure — but the layout was different. And then came the Bridge Zone, not Marble Zone. The music in this game was great too. The Bridge and Jungle Zone themes especially had me humming along without even realising.

    Was it perfect? No. But I didn’t care. This was my version of Sonic and it was awesome. And honestly, I still love this Master System version. Long‑time readers will know I have a lot of respect for Sega’s Master System anyway.

    This console was so cool that if you started it without a game in the slot, you got Alex Kidd. There’s a reaction for the future.

    The reaction from down the street to our Master System, though, was more: “That’s nice… anyway, back to Steve’s.”

    Sonic on Master System is one of the few games I’ve actually completed. But this console opened the door to so many games I still play today — Disney’s great platformers like Jungle Book, Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion, and of course more Sonic titles.

    Here in the UK, the Master System was actually more popular than the NES.

    But time moved on, and eventually it was time for me to plunge into the 16‑bit era. Would this finally mean the Sega Mega Drive? For my brother, yes. My choice, though, was another brand big in the UK. I got myself a Commodore Amiga.

    It had its own mascot platformer at the time — and its name was Zool.

  • Retro Reaction 2.1 Sonic at Steve’s House

    The year is 1991, and at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, Nintendo are proudly showing off their latest Mario installment — a game already being talked about as one of the greatest of all time. They’re demonstrating how gorgeous it looks, how many colours they can squeeze onto the screen, and how polished their platforming formula has become.

    But the real crowd‑puller is over at the Sega stand.

    Sega’s blue mascot is front and centre, and this new game has blast processing. It’s everything Mario wasn’t. Mario was slower, deliberate, full of secrets and atmosphere. This thing? It was fast, loud, had a soundtrack that slapped, and — let’s be honest — it was cool.

    Sega were right in Nintendo’s face, practically shouting: “Have a load of that!”
    As Street Fighter once declared: Here comes a new challenger.

    Fast‑forward to nineteen‑ninety‑something and my mate Steve has a new games system. A system with blast processing. For what feels like forever, Steve becomes the most popular kid down our row.

    When it finally cycled round to my turn, I could just about finish Green Hill Zone. But Marble Zone? Instant kills everywhere. I longed to see what was waiting on that next level.

    I could go on here about what’s widely regarded as one of the best games ever made — but it’s all been said before. What I will admit is that my brother and I pestered and pestered until we finally got ourselves a Sega.

    We were successful… with a small caveat.

    We opened our Sega, and yes, it had Sonic. But it wasn’t the Sega Mega Drive we thought we were getting.
    It was a Sega Master System.