Sega

[Wahesh]

I like learning about all the different tricks and workarounds that developers had to come up with back in those days, I'm sure there were plenty implemented during the production of Sonic 2

That’s true mate.

Something I like to look at on YouTube are Easter Eggs seen in old Master System games. I know Sonic 2 had yellow birds trick. Stage 1 of Sky High zone, you go up to the highest spring and go left as much and as high as possible. You’ll get to a secret platform and see a secret life there. What you do is jump over the life (make sure you don’t touch it) and run into the left part of the screen as much as possible. Then turn around and run straight into the life and if you do it right these little birds will appear through the trees lol. I found that by accident when I was about 11 or 12 and I didn’t know that you could only do it that way. When I tried to show my brother it never worked and I couldn’t ever work out why lol.

 

[Captain Ibis]

That’s true mate.

Something I like to look at on YouTube are Easter Eggs seen in old Master System games. I know Sonic 2 had yellow birds trick. Stage 1 of Sky High zone, you go up to the highest spring and go left as much and as high as possible. You’ll get to a secret platform and see a secret life there. What you do is jump over the life (make sure you don’t touch it) and run into the left part of the screen as much as possible. Then turn around and run straight into the life and if you do it right these little birds will appear through the trees lol. I found that by accident when I was about 11 or 12 and I didn’t know that you could only do it that way. When I tried to show my brother it never worked and I couldn’t ever work out why lol.

yeah same man.. I just looked for the Sky Hill zone trick on the tube but couldn't find it sadly..

While probably not an "easter egg" per se I would have to say that one of the funniest discoveries is still the Apology (Apogee) slow mode in Jazz Jackrabbit

 

[Wahesh]

yeah same man.. I just looked for the Sky Hill zone trick on the tube but couldn't find it sadly..

While probably not an "easter egg" per se I would have to say that one of the funniest discoveries is still the Apology (Apogee) slow mode in Jazz Jackrabbit

I found this mate - so in Sonic 2 you can only play Sonic, not Tails. Someone hacked this game and made it so the Sonic character appears as Tails.

Skip to 8:00 and you'll see the Easter Egg

 

[Captain Ibis]

I found this mate - so in Sonic 2 you can only play Sonic, not Tails. Someone hacked this game and made it so the Sonic character appears as Tails.

Skip to 8:00 and you'll see the Easter Egg

cheers mate, that's cool.

Some good Sega easter eggs in this one

 

[Wahesh]

cheers mate, that's cool.

Some good Sega easter eggs in this one

Oh my gosh dude... the Nostalgia in that

Thanks for posting that link brother

 

[Wahesh]

World Cup '93 (Tecmo)



I'll start off with the obvious. No, there was no World Cup in 1993, this is simply what they did before the FIFA and PES series came out, marketed a title based on the year of its release.

Now this is a gem. During the 8 bit era, most titles were played over head and all you could see was a birds-eye view of the ground and see the top of the players heads and sometimes their feet. This game was the first I played that was more of an action cam. You could see all around the player as well as the air (such as the ball landing etc...) and see the entire player and players around him. The gameplay is fantastic. There are 4 game modes and let's keep in mind this is all on the 8 bit Master System console:

- World up (main competition)
- Exhibition (friendly)
- vs (2 players against each other)
- Watch (randomly generated game you can watch)

The gameplay of the game is great. The usual football movements are there, such as throw-ins, corner kicks, goal kicks etc... - however it's not possible to be fouled or receive a penalty during the game. All the goal keeper movements are controlled by AI as you would expect, however you can control kicking, goal-kicks and throw the ball out of the area. There are 24 teams you can choose from (countries) from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Sadly, Australia doesn't make the cut. You start off the World Cup mode with any of the 24 teams of your choosing then pick the colour of you uniform (that's right), and then the game starts. Firstly you have an elimination league (group stage) to get through, then the knock-out to the finals begins - round of 16. Before each match begins it will show the colour chosen by your AI opponent then before the match begins, you can chose your teams format then start. Now for every goal differential there is, you will get 2 points to upgrade your players. In other words if you win by 3-1, 2 points differential, you will get 4 points to upgrade your players after every match.

In the group stage, you'll need at least 1 win and a draw to get through. From the round of 16 onward, you'll need to score goals during regular time to progress, otherwise the game heads straight into penalty shootouts - by passing the extra time period.

If I can fault the game for one thing, it's that in the tournament, you will face Germany every time in the final - guaranteed - unless if you chose Germany - in which case you will face Argentina. Given the game was released in 1993, Germany were the reigning world champions and Argentina were runners up from the 1990 World Cup. I think the game tries to push it a little too far here, however credit for trying to make it as realistic as possible.

Other things include you choosing how long the game time is - short, medium, or long. You can choose to use sound effects of crowd cheering or music which intensifies as you progress in the tournament, and options of difficulty.

Now let's keep in mind all of this was on a Sega cartridge and in total was [less than 100kb in size (see below).

In my opinion, this game was the one that paved the way for other games to follow in terms of everything it contained.

9/10

 

[Captain Ibis]

World Cup '93 (Tecmo)

View attachment 1504

I'll start off with the obvious. No, there was no World Cup in 1993, this is simply what they did before the FIFA and PES series came out, marketed a title based on the year of its release.

Now this is a gem. During the 8 bit era, most titles were played over head and all you could see was a birds-eye view of the ground and see the top of the players heads and sometimes their feet. This game was the first I played that was more of an action cam. You could see all around the player as well as the air (such as the ball landing etc...) and see the entire player and players around him. The gameplay is fantastic. There are 4 game modes and let's keep in mind this is all on the 8 bit Master System console:

- World up (main competition)
- Exhibition (friendly)
- vs (2 players against each other)
- Watch (randomly generated game you can watch)

The gameplay of the game is great. The usual football movements are there, such as throw-ins, corner kicks, goal kicks etc... - however it's not possible to be fouled or receive a penalty during the game. All the goal keeper movements are controlled by AI as you would expect, however you can control kicking, goal-kicks and throw the ball out of the area. There are 24 teams you can choose from (countries) from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Sadly, Australia doesn't make the cut. You start off the World Cup mode with any of the 24 teams of your choosing then pick the colour of you uniform (that's right), and then the game starts. Firstly you have an elimination league (group stage) to get through, then the knock-out to the finals begins - round of 16. Before each match begins it will show the colour chosen by your AI opponent then before the match begins, you can chose your teams format then start. Now for every goal differential there is, you will get 2 points to upgrade your players. In other words if you win by 3-1, 2 points differential, you will get 4 points to upgrade your players after every match.

In the group stage, you'll need at least 1 win and a draw to get through. From the round of 16 onward, you'll need to score goals during regular time to progress, otherwise the game heads straight into penalty shootouts - by passing the extra time period.

If I can fault the game for one thing, it's that in the tournament, you will face Germany every time in the final - guaranteed - unless if you chose Germany - in which case you will face Argentina. Given the game was released in 1993, Germany were the reigning world champions and Argentina were runners up from the 1990 World Cup. I think the game tries to push it a little too far here, however credit for trying to make it as realistic as possible.

Other things include you choosing how long the game time is - short, medium, or long. You can choose to use sound effects of crowd cheering or music which intensifies as you progress in the tournament, and options of difficulty.

Now let's keep in mind all of this was on a Sega cartridge and in total was [less than 100kb in size (see below).

In my opinion, this game was the one that paved the way for other games to follow in terms of everything it contained.

9/10

View attachment 1505

those old soccer games were fun as

 

[Wahesh]

those old soccer games were fun as

I just played the game now and finished it. This is pretty much the only thing I can fault the game for

 

[Captain Ibis]

I just played the game now and finished it. This is pretty much the only thing I can fault the game for

View attachment 1508

Haha that's awesome

 

[Wahesh]

Chase H.Q. AND Battle Out Run



This is my first dual review and the reason I'm doing that is because Chase H.Q. and Battle Out Run on the Master System are almost identical.

Chase H.Q. was released in 1988, and Battle Out run was released in 1989.

They are both vehicular combat games where the objective is to ram the cars of specified criminals. There mains differences are with Chase H.Q. and Battle Out Run are the with Chase H.Q. you have an official police car that's undercover and even includes a siren, whereas with Battle Out Run you have a red Ferrari iconic with the Out Run franchise. Also, in Battle Out Run there is a unique feature of a truck which drives ahead of you. You can drive into this truck while and get upgrades on the go which is quite handy. Another unique feature in Battle Out Run is that you can chose the music track you want to listen to prior to the mission starting.

Battle Out Run even manages to sneak in Mr T as one of the villains.



Both games have the standard pixelated 1980s graphics from behind the car and the winding road with hazards and rotating skyline in the background.

Overall, both games have a good mix of being both frustrating and fun. You can't play one without the other.

Chase H.Q. and Battle Out Run - 7/10

 

[Captain Ibis]

Chase H.Q. AND Battle Out Run

View attachment 1527

This is my first dual review and the reason I'm doing that is because Chase H.Q. and Battle Out Run on the Master System are almost identical.

Chase H.Q. was released in 1988, and Battle Out run was released in 1989.

They are both vehicular combat games where the objective is to ram the cars of specified criminals. There mains differences are with Chase H.Q. and Battle Out Run are the with Chase H.Q. you have an official police car that's undercover and even includes a siren, whereas with Battle Out Run you have a red Ferrari iconic with the Out Run franchise. Also, in Battle Out Run there is a unique feature of a truck which drives ahead of you. You can drive into this truck while and get upgrades on the go which is quite handy. Another unique feature in Battle Out Run is that you can chose the music track you want to listen to prior to the mission starting.

Battle Out Run even manages to sneak in Mr T as one of the villains.

View attachment 1528

Both games have the standard pixelated 1980s graphics from behind the car and the winding road with hazards and rotating skyline in the background.

Overall, both games have a good mix of being both frustrating and fun. You can't play one without the other.

Chase H.Q. and Battle Out Run - 7/10

Lol that face (mr t lookalike) is gold.. looks like a piranha

 

[Wahesh]

Lol that face (mr t lookalike) is gold.. looks like a piranha

LOL - tell me about it...

 

[spiritofaslan]

hahaha that face is epic ... what the hells going on with the earrings!

 

[Captain Ibis]

I don't want to know what he gets up to in his spare time

 

[Wahesh]

hahaha that face is epic ... what the hells going on with the earrings!

I don't want to know what he gets up to in his spare time

The beauty of gaming in the 80s

 

[Wahesh]

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

Released in 1990, this is the final game in the Alex Kidd series for the Sega Master System.

This game pays homage to the legendary "Shinobi" game released in 1987 on multiple platforms. Like most games in the series, this is a platform game. It has 4 levels comprising of 3 stages each with the 3rd being a boss fight:

• Downtown Tokyo
• The Harbour
• Bamboo Garden and Underground Volcano
• Hanzo's Mansion

The gameplay is fairly easy. Alex Kidd has a standard sword which he uses for the majority of the game, but there are power ups available. Throwing darts which is throws towards the enemies with unlimited ammo acting sort of like a gun, and also a power sword which when he slashes also acts as a makeshift shield to block enemy projectiles thrown.

A lot of the stages have secret areas to enter with power ups and spare lives available. The game employs a different kind of health system starting with the 3 hearts. If all 3 hearts are taken away by getting hit, Alex loses a life. This makes the game a lot more fun to play because you don't die as soon as getting hit - you have a few chances to complete your move. Once you reach 6 hearts, every heart from then on is converted to an extra life.

This game holds up great today and is still very fun to play. My only complaint is it's too short!

Final score: 9/10

 

[Captain Ibis]

I'd love to go back in time to the first time I laid eyes upon that game.. Miracle World was a great game for the time, but Shinobi world was such a quality upgrade.

 

[Wahesh]

I'd love to go back in time to the first time I laid eyes upon that game.. Miracle World was a great game for the time, but Shinobi world was such a quality upgrade.

Agreed. I only wish it was a longer game lol... you can finish it in 20 mins if you hit no roadbumps. I wish they upped that to something like 30 mins like Miracle World was - just required 2 more levels.