Sega Master System

Sega Master System is a video game platform.


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Although the 8-bit Master System was not embraced by a large audience in the US and Japan, it remains an important and entertaining console that laid the foundation for generations of future hardware releases from Sega.

Overview

The gamepad.
The gamepad.
TheSega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge and card based system released in 1985 for Japan, 1986 for North America and 1987 for Europe. It is based off the Mark III release of Sega's first entry into the Japanese console market, the SG-1000. It competed directly alongside the Nintendo Entertainment System during it's heyday, and it was supported by Sega well into the 1990's.Some versions of the system featured a built in game such as Space Harrier, or a timed maze game featuring a snail. 

The system has 2 9-pin controller ports, with each controller having 2 buttons (labeled 1 and 2) and an 8-wa
y directional pad. The pause button is located directly on the console.The Master System didn't challenge Nintendo much in the US and Japan, but it did give Sega a good foothold in the home console market that they capitalized on with their follow up, the Sega Genesis.

Peripherals

The 3D glasses.
The 3D glasses.
Early models of the console shipped with a Safari Hunt/Hang On card, one game pad and one light phaser.  Missile Defense 3D also made use of the console's 3D glasses, which plugged into a card slot device and saw only six games made for it since release. The glasses plugged into a card slot device and used shutters to simulate 3D depth from flickering images onscreen. An arcade stick was also released as a peripheral, and a six-button version of the game pad appeared later in the console's life.

Sega released an add-on for the Genesis called the Power Base Converter that sat on top of the cartridge slot and allowed for Master System games to be played on the 16-bit console. It has all of the exterior features of the original Master System including a pause button on the device and support for both cartridges and cards.
The Master System was, and still is, huge in Brazil for some reason.

             
The Light Phaser
The Light Phaser
The light phaser was required to play Safari Hunt and would go on to be featured in games such as Shooting Gallery and Missile Defense 3D.






Technical Specifications

  • CPU: 8-Bit Zilog processor running at 3.579545 MHz
  • Memory: 64 Kb RAM
  • Video: Texas Instruments VDP, 256 x 192 or 256 x 224 resolution, 32 colors on screen (16 for sprites/background, 16 for background only) from a palette of 64
  • Sound: Texas Instruments 4 channel processor (3 Square Wave, 1 White Noise)


Built-in Games

The Sega Master System (depending on the model) came with one, two, or three games built into its hardware. For the model 1 Sega Master System, the machine pre-programmed with three games. The actual retail quality games were Hang On (Action) and Safari Hunt (Light Phaser Series). However, there is a special exclusively programmed meta-mini-game hidden in the Master System hardware. It is a Snail Maze game that can be accessed through holding both the one and two buttons as well as holding the up potion of the directional square.

Software Formats

The Sega Master System had multiple forms of solid state software technology that was made compatible for the system.  The machine allowed for cartridges in the Mega-Cartridge series. For example, the game Alex Kidd in Miracle world was a Mega-Cartridge game, but later and more advanced games like After Burner used the Four Mega-Cartridge technology. It is unknown at this point if the Sega Master System cartridge technology surpassed the Four-Mega Cartridge. However, there is another variation on this form of software; the implementation of a lithium battery (exactly the same as batteries used for computer motherboards). This addition is indicated with the cartridge suffix descriptor of "Plus" or plus battery aided rewritable memory storage. For example, Phantasy Star is classified as a Four-Mega Plus Cartridge. The Plus feature allowed for players to record scores and game progress.
Another form of game media for the Sega Master System also had support for game card or "Sega Cards". These were credit card sized solid state form of media that were fed into their own dedicated input slot on the system. The appeal of this software format was that they held less (only 34KB of space), game cards ended up being cheaper than Sega's Mega Cartridge games. One of the best titles on the Sega Card media is Transbot. It is important to note that the two later model designs of the Sega Master system omit a game card input slot.


Sega Master System games
Edit
Platform Name: Sega Master System
Release Date: Oct. 16, 1986
Online Support: False
Install Base: 13,000,000
Original Price: $200
Producing Company: Sega
Total Games: games
My Classic Consoles
a list of 8 items by Oy
my machines
a list of 16 items by macker33
Space
first in Spacewar!
10
Jungle
first in
10
Underwater
first in
10
Desert
first in
8
The United States of America
first in The Oregon Trail
7
Castle
first in
6
The Beach
first in
5
New York
first in
5
Japan
first in
5
Cave
first in
5
Side-Scrolling
first in
47
2D
first in Tennis for Two Simulator
47
Virtual Console
first in
46
Jump
first in Donkey Kong
39
Boss Fight
first in DND
37
Death
first in
31
Game Over
first in
29
Cheat Code
first in Manic Miner
28
Health
first in
27
Anthropomorphism
first in
27
Sword
first in
16
Gun
first in
15
Car
first in
11
Spikes
first in
10
Tree
first in
9
Tire
first in
8
Fireball
first in Super Mario Bros.
8
Rock
first in
8
Mustache
first in Donkey Kong
7
Motorcycle
first in Motocross
7


Jon_Rivera
140 points

randiolo
40 points

megalowho
37 points

broqz
6 points

Sil3n7
6 points


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