I'm all for SMS. I grew up with that fantastic system,and even if i got a NES and enjoyed it, SMS is in my heart. Graphics were so sharp facing NES ones. Music was so nice,even if not FM like in Japan. So astonishing games back at the time: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, Fantasy Zone 1&2,Phantasy Star,Psycho Fox,Miracle Warriors,Ys,Spell Caster,Wonder Boy III Dragon's Trap,Bomber Raid, all arcade ports like Double Dragon,Out Run,Space Harrier,Shinobi, some computer RPGs like Ultima 4.. Too bad it doesn't get success in USA (100 titles,while there was 300 in Europe),and Japan (70 titles only,facing 1250 for Famicom!!) I own every single PAL title ever released on SMS + US & Brazilian exclusives. I have Mah-Jong HK release and Sega Mark 3 fullset as well. Damn i love that baby Shakey: Rainbow Islands JPN import?On SMS? It never came out on Mark 3,but maybe you're talking about a different system (NES?)
Do the american/usa ROM versions of SMS games lack FM functionality? So you'd require a japanese SMS and a japanese SMS game, not all of which have FM? One reason I ask is because Tototek apparently has a Genesis adapter for SMS that claims to have FM music support I believe.
No, some non-Japanese games have FM soundtracks. You will need a Japanese Master System and a converter (Bock on SMS Power! sells them).
Ok, but be ready to keep your ears covered. Since here is the SMS version of the theme. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh96PmWQG0Q
I remember hearing one of those 1UP Show retronauts broadcasts about Master System, made me want to fly out there and punch them in the face. Grrr... What Master System is, when it's at it's very best, and if you don't count PC Engine, is the king of 8 bit systems. Forget your Commodore 64s, Sinclair Spectrums, all that jazz, here's your eight bit power guy. It was much bigger in Europe than the US though. It's also Sega's second most successful system, a lot of people forget that.
I don't doubt what you say, alot of people I've talked to speak ignorantly negative about the SMS. The thing is if I ask them in depth about it they don't really know shit about it. I don't know much about the SMS myself but I don't dog it. I do know enough to realize the hardware is more advanced than the NES.
The NES has a few tricks which made it slightly more capable in some respects, but the technical details escape me now. Something to do with bank switching. In terms of games the SMS can't really stand up to the sheer volume and variety on the NES, but there are a number of real gems in there. It was my first console, so the old rose-tinted nostalgia glasses make objective commentary hard, but I'm pretty sure that Sonic 1 is a great game. To this day I actually prefer it to the Megadrive Sonics, although I can appreciate that they're much more polished and capable games. The unsung classic on the platform for me, which I only discovered about 5 years ago, is Master of Darkness - it's a Castlevania clone, plain and simple, but I like it much more than the NES Castlevania games. Protip: find the hammer and stick with it! And if you ever find a way to get through that bastardly last level, please let me know. I think the RF output on the NES and SMS is about the same, both are really shitty. I need to get around to buying a Mark 3 and an RGB cable. Psycho Fox fucking sucks, by the way. It's ok to like shit games, we all have our dubious favourites, but that game is not a good ambassador for the platform.
^I'm 90% sure the SMS1 had a SCART output very similar to the MegaDrive1's chunky output. No doubt the SMS2 lacks it though.
I think you're right, it does have a similar connector on the back at any rate. SMS2 only has RF sadly, at least the NES has composite. I've been looking into RGB on the NES recently, though, and what a mess that is. I'd pay good money just to sort the whole thing out and have nice quality video without glitches, but that's really not an option. At least, until Kevin Horton commercialises his FPGA NES, but I'm not holding my breath on that. I saw a famiclone with S-Video recently, and was kind of tempted, except that it's going to be the same worthless NOAC that is in every other clone. One of these days someone's going to make a decent famiclone, and I will die happy.
YOu knwo that game was released under 4 or 5 different names. One of them actually is Dracula! Sorry mate but the RF on a NES was far worse than the Master System. This is coming from a guy that tested systems during his job. Please explain why. I can't see why the game fucking sucks. It's an enjoyable platformer that was the basis for the Mega Drive classic, Magical Hat. Yakumo
I can't speak for RF or PAL, but the clarity of composite output from NTSC NESes is quite a bit higher than NTSC Master Systems. You have probably seen my comparison pictures before: http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/gotRGB/screenshots.html Read the top section on the different ways different systems encode and average/don't average NTSC colour artifacts, and check out the pictures of SMS, NES composite for yourself. As for Psycho Fox, there are some more comments here: http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=29669#29669
We're talking about RF here, right? I think we can both agree that arguing over RF quality is a waste of time. The real issues are that 1/ the SMS2 doesn't have anything else, which is shitty, and 2/ that the NES can't provide anything above composite without major hassle and further problems, which is also shitty. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, because I think it's an ugly, shoddy game which has aged terribly, and probably wasn't that great to begin with.
NTSC wise the RF output on the Master System and NES were just as bad, however PAL wise the Master System did have superior RF to the NES. But the Master System has RGB godness something only the Famicom Titler can achieve. I like the Master System so great games and the Japanese master system can run all the SG-1000 games too so I can play a decent version of Monaco GP and a different version of Doki Doki Penguin Land.
Thank you :dance: I'll have to load up a ROM of Psycho Fox and give it another go. Maybe 15 years on from when I last played it will show me the true colours of the game. yakumo
