Tag Archives: Master System

Review: “Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection” (Nintendo Switch, PS4)

Today we’re all celebrating the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection,* a new retro compilation of all of SEGA’s Wonder Boy and Monster World games from the 80s and 90s released to mark the 35th anniversary of the series. Weird number, but who’s complaining? If you’re thinking that this review seems awfully familiar, there’s a very good reason, as ININ Games published a Wonder Boy Collection less than a

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Retro Game Review: “Kenseiden” (SEGA Master System, Festival of Dread Special)

Konnichiwa minnasan to the Dread Matsuri, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of all things 暗い and 怖い (“kurai” dark and “kowai” scary). In any case, today we’re going to take a look at Kenseiden, a genre-blending, side-scrolling action RPG developed and published by SEGA in 1988 for the Master System. Indeed, you will all be subjected to my surface-level, one semester’s worth of community college Japanese

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Retro Game Review: “Cyborg Hunter” (SEGA Master System, 80s August Special)

Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since the invention of the hurdy-gurdy. Today we’re going to take a look at Cyborg Hunter, one of the very few third party (sort of) games released for the SEGA Master System. Cyborg Season? Developed by SEGA and published in the United States by Activision in 1988, Cyborg Hunter

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Box Art Bombshells: “Black Belt” (SEGA Master System, 80s August Special)

Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since We’re marking this festive occasion with an all-new installment of Box Art Bombshells, where we reveal the completely fabricated super really-real events that inspired some of the wackiest and weirdest box art from gaming history. This time, we’re revealing the hidden truth behind Black Belt, the martial arts action game released on

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SEGA’s Little-Known “Fist of the North Star” Legacy (80s August Special)

Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since chopped liver! While many will recall SEGA’s 2018 release of Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise for PS4, western gamers, particularly the younger ones, might be interested to learn that SEGA has a long history with the Fist of the North Star license. Yes, indeedy.

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Greatest Levels in Gaming: “Alex Kidd in Miracle World” (SEGA Master System, Attack Helicopter Week Special)

Since Alex Kidd is oddly relevant this year, today we’re going back to an Attack Helicopter Week of years past to look at one of the most innovative stages from SEGA’ flagship title for the Master System, Alex Kidd in Miracle World. In the mid to late 80s, the SEGA Master System was the underdog in a sales race with

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Retro Review: “Choplifter” (SEGA Master System, Attack Helicopter Week Special)

Welcome back to Attack Helicopter Week here at The Splintering! Today, we’re taking off with Choplifter for the SEGA Master System. We previously reviewed Jaleco’s Nintendo Famicom port of Choplifter a while back, so let’s take a gander at how SEGA’s Master System port fares compared to its 8-bit contemporary. (Spoilers! – Pretty damn well) Among side-scrolling shooters, Choplifter is

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“Alex Kidd in Miracle World” now on Switch as part of the SEGA Ages line; debut trailer released

SEGA’s greatest mascot (fight me, Sonic fanboys) is finally making his Nintendo Switch debut with the release of Alex Kidd in Miracle World as part of the SEGA Ages line. Here’s a breakdown of some of the game’s new features as a SEGA Ages title: Ages Mode: Adding Countless New Elements In addition to “Original Mode,” where the original version

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“SEGA Ages: Phantasy Star” now available for Nintendo Switch in Japan; new trailer released

As of 31 October, SEGA Ages: Phantasy Star is available on the Japanese Nintendo Switch eShop. To mark the occasion, SEGA released a new trailer (below) which highlights some of the Switch port’s features, including the sound test and monster codex.   Here is list of the game’s features* from SEGA’s official website: • The Original Phantasy Star Comes to

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Bitmap Books announces SEGA Master System Visual Compendium

On Monday, UK-based Bitmap Books launched a Kickstarter campaign to create an officially-licenced coffee table book on the SEGA Master System. SEGA Master System: a visual compendium is officially licensed by SEGA and is the first book of this kind to be released focussing on the Master System. SEGA Master System: a visual compendium is being created by an experienced

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