The Sega CD has become incredibly expensive to collect for in the last couple years. In this video The Immortal John Hancock shows us the most rare & expensive Sega CD games in his collection.
Special thanks to World of LongPlays: http://www.longplays.org
John Hancock : http://www.youtube.com/swlovinist
November 24, 2017… a day I’ll never forget. Join me as I tell the story of a local game store on Black Friday 2017 helping me get the elusive final piece of my now complete U.S. Sega Genesis collection and how a near life-long quest came to a glorious end.
And yes, I do not have the Heartbeat Monitor games, but they weren’t retail so don’t count in my eyes. Also not pictured, all the sports games so the rest of the collection would fit on the shelves. :p
SEGA Kidd takes a look back at SEGA’S classic arcade shooter, Space Harrier. It all starts with a brief history of arcade gaming’s status as of 1985 and how legendary game designer Yu Suzuki came to create his “Super Scaler” shooter. You’ll also get to learn quite a bit about Space Harrier, it’s many ports, and the games that carried on the Harrier name up to 30 years later.
The classic Sega Master System game is being REMADE for modern systems by a developer that LOVES the original. The graphics and music have been massively updated but all soul of the original beloved game is still there, included the ability to instantly switch back and forth between modern and original.
Game collectors have by dying to play their original Sega Game Gear, Master System, and Master System Card games in HD. The Hyperkin 3-in-1 adapter easily inserts into the Genesis slot on the RetroN 5 and adds this functionality. Play your favorite games with enhanced resolution, improved interpolated sound, screenshot capture, and the ability to have on-the-fly save states.
Hyperkin: http://goo.gl/YDAu6k
Video Transcription in English:
Hey, guys. Metal Jesus, here. Now, since the RetroN 5 was released, game collectors everywhere have been asking for support for the Sega Game Gear and also the Master System. Well, now Hyperkin has released that adapter. In addition to reviewing this, I’m also going to show you a bunch of games that collectors that are new to those systems might want to check out. Let’s take a look. ♪ [music] ♪ First off, let’s have a little refresher of what the RetroN 5 actually is. This is a clone emulation system that plays your physical cartridges, and it supports a bunch of different systems, including the original Genesis, Mega Drive, also the Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, NES, Famicom, and also some really cool handhelds, like the original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. And here is the box for the 3-in-1 adapter. Inside, not a whole lot. Basically, just what you need, and that is the adapter itself. Now, you’ll notice it’s fairly large, and that’s because it supports three different sizes of things you can plug into it. On the top is the Sega Master System, on the right-hand side is where you plug in the Game Gear cartridges, and then, on the left is where you plug in those Sega cards. Remember that I mentioned that the RetroN 5 is a clone emulation system, so on the box here, you’re going to notice that you’re going to need to upgrade your firmware. Not a big deal, not hard to do, but just be aware that your entire RetroN 5 is going to get an upgrade. And then to play some games, you simply plug the adapter into the Genesis slot, and let’s start with some Master System games. Let’s start with Phantasy Star. Phantasy Star is one of the benchmark RPGs released in the 1980s and is still considered a classic today. There are many things to like about this game. For me, I really dug the sci-fi fantasy story, also has great graphics for the time. It still looks pretty good, even today. I like how it has a top-down map, plus it has first-person interaction, both when you talk to NPCs and also the combat. And then, you can’t forget about those amazing 3D dungeons to explore. It’s a really awesome game. Check it out. Next, let’s check out some Out Run. So, what can I say about Out Run that you haven’t heard a million times before? This is obviously a racing game. It’s based on an arcade game, and it’s really just timeless. People still love playing this game, even today. And like all the other systems that the RetroN 5 supports, this also has support for filters. Now, right now, you’re looking at Out Run running with no filters on, so in theory, you see all the pixels that you should, but not everybody is a fan of that. So, let’s go ahead and turn on some of the filtering. You can compare the two. You’ll notice now that the pixels are a bit softer, maybe a bit rounder, and for some people, this is absolute blasphemy. This is completely unacceptable, and I totally get it, but, you know, there are times whenever…maybe the game is a little more pixelated than you expect, and at least you have the option. Let’s go ahead and turn that filtering off and see if you can see the difference. Out Run is a great arcade racing game on the Sega Master System. Definitely check it out. By the way, if you’re curious, I’m actually playing all of these games in this video using a real Sega Genesis controller. I love how the RetroN 5 supports this. And now, an absolute classic on the Master System, Wonderboy III. Wonderboy III: Dragon’s Trap is a fantastic platform action game on the Master System. Things that really stand out for me are the bright colors and graphics, the really nice controls. I also really dig that the game is mostly non-linear, which is kind of cool. It’s also worth noting that this game is so well-loved, so fondly looked upon by fans that it’s actually going to be getting an HD remake, coming soon. So, if you love 2D platforming games, and you’re starting to collect for the Master System, this is a must-own. I love my shooters, and Fantasy Zone II is awesome. Fantasy Zone II is not your typical shooter, and I think it’s pretty obvious why. I mean, look at these bright colors, and also, you have some just crazy enemies, and the overall design is just unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Now, some people would call this a cute-’em-up. I know not everyone’s crazy about that term, but for me, I actually really like these kind of games. I think they’re fun, something a little bit different. Also, this game really reminds me of Defender. ♪ [music] ♪ Some other games you might want to check out, if you’re starting to collect for the Master System, of course, you got to talk about R-Type. This is a really great version of this game if you like shoot-’em-ups. Now, one of the things to note about this is that it supports the advanced FM sound chip, so this adapter will support that, which means that the audio will sound even better. Sounds really great. Also, there is a great version of Shinobi on it. Now, it may not be necessarily the best, most accurate version of Shinobi, but I think it plays really well. Super fun. ♪ [music] ♪ Now, let’s switch over to another system. Let’s play some Game Gear games, and we’ll start with Shining Force. Oh man, this is such a great game for the Game Gear. This is a tactical roleplaying game that is considered one of the best on the system. So good. It was actually remade for the Sega CD, but we’ll cover that at another time. Now, you may be noticing that the text is really big. Well, that’s because, again, the Game Gear was a handheld, and at the time, the screen only had a resolution of 160 by 144 pixels. So, the RetroN 5 is actually stretching those out to fill your HD television, but I still think it looks really nice. Of course, you couldn’t have a Sega console without a Sonic game on it, and Triple Trouble actually is a really good one. Now, this was released originally as Sonic & Tails 2, but it’s basically a sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos. For me, the stand-out feature for this game is the graphics. I think they just look amazing. Really colorful, really fun. Now, some people complained this game might be a bit easy. I personally don’t find it to be super easy, but then again, I’m not great at the Sonic games, but you should definitely check it out. This next game I want to show is called GP Rider. This is an arcade motorcycle racing game, but the reason why I want to show it is to compare the different filters, because while I showed the filters being applied to Sega Master System games, I think they actually have more of an impact on the Game Gear because of the lower resolution. So, here is the game with no filters applied, and it’s pixelated, but I think it looks pretty good. And here is the game with some filters applied, rounding out the pixels and smoothing out the graphics. Again, completely optional. ♪ [music] ♪ Here’s a vertical shooter that I enjoy quite a bit called Halley Wars. Now, I believe this is based on a stand-up arcade machine called Halley’s Comet, and it makes sense because in this game, you’re trying to shoot down the comets that might be hitting earth. What I like about this game is that the difficulty feels just right. It’s not too easy, it’s not too hard. Keep in mind that this game was originally designed for a very small screen, but when you blow it up to your large HD television, it almost makes it easier, and certainly it makes it a lot of fun. Another cartridge you’re going to want to buy is Streets of Rage 2. Now, I’m including this in here not only because it’s a really fun, side-scrolling beat-’em-up, but I also want to show you, again, the filters applied. I’m doing this because, for some people, I think when they see these old Game Gear games they might get a little but turned off, and turning on these filters really sometimes can help. See, check it out. So, this is no filter right here. Let’s go ahead and turn it on. Again, it’s total personal preference, but it’s there if you want it. Some other games you might want to check out on the Game Gear, here is Shinobi II, and dare I say, I might actually like it more than the first game. Here is Aerial Assault, which is a decent horizontal shooting game. Now, it’s not going to win any awards or anything. It’s not going to blow your socks off, but it can be found cheap. Lion King is based on the Disney movie, of course, and is considered a classic on the Game Gear. And then the last format that this adapter supports is the Sega Card. Now, I don’t have a lot of these. There weren’t actually a lot of them released, but if you’re going to support the Master System, you do have to support both formats. Here, I have Trans-Bot. Let’s take a look. As you can see, this is a horizontal shooter, but what’s cool about this one is that it’s kind of inspired by The Transformers. Meaning that half the time you’re playing as a starfighter, but then you can sometimes transform into a robot. What’s interesting about this game is that your powerups don’t last for very long. There’s actually a limited amount of time that you have them. So, some of it’s kind of luck, as far as this game goes, and some of it’s kind of skill. I would say, overall, I don’t know if I would highly recommend this game, but it is cool to have it in that little card format. So, you’re probably curious how much it costs. Well, it currently sells for $60 through Hyperkin. I’ll put a link to their website down in the video description below if you want to get some more information. As you can tell, I’m actually pretty excited about this, primarily because I’ve been casually collecting for the Game Gear and the Master System for a couple years now, but this is going to make it so much more convenient for me to play it on my big screen television here and also capture footage for videos, really looking forward to that and beefing up my collection a little bit. Love to know what you guys think, please post a comment below. Also, I’d love to know what adapter you would like to see Hyperkin make next. Me, personally, I’d love to see them make an Atari Jaguar adapter. That would be so cool. Love to see that in the future. All right, guys. Thanks very much for watching this video. Thank you for subscribing, and take care. If you guys liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. I would greatly appreciate it. Also, you’re going to want to be subscribed to my channel because I release two…yes, two! I’m crazy like that! But two new videos every single week on Tuesday and Friday. Also, I have a website. Man, I’m just, like, pimping myself all over the place here. Check out metaljesusrocks.com. Thanks for watching, guys. ♪ [music] ♪
The Sega Master System wasn’t popular in the U.S. but it was HUGE overseas and in South America. However, now game collectors are starting to see the appeal of the console and many of it’s fun games. This Buying Guide will help you with the different Master System models, accessories and games.
Buy Sega Master System here: http://goo.gl/U8kxRI (Affiliate Link)
Games Shown:
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap
Psycho Fox
Choplifter
Shinobi
Rastan
Power Strike
Phantasy Star
Montezuma’s Revenge
R-Type
Golden Axe Warrior
Video Transcription and Subtitle:
Metal Jesus here, and I am back again with the immortal John Hancock. How is it going, dude? – [John Hancock] Always a pleasure to be on your channel. – Dude, thanks so much for inviting me into your game room. – Of doom. – Room of doom. Because you are one of the few people I know that has so many box games, specifically of the Sega Master System. – I love the System. You know in North America it wasn’t really successful there’s only 114 released games, but I love Sega. You know grew up playing the Master System, and I love collecting for it. – Yeah. And I think this is going to be a really cool video because a lot of you are like me where maybe you did not own one as a kid, but you’re curious about it. So this is going to be a buying guide. We are going to talk about the hardware, the accessories, and he also has 10 games that you’re going to recommend to people? – 10 games – Dude this is going to be awesome. Let’s take a look. ♪ [music] ♪ – So the history for me with Master System is that I grew up with a rental store that actually carried Master System games for rent with Nintendo. And I always was like, “Oh what’s that? Oh, that’s Sega’s console.” Later on played them at a friend’s house and I was like, “Oh, that’s okay. Because he didn’t have any Master System games. When I got older and was in high school there was an outlet store that was selling clearance Master System stuff and that is when I bought it. So I bought my first Master System in high school. – Wow, that’s really cool. So in front of us you have four boxed systems right? – Yeah. I have more, but we’ll sell these four. – This is crazy and just so you guys know that I was making him pull these out of you know this room of doom in here. And some of these, he’s like, “This isn’t just rare” – It’s pretty rare – “It’s pretty rare.” – Using other figurative language yes. – Yeah. I was like, “Please don’t drop this.” So this is really cool because I again, well you see Master Systems occasionally but never boxed. – It’s you know like anything cardboard goes the way of the dodo. And it’s just hard to find anything boxed anymore at a reasonable price especially. – All right well which one do you want to show first? – All right, well let’s just start off with the original. I do believe this is one of the first versions released in North America.and it’s got a weird name, it’s called The Sega Base System. And it wasn’t even called the Master System. Which if I saw this on the shelves it would just be weird. – They had really bizarre marketing at this time with all the lines something like that. Because it looks very almost like something that maybe an accountant would use, like a computer almost. – Yeah. This doesn’t jump out to me. And I mean I like the art styling. – It doesn’t scream fun. – No. It doesn’t it’s like what is this, is this a computer, is this a game system? And obviously they were trying to go after something that looked like Nintendo, but I scored this about five years ago, on a Craigslist score. And I did some research on it, but this is pretty hard to get. And it may not show up on the camera, but this box is gray, not white like everything else Master System, which makes it stand out. And if you ever find a box game system and its gray, it’s more rare. – Interesting. Now, couple things about the Master System I want to mention here is that one, I love its design. The Master System looks like nothing else I have ever seen. Like I love how its angles, its colors, also it has a really interesting feature where it has cartridges and it also has those cards. – Yep, it’s got some cards in some of the games, definitely. And it’s just a really unique design. I thought it was a great looking system, and it’s too bad it just didn’t do better. – I know, yeah. – All right, next one, this is kind of more your run of the mill Master System box. – It says Master System on it. – Yes. And there’s different variations, it’s important to know that there are several other variations of the console. Some came with one game. Some came with other games. Some have the game built into the system on the outlet store version. There’s like a snail game that was built into the system. – Which people mention that it has a built in game, mine doesn’t. Which I was like, “What? I feel like I got gypped” but that’s just… – Yours must have an earlier version which actually came with a cartridge with a game on it. – Oh, okay. – That’s why yours doesn’t have a game built in. – That makes sense. – So this is your standard run of the mill. It came with two controllers and the phaser. The Sega Light Phaser is what it was called. – Right. Light guns were all the rage at this time. – Yeah. And it’s important to know that there was an accident with a young child. And the phaser, there’s two versions of the phaser. They have ones with the orange tip and one without. It’s just kind of your standard box system. It came with Hang On, Safari Hunt, Astro Warrior, one of those games or a combination of both. – And you see those games a lot around? – Yes. – So they must have sold, at least for Master System, it was a lot of copies. – Yeah. The Astro Warrior, Hang On, I think combo is harder to get, but anyways that’s your normal run of the mill. – And then you have an even bigger box here. This is the one that you had to dig a bit to find. – This was donated to me. It’s just the box, I would love to have a complete system, but this is getting pretty pricey now. And this came with the 3-D glasses as well. And so you know what was cool back in the day? Is two controllers came with the system. That was awesome. – You were going to play games with your friends. – Because you had an extra controller. And so this is like kind of probably when the system when they were just clearing stock and combining everything together and selling it, and this is pretty hard to get. Especially in decent shape. You know the box was a little beat up, but it was free so definitely. – Okay. And so this is this model, but they also came out with another one. – Yes, they did. Now, later on almost any console has like I call a mini-version and Sega Master System had it. Since they called it the Master System II, and so what this was, this was a re-packaging when the Genesis became successful there was a Master System II and they had a whole line of games made, that were Master System games to kind of market the system all over again. As kind of like a cheap, inexpensive console, an entry market. – I don’t like it as much. It doesn’t have any flair, does it? – No. It kind of looks like if you had a pole attached to it, it would look like a vacuum cleaner. – That’s absolutely right. – Yeah. It’s like, you know like an inexpensive vacuum cleaner. – Now, this is saying that it actually has Alex Kidd built in, though. That’s Cool. – Yeah. It’s very cool. The downside is unlike the other Master System consoles which you can use a standard like AV cord, this one is only RF. Which means… – Oh, I hate when they do that. – Yeah. Wha-Wha, so yeah, that’s that. This is an upgrade to my box. This is a pretty hard to find box. – Yeah. – Yeah. – Now in addition to these, there were a lot of…this console was really popular around the world right? – Absolutely. – So there are other variations. – A million, Australia, Brazil, U.K, I mean it was huge overseas. I love this system. I would love to collect more, but some of those games…and again we are going to talk about the North American games today, but there are hundreds of other games for the console that were released worldwide. – Excellent. – Cool, so this is the system itself. Let’s take a look at the accessories. – All right, first up we got is the power base converter and this accessory is not for the Master System, but the Genesis, Sega Genesis. What’s important is that many of you out there probably own a Genesis versus a Master System, so this is for you. This device allows you to play all the Master System games on your Sega Genesis, but it also works with the Retron 5, which had, I think, like a hardware revision so that this would work with it so it could play additional games. – Which you had a hand in making it happen right? – Yeah. We had a general discussion. I mean I’m not the only one, but I definitely was part of that conversation. – Yeah. These are really cool and it used to be that you would find these for maybe $5 or $10 bucks. That hasn’t been my experience lately, if you see one out in the wild definitely snag it, because people are looking for it. Although I have never seen one in the box. – It’s a great way to play your Master System games through the Retron 5 I know that the system isn’t perfect, but man it looks super nice on the screen. – And what’s cool about this is that it supports the cartridge and the cards. – Yep. Yep plays both. – That’s awesome. – Thumbs up. Next up something a lot more common and something you’re probably not going to use a lot. Is the Sega Light Phaser. Now, as I mentioned before there’s two versions. There’s one gun with like an orange tip and that was a safety feature they added because I do believe a child was shot holding a toy gun. And so it was just a safety feature that they had to add. And so, the Sega Light Phaser shouldn’t cost too much. You’re not going to use it for many things. – Because it doesn’t work with HD television. – Yeah. And it’s just you know. – Back in the day though every system had to have a light gun and this was no exception. – Yep, It was kind of gimmicky and now it’s like, I don’t miss it. All right, next up, very, very cool accessory kind of gimmicky but very- – So I have a Master System as well. And when I heard that they were 3-D glasses for it I could not buy them fast enough. I was like, Oh my God, this sounds amazing. – Yeah. And it is amazing. It’s great technology. You know one thing that’s important to know about the glasses is they always break at the hinges, or you always find them broken. So pick them up, because it’s really hard, there’s an additional accessory that’s always missing, that you’re actually plugging into your system that’s always missing too, so this is hard to get. I recommend anytime you see one of these at a reasonable price pick it up. – And the 3-D when you have it all set up, with all the right components, I mean it’s legit like it’s actual 3-D you know it’s got a flickering thing going on, but I was blown away. – Kind of reminds me of kind of what the 3ds does a little bit. I’m sure it’s different technology, but that’s what I compare it to. – Yeah. It feels like its showing one eye and then the other. – Yeah. All right, this next thing is bizarre and again this is a combo… – Now, when you say bizarre that means something. Because you collect bizarre stuff. – Yes. So they actually came out with a Rapid Fire accessory which they sold separately. With, I feel, the most ridiculous and terribly designed control stick. – Okay. So Rapid Fire, being for like shooters and things like that, so you don’t have to sit there and hammer the button. – Yeah. So this is a combination box that’s both of them together. And so it’s a Rapid Fire control stick and then it comes with both. And pretty bizarre, pretty uncommon, I won this actually through Video Game Wizards they won a lot of games at an auction and this is the one thing I wanted to buy and they graciously sold it to me. – Complete in the box – Complete in the box, yes in really good shape. – That is awesome. Any other accessories out there that people need to know about? – There is, there’s I do believe a Sega Sports Pad it’s like a roller controller. I don’t have that box, I’d love too. But I don’t have it. You know, it’s one accessory that I’m actually missing. – That’s cool. – Yeah. Wha-Wha. – Wha-Wha. All right, next the games right? Tell us about the games, let’s take a look. Okay, so 10 games that I need to have in my collection, what are they? – Yes. And I’m going to start off with one that doesn’t cost too much. – Okay. I like that. – Choplifter. – I have this game. – Yeah. Choplifter is, I feel, a must-own if you’re a fan of the series or if even the arcade, or even going back to the Apple II days. – Yeah. I think I played it on the computer first. – And so Choplifter was port of the many systems. I think the Master System version is the best. – Yeah. And it’s fun, it doesn’t take a lot of thought. It’s just good arcade classic fun. Check it out. – Thumbs up. – Okay. – Next game is a platformer that a lot of people compare to like the Mario series, but it was specific for the Master System called Psycho Fox. – This is a fun game, I played this too. – It is a fun game. The jump mechanics for me, took a little bit to get used to. – They’re a little slippery. – It’s a little slippery you know if you’re used to playing a lot of Mario, it’s just going to feel weird, but if you really can give it some time, it’s solid and again, only on the Master System. Next one, I think it’s one of the best, Wonder Boy, it’s Wonder Boy III- The Dragon’s Trap. – With password save. – Yeah. And so this is just excellent graphics and gameplay. I think this is really showcasing the power, the actual graphics power of the Master System. You know, a lot of people know this, but the Master System, graphically, was superior to the Nintendo. It just when it came to sound and some other things, Nintendo with its mappers and additional chips in the cartridges, it really just started to tear away from the Master System. – Well, I would say these games, I mean they all play great. And I think that was a surprise when I first got my Master System. I was surprised, I was like why was this not a success here? – Yeah. A lot of it I think was marketing. I mean, you just look at these white covers, they don’t catch your eye. – That looks like that right there, I mean other than a sword you would say that’s like an educational type you know? – Yes. Looks like binder paper, no thanks. All right, next up, classic SHINOBI. Yep, and again, you know a great faithful port of the arcade game, plays well. It’s one of the first games I played on the Master System. And it plays a lot better than the Nintendo version would. – I notice here it says, “Arcade” did they do that where they would put the genre on some of these? – Yeah. So definitely it’s a nice way they identified the games and what they were and so. – If you’re not familiar with it that’s a quick way to tell people you might be interested or not. – Yeah. And the game doesn’t cost too much either. I mean it’s pretty calm. All right the next one, The Definitive RPG for the system. And a must own for any RPG fans to play and beat Phantasy Star. Yeah, and some vote this the best 8-bit RPG of all time. – I’ve heard that. I haven’t played it, but I heard people love it. – It’s amazing. It’s long, it’s fantastic If you haven’t given it time I recommend it. It’s long, it’s challenging, there’s dungeons. You know I remember the good old days of the graph paper mapping it out. You have to do that in this game. You’re going to get lost, and it will remind you when you’re somewhere you’re not supposed to be, and you will die. So, yes, one of those games fantastic, I can’t recommend it enough. Yeah, it’s gorgeous. All right. – We need a shooter. – Need a shooter and R-TYPE, the Master System its advantage was excellent graphics and this is a very faithful port of the arcade game and it’s done well. And you know I enjoy playing this version of the game to this day. – You know Sega has always done arcade ports really well. – That’s their strength. That’s always been their strength. Excellent game. – Speaking of arcade port, I remember playing this next game quite a bit in the arcades. – Oh yeah, RASTAN. Yeah, and you know again, at first I was like, “No that can’t be any good.” you know it’s going to- again, graphically from the arcade it’s downscaled. Fantastic game. – It’s all about gameplay. I mean with these arcade games. And so if they nail that, I can forgive you know, lesser graphics. – And one thing to note especially this with SHINOBI as well is there’s a special converter with the FM sound chip and some of these games had additional sound options that you could play with enhanced sound. – So like in the options or something? – They did make Stone Age Gamer sells like an adapter that will play on a Genesis or something. – So, It’s a third party thing? – Yeah. But yeah, it’s definitely pretty sweet. But RASTAN one of the games that has a distant sound. All right, we can’t talk about shooters unless we talk about Power Strike. – Now, look at that cover. I mean is that a legit copy? – Yeah. This is I do believe like a mail order. It was kind of offered I think through mail or something. That’s why it has a weird cover. This game is amazing. It’s part of the Aleste Day Series. And it is fantastic, it’s the best shooter on the system. It’s a must play, super fast, great gameplay. Love it, it’s great. – Very cool. This next one, I was like we got to add this one. Montezuma’s Revenge so, the reason why I was like- because first of all I don’t have a copy of this because it is kind of hard to find, but Montezuma’s Revenge is one of those games on the Atari 2600 that would kick my butt, it’s a tough game. It’s a cool game because essentially it’s one pyramid that is all one level. And so it’s a bit of a maze, you kind of have to memorize where you’re going, but the reason why I want to talk about on this. Because this is the definitive version of it. And it came out on the Master System, I was like, “What?” I mean it’s cool. – Yeah. And you know the thing is the longest time, it bugged me because my copy had a ripped manual, for years and it bugged me. And finally I found it at a thrift store for like seven bucks with a manual and I’m like, AAH. So I finally have a complete copy. All right this next one, I actually got asked recently, “Hey, I can’t find this anywhere did this come out in the U. S.?” Why yes it did. And the reason why I’m showing you the manual- – What game is it? – Golden Axe Warrior. The manuals overseas were sideways. And so, this is the U.S. version with the UPC label sticker and this is really hard to get. And again, it’s an overhead view kind of has a perspective of Zelda. It’s well done. – Oh really? – And yeah. – Is it a beat ’em up? – No. It’s more like a Zelda-style action RPG. And fantastic and a must-own, and it’s a little hard to get. – Did it only come out on the Master System? – I do believe so. I want to say was there a game gear port, I’m not totally sure on that, but I know that not many systems had it. – So I’m happy that we finally got to do a Sega Master System buying guide for my channel. I’ll be honest with you. I get this request like it’s up there. Like a lot of people wanted me to cover this. And I was excited to do it because again, I didn’t really know much about it. And I was so impressed when I finally got one. It’s a fun system. – It is a fun system. I recommend checking it out, and I think it’s important to know that you don’t have to own hardware to enjoy this. And there’s a lot of emulators that play this perfectly. I mean I’ve even played this on the OUYA and it plays great. – Yeah. – There’s other ways of playing it as well. I’ve even played it on Dreamcast. Which is one of the best emulators I played in? There’s a Dreamcast emulator disc floating around there somewhere, and it plays them great. – Now, it’s also possible to play on the portable game gear right? – That’s right. There’s an adapter for your game gear and it plays most of the games with like a cartridge adapter and you can play the portable. – The other thing too, is that often you can find Master System games everywhere and they’re usually way cheaper than like say Genesis games or NES games by far. So it’s a fun system to collect for. – Yeah. And a lot of games store owners are like, “Cut you a deal” especially for the common stuff. – Absolutely. All right dude well where can people find you on the internet? – Well, you can search for The Immortal John Hancock and you know I have my own YouTube channel. I have my own fan Facebook page and Twitter. – Awesome. All right guys, thanks very much for watching my channel. Thank you for subscribing, and take care. John Hancock the man, the myth, the legend. He has 25 complete U.S. collections. Its crazy. It’s crazy being over in his room of doom. Man, it’s so awesome. I mean, he’s got every Sega game, but he’s also got rare stuff like the N-Gage and Vectrex and Turbo Graphics collections. It’s amazing, but my favorite part is his wall of of Atari 2600 games. You never see that many boxed in one place, such a cool guy. I love having on my channel.
Do you have enough Sega Genesis / Mega Drive games in your collection?! I THINK NOT! Lucky for you The Immortal John Hancock is here to share his vast knowledge of the console and it’s amazing games.
Buy Sega Genesis games here: http://goo.gl/YZvfJC
Games Shown:
General Chaos
The Ooze
Thunder Fox
Master of Monsters
Gargoyles
Star Control
Crack Down
Midnight Resistance
Target Earth
Caliber .50
Ranger X
John Hancock owns every single Sega Genesis game released in North America complete in box and today he’s shows us some of his favorite Hidden Gems for the console.
Games Shown:
Ex-Mutants
Jewel Master
Blades of Vengeance
Final Zone
Mazin Saga Mutant Fighter
Sub-Terrania
Mystical Fighter
Atomic Runner
Phantom 2040
Wardner
Crue Ball
More Sega videos for game collectors:
Reggie’s Top 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg2L45dWIbk
John’s Rare Genesis games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLkpfkc3NpI
Favorite Genesis Shoot em Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZf6xVDxIK0
The Sega Game Gear is an 8-bit handheld game console that competed with the Nintendo Game Boy & Atari Lynx, but stood on its own with a backlit color display and great accessories. Metal Jesus & Kinsey help beginning Game Gear collectors with the pros and cons of the system, what problems to look out for, modding the screen for better displays, fun accessories, collectable color variants and some games you should buy Day 1.
Marco’s Game Gear screen modifications: http://www.jovema.de
BUY SEGA GAME GEAR here: Ebay Affiliate link
Video Transcription:
Metal Jesus: Metal Jesus here and I’m back again with Kinsey.
Kinsey: Hello and today we are going to be talking about a buying guide for the Sega Game Gear.
Metal Jesus: And you are perfect for this video because you had one as a kid, right?
Kinsey: Yep. That was pretty much my go to hand held as a kid because it was color screen and I’m like, “Yeah, this is awesome.”
Metal Jesus: Well and we’re going to be doing this video because we get a lot of requests for it. I think there’s a lot of mystery around the Game Gear. So we’re going to talk bout the hardware, what you need to look out for, as well as the variants, the accessories and we’re going to recommend some games you get day one. Let’s take a look.
Kinsey: So first, we’re going to talk about the hardware and the Game Gear is actually pretty special for the time because it was back lit and color.
Metal Jesus: Which is really important compared to the original Game Boy, which was what, black and white or?
Kinsey: Green.
Metal Jesus: Green and yellow. Yeah, so Sega was attempting to do some thing kind of forward thinking and bring color to the handheld. Now actually to be fair, the Atari Lynx did it first, but this was another answer to that and for the most part, when this came out that was a huge selling point.
Kinsey: Yeah, yeah. It was amazing. When I first saw this at the store, I was like, “That’s the one I want.”
Metal Jesus: Now some of the other things I like about the Game Gear is that I think it’s really comfortable to hold. I like how it’s wide, almost like a P-S-P, or something like that. It’s really comfortable even today.
Kinsey: It’s really, really nice.
Metal Jesus: Yeah. You know, on the original Game Boy I’d have to go like this to platy stuff. So I definitely prefer that. Now as far as collecting goes, one of the really great things about the Game Gear as well, is that there are over 300 games made for it and if you get an adapter, you can also play most Master System games with it because I thinks it’s similar technology, or similar…
Kinsey: The Game Gear is basically a repackaged Master System, so it’s basically the same tech, just in a cuter package.
Metal Jesus: Yeah and a lot of people, especially in North America, didn’t really get into collecting for the Master System. So this is an option for people.
Kinsey: Yeah.
Metal Jesus: And most of the games are dirt cheap.
Kinsey: Yeah. Now I get really surprised when I’m like, “Oh, that Game Gear game’s $25.”
Metal Jesus: Right, right. Yeah to give you an idea, the most expensive game, I think, is Panzer Dragoon Mini and that’s by far the most expensive one. I think it’s like a hundred bucks.
Kinsey: Yeah, it’s like a hundred bucks.
Metal Jesus: Yeah, but these go down from there and most of them are literally a dollar, five bucks, ten bucks, something like that.
Kinsey: Yeah it’s basically the Panzer Dragoon and Mortal Kombat 3 are the really expensive ones.
Metal Jesus: Yeah there’s a couple of them, but not many. So it’s very easy to collect for, which is what I like and actually that’s what I do, is when I go out, if I see a Game Gear game, I don’t own, I’ll be like, “Sure, why not.”
Kinsey: $3, $1, yes.
Metal Jesus: So that’s kind of some of the positives. Now, there are some negatives and we talked about the screen and while Sega was trying to do something really far advanced, the thing is that screen technology on a hand held just sucked batteries.
Kinsey: Yeah.
Metal Jesus: And so, unfortunately, this will cook through six AA batteries in no time.
Kinsey: Yeah, when I was little, I tried to take one on a road trip. There was a lot of gas station batteries I went through.
Metal Jesus: That’s so funny. The other thing about it is that unfortunately, some of the capacitors that were used in this fail a lot and so it’s unusual to find a perfectly working Game Gear unfortunately. As a matter of fact, my first Game Gear, the screen was funky, they had no sound.
Kinsey: Got to wear headphones and lean it weird and you’re like, “Alright, this I can now do.”
Metal Jesus: Yeah. But one of the good things is and some of you watching this may have noticed, that this is a little bit unusual, this one right here. So this is modded and there’s a bunch of people out there who mod these. As a matter of fact, a guy named Marco did this. He’s part of, I think, the AtariAge Forum and actually what he did, is he replaced the screen on here with an LCD screen, super bright, and it’s shockingly better. So we’ll actually compare them in a second here. He also replaced a lot of the capacitors for the sound, which is really nice of him to do that and it also has V-G-A out.
Kinsey: That’s so awesome.
Metal Jesus: Yes. So this is really cool. So basically, if you use the brightness over here, you can either set it to be on the handheld or you can send it out to your TV or your computer monitor.
Kinsey: Oh, that’s awesome.
Metal Jesus: It changes it completely. If someone is going to start collecting Game Gear now, because the screen is kind of one of the bummers, it’s really hard to go and buy one of these today and have to deal with that screen. So getting a new screen on there is like it’s night and day.
Kinsey: Yeah, it’s bringing new life to the Game Gear, which is awesome because there’s great games for it. It get’s over looked a lot.
Metal Jesus: Yeah, definitely. Now there are a lot of accessories, so let’s talk about that next. Alright, so we were talking about the terrible battery life of the Game Gear, but there are other solutions, right?
Kinsey: We can get you a one of a kind chick magnet. You can wear this baby on your belt.
Metal Jesus: When you first mentioned this I was like, “What the hell are you talking about? Oh, right.” You seen a fanny pack.
Kinsey: With my Game Gear fanny pack and my Game Gear battery pack. I just need a Game Gear hat.
Metal Jesus: I’m surprised you don’t have one.
Kinsey: I wish I did.
Metal Jesus: But this is a rechargeable Game Gear battery pack. It’s actually cool.
Kinsey: Yeah and it really helps extend the life of your battery and you’re not always going to get more AA’s.
Metal Jesus: I know. Just to do this video I sent Rebecca, my wife, to go to Target to buy a bunch of batteries just so we would have them. It’s ridiculous, right? But so it’s nice that this is here and the other thing too is that you can use a Genesis power adapter as well.
Kinsey: Yeah, for the Genesis 2, I actually did that a lot when I was little. I just sat by the wall and played my Game Gear.
Metal Jesus: Yeah and so I think a lot of people do that now, too. Even myself when I’m in my game here, I just use that. So it’s not that big of a deal. So some other accessories are, of course, I forget what this is called.
Kinsey: The Super Wide Gear.
Metal Jesus: Super Wide Gear and it’s funky too. It opens up like this, it hooks on the back. Honestly, I don’t fell like it needs it that much, but it’s just one of those things that you had back then, right?
Kinsey: I used it when I was little. I was like, “This is awesome. Look at how big it is, yeah!”
Metal Jesus: They should do this for other stuff. Now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if this hooked on the Vita or something, that’d be hilarious.
Kinsey: It’d be great.
Metal Jesus: That’d be great. Another thing is, we mentioned it earlier and that is you can play most Master System games on it because the technology is very similar. All you need is a Master Gear converter.
Kinsey: Yeah.
Metal Jesus: Now what’s weird about this is that this can be collectible or expensive, not super expensive, but this can cost you more than the Game Gear itself, which is hilarious.
Kinsey: Yeah.
Metal Jesus: But, it’s pretty cool. You basically pop the game in here, it attaches to the back, turn it on and you’re playing Master System games. So it’s pretty awesome. Another accessory that a lot of people were kind of impressed with was the TV tuner.
Kinsey: Yeah, watch TV on your Game Gear.
Metal Jesus: Color TV. But, of course, it’s really useless today because it’s all broadcast in digital.
Kinsey: Yeah and the rabbit ears won’t really help you.
Metal Jesus: Yeah won’t really help you, but that’s pretty much for accessories, right? There’s a lot of bags and things like that.
Kinsey: Yeah, there’s a link cable.
Metal Jesus: Oh, right.
Kinsey: Want to play a Game Gear with your friends?
Metal Jesus: That’s right, yeah. So that’s the accessories, but now we probably want to talk about some of the variants of the hardware, right? Because this is where it can be pretty exciting collecting for the Game Gear. The Game Gear itself, the black one, is not very expensive. It’s like what, 15, 20 bucks?
Kinsey: Yeah, but this is the one a lot of people know of. So I don’t even know if a lot of people know it comes in other colors.
Metal Jesus: Yeah, that’s true. So I showed off in a pick ups video a little while ago, the yellow one. I know. A lot of people thought this was fake or some sort of shell, but it actually was released in Japan. That’s where this comes from.
Kinsey: They get all the good colors.
Metal Jesus: I know. But yeah I absolutely love it. I think it’s beautiful. So there’s yellow, also blue.
Kinsey: The blue one is probably one of the more common colors. So little bit rarer than the black, but not much.
Metal Jesus: It’s a nice color of blue though.
Kinsey: Still awesome.
Metal Jesus: Yeah and then you have, I think one of the rarer ones, right?
Kinsey: Yeah.
Metal Jesus: It’s certainly collectible.
Kinsey: There was also some special edition ones released, as there is for most systems, but in Japan, for example, this one’s a Magic Night Rayearth system, which if you’re an anime kid like I am, love it. Rayearth is awesome.
Metal Jesus: And now, did it come with a game?
Kinsey: Mm hmm, and it came with a Rayearth game as well.
Metal Jesus: Same exact color as the system, which is perfect.
Kinsey: And it’s beautiful, it’s all matchy, matchy and if you like Rayearth especially getting the game and the system together it’s…I don’t know, it was magical when I saw it.
Metal Jesus: And you have it in the box. I was like, “Wow!”
Kinsey: Yeah and the game’s really fun too, especially if you like Rayearth, because it’s just an action game and it’s really fun.
Metal Jesus: There’s also some other variants too. There’s a Coca Cola one, which has another color red, which is really cool looking too. There’s a few others that people are looking out for so it’s awesome.
Kinsey: So now we’re going to talk about some games. These aren’t necessarily the rarest or the craziest, but these are the ones that we think are really good to own or we just really enjoy.
Metal Jesus: Absolutely.
Kinsey: So on that note, I’m going to start with The Lion King because it’s on everything, but this is me riding in the nostalgia train for a little bit. The Lion King and also Bonker’s House of Wax, it’s awesome you guys. Don’t judge me, but these basically were the games I played as a child and it doesn’t do it justice when I play this on any other system. So this is always recommended by me and it’s not that expensive. So I think it’s worth it and it really shows off the Game Gear’s capabilities.
Metal Jesus: That’s cool. So a game I’m going to recommend here is a game I was surprised that I really enjoyed. I don’t know if it’s on any other system, I don’t care, but it’s called Devilish and I thought this would be some sort of arcade action game. No, it’s actually like an Arkenoid clone, but it’s got it’s own thing basically where you have the paddles and you’re knocking a ball back and forth. The screen is heading down, but what’s really cool about this is that you can reconfigure the paddle. So for instance, you have one paddle or two up above each other, but then you can split them out. You can put one on it’s side. Plus you can control the up and down so you can throw the upper paddle higher. I don’t know, it’s just like…
Kinsey: It sounds complicated, but at the same time I’m enthralled. It sounds awesome.
Metal Jesus: See, the thing I like is that Breakout and Arkenoid had been around for so long, that that’s kind of a tired game, right? But I like games that try to do something new with it because I grew up with that. I loved those games when they first came out. So Devilish on the Game Gear, pretty cool.
Kinsey: It’s got a good name, too.
Metal Jesus: It is.
Kinsey: And actually on that same vein, Haley Wars. It’s a vertical shooter. It’s super fun. But what it does a little bit differently is that whenever you miss one of the ships or one of the asteroids or comets that’s coming at you, if you miss it, it goes and it hits Earth and you have a gauge on the bottom that says what percentage Earth is destroyed and if it gets to 100, that’s it.
Metal Jesus: Yeah, it’s a surprisingly really fun shooter. I was like, “I played this a lot.” Now, you’re holding two versions of it here and I did this because I wanted to remind myself that one of the nice things about the Game Gear is that it is region free. So often if you can’t find a copy of the North American version, get the Japanese version. That’s exactly what I did here. You can play either one, it’s pretty cool. So okay that was cool. Next up for me was a game, I was a little surprised and that is Vampire Master of Darkness.
Kinsey: Yes.
Metal Jesus: It looks cheesy as hell.
Kinsey: The story’s a little cheesy, but it’s worth it.
Metal Jesus: It’s cool. It’s basically a Castlevania clone. They’re not even sugar coating it, it’s Castlevania, right? But I like it. For one, I find it to be a little bit easier than Castlevania for some reason. To me that’s a good thing because on a little screen it can be difficult. As a matter of fact, this game on the original Game Gear screen I think is pretty difficult because it’s hard to see bats and stuff. On my modded one it changes the game, it’s so much more playable. So, yeah, highly recommended, this is a fun game.
Kinsey: Nice. And then one I really wanted to mention is Revenge of Drancon. What I really like about this game is that it’s super unassuming. Most people probably walk by this because…
Metal Jesus: It looks like a budget title.
Kinsey: It looks like a budget, I don’t know, generic, but, it’s Wonderboy. It’s so fun. It’s basically the arcade version of Wonderboy and it’s wonderful.
Metal Jesus: That’s weird that they changed the name to something like that, though.
Kinsey: I don’t even know how to say it, come on. It looks super generic, but this is full of wonderful secrets. So if you see this, you can get it.
Metal Jesus: Awesome. Alright so next up for me is a game called Dragon Crystal, speaking of games that look fairly generic. Now this game, when I popped it in I was like, “This looks so familiar.” But that’s because it also came out as Fatal Labyrinth, or at least very similar in style. So this is a maze like dungeon crawler, top down. This is another game where I popped it in and I played it for way longer than I expected to because it’s so easy, it’s so much fun. Essentially you’re just cruising around in this maze, you’re slowly exposing parts of the dungeon and combat’s fun. You basically just push up against the enemy, you don’t have to battle, you don’t have to button mash, there’s really not much skill, which is perfect for a handheld where you’re just trying to have some fun. But there’s armor upgrades and all that sort of stuff so I enjoyed it quite a bit and this game is dirt cheap.
Kinsey: Yeah. Alright and next I’m going to talk about Legend of Illusion, Mickey Mouse.
Metal Jesus: Nice.
Kinsey: And this one’s awesome because this is in the same series of Castles of Illusion, which everybody knows, but this one, I believe it’s a sequel. It’s in the same series, but it’s…I think the story is a little bit more interesting and it’s just not one that anyone played. Everybody knows Castle of Illusion, but this one’s definitely worth it.
Metal Jesus: Cool. So next up is a game that I had never heard of until I got a Game Gear and that is Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe. So this is a total surprise. It’s basically…it reminds me of Zelda 2, where there’s an overhead map and then it goes to a 2D exploration. I don’t know, I guess it’s a side thing for Golden Axe. So I don’t know. It’s pretty cool, I enjoyed it quite a bit and it plays great.
Kinsey: Great. Alright and we wanted to mention a Sonic game.
Metal Jesus: Yes.
Kinsey: Because how can you talk about a Sega system without talking about Sonic?
Metal Jesus: And you and I were talking like, “Well which one?” Because you almost picked Sonic Drift.
Kinsey: I really like Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2 is the only one that came out in the U.S., but it’s really good and I know everybody hates it and I’m sorry.
Metal Jesus: I just put you on the spot right there. Like, “Dammit!”
Kinsey: I know people don’t like it, but you can play it on the Sonic Gems on the GameCube. So it’s awesome. Anyways, this is not Sonic Drift. This is Sonic Triple Trouble and it’s in the same series as Sonic Chaos, it’s the sequel. A lot of people also didn’t like this one because they thought it was too easy, but part of me, if I’m sitting on the couch playing Sonic the Hedgehog on a handheld, easy is fine with me because I really like flying through the levels. That’s when you can go fast and not have to worry about it as much.
Metal Jesus: Yeah I agree. Easy difficulty is not an automatic turn off for me. I’m like, “No, no, no, that’s kind of cool.” Because there’s plenty of other ones that are hard. So you can always play those ones too.
Kinsey: Yeah. Exactly.
Metal Jesus: Alright and then finally, one of the more collectible and it’s really not even that expensive, but it’s Shining Force, I’m going to have to say this here, The Sword of Hajhy, H-A-J-H-Y.
Kinsey: Hajhy.
Metal Jesus: Why? I don’t know, but this is a fantastic game on the Game Gear. It’s actually one of the more highly rated ones too. Shining Force games are really cool. They’re very similar to Fire Emblem, where they’re turn based strategy games. Now I don’t believe this one has permadeath though. There’s a lot to it. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Again, it’s a little bit more collectible so if you find a copy, definitely check it out.
Kinsey: So that’s our buying guide for the Sega Game Gear and it’s a pretty rad system.
Metal Jesus: I know, I love collecting for it. I love going to expos and retro gaming stores and everyone else is ignoring it. They’re looking at Nintendo and I just weasel right passed them, look for games I don’t own. It’s like awesome.
Kinsey: It’s great.
Metal Jesus: Now the thing is, is that Hyperkin has announced that they may add Game Gear support to the Retron 5.
Kinsey: Yeah.
Metal Jesus: I know, so cool. The Retron 5 is a clone system that supports a lot of different things and Game Gear was left out for some reason.
Kinsey: I know. It’s why I didn’t buy one. I heard it was going to have all these different systems and I was like, “Game Gear, Game Gear, Game Gear.”
Metal Jesus: It supports Game Boy and Game Boy Advance. It’s perfect just for Game Gear. I know. I actually reached out to them to see if they could give me some more information. They didn’t, but I will update this video in the description and also in the annotations as news comes available. So I’m crossing my fingers for that.
Kinsey: Me too.
Metal Jesus: I know. Well hey, thanks for coming on the channel.
Kinsey: Of course.
Metal Jesus: Now where can people find you on the interwebs?
Kinsey: I am on Twitter @KinsZilla, K-I-N-S-Z-I-L-L-A.
Metal Jesus: And you have a YouTube channel?
Kinsey: I have a YouTube channel, three videos and two that matter.
Metal Jesus: Two that matter and the third one is?
Kinsey: Just gameplay from the Witcher when I had a weird mountain bug, there were mountains in the city.
Metal Jesus: Oh really?
Kinsey: Yeah, it was too funny not to share.
Metal Jesus: Well and you’ve done an unboxing video. I remember that. That’s awesome. Alright, you can find me @MetalJesusRocks, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, all that sort of stuff. Alright guys, thanks very much for watching, thanks for subscribing and take care.
Alright, now that I have the Sega Game Gear buying guide under my belt, I’m curious, what other buying guides would you like to see me do? I have some ideas. There’s some good stuff out there. You know what needs to be done, a P-S-P buying guide needs to be done. That’s a pretty good one because there’s like three different models, tons of good games.
Top 10 Saturn Games of all time with Anna. The Sega Saturn was a mostly ignored console in North America but it was still home to tons of amazing games you should play and own!
