Master System games that still hold up

[Cepp]

So I'm on a bit of an SMS kick right now. It was the first console I ever used so I'm quite nostalgic for it even though I never owned one myself! I recently beat Sonic 1 and I'm pretty close to beating Alex Kidd in Miracle World (just reached the final castle a few minutes ago before choking on my last life) and I'm looking for some more games to sink my teeth into. Bonus points if they're on Virtual Console.

The only one that stands out to me right now is Castle of Illusion which I'm almost positive is different to the MD version. I have soft spots for Teddy Boy and Transbot but I don't think they're particularly good lol.

Any other decent games? Platformers/side scrollers in particular would be welcome. I was always a bit iffy on Ninja Gaiden SMS but maybe it's a decent alternative to the NES games?

[Skull Commander]

Psycho Fox is always good and as far as I'm concerned plays better than it's spiritual follow up Decap Attack/Magical Flying Turbo Hat Adventure thingymibob.

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World is good fun and Shinobi itself is fantastic. The Donald Duck Game (lucky dime caper) is pretty good, but not quite better than Castle of Illusion, and one you could certainly do worse than the Asterix game.

Getting away from that genre I always recommended California Games on the Master System as it's possibly the best version out there.

[noobish hat]

First game you need is Cosmic Spacehead. Old school type platforming (hard as hell), AND point and click. What more could you want? Well how about some amazing 50s googie design and the cutest sprites ever.

R-type is has a really nice version on SMS, and Sagaia is very nice too, almost C64 style in a way, with the music especially, but REALLY tough.

[Team Andromeda]

if you can try and get the 3D glasses , the effect still holds up well today but you need the console for that . I still say all the Wonder Boy games MS games hold up today as does California games (best version of the game) Choperlifter (again best version) Also look out for Master of Darkness a stunning Catslevania rippoff

[Flabio]

The Golden Axe RPG-Lite (that I can't remember the name of) is meant to be half decent.

Shinobi is a really good port.

It has a better version of Altered Beast than the MD does as well.

Noticed on Amazon the other day that they've done one of those mini-consoles with built in games for the SMS now. Here it is.

[Lorfarius]

Wonderboy 3 The Dragons Trap is THE game to own. Best RPG/platformer on the system. After that I'd highly recommend Ultima 4 just because it's the best looking version of the game there is.

[CMcK]

Also check out New Zeland Story. The MS port is superior to the PC Engine and Megadrive versions. I also really like the first Asterix game it is a solid platformers with very tidy graphics. Aladin is a fairly late MS game and while not as good as something like Castle Of Illusion it features a lot of impressive visuals and is a pretty good platformer.

Power Strike 2 is a really good shooter but is expensive. And the MS version of Populous is my favourite version of the game. Far more levels than the PC original and different character sets which includes one that sees evolution from typewriters through to Speccys and PCs.

[Baseley09]

The Golden Axe RPG-Lite (that I can't remember the name of) is meant to be half

Axe Battler.

The Ninja is great, also Zillion II tri-formation is on the better titled games in existence.

[Arashikage]

I'll never understand why people hold SMS Shinobi in high regard and say it's a great port of the arcade game. It pretty much plays a different game and it's really sluggish in my opinion. The firing rate compared to the arcade game is awful. It was the reason I bought a Rapid Fire Unit back in the day and it still didn't make a difference. The closest version of the game on retro consoles of that era is the PC Engine version but even that isn't quite right.

A good SMS game that is often overlooked is Kenseiden. Big, bold sprites coupled with a great medieval Japan aesthetic make it a cracking title.

[Cepp]

I have the Arcade version of Shinobi on The Ultimate Megadrive Collection so no need for that one. It also has Golden Axe Warrior but I'm not sure if I'm up for Zelda 1 clone right now.

I think Castle of Illusion and the other Alex Kidd games are a good place to start. Then Phsyco Fox and Asterix and then the Wonderboy games (Wonder Boy 3 in particular going off the videos I just watched)

I already beat The Dynastic Hero so I'm assuming it's OK to skip Wonder Boy in Monsterworld for now.

Fake edit - Sagaia looks pretty decent as well.

[Skull Commander]

Personally I prefer the Master System Shinobi to the arcade one. The gameplay is honed with different enemy patterns, a health bar so it's more forgiving and better music.

[moonwhistle]

I think Ninja Gaiden is excellent on the master system. Smooth with nice visuals and some great music.

Power Strike is great too.