Segaiden

The road to NES Works begins here! It's difficult to know what the year 2021 has in store for us, but you can at least look forward to one constant (fingers crossed): This comprehensive deep dive into the Sega 8-bit catalog. Beginning this week, most of my effort for much of 2021 will be focused on exploring the history of the Sega SG-1000 before rolling into the American Master System launch, bringing these compact Sega overviews into line with NES Works 1988 (which we'll still be checking in on from time to time!). I'll also be producing extremely brief summaries of the Famicom games released in Japan in parallel to these SG-1000 titles throughout 1984 and ’85, all the way through the American NES launch. This episode kicks things off with an overview of the Sega SG-1000's launch, which happened to fall on the same day as the debut of Nintendo Famicom, and the hardware itself.

Our first dive into the SG-1000 catalog covers the three games that the internet seems convinced comprised the console's day-one releases. It's difficult to say when SG-1000 titles actually debuted, as Sega hasn't been especially granular with its published historic information. But these three carts are the first three items in the SG-1000 catalog (Borderline, Safari Hunting, and N-Sub are G-1001, G-1002, and G-1003, respectively), so that seems like a good basis for an argument here. These games share a few details in common. They're all three conversions from the VIC-Dual arcade hardware Sega and Gremlin designed in the late ’70s, which was very similar in terms of components and capabilities to the SG-1000; and they all three appear to have been developed by a newly formed studio called "Compile." I don't know, maybe you've heard of them?

Beyond the initial trio of Compile-developed shooting games for SG-1000, we have the next four titles in the platform's library, all released on some indeterminate date in 1983. While they do help diversify the system's lineup to include something beyond shooting and combat, none of these releases manage to be particularly inspiring nearly four decades later—and one game in particular, which should have been this week's big triumph, misses the mark so badly it's best forgotten about. I promise things will get better from here, though!

A few more Sega arcade conversions this week, featuring—unbelievably enough!—shooters and sports games. You sense a theme taking shape here, maybe? Yamato covers a lot of the same ground (so to speak) as SG-1000's earlier ocean warfare shooter, N-Sub, though it mixes things up slightly by focusing on surface warfare. Meanwhile, Star Jacker is a scrolling shooter that plays a little more smoothly than Borderline, though its bizarre central premise and mechanic make for a curious inverted gameplay difficulty curve. On the sports side, Champion Tennis and Champion Baseball maintain the vibe of Champion Golf: Console ports of someone else's game, decent enough for 1983 but lacking in hindsight due to the massive upheavals and improvements those sports genres had lurking in the wings of history. All in all, not the most inspiring set of games ever... but definitely better than last episode's.

Only two games feature in this week's episode, because both are interesting enough (and contain a rich enough history) to merit a more in-depth discussion. First, Sindbad Mystery brings the maze chase genre to SG-1000 by adopting a number of elements seen in early games from the genre—ranging from Heiankyo Alien to Crush Roller—but approaching these concepts in a fresh and entertaining way. And then, of course, there's Monaco GP, one of the real heavy-hitters for this console. While more constrained by technology than its arcade forebear, this SG-1000 racer acquits itself nicely with a great sense of speed and a variety of on-track hazards to manage

Sega has always been an arcade powerhouse—even now, they run arcades in Japan. They've become fan destinations for more than just playing games; I bought taiyaki in the shape of the Sega logo at their Akihabara location a year ago. And this episode showcases just how heavily Sega plowed the arcade-to-home conversion furrow from the very start, with four games based heavily on arcade properties or concepts: • Sega Flipper, arguably the first true arcade-style video console pinball game; • Pop Flamer, a port of a weird Jaleco coin-op; • Pacar, a sequel in all but name to Head On; and • Sega-Galaga... which is just Galaga, but for Sega. They're not all winners, but they're mostly good! Just pretend Pop Flamer never happened. That game could never live up to its delirious box art, anyway.

This week we hit on the two most expensive games for the SG-1000. Every console's gotta have at least one of them, right? The ultra-rare collector's chase piece that hits the brakes on any reasonable dream of ever owning a complete set? In this case, those disasterpieces are Space Slalom, a mere slip of an almost-racing game, and Pachinko, the pachinko sim so busted they recalled it. Yes, the great console gaming tradition of incredibly expensive games also being incredibly undesirable for gameplay purposes really begins here, with the SG-1000. On the plus side, there's also Zippy Race, a pretty good conversion of a minor Irem arcade hit, and Exerion, a Jaleco arcade port that tries really hard, bless its heart. And that wraps it up for 1983! Next up: 1984, surprisingly enough.

A couple of follow-ups to 1983 releases this week, as well as a couple of games that appear to have been held over from 1983. Yes, SG-1000 begins 1984 with a hangover. Pachinko II is the affordable and expanded follow-up to Pachinko. Golgo 13 is not a sequel, despite the number in the title. It's a tie-in with a long-running manga and anime series, presumably tied to a big theatrical release. Orguss is another anime property, this one related to Macross and its ilk. You know what that means: Transforming robots. Home Mahjong brings multiplayer competition to the console mahjong space, using a fascinating physical accessory to make such a thing possible on a single television.

Yet another look at a Lode Runner game? Yes, that's right. It was a pretty big deal back in the early ’80s. The upside to this repetition is that the SG-1000 version of the game makes possible a direct comparison against its contemporary release, providing a clear picture of what the two platforms were all about. Also this episode, Sega finally starts to push beyond the innate limits of the hardware with another racing game and two more Champion sports titles, all of which employ graphical tricks that help make the console look a little more competitive against the competition at Nintendo.

Sega embraces its feminine side as 1984 comes to a close, with not one but two games starring a female protagonist, and the result is the single strongest set of games we've seen to date on SG-1000. And there are only three titles this week instead of four, because there was so much to say about each of them! 1984 was a bit of a soft year for SG-1000 (for reasons I speculate on in this episode), but it certainly ends on a strong note. The stage is set for the console to finally come into its own in 1985 as the platform evolves into the Mark III/Master System. I know this series of videos got off to a pretty painful start with some iffy releases, and it didn't help that my video capture setup didn't reproduce the system's colors accurately. But from this point on, the games will be much stronger... and I'm capturing from original hardware now, so everything will look great, too. This episode's games: Hustle Chumy would have been a high point in any other episode so far, but here it'

While Segaiden has covered every SG-1000 release through the end of 1984 at this point, there's technically still a set of games for the system that need to be touched on. Eight (or technically nine) unique releases for SG-1000 appeared in 1983 and ’84, under a non-Sega publisher, branded for release on a different console. Nevertheless, they're a part of SG-1000 history, as each of them runs on the system with no fuss. Yes, this episode we look at the SG-1000's semi-official clone, the Tsukuda Original Othello Multivision. With eight unique carts and one built-in ROM, it's worth exploring... but only barely. These games are generally of MUCH lower quality than Sega's own releases. In this episode, we explore: • Othello • Q*Bert • Guzzler • Space Mountain Buckle in. It's a pretty bumpy ride.

Well, I survived. I made it all the way through the Othello Multivision's library. If you thought the first four games were unimpressive, that's only because you had no idea what Tsukuda Original had up its sleeve for 1984: Yet another mahjong game, a glacial Xevious clone, and Video Works' very first (of many...) horse race-betting sim. But at least there's a somewhat inventive golf title and a solid conversion of a beloved (albeit crazy difficult) James Bond game. This version fixes a titling error from the previous upload. This episode's titles: • San Nin Mahjong • Challenge Derby • Okamoto Ayako no Match Play Golf • Space Armor • James Bond 007

Sega enters 1985 with the hottest game of 1982, and the good news is that Zaxxon looks and plays far more convincingly than its sibling release Congo Bongo did back in 1983. This adaptation of the arcade hit makes some curious tweaks to the game's flow and design, and it adds a bit of background music, which sets it apart from other conversions of the game. But in a good way, mostly. Champion Pro Wrestling fares less impressively, especially in hindsight. Apparently we have Sega to blame for how Tag Team Wrestling turned out on NES, with the sluggishness and the menus and the whatnot. Stupid Champion Pro Wrestling.

Sega winds down the cartridge format for SG-1000 in favor of a new media type, and this corner of the console library unfortunately wheezes to a half-hearted ending. Somehow, Sega even managed to completely squander Konami's brief show of support for the platform by turning in a pair of clumsy arcade conversions in the form of Shinnyuushain Tooru-kun (aka Mikie) Hyper Sports (a cousin to Track & Field). On the other hand, GP World does at least innovate a little bit in SG-1000's well-trodden racing lineup, and Tekhan's Star Force puts in a respectable showing, even if it's not quite up to the standards set by Hudson's Famicom/NES conversion.

Sega's 8-bit family goes on a diet this episode, with the SG-1000 media format suddenly slimming down from chunky cartridges to the svelte MyCard format, a credit card-sized chip that was so well-received that Hudson ripped it off wholesale for their PC Engine/TurboGrafx HuCards. Of course, this is really just a cosmetic change; the SG-1000 wouldn't enjoy proper technical enhancements until later in 1985 with the arrival of the Mark III. (Well, that was probably later in 1985; as this episode once again explains, Sega did a godawful job of tracking SG-1000 software launch dates.) Sega's 8-bit family goes on a diet this episode, with the SG-1000 media format suddenly slimming down from chunky cartridges to the svelte MyCard format, a credit card-sized chip that was so well-received that Hudson ripped it off wholesale for their PC Engine/TurboGrafx HuCards. Of course, this is really just a cosmetic change; the SG-1000 wouldn't enjoy proper technical enhancements until later in 1985 with

Beginning with this episode, I'll be knuckling down to wrap up as much of the SG-1000 video series as possible by the end of 2021. There are only about half a dozen episodes to go after this! It's a pretty small library, but the best times are ahead of us. This episode looks at, technically, three arcade conversions: Zoom 909, Choplifter, and Pitfall II. Of course, the two latter games got their start on Apple II and Atari 2600, respectively, but around the same time these carts hit stores, Sega also reworked them into pretty good arcade games. The question is whether or not that arcade magic rubbed off on these releases...

This week brings us two SG-1000 releases that feel miles removed from the console's earliest days of serious-looking war game: Doki Doki Penguin Land and Drol. Rather than involving the relentless destruction of military vehicles (and, by extension, the squishy humans inside them), these two titles see you doing your best to protect children. While some retributive violence is involved here, those polar bears definitely had it coming. Of the two, Penguin Land feels like the more meaningful work. It really elevates the production values of SG-1000 games and speaks to a Sega that's getting serious about its home development efforts: A wholly original creation for console that contains ample depth and subtle, precise controls and interactions. It's a real stand-out. Drol admittedly doesn't fare quite as well, but it has its merits, too. With this episode, I think it's safe to say SG-1000 has turned a corner, and you can expect to see more games on Penguin Land's level quality in the co

More arcade ports for SG-1000? Say it ain't so! These titles aren't especially well known in the U.S., since they've never seen a proper console release here (outside of maybe some collection that doesn't come immediately to my mind), but both merit a close look. EDIT: Moments after this video went live, I became aware of Taito Milestones, an arcade collection for Switch that will include Chack'n Pop. So there ya go. Taito's Chack'n Pop may not impress quite as much on the technical front as the more familiar Famicom version, but it features better level design... albeit with an absolutely unforgiving difficulty level. Sega's own Bank Panic plays like a clever attempt to capture the spirit of Nintendo's Wild Gunman without the use of a light gun, and the results end up being quite a bit more successful than you might expect.

A bit of an emphasis on day jobs this episode, but fortunately one of these games offers more than mere workmanlike effort. Activision's Rock'n Bolt stands out this week as one of the SG-1000's most appealing puzzlers—certainly a more interesting take on the genre than Soukoban, which gets credit for its primal nature but not for possessing any sort of audio-visual flair. And then there's Elevator Action, a perfectly decent arcade game done dirty by the console's hardware. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the SG-1000's limits do more to hamper this conversion than any other game we've seen on the system to date. Production note: SG-1000 footage in this episode was captured from a combination of Sega SG-1000 II with (with Card Catcher; RGB amp mod by ‪@iFixRetro‬) and ‪@analogueinc‬ Mega Sg with card adapter module and DAC.

A couple of standout releases in this episode... but first, we have to survive another version of Lode Runner. Look, I like Lode Runner. Great game. But there's been a lot of it here in the mid ’80s! This time, the monk/robot guys win. Beyond that, however, we have the final entry in Activision's brief dalliance on SG-1000 (or maybe Sega's brief dalliance with Activision?): H.E.R.O. It's a strong conversion from 2600 that loses none of the original quality or originality yet manages to spruce up the visuals and replace the retro helicopter backpack with a jetpack, which of course makes this the objectively superior rendition. And then there's Champion Hockey, a game that actually makes me angry. No, I'm not angry because it's bad; quite the opposite. My brain tells me I'm supposed to find sports games interminable, and yet I love this ice hockey game. Absolutely unacceptable.

This week bring us the first of a two-part episode—or should that be "the second"? Sega's imprecise SG-1000 launch date documentation makes it difficult to know if Hang On II did in fact debut before or after Hang On (no Roman numeral) for Mark III in October 1985*. But the number II there is just for show anyway, as Hang On II is literally just a downscaled version of Hang On—but a very impressive downscaled version! By far the best and most convincing racer on the console, Hang On II was so impressive Sega made a controller specifically to support it. But it does pale in comparison to what waits in the wings for next time... [NOTE: A few days ago, we managed to determine that Hang On II actually shipped two months after the Mark III game, which answers the question of which came first! A little too late for this video, but I'll get it right in the Segaiden book.] Also up is Bomb Jack, seemingly the final home release from Tehkan before they metamorphosed into the butterfly we know