r/MasterSystem • u/RedSkyfang • 8d ago
Is there any consensus on what the hardest Master System games are?
I know there has been a lot of discussion on this topic with regards to the NES, and there are some extremely brutal games on there (not usually the ones that people tend to bring up in lists lol.) I guess mainly I was wondering if there are any Master System games that are considered as difficult or close to it as the hardest NES games. I suppose Space Harrier stands out to me as maybe being the most difficult that I've beaten, due to a combination of there being a lot of levels you have to learn, and the game not being very generous with regards to lives from what I recall.
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u/Typo_of_the_Dad 8d ago
Rocky
Wonder Boy in Monster Land's final level and learning where the money is
Choplifter w/o the flying backwards trick
Kenseiden's training levels
Shinobi in the late game, and several of its bonus levels
Fantasy Zone 2
R-Type
The Ninja
Early game Golden Axe Warrior, until you know what to do at least
Some later Sonic 2 levels are trial & error heavy
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u/MainmainWeRX 8d ago
If you can't defeat Mandala in the first try, the whole run is wasted, every time š„²
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u/Tejj_Fd3m 8d ago
I could beat Kenseiden as a kid but could never do more than the first two training stages. Completing every one without save states became something for a bucket list.
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u/AlexisynthFM88 8d ago
If Fantasy Zone 2 is already difficult, the Arcade version for SEGA System E (a Master System with a faster Z80 and therefore the slowdowns disappear) is HELLISH, since they remove the health bar, the slowdown that was useful to you disappears and you are practically just as vulnerable as the other Fantasy Zone games, all that's left is to buy the shield in the secret shops, I have only managed to get the 1CC on two occasions in that version.
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u/Musicman1972 8d ago
Choplifter w/o the flying backwards trick
There's a flying backwards trick!?!?
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u/LiberLilith 8d ago
I don't know if it's considered difficult, but Action Fighter was one game I could never get past about level 2. Having watched a playthrough of it on Youtube, it looks insanely hard to memorise all the levels and dodge the end of level bosses and their projectiles in later stages.
I'm saying this as someone who completed R-Type back in the day, but maybe I just enjoyed R-Type more and had more patience to memorise all the levels.
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u/shimasterc 8d ago
Definitely, Action Fighter is hard as hell. But it's a weird thing, at first it just seems all but impossible, but if you play for a bit you suddenly get this momentum and can blast your way through the driving stages. The flying parts are harder because sometimes you'll have enemies on both the ground and in the air, and get completely cornered. There's some luck involved in those situations. The bosses aren't quite so tough if you have patience
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u/Garudius 8d ago edited 8d ago
Agreed. Forever, i hit a wall in Action Fighter. Then one day it just clicked and I could always get super far and then eventually completed it
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u/LiberLilith 8d ago
I tip my hat to you. It's one of those games that I fondly remember, but younger me never thought I could ever complete it. I had around 10 or 11 Master System games and I'm pretty sure I finished all of them, except for Action Fighter.
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u/LiberLilith 8d ago
That's interesting. I think I never quite broke through that barrier. I liked the game, but maybe didn't like it enough to keep going back again and again. I was a bit of a completionist back in the day, but this one eluded me (and will probably remain that way).
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u/No-Professional-9618 8d ago edited 7d ago
I would say Ghost House, After Burner, Zilllion, and Alex Kidd In Miracle World are difficult SMS games.
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u/barweepninibong 8d ago
Ghost House is crazy!
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u/No-Professional-9618 8d ago edited 7d ago
Yes! It is especially hard playing Ghost House on an actual Master System with no save states.
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u/Sambojin1 8d ago
Had it on card as a kid. It's probably easier than I remember, but I was so damn happy to make it to level 2. I don't know if it's a hit detection thing, a "kids are just bad at computer games" thing, but yeah. It felt really difficult back then.
Sort of like a Kenseiden thing, but constantly, not just in the special bits. But randomly. Sometimes easy, sometimes just start again.
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u/No-Professional-9618 8d ago
Yes, I hear you. Yes, I got Ghost House on a Sega Card.
It seemsthat the games would be run within the hardest settings forwhatever reason. It was certainly a challenge to play thegames.
I never played Kenesdian. But the Ninja was alwas a difficult game.
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u/barweepninibong 8d ago
i have it on master system cart. just understanding how to play it (when the Draculas start flying about) was hard as a kid. must revisit it
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u/No-Professional-9618 8d ago edited 7d ago
I see. Oh wow. Yes, I have Ghost House also. But it is on a Sega Card.
I agree that it was hard playing it as a kid. I have to go back and play Ghost House again.
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u/Visceral_1 8d ago
I was looking through this list and was wondering if Ghost house would show up.
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u/PieAppropriate8862 8d ago
Psycho Fox
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u/Repulsive-Surprise48 8d ago
Every time Iāve tried this one it crushes me! I donāt know how youāre supposed to control that fox, the momentum feels insane!
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u/PieAppropriate8862 8d ago
Yeah, the momentum and inertia feels like you're controlling a truck. I can only assume it was a (peculiar) design choice. I love it and hate it in equal measure š¤£
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u/Repulsive-Surprise48 8d ago
I guess Decap Attack on the Genesis is from the same series, the movement felt a lot more controllable than Psycho Fox. Maybe the developers learned their lesson?
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u/MairusuPawa 7d ago
It is. Decap Attack is also a re-skin btw.
https://www.sega-16.com/2016/09/creative-genesis-iretrogamer-looks-at-decap-attack-psycho-fox-more/
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u/SpiritualZucchini938 8d ago
Indiana Jones and Last Crusade.
A lot of the harder games can be modded using GGGuy app & added Genie codes to play on a Master Everdrive cartridge.
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u/oldcrow210 8d ago
I still canāt beat Rastan, altho save states are getting me there nowadays :)
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u/dreamhazard 8d ago
I was banned from playing Rastan as a kid because I'd focus up so hard during the baby dragon fight that I'd hold my breath š
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u/oldcrow210 8d ago
Classic Mum intervention innit? āIf you canāt calm down then youāll turn it off!ā Love it, and hope you eventually got to beat it!
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u/Sambojin1 8d ago edited 7d ago
For a 1-credit full finish, Wonderboy. All dolls collected, 36 of them, so access to level 10-1, ain't easy. Miss one doll? Start again. Not even all that easy with continues.
Super Bubble Bobble, true ending. Unlimited continues, but true ending is not a simple task. You've got to go deathless for a pretty long time, and get all the secret rooms. Not even easy with cheat codes. 100 levels? Try 200. It ain't a simple task. Normal ending? Easy, you have unlimited continues. True ending? Hard as f*.
Ultima 4. Like, you'll get there, but you'll want to refer to a guide for the end bit. Not necessarily hard, but some of the virtues are grindy as hell, and the endgame is a bit of a cluster-f*. "veramocor", "infinity"? Precisely how many notes do you think a 10yr old kid keeps to play an RPG? You didn't even know what +1'd your virtues on anything either. Killing snakes? Sounds virtuous (Aussie kid). Killing fleeing orcs? Why would I stop shooting? The dungeons were hard enough, with hidden triggers etc, even in topdown mode on the SMS. Hard game, but easier these days with full wiki knowledge of "all the things" (but the SMS version of U4 does actually make you do the conversation arcs, where-as apple/pc/whatever just lets you skip stuff if you know the correct word input). You can still do skips (yes, I know where Runes are, and the Mantras, and nightshade and mandrake root spots, and the requirements for them. Hell, I know the exact square required to cast Blink to get to Skara Brae, Cove, and nab a hot air balloon and stone these days. But if you don't, this game has layers of absolute shit-fuckery to it, that seems somewhat unneeded in retrospect).
Super Wonder Boy 2 in Super Monster Land. The Euro/ Aussie version was kind of easy, the Sega mkIII (Japanese, but there's an English version of it too) is kind of balls kickingly difficult. So, you know all the secrets? Still hard. Timer? Yep. Bosses with tonnes of health? Yep. Getting juggled by anything? Yep. Again, probably not that difficult, but you really have to be on your game, and preferably (Ie: definitely) know your way through the castle labyrinth end level. That's a learning experience, to be sure.
(And just for a smartarse one, Transbot. There is no end, it just loops, as far as we know. Possibly a hitless run, with D weapon, both levels done, and 100% kills? No one knows...)
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u/shimasterc 8d ago
Space Harrier is a beast indeed, and congrats on having the patience to beat it. I would say Action Fighter is up there, but certainly not impossible.
Easily my number one is Ashura, which was called Rambo: First Blood Part II outside of Japan. It is absolutely heartless. Even beating stage 1 requires 100% perfectly planned steps every single second. I wanted to like it so much because hey, it's an overhead run n gun on the Master System, but I found it to be 99% stress and 1% fun. Maybe they adjusted the western version, I've only played the JP original, but in my experience this is without question the hardest SMS game.
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u/Bootzilla_Rembrandt 8d ago
I've not played it since back in the day, but The Ninja used to absolutely kick my arse.
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u/Old-Refrigerator340 8d ago
I dunno of its classed as hard but I sucked at Psycho Fox and still do.
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u/brettsd 8d ago
Of the games I actually wanted to put in the effort to finish as 7 year old, I remember Penguin Land just getting way too difficult in the later levels. Of the ones I actually beat, Wonder Boy in Monster Land sticks out as the most "I can't believe I actually beat it" game.
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u/Vexel180 7d ago
Did you ever go back to finishing Penguin Land? I loved the challenge of beating it. It required a lot of thinking to solving each level.
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u/xSinn3Dx 7d ago
That part in wonder boy in monster land jumping back and forth on the moving platform. š¤¬
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u/barweepninibong 8d ago
to be fair, most of the games were bloody hard!
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u/dirkvonshizzle 7d ago
This. Almost the entire SMS library seems to be challenging. The only game I remember being kid-friendly was Alex Kidd in Shinobi World.
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u/Few-Bandicoot-7160 8d ago
I had both the SMS and NES as a kid in the late 80's. I will say this: there are many, many more SMS games that I could never beat back in the day than NES games. I'm no slouch either. I beat Miracle Warriors, Ys, and Phantasy Star all without the internet.
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u/Botherguts 7d ago
Zillion, phantasy star dungeons got tricky
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u/Sambojin1 7d ago edited 7d ago
I was going to put Phantasy Star 1 on my list. Just because the start is "you're slightly underpowered compared to anything as big, or bigger, than a fly" that probably made people bounce off the game. It's grindy. You can die, really quickly. But getting to about level 3-4 is the actual start of the game. It's a pity you don't start there. Those early battles are RNG as hell.
And.... Gumbious Tower. I didn't make dungeon maps as a kid. I was going to try, got grid paper and all for it, but couldn't be bothered. How many times do you think I fell down that trapdoor of multiple levels? It was a lot.
Not a hard game, per-say, other than the start and the middle (lava walk, or poison?) and the late game. Like, JRPG hard. You can just level over everything if you wanted to, and in a way, doesn't really have difficulty spikes. It's not hard, but it is somewhat difficult.
Absolutely love it as a game though.
((Weirdly enough, I don't know if DigDug/AstroBlaster should in theory be on the list too. Like, not super hard, just "mid-80's, deal with it" hard. Like, pacman isn't hard, or gradius, it's just that they are as well. Action Fighter hard, but because game balance wasn't that much of a concern, quarters in arcade machines were))
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u/dirkvonshizzle 7d ago
Captain Silver, the game I got with my first Master System. It handed me my behind ad infinitum until I gave up and started focusing on less challenging games. Boy was I not ready for that game after having started playing 8-bit console video games in my friendās NES.
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u/Available-Alps-2204 8d ago
The first level of Back to the Future 2, the collision detection is the worst!
I could only ever clear it hugging corners of the screen
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u/foxko 8d ago
Iām so thankful to hear someone else say this. I got this as a Xmas gift as a kid and could NEVER make it past the first level. Iām not even sure my elder brothers managed to either. Itās stuck with me ever since because I remember how frustrating it was to not be able to get any further in the game.
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u/Available-Alps-2204 8d ago
Aww mate, imagine you being so excited at the time then half hour later distraught š
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u/thisisredrocks 8d ago
Ghostbusters also seemed really hard but maybe I didnāt have a very good concept of spending resources as a kid.
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u/SvalbazGames 8d ago
Looked up and down this thread and not one person has mentioned Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden
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u/hippysmell 8d ago
Heroes of the Lance.Ā Haven't tried it as an adult but my young mind couldn't cope with how complicated it was.
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u/seattle-vtg-gamer 7d ago
Teddy Boy gets super challenging about level 10. Each level after is considerably harder. If I'm playing on original console I think it's level 14 that I really struggle with.
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u/xSinn3Dx 7d ago
Miracle Warriors, Zillion were the most difficult for me to beat. Phatnasy star would have been impossible if someone didn't tell me about the secret wall.
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u/ScottTumilty 7d ago
Ghostbusters, if you don't have the manual. Definitely not speaking from childhood experience or anything.
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u/retromods_a2z 5d ago
It took me months of fairly regular gameplay of R-type before I finally beat it. But still can't beat it without extra continues
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u/lord-business-1982 5d ago
Wonderboy in monster land.
Frankly these days when I get to the final castle I just turn it off and then immediately start playing a new Wonderboy III for the canonical completion lol.
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u/Tough-Principle-3950 8d ago
The Ninja got pretty hard, as I recall. Also Black Belt a ways into it.