Master System Games

[Alianger]

There's a very good top 100 games list over at sega8bit.com.

Personal faves:
Wonder Boy III - Easily the best sms game. TG16 version is pretty much the same but I refer the music on sms.
Phantasy star - quite immersive for such an old RPG and the presentation is great for the time.
Power strike 2 - Very fast and varied with classic aleste gameplay and impressive presentation.
Golvellius - Overlooked gem that plays like Zelda 1/2, also by Compile (aleste series, guardian legend)
Zillion - Metroid clone with great music.
Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse - Better than the MD games, seriously.

[Nintega Grafx-16]

SPELLCASTER

MIRACLE WARRIORS

They both need more love.

[j_factor]

Bram Stoker's Dracula -- Don't worry if you hated the Genesis/SNES game, this one's completely different. And quite awesome.

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World -- By far my favorite Alex Kidd game.

Ninja Gaiden -- This is actually my favorite 8-bit Ninja Gaiden game. It's very fast, and very smooth.

California Games, Winter Games, Summer Games, and World Games -- can't go wrong with these. California Games is actually better on SMS than Genesis.

Sonic 2 -- The best of the Sonics, and the first boss isn't so brutally difficult like in the GG version.

Ghouls N' Ghosts -- It has some slowdown, but I like this version of the game because you can change direction mid-jump and face the other way while ducking, and it has an inventory system.

Shadow of the Beast -- Whoever ported this took a lot of creative liberties with the gameplay. It plays quite differently from its 16-bit cousin.

Cyborg Hunter -- For its time, this was a very sophisticated game.

[MrMatthews]

Ghouls N' Ghosts -- It has some slowdown, but I like this version of the game because you can change direction mid-jump and face the other way while ducking, and it has an inventory system.

Did Capcom port this themselves? I'm surprised that they would incorporate those changes into this one game and none from the other series.

Wait . . . Capcom couldn't have ported it, could they?

[CRV]

California Games, Winter Games, Summer Games, and World Games -- can't go wrong with these. California Games is actually better on SMS than Genesis.

Winter Games didn't come out for the SMS.

Wait . . . Capcom couldn't have ported it, could they?

No, I don't think they did.

[j_factor]

I stand corrected on Winter Games.

Did Capcom port this themselves? I'm surprised that they would incorporate those changes into this one game and none from the other series.

Wait . . . Capcom couldn't have ported it, could they?

Nope, Capcom didn't do any of their own porting to Sega systems until Street Fighter II SCE on Genesis. All prior Capcom games for SMS/Genesis/GG/CD were ported by some team at Sega, and usually (if not always) said "Reprogrammed game (c) 19xx Sega". Nintendo's exclusive third-party licensing prevented Capcom from releasing the games themselves. Capcom's few Turbo/PCE games, aside from Street Fighter II', were done by NEC Avenue. They may have done their own computer ports, I'm not sure.

[MrMatthews]

Nope, Capcom didn't do any of their own porting to Sega systems until Street Fighter II SCE on Genesis. All prior Capcom games for SMS/Genesis/GG/CD were ported by some team at Sega, and usually (if not always) said "Reprogrammed game (c) 19xx Sega". Nintendo's exclusive third-party licensing prevented Capcom from releasing the games themselves.

That's what I thought (I learned that on this site!)

They may have done their own computer ports, I'm not sure.

I hope to god they didn't. I heard the Mega Man and Mega Man 3 PC ports were absolutely terrible. And Capcom doesn't make terrible games.

*hides Yo Noid! behind back*

[j_factor]

I hope to god they didn't. I heard the Mega Man and Mega Man 3 PC ports were absolutely terrible. And Capcom doesn't make terrible games.

I was mainly thinking of their Commodore 64/Amiga/Atari ST releases. But yes, Mega Man on DOS does suck.

*hides Yo Noid! behind back*

I kind of liked that game...

[CRV]

And Capcom doesn't make terrible games.

*hides Yo Noid! behind back*

Yo! Noid is not a terrible game, and it was done by Now Production.

[MrMatthews]

Who was behind the insipid Mickey Mousecapades? Capcom took some heat for that one, too.

[CRV]

Who was behind the insipid Mickey Mousecapades? Capcom took some heat for that one, too.

Mickey Mousecapade was by Hudson or a contractor thereof (in fact, Hudson published it in Japan).