Assault City (1990)

There are two versions of this Operation Wolf-style shooter, one using the Master System’s Light Phaser (a light gun, in case that wasn’t obvious) and another that just sees you controlling your crosshair with a regular joypad. Amusingly, both versions open with a shooting range that will determine the game’s level of difficulty. Do well enough in this opening section, which isn’t especially challenging, and the game is impossibly difficult. Obviously the game is intended to be played with the Light Phaser adding an extra layer of skill, because the controller version seemed basically unplayable unless I intentionally missed a bunch of targets. At any rate, this game did not stimulate my interest with its repetitive, eye strain inducing action. The backgrounds and sprites are nice, but they’re mostly static. I didn’t have the capacity to test this with the Light Phaser myself; emulating it with the mouse isn’t an accurate substitute and played with the control pad it’s just a hot mess thanks to that difficulty snafu, so while it may be superior with the intended hardware they definitely released a version which didn’t even allow you to use it. Utterly baffling. *

Asterix (1992)

This game is pretty acclaimed, but I find it a touch lacking. It’s certainly not bad by any means but the look of the game and its UI seem to evoke Castle of Illusion and you can’t really do that to me if your game doesn’t fully deliver. This platformer allows you to use both Asterix and Obelix – which is nice – but neither of them feel particularly good, what with Asterix’s minimal range on attacks and Obelix just being a whacking great lummox to handle. The game is often slow-paced and it’s oddly demanding in its difficulty, with the learning curve arching sharply upwards after just a couple of stages. I enjoyed the puzzle-solving elements which see you making use of explosive vials of magic potion – and there are some neat set-pieces - but while I have no major beef with the game, it’s not sitting on the high bar of Master System platformers. ***

Asterix and the Great Rescue (1994)

I didn’t mind this one. It’s a much fairer take on the Mega Drive cart of the same name, retaining its exploration-focused level design but eschewing its extremely harsh time limit to make for another middling platform game – the Asterix license’s bread and butter. The stage design can be meandering, sending you back and forth over relatively small stages as you open up new paths, but it’s quite satisfying and the graphics are very strong, though there is some often inexplicable slowdown. The puzzle-solving stuff is pushed to the fore here, making the proceedings rather satisfying once you get to grips with the slightly awkward controls. Combat isn’t a focus, which is a relief as Asterix still has laughably little reach with his attacks, but it’s not quite as annoying in that respect as the 1992 title. Both are a good time, neither are masterpieces. ***

Asterix and the Secret Mission (1993)

This one really doesn’t make a good first impression thanks to its first level being shockingly ugly. It’s clearly a direct follow-up to the 1992 game, but the stages seem designed to piss me off rather than challenge me. After that initial shock the game does improve visually but it’s never as good looking as Great Rescue and never as fun as the original Asterix, so it’s kind of redundant. The most irritating thing about this game laced with various annoyances is Asterix’s basic attack, in which he stands still to swing his arm around before launching an uppercut. While it’s somewhat effective as the collision seems to start as soon as he begins windmilling that bicep, it looks stupid and roots you to the spot, which is especially infuriating on the second level where you’re constantly being pushed around by rushing water as enemies fly at you directly over pits in order to screw you over in the most “gotcha!” way possible. Annoyingly this does improve a little and there are some cute ideas, but it’s just so stiff that I can’t really bring myself to like it. **

Astro Warrior (1986)

This quality vertical shooter came bundled with the Master System on its initial American release, bundled on a cartridge alongside Hang On, which we’ll get to later. This, though, is very good, a lovely surprise. I’m no shmup expert, but this is basically Star Soldier – fly through space, taking out all manner of nasties as you pass over enormous space stations/platforms that you can blow up various pieces of to grab power-ups, including a satellite reminiscent of the Options from the Gradius series. At any rate this is absolutely not at all original, but it plays well with no slowdown or flickering that I could notice. The difficulty level is challenging but reasonable and it keeps your trigger finger pumping. The levels are perhaps a little long, but enemy variety is decent and the whole thing is satisfying, a shockingly zen blasting experience. I liked it a lot. ****

(Next: Ay-Bak)

• sega
• master system
• Stuart Gipp
• master system directory