Top Five Sega NES Games

Back in the 8-bit days I think most would agree that Sega suffered a little when it came to challenging Nintendo's dominance in the console world. Sure, the Master System was popular here in the UK, in Brazil and a few other places, but in most places, including the two most important, the NES/Famicom was king.

Part of the reason for this was the sheer number of titles available for Nintendo's machine owing to extremely strong third-party support. This was an area the Master System greatly lacked in. In fact, I often remember thinking back then that Sega were lucky they had their own arcade games to port over as well as numerous other IPs and in-house games or the MS might not even have any games for it!

It therefore came as something of a surprise when I found out that some of Sega's games did appear on the NES/Famicom. That didn't make much sense to me but I guess Sega must have had their reasons. I've never played any of them though, and upon recently realising this, I was ultra-intrigued as to what they were like. How did they compare to the Master System versions? Let's find out, shall we?

5. Space Harrier by Takara (1988) - Japan Only

I've always enjoyed this landmark title in the arcades whenever I've been lucky enough to find it but I've never really spent too much time with it at home. I have played the MS version though, and know that it's pretty good. In fact, I think the only thing I don't really like about it is that it uses background tiles for the sprites which makes the graphics look a bit whiffy now and then. As would turn out to be the case with most games in this feature, this NES port has smaller sprites and slightly washed out colours, and slightly worse (though certainly recognisable) audio, but is for the most part pretty similar. It's not an easy one to call actually. Neither version is particularly fast and both are about as smooth as you could hope for, all things considered, so I suppose it's more about which visual style you prefer - big sprites and bright colours but that distracting tiling effect, or... well, as I said, smaller sprites, duller colours, etc. To be honest, I've enjoyed both versions so if I had to choose, I would say the MS, but that's only out of loyalty. And the fact that the NES apparently can't do the "Aaaahh!! Get ready!"

4. Shinobi by Tengen (1988) - US Only

Of all the fine titles here, this is the one I was most interested in trying since the MS version is one of my favourite games ever and one that means a lot to me. I realise that may not make me too objective but most of the differences here are ones that harm enjoyment of the game to one extent or another. One that isn't is the visuals which I quite like. Not better, but slightly different. Smaller sprites again, but everything is well-defined, though the presentation is weaker. I soon found that it's quite a bit tougher to play, though, mainly because of sloppier play-mechanics. The jump is all screwed up for one thing (the normal jump and tier-up/down jump seem to almost be combined), and it's also much harder to avoid enemy attacks - the sword guys throw their swords as you're jumping up, for one example, meaning you jump into the sword and lose energy, so no more sneak attacks like with the MS version, and the first boss is now a massive pain in the ass, for another. The two vertical levels have also been refashioned into side-scrolling affairs for some reason. To less scrutinising eyes, it would probably seem like a decent enough port but it's far less polished to me, and seems like it didn't get enough play-testing. It's still Shinobi and it's still enjoyable when you get used to the differences (assuming you even were used to the MS version), but with a few tweaks it could've nearly matched the mighty Master System game that everyone loves.

3. Fantasy Zone by Sunsoft/Tengen (1987/89) - US and Japan

Yay, this was the first game of the selection I tried as... well, Fantasy Zone is awesome, obviously! The game that greeted me was pretty good too. The graphics seemed a bit squashed but pleasant enough and there are decent renditions of that iconic music, and it was instantly familiar and enjoyable to play. Aside from the audio/visuals, the only two differences I noticed really were that the coins are way more plentiful here, and that the bosses appear the instant the last base is downed. Splendid version though. BUT THEN! I gave the Japanese version a try just in case (for it was the US version I initially played), and it turned out to be different! Not by much, admittedly, but enough that I noticed. It's most obvious in the graphics which are more detailed and slightly richer in colour. The presentation is also a little better, the controls are slightly tighter and the number of coins is now normal. So the Japanese version looks nicer then, but the simpler graphics in the US version (shown above) makes it easier to keep track of everything, but both versions are excellent. It's a bit odd that US players had to wait two years for poorer graphics but I'd have been happy with either of these.

2. Alien Syndrome by Sanritsu/Sunsoft (1988) - US and Japan

Unlike the other games here, this is one I didn't play on the MS in its day. I have played it since though, and I enjoyed it. Also unlike the other games here, however, it may also be a better version than the MS too, depending on your tastes of course. Sega's version had bold graphics, large, colourful sprites and flick-screen scrolling, and is more like a game that's based on the arcade version rather than a direct conversion. The NES version, as usual, uses smaller sprites and slightly duller colours but the stages scroll around and are much closer in content and layout to the arcade game than the MS version, and the spooky background music is a little better here too (though neither version is amazing). More importantly, however, it includes the simultaneous two-player mode that was sadly missing from Sega's version. Even for the solo player though, it's just as enjoyable to play as the MS game, maybe even slightly more. How enjoyable that is will be down to you I guess. If you don't like maze-shooters with infinite enemies and a time limit, you probably won't like any version of this game. I could do without the time limit to be honest - I say the same about most games that use one (and it's especially true with the boss fights here) - but other than that I definitely enjoyed playing this version of Sega's oft-overlooked shooter.

1. Fantasy Zone II by Sunsoft (1988) - Japan Only

For many moons now, I've privately considered this game to be among the Master System's best from both audio and visual perspectives. It's ultra-colourful, features millions of appealing sprites, mostly pretty backgrounds and awesome choons, and it's even fantastic to play as well. I don't, therefore, think it's an exaggeration to call it one of the MS's best games all round then. If you like tough, day-glo shmups, that is. I do and was curious as to how the NES would handle this one. As it turns out, the answer is: pretty well. The stages look more or less the same here, just not as bright as the MS. I'm not sure if that was down to NES palette restrictions or if it was a deliberate choice on Sunsoft's part (possibly, since they also did Super Fantasy Zone on the MD which uses pastels). It looks great in any case, and you no longer need to wear sunglasses to play it! The splendid music is also present and correct too, which is great, though as with the graphics, it is slightly inferior to the MS version. The action is also a little slower and there is some slow-down when there are lots of sprites buzzing around, but generally this is an excellent version of an excellent game. Strangely, it was only released in Japan (maybe the original didn't sell well in the US), but for me it's both the closest of the games here to the MS version and also the most enjoyable game too.

So there you are, the five best Sega games you can play on an NES, and I think you'll agree that it was interesting to take a look at them. BUT WAIT!! Aside, perhaps, from some obscure old titles that even Sega has forgotten about, there are only two more that were ported to the NES, so I figured I might as well take a look at those too. So, the two games that didn't make the cut? Behold:

After Burner/II by Sunsoft/Tengen (1989) - US and Japan

This might have been the highest-profile Sega title to appear on the NES since OutRun apparently didn't make the jump - was justice done to the mighty arcade powerhouse? There were actually two versions too, much like Fantasy Zone. After Burner is the US one and After Burner II the Japanese release for some reason, but they are very similar. Both feature smaller sprites than the MS and a similar reduction in landscape detail over the arcade monster but ABII has some nice presentation screens too. Some of the stages feature totally different colour schemes from one version to the other as well, which is odd. I'm not skilled enough to play them all the way through but ABII seems to be the more accurate one compared to the original. Both versions play well enough though, until I quickly started noticing a problem - I seemed to be spontaneously blowing up now and then! I'm sure it's because I was actually getting hit but I'll be a green-haired hippo if I could see these shots beforehand. Well, sometimes anyway. I actually found it tough choosing between After Burner II (the slightly better of the two AB ports) and Space Harrier for the #5 spot but it was this flaw which swayed me in the end. If it wasn't for that, this would be a pretty decent version of the legendary shooter, but it's a flaw that would prove too frustrating for me after a while.

Juuoki (Altered Beast) by Asmik (1990) - Japan Only

Jesus, what in the name of all that is holy is this abomination? Altered Beast has seldom been the most loved of games, even the arcade or MegaDrive versions, though I do have something of a soft spot for the MS game, missing level and all, since it was one of my first games, but this version? Arrghh, it's awful! But also great. First the former. As you might have noticed, it's not exactly a looker for one thing. For a game of this type, it must have the smallest sprites I've ever seen! It's actually amusing in some ways. For example, when you get the power-up to transform into a musclebound brute twice the size he was before, here he gets about one pixel bigger (chortle!). The screenshot above has me in 'beast' form and look how tiny he is! Some of the colours are rather unpleasant too, including this first stage, and the status panel takes up a third of the screen. It's not even an interesting one, it just looks like a dull grey Arkanoid stage! But I can live with bad graphics if the game is enjoyable. Sadly, this one is rendered ultra-annoying by the fact that the undead enemies frequently 'rise' up from directly beneath you, costing you energy, and being bounced halfway across the screen when an enemy hits you gets old quickly. The audio isn't as bad as the graphics but the music is only average and the effects are terrible. So what could the 'great' I mentioned earlier possibly be? Well, it has three extra stages with additional 'beasts' on each which is pretty great, but I don't even want to play one stage of this game, never mind that many.