Right? He makes watching videos about bad games enjoyable. Also, this series reinforces the feeling that the only game I will ever care about on the Master System is Phantasy Star. Easily the Master System's best game.
Phantasy Star is arguably the best 8-bit RPG. You had to make your own maps, then figure out how they translated to the first-person viewpoint. I had Final Fantasy as a kid, but I find myself coming back to Phantasy Star with graph paper in hand to stretch my brain. I enjoy Super Monaco GP on the Master System: way better than racers on the NES.
You’re not wrong, but there were other awesome SMS games. Y’s The Vanished Omens, Golvellius, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy III The Dragon’s Trap, and Kenseiden are also worth playing.
Of note is the one-two punch of talented SEGA programmers working on today's games- everyone's favourite code-whiz-turned-convict Yuji Naka on Spy vs Spy, and three-dimensional champion Mark Cerny on Shanghai. Look no further for the reason as to why these two turned out so competent, even compared to their Nintendo counterparts.
I played the heck out of original Spy v Spy on Apple II, along with the Island Caper. Me and my brother exploding each other in the 1980s. Grand memories. RIP Mad Magazine, gone but never forgotten. Also worth noting, long before Bond 64, this game taught me how to watch two screens at once, giving yourself an enormous edge toward victory.
@@MiguelPaulettePerez-bj8ml It is, but it's a pale shadow of its former self. Six print issues yearly, comprised almost entirely of legacy material with one or two new items (one of which is just a table of contents gag). I'm glad to see they're trying; after Gaines died it felt like the end was inevitable and it's been in slow decline ever since, but there are still people who care and I wish them well. But it's bleak.
I was a C64 player for spy vs spy. Had all three of them. They were fantastic fun multiplayer games that killed friendships LONG before Mario Party and Mario Kart 64
@@ConradZimmerman I didn't know this about MAD Magazine, as it's not really released over in my country anymore... but man is that bittersweet news to digest. Better than nothing, I suppose.
I watch a lot of gaming related UA-cam content, a myriad of retrospectives and expositions. You have by far the most professional narration and scripting of any channel I’ve encountered thus far. You remind me of those educational videos we used to watch in school, and I mean that in the best possible way.
I first encountered it (and it's Japanese cousin Shisen-Sho) when I installed Linux for the first time; KDE ships with its own version of each. These days, you can also shift the camera angle around using the scroll wheel if you need a better view of the faces.
Yeah, Kemco probably would always come up short with a head to head comparison to Sega. Goodbye, Sega card. Thanks for reminding us that we'll be seeing Hu-cards soon.
Strong opening, with Lloyd Bentsen's legendary elbow drop on Dan Quayle. Also, shoutouts to Quayle's apparent contribution to keeping Mike Pence from helping a certain orange someone from overthrowing the government a few years back.
@@goranisacson2502 The following is in broad strokes and not guaranteed to be 100% note-for-note accurate: 1) Current (as of early January 2021) Vice President of the United States Mike Pence was placed in a position where he was being asked to use his authority to circumvent the electoral process and transfer of power on behalf of his President. 2) In his moment of personal crisis, unsure if he could, or should, do what his President/handlers/party were asking of him, Pence solicited the input of former Vice President and noted spelling savant J. Danforth Quayle. 3) After being posed the question at hand by the current VP, Quayle had enough spine and/or knowledge of the legalities associated with attempting to perform a coup-by-way-of-electoral-shell-game with an old fashioned angry mob acting as smokescreen to tell Mike Pence (and I'm paraphrasing here) "no, you cannot and should not do that." 4) To the surprise and relief of many, Pence took Quayle's advice, did not aid in the overthrow of the US government, and then found himself with a different dilemma concerning what vehicles he should or should not be getting into in the short term, which is a story for another time.
I think the best of the three Spy vs Spy games was always the first, and that the best version was on the Commodore 64. I don't like its ports as much because they're always missing something, either content or game mechanics, but even I have to admit that Sega's take is objectively better than Kemco's. However, Kemco's version is surprisingly the most popular one, probably thanks to how prolific the Famicom was. Kemco also redeemed themselves with the GBC release, which is the most polished Spy vs Spy game I've seen in years.
If I were to tell my ten year old self that one day he would watch a retrospective video about Spy Vs Spy, a game he played often… for some reason, man, he’d be like “why did someone do that?” Seriously with friends or alone this game was lacklustre, and I loved Spy vs Spy the comic. As always, great video, Jeremy.
Yeah, I had the NES version back in the day, and even in PvP it felt like it was missing... something. There was just too much time spent wandering around poking at objects in the background hoping to find something interesting. It was almost like a competitive adventure game, but it needed a bit more action.
If only Mahjong in Yakuza games got replaced with Shanghai, I might actually be able to get those achievements. Also, so close to Phantasy Star. I can't wait.
@@jonothanthrace1530I now imagine Kiryu vs Majima, but in the Spy's respective outfits... but then again, Majima being up to shenanigans feels kinda fitting but Kiryu feels far too straight-forward for such deceptive warfare. Maybe some other character would fit the bill better.
I love the Spy vs Spy comic. The game however I find not to work that well in multiplayer. On the NES at least. It’s way too easy for the player with most time left to just lock himself in with some traps, and wait for the timer to run out. That’s not how the game was intended to be played, but the most tactical…
Looks like it was only released on cart outside of the U.S. and Japan (where it was card only). My guess is that EU/BR/AU tended to get releases 6-12 months after the U.S., so card production had already been phased out and it was cheaper to just roll them as standard cartridges.
I played Spy vs Spy on the NES but not SMS. It isn’t great but i feel they were on to something. A few tweaks or something and i think this could be a fun party game.
I'm by no means and expert in the almighty ^algorithm^ but I wonder if long-form compilations of e.g. NES Works 1987, Segaiden 1987 would help to expand the reach of this channel. Your work is phenomenal and I am flabbergasted at how low your subscriber counts/views are relative to your scarcely contested content quality. Thank you for all you've produced and I hope against all reason that you never stop.
I only vaguely recall Spy vs Spy on the NES (and I never played a card-based Master System game because European), but I wonder if Kemco prioritized bigger sprites over the extra stages? Or could both easily be implemented and Kemco just, as Jeremy says, dropped the ball?
Shanghai was absolutely huge in Japan, to the point the Japanese even referred to Activision as "The Shanghai Company" for years. But my parents picked it out of a Woolworth's bargain bin and played it obsessively. That first song in the game is permanently burned into my brain.
And the packaging for Sega cards is super interesting too! ua-cam.com/video/5Sbv4uwaGE0/v-deo.html Honestly I think the Famicom version is not so bad in comparison ua-cam.com/video/dG_Q332oCC0/v-deo.html
Don't get me wrong: I like Game Sack and have watched everything on that channel but I feel like a lot of charm was lost with the departure of Dave and, without a foil, Joe just seems to be going through the motions in recent years. I would contrast Jeremy's amazingly consistent quality and style across time as supreme. I'm not comparing their content/style as that is basically apples vs oranges.
You use to be cool Jeremy, what happened to you? You use to give reviews that were so scathing it would make a Russian interrogator blush. Now you're like Morgan Freeman drinking warm milk while reading Hello Kitty Roller Rescue in novel format. You use to be the guy who'ed steal someones Doc. Martens and proceed to kick the **** out of the owner with them! Bring Jeremy back! UNLEASH THE BEAST!!!! I'm only kidding, you're awesome. I love coming home to a warm meal while watching your newest videos. Keep up the great work.👍
I'd rather watch a Jeremy Parish video about a game I don't care about than a video about a game I'm fascinated with by anyone else.
Right? He makes watching videos about bad games enjoyable. Also, this series reinforces the feeling that the only game I will ever care about on the Master System is Phantasy Star. Easily the Master System's best game.
Phantasy Star is arguably the best 8-bit RPG. You had to make your own maps, then figure out how they translated to the first-person viewpoint. I had Final Fantasy as a kid, but I find myself coming back to Phantasy Star with graph paper in hand to stretch my brain.
I enjoy Super Monaco GP on the Master System: way better than racers on the NES.
Definitely
You’re not wrong, but there were other awesome SMS games. Y’s The Vanished Omens, Golvellius, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy III The Dragon’s Trap, and Kenseiden are also worth playing.
Definitely! And after you watch the video, you become interested in the game and wanna play it. This time this happened to me with Shanghai
Of note is the one-two punch of talented SEGA programmers working on today's games- everyone's favourite code-whiz-turned-convict Yuji Naka on Spy vs Spy, and three-dimensional champion Mark Cerny on Shanghai. Look no further for the reason as to why these two turned out so competent, even compared to their Nintendo counterparts.
Lloyd Bentsen delivering the kill shot to J. Danforth Quayle.
The funny thing is that I produced this episode BEFORE Walz appeared on the scene for a reprise
I played the heck out of original Spy v Spy on Apple II, along with the Island Caper. Me and my brother exploding each other in the 1980s. Grand memories. RIP Mad Magazine, gone but never forgotten.
Also worth noting, long before Bond 64, this game taught me how to watch two screens at once, giving yourself an enormous edge toward victory.
Mad Magazine is still around.
@@MiguelPaulettePerez-bj8ml It is, but it's a pale shadow of its former self. Six print issues yearly, comprised almost entirely of legacy material with one or two new items (one of which is just a table of contents gag). I'm glad to see they're trying; after Gaines died it felt like the end was inevitable and it's been in slow decline ever since, but there are still people who care and I wish them well. But it's bleak.
I was a C64 player for spy vs spy. Had all three of them. They were fantastic fun multiplayer games that killed friendships LONG before Mario Party and Mario Kart 64
@@ConradZimmerman I didn't know this about MAD Magazine, as it's not really released over in my country anymore... but man is that bittersweet news to digest. Better than nothing, I suppose.
I watch a lot of gaming related UA-cam content, a myriad of retrospectives and expositions. You have by far the most professional narration and scripting of any channel I’ve encountered thus far. You remind me of those educational videos we used to watch in school, and I mean that in the best possible way.
The biggest sin of the Master System version of Spy vs Spy is the loss of that awesomely melancholic musical theme from the C64 and the NES versions.
Also, I feel like the NES version of the characters were truer to the comics. But that probably has to do with the SMS's reduced resolution.
Ah, Shanghai. The perennial shareware evergreen. From no-names to Steve Moraff, you'd easily find more versions of it than you'd think to exist.
I first encountered it (and it's Japanese cousin Shisen-Sho) when I installed Linux for the first time; KDE ships with its own version of each. These days, you can also shift the camera angle around using the scroll wheel if you need a better view of the faces.
Shanghai is literally the only game my mum ever plays haha
Moraff! Someone really should do a retrospecive of their titles.
Yeah, Kemco probably would always come up short with a head to head comparison to Sega. Goodbye, Sega card. Thanks for reminding us that we'll be seeing Hu-cards soon.
“I read Nintendo Power. I knew Nintendo Power. Nintendo Power was a favorite magazine of mine. Sega Challenge, you're no Nintendo Power.”
Howard Lincoln 🤝 Lloyd Bentsen
No matter how many new, cutting-edge portable games I take with me on an airplane trip, I always just end up playing hours of Shanghai.
Strong opening, with Lloyd Bentsen's legendary elbow drop on Dan Quayle. Also, shoutouts to Quayle's apparent contribution to keeping Mike Pence from helping a certain orange someone from overthrowing the government a few years back.
Yeah, who knew he'd eventually be a hero?
As a non-USian who only knows Quayle from this clip, and also didn't really know his name either, what did Quayle do in this context against Trump?
@@goranisacson2502 The following is in broad strokes and not guaranteed to be 100% note-for-note accurate:
1) Current (as of early January 2021) Vice President of the United States Mike Pence was placed in a position where he was being asked to use his authority to circumvent the electoral process and transfer of power on behalf of his President.
2) In his moment of personal crisis, unsure if he could, or should, do what his President/handlers/party were asking of him, Pence solicited the input of former Vice President and noted spelling savant J. Danforth Quayle.
3) After being posed the question at hand by the current VP, Quayle had enough spine and/or knowledge of the legalities associated with attempting to perform a coup-by-way-of-electoral-shell-game with an old fashioned angry mob acting as smokescreen to tell Mike Pence (and I'm paraphrasing here) "no, you cannot and should not do that."
4) To the surprise and relief of many, Pence took Quayle's advice, did not aid in the overthrow of the US government, and then found himself with a different dilemma concerning what vehicles he should or should not be getting into in the short term, which is a story for another time.
And here I thought the real Sega challenge was the friends we made along the way.
I think the best of the three Spy vs Spy games was always the first, and that the best version was on the Commodore 64.
I don't like its ports as much because they're always missing something, either content or game mechanics, but even I have to admit that Sega's take is objectively better than Kemco's.
However, Kemco's version is surprisingly the most popular one, probably thanks to how prolific the Famicom was.
Kemco also redeemed themselves with the GBC release, which is the most polished Spy vs Spy game I've seen in years.
Seen differing opinions on if Spy V. Spy sucked but I can honestly my friend and I had hours of fun playing it as kids.
If I were to tell my ten year old self that one day he would watch a retrospective video about Spy Vs Spy, a game he played often… for some reason, man, he’d be like “why did someone do that?” Seriously with friends or alone this game was lacklustre, and I loved Spy vs Spy the comic. As always, great video, Jeremy.
Yeah, I had the NES version back in the day, and even in PvP it felt like it was missing... something. There was just too much time spent wandering around poking at objects in the background hoping to find something interesting. It was almost like a competitive adventure game, but it needed a bit more action.
If only Mahjong in Yakuza games got replaced with Shanghai, I might actually be able to get those achievements. Also, so close to Phantasy Star. I can't wait.
Hear me out: Spy VS. Spy in Yakuza.
Same... I once had just one opponent left, but.... I had no idea what I was doing and lost 😅
@@jonothanthrace1530I now imagine Kiryu vs Majima, but in the Spy's respective outfits... but then again, Majima being up to shenanigans feels kinda fitting but Kiryu feels far too straight-forward for such deceptive warfare. Maybe some other character would fit the bill better.
@@goranisacson2502 Based on the videos I've seen, I think Ichiban would be down.
Oh god…without their large eyes from the original Prohias strips or the Mad TV animation, the spies from Spy vs. Spy look like anteaters.
Ah Shanghai. One of my favorites from back in the day
I read MAD Magazine and owned Spy vs. Spy as a kid. I'm not sure how far I ever got in it, but I do remember playing two-players against... someone?
My next door neighbor had it on Master System.and i did have a p v p.mode
1:15 And that’s why the Sega Genesis is instead called the Sega Mega Drive in North America. Wait…
Wait, "Mahjong Solitaire" has an actual name?
I remember playing a bunch of Shanghai on the GameBoy back in the day
Never seen a simple fighting game have so many extra steps
I love the Spy vs Spy comic. The game however I find not to work that well in multiplayer. On the NES at least.
It’s way too easy for the player with most time left to just lock himself in with some traps, and wait for the timer to run out. That’s not how the game was intended to be played, but the most tactical…
R.I.P. Sega card.
My Power Bade Converters card slot is still a virgin
You should give Ghost House a try. It's good. Also, it's got Draculas, and Draculas have a thing for virgins.
0:53 lol DRAGON WANG 😂
a threnody for the sega card format
fuckin me up seeing jeremy this HD
turrican mention spotted!!
...granted the tg16 is a really bad port, but ill take what i can get haha
Another great video.for the Usual Gang of Idiots
Just one idiot making these videos
A friend of mine had Spy vs Spy, but it was on a cartridge. I wonder why they released it on both media?
Looks like it was only released on cart outside of the U.S. and Japan (where it was card only). My guess is that EU/BR/AU tended to get releases 6-12 months after the U.S., so card production had already been phased out and it was cheaper to just roll them as standard cartridges.
You missed one of your best chances ever to mention Alfred E. Neuman slot machines SEGA used to make. :P
I played Spy vs Spy on the NES but not SMS. It isn’t great but i feel they were on to something. A few tweaks or something and i think this could be a fun party game.
*Pours a 40 on the ground for the Sega Card format*
Shanghaied again...
I'm by no means and expert in the almighty ^algorithm^ but I wonder if long-form compilations of e.g. NES Works 1987, Segaiden 1987 would help to expand the reach of this channel.
Your work is phenomenal and I am flabbergasted at how low your subscriber counts/views are relative to your scarcely contested content quality.
Thank you for all you've produced and I hope against all reason that you never stop.
I only vaguely recall Spy vs Spy on the NES (and I never played a card-based Master System game because European), but I wonder if Kemco prioritized bigger sprites over the extra stages? Or could both easily be implemented and Kemco just, as Jeremy says, dropped the ball?
Shanghai was absolutely huge in Japan, to the point the Japanese even referred to Activision as "The Shanghai Company" for years.
But my parents picked it out of a Woolworth's bargain bin and played it obsessively. That first song in the game is permanently burned into my brain.
Beloved bastardization 😃
And the packaging for Sega cards is super interesting too!
ua-cam.com/video/5Sbv4uwaGE0/v-deo.html
Honestly I think the Famicom version is not so bad in comparison
ua-cam.com/video/dG_Q332oCC0/v-deo.html
Game sack is your only equal.
Chrontendo is also great! And Atari Archive has a nice rundown going of all the VCS/2600 carts.
Don't get me wrong: I like Game Sack and have watched everything on that channel but I feel like a lot of charm was lost with the departure of Dave and, without a foil, Joe just seems to be going through the motions in recent years. I would contrast Jeremy's amazingly consistent quality and style across time as supreme.
I'm not comparing their content/style as that is basically apples vs oranges.
Did Sega ever really master a sufficient propaganda system like Nintendo did in this era?
You use to be cool Jeremy, what happened to you? You use to give reviews that were so scathing it would make a Russian interrogator blush. Now you're like Morgan Freeman drinking warm milk while reading Hello Kitty Roller Rescue in novel format. You use to be the guy who'ed steal someones Doc. Martens and proceed to kick the **** out of the owner with them! Bring Jeremy back! UNLEASH THE BEAST!!!!
I'm only kidding, you're awesome. I love coming home to a warm meal while watching your newest videos. Keep up the great work.👍