The arcade version of Teddy Boy Blues actually had a bonus stage where you control Yohko Ishino, but bonus stages were cut entirely from all later ports of the game. I guess it made game localization easier as it left no traces of game's licensed nature aside from music.
Haven't had a chance to comment on this new chapter of Segaiden yet, but really enjoying the trip down alternate universe lane where I get to imagine what life would have been like had the fates made me a Master System kid. I can already feel the coping mechanisms kicking in.
Honestly, I think if you look at where NES and Master System stood at the end of 1986, Sega had a more impressive lineup overall. And then, 1987 happened.
I was a NES kid growing up. But my neighbors had a Master System. And My Hero was one of my favorites. I actually enjoyed it as much (if not more) than Kung Fu on the NES. The crazy carnival-esque soundtrack is what really drew me to the game. As well as the sound the character made when executing a jump kick. And the action was always frantic. I didn't learn until much later that the arcade game had so much more content than the home port. Still, I hold My Hero in high regard...and it is still one of my favorites on the console.
Always been a fan of Choplifter, one of my favorites from the Commodore Vic-20 back in the day. The way they pulled off parallax scrolling/pseudo 3D effects with early 80's tech is still technically impressive.
A New Year in which there will be many Master System episodes, Sherlock is set free, and we get difficult arcade ports and Teddy Boy. Looking forward to more My Card stuff next time.
As rough as My Hero on the Master System is, there's no denying that the song that plays throughout that game is an absolute earworm. Now it's going to be stuck in my head all day, Jeremy!
Very happy you’re onto the Master System now, a system I’ve enjoyed massively since childhood. It’s a lot to juggle with NES/GB works too - I really appreciate it!
Your random trivia of the day: the same Magazine that the pin-up poster featuring the main character of Mach Rider as a woman, "High Score", also did some other "let's imagine these non-established characters as women" posters as well. This includes the pilot from Gradius, and yes, even the one from Choplifter! Probably not canon by any stretch of the imagination, but if you want to pretend the rescue mission is helmed by a woman wearing a tank top, briefs, and shoulderpads than at least one source out there supports you.
Was the Japanese version of My Hero just a singular level too? Sega did have a knack of chopping games in half to save on money for the western release ALA Enduro Racer and the US version of Captain Silver.
I never bought any of these early games, as they already seemed "old and weird" to my younger self, back when I got the console (around the launch of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game), so this series is an excellent chance to see the origins of the Master System catalogue and the forebears to the rather complex stuff Sega would later work up to on the system. Excellent work so far!
As much as we joke about heyanko alien and xevious and druaga, Choplifter is the game that now has a permanent space in my brain from watching these videos.
It kinda makes sense for Teddy Boy to remove its song, considering that no foreign language song from Asia hit it big in the US market from Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki in 1963 to PSY's Gangnam Style in 2012. (No, Pink Lady's Kiss From The Dark doesn't count, as that was sung in English) Teddy Boy was rechristened as Geraldinho in Brazil, based on a local comic book character, starting Tec Toy's "let's reskin Sega games to tie-in to various local properties" series that helped make the Master System a hit in that region. Also, Choplifter had a mediocre Famicom port by Jaleco that wasn't released here, likely because of the whole "games of the same name can't be on another console and the NES" rule, which was rarely enforced, since the Atari 7800 had Donkey Kong on it as well.
I admit it's kindof a copout, but I will cite t.A.T.u's 2002 hit "Ya Soshla s Uma". Was the popularity of Russian language version of the song completely dwarfed in the us by the EN version "All the Things She Said"? Yes. Does Russian only TECHNICALLY count as "asian" in this context and completely go against the point you were making? Absolutely. Do I care about either of those facts? Not at all! 😂
@@JeremyParish Still, there were some games on both the 7800 and the NES, also by loopholes (Double Dragon, Commando, Ikari Warriors, Kung Fu, Xenophobe, Galaga, Rampage and Xevious), all gained through different licenses. Atari also used their pre-NES deals for Ocean to sublicense and make their (quite good) Donkey Kong port and (quite crap) Mario Bros. ports for various European microcomputers
My understanding of Nintendo's cross-platform license rules were not "it can't be on other systems" but rather "if it's on other system's it's gotta be unique on NES." So you get Rygar and Strider the metroidvanias, Section Z the space maze, Ninja Gaiden the fast-action platformer, Bionic Commando the sequel to the arcade game, 1943 with a power-up system, etc. etc. Sucked for kids who wanted straight arcade ports but, in a vacuum, it generally worked out well since those redesigned games worked better on the aging hardware.
Having played My Hero on Master System first, it's just nice to know there's an arcade timeline where it fulfills more of its potential. Still weirdly appealing.
It's good to see SMS get the treatment. I've never been able to get into the SMS/Mark 3, honestly. I can't stand the way it sounds without the FM module, and those aren't easy to come by. The PSG irritates me on a strange level that I don't understand, which is weird because I love chiptunes from things like the NES's 2A03, Atari Pokey, and the SID. I really appreciate having the voice over as it helps me to appreciate the history and gameplay without having the sound chip boring a hole in my skull.
hot damn, I think this is my favourite series Jeremy's done for a while. These games look awesome! I can't wait for my TecToy Mega Drive to someday arrive
I imagine Steven giving the boss the "There's always other fish in the sea!" line in those endings from "My Hero", before his girlfriend gets taken again.
That is a mighty fine looking port of Choplifter! Surprised I hadn't heard it recommended before- definitely going to try that out. SMS continues to impress!
That version of Choplifter just reminds me even more of the DS game Glory Days 2 which followed an old Apple II game by the name of Armor Alley by adding RTS gameplay to Choplifter. You fly around and rescue people as normal but you also buy soldiers and vehicles that move along the ground and fight enemy ground troops, the goal being to push the enemy presence back across the map and having your troops destroy their home base.
I came across a boxed pal master system with some games last month. I already bought an everdrive like cart with all the games for the MS and Game Gear, so I'll be attentive to this series!
My Hero was one of the first SMS games I acquired, and also one of the ones I've spent the least time playing. "A frustrating wreck" is being charitable.
I'm still pumped about the SMS getting the Video Works treatment 👌🏻 I played about 80% of the games covered so far, back in the day. The Hang On card, in particular (the physical object), causes crazy nostalgia synapses to fire in my brain. There's something unique about games that take you back to early childhood (for me, 4-5 years old)
choplifter! there were a handful of SMS games I remember playing, and that one was definitely one of my favorites. pretty sure I rarely if ever saw beyond the first level, but still a fun and challenging one! the other two I don't remember seeing though, so you just get my choplifter review. :P
Ah early Master System titles were my first experience with the console, courtesy of my next door neighbor. He severely over hyped Teddy Boy to me as some kind of Super Mario Bros killer so of course I was let down. Still many a fun weekends and after school gaming sessions were had although I personally could never stomach much My Hero.
I desperately want to know the thinking behind the thinking for the "picture of the boxart on the cartridge but not on the box itself" thing that Master System games like My Hero & Ghost House had.
Dan Gorlin also created one of my favourite games of all time - Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child, before promptly vanishing from the industry in a puff of code logic.
I question the decision of a game being based on a pop song when the game has nothing to do with the song or the singer. But maybe there is some connection between a yarmulke-clad boy shooting bugs that come out of toy boxes with a submachine gun and Yoko Ishino's "Teddy Boy Blues" that defies localization or translation
The way the protagonist of My Hero's eye derps back and forth as he walks is nothing short of comical. It's clearly meant to indicate his head turning slightly as he walks, but since no other part of his head moves with it, it just makes him look like he has a lazy eye. I consider it a point in the otherwise inferior Master System port's favour that it _doesn't_ do this.
That port of My Hero has always bugged me, you don't just lose the graphics for the later two stages in the arcade but also their incredible tunes. Such a bunmner. Anyways, stoked to see Master System coverage!
Sega had a bad habit of cutting content from Master System games to reduce memory size. The North American and PAL versions of the Master System port of Enduro Racer are missing half the tracks found in the Japanese version. The US version of the Master System port of Captain Silver is missing enemies and stages found in the Japanese, PAL, and Canadian versions.
Signs point to “quite possibly”: hg101.proboards.com/thread/10256/general-game-chat-thread?page=137 They definitely licensed Rydeen for Super Loco-Motive.
@@JeremyParish Sega was still including the Pengo version of Popcorn on their soundtrack CDs into the early 2000s, so if they didn't license it, then they were playing with fire for a really long time.
It’s interesting comparing My Hero to Kung Fu, as they both were out around the same time in the US. Kung Fu if anything looked like a second generation advanced Coleco vision game and almost nothing like it’s arcade counterpart, but it retained 5 different levels to play through and if anything is actually superior gameplay wise to its predecessor. I love the Sega “enhanced” versions of apple 2 era games though. I really want to play their pitfall.
There is NO way anyone saw the smooth frame rates and colorful sprites of Kung Fu for NES and said, "Ah, yes, ColecoVision is back!" Source: My family owned a ColecoVision and ADAM, and the first time I saw a Kung Fu demo I couldn't believe how much better it looked than anything I'd ever seen on a home system before.
It's from Captain EO, a short 3D film that used to be shown at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas was involved as a writer and executive producer, and it starred Michael Jackson and Anjelica Huston.
Like the SMS in the US, Captain EO came out in 1986. If you were flipping channels back then you might see a commercial for it as a new Disneyland attraction?
Fen om in AL. JP does it again. I will never play My Hero again, but I am going to grab the yoke and go for broke rescuing the poor civilian population trapped in crowded bunkers. It's their fault if they get crushed under my skids. Enemy territory is a bitch. Great job pointing out the great from the goobs.
I've always been terrible at remembering dates, and Sega's repid console release doesn't make it much better. Usually it's 2 consoles per decade for most companies, but Sega has so many it's confusing..!
I'm not a huge fan of Choplifter, but the SMS version is easily better than other home console and computer versions. It's still worth playing today and in some other libraries it's a skip. My Hero and Teddy Boy are fun for a few minutes but not something people will be spending an entire weekend with. They are two of the better sms games on card but all the card games are really average with exception of F16 which is terrible.
The arcade version of Teddy Boy Blues actually had a bonus stage where you control Yohko Ishino, but bonus stages were cut entirely from all later ports of the game. I guess it made game localization easier as it left no traces of game's licensed nature aside from music.
The Master System/Mark III version has a different bonus stage where you open boxes.
Haven't had a chance to comment on this new chapter of Segaiden yet, but really enjoying the trip down alternate universe lane where I get to imagine what life would have been like had the fates made me a Master System kid. I can already feel the coping mechanisms kicking in.
Honestly, I think if you look at where NES and Master System stood at the end of 1986, Sega had a more impressive lineup overall. And then, 1987 happened.
I was a NES kid growing up. But my neighbors had a Master System. And My Hero was one of my favorites. I actually enjoyed it as much (if not more) than Kung Fu on the NES. The crazy carnival-esque soundtrack is what really drew me to the game. As well as the sound the character made when executing a jump kick. And the action was always frantic. I didn't learn until much later that the arcade game had so much more content than the home port. Still, I hold My Hero in high regard...and it is still one of my favorites on the console.
Always been a fan of Choplifter, one of my favorites from the Commodore Vic-20 back in the day. The way they pulled off parallax scrolling/pseudo 3D effects with early 80's tech is still technically impressive.
Choplifter looks seriously impressive. I feel I would have loved it were I alive in that era
no joke, i didn't realize i was looking at the SMS version (and not the arcade) for almost the entire segment
A New Year in which there will be many Master System episodes, Sherlock is set free, and we get difficult arcade ports and Teddy Boy. Looking forward to more My Card stuff next time.
As rough as My Hero on the Master System is, there's no denying that the song that plays throughout that game is an absolute earworm. Now it's going to be stuck in my head all day, Jeremy!
I agree! The arcade version has two more themes that are cool too. Same with another Sega/Coreland game, "Brain" and "I'm Sorry". Very similar styles.
Very happy you’re onto the Master System now, a system I’ve enjoyed massively since childhood. It’s a lot to juggle with NES/GB works too - I really appreciate it!
Three of my favorite SMS games in one episode. Bravo.
Your random trivia of the day: the same Magazine that the pin-up poster featuring the main character of Mach Rider as a woman, "High Score", also did some other "let's imagine these non-established characters as women" posters as well. This includes the pilot from Gradius, and yes, even the one from Choplifter! Probably not canon by any stretch of the imagination, but if you want to pretend the rescue mission is helmed by a woman wearing a tank top, briefs, and shoulderpads than at least one source out there supports you.
Was the Japanese version of My Hero just a singular level too?
Sega did have a knack of chopping games in half to save on money for the western release ALA Enduro Racer and the US version of Captain Silver.
That Captain Eo clip tho...
Thanks! I was wondering what that clip was!
I never bought any of these early games, as they already seemed "old and weird" to my younger self, back when I got the console (around the launch of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game), so this series is an excellent chance to see the origins of the Master System catalogue and the forebears to the rather complex stuff Sega would later work up to on the system. Excellent work so far!
As much as we joke about heyanko alien and xevious and druaga, Choplifter is the game that now has a permanent space in my brain from watching these videos.
It kinda makes sense for Teddy Boy to remove its song, considering that no foreign language song from Asia hit it big in the US market from Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki in 1963 to PSY's Gangnam Style in 2012. (No, Pink Lady's Kiss From The Dark doesn't count, as that was sung in English)
Teddy Boy was rechristened as Geraldinho in Brazil, based on a local comic book character, starting Tec Toy's "let's reskin Sega games to tie-in to various local properties" series that helped make the Master System a hit in that region.
Also, Choplifter had a mediocre Famicom port by Jaleco that wasn't released here, likely because of the whole "games of the same name can't be on another console and the NES" rule, which was rarely enforced, since the Atari 7800 had Donkey Kong on it as well.
I admit it's kindof a copout, but I will cite t.A.T.u's 2002 hit "Ya Soshla s Uma". Was the popularity of Russian language version of the song completely dwarfed in the us by the EN version "All the Things She Said"? Yes. Does Russian only TECHNICALLY count as "asian" in this context and completely go against the point you were making? Absolutely. Do I care about either of those facts? Not at all! 😂
@@ValkyrieTiara Russia counts as both Europe and Asia, though.
I covered this in a Gaiden episode, but the late Atari releases of DK and Mario Bros. appear to be holdovers of pre-NES Afarisoft deals. A loophole!
@@JeremyParish Still, there were some games on both the 7800 and the NES, also by loopholes (Double Dragon, Commando, Ikari Warriors, Kung Fu, Xenophobe, Galaga, Rampage and Xevious), all gained through different licenses.
Atari also used their pre-NES deals for Ocean to sublicense and make their (quite good) Donkey Kong port and (quite crap) Mario Bros. ports for various European microcomputers
My understanding of Nintendo's cross-platform license rules were not "it can't be on other systems" but rather "if it's on other system's it's gotta be unique on NES." So you get Rygar and Strider the metroidvanias, Section Z the space maze, Ninja Gaiden the fast-action platformer, Bionic Commando the sequel to the arcade game, 1943 with a power-up system, etc. etc. Sucked for kids who wanted straight arcade ports but, in a vacuum, it generally worked out well since those redesigned games worked better on the aging hardware.
Having played My Hero on Master System first, it's just nice to know there's an arcade timeline where it fulfills more of its potential. Still weirdly appealing.
It's good to see SMS get the treatment. I've never been able to get into the SMS/Mark 3, honestly. I can't stand the way it sounds without the FM module, and those aren't easy to come by. The PSG irritates me on a strange level that I don't understand, which is weird because I love chiptunes from things like the NES's 2A03, Atari Pokey, and the SID. I really appreciate having the voice over as it helps me to appreciate the history and gameplay without having the sound chip boring a hole in my skull.
The Tetrarch of Tweed has returned for more Segaiden fun! Can't wait for the book release.
hot damn, I think this is my favourite series Jeremy's done for a while. These games look awesome! I can't wait for my TecToy Mega Drive to someday arrive
I imagine Steven giving the boss the "There's always other fish in the sea!" line in those endings from "My Hero", before his girlfriend gets taken again.
That is a mighty fine looking port of Choplifter! Surprised I hadn't heard it recommended before- definitely going to try that out. SMS continues to impress!
That version of Choplifter just reminds me even more of the DS game Glory Days 2 which followed an old Apple II game by the name of Armor Alley by adding RTS gameplay to Choplifter. You fly around and rescue people as normal but you also buy soldiers and vehicles that move along the ground and fight enemy ground troops, the goal being to push the enemy presence back across the map and having your troops destroy their home base.
Chopfliter, def my most played MS game ever... love it
I came across a boxed pal master system with some games last month. I already bought an everdrive like cart with all the games for the MS and Game Gear, so I'll be attentive to this series!
My Hero was one of the first SMS games I acquired, and also one of the ones I've spent the least time playing. "A frustrating wreck" is being charitable.
I'm still pumped about the SMS getting the Video Works treatment 👌🏻 I played about 80% of the games covered so far, back in the day. The Hang On card, in particular (the physical object), causes crazy nostalgia synapses to fire in my brain. There's something unique about games that take you back to early childhood (for me, 4-5 years old)
I was 9 or 10 when I first heard of the SMS.
Me too, but that's because I was 9 or 10 when the SMS debuted 💀
@@JeremyParish Good times!
choplifter! there were a handful of SMS games I remember playing, and that one was definitely one of my favorites. pretty sure I rarely if ever saw beyond the first level, but still a fun and challenging one! the other two I don't remember seeing though, so you just get my choplifter review. :P
Some fun but tough games. If I make it through a level of Choplifter it's a good day.
Ah early Master System titles were my first experience with the console, courtesy of my next door neighbor. He severely over hyped Teddy Boy to me as some kind of Super Mario Bros killer so of course I was let down. Still many a fun weekends and after school gaming sessions were had although I personally could never stomach much My Hero.
Love shoplifter! Still one of my favorite games to play on Master and Game Boy those versions are also great fun
How much do you gotta steal before you beat the game?
I desperately want to know the thinking behind the thinking for the "picture of the boxart on the cartridge but not on the box itself" thing that Master System games like My Hero & Ghost House had.
"Look at this weird tiny game media format!"
Dan Gorlin also created one of my favourite games of all time - Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child, before promptly vanishing from the industry in a puff of code logic.
If you pay attention closely to the early Sega games you'll notice some games share the same enemies.
Can't wait for 'Alex Kidd: High Tech World', such a quirky one.
I question the decision of a game being based on a pop song when the game has nothing to do with the song or the singer. But maybe there is some connection between a yarmulke-clad boy shooting bugs that come out of toy boxes with a submachine gun and Yoko Ishino's "Teddy Boy Blues" that defies localization or translation
I feel Sega's downfall really did come from a lack of follow up games with a Steven, Steve or Stephen in them.
The way the protagonist of My Hero's eye derps back and forth as he walks is nothing short of comical. It's clearly meant to indicate his head turning slightly as he walks, but since no other part of his head moves with it, it just makes him look like he has a lazy eye. I consider it a point in the otherwise inferior Master System port's favour that it _doesn't_ do this.
That port of My Hero has always bugged me, you don't just lose the graphics for the later two stages in the arcade but also their incredible tunes. Such a bunmner. Anyways, stoked to see Master System coverage!
Yeah, we don't get the future stage and you're saving your girlfriend from being harvested for human DNA to replenish the ape species.
Sega had a bad habit of cutting content from Master System games to reduce memory size. The North American and PAL versions of the Master System port of Enduro Racer are missing half the tracks found in the Japanese version. The US version of the Master System port of Captain Silver is missing enemies and stages found in the Japanese, PAL, and Canadian versions.
Jeremy mentions "superstructure" and my ears perk up.
Who's that guy at the beginning who looks like a non blue Radiguet from Jetman?
ah, I see you tamed Teddy Boy's harsh primary color backgrounds this time around
Youji Ishii, the designer of Teddy Boy Blues, was inspired by the computer game Drol. It also influenced a previous game he was involved in, Flicky.
As mentioned in my Drol retrospective: ua-cam.com/video/H4PDmUKl5Bk/v-deo.html
Glorious video
wait wait wait wait... did Sega really license Popcorn for use in Pengo?
Signs point to “quite possibly”: hg101.proboards.com/thread/10256/general-game-chat-thread?page=137 They definitely licensed Rydeen for Super Loco-Motive.
@@JeremyParish I always assumed they didn't actually get it as I could never find details...
@@JeremyParish Sega was still including the Pengo version of Popcorn on their soundtrack CDs into the early 2000s, so if they didn't license it, then they were playing with fire for a really long time.
It’s interesting comparing My Hero to Kung Fu, as they both were out around the same time in the US. Kung Fu if anything looked like a second generation advanced Coleco vision game and almost nothing like it’s arcade counterpart, but it retained 5 different levels to play through and if anything is actually superior gameplay wise to its predecessor.
I love the Sega “enhanced” versions of apple 2 era games though. I really want to play their pitfall.
There is NO way anyone saw the smooth frame rates and colorful sprites of Kung Fu for NES and said, "Ah, yes, ColecoVision is back!" Source: My family owned a ColecoVision and ADAM, and the first time I saw a Kung Fu demo I couldn't believe how much better it looked than anything I'd ever seen on a home system before.
@@JeremyParish to be fair I should have known that was an exaggeration, given how similar the Coleco was to the sg-1000
My Hero is the first game I ever owned that absolutely and completely loathed.
Can anyone identify that weird stop motion/scifi footage at the beginning?
It's from Captain EO, a short 3D film that used to be shown at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas was involved as a writer and executive producer, and it starred Michael Jackson and Anjelica Huston.
What does Captain EO have to do with the rest lol! Am I missing something?
Like the SMS in the US, Captain EO came out in 1986. If you were flipping channels back then you might see a commercial for it as a new Disneyland attraction?
Beret? I always thought Teddy Boy was supposed to be the first Jewish video game protagonist.
Oy!
But does call his mother?
No it was rich uncle pennybags
My Hero kind of reminds me of Trojan at the same time, which I guess itself is a riff of Kung Fu.
I can see that, yeah. But there are a few differences, first and foremost being that Trojan has a great home port and My Hero does not.
Fen om in AL. JP does it again. I will never play My Hero again, but I am going to grab the yoke and go for broke rescuing the poor civilian population trapped in crowded bunkers. It's their fault if they get crushed under my skids. Enemy territory is a bitch. Great job pointing out the great from the goobs.
Jeremy, what is the movie clip at 0:07 from?
These Segaiden episodes are always fun for me since I know so little about the earlier systems.
It's Captain EO.
@@bloodscourge You know, I've heard of it before but didn't know anything about it until I looked it up on youtube. Weird stuff there. Thanks!
What is that opening clip from?
The Sega master system version of choplifter is excellent. 😀👍🎮
I've always been terrible at remembering dates, and Sega's repid console release doesn't make it much better. Usually it's 2 consoles per decade for most companies, but Sega has so many it's confusing..!
I'm not a huge fan of Choplifter, but the SMS version is easily better than other home console and computer versions. It's still worth playing today and in some other libraries it's a skip. My Hero and Teddy Boy are fun for a few minutes but not something people will be spending an entire weekend with. They are two of the better sms games on card but all the card games are really average with exception of F16 which is terrible.
F-16 is terrible, but at least it's an interesting sort of terrible.
@@JeremyParish thanks for covering these, they are part of what makes SMS so unique...and crazy it's the same port the glasses plug into.