Ghouls'n Ghosts (Sega Mega Drive / Genesis review)

Developer: Sega R&D 2
Publisher: Sega of America
Released: 1989

Ghouls'n Ghosts is an action title that was originally released in the Arcade in 1988.

+ Includes a compelling amount of ideas in its level design and reaching a checkpoint feels like a huge achievement.

+ Has a plethora of memorable moments, including the iconic opening graveyard and Level 3's vertically scrolling tower.

+ Between-stage map gives scope to the adventure, and the unlimited continues reset your points to aid high score attempts.

+ Menacing bosses are fun, especially Stage 4's giant worm hearts that resemble the alien pods in Contra (1988, NES).

- Some weapons are wholly useless in problematic areas and it's easy to accidentally collect a downgrade in the heat of battle.

- Enemies often spawn directly on top of your sprite, and your inability to steer in mid-air causes no end of frustration.

- Has an enormous amount of trial-and-error and needing to beat the game twice to see the ending is rather lame.

Cloud Master (Sega Master System review)

Developer: HOT-B, Opera House
Publisher: Sega of America
Released: 1989

Cloud Master is a horizontally scrolling shooter that was first released in the Arcade in 1988.

+ Despite its cutesy exterior, the gameplay offers a good level of challenge and some atypical enemies.

+ Has a nice range of secondary weapons to choose from, which are unlimited and carry forward to the next stage.

+ Bosses have impressively large sprites and the between round cut-scenes have great artwork.

- Protracted stages wear out their welcome and there's no set pieces or level design shifts to keep you engaged.

- Checkpoints are too spaced out, and it can take several rounds before you have the ability to fully power up.

- Bullets tend to blur into the background for cheap deaths, and sprite flicker and slowdown also work against you.

- Pre-checkpoint guardians bore with their repeated attack patterns, and the game's main bosses are very alike.

Casino Games (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Compile
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1989

Casino Games is a collection of card and arcade games that's exclusive to the Sega Master System.

+ Mix of game types caters to a wider audience, and a password option becomes available after obtaining $1000.

+ Blackjack and Poker are great for quick play sessions, and CPU opponents in the latter have 'tells' if you look closely!

+ Excellent animations / title screen artwork, as well as humorous cut-scenes once you run out of money.

- Baccarat fails to provide much entertainment, as the action unfolds automatically with no real player input.

- Pinball only has one basic table, and the floaty physics make it tough to catch the ball on a flipper or generate power shots.

- Fruit Machine is very simplistic and the inability to hold certain reels makes for unengaging gameplay in the long run.

- There's no option to turn off the short, looping music, and the game's advice after going bankrupt is questionable!

Basketball Nightmare (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Released: 1989

Basketball Nightmare is a sports game that's exclusive to the Sega Master System.

+ Timing-based shot mechanic rewards skill, and impressively there's six different court locations available.

+ Close-up dunk animations look amazing and have much more fluidity than seen in Double Dribble (1987, NES).

- The game's main attraction is its ghoulish teams, yet in multiplayer you can only select normal human players.

- Sprite flicker and minuscule ball size make it astonishingly difficult to see who has possession during gameplay.

- A.I. is dumb, as teammates avoid defense and opponents defer wide open dunks in favour of random backcourt passes.

- CPU follows pre-set lanes, and cheap wins can be gained by blocking their path until they hand over the ball!

- B-movie music during gameplay does fit, but the short track loops endlessly and there's no option to mute it.

Bomber Raid (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sanritsu
Publisher: Activision
Released: 1989

Bomber Raid is a vertically-scrolling shooter and the last Sega Master System game released in Japan.

+ Ample power-up opportunities, and like TwinBee (1985, Arcade) you can continually blast icons to cycle through upgrades.

+ Makes you feel like a destruction machine when fully powered-up, and it's satisfying mowing down foes with ease.

+ Excellent range of enemy types with unique patterns, and there's only minimal slowdown despite tons of on-screen sprites.

+ Has a manageable level of difficulty and even shoot-em-up novices have a good chance of progressing deep into the game.

- Levels are drawn-out and the stage design doesn't create enough memorable moments to keep your interest peaked.

- Holding a button down to rapid fire is pointless due to its pathetic shooting rate, meaning constant tapping is required.

- When upgraded to full speed, your ship moves too fast and trying to make precise movements is a nerve-racking task.

Alf (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Nexa
Publisher: Sega of America
Released: 1989

Alf is an action-adventure title that's based on the hit TV sitcom of the same name.

+ There's some humorous quips from Alf if he's left idle, and the music (while admittedly repetitive) is very catchy.

- Gets off to a brutal start in the tough cave section and it's potluck whether you successfully hit the respawning bats.

- Collision detection is terrible and the game often thinks you've made contact with street bikers despite clear distance.

- Light on content / locations, and if the Book item is purchased the game cheaply sends you back to the title screen!

- In-game hints have an irritating tendency to quickly disappear if you're holding a button or d-pad direction at the same time.

- Game engine feels like it's always on the verge of breaking down, with frequent stutters and slowdown throughout.

- Animation is poor (especially when using the staircase), and Alf's sprite briefly disappears when turning.

Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator (Atari 7800 review)

Developer: Absolute Entertainment
Publisher: Absolute Entertainment
Released: 1989

Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator is an aerial combat game that was also released on the Atari 2600 (1989).

+ Good graphics with cool flight deck details, and the secondary landing / incoming missile displays add to the immersion.

+ Take-off is uncomplicated, and the animation of the deck officer waving you along is a nice presentational touch.

- Cumbersome controls aren't suited to a home console, as the game forces you to use the hardware's buttons / switches.

- Action is mind-numbingly boring and there's plenty of time to have a snooze while waiting for a bogey to appear.

- Dogfighting is the weakest part of the game, as skittish enemies can magically warp a few pixels ahead to avoid you.

- Missile lock-on should be a fun, effective part of the action, but the tracking time is very short and often unreliable.

- Landing is painfully difficult, mainly due to the minuscule 10° altitude safety range that you need to stay within.