Double Hawk (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sanritsu, Opera House
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1990

Double Hawk is a shooting game that's exclusive to the Sega Master System.

+ Fans of Cabal (1988, Arcade) will feel at home with the similar gameplay, and a two-player co-op mode is available.

+ Falling power-ups add a risk-reward element, and obtaining the machine gun for rapid fire is super satisfying.

+ Bosses are a joy thanks to their multi-target battles that are reminiscent of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, Arcade).

- Gameplay is ripe for Light Phaser functionality, but the Control Pad only offering mutes a lot of the potential enjoyment.

- Your character and reticle move at an absolute snail's pace, and there's no roll mechanic to quickly get out of harm's way.

- Frequent occurrences where nothing happens on screen for ten second periods, leaving you twiddling your thumbs.

- Lack of music during gameplay hurts the atmosphere, and there's little scenic variety and too many repeated assets.

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.

Great Volleyball (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sanritsu
Publisher: Sega of America
Released: 1987

Great Volleyball is a sports game that's exclusive to the Sega Master System.

+ Practice mode is a great way to develop your serving / spiking skills, and the eight national anthems are a neat touch.

+ Strategy is afforded in the way of points that can be used to upgrade your team's service, spike or receiving abilities.

- Ball frequently exits camera view after a push shot, and it's difficult to perfectly time a spike when it's on the way down.

- Physics are floaty and unpredictable, and it's genuinely unnerving trying to line up a player to receive an incoming serve.

- Doesn't always select the nearest player, resulting in lost points as your team casually watch the ball hit the floor.

- No difficulty options, and despite the simple premise the gameplay is tough with the CPU showing no mercy.

- Tournament only consists of three matches (with no gauntlet mode), and the cup outcome isn't shown if you exit early.

Wanted (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sanritsu
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1989

Wanted is a light-gun shooter that requires the Sega Light Phaser.

+ Offers a refreshing take on the genre and having to wait for foes to draw before shooting adds serious tension.

+ Stages provide lots of scenic variety, with Scene 5 being a highlight due to its hectic multitasking as doors open and close.

+ Horse riding sections help to switch things up and the small background targets show off the Light Phaser's reliability.

+ Both mini-games are enormous amounts of fun and the bottle smashing tests your reflexes, patience and accuracy.

+ Gives you a choice of three difficulty settings and the awesome graphics / presentation pull you into the Western theme.

- Not much in the way of content and the mini-games could have been fleshed out to provide additional modes.

- Stages are incredibly brief and you'll likely see the end credits within 10-15 minutes with little reason to return.

Assault City (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sanritsu
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1990

Assault City is a shooting game released in two cartridge types that either support the Light Phaser or standard controller.

+ The opening Challenge stage is a savvy idea that tests your accuracy and then automatically adjusts the game's difficulty.

+ Level design throws out a multitude of ideas from Stage 4 onwards and the Phaser's rapid fire ability helps to even the odds.

+ Outstanding bosses are the true highlight, as they have mild puzzle elements that require patience over continuous fire.

+ Backgrounds feature destructible scenery and watching bosses slowly break apart is a great visual reward for skilled play.

+ Gun accuracy is among the best on the system, and the standard controller fairs well thanks to a generous reticle size.

- Stages 1-3 are forgettable, as they excessively repeat the first wave of enemies that have predictable patterns.

- Story and cinematics dash by at ridiculous speed and there's literally no time to read the text or get invested in the plot!

Aerial Assault (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sanritsu, Sega R&D 2
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1990

Aerial Assault is a horizontally-scrolling shooter that later received a scaled back port on the Sega Game Gear in 1992.

+ Variety of weapons available and there's plenty of opportunities to quickly power yourself up after losing a life.

+ Mixes in both air and land opponents, with the latter adding a risk-reward element if your bomb reserve is depleted.

+ Stage 2's day/night cycle, weather effects and parallax scrolling are astonishing and create a menacing backdrop.

+ Stage 4 is an inspired change of pace, as wide open spaces are ditched in favour of tight corridors that test your nerve.

- Levels massively outstay their welcome and aren't always backed up with interesting set-pieces or fresh ideas.

- Items from defeated enemies travel in a wavy pattern, making it irritatingly easy to grab one you don't want.

- Inclusion of a 1-Down item is cheap, as it instantly kills you and you can't always avoid it in the heat of battle.

Psychic World (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Sanritsu
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1991

Psychic World is an action game that was first released on the MSX (1988) and then ported to the Sega Game Gear (1991).

+ Terrific level design (including multiple pathways to tackle certain areas) and Stage 2 has some tense set-pieces.

+ Weapons are continually added to your arsenal and figuring out the best one to use is similar to the Mega Man series.

+ Environmental aspect of using power-ups to reach otherwise inaccessible areas adds a cool puzzle element.

- Brutal difficulty (compared to the handheld port) and you can find yourself stuck in the scenery and unable to progress.

- There's no grace period of temporary invincibility when you take damage, so your life can quickly be depleted.

- No checkpoints throughout and when you're kicked back to the start of the level your life isn't replenished.

- Many cutbacks and missing several stages from the MSX original, making for an incomplete experience.