The Life and Times of the Sega Master System (Part III): Features

A look back at Sega's adverts...

Sega really liked these ads with screenshots of all their games. We saw it again with the Genesis as well.

A Japanese Ad for the Master System.

Rule #1 when trying to sell something: don't slap a giant-headed, androgynous person on the front page of your literature.

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The Life and Times of the Sega Master System

(Page 3)

Peripherals Everywhere:

Sega has routinely made several different types of peripherals for their consoles, and the Master System was no exception. For the North American market, gamers got the more conventional gadgets to come out for the console, but if one looks at what was made for the Mark III that never made it out of Japan, one can see that even in the early days Sega was all for releasing off beat peripherals for their consoles.

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SegaScope 3D-Glasses:

These are the only full-on 3D glasses to ever be made for any home console. Sure, some publishers will pack in a pair of cutout paper glasses, but no one has gone so far as to make a proper, marketable peripheral as such. The SegaScope worked by having separate shutters in the left and right lenses of the glasses which would alternate opening and closing, right-eye, left-eye, right-eye, left-eye, giving the illusion that the game was in 3D. Unfortunately, these glasses only worked on the Sega Master System I, since only this version of the console had a card port, which is where the SegaScope was attached to the SMS. Due to the peripheral’s inability to gain in popularity, only a handful of games were ever released for it.

Sega Sports Pad:

Back in the 1980s, trackballs were still a popular type of game controller, and one managed to make its way to the Master System in the form of the Sega Sports Pad. Over the course of its life, though, the Sports Pad only ever saw a few games, Sports Pad Football, Sports Pad Soccer, and Great Ice Hockey.

Sega Light Phaser:

During the 8-bit era, light guns became all the rage. People were blasting the crap out of everything back then, and Sega was going to make good and sure that they got in on the action with the Master System. Initially named the Zillion Gun, to coincide with the game by the same name, which was released on the Japanese SMS and also had its own anime series, the peripheral simply became known as the Light Phaser in North America. There wasn’t a huge number of games made for the gun, but it did manage to wrangle up about a half dozen games of note including Safari Hunt, Shooting Gallery, Missile Defense 3-D, Gangster Town, and Marksman / Trap Shooter.

Telecon Pack:

The Telecon Pack never left Japan, and was only released for the Sega Mark III, and not the renditions of the Master System that came out over there. If ever there was a console peripheral that dripped with novelty, this was it. Those who bought the thing would connect a huge radar dish to their TV, and then pop a small transmitter on their Mark III. So, instead of connecting the Mark III to a television via cables like most people, one could transmit their games’ AV data through the air. At the end of the day, the Telecon Pack was a useless, yet strangely titillating piece of kitsch.

FM Sound Unit:

Sweet, sweet FM sound. Back when AM radio still dominated the airwaves, despite the muffled sound quality, it was a secret dream of many to see the day when that high-fidelity FM sound would rule the roost. With that, Sega released their FM Sound Unit for the Mark III in Japan, which was designed to improve the sound quality of games on the system.

Master Gear:

While this wasn’t a Master System peripheral per say, it was still a neat device. With the Master Gear one could play their Master System games on the Sega Game Gear. All one needed to do was pop the Master Gear in the cartridge slot of the handheld, then put the game in the device and they could play games like Phantasy Star, and Alex Kidd on the road.

Power Base Converter:

While the Master Gear may have slipped under the radar of a number of gamers, the Power Base Converter most likely didn’t. With this converter one could play their Master System games on a Sega Genesis.

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Graphic Board:

Very early on in Sega’s entry to the console market they introduced a primitive koala pad for their SG-1000 II. While it could give gamers with an artistic flare something to fiddle with, it wasn’t the most responsive piece of hardware in the world. For a time there were rumors that an updated version of the Graphic Board was going to be released for the Japanese version of the Master System, but the device never materialized.

The SP-400 and SK-1100 (Word Processing on a Console?):

Early on, Sega began to advertise their consoles as more of a multi-purpose device in Japan. Systems like the SG-1000, SG-1000 II, as well as the Sega Mark III could easily run a number of peripherals that got their start on Sega’s personal computer, the SC-3000. Two of the more interesting of these were a keyboard, the SK-1100, and a 4-color plotter printer, the SP-400. With that, brochures for these consoles started to show that they weren’t just games systems, but a means for junior to do his homework.

Sega Data Recorder:

While we're on the subject of SC-3000 hand-me-downs, the SG consoles, as well as the Mark III were also eventually marketed with Sega’s cassette recorder, the SR-1000, generally referred to as the Sega Data Recorder.

Rapid Fire Unit:

Usually when someone wanted a turbo button for their games, they had to buy a fully equipped controller to do it. With the Rapid Fire Unit, Master System owners could connect this between their console and a gamepad, and adjust which buttons had turbo from the unit without having to get a whole new controller.

Sega Control Stick and Infra Red Control Pad (Controllers for Lefties!):

An interesting thing about Sega’s aftermarket controllers for the Master System is that they appear to have been made for left-handed people, as devices like their Control Stick, and wireless controller (not to mention the Sports Pad) all had the buttons on the left side of the device, and the directional unit on the right.

We've watched the Master System crash and burn, we've seen how it all got started in Japan, and we've drooled over all of the peripherals to come out for the console. With that we'll wrap things up by taking a look at some of the more surprising games to sneak onto the system's radar.