For those not in the know about the Master System you can read up on the system in Damo’s hardware focus. Basically it was the 8-bit forerunner to the Sega Genesis and a direct rival to the NES. Whilst Sega didn’t have too much success in cracking the American market at the time the console enjoyed decent sales in Europe, particularly in the UK. Later in its lifespan Brazil adopted it as its gaming platform of choice and many new games were created!
It is quite fitting that the first Master System game to be released on the VC is Wonder Boy as along with Alex Kidd in the early days Tom-Tom was used as a mascot for Sega. If you are familiar with Adventure Island on the NES you will know what you are getting here as they are practically the same game. Sega did a press release last week saying that Master System games would cost 400 points in North America, however Nintendo’s own press release states that Wonder Boy will cost 500 points so we are not sure who is correct for now. At either price point you can’t go too far wrong with this.
America will also be getting a new N64 game this week! Unfortunately it is the lacklustre Cruis’n USA. It was substandard back in the days and time hasn’t done it any favours. The sequel Cruis'n World was quite a lot better so it may be worth waiting to see if it comes out as we can’t recommend this in all honesty.
Do me a favour, plug me into a Sega!
Note: These games will not be available in the North American Wii Shop Channel until 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mon 31st March.
Comments (58)
I heard C64 is Europe exclusive, is this right? And will the Sega Master System be exclusive for America too? I hope not
I'd rather have Master System games than c64. Since MS was quite successful in Europe it makes sense to release the games here too.
Well if history is to go by Australia will get c64 .
Thing of it Australia never got any turbografx titles on vc for a while then bam australia suddenly got 11 whole titles in one week eventually catching up with europe because of that i'm hopeing that the c64 will release the c64 games here in australia .
I be paying attention to the oflc site for a lookout for c64 titles & the same will apply to the vcr team here so they can deliver all the news from the oven on to all your dinner plate .
@Bensei: The Master System was far more successful in Europe than it was in the States (especially in the UK) so it will be available here don't worry. The NES was the 8-Bit powerhouse across the water with many gamers not even having heard of the Master System. Oh and Dazza, working on a Saturday morning? That's dedication for ya! Fair play!!
Europe got the C64 on Thursday, US gets Master System on Monday, I guess both systems might be region exclusives for now, but that might change, not sure though.
I will probably get both games because I have enough points to get Cruis 'n USA and the Wonder Boy game.
I actually liked Cruis 'n USA back in the day, and I think this might be the first N64 game to not come from Nintendo, am I right? I think Midway made the Cruis'n game if im not mistaken.
But either way this is a good week, can't wait for Monday to get here!
@Kawaiikachu: Don't know about AU, but EU got C64 games already on Friday, switch countries and you can download it if it isn't already in your shop.
I guess we get a new Hanabi festival next month (several import titles rated by USK including the ones America got), therefore I guess we'll get Master System not before May (if there aren't some import titles too)
I'll be getting Wonderboy!
Pretty decent, but I hope it is not our quality N64 game of the month...
Japan got the SMS too, so its hardly a region exclusive...
I think it's pretty simple to see why Wonder Boy is 500 points. Anybody who knows that Adventure Island is the same game would get Wonder Boy instead if it was 400.
yeah, that is a very good reason. nintendo won't want A.I. downloads to dry up.
Am I the only one who liked Cruisn' USA?
I liked Cruisin' back then, but would never consider it good today.
I hope it's just this one game that's 500 points because I was looking forward to 400 point games at last. Somehow, people always get stuck with 400 points...
I'm willing to bet that C64 and SMS won't stay region-exclusive for very long.
I'm willing to bet that C64 and SMS won't stay region-exclusive for very long.
I doubt they will be exclusive for long either. SMS is sure to get a Euro launch as the system was much bigger there than the USA. It will be easy for Sega to get behind this in Europe.
Again the C64 was a runaway success in the USA. Commodore Gaming however may not be the company who will secure the ESRB ratings. Kaasa solution GmbH secured the PEGI rating so who knows who will tackle the USA market?
STILL really annoyed that Ad Isle came out before this was announced
I even recall the C64 being metioned in an Episode of Freinds so I'm sure Nintendo is well aware of its signifigance in American pop culture
What I'm hoping for is that some of the Master System games that never made it to the States, like the Sonic games and such. Also there ARE people in the U.S. that had a Commodore 64, so I'd think we'd like some C64 games as well.
Yeah, I really hope the SMS Sonic games come out soon. I only ever played the first one so not too sure about the quality of the other SMS Sonic platformers.
@Tides of Chaos
LOL, I'm stuck with 400 points right now. I wish Nintendo would let us buy points in increments of a 100 with our credit card. But I guess set point amounts is part of their scheme.
im confused what came first adventure island or wonder boy
I am not getting Wonderboy. I never liked Adventure Island. I may wait for Wonder Island II and Adventure Boy 3-D. They were spinoffs of the original Wonder Boy and Adventure Island. Actually there all the same game, but intstead your character has on blue shorts instead of a grass skirt.
Maybe NOA will release the Wonderboy version of Puyo Puyo. Since all of these titles are starting to blend together. I am so confused and saving my Wii points for something else. Mario and Sonic never had this confusion with their games. This is three versions of the same game enough already!
More garbage on top of the rest of the trash released this pass year (except for Kirby 64).
"More garbage on top of the rest of the trash released this pass year (except for Kirby 64)."
It's kind of odd to see anybody calling Wonder Boy "garbage", while defending Kirby 64, seriously.
That's comparing a timeless classic with the black sheep of a series (hint: Kirby 64 isn't the classic).
I know what you mean, ICE. Nothing on the N64 is "classic" to me.
I probably won't buy Wonder Boy, but I'm glad to see a Master System game come. They weren't popular at all here in the 'States. If we're going to pick a Kirby to compare to Wonder, then maybe Kirby's Adventure on the NES. That's a classic, and is worthy of being on the VC for sure.
Calling Kirby 64 the only good thing released in the past year is just about the funniest joke I've ever heard.
I agree Drake. I think the best game to come out on the VC so far is Super Probector. I've gotten to the final boss on Hard mode 3 times and haven't defeated him yet...then again, I'm playing solo so it's a lot harder! On a side note, will Super Mario Bros : Lost Levels ever be re-released in Europe? I got my Wii at Christmas and got screwed out of that game.
The Master System was far more successful in Europe than it was in the States (especially in the UK) so it will be available here don't worry. The NES was the 8-Bit powerhouse across the water with many gamers not even having heard of the Master System.
The same was the case here in Norway, which IS in Europe. The NES was referred to as "Nintendo", the SNES as "Super Nintendo" and the Mega Drive as "Sega". The Master System was virtually unknown - Sega were those guys with that one console with Sonic games, nothing else. The Mega Drive didn't do too good here either, for that matter, but at least we knew what it was.
im confused what came first adventure island or wonder boy
Wonder Boy came first. The name, plot and graphic changes done to Adventure Island were done due to Sega owning the Wonder Boy name, but not the actual games themselves. This is also why the Turbografx got the entire Wonder Boy series under different names.
Oh, and Cruis'n USA is a great game, people.
And yet still people complain to Nintendo of what is out of there control besides what you may see as a trash game somebody else might see it as a gem .
And yet still people complain to Nintendo of what is out of there control besides what you may see as a trash game somebody else might see it as a gem .
No, that's just confusion. A lot of the games Nintendo has released recently ARE horrible, which encourages the ignorant to see more games that they don't know as similar the other stupid stuff.
Sure there are the hidden gems, but those still seem rare unfortunately >_<.
Im upset i bought AI like 3 weeks ago and wonder boy is the same thing but with better colors ._.
And better music. Hence why I'm annoyed too.
Sucks for you guys. Lucky for me, I'm going to get 4 NES games today.
The reason why the Master System failed so horribly in the USA was because Nintendo of America had strict and unfair licensing contracts that prohibited 3rd party game makers from releasing games on other consoles (ditto for Turbografx). This was also the heyday when rebels like Tengen and others released tons of unlicensed goodies for the NES. Nintendo's draconian rules were finally struck down by the Supreme Court, which explains why the Genesis (Mega Drive) was an excellent rival for the Super Nintendo.
OMG, we're not getting a shooter. Nice to see the Master System. Now bring on Phantasy Star and I'll be happy.
Wow that's bizarre. Master System wasn't even announced for North America, was it? And yet they've got it before we did. Good for you, North Americans; you're in for a treat with that system!
(Assuming you get to see the games that never got released over there first time around!)
Master System hitting US soon - 400 points per game
More garbage on top of the rest of the trash released this pass year (except for Kirby 64).
Okay since so many of you misunderstood my topic, I'll explain. First off, when I said this pass year I actually meant all of 2008 so far. Man if I had to pick the best game from this pass year I would go with Paper Mario. I'm sorry if I think the Wonder Boy series is garbage, it isn't. However, the game holds no value to me at all. I'm just getting really miffed at how the VC has been so far this year. Less games per week and some really garbage titles like Operation Wolf, have actually made me lose interest in the VC. It used to be that I would wait for Monday's with anticipation, but now I could care less. To clarify, Kirby 64 is the only game that I have downloaded in 2008. I know people will say that I should try new games like Harvest Moon or Lords of Thunder, but they hold no interest to me. I actually have 19 games on my Wii, but aside from the 3 Sonic games and the 3 Bonk games, everything else is from Nintendo. That's what I want from the VC, Nintendo games.
Maybe my comment about the games being trash were kinda harsh, although I think Cruis'n USA fits in that category. I think since N64 games are so rare, they should only release AAA titles.
I not calling Wonderboy garbage. My complaint is
1. Wonderboy, Adventure Island, New Adventure Island
2. Robotniks mean bean machine, Kirby Avalanche, Puyo Puyo
3. Dynastic Hero and Wonderboy whatever
There all the same game repacked with minor tweaks. How about putting out a wreslting game since there zero on the VC.
Or a racing sim
there are raching sims a & wrestling are more sport than the acting on tv which theese days the actors dont evin make it look real .
WHEN ARE WE GETTING MISCHIEF MAKERS
SERIOUSLY
Yes, Bass, but that was just on the 25th. We've known about the Master System coming to Europe and Japan for months, so it was still a surprise to see it hit NA before Europe.
NintendoBrad - That's the first time I've ever heard Yuzo Koshiro's name linked with Sonic...I think you may want to check your facts there.
I'd also argue that Sonic 2 on the MS, like its 16-bit cousin, is better than the original. Certainly a lot harder, especially the horribly annoying hang-glider levels, but a much more polished, and fun, game overall.
"How about putting out a wreslting game since there zero on the VC."- -YES! Raw +/or SuperBrawl plz!!!+when is US/EU getting
Pulseman?!?! though, it is cool to see SMS+C64 released.
also, they really need to consolidate all the VCs! like on ps3, if u have the ¥ or the €s for it, you can actually purchase/play XI[sai] or Echochrome[+ demos] from psStores abroad!! nintendo dosen't seem serious!! wiiware/vc, miichannel,+dscompatibity should al b developed alot more! what about a MarioPaint?! thats a major disconnect/wound for nintendo, imho.
I think Sonic 2 is better than Sonic 1 also.
Can somebody confirm if the Master System games are priced at 400 points in the U.S. please?
@Charco - I am pretty sure that the 400 points thing for Master System games was a mistake by Sega themselves. Nintendo seem to be saying they are 500.
We will know very soon at 9 a.m. Pacific time when Wonder Boy appears in the Wii Shop
@Charco - I am pretty sure that the 400 points thing for Master System games was a mistake by Sega themselves. Nintendo seem to be saying they are 500.
We will know very soon at 9 a.m. Pacific time when Wonder Boy appears in the Wii Shop
Thanks Dazza. It'd be sweet if they were 400, it was a system I never had chance to play so I'd definitely pick up a few games that I've heard people talking about.
@Everyone wanting VC MS Pricing - The annoucment as I've seen it around the net is that MS games will START at 400. I checked the VC this a.m., and Wonder Boy is 500. I'm assuming that the 400 point price will be for 'Sega Card' titles. I wonder if that means they can go above 500 as well? PS I for 600 points anyone? Meh...who knows
Seriously, I would rather have had SMS instead of C64. But perhaps Sega will be surprising us with goodies like Pantasy Star soon?
But I can't imagine Nintendo letting more than one new system get onto VC without a little time to calm the waves- otherwise there might be a risk of drawing unwanted attention to the Wii that could boost downloads in an uncontrollable fashion XD
Meh, pretty much predicted these games for today. I was kind of hoping we'd get Fantasy Zone as well but I guess not. Anyway, now that March's updates are over with, I'm going to start expecting some better releases. Perhaps some long overdue ones like River City Ransom, Mega Man 1 AND 2, as well as Vectorman? Seriously what's the hold up on these games in the US?
Lets see there is still no VC game I want right now. I guess I will save my Wii Points for Wii Ware games that I want when it comes out in May. If only Super Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., Super Mario RPG would be released.
Awesome! I'll download Wonder Boy. Even if it does cost 100 points more. I think that it's still worth it.
Another week without an epic SNES game. I swear Nintendo knows that it is the only Nintendo system I did not own and therefore will torture me with games I already possess and have no need to download. Grr. And Crusin' USA was a great game. Don't be knocking. I liked it better than Crusin' World or Exotica.
I'll be downloading Wonder Boy for sure at some point but right now Brawl is at my full attention. Maybe i'll play it in a couple weeks.
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