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This game is a blatant… homage to OG Legend of Zelda. But IMHO it does almost everything better.
The game begins with
LinkKelesis entering a cavern where an old woman tells him to take a sword - and some boots because our boy can’t even dress himself.After that, you know the drill. Top-down action rpg mode, slaying monsters, leveling up, finding secrets and better equipment.
Where it improves on the original LoZ is that the Master System was more powerful than the original NES, so the graphics here are brighter and more detailed and the audio is crisper.
The structure of the world is more linear than LoZ - but that means it’s a lot harder to get lost. Also, as you unlock gear and powers you can backtrack to discover new secrets in old locations.
The game’s characters vary wildly in tone from angry old ladies berating you for lacking the funds to shop to meandering fairies commenting on snow cones.
I replay Golvellius every few years on whatever the handheld platform dujour is. …I think it’s about time to give out a spin on the steam deck again.
Anyway. If you like that classic Zelda vibe, give Golvellius a spin. It’s seriously one of the best games I played on the old Master System.
Self-replying to add a couple other classics that aren’t already in the thread:
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Penguin Land: A Mr-Driller-like puzzler where you are trying to carefully bring an egg safely to the end of the level - but it can only fall one block distance without breaking. Also, there are polar bears you can crush with boulders.
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Zillion: This game has no business being as good as it is. Side scrolling adventure game where you are tasked with rescuing your captured spy-buddies. You have to loot secret codes from the bodies of fallen enemies, use them to unlock laser doors and progress further into the enemy base. It uses exceptionally large and detailed sprites for the time and is a surprisingly “mature” game for the Era. (Not meaning nudity, just that it is more interesting to someone auth the patience to map out a base and write down secret codes)
Skip the sequel, however. Zillion 2 sucked. a lot.
I still remember the names I gave to all the symbols in Zillion to remember them as I collected them…
Enter password:
Jar, pill, bunny ears, neck
Door opens
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Great game, terrible password system.
True, true… yet still more reliable than LoZ’s “hold the reset button and hope” method of saving the game…
Phantasy Star. Hands down.
Same.
When I was 6, I spent an entire year completing this game. I had about an hour of playtime every day and no access to any walkthroughs or guides. Also I didn’t speak a word of English. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.
Shinobi and choplifter were my favorites.
I think I got the most play time out of R-Type. Honorable mentions, Ghostbusters, Bomber Raid, Rambo, Space Harrier.
Fantasy Zone, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Hang On, Ghostbusters, and Ghost House. The Master System had some real bangers.
Fantasy Zone, Wonder Boy, Sonic (1), Alex Kidd, Hook, Alien Storm
Hangon, shinobi and rampage were what I played the most.
Wonder Boy 3: the Dragon’s Trap, a simple “Metroidvania” style platformer with fun action and enemy design. No deep story, but one of my all-time favorite game soundtracks
Wonderboy III
Sonic 2, 3 , & Knuckles, etc.
Altered Beast
Shinobi(s)
