Sega Master System II



Probably one of the best 8-bit consoles, if not the best, the Master System boasted colourful, entertaining graphics, some of which did just look like "Low calorie" versions of the Megadrive games of the same name, but many games had charm and plenty of character.

So what was the difference between the "Master System", and the almost identical successor, the "Master System II"? To be honest, not a lot.

The original Master System had two cartridge slots... one to accept the standard Master System cartridge that we all know and love (they were about the size of your standard audio cassettes, except slightly thicker), and one to accept "cards". I never, ever saw one of these, which makes me wonder if they ever did actually exist? I'm sure they did, I just missed out somewhere along the line.

The Master System II did away with this particular slot, housing only a slot for the standard games cartridges, but included a nice sleek dust cover to protect the slot when no cartridge was in... a situation you could actually find yourself in as there was a game now "built-in", Alex Kidd in Miracle World, which would load when the system was switched on with no cartridge inserted. Besides that, the overall size of the machine was much reduced, making it a much more aesthetically pleasing system to look at.

Like much of my collection over the years, this ended up being sold some time ago... however, I do yearn to feel the square edges of the controller in my palm again, and hear the click as the dust cover slides shut... sorry, felt almost poetic there.