I never knew anyone who owned a Master System as a kid. Most of my friends had an NES, I knew people with Ataris and I had a single friend with a Commodore. No one had a Sega Master System. Occasionally, I would notice ads in comic books referencing the Master System and specifically the game Alex Kidd. As I got older, I had all but forgotten the console.
When I began to recently develop an affinity for vintage games, the Sega Master System caught my eye. It is a different looking system, quite a departure from the VCR/toaster loading NES. After a failed eBay purchase where I was sent a console that didn't work, I finally was able to procure a Master System that worked!
In the very beginning, I found the system quite underwhelming. I picked up a few cheap, common games and they were all shovelware for the most part. I enjoyed the novelty of having something new (to me), but it just wasn't all that fun. However, over the past couple months, I've fallen in love with the console after having learned the lesson that you just have to pay a little bit more if you want a quality game. Spending $2 or $3 on a NES game may net you something good, but you've all but guaranteed yourself a terrible game for the Master System. Unfortunately, for a good Master System game, you're going to have to spend a good $15-$20, and that won't even necessarily net you the best stuff. Half the really solid games are not common and they are not cheap. It certainly feels like much more of a commitment than the other consoles I've started collecting for, but if you are willing to put in the time to shop around for games, you'll fall in love with it too. I'll tell you more about the system later.
