Good for avid retro gamers, but newbies should get a genesis first.

While the modern console war is between microsoft and sony, we seem to forget the market dominance that Nintendo had on the gaming industry starting in 1985 with the Nintendo Entertainment System which allowed them to continue their reign throughout the 90s with subsequent revolutionary systems. But not everyone went for Nintendo, Sega would challenge Nintendo's overwhelming monopoly on gaming with their own 8 and 16 bit consoles; the Master System and Genesis (megadrive in europe) respectively. While not having the initial popularity as it's older brother the Genesis did, the Master system was still a formidable opponent for the NES. Some even debating as to whether it even slightly beat Nintendo in graphical quality for the time. While the Master System did have it's own quite extensive library of games, it just couldn't compete with the NES as Nintendo beat Sega to the release. Because of it's limited production, espectially in North America, Master Systems can be semi difficult to find for a good price nowadays. At least compared to the Genesis which you can find for a dime a dozen if you know where to look. And in all honesty, the Genesis does have a larger North American library. On top of that, the Genesis also was the first sega console to feature Sonic the Hedgehog which was Sega's flagship franchise. Yes, there are Sonic games on the master system but they are rare and hard to find. I would definately recommend picking up a Master System should you find one for a decent price and are an avid retro game collector. If you do though, get a model 1 as opposed to a model 2. Reason being is that the model 1 has increased functionality such as a special card slot in the front that was removed when they released the later cost reduced model 2. Without the card slot, certain games made on the format can't be played. This shouldn't be a problem though, as the model one is much more abundant then the model 2 at least in North America. Of course if you are just starting out with retro games, go for a genesis/megadrive as you can get them far cheaper and with a better library of games while you decide if retro game collecting is right for you.Read full review