Jeremy Parish

Segaiden 66: Kenseiden (Patreon)

Published:

2024-08-21 11:51:05

Edited:

2024-08-21 11:51:13

Imported:

2024-08

Content

Hey, look, I finally shelled out for an expensive SD card capable of capturing UHD video at 60fps, so everyone can stop complaining about the frame rate on the hosting segments.

You can still continue complaining about how poorly I play Sega games for my recorded footage, though. That's never going to improve. But at least Kenseiden is pretty forgiving about it all! Except in those training chambers. I'm gonna have nightmares about my time there.

Next week: I'm jumping back to NES for a while so that I have time to properly work my way through the big Phantasy Star episode. I'm traveling to Retro World Expo this week and rushing to toss together an episode that significant would be a massive disservice to the game, this series, you folks, and the late Rieko Kodama. That's a lot of disservice resting on one man's work. I can't shoulder that big a burden of disappointment.

Files

Samurai slodown: Kenseiden | Segaiden 066

Well, well, well, what have we here? It looks like Sega has taken a step back for a moment and gotten a read on the changing shape of the video games industry as a whole, which leads us to Kenseiden: Perhaps the first game for Master System clearly designed as a conscious effort to do the Nintendo/NES thing rather than trying to fit a Sega arcade-sized experience into a tiny console-shaped box. No, Kenseiden dials down the pace of the action from the usual coin-op-style mania we've come to expect from Sega and conspicuously imitates Konami's methodical Castlevania games. The NES (or maybe MSX?) Castlevanias, mind you, not Haunted Castle. Make no mistake; Kenseiden still includes some of the testicle-punching difficulty that is Sega's stock-in-trade, no question about it. But, miracle of miracles, those difficult parts are—wait for it—optional. This feels like a real turning point for the Master System, the system's clean break from "arcade experiences at home, more or less" to "on-trend console-style production capable of taking on the NES directly." Production notes: Why watch when you can read? All 420 full-color pages of SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I are now in print at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books). You can also grab the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works as well. Look for NES Works Gaiden Vol. I and Master System Works Vol. I in 2024-25. Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Master System footage captured from U.S. carts running through a cart adapter on Japanese Master System hardware and MiSTer (thanks to MiSTerAddOns). Video upscaled to 4K with RetroTink 4K. RGB cables courtesy of StoneAgeGamer.com and Allie Bellrose.