Sega Master System

This article is about a subject in the real world. Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series.

Sega Master System
The Sega Master System
General information
Type	Video game console
Manufacturer(s)	Sega Samsung (Korea) Tectoy (Brazil)
First available	20 October 1985 (as Sega Mark III) September 1986 (as Sega Master System)
Also known as	Sega Mark IV (Codename) Sega Mark III (Japan) Gam*Boy (South Korea) Aladdin Boy (South Korea, after 1991)
Launch price	¥16,800 (Japan) $200 (North America) £99 (United Kingdom)
Discontinued	NA: 1992 JP: 1991 EU: 1996
Units sold	North America : 13 million (as of 2009) Japan  : 1 million (as of 1986) United States : 2 million (as of 1993) Europe  : 6.9 million (estimated as of 1995) Brazil  : 8 million (as of 2016)
Technical information
CPU	Zilog Z80A
RAM	8 kB RAM, 16 kB VRAM
Sound	Texas Instruments SN76489A Yamaha YM2143 (Japanese Mark III exclusive; available as a modification)
Timeline
Precursor	SG-1000
Successor	Sega Mega Drive

The Challenge Will Always Be There!

— Commercial slogan.

The Sega Master System is a home video game console introduced by Sega in 1986, and was capable of 8-bit graphics and sounds. It was a rival to the very successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The Master System is regarded as being superior to the NES in terms of general system capabilities but the system eventually failed to gain enough attention in both North America and Japan.

However, it was successful in Brazil and Europe. Its lifespan was long enough to see four Sonic games (except Brazil which has five sonic games), before its discontinuation in 1991 in North America, 1992 in Japan, and 1996 in Europe. Except in Brazil, where this console remains produced to this day due to the massive popularity of this console in that country.

The Sega Game Gear is based on the Master System's architecture, resulting in the handheld and game console being cross-compatible in certain titles and hardware. Due to the Game Gear's slight technological edge over the Master System however, any title ported to the Master System results in a minor graphical downgrade.

List of Sonic games

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Sonic Chaos (Europe only)
• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
• Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
• Sonic Blast (Brazil only)

Characters Introduced

• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Silver Sonic

Trivia

• The Master System so far is the only Sega system that had two completely different names on the same region.
• The Master System version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit) was only released in Europe and South America.
• The Master System VDP was based on a video display controller made by Texas Instruments named the TMS9918 which was used on the preceding Sega console, the SG-1000.
• The Master System version of Sonic Chaos was only released in Europe, while Sonic Blast was only released in Brazil by Tectoy.
• The Sega Master System makes regular cameo appearances in a now defunct Cartoon Network show, "Regular Show". Both console and controllers are exactly the same despite it apparently being mirrored.
• The Sega Master System has no exclusive Sonic games, as all games released for the Sega Master System have also been ported on the Game Gear.
• There are 318 games officially released for the Sega Master System.
• The Sega Master System had no region lock chip inside the hardware. This means owners can play any games from any region.

References

Template:Video game systems