The 11 best Master System games
Ranked by the scores that magazines gave these games when they came out. The list draws on 1,832 review scores of 266 Master System games; 238 of them have enough reviews to be ranked.
| # | Game | Platform | Year | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonic the Hedgehog | Master System | 1991 | 94.6 |
| 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Master System | 1992 | 93.9 |
| 3 | Populous | Master System | 1991 | 93.8 |
| 4 | Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse | Master System | 1991 | 93 |
| 5 | Ecco the Dolphin | Master System | 1993 | 92.5 |
| 6 | Super Kick Off | Master System | 1991 | 91.9 |
| 7 | Lemmings | Master System | 1992 | 91.6 |
| 8 | Prince of Persia | Master System | 1992 | 91.1 |
| 9 | Chuck Rock | Master System | 1992 | 90.3 |
| 10 | James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod | Master System | 1991 | 90.1 |
| 11 | Land of Illusion - starring Mickey Mouse | Master System | 1992 | 90 |
Highly rated, with fewer than 3 reviews
2 Master System games have a score of 90 or more, but from only one or two reviews, and no Metacritic score.
| # | Game | Platform | Year | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PGA Tour Golf | Master System | 1993 | 90 | |
| Masters of Combat | Master System | 1993 | 90 |
How the ranking works
- The scores are the ones magazines gave when the games came out, all converted to a 0–100 scale. Only one review per magazine counts for a game: the most recent.
- A game's score is half the average, half the median of its magazine reviews. A title opens the game's page on uvlist.net; a score opens the report with every review behind it.
- A game needs at least 3 magazine reviews to be ranked. With equal scores, the game with more reviews comes first.
- Metacritic already sums up many reviews, so it is never mixed with the magazines: it is used only for games with fewer than 3 magazine reviews, as their only score.
- Each list shows every game with a score of 90 or more. Games with fewer than 3 reviews and no Metacritic score are shown apart: their score is promising, but rests on one or two opinions.
The lists are rebuilt each time reviews are added. To filter by genre, year, magazine or publisher, explore all the scores in the report.