Top down shmup where the aim is to rescue a certain number of survivors and then head to the exit. Its a pretty decent port of the game for its time, and works well as an SMS game, with some really great boss designs, but unfortunately it does lose a little in the translation, most lamentably with the omission of the great 2-player option, which was one of the stronger features of the original game.

This was Sega's answer to the NES lightgun game Duck Hunt, and I'm not afraid to state that its easily the better game. Sega just put in a lot more effort overall, creating multiple different environments (Lake, Jungle, forest), and loads more enemy types. These additions lead to a much more interesting and varied game, and did a great job of kick starting their excellent history of lightgun support.

One of the earlier Master System games, Kung Fu Kid holds up very surprisingly well. It's a simple though addictive experience reminiscent of the old arcade game Kung-Fu Master. The whole game controls extremely well and is very fast and responsive, and the end of level boss fights are well done, and fun to master.

Pacmania brought a whole new level of gameplay to the original classic. On top of the classic staples of the series (dot munching and power pills) and updated graphical style, there's a new ability to do a quick jump over the head's of the ghosts to evade them at the last moment, which actually changes the rules a lot. Overall this is a pretty accurate port of a great game.

I definitely feel that one area where the SMS managed to have an advantage over the NES during the early days was with top down run and gun games. This was mainly due to the appearances of two key releases during 1986, the excellent Ninja (more on that later) and this game, which at that time were only really going up against the NES' belated port of Commando. Ashura in itself is actually inspired by Commando, but is part of the next generation of improved followers. There's many notable additions, such as power-ups, and an excellent 2-player co-op feature (a later staple). Its slow pacing has dated it somewhat, in comparison to the Ninja but Ashura remains a very playable game.

Probably the oldest shmup to make the list, Astro Warrior is a very fun and frenetic shooter that plays very similarly to the vertical scrolling levels found in Lifeforce (ie laser power-ups and options). Don't let the crude graphics dissuade you from checking it out as its a very good game regardless of its age and presentation.

Here's a well made miniature golf game that's addictive and varied. Apart from the usual elements you'd expect, Putt and Putter also has a slight puzzle slant, with conveyer's and switches included in some of the course designs keeping them unique.

Cyborg Hunter is a good, solid (though a little bit simplistic) adventure game. Basically the aim is to explore the stages in a non-linear fashion searching for new power-ups to improve your character's abilities and allow you to progress through the levels. The gameplay is smooth, and the new powers you gain (such as the ability to hover) keep the game interesting.

This is your general Track N Field style multi-event sports game (with events primarily requiring either fast button presses or precision timing). Its not the most original of games, but is a well made and very polished example of the genre.

There seem to be many critics of Gain Ground out there so let me set this straight I like Gain Ground, it's a brilliant mixture of strategy and action elements. The game contains simple top down shooting but then throws into the mix a whole load of different useable characters you can rescue from the stages each with their own different strengths and weaknesses. Who doesn't want to collect and amass an army of warriors from different time periods?

A no-brains all out blaster which follows the narrative of the film pretty well, and has a nice level of presentation. The SMS Terminator is a graphically downgraded port of the 16-bit version, but in my opinion turned out as the better game, the pacing and difficulty curve are just better judged than they had initially been, and overall the game flows better as a result.

Here's quite a unique game which plays like a mixture of scrolling shoot-em-ups and Missile Command. The levels alternate between moving "offense" levels where you fly your satellite through space shooting at enemy ships, and static "defence" levels where the aim is to frantically detonate incoming missiles before they hit a planet. The controls take some time to get used to (you control an aiming cursor, to move the satellite itself you have to hold down Button 1) but are worth persevering with.

Back in the day this was one of the most feature rich American Football games out there, and, in some ways was actually a bit of a benchmark for the time. The gameplay is fast and responsive, and you really do get the feeling that Sega were trying to cram as much stuff in there as possible.

Here's a nice, simple, and addictive early SMS game where you play as Mick the vampire hunter. The aim is to explore a set of mansions searching for the secret passageways and vampires to destroy (5 per mansion). Mick can punch, stab (if you have the item) and jump on the enemies to kill them. Ghost House is a simple game, due not only to its age but the fact that it was one of the budget games released on card, but its fun, and at the time really represented value for money.

World Class Leaderboard was pretty much the only word in serious golf games during the 80s. It's very well made and always had some of the more impressive graphics for the time period.

What we have here is a very high quality port (possibly the best of all the earlier home ports) of the innovative Atari arcade classic. The aim is simply to dodge obstacles, and deliver papers to every home (by hitting their mail box, or doorstep), if you miss a house the owner will stop their subscription the next day.

Challenging horizontal shoot-em-up with a Forgotten Worlds style shop system for varied upgrades (flame shields, bombs, etc) as well as some impressive, and humorous boss battles. The gameplay is solid in pretty much all areas and the whole thing has a distinctive art style with backgrounds that are drawn and coloured in the style of ancient Japanese scrolls.

Though not really the Contra equivalent that the Master System needs, Robocop Vs Terminator is still a quality run and gun game alternative that has great graphics, some pretty impressive music (not too sure about the out of place end of level jingle though) and a level of gore that would never have been seen on Ninty's console.

One of the most impressive attempts at a 3D perspective for the Master System back in the day. Galaxy Force is a Space Harrier/Star Fox style rail shooter. The game controls and looks impressive for a Master System game, and was great at the time, but to be frank these days is a little dated due to choppy movement, making it probably more of a curiosity.