Retro Gaming Australia

LostLevels forum user Johnny Undaunted has uncovered this release list featuring a number of titles planned for release on the Master System/Mark III in Japan.

The scan comes from a 1988 issue of BEEP!, and lists games such as Outrun 3D, Rampage, California Games, World Games, Galaxy Force and Ultima IV, which were not released in Japan.

More interesting, however is the listing of Phantasy Star II, Hot Rod and Wolfman, which were not released on the Master System at all. Phantasy Star II eventually came out for the Mega Drive in 1989, but this release list gives rise to the possibility that it was originally a Master System title.

Funnily enough, the Mega Drive version of Phantasy Star is literally the Master System version running on the system’s hardware driven backwards compatibility capabilities – those Master System converters are merely passthrough devices.