Quartet
System: SMS
Release Date: April 1987
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
Here’s a pretty neat game for Sega Master System, Quartet. I had never heard of it before I picked it up and I’m pretty happy that I got to play it. We’ve got a space action shooter. You are Mary (or Edgar if you’re playing two player mode) and you have to save the corpse of Queen Cynthia from some jerk aliens.
You jump with Button 1 and you shoot with Button 2. The game is that simple. Enemies constantly spawn from set positions and it may be a good idea to grind points from their demise. The points cause you to rank up between levels and give you some advantages. I only made the first two ranks and got extended shooting distance and an extra life. I missed out on widened shooting range and increased shooting speed.
Underneath Mary’s name is a score that is constantly counting down. I realized that this was essentially a life bar. When you get hit, it subtracts from this power number. Once it hits zero, you lose a life. There are some power ups that can be found, one increases the power number. The bomb kills all the aliens on the screen. The clock stops all the enemies on screen for a moment. On every level, you can find a jet engine, which allows you to fly through the level. If you get hit, you have to recollect the jet.
There are plenty of enemies to destroy on each level. Most of them are plain and take one hit to kill, but others take multiple hits or are otherwise indestructible. If you can find some enemies that are easy to kill, it’s best to take some time to grind up. The skulls took a lot of hits to kill. The lips take a few hits to kill. I didn’t find a way to kill the hopping shell guys.
On each level, you have to find a star in order to unlock round six. The first star can be found without a problem. The rest of the stars have to be unlocked by doing something special. Luckily, the instruction manual spells out how to unlock the star in each level. You can kill the boss and collect the key, but don’t exit the level without having collected the star.
Graphics: 2.5
It’s not as good as Alex Kidd, but it’s close. These are pretty decent graphics.
Sound: 1.5
Each level has its own song, but they aren’t great by any means.
Gameplay: 2.5
The game works great. Learn how to kill the enemies and move on.
Difficulty: 3.0
I thought the difficulty level was just about right. If I had all weekend to play, I’d master it, but in an hour, it was just right.
Fun Factor: 3.0
I had plenty of fun with Quartet. I recommend giving it a shot if you’re looking for something to play.
Overall Grade: 2.5
Quartet earns a B-. Again, I suggest you give this a try. It’s pretty good. I needed this after the past several games.