Sega Master System - Joe Montana Football

Breaking new ground today, we're finally going to start posting, in painstaking and loving detail, the individual games in the Preserve's domestic release Sega Master System library. We've been featuring import titles, mainly because that was the stack we photographed first, but let's get things rolling today on the U.S. library with what may seem to be a 'common' title. Keep in mind, with a library on the small side of things, and this game being 18 years old, significance arises even from a sports title!


This title was released on the Master System which we see here, and also on the Genesis. Interestingly we see on the back of the package that the NFL did not sponsor or endorse the game, which you would imagine would result in a gigantic lawsuit! What apparently happened at this time was that through individual contracts with athletes, Montana in this case, game companies could make titles like this, while keeping everything else in the game generic. You get no actual NFL teams to play against, but rather knockoffs, and the only player name you will recognize is Joe himself. Be sure to check out a really interesting article about the troubled development of this game before the 1990 holiday season over at sega-16.com. So - a fascinating history, and the first title of our Master System coverage!
Posted by charlie on November 24th 2008, 08:14 AM
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