Enduro Racer for the Sega Master System is a very non-typical arcade conversion. This is because it is a completely different game from the arcade original!
Interestingly, the more modest 8-bit systems such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 were given an arcade port of the game, which to be fair played reasonably well, especially the ZX Spectrum version, and were good achievements given the hardware limitations.
The Master System version of Enduro Racer could be more closely compared with Excitebike on the NES. This version is presented as an isometric racer where the player navigates obstacles and ramps in an attempt to reach the finish line before the clock times out. It is fast, tough and a bit fiddly to play.
The real issue Enduro Racer has on the Master System is the limited view ahead of where you are racing, and the game moves at a fair pace too, making it very difficult to react to the upcoming obstacles and terrain!
If you can keep things on track, being sure to take the ramps properly ensures you keep up a good pace but be careful not to crash into the randomly swerving opponents!
The game feels like Sega were keen to knock out an arcade conversion quickly and used some existing game code to save some time. Ultimately, Enduro Racer was a missed opportunity for Sega to get a half-decent port on their beloved 8-Bit machine.
A lifelong avid gamer and computing enthusiast, Matt has decades of Retro Gaming experience. Now over 40 years old, Matt now even considers himself retro, but fortunately, nobody has developed a Matt emulator (not yet at least!).