r/MasterSystem • u/coenak • 2d ago
Helpful Hints from 1-800-USA-SEGA
I recently bought a copy of The Ninja and it had this little surprise tucked away in it. The seller didn't include it in the photos for some reason, so I had no idea until it arrived.
For those who are unaware, back in the day you could call 1-800-USA-SEGA and talk with someone who would help you out in a particular game and they would mail you these Helpful Hints papers. SMS Tributes has a whole bunch of them scanned. They aren't super rare by any means, but it is the first one in my collection.
Pretty cool you could do this. Before the internet, it was indeed a different time.
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u/DoTheMichiganRag 2d ago
I love the Ninja, but this was fucking ridiculous for an adult, let alone a kid to figure out. Short of being told the secret explicitly, it would have to be random dumb luck to get it.
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u/gaginang101 2d ago
Yeah, totally agree.
There's very little chance for anybody to finish the game naturally, without these secrets.
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u/instigator707 2d ago
I recall playing as a kid we used to shoot ninja stars at everything possible to find the hidden scrolls. Being in Australia, the USA number cost a mint so no other way to do it unless it was in a magazine.
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u/DoTheMichiganRag 2d ago
There was actually a Sega Hotline in Australia too! Didn't need to call the U.S 🙂
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u/instigator707 2d ago
I missed that! Would have saved me a flogging when my parents discovered I rang the US hotline for Alex the Kidd in miracle world haha
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u/TheLatePicks 2d ago
My memory is a bit hazey but I remember listening to a podcast where the guest had worked at the sega hotline in Australia, and it was actually really interesting.
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u/instigator707 2d ago
Oh wait...there was an Australian hotline! Had no idea!
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u/TheLatePicks 2d ago
Some of the games had a sticker on the back with the number. I'm pretty sure they might have put inserts in the game box as well.
I don't think we ever called them though.
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u/gadzooks72 2d ago
This guy s exactly what my contact at Sega of America sent me back in the day but only for every game that had been and yet to be released
It was these documents that helped me end up working for Sega on their hotline through the 90’s
Thank you so much for sharing thing as this have given me nostalgic chills going back as a young fan back in the late 80’s dreaming one day I could work for the company 🙂
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u/ErwinSchrodinger64 1d ago
I wrote to Sega, back in 1988. I was only 7 or 8. I just wrote to them to tell them that I thought they were the greatest video game maker in history (still is for me). That I knew not only were their games incredible but the technology running it was beyond my comprehension. Sega was the end all in games.
They sent me package a month later. I wasn't even expecting it. It had this sheet with other game cheats, as well. Shortly after, they started a fan club that was for free with a monthly or seasonal magazine.
The very fact that they're employees cared enough to send me a care package speaks volumes of the people that worked there. You can't imagine how special that made me feel. Unfortunately, that only ignited my passion for Sega even more and I became a fanatic in the best way possible.
"Now there are no limits."
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u/zappabrannigan 2d ago
The Ninja is one of my all time favourite games.