The SEGA Mark III was released on the 20th of October 1985 and is the successor to the SG-1000 and SG-1000 II. It is fully backwards compatible with the SG-1000 library. SEGA Mark III games were released on 2 formats – a 4mbit ROM cartridge and a smaller 256kbit SEGA Card. The SEGA Mark III is a more technically advanced console compared to both its predecessors and its biggest competitor, the Nintendo Famicom/NES. However, it would still not find the same success as the Famicom, mainly due to Nintendo’s strict publishing policy that locked third-party developers into an agreement with Nintendo. The Mark III also supports the FM Sound Unit peripheral, which enhances audio on the system via the use of an additional YM2413 FM sound chip. The console would be revised and released in other territories as the Master System where it would see greater success. The Mark III would also be revised as the Master System in Japan and Japanese Master Systems include the FM sound unit functionality as standard.

Specifications

CPU
Zilog Z80A @ 4 MHz

Graphics
256 × 192 resolution, 16 colors, 32 on-screen sprites
Yamaha YM2602B VDP

Sound
SN76489 PSG chip

RAM
8 kB RAM, 16 kB VRAM

Storage
ROM cartridge, Sega Card