I went again to Samurai Spirits (The first release of Samurai Shodown), and got my ass handed to me by the computer over and over again on the second easiest difficulty. Then I noticed it. Sitting beside the TV and Sega Genisis console I was playing was an inactive TV and a SEGA MASTER SYSTEM. My heart skipped. Could it be? After 18 years, could I have a chance to once again hit the asteroid belt, Saturn, and perhaps...Pluto with my orbital defense satellite?!
I checked the cartridge roster at the room's main desk. There were half a dozen games for the master system or more...and one...ONE...YES! It was the first game I ever owned as a child, Global Defense! And from that spurred almost a week of work and the reason for this post.
In this game you control a defense satellite, and in the 1 player version, you have to choose whether you're going to move the satellite or your aiming cursor because you can't move both at the same time. Shooting is an independent button. This adds more challenge to the game than the arcade version, S.D.I. which had a trackball and a joystick for independent control.
So, I was getting my ass handed to me again by Sega. My sis was there, and we played the game together when we were kids. That was the key phrase: "we played the game together when we were kids". I distinctly remember in my child's mind that there was a mode of gameplay where one player would control the motion of the satellite, and the other would control the aiming cursor while the satellite itself was on auto rapid-fire. We couldn't find the manual or any links to a .pdf of the instruction manual on the nearby internet as to how we could activate this 2-player mode.
With time we decided to hit the hotel room and crash, giving up every attempt to activate the 2 player mode for Global Defense. Then when the weekend was over we went back home. The prowling of the Internet began. After 12 intermittent hours of internet research... I finally happened upon this.
So, I will share with the world so that more than one place on the internet has it: To enter the 2-player mode in Global Defense for the Sega Master System, Player 2 must hold the right directional button down and start the game with button 2 at the same time. For the sake of search engines I will repeat:
To activate 2 player mode in Global Defense for the Sega Master System, Player 2 must hold down the right directional button while starting the game with button 2.
