Gain Ground
Gain Ground — frequently asked questions
- What platforms is Gain Ground on?
- Gain Ground was released on Arcade, Linux, Wii, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PC (Microsoft Windows), TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, Mac, Sega Master System/Mark III, TurboGrafx-CD.
- When did Gain Ground release?
- Gain Ground was first released on November 1, 1988.
About Gain Ground
In Gain Ground, players control one of a set of characters at a time. There are twenty characters, each with different weapons. To beat a level, players must reach the exit point with at least one character or destroy all enemies on the level before time runs out. Littered across the level are captive characters, which can be rescued by walking over, then escorting the controlled character to the exit point. If a player controlled character is killed, that character turns into a captive, except that they will disappear if the next active player controlled character dies, exits the level without them, or the player has no characters left in their party. The game is over when all controlled characters in the party are killed without any reaching the exit. However, there are three continues which allow a player to restart the level with their original three characters. There are 40 levels in the arcade version of the game. The Master System and the Genesis/Mega Drive have 50 levels in the game.
Summary via IGDB.
Gain Ground on Wikipedia
Gain Ground is a 1988 action arcade video game developed and published by Sega. It is set within a supercomputer's simulation of war, and follows up to three players traversing through a series of forty levels themed after select periods of human history. The goal of each level, depending on the player's choice, is either to guide at least one player character safely to an exit point or to destroy all enemies, either of which must be completed within a time limit.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- Arcade, Linux, Wii, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PC (Microsoft Windows), TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, Mac, Sega Master System/Mark III, TurboGrafx-CD
- Developer
- Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
- Publisher
- NEC Avenue, Ltd.
- Game modes
- Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
- Themes
- Action, Fantasy, Science fiction
Details via IGDB.
Reception
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews | Built by | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sega Master SystemDetails ↓ | 1991 | $16 | $35 | — | 4 reviews | Sanritsu | Low (look-alike) |
| Sega GenesisDetails ↓ | 1991 | $43 | $100 | — | 10 reviews | — | Low |
The cheapest way to own it loose is the Sega Master System version ($16).
Also released on: Arcade · Linux · Wii · Sega Mega Drive/Genesis · PC (Microsoft Windows) · TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine · Mac · Sega Master System/Mark III · TurboGrafx-CD. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.
Prices are per version and are not interchangeable, and neither are the reviews: conversions in this era were often built by a different studio than the original, so a score earned on one machine says nothing about how another plays.
Collector value & authenticity
Sega Master System · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-28
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a month
- Complete: about once a month
- Sealed: about once a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-28.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $12.99 in Jan 2011, $11.31 five years ago, and $16.15 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2011 | $12.99 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $17.99 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $17.99 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $17.99 | — |
| Jan 2015 | $10.95 | — |
| Jan 2016 | $10.95 | $30 |
| Jan 2017 | $17.50 | — |
| Jan 2018 | $12.98 | $21 |
| Jan 2019 | $10.59 | $22 |
| Jan 2020 | $9.05 | $23 |
| Jan 2021 | $11.36 | $26 |
| Jan 2022 | $21 | $30 |
| Jan 2023 | $16.75 | $34 |
| Jan 2024 | $14.52 | $38 |
| Jan 2025 | $13.80 | $35 |
| Jan 2026 | $13.50 | $35 |
| Oct 2026 | $16.15 | $35 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Date | Product number |
|---|---|---|
| Europe / PAL | January 1991 | 7045 |
- Region
- EU
- Released
- 1991
- Authenticity
- Low
The Sega Master System version
An arcade strategy-shooter that magazines of the day found dreary on the Master System, even with extra levels.
Gain Ground was a 1988 Sega arcade game, ported to the Master System and Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991. The Master System version came out in Europe in January 1991, developed by Sanritsu. It has fifty levels, ten of them new and placed after the arcade game's final Future round, taking place inside the game's own Main System.
Mean Machines Sega, looking back, called its gameplay yawn-inducing and its graphics pathetic, and Mean Machines called the conversion dreary, aimless play with block-like visuals.
What the press said at the time
| Mean Machines Sega Issue 3 | December 1992 | OVERALL 62% |
| Raze | 71% | |
| Console XS | 82% | |
| Sega Pro | 81% |
“As well as having duff … graphics, Gain Ground is about as interesting as watching paint dry.”
“This conversion of the obscure Sega coin-op shows why it was never a hit. It's a kind of flick-screen Gauntlet clone, without the playability. There's no original ideas and it all gets very repetitive. Don't buy it unless you like average games.”
Undated scores are from the review table in the game's Wikipedia article, limited to reviews of the Sega Master System version.
Also on other platforms
Arcade · Genesis · TurboGrafx-CD · TurboGrafx-16
| Sega Master System | Sanritsu |
| Genesis | Sanritsu |
| TurboGrafx-CD | NEC Avenue (publisher) |
Before you buy
The European cart is the one to buy. Loose, it sits a little above the median for European-only carts, and the look-alike risk is low. Make sure the manual is there on a complete copy.
Collector value & authenticity
Sega Genesis · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-29
Other releases and variants
| Release | Loose | Complete | Sealed |
|---|---|---|---|
| European (PAL) release | $22 | $120 | — |
| Japanese release | $23 | $40 | — |
How often it sells
- Loose: about 2 times a month
- Complete: about once a week
- Sealed: about once a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-29.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $6.31 in Jan 2008, $37 five years ago, and $43 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2008 | $6.31 | — |
| Jan 2009 | $5.77 | — |
| Jan 2010 | $10.00 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $7.95 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $9.50 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $10.25 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $12.44 | $25 |
| Jan 2015 | $16.99 | $14.00 |
| Jan 2016 | $19.99 | $35 |
| Jan 2017 | $22 | $50 |
| Jan 2018 | $19.98 | $55 |
| Jan 2019 | $28 | $60 |
| Jan 2020 | $30 | $73 |
| Jan 2021 | $30 | $67 |
| Jan 2022 | $47 | $101 |
| Jan 2023 | $49 | $91 |
| Jan 2024 | $47 | $96 |
| Jan 2025 | $41 | $80 |
| Jan 2026 | $34 | $90 |
| Oct 2026 | $43 | $100 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Date | Barcode |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 1991 | 720238100500 |
| Europe / PAL | 1991 | — |
| Japan | 3 January 1991 | 4974365540364 |
- Region
- NA+EU+JP
- Released
- 1991
- Authenticity
- Low
The Sega Genesis version
A faithful but plain arcade conversion with ten extra levels, and one of the pricier US carts.
The Genesis cartridge of Gain Ground is Sega's 1988 arcade game as ported by Sanritsu. It adds ten new levels to the arcade game, including a Modern Epoch round set in the streets of a city, for fifty in all. Renovation Products published it in North America, and in Japan it came out on 3 January 1991.
Mean Machines Sega called it a very accurate conversion of an obscure arcade game, but found the graphics average, the sound poor and the play boring.
What the press said at the time
| Computer + Video Games Issue 112 | March 1991 | 49% |
| Mean Machines Sega Issue 3 | December 1992 | 43% |
| Mega Issue 5 | January 1993 | 75% |
| Sega Pro Issue 18 | April 1993 | 88% |
| Mega Issue 9 | May 1993 | 75% |
| Famitsu | 6/10, 7/10, 7/10, 7/10 | |
| IGN | 7.5/10 | |
| Raze | 92% | |
| MegaTech | 43% | |
| Sega-16 | 10/10 |
“shooting soldiers on the way. It's very simple and very boring. You'd have to”
“A very accurate conversion of an obscure and hope lessly crap arcade game which features the average graphics, rubbish sound and boring gameplay of the original machine.”
“A strategy shoot'em-up. You have to choose the right soldiers to do the right job as you move through the flick screen scenery. Slow, thoughtful pace and a decent two-player mode.”
“A simultaneous two-player game! Control a band of fighters who must shoot, bomb and jump their way through a massive landscape - brilliant.”
Undated scores are from the review table in the game's Wikipedia article, limited to reviews of the Genesis version.
How the Sega Genesis version differs
The Genesis version has fifty levels against the arcade's forty, including ten new levels set in a Modern Epoch in city streets.
Also on other platforms
Master System · Arcade · TurboGrafx-CD · TurboGrafx-16
| TurboGrafx-16 | NEC Avenue (publisher) |
| Arcade | Sega |
- Arcade. The arcade game has forty levels and ran on the Sega System 24 architecture.
- TurboGrafx-16. A PC Engine Super CD-ROM2 version called Gain Ground SX was released in 1992.
Before you buy
Among US carts this is one of the pricier ones, well above the middle. The European loose cart usually costs much less than the US one, though a complete European copy usually costs a little more. The Japanese cart usually costs much less in both conditions. Its cartridge is a different shape from a Western Genesis cart and fits a Western console only with an adapter or after removing two plastic tabs in the slot. A complete US copy means the case, cartridge and manual.
Gain Ground screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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