How's Your Sega MegaDrive/Genesis Gaming Going On?

[Gunstar Green]

I guess I just lack the angry impact having come off the rape and pillaging of the NES and SNES market. I got into it entirely to experience something new, to avoid the stupid prices, and so I could still have an affordable 16bit system with quality on it.

I'm certainly not insinuating people shouldn't get into collecting for the Genesis. It's still one of the easiest systems to jump into these days and build up a quality library on a budget.

It's certainly not the mess that NES and SNES collecting has become, but the heat is turning up. Cart-only is still pretty manageable for most of the library provided you're not going after stuff like MUSHA or Crusader of Centy.

But a lot more boxed Genesis games like the Splatterhouse series are pushing or exceeding $100 and common but in-demand stuff like Mega Turrican and Gunstar Heroes is creeping up there.

[mas]

Gunstar is right. Although Genesis is getting pricey. Think if I went to buy the good games I once had 5 years ago, it would of cost me maybe 200. Now it's like 6-700.00 to get some of the Genesis library that screams out the very best.
This is why I'm getting that everdrive. For 150 which will be streets of rage 3, zombies at my neighbor's, ghost n goblins, tmnt hyperstone, and contra.

[Tanooki]

Ok that's fair. I had my old Nomad and Gen3(I know) with a few dozen games between 2001-04 roughly speaking and picked up random stuff here and there mostly at local shops, some rare times on early ebay. Back then I wouldn't buy anything but a complete game, these days I avoid them. I recall what I paid for complete games around that period is now what the cartridge alone hits and the complete stuff is twice the price too more or less.

I have a media shelf, carts present and fit far better on them and cost far less without the added bs so I avoid it. I can fit over 20 Genesis games on a section across cart only while I can get maybe 1/2 that with boxes due to the thickness and eats up more than double the vertical space. I have zero interest in everdrives because I personally lack the self control to both not load it up with ROMS and two get all ADHD about it and play nothing more than 5min maybe once or twice before forgetting about it. I'd rather buy what I'd really play and enjoy it as is, kind of like the old days like a kid on a budget with an allowance you know?

I've noticed how the more expensive Genesis games seem to peter out around $30-50 range other than Crusader of Centy and MUSHA which I'd totally play both but not for $150~ for a cart only and double that complete as it's stupid and wasteful. The box would end up in the closet and the manual filed in a cabinet under the TV so it's dumb when a cart +gamefaq would do fine as a manual replacement and more. It's silly what those Splatterhouse games get complete, cart alone is fine though at least in my willingness to pay when I see them at $30. A lot of good shooters fall into the $20-30 range too, some less, a few more.



A question though, I have a non-TMSS model 1, can this handle games from other regions? I know the JP and PAL regions got a few things I'd consider importing.

[Gunstar Green]

A question though, I have a non-TMSS model 1, can this handle games from other regions? I know the JP and PAL regions got a few things I'd consider importing.

Yes it can. Some games may be PAL optimized though so I'd do a little research first to make sure the games you want will run fine without modding. The majority appear to but there are exceptions.

For the Japanese games you'll need some kind of pass-through like a Game Genie if you don't want to cut into the shell or remove it to play them.

Depending on what you're looking for the Japanese game prices are pretty nutty probably because in its day the MD wasn't nearly as popular as its competition. Many of the highly imported JP games are in the $100+ range or close to it. People often talk about how they import certain western released Nintendo games from Japan because it's cheaper. Well, hilariously some Japanese gamers import Genesis games from the US for that same reason.

Also because clones of it were pretty popular throughout the rest of Asia and Russia, beware of bootlegs. Stuff like Bare Knuckle III is particularly bad in this regard since it's such a popular import. I'm always really hesitant to buy any Japanese-style cartridges unless I know for sure they're coming from a reputable source. US and European style bootlegs (that aren't repros in official shells anyway) are easier to spot because they almost always have the notch in the side for the cartridge locking mechanism present in the Japanese Mega Drive but none of the western models.

[nightrnr]

I have noticed the price increases as well. I think I'm done with CIB buying.
It's too bad too, since my Genny is the only system I refuse to get an everdrive for. I'll emulate for everything else.
I even wonder if the cheapest games section will have to be updated soon.

Thanks, and yes it would. There's a long list of games with compatible boards that's mostly not flawed over at NA you can get through googling tengen pcb repair without much harm hunting for it. Unfortunately the person didn't remove the other sized garbage like EA releases which have different sized boards and screw holes so they won't fit.

Pit Fighter works, Menacer has the same board, as does Chakan. Sega prints a code on the bottom right face of the PCB above the pins which many carts use and any of them would be usable.

Doh!, I misplaced my Menacer cart .
It'll turn up eventually (I am an incurable pac-rat). But it's not where I thought I left it. At least I still can locate Dragon's Revenge.
Thanks for the info though. It WILL come in handy.

[Tanooki]

No problem, hope that picture works if you can research the board as the list over at NintendoAge isn't good because it won't account for different size(and screw hole location) odd boards from EA and others, nor for those with added stuff that maybe could interfere like batteries.

I ordered Dragon's Curse and Fury off ebay yesterday, so that smart cars or whatever that trash game was called it going to be a victim shortly and I'll go dig up another menacer cart at one of the book and music exchanges in town here for a few bucks to do the other as I'm keeping Pit Fighter since it's in great shape and complete.


Thanks for the PAL/JP info. I really hadn't thought it much through at all and no I had no idea that the Japanese got burned so badly they'd feel the need to snap up US versions of games to get things they didn't or save a bundle. Amusing if anything, they're far smaller than we are so it won't have the same Nintendo effect I'm sure. I was thinking about Golden Axe 3 just to get the series. I know some people whine about it because it's different but I read it's more TMNT4/Final Fight like in style, less rigid, so I have no beef with that.

[Gunstar Green]

I'm not a fan of Golden Axe 3 but it's not completely awful like some people say. It's mostly the presentation where it loses me.

[Tanooki]

Well it was a thought is all, but I'm not hung up on it, and if the import prices blow that bad I'll probably not even bother as there's plenty of unexplored stuff to try out as it is.

[ExedExes]

Picked up Real Deal Boxing and Sagaia yesterday. Both very enjoyable.

[Thierry Henry]

Busy playing a bit of Vectorman 2.

First few levels are all kinda samey. And I think I much prefer the robotic type enemies of the first game.

Anyways, more interesting to me than the game was the fact that whilst trying it out on my Genesis 3 system, I discovered that that particular console can output an RGB signal. In my case, my connection method was RGB SCART to Component.

Apparently, only some Genesis 3's output RGB right out the box without modification.
For some reason, on many of them the RGB lines were never connected.