Can a PAL Power Base Converter work on US Genesis?

[MegaDrive20XX]

Always wondered, they are designed the same. So I figured since PAL and NTSC are pretty much backwards compatible friendly when it comes to SMS, would the Converters be okay on another region system?

[segagamer]

Since the cartridge slot on both the Genesis/Megadrive and the SMS are the same for both NTSC and PAL, I would say yes, as long as the SMS games are compatible with both NTSC and PAL consoles.

[mariaud]

would the Converters be okay on another region system?

yes

[Matt-El]

So you can use an NTSC Power Base Convertor on a PAL Genesis? And Vice Versa?

[Push Upstairs]

I don't believe the PBC has a "region" per se, i think it goes off of whatever the system is.

While not PAL, i have got a US copy of "Outrun" to flash the "Mark III" screen when using my region modded Genesis.

[pr8cjb]

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to. I remember reading somewhere (I think it was in an issue of Retro Gamer) that all the PBC does is act as a slot adapter, in the same way a SMS to GG adapter does - the game is still run entirely from the Mega Drive / Genesis hardware. Plugging in the PBC triggers some kind of hardware mode that runs SMS games. IIRC the same article said that one MD game was simply the SMS ROM in a MD cart (might have been the first Phantasy Star in Japan), along with the "key" to run SMS software.

Of course, I could have remembered it wrong. Now I'm going to have to spend ages sifting through my back issues...

[Hammy]

most of the extra hardware in the power base convertor was for the card input.

[anagrama]

Yeah, either the US or Euro version will happily work on any Genesis/MD.

Also worth noting is the Japanese equivalent, the Mega Adaptor. It's rarer than the US or Euro versions, but allows Mark III gams to be played on a western Genesis/MD. Handy if you don't want to shell out for an actual Mark III or JP SMS.