Question about Playing Mega Drive games

[erehwon]

I dropped by goodwill today and picked up a loose Kid Chameleon for the Mega Drive for $1. I was curious about how to play this. I was looking at a site that said you could use a game genie play imports is that true? I'm asking because I already have one of those. I would just like to be able to test it without having to buy one of those other converters listed in the sticky.

[devilman]

As far as I know, Game Genies are just used for inputting codes rather than playing imports. I'm not sure if there are codes out there that circumvent region protection in a similar way that the Passport is used on the N64.

[Push Upstairs]

There are certain games that you can use game genie codes to played locked out games on your system...but those codes are for later MD games (1993 & later).

The other purpose of the game genie is to allow you to play the game without having to alter your cartridge port to fir the cart.

If its a Japanese MD game then i would just plug the game into the game genie and then press start without putting any codes into it and see what happens. I'm pretty sure "Kid Chameleon" was released at a time when the games had no region lock included.

[anagrama]

The Game Genie is generally just used as a bridge adaptor so you don;t have to hack-up your Genesis cart slot to fit Japanese games.
Most titles pre-1993 (inc Kid Chameleon) are universal, but from 1993-onwards, a lot (but not all) of games were region-locked. It's possible to use GG codes to get around the protection, but it's much easier with a Mega-Key-type adaptor (or by adding region switches to your console - a very straightforward mod for 100% worldwide compatibility).

And since you say Kid Chaemleon rather than Chameleon Kid (the Japanese name), I'm guessing you mean it's a PAL MegaDrive cart. In that case, you can just stick it straight in your Genesis and it should be fine.

[erehwon]

Thanks. I tried it and it worked. By the way, are there any lists here of what Genesis/MegaDrive games have the region lockout? I'd like to have something to check if I run into another one of these.

[InsaneDavid]

By the way, are there any lists here of what Genesis/MegaDrive games have the region lockout? I'd like to have something to check if I run into another one of these.

Not that I know of, it's trial and error. I can say for certain that Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon (JPN) has a lockout chip, thus why I spent so much time on figuring out the region jumpers for the JVC X'Eye...

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77931

[erehwon]

By the way, are there any lists here of what Genesis/MegaDrive games have the region lockout? I'd like to have something to check if I run into another one of these.

Not that I know of, it's trial and error. I can say for certain that Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon (JPN) has a lockout chip, thus why I spent so much time on figuring out the region jumpers for the JVC X'Eye...

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77931

That mod looks interesting. I picked up a complete X'Eye for $10 at a garage sale this summer. I should use my X'Eye instead of my version 1 Genesis since it has A/V outputs.

[InsaneDavid]

That mod looks interesting. I picked up a complete X'Eye for $10 at a garage sale this summer. I should use my X'Eye instead of my version 1 Genesis since it has A/V outputs.

Just take your time if you do, there were only about 10,000 JVC X'Eye systems ever produced. Also if you have a true Japanese Mega Drive game (which is bulkier than a PAL Mega Drive or US Genesis game) it will fit in the JVC X'Eye cartridge slot with no physical modification. The X'Eye has a wider cartridge port than any of the US released systems. Basically what I'm saying is the X'Eye hardmod is something that should be done if you're going to be playing Japanese carts, although be careful and note the problem I had concerning where I mounted my switch.

Now for JPN and UK CD games (Mega CD) on the X'Eye, that's another story... For that I'd break down the CD, inject the import CD with the US Sega CD BIOS (overwrites the original), recombine the disc and burn it to a CD-R. But there's LOTS of help out there for that. :)

[Push Upstairs]

Thanks. I tried it and it worked. By the way, are there any lists here of what Genesis/MegaDrive games have the region lockout? I'd like to have something to check if I run into another one of these.

The earliest game that i have that has a lockout is "Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage 2".

I have a few games made after that point that have no lockout but i also have a quite a few that do.

I would guess that anything made up to 1992 is certain to not have a region lockout, while anything made in 1992 & beyond is iffy and requires experimentation.

I have a modified Model 1 so i can switch regions on the fly...i have managed to get "Bare Knuckle 2" to come up "Streets of Rage 2" but it does nothing more than change the title screen.

[anagrama]

I would guess that anything made up to 1992 is certain to not have a region lockout, while anything made in 1992 & beyond is iffy and requires experimentation.

True with regard to Sega-published games, but it's up to the publishers with 3rd party releases - all Konami games are region-locked, for example, while all EA & Virgin games are universal. Can't remember many other off-hand.
And there's also late-era Sega titles that are universal, for example Sonic 3D, which dates from 1996. :/

Guardiana (www.guardiana.net) list region protection info in their MD database, but this area is still pretty incomplete at the mo...

[Spartacus]

Thanks. I tried it and it worked. By the way, are there any lists here of what Genesis/MegaDrive games have the region lockout? I'd like to have something to check if I run into another one of these.


Boy, that's an interesting question. I don't recall ever seeing a list of Mega Drive games that would work just fine using a pass thru device like the Game Genie. I'm sure there must be a list out there somewhere. I'd also love to see a list of PAL Mega Drive games that aren't compatible with our 60hz TV's. I dug around in my closets of despair and found a few Mega Drive games I could put to the Game Genie test. Here's my results...

These DO NOT work:
Alien Soldier (JPN)
I actually found the Game Genie code for Alien Soldier. It works just fine using it and that leads me to think that the rest of these games may work with the proper codes too.
Alien Soldier code:
REBT-A6XN
REBT-A6XR
RECA-A6OR

Asterix and the Power of the Gods (PAL)
Crying (JPN)
Golden Axe III (JPN)
Mega Man The Wily Wars (PAL)
Mega SWIV (PAL)
Thunder Force IV (JPN)
Xenon 2 (PAL)
I should note that Xenon 2 is locked in at a 50hz signal!



These DO WORK without the need for codes:
Arrow Flash (JPN)
Battle Mania (JPN)
Battle Mania 2 (JPN)
Bio-Ship Paladin (JPN) aka Gunship Gomera
Cannon Fodder (PAL)
Curse (JPN)
Dahna: Megami Tanja (JPN)
Daisenpu (JPN)
Dangerous Seed (JPN)
Darius II (JPN)
Darwin 4081 (JPN)
Divine Sealing (JPN)
Eliminate Down (JPN)
Fire Mustang (JPN)
Galaxy Force II (JPN)
Gleylancer (JPN)
Golden Axe (JPN)
Golden Axe (PAL)
Golden Axe II (JPN)
Golden Axe II (PAL)
Gunship (PAL)
Heavy Unit (JPN)
Kyukyoku Tiger (JPN)
Legend of Galahad (PAL)
Magical Troll Adventure (JPN)
Man Overboard - SS Lucifer (PAL)
Master of Weapon (JPN)
Metal Fangs (JPN)
Micro Machines Military (PAL)
New Zealand Story (JPN)
Panorama Cotton (JPN)
Psycho Pinball (PAL)
Rent-a-Hero (JPN)
Slap Fight (JPN)
Star Cruiser (JPN)
Strider Hiryu (JPN)
Super Airwolf (JPN)
Super Fantasy Zone (JPN)
Tatsujin (JPN)
Twin Hawk (PAL)
Twinkle Tale (JPN)
Undead Line (JPN)
Verytex (JPN)
Wani Wani World (JPN)
XDR X-Dazedly-Ray (JPN)
Zero Wing (JPN)


Enjoy! :D

[almostgotthemall]

Enjoy! :D

That list is invaluable to me. Thanks for posting it. :)

[InsaneDavid]

Solution - just hardmod your Genesis. If you don't want to have to reshape the cartridge slot with a rotarty tool then mod a Genesis 3 as it has an import-friendly cartridge slot. If you have a JVC X'Eye the case is the same, import-friendly cartridge slot and a full visual tutorial written by me. The Genesis Model 1 and 3 mods aren't all that difficult at all, the Genesis 3 one being the easiest. In the time it takes to input the Game Genie codes for a handful of games you'd have the time it takes to install a switch.

Just the same, thanks to Spartacus, anagrama, and Push Upstairs for thus far tossing up some great compatibility information. :)

[Push Upstairs]

all Konami games are region-locked, for example, while all EA & Virgin games are universal.

That's because most (all?) Konami games were made after mid 1992 which i believe is the cutoff point for region lock.

[anagrama]

That's because most (all?) Konami games were made after mid 1992 which i believe is the cutoff point for region lock.

As I said above, it's not as arbitary as that. Some publishers were always universal, other were always region-specific and some were a mixture. There's no genuine cut-off date, since there were universal games as late as 1996.

[Push Upstairs]

Well i've never found a region locked cart that was made before 1992.

All my Japan MD games from 1991 and back work on my system no matter what region its set to and these are from various companies.