Mega CD Questions

[Daltone]

After seeing DP's astounding Sega CD collection, and the nice cheap UK prices, I've been inspired to try to 'go for the lot' of Mega Cd games. I'll probably never complete it, ah well . Anyhow, here are just some semi-random questions...

1) Did anyone else get a free demo CD of Keio Flying Squadron with the "Sega Classics: Arcade Edition, Ltd Edition" CD (Golden Axe, Super Monaco GP, Streets Of Rage, Columns, Revenge Of Shinobi) I only ask because the Demo CD has "Sega Power" printed on it, which kinda sounds like a games magazine, although I can't say I've heard of it. Anyway, just curious.

2) Is it possible to..um..convince the machine to play import games (by disc swapping or other unmentionable methods.) It's just I keep seeing US versions (at least, I think they were US..hmm..) of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 2 and for some reason I need to play it.

3) Other than Shining Force CD (which I got for £2 ) are there actually any good RPGs on the system?

4) What's going on with the boxes? All bar two I've seen are the nice 'little' plastic cases. The other two were "Hook" and "Sewer Shark" (which, God forgive me, I bought) and came in large, long US styled boxes. Anyone know which PAL games were released like this?

5) Any game recommendations? Any hard to find games to look out for?

Answers on a post card. Or not.

I'm tempted to say "thanks in advance" , but that's just begging for no one to reply, so I won't.

[Vroomfunkel]

You are correct that Sega Power was a magazine, back in the day.. I don't *think* it came as standard with the Arcade Classics. It's not been in any of the copies I've had.

It is not possible to convince the machine to play imports by swapping. There are other methods though ... you can get "Pro CDX" cartridges that will allow you to play imports. However these usually sell for extorionate amounts. Last one I watched on ebay.co.uk went for £46

The other way is that you can use a program called scd_conv to alter the region code on ISO images of Sega CD games, and then burn a 'PAL' copy of the game. As the Mega CD will play CD-R's without any fuss, this is the cheaper method! However the program does not work with all games.

Other good RPGs.... well, first up, damn you for getting Shining Force CD for £2!!!! Hmph! On the PAL side of things, there's not really much else. Dungeons and Dragons is pretty good. Also there is Dune, which is OK.

There are quite a lot of US released RPGs though - notably the Lunar games, and Popful Mail.

I'm not sure why some games were released in Longbox format and others not. Other than Sewer Shark and Hook, I know that Ground Zero Texas came in a longbox. I think Microcosm and Chuck Rock may have done too. And Puggsy definitely does.

Game recommendations... Sonic CD is great. Lords of Thunder is a pretty good shooter, although you are looking at £50 or so on Ebay for that one. Snatcher is BRILLIANT, and one of the absolute must have games for the system. It can go for anything from £30 to £60, but I think it is fully worth it!! Honourable mentions also for Earthworm Jim and Eternal Champions.

That's about all I can think of for the moment... good luck on getting the whole whack of PAL games... there are some pretty tough nuts to find out there. Especially: Kids on Site, The Animals, Night Trap 32X, Corpse Killer 32X, Lords of Thunder, Farenheit are all pretty tough to find. Things like Snatcher and Shining Force CD are expensive, but crop up pretty often. My best advice is to keep an eye out on European auctions, you will often find the obscurer ones there.

Vroomfunkel

[Daltone]

I shall consider myself damned >) D&D..wow.. I forgot I had that. For some reason I got that and Road Avenger with the system. I seem to remember getting disgustingly stuck very near the begining. Something about a brick that opened a door when you stood on it. Hmm..to GameFAQS!
Kids On Site eh?..heh, Gamestation has that for about £3..I nearly bought it a few weeks ago, but, um, the screen shots on the back put me off. Insted I got Supreme Warrior. I regret my descision.
Anyways, thanks for the advice!

[Vroomfunkel]

Yeah, Gamestation are good for Mega CD stuff ... when they get it in. I picked up Night Trap 32X for 3 quid (it's worth about 50!) - just because they didn't really know what it was.

Oh, I forgot to mention what is probably the rarest PAL release of all:

A Space Adventure.

I've only seen this twice, both times on eBay - and I'm not sure whether it was just the same copy that had been passed around. They were both sealed - makes me wonder if it ever actually made it to the shelves? I don't know ... but anyway, other games may be more expensive, but that one is easily the rarest.

Vroomfunkel

[anagrama]

A quick note: The easily breakable US-style longboxes were used on all Sony Interactive and most Psygnosis games, while everything else used the double-CD cases.
And yes, the demo CD's were mainly distributed with Sega Power. There's a few of them, though I've only got the 'Mickey Mania' demo. I think there's a couple of games that were on demos, but didn't get a proper release. But I can't think of any off-hand.