Sega Master System Region Free/Import info request overload

[cessnaace]

I have a model 1 SMS which appears to be region free. I bought it within months of the system's U.S. launch. I have played several SMS games that I bought on eBay from Australia and England. All play perfectly except those that require the 3D glasses or the light gun. Does anyone here know of a way around this?

I realize that Australia and England both use PAL, which has some major differences to our (and Japan's) NTSC system. PAL has more lines of resolution, but fewer frames (or fields) per second. 25 per second, as opposed to NTSC's 30 per second. Is there some sort of pass-thru adapter that I could buy to correct this problem?

While I'm on this subject, I have noticed on several SMS fan sites that SMS games were published in England as recently as 1997! Also, the SMS model 3 is still being manufactured and sold in Brazil. Anyone here play any of these games? Do the Brazil games offer an English language option?

Anyone replying to my rather lengthy ramble deserves a special seat in the gaming section of heaven! I think there must be a gaming section in Hell too, but this is most probably reserved for the programmmers of drek like ALF (for the SMS), CHECKED FLAG (Jaguar), GILLIGAN'S ISLAND (NES), or for those who burn homebrew ROMS onto RARE carts. There are plenty of commons to go around!

Mark S. Hinds
U.S.A.

This message was edited because I can't spell!

[CRV]

I have a model 1 SMS which appears to be region free. I bought it within months of the system's U.S. launch. I have played several SMS games that I bought on eBay from Australia and England. All play perfectly except those that require the 3D glasses or the light gun. Does anyone here know of a way around this?

Poseidon Wars 3-D, Space Harrier 3-D, and Outrun 3-D all have 2-D modes available. Look at http://raccoonlad.topcities.com/cheats.html for how to access them.

I realize that Australia and England both use PAL, which has some major differences to our (and Japan's) NTSC system. PAL has more lines of resolution, but fewer frames (or fields) per second. 25 per second, as opposed to NTSC's 30 per second. Is there some sort of pass-thru adapter that I could buy to correct this problem?

For most SMS games, the PAL-NTSC thing is not a problem. Look at this guide for games that have compatibility issues:
http://sg1000.emucamp.com/sgr/smscompat.htm

While I'm on this subject, I have noticed on several SMS fan sites that SMS games were published in England as recently as 1997! Also, the SMS model 3 is still being manufactured and sold in Brazil. Anyone here play any of these games? Do the Brazil games offer an English language option?

No, but most TecToy-made games don't have enough Portuguese text to affect the gameplay anyway.

[anagrama]

While I'm on this subject, I have noticed on several SMS fan sites that SMS games were published in England as recently as 1997!

The last European game is Smurfs 2 (copyright 1996). Aside from that, the latest copyright date was Cheese Cat-Astrophe (1995).
The only games later than those are Brazilian TecToy releases and a handful of Portugese re-issues.

I suppose it's possible that some European vendors still had stock on the shelves by '97, but most places were probably phasing it out by about '95.

[rbudrick]

Maybe set a mod switch to true PAL mode in the console? I don't think the guns themselves were different in Europe. You may only be able to use them on a PAL TV...

-Rob