PAL World of Illusion (Megadrive) variants

[Vroomfunkel]

Got an enormous stack of Megadrive games in at the moment, and have been going through checking all of them, and came across a variation of the World of Illusion game that I have never seen before.

Here is the normal WOI, that i usually see (in fact, I have another two copies of this version in the stack!!!)



Horizontal style manual, in multiple languages, cover art fills front of the case.

This is the variant, which I have never seen before ..



Note the reduced size cover art format, and the Genesis style Sega seal on the bottom right. However it has the European PAL logo on all elements. The manual is vertical style, like the Genesis ones. And it is only in English. And the only language on the back is English too - except for a sticker in French!?!

Any explanations, anyone??

Vroomfunkel

[anagrama]

Not sure what the story is with them, but Home Alone, Batman Returns & Greendog all exist like that aswell.

[Vroomfunkel]

Not sure what the story is with them, but Home Alone, Batman Returns & Greendog all exist like that aswell.

Ah, but did you know that Greendog *also* exists like this:





I also got a 'Devilish' like this too.

Vroomfunkel

[Adol]

Well i do have some of these ones..they're Asian PAL releases...there are some strange korean ones as well

[anagrama]

Well i do have some of these ones..they're Asian PAL releases..

Are you referring to the "Genesis-style" covers in the first post?
If so, I doubt that - I know there are Asian covers which look vaguely similar, but these ones have a UK suffix (-05) to the product code on the back of the covers.
I can't see any reason for Asian covers to have a sticker on them in French either (which my copy of WoI like this also has).

[thegreatescape]

Isnt there also an Aladdin with that cover style?
And damn is that greendog case uuuuuugly :/

[anagrama]

Isnt there also an Aladdin with that cover style?

Possibly - I can't remember seeing one, but it was released around the same sort of time as these other games, so sounds feasible. I'll keep an eye out for it...

[BrokenFlight]

Could it be the Australian release? I had the Greendog and Batman Returns in that style and apparently they were Australian release.

[anagrama]

Could it be the Australian release? I had the Greendog and Batman Returns in that style and apparently they were Australian release.

No, don't think so - as I said, the '-05' suffix in Sega product codes indicates a UK release (by comparison, Europe-wide releases have '-50').
And every game I've seen like this has been located in the UK. Also, there's no reason for Australian releases to have the French sticker on the back. Not to mention the fact that 1st-Party Aussie releases were manufactured by Sega Ozisoft and come in cases that are slightly thinner than European ones and credit Ozisoft inside them.

My guess is that is was just a short-lived UK variant for unknown reasons. Also, it seems that Home Alone is much more common with this style cover than with the 'standard' one.

[thegreatescape]

1st-Party Aussie releases were manufactured by Sega Ozisoft and come in cases that are slightly thinner than European ones and credit Ozisoft inside them.

Ha! I always wondered why certain cases stuck out (by 5mm or so) on the shelf more than others. Thanks for that

[Adol]

I do have those "strange" releases:

Gold Megadrive label on cover,japanese cartridge form, vertical english manual,like Genesis ones
Cyborg Justice
Young Indiana Jones
World of Illusion
Batman Returns
World Heroes
Shadowrun

Megadrive "normal" label, Asian version "sticker", horizontal manual like all European releases, BUT Japanese form cart!

Mega Games 1 ( with the 3 original manuals from the 3 different games,in multiple languages! )
Greengod
Little Mermaid

Korean: Golden Axe 2

Strange/Chinese/Pirate?:
Last Battle
Batman
Shadow Dancer

If you need any pictures..(i collect japanese stuff,so i was mainly interested in those strange Japan-like carts of games NEVER released in Japan )

[Darren870]

I love that gamee....

[anagrama]

I do have those "strange" releases:

Gold Megadrive label on cover,japanese cartridge form, vertical english manual,like Genesis ones
Cyborg Justice
Young Indiana Jones
World of Illusion
Batman Returns
World Heroes
Shadowrun

Yeah, they all sound like Asian releases - from what I've seen, there's 3 different styles of Asian boxes -
i) the ones with the gold MD logo like these,
ii) games with a box very much like the European ones, but with a Japanese cart (like the copies of Shining Force that dojar constantly has on eBay, or the other 3 games you mentioned)
iii) games that are very similar to the Japanese release, but state 'Asian version', either printed on the cover or on a sticker (like dojar's copies of Golden Axe III)

Korean: Golden Axe 2

Could I see a pic of that? Not doubting you, but any Korean stuff is very hard to find details on.
I'm currently aware of the following Korean MD games:

Alex Kidd
Light Crusader
Ragnacenty
Slap Fight MD
Sonic 3
Space Turtle Battleship

Strange/Chinese/Pirate?:
Last Battle
Batman
Shadow Dancer

Yeah, pics would be nice again, though we obviously don't list pirates in the DP database.

Cheers!

[Adol]

Correct,the 1st category is my world heroes/cyborg justice etc games..the 2nd category are my mega games/greendog/ariel,etc.. games

the 3rd category,i do have Golden Axe 3 like this,exact japan version with japan manual,except an "asian version" on it

I'll try to post some pics..

What is Space Turtle Battlehip by the way?
I know Battlemania exists in Korea as well

[anagrama]

What is Space Turtle Battlehip by the way?

It's a Korean-only vertical shooter. Bock first posted about it a while back here: http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43005

[Adol]

Ok i remember the game i could get it easily from Japan,some guy is trying to sell it for months
here are pics of the games!

[anagrama]

Thanks man I'll add details on the Korean & Asian games into the database file when I next update it.

I've seen that Batman bootleg a couple of times before, but don't think I've sen the others - that Last Battle looks like one of the laziest pirate covers I've seen!

[Adol]

Which of the 2 Batman bootlegs?the one with instructions,or the other one?

[anagrama]

Sorry, I meant the bottom one, with instructions (didn't realise the other was also Batman! )

[Vroomfunkel]

Yep, I've seen those Asian Shadowruns and Young Indiana Jones games before. I bought a whole batch of brand new ones a while back ..

Yeah, the Last Battle cover is kinda lazy. Although I have to say that in the plain damn ugly stakes, my Greendog still wins out!

Also, there was a seller in Thailand who had tons of the Golden Axe III and Shining Force Asian release games, empire1974 I think was his id. Perhaps that is where dojar got all his from

He also had a ton of Asian McDonald Treasureland Adventures too.

I have an Asian release Sonic 3, which might be one of the gold MD logo types, but I don't remember exactly. I'd have to check again - it didn't strike me as being quite the same as those ones already mentioned.

Vroomfunkel