Question about Phantasy Star 1 (Megadrive ver.)

[luffy744]

I could have sworn I read the answer to this before on this forum, but I looked through search for ~15 minutes with no success, and I just can't remember the answer for the life of me...

Does the Japanese Megadrive release of Phantasy Star 1 have the FM sound like the Japanese Mark III version? Or does it have the bleeps and bloops that are there on the US SMS version?

Thanks in advance

[Great Hierophant]

Just the blips and bloops I would say. While the Japanese Mark III + FM Sound Unit combo or a Japanese Master System contains a FM chip, the YM-2143, the Sega Megadrive contains a different FM chip, the YM-2612. While they behave similarly, music composed for one chip would not sound correct on the other chip. The Megadrive cartridge has the same hardware inside as the Mark III cartridge, the only difference is that it is wired to the cartridge pins differently. The different wiring allows the Megadrive cartridge to act like a Power Base Converter, selecting the backwards compatible features of the Megadrive. A YM-2143 is not present in the Megadrive and Sega made no provision for the Megadrive's YM-2612 to emulate or simulate the YM-2143.

So, if you want to hear the FM Sounds in on true Sega hardware, you will need the Japanese Phantasy Star Mark III cartridge (cheaper than the Megadrive cartridge) and a Japanese Sega Mark III + FM Sound Unit combo or a Japanese Sega Master System (expensive and rare.)

[rbudrick]

GH nailed it. There is indeed no FM sound.

-Rob