This is something I never thought I’d appreciate.
Because Sega Master System and Sega Genesis games (for the most part) come in rugged hard plastic cases (clam shells) I’ve never felt the need to protect the games in my collection. I always felt very lucky next to NES and SNES collectors who have to deal with cardboard cases. So often over the years NES and SNES boxes been beaten to a pulp or often just tossed into the trash.
Sega collectors are not entirely immune to this problem. Nearing the end of the Genesis Sega starting using cardboard cases. And just like Nintendo games it’s often hard to find good condition versions of these particular Genesis titles.
I recently purchased a few Genesis and Dreamcast games from a fellow collector on the neo-geo.com forums. When I received these games they were in clear plastic box protectors. These games actually had their original hard clam shell cases so I took out the game and used the clear protective cases for a few of my cardboard Genesis games.
What I didn’t expect how much nicer the cardboard games looked in the clear plastic boxes. They were given a shine that made them look more similar the games in the hard plastic cases. None of my cardboard cased games are in perfect shape but in these box protectors they look great. So I went online and bought ten more.
They ship flattened and padded with tissue.
One empty and one with a game.
These box protectors even come with clear circular sticker to place on the top and bottom flaps to seal the case closed. They are not needed. I spend so much time removing stickers from cases and games I don’t want to start adding them back. These cases have no trouble staying closed without these stickers.
With shipping and after the exchange from USD these ten boxes cost me $21.20 CAD. $2.12 each is not super cheap for what they are but considering I wont need many it’s certainly cheap enough and I’ll continue to do this for any cardboard cased games that I might pick-up down the road.
A few games decked out in these new boxes.
All of my newly boxed Cardboard games.
On the other spectrum of cheap are BitBoxes.
Right now I have a handful of NES and SNES cartridges in the collection. Almost all are loose carts stacked up on top of each other. Compared to my Sega games they really don’t look very nice. My good buddy Nintendo Joe also wants his collection of Nintendo games to look pretty on their shelves and his solution is to use Universal Game Cases. I was very close to doing the same but for a long while I’ve have been aware of an alternate option called BitBoxes (from stoneagegamer.com).
What held me back is the price. They are not cheap. I decided to try out a few and I bought five BitBoxes; complete with cover art. After shipping and the exchange rate they ended up costing me $12 CAD each. I suppose I’m somewhat acclimatized to the cost because of the $15 Shockboxes that I have been buying for my Neo Geo MVS games but the price is still really affecting how many I’m willing to buy at one time.
BitBoxes for some of my favorite SNES games.
Looking neat and orderly!
These BitBoxes are much lager than I thought they would be. Not near as big as ShockBoxes but definitely much larger than original SNES cardboard boxes.Each BitBox can hold one game and a manual. And they feel very durable.
It’s frustrating… why do they have to look so good?! I’m sure I’ll be getting more as time goes on. My one small saving grace is that my NES and SNES collection will never be as big as my Sega collection. I’m pretty sure about that… some what sure. Maybe? We’ll see.
So I went and have returned from VGCC’s Waterloo Video Game Swap. And something strange happened…
I went home with more money than I came with. And against all odds I did not buy a single game.
Below you can see Nintendo Joe (left) looking like someone who has been standing all day and Flavio to the right.
Flavio and I with our combined Sega Master System (SMS) and Japanese Mega Drive games dominated the Sega presence at this event. If you divide the table in half all those SMS games on the right half are Flavio’s. All the Sega stuff to the left is mine. Flavio’s commanding lead in inventory made him the day’s top earner of the three of us. Flavio said he made just about $1,000 in the five hours we were there. He also had two large boxes of NES games for sale which were very popular.
Nintendo Joe and Flavio!
For myself, I was selling a lot of cheap and often complete Sega Master System games and I thought more would sell. People in Canada seem to be very Nintendo crazy 🙂 But I did sell some; including SMS, Mega Drive, Genesis, ColecoVision and maybe one or two PS2 and xbox original games.
Since Nintendo Joe picked us up and did all the driving Flavio and I split the cost of the table and gas. After my expenses I went home with an extra $260. It’s not amazing but it’s OK.
Busy Busy!
I don’t know Nintendo Joe’s final tally but I’m sure he’ll be posting it soon at MyNintendoDimension. As you can see from the image above this small venue was packed. Which is why we all did so well. People were having a very hard time just walking around!
Even though I didn’t buy anything that does not mean I went home empty handed! Thanks to Nintendo Joe I came home with three Super Nintendo games and Dungeon Lords for the PC. Haven’t heard of Dungeon Lords?! If you’re OK with old games that look old but are still awesome check out Dungeon Lords. I’m sure Nintendo Joe only gave it up because he’s all Mac now and does not have a PC. …but I still love him anyways.
Courtesy of Nintendo Joe. For my Nintendo Corner!
Two of these SNES games are ports of SNK Neo Geo games which added a lot more interest for me with my new found Neo Geo collecting. Nintendo Joe could have easily sold these for $10 each but instead he sent them my way. Thank you! *Update: After becoming more particular about what I collect I ended up giving these back to Nintendo Joe.
Speaking of new games; just before the show I picked up some Master System games from Flavio. He gave me a great deal on a stack of games. It really pays off having friends into the same stuff you are.
For this Game Swap I decided to try something out. Something to get the SegaDude out there! And ingrain myself deep into pop-culture!!
In most of my games I stuck in a business card that I made up using the artwork made for me by EvilKalman. I also scattered these cards on the table top so people could just grab one if they wanted to. The idea was to see if I could find anyone who might want to check out what I have going on here 😀
SegaDude Business Cards!
Before I left for the Game Swap there were 96 of you wonderful people subscribed to my blog. And now a week after handing out my cards at a jam-packed video game venue?!… there are still 96. A quick calculation tells me that is a net gain of zero (0). I bought 250 cards (still have most of them) for $70. Well, whatever, I still think they are cool and I believe Nintendo Joe is a wee bit jealous so they are worth every penny. 😀
When we drove home the car felt just as packed as when we went there. Of maybe ten boxes of stuff 8 were coming home again. I’m done with my doubles and I want them gone! So I start putting them on Kijiji (Classifieds) and that same day I was able to sell my boxed SONY PSP for $80 and the next morning I had sold all of my remaining 66 Japanese Sega Mega Drive games. I was willing to sell them individually but I also offered the entire lot of games for $280. And poof! they were gone. Someone just getting back into the Sega Genesis bought them all. I got rid of them and he got all those games for less than $4.25 each. That’s a win-win in my book.
Don’t forget about Dungeon Lords. It’s an excellent open world action RPG. It’s also good and hard!
After being teased with some very pretty Project Y screen shots we can all now enjoy a teaser video for Project Y.
This work in progress (WIP) video gives us a very good idea of what Project Y will be like. And even though this is very early footage it is looking fantastic.
One of the first thoughts that struck me while watching was that instantly Project Y feels like it has it’s own identity. I did not feel like I was watching just another retro Beat’em-Up. Of course there are many similar elements from the genre but there is a lot that looks unique.
There are several game mechanics that really stood out in this short clip. Of course you can interact with the baddies in this game. You’re going to be punching, kicking and tossing them all over the place; but you can also interact with the other playable characters. Right at the end we see Alex grab Tug from behind and start to push him off-screen (don’t quote me on those character names).
I also noticed Tug using a fire extinguisher to spray and freeze an enemy in his tracks.
Each of the playable characters seem to be able to get some kind of power-up. I’m sure earning and saving these for key moments will help add extra strategy to the game.
And it looks like the baddies can dish it out too. I’m not sure how it happened but I saw a dude electrocute Alex. What was cool is that another baddie got caught in the cross-fire and also got zapped along with Alex. I can’t help but feel that this kind of thing will make multiple play-throughs unique experiences with such variables in the mix.
Speaking of unique, did you notice the butt-slap taunt at about 30 seconds into the video?
Very cheeky!!
I personally feel the graphics look amazing! The environments feel ‘meaty’. They are full of stuff and the character sprites are very large for a Genesis/Mega Drive game. Making it look more like an arcade game from the 90’s rather than a 16-bit home game.
The music is down right intense. I love the pace and mood that it slaps on top of the visuals. Music is an important part of my gaming experience and Project Y has gotten some serious treatment in this department.
This is my Sega Master System. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
…and it’s about to become unlike most.
It was actually a long time ago when I first discovered etim.net.au and this excellent aftermarket product made by Tim Worthington for the Sega Master System (SMS).
The FM (Frequency Modulation) Sound Unit is something that came stock with every Japanese Sega Master System but not in any other SMS model. What it did was simple; it greatly enhanced the audio quality of the Sega Master System.
The Japanese Sega Master System included a Yamaha YM2413 FM synthesis chip along with the standard PSG sound. Many games, some of which were never even released in Japan, contain extra FM sound and music. Installing this board will add FM sound capability to any Master System, Mark III, Game Gear*, or Mega Drive* game console. Source
If you have a non-Japanese Sega Master System you’ve been listening to ‘Programmable Sound Generator’ (PSG) music and sound. The difference between PSG and FM sound is very noticeable and for several notable games I find the FM sound to be much better.
You can see (in the images below) by looking at my brand new and still in the package Soldering Iron that I’m new to soldering. This is the biggest reason why it has taken me so long to get around to this mod. Fear.
I have a good condition Sega Master System that works perfectly. There is nothing wrong with it and was so afraid of killing it. There is a distinct point of no return when applying this mod…
This is my Sega Master System
This is my SMS on the Operating Table
The easy part was purchasing this custom made FM Sound unit from etim. For $71 (after shipping) I acquired this small bit of hardware that would transform my NTSC Sega Master System into what it should have always been. And finally making it an equal to it’s Japanese sibling.
From etim I also found instructions for installing the FM Sound Unit. My FM Unit is version 2.1 and my SMS is NSTC so I knew which instructional diagram to reference.
What I didn’t notice was the appended note that stated:
“Note that the diagram below is incorrect, the white/red indicators are swapped around.”
My Sony chip actually showed a different number. But I was still confident that I was in the right area of the Mother Board.
Yeah, you guessed it. I did it wrong the first time around! But as hard as soldering can be for a novice it’s also forgiving and you can undo many mistakes.
Here’s a close up of my SMSÂ mother board highlighting (in Red) the three areas where the work will be done:
My SMS before the point of no return.
The first step was to install the FM board on the expansion port on the back of the SMS, just behind the cartridge slot. It’s stiff but popped into place very nicely. So far so good!
On the count of 1,2…3!
Installed! …the easy part.
Next I had to prepare three areas on the motherboard for soldering. This involved scratching away some of the green coating on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) to expose an area to solder the copper ground from the FM unit.
I also had to remove a capacitor. Cutting off the capacitor at C37 was really the scariest moment of this mod. It really felt like the point of no return. Without this capacitor the SMS would still work but there would be no sound. I discovered this when I had my Red and White wires reversed when testing after my first attempt.
Exposed area for Ground. (Left Square)
Cut off capacitor. Replaced with 2 wires.
I really didn’t feel confident about cutting off the blue capacitor that you see in the image above (left). The capacitor stands on two legs and I cut it off leaving both legs behind. I though doing this would make it easier to solder the two FM wires to remaining legs. After reading a bit more about soldering I think I should have removed the legs and soldered my wires directly into the wholes that would have been left behind had I completely removed the legs. I might revisit this someday.
Here’s a zoomed out image of the finished job:
My newly install FM Sound Unit.
The mod comes with a 3-way switch which easily connects to the FM unit. This switch allows you to toggle the FM unit into 3 modes. Original PSG sound, FM Sound and Japanese FM Sound.
Some Master System games (such as Monster World III: The Dragon’s Trap) would only play the games FM sound on Japanese region systems. This switch allows for all options to ensure you’ll get to hear the magic of FM sound for any game that has it.
Note: My NTSC Monster World III did not play FM sound. Some versions of games had their FM sound code removed. I’m going to guess that Monster World III would play FM sound if I used the Japanese cart (with an adapter to make it fit my NTFS SMS). I don’t have an adapter to test this theory.
I was concerned about the wire for the 3-way switch getting in the way of a cartridge so I wanted to get it completely out of the way. I wrapped up some of the extra length and left enough to snake the switch down past the mother board and through a hole in the plastic of the case that leads to a small compartment on the bottom side of the Sega Master System. This compartment has a removable cover and it was there to support some add-on that Sega never ended up using. For me this was the perfect place to put the switch. It’s hidden but still accessible without having to take the whole case off the SMS. And I didn’t have to further modify my SMS by cutting holes into it.
The idea was that once I got the cover back on the SMS would look pure and unmodified. I’m not opposed to drilling a clean hole to mount the switch but for now I’m happy with this solution.
Snaked the wire under the Board and through the plastic casing.
The original cover will still easy fit into place; completely hiding the switch.
Now it’s time to re-assemble! First put the shield back on… It won’t fit anymore. OK, so my SMS has to endure some more permanent modifications. I cut off all of those metal flaps you see below (left) and folded up the remaining piece so that it was out of the way. The wire cutters you see pictured didn’t work out. I had to switch to full blown tin snips to get the job done.
It wont close!
Time to cut again!
Now the shield fits! And everything is looking pretty clean and tidy.
It fits!
Top down view.
And what do I get for all of this effort?
The two video clips below I made from recording the games Miracle Warriors and Golvellius. For each I let the recording run for a full cycle of each selected tune; stopping the recording before the song looped and started again. I then edited the recordings so that the same tune in FM sound would play right after the PSG version. Making it easy to hear the difference.
For Miracle Warriors I chose to compare the PSG and FM version of: the Title Screen, the Travel/Map Screen, the Castle and Combat/Encounter tunes.
I did pretty much the same thing for Golvellius. Comparing the Title Screen, the Story Intro, Old Lady, Dungeon and Above Ground tunes.
For those of you don’t want to commit to listening to close to 14 minutes of comparisons feel free to skip forward through the videos, sampling as much or as little as you like 🙂
I haven’t yet heard the FM versions of all the games that support FM sound but I’ve heard many and to me Miracle Warriors is one that really stands out. I love the FM version for this game.
And while there is also a distinct difference when listening to Golvellius I found that both the PSG and FM sound were good. I can’t say for certain that I like the FM more than the PSG in this particular example. So as much as I am enjoying the FM sounds the default PSG is also pretty good.
Miracle Warriors PSG vs. FM Sound
Golvellius PSG vs. FM Sound
In the video below you can sample FM sound from several different games that support the feature. I’ve noticed that the good SMS games really benefit from the extra polish of the FM sound track. Giving an extra incentive to revisit some old favorites. But for weaker games (like Rampage, Altered Beast and Afterburner) the FM sound isn’t enough to make them more appealing.
I love the change the FM Sound Unit has brought to my Sega Master System.
The games that I think get the most out of FM Sound are Miracle Warriors, Fantasy Zone 2 and Double Dragon.
Note: I actually really like Phantasy Star with FM sound but the English version does not support FM so I’m not able to try it out first hand. There is a translated version with the FM code but it would take some work to get it on a cartridge.
What do you think? Is FM Sound superior, better, different but equal or worse than PSG?
I have to say after making just three solder joints and having this thing work as expected I felt like a GOD!!
Sure, I didn’t design or make the board and I don’t have a clue as to how it works but I applied heat. And that has to count for something.
Even though this is the first time I’ve blogged about a Sega Mark III game I have been collecting them. I’m now up to 39 Sega Mark III games. And this addition would not have happened without help from StopXWhispering over at Retro Video Gaming. She told me about a Swedish auction site called Tradera and offered to buy games on my behalf and ship them to me. How awesome is that?! 😀
Heidi (StopXWhispering) actually found this Haja no Fuuin for me. It was missing the manual but more importantly it had the small diecast figure! This little extra can be really hard to find; so I jump on the chance to get it. We sent a bunch of emails back and forth and worked out a trade which included Haja no Fuuin.
More recently I was able to find a loose manual for Haja no Fuuin on ebay. It cost a lot at $20 but now I have a complete Haja no Fuuin!
Haja no Fuuin (Miracle Warriors)
Miracle Warriors Gameplay by the Sega Dude.
The video clip above is gameplay footage from the Sega Master System version of Haja no Fuuin renamed Miracle Warriors. You wont hear the excellent FM sound supported by the Sega Mark III with the FM Unit add-on but the music on the Master System for Miracle Warriors is still really good.
My complete Haja no Fuuin.
Above is my complete Haja no Fuuin with box, manual, diecast figure, cloth map and cartridge. I do wish the box was in better shape but it will due. Maybe I’ll upgrade someday if I can find it for cheap but for now I’m really pleased with this addition. Thank you Heidi!!
Heidi also surprised me with a copy of the Famicom version of Haja no Fuuin in a recent trade. She really is an excellent retro gaming buddy 🙂
For the right price I’ll buy any complete Sega Mark III game but there is only one game left that I really want and fear I’ll have a very hard time finding. That is Alex Kidd BMX Trail which is in a larger than normal box and comes with a special joystick for the game.
I don’t know what to say. The unthinkable has happened. Of ALL the licensed Sega Genesis and Mega Drive games out there I found the one single game that use to hold the #1 position on my ‘Fantasy Wish List’. The ‘Fantasy Wish List’ being a list of games that I would love to have but would never ever be able to afford. And this one particular title was the most unattainable of all.
…entirely unattainable.
Until today when I purchased a complete and Excellent condition Eliminate Down for the Japanese Sega Mega Drive.
Even now looking at it actually in my collection I can hardly believe it!
I remember writing a blog a while ago stating that “I think the Sega Collection Might have Peaked…“. I’m glad (and surprised) that I was wrong. I’m pretty sure the collection has now actually peaked. Until I some how end up with a complete copy of the official yet unlicensed copy of Tetris for the Japanese Sega Mega Drive (but that’s just crazy talk) my collection has now ‘peaked’ as high as it ever will.
So if by chance the image below is still off screen and you haven’t seen it, hold on for just a moment. Before you scroll down get the tune ‘We Own It‘ from Fast and Furious 6 in your head. Got it? Crank the mental volume way UP! AWwwwwww Yeeaaahhhhh….. OK, I’m done. You can scroll down now.
Eliminate Down for the Japanese Sega Mega Drive.
Eliminate Down Gameplay by the Sega Dude.
One of the most exciting things about getting to add Eliminate Down to the collection is that it’s a good game. So far it has been really good. If feels great, sounds fantastic, looks awesome and it’s packed full of bosses and mini-bosses. Which helps keep the action intense and fresh. I’ve had a lot of fun playing it!
So… What did Eliminate Down cost me? I bought it in a bundle with a Japanese Mega Drive model 2 and 9 other games. So it’s hard to say exactly what this one game cost me. I’ll break it down at the end of this post.
Of these ten games I already had seven of them but I didn’t care because I had target fixation on Eliminate Down. But for now, on to the other two games that I’m adding to the collection.
At first I thought I already had Heavy Unit but after digging through the whole Mega Drive collection I realized I didn’t. The condition is Excellent, it’s complete and I’m really glad to have it.
Heavy Unit
Heavy Unit Gameplay by the Sega Dude.
Heavy Unit isn’t actually that good. It’s not terrible but playing this Space Ship Shooter right after playing Eliminate Down really highlighted it’s flaws. The graphics are OK and the levels do have some good variety but the game feels a bit flat and unpolished. And it’s one of those games that can really be punishing but not in a good way. If you die and lose your power-ups you’re in big trouble. When this happened to me I found the ship to be so slow that I couldn’t really react in time to anything. And I haven’t noticed any use for changing between ship mode and robot mode; which seems to happen when collecting a particular power-up. I checked ebay to get a sense of it’s cost and I found it listed for $40 USD. It’s really not worth this much. But the cover art really does rock.
The first few minutes of playing James Bond 007 the Duel I thought the game was really good. By the time I was able to beat level one I decided that is was just OK. The only thing that knocked down my first impression is the fact that the controls are a bit stiff. It’s pretty hard to get Bond to shoot at an angle or crouch as fast as you need him to. It felt a bit like Rolling Thunder and even used the same cover mechanics (ducking into a door way) but it wasn’t very useful in this game. The cheapest price I found on ebay for this game was $70 USD for the Japanese version. That is way too much if you only care about playing. Just like Heavy Unit James Bond 007 the Duel should be a $20 game.
James Bond 007 The Duel
James Bond Gameplay by the Sega Dude.
Bond is now in the collection! The condition is Good. You can’t see it in the picture but the edge of the cart label is peeling off a bit on the back side. Otherwise I would have given it a rating of Very Good.
…or Excellent if it was any Bond other than Timothy Dalton.
Here are the other 7 games that came with this lot (Found locally on Kijiji):
The Other Games Purchased with Eliminate Down.
The good news is all but one game can be played without needing to know Japanese. They’re also really good games. Two are actually bootlegs; Insector X and a 5-in-1 cart. The 5-in-1 cart is pretty cool. It contains Sonic 2, Jewel Master, Thunder Force III, Same Same Same and Master of Weapon. Once you power on the system you’ll get Sonic 2 by default. Pressing reset will cycle through the games.
So, what did Eliminate Down cost me?
I’m going to sell the doubles and take that money away from my cost of this bundle.
I spent $300 CND on a complete working Japanese model 2 Sega Mega Drive, ten games and one Honey Bee adapter. The adapter allows you to plug a Mega Drive cartridges into a Genesis. This will spare you from having to carve/shave the cartridge slot on a Genesis and make it physically wider. This Honey Bee adapter will not make region locked games play on the wrong system but since most games don’t have region locking it’s still very nice to have.
I’m going to be very conservative about the value of what I bought here. I think the cheapest price you might ever get a complete and working Mega Drive (or Genesis) would $30 and if each game other than Eliminate Down is valued at $20 and the Honey Bee adapter is about $10 then I paid $220 CDN for everything not counting Eliminate Down. Leaving the cost of Eliminate Down at an affordable $80 Canadian. I’ll admit that $80 is still a lot of money to be spending on a 25 year old game but I’m reasonably sure I am a through-and-through fanatical Mega Drive collector so how the heck could I pass this up?
I also want to thank my stunningly Beautiful wife for not once questioning the amount of money I threw down on these games! There wasn’t even so much as a “are you sure you really need it?”. I got nothing but unbridled acceptance. Which is normally the case and I feel it’s worth mentioning.
Below is the Japanese Mega Drive Model 2 that came with the lot. It’s in very nice shape. The only flaw is slight discoloration to both the power switch and the reset button. It’s complete with the hook-ups and an extra identical joystick.
Japanese Sega Mega Drive Model 2
I didn’t realize that the Japanese joysticks were much smaller than the Genesis controllers (of the same type). I don’t have a preference between the two. They’re both a good comfortable size.
They ship flattened and padded with tissue.
One empty and one with a game.
A few games decked out in these new boxes.
All of my newly boxed Cardboard games.
BitBoxes for some of my favorite SNES games.
Looking neat and orderly!
My Sony chip actually showed a different number. But I was still confident that I was in the right area of the Mother Board.
Retro Megabit 