Mega CD

All posts tagged Mega CD

Rise from your Grave! Saving Optical Disc Games.

Posted by Sega Dude on November 6, 2019
Posted in: Games, Hardware, Restoration, SEGA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

I’ve been spoiled by the super ridiculously amazing longevity of video game cartridges. In all of my hundreds of cartridges from the 80’s and 90’s only two have ever died. These things were built to last and they have already survived the test of time.

However, my very significantly smaller Sega CD collection (standing at 50 games) hasn’t done as well. Three games (Dungeon Explorer, Lords of Thunder and Wolfchild) purchased within the last year(ish) have failed or are showing signs of trouble.

I purchased Dungeon Explorer from Lukie Games in July 2018 for $67 USD (~$88 CAD). When it arrived I found it just would not load at all. When I told Lukie Games about this they were quick to send a replacement. But unfortunately the replacement also did not work. I tried the original and the replacement on two working Sega CD’s so I’m sure the fault is with the CDs. It wasn’t a fun experience but to their credit Lukie Games did refund my money and I got to keep the broken game.

Lords of Thunder works perfectly except it will not play any audio music. The game loads, plays and sound effects can be heard. It’s only the Audio Music that is entirely absent. Lords of Thunder is well known for its intense hard rock music and losing this aspect of the game really steals it’s thunder (see what I did there?).

I bought Lords of Thunder from a fellow member over at Sega-16 in August 2018 for $120 USD (~$155 CAD) and I knew the audio music didn’t work. The seller was straight up about the problem.

Wolfchild will very reliably fail to load level one. Making it not much better off than Dungeon Explorer which does nothing at all. I purchased Wolfchild from Kijiji for $100 CAD (~$76 USD) just last month.

Fearing that these CD’s might be forever dead or half functional I took them into Retro Game Bros who (as I’ve recently learned) are very skilled at the art of re-surfacing optical discs.

Retro Game Bros had my CDs for just one day. When I returned to pick them up I was told they didn’t have a Sega CD to test if the re-surfacing had helped. But despite this they made some incredibly good predictions.

I’ll cut right to the main event; Lords of Thunder is now working perfectly. And thank goodness for that! It’s by far the most expensive game of the three. Retro Game Bros told me they expected good results from this CD. Before resurfacing they could see some mild scratches and scuffs that they were able to remove.

Dungeon Explorer they were not as sure about. There were a lot of scratches on this disc and the resurfacing actually revealed more scratches. They said maybe… and as it turns out the CD does load and play now. During the intro story the audio does have a hard time transitioning to a new track but it will muddle it’s way through and carry on. So I can’t be certain if the entire game will be playable but it feels entirely possible.

Ironically the Wolfchild CD looks absolutely perfect. With no signs of scratches, scuff or imperfections. Which is why Retro Game Bros were certain that resurfacing will not help. But at my request they tried anyways. No joy. The CD will still freeze trying to load stage one. Wolfchild is likely a victim of disc rot or some such age related degradation that can affect optical media.

If you have any optical discs that are not working or having any kind of trouble I really do recommend having them professionally re-surfaced if a gentle cleaning doesn’t help. Make sure a professional calibre machine and skilled people are at the helm. It’s important and I do believe this is the the last resort to save a disc.

I’m sure it will come as no surprise that I very highly recommend the Retro Game Bros for all of your re-surfacing needs. This has been such a great experience. Even if Wolfchild cannot be saved I still have piece of mind that I tried and… LORDS OF THUNDER WORKS!

Pick-Ups – Sega CD Revenge and Avenger!

Posted by Sega Dude on March 25, 2019
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, SEGA. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

So I’ve started to notice that while Sega CD games are not found as frequently through my favorite hunting grounds (Classifieds, Forums and Games Swaps) as compared to Sega Genesis Games they do appear regularly enough; specially considering how relatively small the Sega CD library is.

This Chuck Rock II Son of Chuck is actually an upgrade for my previous one. There was nothing much wrong with my old version except the manual was missing the back cover. This new one pictured below cost me $50 CAD (~$37 USD) and is in really great condition (found on Kijiji.ca). With any luck I’ll be able to sell the other for close to the same price.

Chuck Rock II, much like the first Chuck Rock, is just an average platformer. Maybe there’s some fun to be had here but I didn’t feel inspired to play it for very long.

The next three games are much more interesting… which is interesting in itself.

None of them are what you typically think of when you think 16-bit retro video games. One is a point and click adventure and the other two are animated Full Motion Video (FMV) Games.

…for the most part I hate FMV games.

The exception are the FMV games that are animated cartoons instead of live action. The Live Action titles reek of poor acting, poor scripts, poor stories and poor gameplay. To some this campy cheese has made these games endearing. But I can’t count myself among them. They just suck.

That’s not to say that the cartoon FMV games are amazing. Man alive, they are pretty dated. But they are playable. And as I’m discovering they’re kinda fun!

Road Avenger cost me $65 USD (~$87 CAD) and Secret of Monkey Island $75 USD (~$100 CAD). Unlike Chuck Rock II (which was priced a bit high) Road Avenger and Secret of Monkey Island cost me a little less than the average listed price at PirceCharting.com. These games I got from a solid member at Sega-16.com who goes by the handle SpaceFlea. Thanks SpaceFlea!

The final pick-up for today is Revenge of the Ninja which I found on Kijiji for $50 CAD (~$37 USD). Revenge of the Ninja and Road Avenger are the two most exciting pick-ups here and both play very much like Dragon’s Lair; which I believe is the game that started the trend of cartoon FMV games.

Of course Revenge of the Ninja and Road Avenger aren’t on Laserdisc like the original format for Dragon’s Lair and it’s painfully obvious how much visual quality is lost playing such games on a Sega CD or Mega CD.

However, the games are very playable and surprisingly fun but I’m not sure how much replay value they’ll hold.

Inside Revenge of the Ninja I found a receipt from July 2012. It would appear that my newly acquired Revenge of the Ninja sold for $10 CAD (~$7.50 USD) 7 years ago. I love seeing this kind of history and not surprisingly someone got a much better deal than I did. looks like 2012 was the time to get into the Sega CD!

Since we don’t yet have access to time travel we each need to decide what these old games are worth to us. I started my retro video game collection in 1998 (starting with the Sega Master System) and over the decades it has always surprised me how popular these old games are for a lot of people. And this popularity is reflected in continually rising prices.

I’d love to hear what you think about the Sega CD. What are your favorite titles? Do you like FVM games?

Pick-Ups – Retro Game Bros. Sega CD

Posted by Sega Dude on June 23, 2018
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, SEGA. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

On Saturday June 16th one of my favorite retro video game shops put on a cool summer sale. The main event being 20% off everything. I know Retro Game Bros well and I know they already have good prices so this sale peaked my interest.

It was a lazy Saturday for me so I left early and arrived at Retro Game Bros about 30 minutes before they opened. I had no expectations in mind so I was surprised to find a line up outside the store. I shouldn’t have been surprised. My home town of Toronto has a huge nerd population and despite waiting about one hour before getting in time flew by as I chatted up fellow retro gamers.

I was number 29 in line (totally scored a loot bag) and because the store can only accommodate a small number of people at a time we had to wait as a handful of people entered and exited in about 10 minute intervals.

I salute those of you who arrived two hours before opening! Whatever you picked up you thoroughly earned.

As for myself (once I got in) all my money was spent after gazing into the very first display case I walked up to.

The Retro Game Bros prices for Dark Wizard and Robo Aleste are the lowest I’ve seen at Retro Stores and local Game Swaps. I’ve come accustomed to seeing Dark Wizard being priced at $80 CAD and Robo Aleste at $200 CAD; despite pricecharting.com showing a complete Aleste for $110 USD (~$145 CAD).

Combine the best prices I’ve encounter with an additional 20% off and things were feeling very good over at Retro Game Bros. Dark Wizard ended up costing me $63 CAD with tax (~$48 USD) and Robo Aleste rang in at $163 CAD (~$123 USD) with tax.

As much as I wanted to continue to take advantage of this one day sale I felt like I had spent enough and it was time to reign it in. I did have my eye on several other items but they will have to wait for another time.

Thank you Retro Game Bros! The way you guys make me feel is second only to wild kinky sex… or is wild kinky sex second only to you two? I’m not sure which way around, because it’s really that close.

Pick-Ups – Expanding into the Sega CD

Posted by Sega Dude on June 4, 2018
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, SEGA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

For a few years now I’ve had a small collection of Sega CD games. They all came from my good buddy Nintendo Joe who gave me these eight games:

01) Bram Stoker’s Dracula
02) Cliffhanger
03) Demolition Man
04) Eternal Champions
05) Power Factory
06) Stellar-Fire
07) The Terminator
08) ThunderStrike

He found them for $20 USD (for all eight) at a garage sale and was kind enough give them to me. At the time I didn’t even have a Sega CD. So they sat on a shelf and patiently waited.

I’ve recently sold Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Power Factory because they are horrible games and I want to shake the desire to buy anything and everything Sega CD. My goal is to have a good Sega CD collection and not a fat one.

When I started collecting Sega Master System and Sega Genesis games they were very cheap so I was enjoying grabbing any title that I could, but those days are long gone.

Of the eight games Nintendo Joe gave me there are four good games that I really do want to have in my collection (Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, Eternal Champions and The Terminator). A huge thanks to Nintendo Joe for giving my new(ish) Sega CD collection a great running start!

When I got around to really exploring the Sega CD (it was something I never touched back in the day) I kept encountering the system’s famous (or infamous) Full Motion Video (FMV) games. Despite being terrible games they seem to have a cult following. They’re actually becoming popular because of how bad they are. So when people are willing to say that Night Trap is a good game it’s hard to trust game reviews for the Sega CD.

So relying on my own ‘street smarts’ and extensive Sega expertise I ventured out on my own and picked up few affordable games that I manage to find out in the wild.

I didn’t do so well…

Sure, they weren’t terribly expensive but now I know why.

Chuck Rock II Son of Chuck is just OK but far from great. It’s one saving grace is that it’s a traditional platformer; which cost me $30 CAD (~23 USD).

Heimdall looks like it could have been a good isometric RPG game and I’ve read reviews from people who like the game; but personally I find it’s too cumbersome to be enjoyable. I don’t recall what Heimdall cost but I’ll guess it was about $20-$30 CAD.

Microcosm feels like a game that is trying really hard to take advantage of what CD technology was offering but it fell short by a lot. Fortunately it only cost me $15 CAD.

I don’t even remember buying Soccer but I know it was cheap and I’ve already re-sold it.

Tomcat Alley is actually an FMV game which I picked up for $20 CAD. I was weak…

As I get better at finding fun games for the Sega CD I might purge some or all of these titles.

Something that I did do right was scoop up this Final Fight CD for $35 CAD (~27 USD) from a favorite video game store called Game Centre. Like most complete copies the box is pretty banged up but it’s still whole and it’s a great beat’ em up.

The next purchase is when I really started getting serious about my Sega CD collection. I found a post on the Sega-16.com market forums listing four games for sale. They were being sold as a bundle and included Lunar, Lunar II, VAY and Popful Mail. Asking $500 USD plus shipping. Even being new(ish) to the Sega CD I knew these were some of the best games to have for the system. But the cost was too great for me. At the same time I felt it was possible that they might sell.

Several recently sold listing on Ebay.com show that complete Popful Mail’s have sold as ‘Buy It Now’ (BIN) prices from ~$285-$500 USD. And from completed auctions ranging from ~$260-$360 USD. Even PriceCharting.com lists a complete Popful Mail valued at $320 USD. While Lunar lists for ~$100 USD and Lunar II at ~$175 USD. And VAY being the most affordable at ~$90 USD.  Add up the lowest prices and it comes to $625 USD. Ouch! So this $500 USD asking price felt reasonable.

I ended up sending a friendly private message to the seller offering to buy them all for $300 USD plus shipping. I basically said if they couldn’t sell the games in the amount of time they wanted they could reach out to me if they were willing.

About two weeks later the seller agreed to let me have them. I had to drop a total of $347.80 USD (~$450 CAD) with shipping. It still feels like a lot of money to throw at video games but I know the seller gave me a super deal and I really do appreciate it.

I’m a long way through Lunar the Silver Star and it really is a good JRPG. I wasn’t sure if the the genre could still capture me like it did in the 80’s and 90’s but it really can. Finally I understand why Lunar is so popular.


VAY is also a JRPG and it’s commonly said to be not as good a Lunar but still a worth while game. I’ve only just sampled it and haven’t played enough to make the judgement myself.

As for Popful Mail, it really does deserve the hype it gets. It’s a great blend of action platforming with RPG elements in the mix. I had a really hard time clearing the first stage but once I finally managed to take down that Wood Golem I found my groove. This game is a real highlight for the collection.

Both Android Assault and Silpheed I bought from the neo-geo.com forums for a combined $140 USD (~$180 CAD). This is pretty much the list value for these games on PriceCharting.com (which is a fair price) and the seller didn’t charge me for shipping which was a generous bonus.

Android Assault is outstanding. It’s everything you ever wanted from a shooter. Beautiful graphics and animations, lots of weapons and power up and massive bosses.

Silpheed is something special. It feels very similar to Star Fox and does everything right that Microcosm did terribly wrong. Silpheed is very fast and smooth and the plain polygon graphics are balanced out with excellent action and great use of music and real audio for exciting combat radio chatter and story narration.

Now my Sega CD collection is really starting to feel pretty good. I’ve managed to get some notable games. At this point it has became much easier for me to sit back play some games and go back into passive game hunting mode.

But by far the most exciting edition to my Sega CD collection is Snatcher. This game typically has a really high price tag. Coming in at ~$575 USD (~$745 CAD) on PriceCharting.com and between $400-$675 USD in recent ebay sold listing.

I can’t pay those prices so when I noticed Snatcher at local store called 7 Star Games I asked if they would be willing to work out a trade. They were willing but they wanted $700 CAD in trade value.

**7 Star Games is the same place I was able to trade for my Pulseman for the Japanese Sega Mega Drive. Nintendo Joe has also done a lot of trading with 7 Star Games.**

I went into my collection and took some time to consider what I’d be willing to part with. The first thing I looked at was my Nintendo Game Boy Advance collection. I had been buying complete and used GBA games for years when the system was current and I had amassed about 60 games. When assessing their value I discovered that Ninja Five-0 had become a very expensive game. Turns out it’s hard to find and it’s a good game that people want to play.

PriceCharting valued Ninja Five-0 at ~$300 USD and 7 Star Games was willing to give me $400 CAD in store credit for it. This was pretty exciting because all of a sudden I was just $300 CAD away from hitting the target with just one game. However, it did take nine more games to get my Snatcher and I am really happy with the trade. Click here to see the ten GBA games I traded.


What can I say about Snatcher? It’s a graphical text adventure that is not for everyone because of the slow pace. But if you’re comfortable with the genre I’ll tell you that it’s a very cool game. I’m guessing the replay value will be very low but I haven’t yet completed the game myself. But so far it’s very enjoyable and just so very cool.

I do have a few other Sega CD games in the collection, some good and some really bad, but this post really highlights the best of what I’ve got. And because I’ve never really paid attention for a lot of years I am surprised to discover that the Sega CD (Mega CD) is actually a worth while add-on for the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive.

I’d love to hear thoughts from anyone who played it back in the day when it was new. Or from anyone just discovering it now.