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Sega Genesis/MegaDrive Appreciation Thread: Alien Storm > Golden Axe

lazygecko

Member
The audio for Alien Soldier in the Classics Collection on Steam is thoroughly fucked. I can't believe we still have to put up with emulation errors on such a magnitude in 2016.
 

Teknoman

Member
just bought this for £50 (free postage) to celebrate getting a new job today after a successful interview (totally out of the blue, didn't even apply for it but was contacted by a recruitment firm who found my CV and it just so happened to be a company in my town I wanted to work with for years now).

Thought £50 was a good deal - asian MD1 with RGB cable, controller, PSU and game.

a2Mmg2tl.jpg


rvxfUZAl.jpg


z3vmfkFl.jpg


VdCp99jl.jpg


hooray

I'll be adding a 60hz/region switch to it of course - seems too easy not to. I'm just happy that now I've finally rebuilt my console collection. I had to sell up everything in 2014 after the breakup with my ex, loss of my house, but now things are better than ever

Jeez, congrats man. Onward and upward.
 

Shaneus

Member
The audio for Alien Soldier in the Classics Collection on Steam is thoroughly fucked. I can't believe we still have to put up with emulation errors on such a magnitude in 2016.
You know, I'd almost be happy if we could just have the classics collection but just have an option to inject our own emulation for it.

Not that I'd know what to use, I'm pretty behind on what the "best" or most accurate emus are these days.
 

AmyS

Member
EGM and Mega Play on Shining in the Darkness.

Edit: Nevermind that, I think they're both are wrong about the developers of Dragon Quest 3 & 4 (Chunsoft not Climax, right)...
I've been wanting to post the Mega Play look at Shining for a long while now. Enjoy the screenshots!

AEVaWTu.jpg


TkLoWJi.jpg
 

BTails

Member
Awesome preview! Though the enemy animation in SitD is not as smooth as it'd make you believe. Also, "numerous cities and a world of immense proportions"??? That's a stretch for sure, haha!
 
just bought this for £50 (free postage) to celebrate getting a new job today after a successful interview (totally out of the blue, didn't even apply for it but was contacted by a recruitment firm who found my CV and it just so happened to be a company in my town I wanted to work with for years now

Holy shit the console and controller look new as fuck in the images and that early MD/Genesis model was a beast. Great get and congratulations on the job man!
 

Rich!

Member
Holy shit the console and controller look new as fuck in the images and that early MD/Genesis model was a beast. Great get and congratulations on the job man!

Thanks man! Got it in the post today and it's sweeeeeet. Looks amazing on my broadcast monitor, aside from the big ass 50hz borders

I will region/60hz mod it later, but very glad with the £50 it cost on eBay.

edit - OH DEAR GOD SONIC IN 50HZ

edit edit:

region switch mod done. I wanted a small slide switch, but maplin don't seem to have any that are three way, so I went for a toggle switch. It's at the back, out of the way at least. It works, which is the important part:

sZFNX3rl.jpg


ZiujA7Ol.jpg


XS412qFl.jpg
 

BTails

Member
So I'm going to be recapping my Model 1 Genesis next week (With the help of my dad, who used to solder for a living!), and I was thinking of doing an audio mod since I'll have it open/all the tools out.

http://retrorgb.com/genesisaudiomod.html

Has anyone done this mod? I think I'd definitely hear an improvement, as I think the headphones jack on the front of my Genesis is going; I get interference from time to time, very similar sound to when your headphone are not plugged all the way in.
 

Galdelico

Member
Oh man, that's lovely. That's exactly what I want, a Japanese model that looks new. Congrats!
As much as I agree on its phenomenal conditions, that's not a Japanese MD, but - like Rich said - a PAL-Asian unit. Unlike their genuine NTSC-J counterparts, PAL-Asian Mega Drive consoles are not that difficult to be found in mint conditions (even brand new), and they usually go for much cheaper prices. Just make sure you can instantly 60hz/region-mod it, if you happen to find one, because they run at 50hz. Assuming they have the same chassis and cart slot of a Japanese MD, you'll probably need an adapter (or to file the slot iteself), in order to run PAL/US games.
 

Rich!

Member
Assuming they have the same chassis and cart slot of a Japanese MD, you'll probably need an adapter (or to file the slot iteself), in order to run PAL/US games.

nope. I've tried mine with a JP, USA and a PAL cart (sonic 1 jp, robocop v terminator pal and sonic 2 USA). All fit in and work fine without any cart slot modification. The cart slot is different to the one on any other model.
 

Rich!

Member
Ha, debug mode in sonic 1 is pretty cool. Built in level editor!

1x2ax3fh.jpg


It never worked on the last sonic 1 cart I had, this must be from the first production run.
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
^^^^^your Mega Drive looks awesome Rich, glad it turned out well for you!

Anyways, any easy tips on removing the jailbars?
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
It never worked on the last sonic 1 cart I had, this must be from the first production run.

Really? I had the ~1993/1994-era "Sega Classics" Sonic 1 as a kid and it had the debug mode on it. (North American Genesis version)
 

Rich!

Member
Really? I had the ~1993/1994-era "Sega Classics" Sonic 1 as a kid and it had the debug mode on it. (North American Genesis version)

Ah, well I had a PAL version. Maybe that's why.

^^^^^your Mega Drive looks awesome Rich, glad it turned out well for you!

Anyways, any easy tips on removing the jailbars?

Well...I don't know about easy ways, but the best way is apparently to install an RGB bypass amp.

https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/sega-megadrivegenesis-bypass/
 

Shaneus

Member
Ah, well I had a PAL version. Maybe that's why.
So did I, always worked! Unless you were using the wrong code. I remember there were two:
Up, Down, Left, Right, A+Start
and
Up, A, Down, A, Left, A, Right, A, A+Start (I think)

I'm not sure on the A+Start for the last one, but that was the debug mode. All I remember doing was putting a bunch of rings in the one spot until there was a shitload of slowdown, then collecting them all at once.
 

Timu

Member
Bio Hazard Battle actually gets easier after the 4th stage, in fact I didn't even die on the bosses on Stage 6 and 7, and that stage 7 boss, if you can even call it that, was too easy!!!
 
^^^^^your Mega Drive looks awesome Rich, glad it turned out well for you!

Anyways, any easy tips on removing the jailbars?

I don't know about easy, but to remove them from mine I cut/lifted a pin. System can no longer use composite video but I'm fine with that. The RGB bypass amp may be a safer more reversible method.
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
I don't know about easy, but to remove them from mine I cut/lifted a pin. System can no longer use composite video but I'm fine with that. The RGB bypass amp may be a safer more reversible method.

Hmm, is this about as easy as making the Nes region-free?
 

Rich!

Member
I don't know about easy, but to remove them from mine I cut/lifted a pin. System can no longer use composite video but I'm fine with that. The RGB bypass amp may be a safer more reversible method.

Wait a minute I don't need no stinking composite!! I had some jailbars quite evident on my console, so as soon as you posted this I gave it a go. Lifted pin 6 on the cxa chip and wired it to ground (used pin 1 of the CPU).

It worked perfectly. Jailbars are completely gone. Image is absolutely perfect now. Thanks!!

Tried to get an image but it's hard to show the improvement in photos:


Also, I was surprised by something I discovered just now - I lifted up the headphone circuit and underneath was the standard SEGA copyright date stamp. But the year was 1998. checked under the mainboard and sure enough, 1998. How is this possible, were they really producing Mega Drives in Asia regions that late?!
 

Peagles

Member
Also, I was surprised by something I discovered just now - I lifted up the headphone circuit and underneath was the standard SEGA copyright date stamp. But the year was 1998. checked under the mainboard and sure enough, 1998. How is this possible, were they really producing Mega Drives in Asia regions that late?!

Ooh how weird. What mobo revision is it?
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
I find it even more interesting that it is actually a Model 1, in 1998. Why would they go back from the Model 2?
 

Shaneus

Member
I find it even more interesting that it is actually a Model 1, in 1998. Why would they go back from the Model 2?
Could it be a clone? I'm curious about the DB9 (I think?) in the back as well. Unless that's been explained already.

Or it could be a Brazilian one... I know they were making the Genesis 3's pretty late in the game, maybe they made a few "retro" ones too?

Not sure...it says IC BD M5 PAL and HC I 22 on it.

Edit: just checked SEGA retro. They indeed did produce Mk1 mega drives until 1998, and then in that year it was discontinued.
Wow, that's so weird! Stumping all of NeoGAF, too.
 

Rich!

Member
Here's a shot of the motherboard for reference. And nah, it's definitely not a clone.

UQXkS91h.jpg



I didn't get a shot of the 1998 branding but next time I open it up I will. If anything, the age explains how the console is in such good condition. My N64 is older! And if this was lying around boxed up for years, it could have only ten years or less of use.
 

Galdelico

Member
About the RGB jailbars, guys... Are they there by default?
I'm still sorting out my retro-setup after moving it around the house, so I didn't have the chance to fire up my consoles in ages, now, but I'd swear I've never noticed any artifact over the RGB picture of my Japanese Mega Drive 2 (connected to a Trinitron flatscreen CRT TV). Should I look better? If so, is there any particular game that clearly shows up the issue, so I can check it out?
 
Hmm, is this about as easy as making the Nes region-free?

Depends on which pin you want to lift. I went to the one closer to the source and it is much smaller then the one that it is normally done to for this, as displayed in Rich!'s post (pin 6 on the cxa chip, the one under the metal thing at the top of his picture I belive). I also didn't do the extra work to ground it that he did though. I had some bookmarks around that explained the process and why it works a while ago but can't find them right now. Make sure you find some references before doing any work at all, and know that different mother board revisions may have rotated chip placements (iirc) so you have to make sure you know exactly what leg you are looking for.

Something else to keep in mind that another person in these threads recommended (Missile) when doing this. Put some sort of sticker or warning on your system that composite will no longer work so if someone else tries to play it with different cables they will not think it is broken and throw it away.

About the RGB jailbars, guys... Are they there by default?
I'm still sorting out my retro-setup after moving it around the house, so I didn't have the chance to fire up my consoles in ages, now, but I'd swear I've never noticed any artifact over the RGB picture of my Japanese Mega Drive 2 (connected to a Trinitron flatscreen CRT TV). Should I look better? If so, is there any particular game that clearly shows up the issue, so I can check it out?

It matters. Motherboard revision, system age, and cable can all play into it. Earlier motherboard revisions have a higher chance of having the jail bar problem on blue. That is the only problem that what I've talked about fixes. Between the Genesis systems I have only one, the earliest and only non tmss model I own, have had the problem.
 

Galdelico

Member
It matters. Motherboard revision, system age, and cable can all play into it. Earlier motherboard revisions have a higher chance of having the jail bar problem on blue. That is the only problem that what I've talked about fixes. Between the Genesis systems I have only one, the earliest and only non tmss model I own, have had the problem.
Great, thank you. I'll definitely investigate it with the Sonic games then.
 

Khaz

Member
About the RGB jailbars, guys... Are they there by default?
I'm still sorting out my retro-setup after moving it around the house, so I didn't have the chance to fire up my consoles in ages, now, but I'd swear I've never noticed any artifact over the RGB picture of my Japanese Mega Drive 2 (connected to a Trinitron flatscreen CRT TV). Should I look better? If so, is there any particular game that clearly shows up the issue, so I can check it out?

It seems the problem is mainly with the first model, I have no problem with my Megadrive 2.
 

Rich!

Member
thought I'd share this here, a shot I took from my CRT last night (before the jailbar fix mod)

yes, I took it on instagram

13584037_557844931070nvuix.jpg
 

BTails

Member
My Genesis is getting an overhaul next week... On the docket:
  • Full cap replacement
  • Audio mod - with RCA jacks mounted in the back
  • Lift pin 6 and ground it, no more jailbars

Gonna be a LONG afternoon, what game should I play to celebrate? And what should I be drinking? Haha.
 
My Genesis is getting an overhaul next week... On the docket:
  • Full cap replacement
  • Audio mod - with RCA jacks mounted in the back
  • Lift pin 6 and ground it, no more jailbars

Gonna be a LONG afternoon, what game should I play to celebrate? And what should I be drinking? Haha.
Vectorman & Sam Adams Summer Ale.
 

Rich!

Member
How much of an improvement is the RCA audio jack mod?

I may give it a go, if only to get rid of that annoying cable routed through the front. It's a piss easy mod presumably, and I have some gold plated jacks in my supply box. Two wires soldered, two to ground and a soldering iron (with a used tip) through the plastic at the back so I can screw/lock the jacks into place.
 
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