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

IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
damn sixteen, now i'm remembering what i was doing 10 years back and getting salty that i didn't go hunting, haha

part of me wants to roam the midwest like mad max and find a condemned TRU (with the slips and everything) just to salvage stuff

GayForMaster said:
But I dunno if I'd want FM Sound. I prefer the 8-bit sound instead.
Click to expand...

i may be recalling incorrectly but i wanna say it's optional
 
F

Friend of Sonic

Member
IrishNinja said:
damn sixteen, now i'm remembering what i was doing 10 years back and getting salty that i didn't go hunting, haha

part of me wants to roam the midwest like mad max and find a condemned TRU (with the slips and everything) just to salvage stuff



i may be recalling incorrectly but i wanna say it's optional
Click to expand...

GayForMaster said:
But I dunno if I'd want FM Sound. I prefer the 8-bit sound instead.
Click to expand...

The FM board for SMS has a switch to toggle, so I bet this one will do. I love comparing the two, it's pretty fun ya know.

(I wonder if anyone patched the US version of Phantasy Star to use FM, or translate the JP version to English, or whatever the plan was)
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
Friend of Sonic said:
The FM board for SMS has a switch to toggle, so I bet this one will do. I love comparing the two, it's pretty fun ya know.

(I wonder if anyone patched the US version of Phantasy Star to use FM, or translate the JP version to English, or whatever the plan was)
Click to expand...

That would be cool. I still can't believe M2 missed that opportunity when they ported the Phantasy Star Complete Collection
 
K

Khaz

Member
Guys I have a very important question, it's vital that you answer it!

I'm about to put a three-way switch on my Megadrive. It has three positions, I,0,II to allow me to choose the region between USA, Europe, Japan. Now, USA has to be 0 because of wiring. But Which region should be put on I and II? Should I make Japan I and Europe II? Or Japan II and Europe I? I cannot decide for the sake of me, it keeps me awake at night, I'm about to throw up, oh my, I should just give up with my life.

Incidentally the same positions will be used on my Saturn. But not on the Master system because wiring. Fuck wiring.
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
Khaz said:
Guys I have a very important question, it's vital that you answer it!

I'm about to put a three-way switch on my Megadrive. It has three positions, I,0,II to allow me to choose the region between USA, Europe, Japan. Now, USA has to be 0 because of wiring. But Which region should be put on I and II? Should I make Japan I and Europe II? Or Japan II and Europe I? I cannot decide for the sake of me, it keeps me awake at night, I'm about to throw up, oh my, I should just give up with my life.

Incidentally the same positions will be used on my Saturn. But not on the Master system because wiring. Fuck wiring.
Click to expand...

Think of it like a world map. If NA must be in the center, then put EU on the right and JP on the left.
 
K

Khaz

Member
sixteen-bit said:
Think of it like a world map. If NA must be in the center, then put EU on the right and JP on the left.
Click to expand...

I can do that. But it doesn't solve the numbering problem. Plus the switch will most likely be on the back, so left and right will change whether you are looking at the switch or just touching it when in front of the console. Dammit, another problem!
 
S

Superblatt

Member
So I really want a model 1 sega cd. My model 1 genesis is modded, and I love the look of them stacked. The problem is the notorious issues with the tray. I'm not handy enough to buy a broken one (there are countless on eBay) and fix it. Am I asking for a world of trouble? Does anyone sell fixed up model 1 systems that aren't prone to the common issues?
 
T

Teknoman

Member
alf717 said:
Good luck! I made an account when them when I found the 32x I have with the vertical lines and still can't post. :) This was a little over two weeks ago.
Click to expand...

Ouch! Well i posted at racketboy and segaage. Maybe ill post at pcenginefx while im at it. Nintendoage sees more traffic, so maybe the help section there.
 
alf717

alf717

Member
Teknoman said:
Ouch! Well i posted at racketboy and segaage. Maybe ill post at pcenginefx while im at it. Nintendoage sees more traffic, so maybe the help section there.
Click to expand...

I'll have to give those sites a try. I'm trying to find a thread over at Assembler games forum which covered common issues with Sega CD units. I found it when I was looking for help with the 32x I recently picked up. I lucked out on both of my CD units both had the fuse blown and one unit had jammed gears in addition to the fuse. I think you might be at the point where a full cap replacement might be your next best try. You could check all the caps especially the round metal one. They are silver and are surface mounted. Check for yellow spots around the solder joints that might indicate that the caps were leaking. As for adjusting the potentiometer I would leave that as a last resort.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Alright, i'll check when i get back. Recapping sounds a little tougher than replacing the laser,but i guess it would be just like soldering the fuse.
 
alf717

alf717

Member
Teknoman said:
Alright, i'll check when i get back. Recapping sounds a little tougher than replacing the laser,but i guess it would be just like soldering the fuse.
Click to expand...

Yea it isn't difficult just time consuming. I use a de-soldering pump aka solder sucker to remove the old solder since I can never get the braids to work right without burning myself. Console5.com sells capacitor kits. I never used them before but when I was trying to see if they were reputable since I was trying to fix this 32x that same week the guys at Game Sack recommend them so they seem to be legit.
 
F

Foxix Von

Member
;_; I had a 32x working after a good cleaning and some fiddling.

I then put it back together and it no longer works... *sigh*

I'm starting to wonder if it's not a ribbon cable problem but a problem with seating the 32x into the cartridge slot...
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
Boy the final chapters of Console Wars are pretty depressing.. don't think I've been this down since the docu about Tribe Called Quest
 
M

Mercutio

Member
IrishNinja said:
Boy the final chapters of Console Wars are pretty depressing.. don't think I've been this down since the docu about Tribe Called Quest
Click to expand...

I'm not that far yet, but... I dunno. There's some stuff in here that just seems completely fabricated. I'm at a part where the SoA guys are in Japan and SoJ's lab is trying to sell them on the 32X, and they're all like "THAT WILL RUIN US." I know that a lot of the situations are heavily dramatized, but this isn't at all how I thought things happened.

Wasn't the 32X more of a product of SoA than SoJ?
 
K

Khaz

Member
Megadrive region switch soldered, will be installed tomorrow. But damn, I thought the region lock of the Mega CD was just preventing foreign games to start, not using the damn thing with a foreign console. I guess I'll have to install the region-free Bios sooner than expected.

Btw, I keep reading about an old region mod, the multibios, but all pages describing it have gone away. Does anyone have more information about it?
 
baphomet

baphomet

Member
Khaz said:
Megadrive region switch soldered, will be installed tomorrow. But damn, I thought the region lock of the Mega CD was just preventing foreign games to start, not using the damn thing with a foreign console. I guess I'll have to install the region-free Bios sooner than expected.

Btw, I keep reading about an old region mod, the multibios, but all pages describing it have gone away. Does anyone have more information about it?
Click to expand...

I believe an everdrive can load other BIOSes for the CD drives.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
Mercutio said:
I'm not that far yet, but... I dunno. There's some stuff in here that just seems completely fabricated. I'm at a part where the SoA guys are in Japan and SoJ's lab is trying to sell them on the 32X, and they're all like "THAT WILL RUIN US." I know that a lot of the situations are heavily dramatized, but this isn't at all how I thought things happened.

Wasn't the 32X more of a product of SoA than SoJ?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, sega-16 had a few posters on about Kalinske worship, there's some conflicting info on 32x, Saturn launch etc based even on Tom's interviews at that site. Its a great book but I'm taking bits of it with a grain of salt.

Also congrats khaz! If you don't mind modding another lemme know haha
 
@

@MUWANdo

Banned
Friend of Sonic said:
(I wonder if anyone patched the US version of Phantasy Star to use FM, or translate the JP version to English, or whatever the plan was)
Click to expand...

The big popular PS retranslation patch is based on the JP ROM, so yes, you can play the game in English with FM music. I think you can even toggle it on/off with a button press.
 
K

Khaz

Member
IrishNinja said:
Also congrats khaz! If you don't mind modding another lemme know haha
Click to expand...

I'm too far away for you to use my services ;) Also I hate installing switches, anything that involve piercing, carving plastic is such a pain in the arse for me. I'm too much a perfectionist, the thing has to be completely horizontal and be exactly where I want it to be, else I'll be dissatisfied.

baphomet said:
I believe an everdrive can load other BIOSes for the CD drives.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's just that I already have the chip, I was just lazy. Also trying to do something else than modding consoles all summer days. Also I don't have an Everdrive and I'm unwilling to spend 200 eurodollars yet.

But I'm considering doing things a bit differently now that I heard about the multibios. I'd like to have an eprom with a multibios containing region-free bioses from all three regions and merge its switch to my Megadrive switch using unused extension port pins. So I'd have only one switch, showing a different Bios depending on which region I last used the Megadrive, but still able to start whatever disc I put in because I'm too lazy to reboot the console if I'm in the wrong region.
 
S

Superblatt

Member
I hate to ask again since the thread is moving quick and my post wasn't responded to earlier today, but what are my best options if I really want a model 1 sega cd? I've been looking for a nice, clean and refurbed system for years but have never found the right one. I know they are prone to all sorts of issues. Any recommendations?
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
Blatt - have you checked locally (Craigslist etc)? I lucked out with mine & found an owner who'd really taken care of theirs & didn't want much for it. I totally understand your concerns with paying $$ for a questionable ebay unit, I'd prolly ask arind Segaage, sega-16 etc too
 
S

Superblatt

Member
IrishNinja said:
Blatt - have you checked locally (Craigslist etc)? I lucked out with mine & found an owner who'd really taken care of theirs & didn't want much for it. I totally understand your concerns with paying $$ for a questionable ebay unit, I'd prolly ask arind Segaage, sega-16 etc too
Click to expand...

I've been hunting craiglist for a long time with no luck. Guess I will finally need to join the sega 16 forum.
 
SonicMegaDrive

SonicMegaDrive

Member
Superblatt said:
I hate to ask again since the thread is moving quick and my post wasn't responded to earlier today, but what are my best options if I really want a model 1 sega cd? I've been looking for a nice, clean and refurbed system for years but have never found the right one. I know they are prone to all sorts of issues. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

This might not be very helpful info, but I've gone through 5 different Sega CDs over the years. 3 model 2s and 2 model 1s. Each one died within just a year or two of normal use. In one case, just a few months. And it was a brand new unit straight out of the box. Nothing but frustration. That is, until I finally got myself a CD-X, which I've owned for well over a decade now and never had an issue with it. IMO the regular Sega CD just isn't worth the headaches. If you're just looking for a model 1 just for collecting purposes or for the novelty of owning one, I say go for it. But if you're looking for a machine to play games on that will likely last a long, long time, I think the CD-X is a much more worthwhile investment, despite the higher price. Just my two cents.

Edit: Actually, a quick glance over eBay and Amazon shows that the CD-X doesn't go for much more money than a Model 1 Sega CD, if at all. Working units are becoming harder to come by, it seems.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Replayed some games out of boredom.

I've gotten a little worse at Contra: Hard Corps since the last time I played. Kind of forgotten the patterns for 2-3 bosses. I want to revisit it again. Easily the best Contra game.

Gaires. This is a Shmup with an interesting gimmick that is a slightly different take on the R-Type style Shmup. You can throw out your Shield/Pod and absorb energy from enemy ships and steal their weapons and by repeatedly doing this you can upgrade your gun to a super weapon. Biggest thing I don't like about it are the transparency issues and the bullets are hard to see. 2nd boss is a bitch because you have to absorb the enemies just before the boss to use their weapon to hurt it during phase 1. If you managed to get an awesome Phaser weapon from an enemy mid-way through the level, the weapon does not affect Phase 1 of the boss at all (no idea if it effects Phase 2) . I hate shit like that.

Blade of Vengeance. Interesting Action/Platformer in the tradition of Golden Axe. Once you get used to the inventory system and how to scroll the stage in order to look ahead it's pretty fun. Biggest problem is that you only get 3 lives and no continues and the game likes to put you in pretty cheap situations. Be on the look out for fall damage. But if you're smart you can stock up on Health and other items. Also, the 3 selectable characters all have differing abilities. Not sure if they take more damage but the female warrior doesn't do a lot of damage and against certain enemies (the Red Devils) it takes 4 hits to kill them whereas the male warrior can kill them in 3 hits. The Wizard has ranged attacks but deals the least damage. I don't see a reason to ever use the Female Warrior.
 
@

@MUWANdo

Banned
AlexSA2 said:
Blade of Vengeance. Interesting Action/Platformer in the tradition of Golden Axe. Once you get used to the inventory system and how to scroll the stage in order to look ahead it's pretty fun. Biggest problem is that you only get 3 lives and no continues and the game likes to put you in pretty cheap situations. Be on the look out for fall damage. But if you're smart you can stock up on Health and other items. Also, the 3 selectable characters all have differing abilities. Not sure if they take more damage but the female warrior doesn't do a lot of damage and against certain enemies (the Red Devils) it takes 4 hits to kill them whereas the male warrior can kill them in 3 hits. The Wizard has ranged attacks but deals the least damage. I don't see a reason to ever use the Female Warrior.
Click to expand...

The female warrior is faster, jumps higher and her weapon has a longer reach, and her mid-game weapon upgrade makes the second half of the game a lot easier. The male warrior is okay for the first few levels, but his lack of speed and short range leave him at a disadvantage later in the game.

Two moves that aren't immediately obvious: one, you can do a strong attack with either warrior by holding up and pressing B, and two, if you use your weapon at the peak of your jump you'll actually gain a little extra height on your jump.
 
K

Khaz

Member
Good thing, the switch is installed.

j1Ct7RZl.jpg


Bad thing, I may have killed my Mega CD. The Bios replacement didn't go as planned and I don't have the knowledge to debug it. It was supposed to be a simple chip replacement, but something went wrong, the console doesn't even turn on any more.

With my Master System mysteriously failing a few days ago (I wasn't even working on it), I'm two consoles down.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Re-played Sonic CD (Steam version) and last time I played it I didn't like it. I guess I was comparing it too much to Sonic 2 and 3/Kunckles but just approaching it by itself it's a good game. I kind of like the Time Travel gimmick and that it's optional. How many games from around this era can you think of where every stage changes like that?

I guess my main complaint with it is that it felt like it had little challenge in comparison to other good Sonics. You can hold right to win a lot of the time because there's not very many enemies. But the weird thing is that the levels are easier for the most part but the Robotnick battles are considerably harder when compared to the other games. There's always some sort of gimmick to the fight that you have to figure out.

Except for the 2nd to last level (the level just before the final battle with Robotnick) that level was bullshit. Easily the worst level of all the Sonic games and it's the only time playing these games where I died because of a time out. And what was the point of making Sonic small? It served no purpose whatsoever.

The race with Metal Sonic is easily the hardest boss battle in all of the old Sonic games.

But overall, I cannot say it's the worst but I still don't think it's as good as 2 and 3/Knuckles and that could be nostalgia but it's still a good game and way better than Sonic 1. Great soundtrack too, easily on par with 2 and 3.
 
S

Superjay779

Banned
I agree with those that say you should get a CD-X. I've had mine for like 12 years and no issues. Meanwhile my model 1 sega cd broke only a year after I purchased it used.
 
N

noquarter

Member
So my sealed Corpse Killer came in, should I open it?

My wife says don't and just get another copy, she knows me well, but I will end up spending more on a used copy then I did on a new copy. I have an American Laser Games gun I've never used and am on a CRT, so I really want to play, but it is sealed. If it sways any opinions, it does have a crease on the box, so it isn't mint.
 
F

Fatnick

Member
AlexSA2 said:
The race with Metal Sonic is easily the hardest boss battle in all of the old Sonic games.
Click to expand...

I don't know - there are some nightmares in the 8-bit versions. The Green Hill zone boss level from MS Sonic 2 can bugger right off.

I think you're right about the time travel mechanic. It's incredible both because of the effect it has on the level, but also because the developers showed enough restraint to avoid it becoming obtrusive.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Fatnick said:
I don't know - there are some nightmares in the 8-bit versions. The Green Hill zone boss level from MS Sonic 2 can bugger right off.

I think you're right about the time travel mechanic. It's incredible both because of the effect it has on the level, but also because the developers showed enough restraint to avoid it becoming obtrusive.
Click to expand...

If we're going to include the Master System/Game Gear titles we might as well include the GBA titles and the Neo Geo Pocket Color games and if so we're going to be here all day. ;)

Found a copy of Fire Shark laying around. I forgot I had it. Another Shmup in the style of Capcom's 1942 but it's really good. Can't say too much about it but it's a solid Shmup.

I'd still say the best Shmup on the Genesis is Elemental Master just because it's fun as hell and unique in the Shmup genre.
 
@

@MUWANdo

Banned
Not directly MD-related but worth mentioning anyway: the old MD/GBA hori shooter Steel Empire has been remade for 3DS and is hitting the NA eShop today.
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
@MUWANdo said:
Not directly MD-related but worth mentioning anyway: the old MD/GBA hori shooter Steel Empire has been remade for 3DS and is hitting the NA eShop today.
Click to expand...

The original is a great game, but I don't like the look of the new art in the remake. It's got that high-res gradient look that I don't like (looks like mobile or flash). The original sprite art was sooo much nicer. That $30 price tag is a big turnoff too.
 
Z

zmet

Member
Khaz said:
Guys with an Everdrive, what happens when you load a Mega CD BIOS without being connected to a Mega CD?
Click to expand...

Nothing happens. I just hit reset and I'm back to the main menu. But when it is hooked up to a Mega/Sega CD, it's pure magic.
 
B

BTails

Member
AlexSA2 said:
Great soundtrack too, easily on par with 2 and 3.
Click to expand...

Does the Steam version give you access to both soundtracks? I honestly can never decided which one I like more: the North American soundtrack is so nostalgic to me, but I do really like the Japanese one too.
 
M

Mercutio

Member
If anyone's looking for a Model 2 Sega CD in box, I may accidentally have a spare soon. Trades for retro stuff more than welcome.
 
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