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[blast processed]

Hello Sega fans. I would like to buy this http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/9063330.htm
and have a question to you.
What do you think about this device? I read few different opinions. One of them are positive and the others negative. If I'll buy it, physical SMD games work fine with this console? Anyone of you tried this stuff? And one more question. How I can save gaming progress on SMD? Is it possible? Memory card or only some kind of level codes?

I haven't used it myself but I do know someone that has. The biggest gripe they had was that the sound was not emulated properly it just sounded off & the wireless controller lost it's connection pretty easily. Maybe someone with actual hands on experience can comment a little more.

 

[marcincz]

It's a system-on-a-chip, sort-of hardware emulation. The sound is usually terrible, the reviews say the controllers are equally crap. I doubt you'd get anything other than Composite out of it. Of course none of the addons work with it, neither do Virtua Racing or SSF2. You can only save progress if the game allows you to, and the save file is stored within the cartridge itself. None of the included games support this feature.

If you want to use your own cartridges, you're much better off getting the original console. It would also most certainly cost you less. If you are inconvenienced by switching cartridges, you can get an Everdrive.



The review confuses me:

I haven't used it myself but I do know someone that has. The biggest gripe they had was that the sound was not emulated properly it just sounded off & the wireless controller lost it's connection pretty easily. Maybe someone with actual hands on experience can comment a little more.

Thx for tips, help and answers guys.

 

[entremet]

Batman Returns Sega CD music is great. Too bad it get overlooked from that generation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E5tQz7S43U

 

[sixteen-bit]

Did Spencer Nielsen compose every SCD game?

 

[Huggers]

Yeah that MD clone thing from Argos is a POS. Sound quality is shocking

 

[Fularu]

Some new games from the past few weeks :

 

[entremet]

Did Spencer Nielsen compose every SCD game?

Seems like it lol.

 

[Gyrian]

Did Spencer Nielsen compose every SCD game?

I'd actually be okay with that!

Some new games from the past few weeks :

Nice pickups! Is that E-SWAT new?

 

[Gunstarheroes]

he's dumped them all, right

Yeah, all of his protos are dumped and available.

 

[Fularu]

Nice pickups! Is that E-SWAT new?

I haven't opened it yet but it should be

 

[BosSin]

So far the megadrive games that I have recently beaten on normal without any cheats on my original console (so no saves) are:
Ghouls n ghosts
Revenge of Shinobi
Streets of Rage 2
James Pond 2
Earthworm Jim 2

 

[sixteen-bit]

Some new games from the past few weeks :

So many great picks there! RKA is one of my favorite Genesis games.

 

[Timu]

So far the megadrive games that I have recently beaten on normal without any cheats on my original console (so no saves) are:
Ghouls n ghosts
Revenge of Shinobi
Streets of Rage 2
James Pond 2
Earthworm Jim 2

Try hard to hardest!!!

So many great picks there! RKA is one of my favorite Genesis games.

Used to play that back in the day, I need to pick it up again and do the hardest setting.

 

[BosSin]

Try hard to hardest!!!

If I do that it will take me ages to finish a single game. I will only consider doing this for my most favourites. Off the top of my head this will include Revenge of Shinobi, SoR2, Sonic 2 and more

 

[Piston Hyundai]

So far the megadrive games that I have recently beaten on normal without any cheats on my original console (so no saves) are:
Ghouls n ghosts
Revenge of Shinobi
Streets of Rage 2
James Pond 2
Earthworm Jim 2

how did you resist the urge to murder yourself while playing puppy love for the fifth time

 

[BosSin]

how did you resist the urge to murder yourself while playing puppy love for the fifth time

The same way I resisted the urge to jump out of the window when playing all the levels of ghouls n ghosts for a second time.

 

[Teknoman]

So aside from Snatcher and AD&D, what other games can you play with the Sega Mouse?

 

[sixteen-bit]

http://segaretro.org/Sega_Mouse#Compatible_Games

 

[Polioliolio]

Just received my Toejam & Earl Megadrive JP version..

Considerably cheaper, and looks quite a bit cooler than the US version.

When I bought it, I thought the seller saturated the colors in the photos to make it stand out more.. But it really is as extremely bright and colorful (low light pics don't show it well)

I love the full color manual. The game is all in English, so there are actually Japanese translations of all the items in the game in the latter half of the manual. Pretty cool.

Not sure if the US version was in color and had all the cool illustrations, but I recall many Genesis games having a rather disappointing black and white manual.

Anyway, extremely happy with this for the $18+shipping I paid for it.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

TJ&E's manual was black & white, but I recall it being quite a bit more thorough than the average Genesis game.

 

[dodgeme]

Was looking through some of the old custom covers I made and totally forgot I did this one as a request for a gaffer a ways back.

It really looks nice printed out, never got around to it when I made it.

 

[Fatnick]

Hello Sega fans. I would like to buy this http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/9063330.htm
and have a question to you.
What do you think about this device? I read few different opinions. One of them are positive and the others negative. If I'll buy it, physical SMD games work fine with this console? Anyone of you tried this stuff? And one more question. How I can save gaming progress on SMD? Is it possible? Memory card or only some kind of level codes?

i think of hardware and carts like a person trying to play classical music.

It doesn't matter if the person is using a cheap photocopy of the sheet music (the cart)as long as they're playing on a physical violin (the console)

Having the composer's hand-written score, however, wont make a blind bit of difference if the instrument is replaced with the violin sound from a cheap 90's casio keyboard. It will Just never sound right

 

[Fatnick]

The F-14 jet from After Burner and the space ship from Galaxy Force make flyover cameos in OutRun (MD / Genesis) if your time is good enough

After reading you post i got the GF fighter to appear (hardest route, hyper difficulty)

How did you get the After Burner jet?

 

[Lettuce]

Was looking through some of the old custom covers I made and totally forgot I did this one as a request for a gaffer a ways back.



It really looks nice printed out, never got around to it when I made it.

Nice!, what's the correct size from a megadrive cover?, am I right in thing it's 27.2 x 17.3mm also what paper weight do you use as the original covers are fairly thin. Need some covers replacing and if I can find high enough sources for these few covers I might replace them if the look identical once printed out.

On a side note I must snag a fairly priced Mega Turrican before Kevin and Greg ruin the prices even more

 

[AmyS]

After reading you post i got the GF fighter to appear (hardest route, hyper difficulty)

How did yiu get the After Burner jet?

I remember originally finding out about this stuff from a usenet post.

Found it:

I've found more surprises in Out Run other than the Galaxy Force ship.
The Galaxy Force ship flies over your car when you reach the Wall stage
within 2 minutes. (the MD version of Out Run has stages switched
around from the arcade's, so the Cloudy Mountain is actually a 2nd
stage, and Big Gate is on the 4th stage.)
When you reach Alps within 2 minutes, the F-14 from After Burner flies
over your car. When you reach the desert within 2 minutes, SEGA blimp
flies across the screen.

https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=rec.games.video/gS0mOSllM_E/9HcL0V8-weoJ

 

[Sapiens]

I remember originally finding out about this stuff from a usenet post.

Found it:

https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=rec.games.video/gS0mOSllM_E/9HcL0V8-weoJ

Wow, people talking about this on the internet in 1991.

Wish I was a netizen back then.

 

[AmyS]

Wow, people talking about this on the internet in 1991.

Wish I was a netizen back then.

Hey if NeoGAF had been a newsgroup, I wonder if it would've been something like rec.games.video.gaming-age

Edit: I love some of the stuff I find on usenet, like this conversation from early 1989 about arcade OutRun, Sega's hardware vs the Amiga's abilities:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!topic/comp.sys.amiga/tVsABvg4yDI

Yeah, they trashed OutRun, the Amiga version, it could have been just like the arcade. Pissed me off!

I seriously doubt it. Sega has some really nice scaling blitter chips in the arcade machines. It's why they can have all kinds of stuff rushing at you at high speeds.

Nonsense. The Amiga is easily capable of doing arcade-perfect Outrun. The Amiga version of Space Harrier is at least as good as the arcade version and Space Harrier requires the same sort of graphics manipulation as Outrun except more of it. It's just that the people who wrote Outrun were either lazy, incompetent or (being charitable) short of time/money. Nobody has come close to pushing the Amiga to its limits yet.

Nonsense. OutRun pushes one or two 16Mhz 68000s and special blitter chips to their max, not to mention doesn't have to run a multitasking operating system. No machine running one 8Mhz 68000, with a simple blitter and a multitasking operating system is going to be able to match the arcade version, not even the Amiga.

Sigh. I wish people would actually read my stuff before they reply.

The Sega coin-ops are like an Amiga cubed. They have far better hardware than the Amiga does. The scaling blitters are what make the blowaway high speed 3D graphics possible. Yes, the Amiga can store
bitmaps and yes it can blit them to the screen really fast, but nowhere near as fast as the Sega hardware can. The Amiga doesn't even have the bus bandwidth to keep up with the Sega games, much less the hardware!

golden.

 

[Lettuce]

Trouble with the Amiga and Atari ST was that 80% of the games looked good in screen shots but when you saw them in motion it was laughable the same could be said about the Spectrum ZX and Amstrad CPC but funnily enough the Commodore 64 probably had the best scrolling capability of them all.

I always remember my mate arguing that the Atari ST version of Final Fight was better than the SNES version, there was no way on this earth that was ever even slightly true....had a similar argument about TMNT on that Atari ST vs the NES version....yeah the Atari ST version again may have looked nice but when it started moving it was a different matter

 

[Peagles]

Hello Sega fans. I would like to buy this http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/9063330.htm
and have a question to you.
What do you think about this device? I read few different opinions. One of them are positive and the others negative. If I'll buy it, physical SMD games work fine with this console? Anyone of you tried this stuff? And one more question. How I can save gaming progress on SMD? Is it possible? Memory card or only some kind of level codes?

I have one. It's horrible. Don't buy it.

 

[IrishNinja]

man, that JP TJ&E manual looks great

Did Spencer Nielsen compose every SCD game?

i wish

Some new games from the past few weeks :

damn, lotta greats in there man!

Was looking through some of the old custom covers I made and totally forgot I did this one as a request for a gaffer a ways back.

It really looks nice printed out, never got around to it when I made it.

you did that? damn, that does look fantastic - definitely better than what we got

 

[Fatnick]

Trouble with the Amiga and Atari ST was that 80% of the games looked good in screen shots but when you saw them in motion it was laughable the same could be said about the Spectrum ZX and Amstrad CPC but funnily enough the Commodore 64 probably had the best scrolling capability of them all.

The problem with the 64 though was that everything was so indistinct, so your Outrun car looked like a red smear.

Sprite for sprite. The Spectrum and CPC versions often looked much closer to the arcade...but then they often lacked the colour too.

 

[AmyS]

Trouble with the Amiga and Atari ST was that 80% of the games looked good in screen shots but when you saw them in motion it was laughable the same could be said about the Spectrum ZX and Amstrad CPC but funnily enough the Commodore 64 probably had the best scrolling capability of them all.

I always remember my mate arguing that the Atari ST version of Final Fight was better than the SNES version, there was no way on this earth that was ever even slightly true....had a similar argument about TMNT on that Atari ST vs the NES version....yeah the Atari ST version again may have looked nice but when it started moving it was a different matter

Even the X68000, which was more powerful than the Amiga and well-known for its very HQ arcade ports would not have been able to handle a perfect version of OutRun. The X68k versions of Super Hang-On (from the same board as OR) and Space Harrier had to be scaled back, no pun intended. Single 68000 CPU, 128 sprites, no HW scaling, etc.

 

[Fularu]

Even the X68000, which was more powerful than the Amiga and well-known for its very HQ arcade ports would not have been able to handle a perfect version of OutRun. The X68k versions of Super Hang-On (from the same board as OR) and Space Harrier had to be scaled back, no pun intended. Single 68000 CPU, 128 sprites, no HW scaling, etc.

An 68030 equiped Amiga 500 would be able to handle all System 16 games prety closely (to not say perfectly). Sure tricks and lots of optimization would be requiered, but it's still possible.

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Super close to a complete Sega CD collection. Shocking lack of footage of NFL Football Trivia online, so i may actually stream that game, or do a playthrough of it just to have it available for people to see, not that is has much substance.

 

[alf717]

Well these are some new pickups I got but for $25 shipped ouch! Total is $40 was this a good deal?

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Well these are some new pickups I got but for $25 shipped ouch! Total is $40 was this a good deal?

Not bad, actually. Megarace and Road Rash usually go for $20-30 each, so even on the short end, you got a free copy of NHL 94, and on the high end, you probably shaved off 10-20 bucks.

 

[alf717]

Not bad, actually. Megarace and Road Rash usually go for $20-30 each, so even on the short end, you got a free copy of NHL 94, and on the high end, you probably shaved off 10-20 bucks.

Thats good to know and thank you for the response. I bought the lot for NHL and Road Rash. After watching some Youtube videos I was pretty happy to get them but had issues calculating the shipping. I didn't think posting something from Canada would cost so much since I have had stuff shipped from Japan which has cost me from $4 - $12 shipped. Sucks how that works.

 

[ZealousD]

Thats good to know and thank you for the response. I bought the lot for NHL and Road Rash. After watching some Youtube videos I was pretty happy to get them but had issues calculating the shipping. I didn't think posting something from Canada would cost so much since I have had stuff shipped from Japan which has cost me from $4 - $12 shipped. Sucks how that works.

Yeah shipping from Japan is rather cheap, but Canada is expensive. As it outgoing from the US. I don't get international shipping costs.

 

[dodgeme]

man, that JP TJ&E manual looks great



i wish



damn, lotta greats in there man!



you did that? damn, that does look fantastic - definitely better than what we got

Yeah I have been slowly trying to make a whole series of Black Label covers for all my games. I get to them here and there when I'm bored. Heres a picture of a few more I've made. I do have them all up on mu imgur if anyone wants any.

I never really liked the picture for Centy, but on that note, there is really no good fanart for that game and I am by no means an artist, just know how to use photoshop.

These are mostly old pictures as I haven't actively been making a lot of them in a while. I did Midnight Resistance and Gaires last summer.

 

[IrishNinja]

^some of those are really outstanding, great work man. you put them up at The Cover Project?

So i'm working on testing & organizing my Mega Everdrive, and came across a few gems:

Caliber 50 - no idea how this awesome run-n-gun passed me up before, but i'm all over it now! normally that Forgotten Worlds/etc type control scheme bothers me but it works here, just a lot of fun wrecking shit.

Blades of Vengeance - I don't know what i was expecting, but this looks and sounds way better than that. Interesting level design, difficulty seemed (at least what i played, early on) to spike up at a fairly level pace, it's a cool game.

other stuff like ESWAT, Fatal Labyrinth etc i can't just boot up, i gotta put in some work every time.

 

[Bar81]

I love your work; if I collected cart only I would be all over your covers.

 

[sixteen-bit]

those customs are neat, dodgeme

I suppose you don't like the red cases from '93 on?

 

[SavoryCade]

Yeah I have been slowly trying to make a whole series of Black Label covers for all my games. I get to them here and there when I'm bored. Heres a picture of a few more I've made. I do have them all up on mu imgur if anyone wants any.

Amazing stuff! I ran across these posted somewhere else awhile back (maybe at thecoverproject?). I still plan to use some of them and it inspired me to make a few of my own... which I still have yet to get around to doing. Love the old black grid design, really never cared for the red stripe Sega went with later.

 

[lazygecko]

those customs are neat, dodgeme

I suppose you don't like the red cases from '93 on?

I don't really understand why Sega of America went with the red branding. I mean, blue is a natural fit since the SEGA logo is blue (and that's what the rest of the world went with), and Nintendo's logo was already red. The American Dreamcast logo was red as well while the rest of the world got the blue swirl.

 

[Phediuk]

Truxton is so cheap. It's an unwritten rule in most shmups that enemies don't come from the bottom of the screen--or at least, if they do, there's some other way to avoid them (shields, protective weapons, an onscreen indicator that they're coming, etc.) Truxton violates this rule constantly. And if you die when you're fully upgraded, you lose every single powerup you have, virtually guaranteeing you'll die again soon.

But I keep coming back to it.

 

[Bar81]

Truxton is one of the best shmups ever made; that's why you keep going back (price does not always equate with quality - see Layer Section).

Btw, there is no such "rule".

 

[AmyS]

Those Arrow Flash and Phantasy Star IV covers are amazing.

 

[dodgeme]

^some of those are really outstanding, great work man. you put them up at The Cover Project?

So i'm working on testing & organizing my Mega Everdrive, and came across a few gems:

Caliber 50 - no idea how this awesome run-n-gun passed me up before, but i'm all over it now! normally that Forgotten Worlds/etc type control scheme bothers me but it works here, just a lot of fun wrecking shit.

Blades of Vengeance - I don't know what i was expecting, but this looks and sounds way better than that. Interesting level design, difficulty seemed (at least what i played, early on) to spike up at a fairly level pace, it's a cool game.

other stuff like ESWAT, Fatal Labyrinth etc i can't just boot up, i gotta put in some work every time.

Thanks man and yes they are up on thecoverproject. I've been wanting to get back into it but never can seem to find the time to do so.

those customs are neat, dodgeme

I suppose you don't like the red cases from '93 on?

Not at all, just never liked the look of them. I was planning on modifying the black grid design to a yellow grid design for my 32x stuff but never got around to that either.

Amazing stuff! I ran across these posted somewhere else awhile back (maybe at thecoverproject?). I still plan to use some of them and it inspired me to make a few of my own... which I still have yet to get around to doing. Love the old black grid design, really never cared for the red stripe Sega went with later.

Thanks man, and yes these are up on thecoverproject and trust me I am in the same boat, I've got so many good ideas for these but just never get around to doing it.

Those Arrow Flash and Phantasy Star IV covers are amazing.

Thank you, I do actually have the entire series done for Phantasy Star, those were some of my favorites as I actually took the time to create vectors of the original japanese logo. I also customized the numbers for each and messed with the colors a bit. I don't really like my cover for two though as there wasn't a lot of good art for that game out there and I haven't actually played through them yet.

 

[Fularu]

Truxton is so cheap. It's an unwritten rule in most shmups that enemies don't come from the bottom of the screen--or at least, if they do, there's some other way to avoid them (shields, protective weapons, an onscreen indicator that they're coming, etc.) Truxton violates this rule constantly. And if you die when you're fully upgraded, you lose every single powerup you have, virtually guaranteeing you'll die again soon.

But I keep coming back to it.

Use the red weapon

 

[theSlacker]

Truxton is one of the best shmups ever made; that's why you keep going back (price does not always equate with quality - see Layer Section).

Btw, there is no such "rule".

I think he meant cheap as in the game is being cheap/unfair.