Playing imports on a US Sega Genesis?

Dion · Jan 30, 2010

If I were to pick up some imported Mega Drive games, either JP or EURO would they work on my US Sega Genesis, or would it require modification? I have both Genesis 1 and 2. I tried to research some information on this topic and came up with nothing.

incrediblehark · Jan 30, 2010

it depends, a lot of earlier genesis/megadrive games weren't region locked, and could be played in any machine. Some games would have different title screens or in game graphics depending on what system its played on. But in general, yes you would have to add a switch to play US and Japan, and 50/60 hz switch for european games. also, the cart slot needs to be widened to fit Japanese games in a US system. If you're new at region modding, the Model 1 Genesis is a lot easier to do than a Model 2

Hewitson · Jan 30, 2010

It is extremely rare for a PAL game to refuse to run in 60hz. I only know of one, Thunder Force IV.

Murray · Jan 30, 2010

Hewitson said:
It is extremely rare for a PAL game to refuse to run in 60hz. I only know of one, Thunder Force IV.

There are several. Super Skidmarks is another. Konami and Capcom were big fans of frequency locking as well.

Hewitson · Jan 30, 2010

As if you'd play the MD version of that rather than the Amiga one.

I can't say I own any Konami or Capcom games, they're pretty much all arcade ports which I don't bother with for obvious reasons.

Murray · Jan 30, 2010

Hewitson said:
I can't say I own any Konami or Capcom games, they're pretty much all arcade ports which I don't bother with for obvious reasons.

The ones that keep popping up are Mega Man: The Wily Wars and Rocket Knight Adventures.

Hewitson · Jan 31, 2010

Hmm wonder if either of those are cracked. I've always wanted a copy of The Wily Wars, I'm glad I now know to get the Jap one.

incrediblehark · Jan 31, 2010

the games are only region or frequency (which is pretty much another region) locked when the game boots up. For example you turn on the game with 50hz switched on, then after it starts and you dont get any lockout message, you switch it back to 60hz, since pretty much every US TV won't display 50hz correctly. Of course if certain games are PAL optimized they would run slightly faster when played in 60hz, I think the EUR Alien Soldier cart is an example of this.

Master Tasuke · Jan 31, 2010

it depends solely on what model GENESIS you have.

i have a U.S. first-edition, got it when they first hit TOYS-R-US
in christmas of '89.

it'll boot any JPN title without a hitch.

if this is any help in tracking down one of your own,
mine's a MODEL 1601.

oh, and yes, i had to widen the cart slot a tad to accept
the JPN carts' rounded corners, as opposed to the U.S. carts' angled ones.
five minutes with an X-ACTO, couldn't be easier.

*unscrew the top case half, disconnect the lead to the POWER LED (it just slides on/off the LED prongs)

*unscrew and remove the cartridge guide cage from the top body half (it also holds the spring-loaded cart-slot doors)

*start whittling away at those angled corners on the body half.

*slap it all back together, and you should be in business!

SetaSouji?? · Jan 31, 2010

Hewitson said:
Hmm wonder if either of those are cracked. I've always wanted a copy of The Wily Wars, I'm glad I now know to get the Jap one.

Sadly, it only came out as a Mega Drive cart. Back when they had the Sega Channel going, you could get it that way, but other than that a hard copy is only going to happen through MD cart. There's one on the eGay right now but I -refuse- to pay 300 dollars for it.

Dion · Feb 2, 2010

Thanks for the info. I was mostly interested in Wily Wars but if it is selling for shit prices on ebay then I probably won't bother. It seems like every time a game has Mega Man in the title people get convinced it's the rarest game ever made and demand truckloads of money for it on ebay.

J. Max · Feb 2, 2010

Region locked games (that I know of):

Megaman The Wily Wars (Euro)
Pulseman
Alien Soldier (All of them, except the pirate one that I own...)
Thunder Force IV Euro
Yu Yu Hakusho

havok666 · Feb 2, 2010

3DOMan said:
If I were to pick up some imported Mega Drive games, either JP or EURO would they work on my US Sega Genesis, or would it require modification? I have both Genesis 1 and 2. I tried to research some information on this topic and came up with nothing.

As a general rule, any Japanese Mega Drive games published by SEGA past 1992 will be region locked (i.e. Bare Knuckle II, Alien Soldier -- Locked. Strider, Thunder Force III -- unlocked).

Capcom, Konami and Namco games are always region locked no matter what year they were released.

If you don't feel comfortable with adding a "US/JP" region switch there are codes available online that you can punch into a Game Genie/Action replay that will bypass the region lock (check gamefaqs & google).

Master Tasuke · Feb 8, 2010

havok666 said:
Capcom, Konami and Namco games are always region locked no matter what year they were released.

not necessarily.

i have a JPN copy of "BURNING FORCE" (NAMCO, 1989/1990)
and it plays perfectly on my Ver.1 U.S. Genny...

complexz · Feb 8, 2010

I found a JPN model 1 megadrive nice and cheap awhile back, definatly best genesis/megadrive for me. once I removed the little tab that slides into the side notch of MD carts and did the region switch mod it plays everything you can throw at it

no need to widen slots or anything.

its very cool running a jpn cart fully in english neogeo style. the only game I have with any region lockout is street fighter 2 special CE.

Playing imports on a US Sega Genesis?

Dion

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Dion

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