Difference between revisions of "Mega Drive cartridges"

From Sega Retro
(3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 88: Line 88:
 
*''[[Ecco: The Tides of Time]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Ecco: The Tides of Time]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Gauntlet IV]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Gauntlet IV]]'' (PAL)
 +
*''[[Golden Axe]]'' (NTSC-U REV01)
 
*''[[Marsupilami]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Marsupilami]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Mega Lo Mania]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Mega Lo Mania]]'' (PAL)
Line 128: Line 129:
 
*''[[Disney's Aladdin]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Disney's Aladdin]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Ecco: The Tides of Time]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Ecco: The Tides of Time]]'' (PAL)
 +
*''[[Gunstar Heroes]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Marsupilami]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Marsupilami]]'' (PAL)
 +
*''[[Mickey Mania]]'' (NTSC-J)
 
*''[[Mega Lo Mania]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Mega Lo Mania]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Probotector]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Probotector]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Ranger X]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Ranger X]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[The Ren & Stimpy Show Presents Stimpy's Invention]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[The Ren & Stimpy Show Presents Stimpy's Invention]]'' (PAL)
 +
*''[[Ristar]]'' (NTSC-J)
 
*''[[Rocket Knight Adventures]]'' (NTSC-J and PAL)
 
*''[[Rocket Knight Adventures]]'' (NTSC-J and PAL)
 
*''[[Sensible Soccer]]'' (PAL)
 
*''[[Sensible Soccer]]'' (PAL)
Line 161: Line 165:
 
====Locked====
 
====Locked====
 
{{multicol|
 
{{multicol|
 +
*''[[Aero the Acro-bat]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Aero the Acro-bat 2]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Art of Fighting]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Back to the Future Part III]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Bubble & Squeak]]'' (NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Castlevania: Bloodlines]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Castlevania: Bloodlines]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Columns III: Revenge of Columns]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Comix Zone]]'' (NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Contra: Hard Corps]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Contra: Hard Corps]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Cool Spot]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Dinosaurs For Hire]]'' (NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Disney's Aladdin]]'' (NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Disney's Aladdin]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Earthworm Jim]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Earthworm Jim 2]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Ecco: The Tides of Time]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[ESPN Speedworld]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Eternal Champions]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Frogger]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Golden Axe]]'' (NTSC-U REV01)
 +
*''[[Lemmings 2: The Tribes]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[The Lost Vikings]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Mickey Mania]]'' (NTSC-J)
 +
*''[[Mortal Kombat 3]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[NHL 98]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[The Ooze]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[OutRunners]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Pac-Attack]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Prince of Persia]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Pulseman]]'' (NTSC-J)
 +
*''[[Radical Rex]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Ristar]]'' (NTSC-J)
 +
*''[[RoboCop Versus The Terminator]]'' (NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Rocket Knight Adventures]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
 
*''[[Rocket Knight Adventures]]'' (NTSC-J and NTSC-U)
−
}}
+
*''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Saturday Night Slam Masters]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 3]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Spot Goes to Hollywood]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Top Gear 2]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Toy Story]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Virtua Racing]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[World Heroes]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
*''[[Zombies Ate My Neighbors]]'' (NTSC-U)
 +
|cols=3}}
  
 
====Known issues====
 
====Known issues====

Revision as of 04:47, 29 July 2016

Super Thunder Blade (Japanese version), the first commercially available Sega Mega Drive cartridge (alongside Space Harrier II)

Mega Drive cartridges are the primary storage medium for the Sega Mega Drive.

Design

The Mega Drive runs games housed in plastic cartridges uniquely shaped to fit the system. Though the technology exists within the console to run Sega Master System games, the Power Base Converter is required to convert between the differing pin connections and slot sizes.

Official Mega Drive cartridges are smaller than their Master System/Mark III counterparts, with rounded edges and bigger labels layered over the top and front of the cartridge.

As with the Master System, Sega-manufactured Japanese, Korean and Asian cartridges are shaped differently to those seen in North America, South America, Europe and Oceania, however the differences largely concern the aesthetics - "Eastern" Japanese-style cartridges opting for a more rounded approach with ridges, while "Western" cartridges being more angular and simplistic. Unlike the Master System, the Mega Drive has end-labels for easier reading and storage in Western regions.

Pin layout is the same between the two types, however the base of the cartridge determines whether it can be safely inserted into the system - two extra pieces of plastic prevent Japanese cartridges from being inserted in western systems - these can be removed with modification, or as mentioned above, circumvented with adapters. This extra plastic is not present in systems such as the Genesis 3 and Sega 32X, nor does it exist in Japanese Mega Drives.

One interesting feature of Japanese cartridges is a inclusion of a cartridge "lock", which prevents the cartridge from being removed when the system turns on. A plastic piece from the system is slid across to a gap on the left hand side of a Japanese cartridge, securing it in place when the power switch is moved (similar tricks can be found on the Super NES and the TurboGrafx-16). This locking mechanism is only present in Japanese Model 1 Mega Drives and is absent in all western models - the vast majority of Western cartridges lack the gap required for cartridge locking, with exceptions being the likes of "special" cartridges, e.g. Sonic & Knuckles.

The lack of cartridge lock can be exploited, for example, to gain access to the level selection screen in Sonic 3D Blast.

Official cartridge designs

  • North American

  • European

  • Japanese

  • Brazillian

  • South Korean

Cartridge designs for Altered Beast - though labels would change dramatically over the console's run, the physical shape would remain consistent.

Alternative cartridge designs

Though Sega manufactured the bulk of Mega Drive cartridges, many were created externally by the likes of Electronic Arts, Accolade, Sunsoft and Codemasters.

Technical information

Special cases

Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic & Knuckles famously introduced so-called "lock-on" technology to the Mega Drive library, in which a second cartridge could be stacked on top to create a new game. While there were rumours of other lock-on games in development, Sonic & Knuckles is the only example which made it to market.

While the vast majority of games will communicate with Sonic & Knuckles, the end result will be a randomised variant of Blue Sphere. To access Blue Sphere in full, Sonic the Hedgehog must be "locked-on", and Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles can be accessed by locking on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, respectively.

J-Cart

Created by Codemasters, J-Carts break the norm by including two extra joystick ports built into the cartridge. This permitted four-way gameplay without a multitap adapter. Only six J-Carts were released: Pete Sampras Tennis, Pete Sampras Tennis 96, Micro Machines 2, Micro Machines 96, Micro Machines Military Edition, and Super Skidmarks. Several were also released as standard cartridges.

Virtua Racing

Virtua Racing contains a custom-designed DSP chip (known officially as SVP, Sega Virtua Processor), allowing for enhanced graphics and sound capabilities. This chip essentially serves as an extra processor, allowing the game to produce polygons that would be impossible to create using a standard Mega Drive, though usually came at an extra retail price.

Interestingly, this game was the first to showcase the power of the SVP chip - plans were underway to produce more games using this chip, using a "Modular Converter" cartridge to cut production costs. This converter would contain the SVP chip, with the enhanced game designed to use the SVP chip plugging into the top of the unit. However, due to the costs of production against the Mega Drive/Genesis' age and falling popularity, the project was dropped. Virtua Racing also has a cartridge roughly one-and-a-half times the size of a usual Mega Drive cartridge due to the added chip, and is incompatabile with the Sega 32X add-on.

Specifications

See Sega Mega Drive Technical Specifications for standard Mega Drive specifications
  • GPU: Samsung SSP1601 [1] @ 23 MHz (25 MIPS) [2][3]
    • DSP core: 16-bit fixed-point arithmetic, 25 registers (8 general, 8 external, 8 pointer, 1 status)
    • ALU: 32-bit, status register
  • Graphics: 3D polygon graphics, 9000 polygons/sec[4]
  • Audio: 2 PWM channels [2]
  • Memory: 2179 KB (2.128 MB) [1]
  • RAM bandwidth:
    • SRAM cache: 43.869018 MB/sec (16-bit, dual-bank, 23 MHz) [1]
    • FPM DRAM: 34.679066 MB/sec (16-bit, 18.181818 MHz, 55 ns cycles) [5][6]

Region encoding

The majority of home consoles usually see the platform holder choose to either apply strict region encoding to their systems, or to avoid the practise altogether. The Mega Drive is different in that some games are region locked, while others are region free.

In an attempt to control Mega Drive content, Sega invented the TradeMark Security System (TMSS), officially documented as early as 1989 but not truly enforced until late 1992. TMSS was designed to stop Japanese software from running on Western "export" consoles, although was not implemented in any console produced prior to 1991, and became more of an anti-piracy measure than a means of region locking.

As most Japanese games cannot physically fit in a Western system (or vice versa), this was perhaps presumed sufficient in the early days of the system's lifespan. However some Mega Drive variants will accept both Western and Japanese games without modifications, so those serious about region encoding were forced to implement it in software. Support for the feature is mixed - some publishers such as Konami usually implemented region in full, while others such as Electronic Arts generally ignored it altogether.

Other games will adapt to the hardware detected. For example, if Sonic the Hedgehog 2 detects a Japanese machine, all instances of "TAILS" will be replaced with "MILES".

Virtually all games produced prior to 1993 (as do many made since) will run on any console. The following lists games known to have compatibility issues when played in the "wrong" region (although in rare cases, Game Genie or Action Replay codes can alleviate some of the problems).

NTSC-J consoles

Locked

Known issues

NTSC-U consoles

Locked

Known issues


PAL consoles

Locked

Known issues

PAL optimisations

Mega Drive consoles sold officially in PAL regions are adapted to the differing video standard. PAL offers a 50Hz screen refresh rate but the possibility of a higher resolution 320x240 display, while NTSC refreshes at 60Hz and typically offers a maximum resolution of 320x224 (exceptions include games which make use of the "interlaced" screen mode - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Combat Cars).

If a game designed for an NTSC unit is run on a PAL machine, the difference in refresh rate means the game will run 17.5% slower and will have extra horizontal borders surrounding the top and bottom of the image. Knowing this, some developers (particularly those based in Europe) chose to optimise their games for PAL regions, typically by speeding up the music and gameplay. On rare cases this also meant utilising the extra 16 rows of pixels.

Unlike newer consoles such as the Sega Dreamcast, the Mega Drive does not natively support any PAL60 modes. It is not, however, uncommon to see modified hardware to circumvent these issues.

Fully optimised

Partially optimised

NTSC optimisations

Though rare, some NTSC Mega Drive games, typically those which originated in Europe, were not optimised for the hardware and so run faster than they should:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://notaz.gp2x.de/docs/svpdoc.txt
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.sega-16.com/2006/03/segas-svp-chip-the-road-not-taken/
  3. ↑ File:SSP1601 datasheet.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.ign.com/games/virtua-racing/gen-6398
  5. ↑ http://tinyurl.com/ppdd95v
  6. ↑ File:TC511664B datasheet.pdf
Sega Mega Drive
Topics Technical specifications (Hardware comparison) | History | List of games | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Merchandise | Cartridges | TradeMark Security System
Hardware Japan | North America | Western Europe | Eastern Europe | South America | Asia | South Korea | Australasia | Africa
EZ Games | LaserActive | Mega Jet | Mega PC | Mega Play | Mega-Tech System | Nomad | Teradrive | Mega Drive Mini | Mega Drive Mini 2
New Mega Drive | Tianli VCD/DVD Players | "Consoles on a chip" | Licensed clones (Magic 2 | Mega Game II | Power Pegasus | Super Bitman)
Unlicensed clones
Add-ons Game Box | Power Base Converter | Mega-CD | 32X (Mega-CD 32X) | Mega Modem | Demo System DS-16
Cases Sega Genesis Nomad Carrying Case | System Carry Case
Controllers Control Pad | Six Button Control Pad | 6 Button Arcade Pad | Arcade Power Stick 6B | Konami Justifier | MK-1470
Action Chair | Activator | Arcade Power Stick | Keyboard | MegaFire | Mouse | Mega Stick | Menacer | Remote Arcade System | Ten Key Pad | Third Party Controllers
Accessories 4 Way Play | Cleaning System | Control Pad Extension Cord | Genesis Speakers | Headset | HeartBeat Catalyst | Microphone | Region converter cartridges | Mega Terminal | Nomad PowerBack | RF Unit (Mega Drive 2) | SCART Cable (Mega Drive 2) | Stereo Audio Video Cable | Team Player | Video Monitor Cable | Third Party Accessories
Network services Sega Channel | Sega Game Toshokan | Mega Anser | Mega Net | TeleBradesco Residência | XB∀ND
Development tools ERX 308P | ERX 318P | Sprobe | SNASM68K | SNASM2 (Mega Drive) | SNASM2 (32X) | PSY-Q Development System (Mega Drive) | PSY-Q Development System (32X) | 32X CartDev | Sega Mars Development Aid System | Sega 32X Development Target
Unreleased Edge 16 | Floppy Disk Drive | Mega Play 1010 | Sega VR | Teleplay System | Video Jukebox
Retrieved from "https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=Mega_Drive_cartridges&oldid=336042"