Region coding
From Sega Retro
More than any other Sega system, the Sega Mega Drive is affected by differing forms of region coding, implemented so that games were optimised for (or locked out of) three main marketing regions; NTSC-J (Japan and parts of Asia), NTSC-U (North America) and PAL (Europe and Australia).
Like the Sega Master System and rival console the Nintendo Entertainment System, Japanese cartridges are a different physical shape to their Western counterparts, meaning Japanese games could not be played on American systems or vice versa without some sort of adapter (or by disassambling cartridges or consoles). However, Mega Drive hardware is also configured to be one of the three aforementioned regions, meaning software could adjust itself depending on what sort of Mega Drive system is detected.
The latter is not an unusual practice (and indeed similar methods were employed for many consoles going forward), however unlike more modern systems, software was under no obligation to adapt to the detected region, meaning only part of the Mega Drive's game library takes note of what type of system is in use.
For information, see Mega Drive region coding.
Pages in category "Region coding"
The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 980 total.
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- Devilish: The Next Possession/Region coding
- Dial Q o Mawase!/Region coding
- Dick Tracy/Region coding
- Dick Vitale's "Awesome, Baby!" College Hoops/Region coding
- Dino Dini's Soccer/Region coding
- Dino Land/Region coding
- Dinosaurs for Hire/Region coding
- The Disney Collection/Region coding
- Disney's Aladdin/Region coding
- Divine Sealing/Region coding
- DJ Boy/Region coding
- Donald in Maui Mallard/Region coding
- Doom (32X)/Region coding
- Doom Troopers/Region coding
- Doraemon: Yume Dorobou to 7 Nin no Gozans/Region coding
- Double Clutch/Region coding
- Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone/Region coding
- Double Dragon II: The Revenge/Region coding
- Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls/Region coding
- Double Dragon/Region coding
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine/Region coding
- Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden/Region coding
- Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II/Region coding
- Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes/Region coding
- Dragon's Eye Plus: Shanghai III/Region coding
- Dragon's Fury/Region coding
- Dragon's Revenge/Region coding
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story/Region coding
- DS-Pico Series: Sanrio Puroland: Waku Waku Okaimono: Suteki na Oheya wo Tsukurimasho!/Region coding
- The Duel: Test Drive II/Region coding
- Duke Nukem 3D (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- Dune II: Battle for Arrakis/Region coding
- Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun/Region coding
- Dyna Brothers 2/Region coding
- Dyna Brothers/Region coding
- Dynamite Duke/Region coding
- Dynamite Headdy/Region coding
E
- EA Hockey/Region coding
- EA Sports Double Header/Region coding
- Earnest Evans/Region coding
- Earth Defense/Region coding
- Earthworm Jim 2/Region coding
- Earthworm Jim/Region coding
- Ecco Jr./Region coding
- Ecco the Dolphin/Region coding
- Ecco: The Tides of Time/Region coding
- El Viento/Region coding
- Elemental Master/Region coding
- Eliminate Down/Region coding
- Elitserien 95/Region coding
- Elitserien 96/Region coding
- ESPN Baseball Tonight/Region coding
- ESPN National Hockey Night/Region coding
- ESPN Speedworld/Region coding
- ESPN Sunday Night NFL/Region coding
- ESWAT: City Under Siege/Region coding
- Eternal Champions/Region coding
- European Club Soccer/Region coding
- Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing/Region coding
- Ex-Mutants/Region coding
- Exile/Region coding
- Exodus: Journey to the Promised Land/Region coding
- ExoSquad/Region coding
F
- F-117 Night Storm/Region coding
- F-15 Strike Eagle II/Region coding
- F-16 Fighter/Region coding
- F-22 Interceptor: Advanced Tactical Fighter/Region coding
- F1 Circus MD/Region coding
- F1/Region coding
- F1: World Championship Edition (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- The Faery Tale Adventure/Region coding
- Family Feud/Region coding
- Fantasia/Region coding
- Fantastic Dizzy/Region coding
- Fantasy Zone (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- Fastest 1/Region coding
- Fatal Fury 2/Region coding
- Fatal Fury/Region coding
- Fatal Labyrinth/Region coding
- Fatal Rewind/Region coding
- Felix the Cat/Region coding
- Ferias Frustradas do Pica-Pau/Region coding
- Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge/Region coding
- Fever Pitch Soccer/Region coding
- FIFA 97: Gold Edition/Region coding
- FIFA International Soccer/Region coding
- FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- FIFA Soccer 95/Region coding
- FIFA Soccer 96 (32X)/Region coding
- FIFA Soccer 96 (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- Fighting Masters/Region coding
- Final Zone/Region coding
- Fire Mustang/Region coding
- Fire Shark/Region coding
- Flash Point/Region coding
- Flashback/Region coding
- Flicky/Region coding
- The Flintstones (Taito)/Region coding
- Foreman for Real/Region coding
- Forgotten Worlds (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball/Region coding
- Frogger/Region coding
- From TV Animation Slam Dunk: Kyougou Makkou Taiketsu!/Region coding
- Fun 'n' Games/Region coding
- Funny World & Balloon Boy/Region coding
- Fushigi no Umi no Nadia/Region coding
- Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau/Region coding
G
- G-LOC: Air Battle/Region coding
- The Gadget Twins/Region coding
- Gaiares/Region coding
- Gain Ground/Region coding
- Galahad/Region coding
- Galaxy Force II/Region coding
- Gambler Jiko Chuushinha: Katayama Masayuki no Mahjong Doujou/Region coding
- Game no Kanzume Otokuyou/Region coding
- Garfield: Caught in the Act/Region coding
- Gargoyles/Region coding
- Garry Kitchen's Super Battletank: War in the Gulf/Region coding
- Gauntlet IV/Region coding
- Gemfire/Region coding
- General Chaos/Region coding
- Generations Lost/Region coding
- Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf/Region coding
- George Foreman's KO Boxing/Region coding
- Ghostbusters (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- Ghouls'n Ghosts/Region coding
- Go Net/Region coding
- Gods/Region coding
- Golden Axe II/Region coding
- Golden Axe III/Region coding
- Golden Axe/Region coding
- Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples/Region coding
- Goofy's Hysterical History Tour/Region coding
- Gouketsuji Ichizoku/Region coding
- Granada/Region coding
- GrandSlam: The Tennis Tournament '92/Region coding
- The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey & Minnie/Region coding
- The Great Waldo Search/Region coding
- Greatest Heavyweights/Region coding
- Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude!/Region coding
- Grind Stormer/Region coding
- Growl/Region coding
- Gunship/Region coding
- Gunstar Heroes/Region coding
- Gynoug/Region coding
H
- Hard Drivin'/Region coding
- HardBall '94/Region coding
- HardBall '95/Region coding
- HardBall!/Region coding
- Haunting Starring Polterguy/Region coding
- Heavy Nova/Region coding
- Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special/Region coding
- Hellfire/Region coding
- Herzog Zwei/Region coding
- High Seas Havoc/Region coding
- Hit the Ice/Region coding
- Hokuto no Ken: Shin Seikimatsu Kyuuseishu Densetsu/Region coding
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York/Region coding
- Home Alone/Region coding
- Honoo no Toukyuuji Dodge Danpei/Region coding
- Hook/Region coding
- The Humans/Region coding
- Hurricanes/Region coding
- The Hybrid Front/Region coding
- Hyokkori Hyoutanjima: Daitouryou o Mezase!/Region coding
- Hyper Dunk: The Playoff Edition/Region coding
I
- IMG International Tour Tennis/Region coding
- The Incredible Crash Dummies (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- The Incredible Hulk/Region coding
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Region coding
- Insector X/Region coding
- Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones/Region coding
- International Rugby/Region coding
- International Superstar Soccer Deluxe/Region coding
- Ishido: The Way of Stones/Region coding
- Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings/Region coding
J
- J.League Champion Soccer/Region coding
- J.League Pro Striker 2/Region coding
- J.League Pro Striker Kanzenban/Region coding
- J.League Pro Striker/Region coding
- Jack Nicklaus' Power Challenge Golf/Region coding
- James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- James Bond 007: The Duel/Region coding
- James Pond 3: Operation Starfish/Region coding
- James Pond II: Codename RoboCod/Region coding
- James Pond: Underwater Agent/Region coding
- Jammit/Region coding
- Janou Touryuumon/Region coding
- Jantei Monogatari/Region coding
- Jeopardy! (GameTek)/Region coding
- Jeopardy! Sports Edition/Region coding
- Jeopardy!: Deluxe Edition/Region coding
- Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl/Region coding
- Jewel Master/Region coding
- Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker/Region coding
- Joe & Mac/Region coding
- Joe Montana Football (Mega Drive)/Region coding
- Joe Montana II Sports Talk Football/Region coding
- John Madden Football '92/Region coding
- John Madden Football '93/Region coding