"Multi-Region" Mega Drive

Version 2.0

Matthew Neilson June 13, 2004

Contents

1 Introduction 2 Adding Switches to your Mega Drive 2.1 What you Need. 2.2 Opening up your Mega Drive. 2.3 How the Switches Work. 2.4 Building the Switches. 2.4.1 Language Switch. 2.4.2 50Hz / 60Hz Switch. 2.5 Fitting the Switches. 2.6 Widening the Cartridge Slot. 2.7 Congratulations!. 15
3 Frequently Asked Questions Why do I need to make my Mega Drive multi-region?. Why are some Mega Drive games locked out?. How does the lock-out system work?. What is a bridge adapter, how does it work, and why doesnt it allow me to play all import games? What is a `Universal Adapter'?. What about the Game Genie / Pro Action Replay?. Whats the big deal with 50Hz PAL?. Why is my picture black and white?. Why am I experiencing slowdown in 60Hz NTSC mode?. Is there any way to minimise (or, even better, eliminate) slowdown?. Can I play locked out European games in 60Hz NTSC mode?. I plugged one of my English games into a Japanese Mega Drive, and it now plays in Japanese - why? Which games use lock-out technology?. Is it true that widening the cartridge slot makes my console multi-region?. I heard that the very rst run of Mega Drive consoles had no region lockout. Is this true?. Is there any way to make my Mega Drive change its region automatically?. Is there such a thing as a `lock-out chip'?. What about the licensing screen which appears upon powering up the console?. My modied Mega Drive / Genesis has slightly dierent jumper connections to those outlined in the guide, yet it still works. Why?.
c 2002-2004 Matthew Neilson (matt@gneilson.plus.com) A Constructed using TEXShop, the LTEX frontend for Mac OS X

Version 2.20

Why are the printed traces on my Genesis dierent from the "US" setting shown in the guide?. On my board, JP1 and JP2 are in a dierent area from JP3 and JP4. How do I modify this console? My board has a capacitor across one of the four jumpers. How do I proceed?. Does modifying my console allow me to play any Sega/Mega CD game?. Are there any guides for modifying a Mega Drive / Genesis `mark 2', a Nomad, or a Genesis 3?. 4 Recommended Japanese Import Games 5 Credits 6 Disclaimer

Introduction

By denition, an import is something which has been brought in from a foreign country. In gaming terms, the world is split into three main territories: Europe, America and Japan. If you want to guarantee success with playing import Mega Drive games, you have three options 1. Buy a console from each region (takes up lots of space, but if youre a collector this may be the ideal solution). 2. Buy a universal pass-through adapter which allows you to select a specic region (note that a simple bridge adapter will not suce - you actually require an adapter with region switches). 3. Modify your console by building region-switches, making it multi-region (easily achieved on a Mega Drive 1, and also possible on a Mega Drive 2; this is my preferred option due to its neatness - once modied, your Mega Drive can play anything!). Any of the above will save you from worrying about compatibility issues when buying import games. This document is intended to give you detailed step-by-step instructions for the latter option, namely modifying your Mega Drive / Genesis model 1 console such that it can play import games. The console used to demonstrate this procedure is a European Mega Drive, although this guide is 100% compatible with any region of Mega Drive / Genesis. Owners of a PAL Mega Drive are strongly advised to modify their console for 60Hz gameplay - games will run 20% faster (that is, at their intended speed), AND full-screen (no more crushed graphics!). People seem to get very apprehensive when it comes to opening up their Mega Drive dont be, the modication is incredibly simple and the benets of 60Hz gameplay are remarkable. Before attempting anything on your console, you should rst read through the entire guide and make sure that you are absolutely clear of what needs to be done. If you have any doubts, please feel free to Email me - Ill be happy to help you, and any input will help improve this guide. Similarly, if you notice any typos, please Email me and I will update the guide.

Adding Switches to your Mega Drive
Well, theres my switched Mega Drive - damn, it looks good! Notice the switches at the bottom left, just next to the volume control. It is possible to play any game from any region on this console. Follow these instructions to make your Mega Drive / Genesis multi-region - regardless its country of origin. Note that this guide is only intended for use with the original model 1 Mega Drive1.

What you Need

You will need the following: 1. A screwdriver 2. Some long wire 3. A soldering iron 4. Solder 5. A sharp knife 6. Two SPDT switches 7. An RGB SCART lead
Figure 2.1: Mega Drive ipped upside down. Note that
the six screws holding the machine together are located around the perimeter of the case.

Figure 2.2:

Mega Drive opened in the correct manner, with no strain being put on the "power on" LED.
Opening up your Mega Drive
First of all, turn your Mega Drive upside down (as in Figure 2.1), and unscrew the six screws on the bottom of the machine. Now turn your Mega Drive over such that it is in the normal playing position, and slowly lift the top casing as shown in Figure 2.2. Be careful of the wires that connect to the red "power on" LED. To disconnect the wires, simply bend the LED legs so theyre straight, and pull the connector o. When it comes to reconnecting the LED, note that one LED leg is longer than the other - the red wire attaches to the longer leg. Alternatively, you could write R[ed] and W[hite] next to the legs - its inside the case so its not like anyone will see it. Bear in mind that your Mega Drive wont have the red wires shown at the left hand side of Figure 2.2 (yet). Now unscrew the screws that hold down the shielding. Dont forget about the gold screw on top! NOTE: Once youve nished, remember to put the shielding and casing back to the way they were! Be sure to match up the "on" switch and the volume control on the casing with their corresponding parts on the circuit board when putting the upper casing back on. Once the shielding is removed, you should see something similar to Figure 2.3 (minus the extra red wires, of course!). Youre now ready to perform the modication.

Figure 2.4 shows a blow-up of the section we are most interested in on the circuit board of this particular Mega Drive (located in the bottom-right of the circuit board shown in Figure 2.3). There are four sets of jumper switches labeled "JP1", "JP2", "JP3", and "JP4" (as in Figures 2.4 and 2.5). Working from left to right for JP1 through to JP4, each solder point has been denoted a number from 1 to 8, respectively this simply makes referencing somewhat easier later on. Take a sharp knife, and cut a straight line through
If your Mega Drive has a volume control and a headphone jack, it is a "Model 1" Mega Drive.
Figure 2.3: The inside of a Mega Drive once its shielding had been removed.

JP1 JP2 JP3 JP4

Figure 2.4: A magnication of the section of the board
in Figure 2.3 containing the necessary jumper switches.

Figure 2.5:

The diagram corresponding to Figure 2.4, where each end of the four jumpers has been labeled.
the middle of the jumpers (the dotted line in the Figure 2.5 represents the area you need to cut). Youll need to cut quite far into the board - but dont over do it! Those of you with access to a multimeter may use this to determine whether or not you have cut suciently deep. Throughout the Mega Drives life, there were many dierent circuit board revisions. In some versions, the jumpers may be found at a dierent part of the board from the one shown above; in others, the same jumpers may be laid out in a dierent order. As such, your Mega Drives circuit board may look slightly dierent from the one shown in this guide. Dont let that worry you. You should nd that JP1 and JP2 are both located in the same part of the board, with JP3 and JP4 also being paired together. You can deduce
the orientation of each jumper by looking at its printed label (e.g. "JP1" goes from left to right, which tells you which way round my diagrams are in relation to your circuit board).

How the Switches Work

JP1 and JP2 control the language of your machine. Connecting a piece of wire between the points labeled "2" and "3" will set your console to "Japanese mode" (Figure 2.6), while connecting "3" and "4" will put you in "English mode" (Figure 2.7). Similarly, JP3 and JP4 control the output of the console. Connect a piece of wire between points "5" and "8" for 60Hz NTSC output (Figure 2.8), and between "5" and "6" for 50Hz PAL output (Figure 2.9).

JP1 JP2

JP3 JP4

Figure 2.6: Japanese.

Figure 2.7: English.

Figure 2.8: 60Hz NTSC.

Figure 2.9: 50Hz PAL.

Building the Switches

In the following diagrams, the red dashed lines represent wires and each three-pronged hub at the bottom represents a switch. To make things clearer, please refer to sections 2.4.1 and 2.4.2, respectively.

Japanese

English

60Hz (NTSC)

50Hz (PAL)
Figure 2.10: Language Switch.
Figure 2.11: Frequency Switch.

Language Switch

Take a SPDT switch and a piece of wire. Solder one end of the wire to point "3" and the other to the middle connection of the switch. Now take another piece of wire and solder one end to point "2" and the other to the left connection of the switch. Finally take another piece of wire and solder one end to point "4" and the
other to the right connection of the switch, giving something which looks similar to Figure 2.10. Voila - you have your language switch! 2.4.2 50Hz / 60Hz Switch
Take another SPDT switch and a piece of wire. Solder one end of the wire to point "5" and the other to the middle connection of the switch. Now take another piece of wire and solder one end to point "6" and the other to the left connection of the switch. Take another piece of wire and solder one end to point "8" and the other to the right connection of the switch, as in Figure 2.11. Now you have a 50Hz/60Hz switch. It is worth noting here that if you are modifying a PAL console, the 60Hz output given by this switch is not true NTSC (for more information on this, see the FAQs in Section 3). All this means is that you will need to use an RGB SCART lead in order to play your games in colour (in 60Hz mode).2 This works the other way as well - if its an NTSC system that you are modifying, you will need an RGB SCART for games to play in colour while in 50Hz mode.

Fitting the Switches

This part is entirely your choice. You can see what I did, and personally I cant think of a better place to t the switches. By popular demand, the following describes exactly how I went about tting switches to the Mega Drive pictured above: I used two miniature SPDT [Single Pole, Double Throw] mounting slide switches. Most people use SPDT toggle switches, but I tend to prefer the overall look of the slide switches used here (they dont stick out much, making them rather neat and unobtrusive). To actually t one of the switches, I drilled a small hole on the side of my Mega Drive [after hours of measuring/debating], making sure that the hole would be smaller than the head of the switch. I then led away, constantly checking to see whether or not the switch would comfortably slide from one position to the other. Once I had a good, neat (and straight) t, I marked the position of the xing holes and drilled a tiny hole through each of the aforementioned markings. Its then just a matter of screwing the switch into place. The second switch is tted in exactly the same way, but be sure to measure everything out relative to the rst switch if you want them to be neatly aligned. You might want to put masking tape over the area of casing you intend to drill through before marking/drilling, as this can help prevent the drill from slipping.

Failure to use an RGB SCART lead will result in the game playing in black and white. Apparently, some television sets are able to cope with the signal that the Mega Drive outputs when it is being played in the wrong frequency setting, but in most cases you will need an RGB SCART to play the game in colour.
Widening the Cartridge Slot
Ahhh. you thought you were nished - didnt you? Well, youre not - theres still one last thing to do. It turns out that Japanese Mega Drive cartridges are wider than non-Japanese Mega Drive cartridges. Here, Ive used Thunder Force IV 3 as an example:
Notice how the European cart has those little notches at either side (at the back) whereas the Japanese cart is curved. Well, you guessed it, those sleek Japanese carts just dont t into non-Japanese Mega Drives. The reason is that Sega cunningly changed the shape of the Euro/US carts and the shape of the cartridge slot on the console, so as to prevent people importing from Japan. This is easily rectied by simply dismantling the cartridge slot on the Mega Drive and ling down the little notches on each side. Once you have your console open, youll see some screws holding the cartridge mechanism together - unscrew them. Now look for the protruding "corners" at either side of the slot, and take them o. I used a fret-saw to get rid of the majority of the edge, and then led the rest until a Japanese cart would t. Make sure you get a good clean t, with plenty of space for a cart to t in without any scratches - after all, once everythings back together the cart slot will look almost exactly the same as it did before (from the outside, at least). Sunsoft 4 cartridges are probably the best to use for testing the width of the slot, as they are the widest of all Japanese Mega Drive carts. Then screw everything back together, and your Mega Drive will be able to accept Japanese games! Japanese systems also have trouble accepting non-Japanese cartridges due to a cartridge lock that holds the game in the cart slot while the system is switched on. You see that little slot at the side of the Japanese cart? Thats where the piece of plastic slides in to prevent the game being pulled out while the Mega Drive is switched on (a very clever and useful device, I must say). To x this, all you have to do is remove the lock on the inside of the Mega Drive by removing the screw that holds it in place. Then screw everything back together, and your Japanese Mega Drive will be able to accept non-Japanese games. NOTE: DO NOT le the game carts themselves! Apart from potentially destroying the game, the cart will look terrible, and is guaranteed to be worthless - no one likes buying led carts.

Congratulations!

You can now play Import Mega Drive games! Simply switch to "60Hz" and "Japanese" for Japanese mode, "60Hz" and "English" for US mode, and "50Hz" and "English" for European mode.
There are many interesting dierences between the European release and the Japanese releases of this game. First, the developers call themselves Technosoft in the Euro version and Tecno Soft in the Japanese version. Secondly, the 100 lives cheat doesnt work in the Japanese version - instead, you start with 0 lives! 4 The following are Sunsoft games: TEL TEL Mahjong, Batman, TEL TEL Baseball Staduim, Shi Kin Joh, Super Fantasy Zone, Lemmings, Flashback and Panorama Cotton.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need to make my Mega Drive multi-region?
If you want to play the majority of Japanese (and American) import games, your only options are to either buy a bridge adapter or to perform a hardware modication on your Mega Drive. The former merely allows the Japanese cartridges to t into your Mega Drive, and wont allow you to play all import games (Japanese or American). The latter will allow you to play ANY Mega Drive game, regardless of where it was released.
Why are some Mega Drive games locked out?
In order to answer this question, well have to go through a brief history of the Mega Drive. The Mega Drive was originally released in Japan, then in the USA (with the name changed from Mega Drive to Genesis), and lastly in Europe (where it was called Mega Drive again). Now, Sega was (and still is) split up into three main divisions - Sega Japan, Sega of America, and Sega Europe - and each of these divisions work independently of one another. This means that if European Mega Drive owners had imported all of their games from America, Sega Europe would have made no money, and the Mega Drive would have been discontinued in Europe. With the Mega Drive ocially discontinued in Europe, there would have been no TV ads, no Mega Drive magazines, and no awareness of the Mega Drive for most of the European public. As most games were released in Japan and America before they were released in Europe (and since the games-playing public are a pretty impatient bunch), importing was a popular way of buying games. So Sega introduced the lock-out system.
How does the lock-out system work?
Without going into too much detail, heres a quick outline of the three major gaming territories: Region Japan USA Europe TV Signal 60Hz NTSC 60Hz NTSC 50Hz PAL Language Japanese English English

Whats the big deal with 50Hz PAL?
OK, lets break this down. First, well deal with the PAL issue. In Europe (and some areas of Japan), PAL is the standard television signal. In the USA and Japan, NTSC is the standard television signal. PAL was developed after NTSC, and is, believe it or not, the superior of the two systems - PAL uses more horizontal lines (312 lines compared to 262) for each frame, hence a higher resolution. The reason why the majority of gamers complain about PAL is for one simple reason - most games are developed in the USA and Japan,
where NTSC is the standard, and so most games are optimised for the NTSC system. So the 262 lines used for each frame of game play are squished in the middle of the 312 lines used by a PAL television. This means that PAL games have bars at the top and bottom of the screen, and it also means that the graphics look crushed:

Sonic the Hedgehog (PAL)

Sonic the Hedgehog (NTSC)
As can be seen from the above screenshots, Sonic looks like a dwarf in PAL mode! So thats why most Europeans dont like PAL when playing our Mega Drive games. Now for the 50Hz issue. In 50Hz mode we have 25 frames per second, while in 60Hz mode we have 30 frames per second. So a game running in 60Hz mode is 20% faster than it is running in 50Hz mode. What this means (in Mega Drive lingo) is that Sonic runs 20% faster in 60Hz than he does in 50Hz - and believe me, thats a lot! You can really feel the dierence when playing your favourite game in a dierent frequency setting; 50Hz feels incredibly slow and sluggish, while 60Hz feels fast and slick. Again, with 50Hz being the standard in Europe and 60Hz the standard in the US and Japan, most games were designed to be played in 60Hz mode - which means that the European Mega Drive gamers suer again. As you can see, its really two separate problems that European (and Australian) Mega Drive players have to deal with here.
Why is my picture black and white?
Due to the fact that the main crystal of a PAL Mega Drive is marginally dierent from the main crystal of an NTSC Mega Drive, the output of a switched PAL Mega Drive (in 60Hz mode) is almost (but not quite) an NTSC signal. In order to x this, you must use an RGB SCART lead. Here is a Usenet post from Mike G explaining how it works:

Can I play locked out European games in 60Hz NTSC mode?
Yes, you can. Once you have performed the modication, set your Mega Drive to 50Hz PAL English mode, and at any time after the SEGA logo has appeared switch the frequency to 60Hz. In most games, you will be able to play the game at its intended speed. In some games, however, the music will be out of sync (PAL Cool Spot, for example) or there will be some graphical glitches at certain points of the game (as in the PAL versions of Alien Soldier, Virtua Racing, Another World and Gunstar Heroes).
I plugged one of my English games into a Japanese Mega Drive, and it now plays in Japanese - why?
Many early Mega Drive games were burned onto what is called a dual-language ROM. Take the European release of Streets of Rage II, for example. If you play it on its intended console (that is, a European Mega Drive) itll work as expected, with all of the text in English. However, plug the exact same cart into a Japanese Mega Drive and youll nd yourself playing Bare Knuckle II, the Japanese version of Streets of Rage II, which has almost all of its text in Japanese (plus a few other cool dierences: "Skate" is renamed "Sammy", Mr X now smokes a cigar on the nal stage. etc). So, how did the same game change languages simply by plugging it into a dierent machine? Because the European release of Streets of Rage II contains exactly the same ROM as the Japanese release, and the game was simply programmed to recognize a European machine from a Japanese one - the console determines which version of the game is run. So someone living in the UK could buy Bare Knuckle II, plug it into their European PAL Mega Drive (after the appropriate cartridge slot modication), and it would magically play in English. Other games which feature this characteristic include Quackshot, GhoulsN Ghosts and Gauntlet IV. Note that the console does not translate anything; sort of like a magic act, the trick was carried out well before anyone knew what to look for - in this case, the trick was performed at the factory where the ROM was burned. Another interesting point is that the dual-language in Streets of Rage II only works between European and Japanese consoles (when set to US mode, the European release of Streets of Rage II gives the usual message explaining that you need either a PAL or a Japanese Mega Drive).
Which games use lock-out technology?
Any game released prior to 1992 will run on a Mega Drive of any region. However, there is no easy way of determining which import games released during and after 1992 are playable on a domestic console. To add even more confusion, just because a game is region-free in one territory does not mean that it is unprotected in another - for example, the US release of some games will play on any [unmodied] console, whilst the corresponding European release may only run on a European Mega Drive (and so on). This means that the only way of being sure of which games are locked out is to test each one. The "Territory Lock-out List" on the "Genesis Hardware FAQs" section of GameFAQs attempts to list which games contain a territory lock-out, and is worth checking out.

Is it true that widening the cartridge slot makes my console multi-region?
No. The cartridge modication allows Japanese games to physically t into a non-Japanese Mega Drive, but it does not allow locked out games to play.
I heard that the very rst run of Mega Drive consoles had no region lockout. Is this true?
No. All Genesis / Mega Drive consoles block protected import games by default. There are no exceptions.
Is there any way to make my Mega Drive change its region automatically?
There is no known way of modifying a Genesis / Mega Drive to automatically switch its region depending on which game is inserted. Im inclined to believe that it would be impossible to do this, since there are a
number of dual-language games out there. For example, the Japanese and European releases of Streets of Rage 2 use exactly the same ROM - so how would an auto-switching console know which region to choose? It would either crash, or ignore one of the language-settings altogether (e.g. Bare Knuckle 2 - the Japanese version of Streets of Rage 2 - may be impossible to play on such a machine).
Is there such a thing as a lock-out chip ?
There is no such thing as a lock-out chip in Genesis / Mega Drive games. Territorial lock-out is performed in the form of software, and is therefore eectively PART of the game. When a protected cart is inserted, the rst thing the game does is check the console on which it is being run such that it can determine what to do next. For example, say we insert a Japanese game which uses territorial lockout (such as Monster World IV) into a non-Japanese (unmodied) console: 1. First, the game checks the console to determine which region it is from. 2. If the console has the same conguration as a Japanese Mega Drive, the game will then load - otherwise, the game will refuse to load and will instead display a pre-programmed warning message. As you can see, theres no point including an expensive chip to prevent importers playing games when simply adding a tiny (eectively free) amount of code to the game would do the trick.

The guide is based around the way I modied my Mega Drive - and the set-up shown will work when applied to a Mega Drive of any region (US, Europe, or Japan). However, there are slightly dierent set-ups that also work perfectly well. Galen Tatsuo Komatsu neatly demonstrates this using his modied Genesis. The console was modied in such a way that it has one switch for each jumper, and after a couple of tests he came up with the following tables:

Language

JP1 open open closed closed JP2 open closed open closed output English English Japanese *short*

50Hz/60Hz

JP3 open open closed closed JP4 open closed open closed output 60Hz 60Hz 50Hz *short*
As you can see, selecting two conicting states simultaneously (i.e. "English and Japanese" or "50Hz and 60Hz") results in the power line being connected directly to the ground line and the console fails to power up. It is also worth pointing out that "English" and "60Hz" appear to be the dominant settings. So on this console we could have wired it such that our language switch connects across JP1 when switched to one position, and is open when icked to the other. Referring to the diagram in Section 2.3 we could have, for example, "1" wired to the middle connection, "2" wired to the right connection, and leave the left connection open. Similarly, our 50Hz/60Hz switch could have been wired such that we have JP3 closed in one position, and open in the other. I believe the modication would have also worked if we had used "1" and "7" as the central connections for our language and frequency switches respectively, since "1" is soldered to "3", and "5" to "7" on the backside of the board. NOTE: I strongly recommend you stick to the original settings used in Section 2, as these have been thoroughly checked and better explained.
Why are the printed traces on my Genesis dierent from the "US" setting shown in the guide?
The printed traces on a US Genesis go across JP2 and JP4 (thats 3-4 and 7-8 in the diagram). As explained in the above answer, points "5" and "7" are are already connected - so end result is the same. In short, just stick to the guide and youll be ne! For the record, the printed traces on a PAL Mega Drive go across JP2 and JP3, and on a Japanese Mega Drive they go across JP1 and JP4.

On my board, JP1 and JP2 are in a dierent area from JP3 and JP4. How do I modify this console?
This will not aect the modication procedure. JP1 and JP2 control the language of the console, and work independently of JP3 and JP4 (which control the output frequency [50/60]Hz). So instead of wiring both switches to the lower-right section of the circuit board, simply wire one switch to the section in which JP1 and JP2 are located, and the other to the area in which JP3 and JP4 are located.
My board has a capacitor across one of the four jumpers. How do I proceed?
On some of the older boards you may nd a capacitor on one jumper (usually one of the language jumpers). If you have a capacitor here, note that it is on the unused jumper for your consoles region - for example, on an English-language console the capacitor will be across JP1. It has been determined that this serves no purpose, and so its completely safe to de-solder the capacitor at either end (i.e. remove it). You can now use Section 2 of this guide to modify your console. NOTE: Thanks to Carlo Savorelli and Lorenzo Nocentini for risking their Mega Drive to verify this.
Does modifying my console allow me to play any Sega/Mega CD game?
As far as unmodied consoles go, you cannot pick and mix Sega/Mega CD and Genesis/Mega Drive systems. A US Genesis will only work with a US Sega CD. The Sega CD (US version of the Mega CD) needs a US Genesis in order to function - it simply wont work with a foreign console. Of course, with switches installed on your base Mega Drive (or Genesis) you can get round this by switching to US-mode before loading a Sega CD game. As for playing Mega CD (that is, European or Japanese) games on a US Sega CD, you need a converter cartridge such as the Pro CD-X released by Datel in the UK. This plugs into the cartridge slot of your system, allowing games from the selected region to play on your Sega CD - you dont need switches on your system to play Jap CD games if youre using a US Sega CD. The downside? You cant have a back-up RAM cart and an import converter in your system at the same time - so games that rely on a RAM cart, like Japanese Shining Force CD, are pretty much out of the question. Note that you cant switch your Mega Drive to Japanese mode to play a Japanese CD game on your US Sega CD, as the two systems would think they are from dierent regions - and the Sega CD wouldnt work. You need an adapter to force two systems from dierent regions to work with one another. If you live in Europe and wish to play import CD games on your European Mega CD, youve got an extra hurdle to overcome - namely the dreaded 50/60Hz problem. When you load an import game using the Datel adapter on a European Mega CD, things generally work OK until you reach FMV-heavy sections of the game (in fact, the CD audio works independently of the game speed, and so all CD audio will be out-of-sync with the graphics). Now I havent tried this myself (as I dont have a Mega CD), but I believe it should be possible to play imports on a modied European Mega Drive by switching to 60Hz, plugging in the Pro CD-X adapter, and then loading the import you wish to play. Alternatively, you can obtain the so-called "switchable MultiBIOS" for your Mega/Sega CD. You swap your current CD BIOS with this MultiBIOS and install the appropriate switches, allowing you to play import CD games on your system without the need for an adapter. For more information, check out Arakons guide, available at http://arakon.hn.org/tutorial/bios.html.

Credits

SEGA Enterprises, Ltd.

http://www.sega.com

Manufacturers of my favourite games console of all time, the Mega Drive. Without Sega, this guide would not exist!

Apple Computer, Inc.

http://www.apple.com
Computer manufacturer, developer of Mac OS X. This guide was written on an Apple Powerbook G4 running Mac OS X.
TEXShop http://www.uoregon.edu/koch/texshop A Frontend for the powerful LTEX typesetting system, primarily used for scientic document typesetting.

Eidolons Inn

http://www.eidolons-inn.net
Site devoted to the classic Sega consoles. The Tavern message board in particular was an invaluable source of information during the compilation of this guide.

GoogleTM Groups

http://groups.google.com
A complete archive of every Usenet post since 1981. The alt.sega.genesis newsgroup was used to discuss many aspects of Mega Drive modication.

GameFAQs

http://www.gamefaqs.com
Home of numerous useful Mega Drive documents which were consulted throughout the evolution of this guide. The Genesis message board raised some of the questions included in the FAQ section of this guide.

Special Thanks.

THANKS!
Mike G, Galen Tatsuo Komatsu, Flavio, |Ray| (Arakon), Eidolon, Dark Grue, Samudra, Amano Jacu, Carlo Savorelli, Lorenzo Nocentini and everyone else that has contributed to this guide. I couldnt have done it without you guys thanks!

Disclaimer

This guide has been checked and double checked. To the best of my knowledge, all of the information given here is correct. However, I am not responsible for any damage which results form the [mis]use of this guide. If you have any questions or wish to point out any typos, please contact me via Email. One of the reasons for me writing this guide was because I found it dicult to obtain thorough, reliable information on Mega Drive modications - so I encourage you to distribute this document as much as you want, using any methods you see t (e.g. through websites, le-sharing programs, message boards,. etc.), so that others can have an easier time nding it. Finally, and most importantly, if you feel that you should be credited for any part of this guide, please Email me and you will be added to the "Credits" section in any future releases. Thanks!

A Basic Guide To: Kega Fusion 3.61
Kega Fusion (or just Fusion for short) is a popular and fully featured Sega home console emulator, and is the preferred emulator for the TigerTails Radio Retro Gaming challenges due to it's high emulation quality (rather than fancy bells and whistles). This document serves as a small guide for someone who has never used an emulator before, as the basics of loading games and configuring the controls are detailed here. More advanced information can be found in the README file that comes with Fusion. This guide assumes that you have downloaded the zip file for Fusion, and have unzipped it already. If you haven't, go do so now. It doesn't matter where you unzip it to, though you might want to put it somewhere you can find it again and won't have to move it. Right, done that? Good. Now, before you go playing some games, you need to do some initial set up. All being well, you only need to do with once so you might as well get it out of the way first. Firstly we need to get the controls sorted out. Fusion can be set to emulate both the 3 button and the 6 button controllers, and as a good number of games have 6 button support it's worth configuring Fusion as such.
On the left is the D-Pad containing the directional buttons. On the right is the normal ABC buttons used by all games, and the extra XYZ buttons used by games supporting 6 button controllers. START is in blue and MODE (used to fake 3 button mode if a game was upset by the 6 buttons) in black beside it. Due to the arrow keys on your keyboard being on the right, most gamers who use the keyboard prefer to have the D-Pad on the right, and ABCXYZ on the right. Those that don't often use the WASD keys for up, left, down, and right. Some players also find using the Enter key as START helps make the game feel like a PC game. Feel free to find a keyboard layout that suits you. Once you have decided what button ought to be what, open Fusion (the very first time you open Fusion, you will see a Tips Box. It looks a lot like an error, but it's not just click OK and it will go away) and click on Options and then Set Config. Don't worry about what you see, we'll come to all that much later on. For now, find the Controllers tab, and give it a click.
Port 1 is the Player 1 side of the Megadrive/Genesis and Port 2 is for Player 2. Use the Drop-Down menu seen to select 6 button pads for each player. If you have a PC joypad and you don't want to use the keyboard, you can select other options from the Use box. Once you're happy, hit the Define buttons and follow the instructions that appear in the area just above the OK button. Once that's done, you can be glad that the first task is over. At the most basic level, you're now ready to play some games! This is where the fun starts. Since the challenges using this emulator will mostly be Megadrive (Genesis) based, this guide will use a Megadrive game for the examples.
When you are using an emulator, the games you play are normally called ROMs instead of games. They are copies (dumps) of the original Read Only Memory chips on the game cartridge (or CD). So, when you see an option to load a ROM, it's talking about the games. In this example, a Megadrive game is being loaded (Genesis if you're American).
If you downloaded Fusion (and indeed this guide) after TigerTails Radio Retro Gaming Challenge 4 (MUSHA), double-click on ROMs, and then on MegaDrive (Genesis). You should find the first Sonic the Hedgehog game sat waiting for you.
Double click on it, and start playing Sonic the Hedgehog. Congratulations, you can now load games, and play them with the controls of your choice. Well done. Just a couple of things you need to remember now. Fusion can play games from inside.zip files. For each new challenge, the game will be downloaded in.zip format, so you can download straight to your ROMs folder and Fusion will play it. Don't forget to put the game into the correct console folder, otherwise things get a touch messy over time. Finally, for the challenges, you will need to take screen shots. These are easy to make. Simply hold the left SHIFT key and press F12. By default they will save in the same folder as Fusion, but you can make a screen shots folder and store them in there.

The Extras tab on the Configuration screen lets you choose where to save screen shots, and in what format. The File Format and Output Stage options show here are the best for submitting entries for the challenges. For those wanting to play the Master System Snail Game, or any MegaCD (SegaCD) game, you'll need to add the BIOS files to Fusion. All BIOS files are included in the package and you only need to tell Fusion where they are using the appropriate tab on the Configuration screen. If you need more information about Fusion, feel free to ask via email, using the email address on the Contact page of the TigerTails Radio website, or you can ask in IRC during the show. Now get out there and start playing some games!