The Mega Drive is the 16-bit successor to Sega's Mark III or Master System as it was known in the United States. Although its North American counterpart, the Sega Genesis, gave Nintendo a run for its money during the 16-bit era, the Mega Drive finished a disappointing third behind the Super Famicom and the PC Engine in Japan. How did it all go wrong in Japan for Sega? If fingers are to be pointed, we can start with the Mega Drive spokesman's haircut.

With Nintendo achieving an over 90% market penetration in both America in Japan, Sega decided it was time to abandon the 8-bit Mark III and join NEC in the 16-bit era. So in 1988 Sega launched the Mega Drive receiving only a tepid reception from Japanese consumers.

Sega had three major forces impeding the Mega Drive's potential for success. For starters, Nintendo's Famicom was a gaming phenomenon, and with a steady stream of quality titles still being churned out gamers had very little incentive to jump ship. Moreover, by 1988, NEC's pseudo 16-bit PC Engine console had already been on the market for a year and it was just starting to pick up steam. Consequently, by the time the Mega Drive was released in Japan, most graphics whores and early adopters of technology had already become heavily invested in the expensive PC Engine. In other words, the consumers who were most likely to adandon Nintendo for the processing power of the Mega Drive had already left and were firmly embedded in NEC's camp. Finally, the Mega Drive lacked the killer app or the mascot star power to draw the casual gamer away from Nintendo. Keep in mind, Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't released in Japan until 1991. By that point, Nintendo's Super Famicom had gained control of the 16-bit market and Mario continued his rule as the king of video games with his best-selling title Super Mario World.

Sega supported the Mega Drive until 1996 when Sega abruptly announced they were dropping support for all consoles that Segata Sanshiro didn't play. In one fell swoop, Sega axed the Mark III, Mega Drive, 32X and Mega CD. Although Segata approved of Sega's decision to divert all its resources to the Saturn, many gamers were angered. By contrast Nintendo continued to support and make games for the Super Famicom through the year 2000.

Backwards Compatibility

One of the key design features of the Mega Drive was its ability to play Mark III games. To achieve backwards compatibility, Sega actually included the Mark III's central processor and sound chip in the Mega Drive hardware.

Of course, the Mega Drive lacked a port for the Mark III's card-based games and Mark III cartridges could not be inserted directly into the Mega Drive's cartridge slot. To address this issue, Sega released the Mega Adapter, a separate device that connects to the cartridge slot and features ports for both Mark III software formats.

Both the two-button Mark III controllers and the standard Mega Drive pads are essentially compatible with Mark III games, although some input anomalies occur when using a Mega Drive pad. For optimum performance it's best to use an Mark III pad when playing Mark III games.

Beware. The Mega Adapter is not fully compatible with the redesigned Mega Drive 2. Consequently, the original Mega Drive is your best option for playing Mark III games on the Mega Adaptor.

Peripherals

The Mega Drive had a number of peripherals to enhance the game play. The big two were of course the Mega CD (1991) and the ill-fated Super 32X (1994). These peripherals will be addressed in greater detail in separate articles. Briefly, however, the Mega CD attachment enabled the Mega Drive to play CD-ROM games. It was designed to compete head-to-head against the PC Engine's CD-ROM² System, which was popular in Japan. The Super 32X attachment magically transformed the 16-bit Mega Drive into a 32-bit work horse. The Super 32X, however, was not so super as it did not perform nearly well as advertised. Less than 40 games were released for the Super 32X before Sega ceased its support in 1996. There were a small handful of Mega-CD 32X games, which required the original Mega Drive, the Mega CD and the Super 32X to play.

Believe it or not, the Mega Drive was the first home console to support competitive play over the internet. Back in 1991, with nothing but a Mega Drive, a telephone line and the Megamodem , a boy in Kanto could link up with a friend in Kansai for a rousing game of Sonic Eraser. Considering the Megamodem's blistering download speeds of 1,600 to 2,400 bit/s, game play was surely frenetic (yes, that is sarcasm you detect). The network was supported by the Sega Meganet. In addition to facilitating the online play, the Meganet also provided downloadable content. The Meganet was not very successful and met the same tragic fate as Nintendo's competing Satellaview.

Region Coding

Sega employed limited forms of region lock out for its 16-bit system. The Japanese Mega Drive games tended to be physically larger than the Genesis games, which prevented them from being inserted into the cartridge slot. With a simple modification, however, a good number of Mega Drive games can be played on a Sega Genesis. Simply expand the size of the console's cartridge slot by filing down the edges until the Mega Drive game fits. Unfortunately, this doesn't work for all games as Sega later embedded the region lockout in the software. Although a Genesis can be modified to overcome this hurdle, the simplest solution is to use a converter.

The Mega CD games are also region protected and will not work on a Sega CD.

Console Variations

Not to be outdone by the competing PC Engine, Sega created and/or licensed a number of Mega Drive hardware variants. The most common of these variants was the Mega Drive 2, which was a smaller version of the Mega Drive. Other than the size and the lack of a headphone jack, the only difference of significance is peripheral compatibility. The Mega Drive 2 was not fully compatible with the Mega Adapter or the Super 32X. Moreover, to play Mega CD games, the Mega Drive 2 required its own a specially designed Mega CD attachment.

TeraDrive: released in 1991.

Released only in Japan, the TeraDrive was an IBM PC with an integrated Mega Drive. Three models were available ranging in price from 148,000 to 248,000 yen (~$1200 to $2000), but only the most expensive model contained a hard drive. The monitor was not included in the price. IBM, however, designed a custom monitor for the TeraDrive that could display both RGB and VGA video signals. The TeraDrive also had composite A/V outputs for playing Mega Drive games on a standard TV. One of the TeraDrives coolest design features is the ability to play Mega Drive games even when the PC's non-gaming applications are in use.

Victor Wondermega: released in 1993.

The Wondermega combined the functionality of the Mega Drive and the Mega CD in a single slick package. The Wondermega featured superior sound quality compared to the standard Mega Drive, extra mic inputs for karaoke, S-Video output and music CD playback. Victor aimed to take advantage of the Wondermega's superior sound quality with the release of the Wonder MIDI and the Piano Player. The Wonder MIDI, which originally retailed for 9900 yen (~$90), was a cartridge that made the Wondermega compatible with MIDI devices. The Wonder MIDI also contained music composition tools and teaching software. The Piano Player was basically a MIDI keyboard designed specifically for the Wondermega.

Pioneer LaserActive: released in 1993.

Sony was not the first company to combine movie playback with a videogame device. Back before Blu-ray and HD DVD's, there were Laser Discs. And before the PS triple there was the Pioneer LaserActive. In addition to the small line up of LaserActive games, with the use of the SEGA PAC, the LaserActive could play Sega's complete library of Mega Drive and Mega CD games. Other features include digital audio, control ports for Mega Drive controllers (located on the SEGA PAC), microphone jack, ability to play audio CD's, and remote control.

Multi Mega: released in 1994.

In an attempt to resuscitate the failing Mega CD, in 1994 Sega launched the compact Multi-Mega. The Multi-Mega was basically a portable CD player that incorporated the Mega Drive and Mega CD hardware. While the CD player function could run off of just two AA batteries, to play games the Multi Mega had to be plugged in. Despite its sexy design, the Multi Mega did not sell well making it a nice collector's item for the Sega enthusiast.

Mega Jet: released in 1994.

As its name implies, the Mega Jet was originally designed as a gaming device for use as in-flight entertainment on Japan Airlines. A consumer model was released only in Japan. The Mega Jet was an odd system. It was essentially a Sega Nomad without the back lit screen meaning it needed to be connected to a TV and plugged in to play. It wasn't so much a hand held device as it was a portable Mega Drive that could easily be thrown in your bag to take to a friend's house.

Aiwa Mega CD - CSD-GM1: released in 1994.

One of the rarest of the Mega Drive console variants is the Aiwa Mega CD. One part portable boom box, two parts Mega Drive, the Aiwa Mega CD was only released in Japan. To play Mega Drive games, the Aiwa Mega CD needed to be attached on top of a docking station. Once connected, the Aiwa Mega CD could play both Mega Drive games and Mega CD games. As the cartridge port is located in the front of the docking station, the Super 32X and Mega Adapter attachments don't work particularly well with this unit. Regardless, this is one of the most collectible Mega Drive consoles and worth a pretty penny especially if it is complete with the matching blue controller.

Pink Gorilla's Top Ten Mega Drive Games

In compiling this list, we focused on games that were either not released or were a little more obscure in the US. Mega CD titles have specifically been excluded as they will be addressed in a separate article.

1. Gunstar Heroes
2. Alien Soldier
3. Alisia Dragoon
4. Panorama Cotton
5. G Wars
6. Battle Mania Daiginjou
7. Snow Brothers
8. Wonder Boy V
9. Contra Hard Corps
10. Gaiares

Honorable Mentions - Chelnov, El Viento, Fatman, Gynoug, Hellfire, Koutetsu Teikoku, Maou Renjishi, Ragnacenty, Ristar, Slap Fight, Sparkster, The Super Shinobi II, Surging Aura, Task Force Harrier EX, V Five, Vampire Killer

Rare And Collectible Titles

There are a few rare games for the Mega Drive. The rarest being Batman Forever, Justice League Maximum Carnage and Virtual Bart, which fetch prices of $550 to $700 in Japan.

Alien Soldier
Batman Forever
Battle Mania Daiginjou
Comix Zone
G Wars
Gauntlet
General Chaos
Justice League
Koutetsu Teikoku
Maou Renjishi
Maximum Carnage
Panorama Cotton
Pepen ga Pengo
Ristar
Slap Fight
Snow Brothers
Surgical Strike
Tom & Jerry
True Lies
Vampire Killer

Fun Mega Drive Commercials

Gunstar Heroes. Automatically awesome. Introducing the "hyper touch" Mega CD. It's all about the hair.