Versions of the Sega Mega Drive

• Sega Mega Drive 1 in Japan
  • Japanese-language settings
  • Headphone jack
  • AUX Port
  • Supports Sega Mega-CD and Sega Super 32X
  • Had a cartridge lock
  • Gloss Black Finish
  • On the circular molding is the text 'High Grade Multi Purpose Intelligent Terminal'. At the bottom of the circle is a purple square section.
  • Cooling vents are located on the left side.
  • 'Sega Mega Drive' is printed in white on the lower right of the console.
  • The reset button and start button on the joypad are blue.
• Sega Mega Drive 1 in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand
  • Converted to display Pal 50HZ Signal
  • English-language settings
  • Cannot play Japanese Mega Drive games due to shape of cartridge and console (thought adaptaders were sold to play Japanese games in the european model).
  • Cartridge lock removed
  • The text 'High Definition Graphics·Stereo Sound' located behind cartridge port.
  • The reset button and the start button are white.
• Sega Mega Drive 1 in Asia (variant to European Mega Drive and often mistaken for a Japanese Mega Drive)
  • No text printed around circle
  • Larger '16-Bit' logo used
  • 'Start' and 'Reset' button are blue
  • Identical to European Mega Drive with PAL Output
• Sega Mega Drive 2 in Japan
  • New squared shape
  • No headphone jack (hehe)
  • 1 Custom multi output for picture and sound
  • Red Coloured flaps on Cartridge Port
  • The text 'High Grade Multi Purpose Intelligent Terminal' located behind cartridge port.
  • Packaged with 6-button controller standard.
  • No power LED
• Sega Mega Drive 2 in Europe
  • New squared shape
  • No headphone jack
  • AV Port switched to 1 Custom multi output for picture and sound (Previously, only Mono sound was used, as the Stereo Sound came to the headphone jack)
  • Push Button Power Switch
  • Power port smaller, different AC Adapter used
  • RF Out port removed
  • Auto-switching RF Lead Included
• Wondermega (named Xeye for the North American Release) - A combined Mega Drive and Mega-CD by JVC - Never released in Europe
  • Improved sound capabilities
  • MIDI Connexions
  • 2 Microphone Inputs
  • SVHS Connector
  • Packaged with a CD called Game Garden that had Flicky a (quiz game) and Pyramid (a puzzle game.) The CD is compatible with CDG (CD and Graphics) enabled CD Players.
  • Later Japanese pack had a platform game called 'Wonderdog' by Core.
  • Supported the 'Wonder CD' pheripheral that allows someone to create music and connect to MIDI-enabled devices.
  • Supported a music keyboard called the 'Piano Player' that allowed you to create music and learn to use the keyboard.
  • Later given a redesign with a softer, more curved look. Some of the extra features were removed, and the joypads were remodeled infra red joypads.
• Sega Mega LD (Japan)/Multimega (Europe) (named CDX in North America) - A Mega Drive and Mega-CD console with portable CD Player abilities, aimed at the more affluent market. The British release came at a whopping £350.00.
  • No built-in screen.
  • Could double as a portable CD Player. CD Control buttons (Play, Stop, et al)are on the front of the console. A backlit LCD provided the track number. An extra outline port was provided for stereo equipment.
  • Charged by 2 AA batteries that can only run the CD Player. The unit must be plugged in to play video games.
• Megatech (Europe only) - An arcade machine that featured 10 interchangeable Mega Drive games in an arcade style cabinet.
  • First released in 1989 with some of the best titles at the time, such as Thunderforce II, Altered Beast, Tetris, Last Battle, Space Harrier II, and Golden Axe.
  • Games could be changed at any time, and more titles, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, were made available. The games were identical to their original counterparts, and the cheats also worked.
  • Games were supplied by a Japanese-shaped Mega Drive cart, although slightly heavier. The labels were silver and red and only had 'Megatech' printed on them. These carts are not compatible with a regular Mega Drive/Genesis due to the extra information on them stored to run the second monitor, a different length edge connector, number of pins, pinouts, and spacing.
  • A second, smaller 9-inch monitor is located at the top of the cabinet. It displayed instructions for each of the games. The user pays to play for a certain length of time. When time was starting to run out, the screen flashed green to notify the user that additional credits are needed should he or she want to play more of that game.
• Mega Jet - see Sega Mega Jet
• Laseractive - A laser disc player from Pioneer that can plug in modules. One of these modules allow users to play Mega Drive and Mega-CD games. It can display Mega Drive graphics over streamed video from compatible laser discs.
  • The Mega LD format only had a handful of games using that format.
  • 3D Glasses have been produced for compatible discs.
  • Other modules could play the PC Engine games and the karaoke.
• Terra Drive (Mega PC in Europe) - A personal computer that allows a user to play Mega Drive games and to use normal computer applications. The Terra Drive was released in Japan with development tools, but Sega was cooperating with a different company in that case. The (equivalent to) $3000 dollar price tag did not make the system attractive to the Japanese. The Mega PC was released by Amstrad in Europe.
  • The Terra Drive/Mega PC was a 386xs running at 25Mhz. It had 1MB RAM and a 40MB IBM Compatible Hard Disk Drive.
  • It was released in the UK in 1993 and the casing colour was changed from dark gray to cream.
  • The Terra Drive/Mega PC can also be used with a Mega CD.
  • The Mega Plus was an updated version of the Mega CD. It used a 486, with a 33Mhz and 4MB RAM.
• MSX - A name for two machines released only in Arab countries by a company named Universal. The machines were capable of playing Mega Drive cartridges.
  • The A330 MSX had a cartridge port on the top of the machine. It has 'Painting', 'Calendar', 'Arabic Writing', and 'English Writing' as its programs.
  • The AX990 had 50 programs. They are likely to be an unofficial multicart or other MSX programs.

Models

The following models were released:

• Sega Mega-CD I (Sega CD I in North America)
• Sega Mega-CD II (Sega CD II in North America). Designed for the Mega Drive/Genesis II and to reduce manufacturing costs
• JVC Wondermega (Xeye in North American release, never released in Europe), was a all-in one Genesis /Sega CD unit
• Sega Multimega (called Sega CDX in North America). A portable CD player that plays both Mega Drive and Mega-CD games
• Pioneer LaserActive Sega CD module, an add-on device you could add to a Laseractive Pioneer Laserdisc player

Technical Specifications

• Processor: Twin Hitachi (SH2) 32 bit RISC processors with a clock speed of 23 MHZ 40 MIPS
• Co-processors: Overlay Mega Drive Motorola M68000, Zilog Z80, Genesis 32X VDP; Video processor 50,000 texture mapped polygons/s texture mapping hardware scaling and rotation.
• Video: 32,768 simultaneous colours on screen; Mega Drive resolution overlaying over existing Mega Drive/Mega-CD video
• Memory: 512k (4 MBit) additional RAM to Mega Drive/Sega Mega-CD memory
• Audio: Stereo PWM (Pulse Wave Modulation) mixing with Mega Drive sound; additional 2 channels (therefore 14 all together?)
• I/O: Same as Mega Drive; 32X upgradable; can upgrade the 32X
• Storage: CD-ROM if you have a SegaMega-CD; speed same as Sega Mega-CD compatible with audio CD, CD&G, SegaCD and JVC WonderMega
• Cartridge: compatible with all Mega Drive models, JVC Wondermega can store save game/score information.