RE:Explained!: Variations of the Megadrive- Japanese, Asian, PAL (50hz), NTSC (60hz).

[stuffiwrote]

Thanks for the tips, I just bought an Asian console, it looks the part. Red buttons, writing etc. though the box is the Asian box. Hope it's NTSC!

[AngmohDivertissement]

Mine was NTSC( from Taiwan)

[b757cp]

Hmm, My Pal mega drive with the serial 1601-05 has the borders and runs slowly... Now I'm really confused.

[Lmaster656]

your ntsc mega drive i think it had been modified just to run in pal(cutting the jumpers but NOT doing the switches)but the box thing its really wierd,i have a ntsc mega drive but it came in a asian box,but it is in fact a haa-2510 model,but it runs in pal-m(i think its had been modified to run in brazillian tvs,because back in time brazillian tvs didnt run in ntsc,just in pal)but the game itself runs japanese(in sonic 2 the tails its called miles)its really wierd but i turn the md back in ntsc

[snolan1990]

I thought I would be able to cope with 50hz on my Asian model Mega Drive I picked up at a carbootsale for £1 but after seing this video I can't not do the regional switch mod.

Thanks for letting me know what I have been missing

[alak58]

I just bought a crap model just like yours,very disappointing..it has that rf cable coming out of back aswell.going to return it.

[xtreambeam]

@alak58 I still have the one with the rf cable. It's just been lying in the shed. I was gutted when I first played it. Didn't know then what I know now of course.

[TerporFIN]

I have this same model,but it has the rf-output next to the av-output. And i've opened the console and i noticed they are the same as the original Pal-Megadrive. So how this is a crap model compared to the original Pal one?

[Ace9921]

Seems like someone modified that MegaDrive to run in PAL. As far as I know, there exist NO PAL MegaDrive with the hookups like that on the back. Another thing: PAL consoles have a slightly lower sound pitch than NTSC systems, and this MegaDrive has the same sound pitch as an NTSC console, hence why I think someone hacked the thing. You would have to open the MegaDrive to see if it is indeed modified to run in PAL rather than NTSC. If you can show the motherboard in there, it'd be helpful.

[Ace9921]

Oh, hang on, I missed the part with the system opened. That is, indeed, a modified NTSC MegaDrive. That RF modulator is NOT supposed in the Japanese MegaDrive. Someone took the system, modified it to run in PAL, and installed an internal RF modulator.

[Kalisto247]

Thanks for the information, great video!!

[xtreambeam]

no problem :-)

[jacobartaylor]

the internal rf box is weird almost like a standard uk megadrives innards were put into the japanese console

[scorpionatthepc]

Could you do a video where a game runs too fast on a 60htz mega drive? I heard on a website that certain pal games will run too fast if played at 60 htz. Is sonic 2 one of them as that runs at the correct speed on a pal machine.

[xtreambeam]

The only pal games I have at the minute are mortal kombats 1-3. Mortal kombat 3 doesn't work at 60Hz :-(. The other 2 run faster at 60Hz and are alot more enjoyable to play.

[scorpionatthepc]

So do the mortal kombats play faster then they should at 60 htz?

[xtreambeam]

Well they play faster than they do at 50Hz, but at 50 Hz when you jump the character almost floats in th air (Way too slow).A pal game running at 60Hz is the speed it should have been really. I have no copies of the same game in pal and ntsc to compare at the minute, but I do have a genesis version of MK2 on the way so can check then.

[scorpionatthepc]

Yeah just checked it out and you can tell but its only very slight though. Nothing to get upset about thats for sure.

[xtreambeam]

I could probably live with it. But the newer models really sound muffled. Original has a far cleaner sound.

[scorpionatthepc]

All I know is that a pal sonic 2 running on a pal console will play as fast as a jap version of sonic 2 running on a jap 60htz console. The pal version will have borders however but the speed is right.

[xtreambeam]

Thanks Ian. As I said in the video, I've notice a few on eBay in the past with rf leads coming out the back so something to look out for. I didn't know that about the hole in the back.

I'm probably going to try and undo the mod because it's just sitting here now gathering dust.

[ianwilson1978]

Excellent response mate! I'm 99.99% certain that your Jap console (first one) has been modified after it's been bought. That hole at the back is where the mega modem screws into the console but its clearly been made bigger to accomodate the RF cable.

Japan only run on NTSC so its been bought by someone who used it outside of Japan and they've had it modded. Not everyone had TV's with SCART input's back in the day so I think this was fairly common. Nice response and one to be careful about! :-)

[scorpionatthepc]

The serial number on my asian MD is 1601-11 so is a later release then that 2nd model in the video. I have also heard that the first mk1 MD's to come out had better sound chips in them? One thing to look out for on the MD is the words high definition graphics across the top. Don't know it this is true though.

[xtreambeam]

Chec out MN12BIRD's channel and look for the video titled...Early HDG M1 VS late M1 and M2 sound

[ianwilson1978]

As below mate MN12BRD has covered this before, they changed the sound set-up after the first MD and its noticeably worse... :-)