Sega Master System and Master Everdrive...I love it!

[eightbit]

Although I do have a Mega Everdrive X5 and a Genesis, I recently acquired a Sega Master System (listed as "parts, not working", but it works fine!) on ebay for a few bucks and wanted to team it up with the latest Master Everdrive X7 by Krikzz. It arrived from StoneAgeGamer today and man, just wow. I know I can play these games on the Genesis, but the benefits here are great. The X7 has save states on the SMS as well as in game menu...and SG-1000 support. And, playing SMS games on a real SMS is something I haven't been able to do in over 10 years.

 

My favorite console of all time has had a serious upgrade Does anyone else have one of these? I know Krikzz has stated it is one of his least sold Everdrive models, but I am really glad he decided to make it. The SMS deserves it! Thank you Krikzz and thank you StoneAgeGamer for making this device available. Highly recommended!

Edited August 11, 2019 by eightbit

[phoenixdownita]

I do, 3 of them to be certain.

 

1 US (that's how it started)

1 JP ('cause I wanted FM support which prompted me to add Tim's FM-board to 1 above  http://etim.net.au/shop/shop.php?crn=202&rn=538&action=show_detail , and the paddle controller [I have only one such controller])

1 EU (SMS2 with VDP2 for those games that use extra height mode http://www.smspower.org/Tags/Extra-Height )

 

I am using the old MasterED, a little slow but most games are small enough to not make a huge difference to me.

 

Pity the SG1000 palette is wrong on all of the SMS

http://www.smspower.org/Development/Palette#MasterSystemMarkIII

 

The Analogue MegaSg covers all of them (excluding 3D glasses support for now, the DAC enables light gun support) and uses the right palette for SG1000 (and CV) while at the same time maintains the "wrong one" for F16 (only SMS  game using a legacy video mode http://www.smspower.org/Games/F16FightingFalcon-SMS )

 

It's a neat little 8bit system that's for sure.

 

Fun fact the GG is basically an SMS with a 12bit VDP (4K colors instead of 32) ... wish they retrofitted that on the SMS2 instead of the unexplainable extra height mode.

 

[eightbit]

Thanks for the info! Actually though when I was asking whether someone has one of these I was really referring to the latest X7 cart. I'm pretty well versed regarding the SMS

 

I had a ton of hardware in the past. Full USA game set, various Brazil stuff, and even a store demo unit. I also donated some carts for dumping to Omar way back in the beginning I lost it all years ago but am just revisiting it again now.

 

It is indeed a great system, I couldn't play it on a MegaSg however. Not because I does not perform exactly like the real deal (it is FPGA afterall) but because I just "know" I am not playing on legit Sega hardware. That's a big part of the experience...at least for me.

[Austin]

I'd love to have an original SMS again with a flash cart, but I will say that playing these via a jailbroken MegaSG is a great compromise at the moment. Having the start button on a Genesis controller replace the pause button of the Master System is priceless.

[eightbit]

Yeah, the pause button on the controller must make it WAY easier to tap 99 times on the title screen of After Burner for unlimited lives

[Austin]

I'd think the bigger issue would be the fact that one would actually want to play the Master System version of After Burner.

[eightbit]

7 minutes ago, Austin said:

I'd think the bigger issue would be the fact that one would actually want to play the Master System version of After Burner.

 

I purchased that game brand new (at TRU!) for $50 back in the day and I'll tell you I loved the port. It was a whole lot better than most arcade ports at the time....but I guess you had to be there purchasing them brand new to see what I mean. I always felt I got something "really special" when I purchased a brand new SMS game in those days. Do they hold up now? Well, it is all in the eye of the beholder I suppose. I personally am still quite impressed with many of these games.

[phoenixdownita]

22 hours ago, eightbit said:

Thanks for the info! Actually though when I was asking whether someone has one of these I was really referring to the latest X7 cart. I'm pretty well versed regarding the SMS

 

I had a ton of hardware in the past. Full USA game set, various Brazil stuff, and even a store demo unit. I also donated some carts for dumping to Omar way back in the beginning I lost it all years ago but am just revisiting it again now.

 

It is indeed a great system, I couldn't play it on a MegaSg however. Not because I does not perform exactly like the real deal (it is FPGA afterall) but because I just "know" I am not playing on legit Sega hardware. That's a big part of the experience...at least for me.

A MasterED X7 at 142$ on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Master-EverDrive-X7-Sega-System/dp/B07K1979VP/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=krikzz&qid=1565585232&s=gateway&sr=8-4

is a little hard to swallow given you need an actual SMS and a way to play (either old CRT TV or upscalers [RetronTink2x or otherwise]) when a MegaSg is at 190US$, I'm sure Kevtris will iron all the kinks to have a perfect emulation ... it's already so close when it comes to SMS/SG1000 (the SG1000 is even better given the correct TMS9918 color palette).

 

I never really dug save-states so I can't comment on those, didn't have them when I was a kid so I'd rather take GameGenie/GameShark/ActionReplay support at that point.

[eightbit]

The MasterED X7 is $128.99 on StoneAgeGamer (which is where I got it) so a few bucks cheaper than Amazon:

 

https://stoneagegamer.com/master-everdrive-x7-base.html

 

I didn't think the save states would suit me either but when I dug into some games, man, it works and works well. I might be able to finally complete "Black Belt" now after almost 35 years!

 

It was more than just playing the games. I can do that on my RetroPie and on my MegaDrive with the X5 cart. It was able using a real Sega Master System with the cart. I know that means little to most people as "who cares if it is running on this or that" seems to be the consensus, but I personally kind of care that the games are running on the real machine. The SMS I hold especially close to my heart for various reasons, and it just makes me feel really good playing a game on the console. I wouldn't and couldn't obtain the same feeling playing the game on a newly constructed FPGA console. 

 

As a matter of fact, a MegaSG really isn't even needed if you wanted to do that. The Pi3 B+ does it exceptionally in software via Retroarch and the core, so I am not really sure why people even invest in these FPGA consoles to begin with when the code for these old consoles can be perfectly and accurately emulated in software and cost you a ton less than the FPGA system. Unless of course your plan is to use real carts....

 

For my SMS I am using the excellent HDRetrovision RGB component cables. The Genesis cables they sell also work with the SMS (although this seems not to be documented as much as it should be!) as the SMS can indeed output RGB....something quite amazing for Sega to have added to the console in those days. If you have a TV that can understand the resolution (all of my TV's can) it is superb. But even that said I still purchased a Retrotink because it is a great tool to have

 

It is true that having a real SMS and the cart (and retrovision cables if you desire) is going to set you back some, but if you love the console like I do it is money well spent indeed.

Edited August 12, 2019 by eightbit

[phoenixdownita]

23 hours ago, eightbit said:

.....

It is true that having a real SMS and the cart (and retrovision cables if you desire) is going to set you back some, but if you love the console like I do it is money well spent indeed.

That was my point. I am not trying to poop on your nostalgia, was just stating that given the pretty good alternatives going for a setup in which the console itself is the cheapest piece is hard to justify, not impossible, just hard.

 

Personally I didn't get rid of any of my 3 SMS, 3 Genny, and 1 SNESJr even if I have a SuperNt and MegaSg and MiSTer (just arrived) but I can tell you they get less and less time given the alternative is easier to setup (literally plug and play) unless I am after the LightGun games or paddle games or the 3D games .... at which point there just is no alternative (and I have been doing less and less of that too, Megumi Rescue is fun but it gets old, same for OutRun 3D, or Safari Hunt).

 

You are right that it is nice to be able to do it, I mean buy real hardware, special cables, upscalers, flash carts, and re-live your youth while keeping the centerpiece original, it does hold its charm for a little while. I should know, in spite of how good NeoGeo emulation is I have 2 NGCD and 1 AES with NeoSD Pro .... so I understand where you are coming from.

 

I really think the SMS was a pretty neat 8bit for the time, the work Sega did to improve the TMS9918 is truly impressive given the time they did it, the thing was displaying 32colors on screen at once ... note the Amiga was the first computer I had to be able to do that in the late 80s and it was a leap in tech at that ( https://segaretro.org/Sega_Master_System/Hardware_comparison#Vs._Amiga ).

[+Black_Tiger]

I got segasonicfan(1) to refurb and add misc mods to my Mark III SMS and a North American SMS. They both have new leds plus his Genesis controller/turbo adaptor board built-in.

 

So I can use 3 or 6 button Genesis pads, turn rapid fire on and off, as well as pause games using the Genesis start button.

 

I have an old Master Everdrive for the NA SMS and the newest Everdrive for the Mark III, which I'm in the process of fitting into a Mark III cart shell.

[eightbit]

Not to get too off topic, but I had no idea the "Snail Maze" game was also hidden in the SMS with built in Hang On/Safari Hunt. I always assumed the only console with it was the "Enjoy!!" console. I found holding UP and 1+2 when powering on the hang on/safari hunt console (the one I have now) launches the Snail Maze game as well. Can't believe I have lived with these consoles since launch and never knew that!

[John Stamos Mullet]

On 8/12/2019 at 12:55 AM, phoenixdownita said:

A MasterED X7 at 142$ on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Master-EverDrive-X7-Sega-System/dp/B07K1979VP/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=krikzz&qid=1565585232&s=gateway&sr=8-4

is a little hard to swallow given you need an actual SMS and a way to play (either old CRT TV or upscalers [RetronTink2x or otherwise]) when a MegaSg is at 190US$, I'm sure Kevtris will iron all the kinks to have a perfect emulation ... it's already so close when it comes to SMS/SG1000 (the SG1000 is even better given the correct TMS9918 color palette).

 

I never really dug save-states so I can't comment on those, didn't have them when I was a kid so I'd rather take GameGenie/GameShark/ActionReplay support at that point.

Other than the 3D games or light Gun games, you don't need a CRT or a Scaler to play an SMS on a modern TV. The SMS had that 6 pin DIN port on the back taht you can buy a composite cable for that works on virtually every TV.

 

The scaler is nice, but it doesn't make 3D or light gun games work, it just scales. But that's really only necessary if you have a TV with a bad built-in scaler.

[phoenixdownita]

10 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

Other than the 3D games or light Gun games, you don't need a CRT or a Scaler to play an SMS on a modern TV. The SMS had that 6 pin DIN port on the back taht you can buy a composite cable for that works on virtually every TV.

 

The scaler is nice, but it doesn't make 3D or light gun games work, it just scales. But that's really only necessary if you have a TV with a bad built-in scaler.

My TV is terrible at composite with anything but PCEngine (go figure), very good at SVideo so all my SMSs have the SVideo mod.

I do have RGB cables as well to use with an XRGBMini and it does look very good indeed there too (the EU one I only used via SVideo and XRGBMini [it's PAL obviously], hadn't had the time to wire the RGB yet ... it's been a few years lol).