![]() Most titles that began life on the Genesis have lazy ports that are basically ROMs from the cart placed on the CD. In the realm of ports, there’s no shortage of Sega CD titles that came from the arcades, the PC, and even the Sega Genesis itself. Overall the Sega CD library can be separated in three groups: ports, full motion video (FMV) games, and exclusives. In fact, thanks to re-releases and the lack of demand for the system, Sega CD games can often times be the best and most inexpensive port of a game in that era. Sega CD was panned by critics back then and today for its seemingly lackluster library, which I have a hard time agreeing with. Quintessential in determining the value of the console is the value of the games. If you don’t mind playing one game at a time with no stores save files, the console is perfectly playable (with saving) on its own. The biggest gripe for the console is that the onboard RAM was extremely small, capable of holding one or two save files for most games (especially big JPRGs) so a tempting hunt for the average collector is the Sega CD RAM cart that adds 16 times the storage space but resells today for high prices starting at around $50. As for sound, it added 8 stereo sound channels to the 6 on the Genesis Yamaha chip and additional 4 PGS, which basically means it could make games sound really good. Sega CD adds an additional 12.5 mhz 16-bit Motorola 68000 processor, which is just a higher clocked version of the Genesis, that runs in tandem for CD games (and goes dormant for Genesis cart titles) adding minor video compression capabilities, improved visuals, and rotation/scaling (think Mode 7 for the SNES). ![]() In addition there is also the Sega CDX, a portable CD player and Genesis/Sega CD combo in one, and the rare JVC X’Eye, a licensed console that is also a Genesis/Sega CD in one. There are two consoles – the first version locks under a Genesis and has a slide out tray and is prone to mechanical failure these days due to the bands and screws that make up the device and the second being a top loading console that attached to the right of the Genesis, which has much less moving parts and rarely breaks down even today. All Sega CD games (imports from anywhere else will be labeled Mega CD) are compatible in all Sega CD consoles and the add-on peripheral itself is compatible with the Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 consoles, but not the Genesis 3 or Sega Nomad. Sega CD was kept under wraps so tightly that aside from technical specs, many developers of early games had no idea what console they were developing for.Īs a result of Sega’s “release everything” policy, the Sega CD has a few versions that can be found in the US market (ignoring importing, of course) and compatibility can be somewhat complicated. Like the PC-Engine CD, the Sega CD was able to upgrade visuals, considerably upgrade audio quality (especially with straight CD tracks in red and yellow book audio format), and increase capacity of discs to 600 mb when compared to the frail 32 megabit capacity of the Genesis. Sega CD emerged victorious but many would argue its victory was due more to the fact that almost every game that released in Japan came over here whereas an extremely meager amount of PC-Engine CD titles ever made it stateside. In the end both consoles did make their way stateside (NEC being very conservative with Turbo Duo distribution and Sega liberally releasing any and all hardware in every market) with hefty price tags ($300-$450). It was developed in Japan to compete with the PC-Engine CD (Turbografx-16 Duo in our country) and hopefully migrate the consumers of the time into the CD generation as an unassuming add-on instead of a full-blown machine. ![]() In truth the Sega CD (Mega CD in Japan and Europe) wasn’t designed for our market. In recent days the Sega CD has also dropped in price/value so it’s quite possible to get your hands on a Genesis/CD combo for roughly $50-$75, which isn’t too shabby even by today’s standards. Someone once told me that any console with at least three good games is worth being in existence and under that theory the Sega CD justifies itself at least three times over. ![]() Now I know it is popular opinion to crap all over the Sega CD and in full disclosure I’m an avid fanboy of this specific system, but somewhere in between lies its true value. Fortunately we are making up for that with tons of Sega CD coverage for the month of November, check in to see write-ups and gameplay on many of the titles that made Sega’s overpriced add-on a temptation in 1993. Okay, I know the Sega CD actually turned 20 exactly one week ago on October 15, but we’ve been very busy over here so we regretfully missed the window. Sega CD Model 2 with Genesis Model 2, the most common setup ![]()
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