The Analogue Mega Sg - Review

The Sega Genesis has been the victim of some of the most heinous clone systems ever released. Even Sega themselves has slapped their seal of approval on some of these disappointing releases. It all stops with the Mega Sg.
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Episode Notes:
1. My reference Mega Drive is a VA1 Japanese unit. It was run through an RGB to HDMI upscaler, which may have some effect on its musical quality.
2. I used firmware 4.2 on the Mega Sg as it was the latest available at the time of this video.
3. I decided to pair back the comparisons to shorten the video a little. I concentrated on the most important games(in my view).
4. Light gun games do work with the Mega Sg if you have a CRT that accepts HDMI.
5. The audio on the Mega Sg is crystal clear. It really is something. While some tonal issues are present here and there, it never failed to impress with its technical quality.
6. The Mega Sg has incredibly good video output quality. Color, sharpness, gamma, it really is one of the best ways to play Genesis games on a modern HDTV.
7. I was not sent a unit to review by Analogue. I bought my own unit because I genuinely wanted one.
8. The 8bitdo M30 works great with the Mega Sg. Instant connection and never drops a signal.
9. I left all audio settings on default levels for the review. You can adjust these to get a few games sounding closer to the original hardware, but I wanted to cover the way the system sounded before these settings are changed. Also, even with these settings changed, there are STILL tonal differences in the games I covered.
10. I had a work around for SMS games recommended to me by a few subscribers that I tested and it does work. If you load your SMS game from the EverDrive, then load the built in game Ultracore, then go back to "run cartridge", your SMS game will now load properly.
11. Forcing 3 button mode fixes the issue with the original John Madden Football. I hadn't even considered trying it.

[@SegaLordX]

More info in the video description.

[@jeffroberts9693]

I read the additional notes, thanks for clarifying. I'm able to run Master System and SG 1000 roms from my Everdrive X5 after the 4.2 update. I know Analogue are still working to patch one model of the Everdrives to fix this issue. Hopefully that will get yours up and running. I enjoyed your perspective on this system, thanks!

[@SteveCirelli]

What video settings did you use and like best?

[@shockwave.9749]

Here's hoping I'm able preprder one tmr, last batch of mega sg and super nt

[@GameSack]

Your real Mega Drive has a lowpass filter. The default firmware for the Mega Sg has that turned off. So it sounds brighter/less muffled. Similar to how many people install a Mega Amp into a real Genesis. If I encounter a Mega Amp I always enable a lowpass filter and I did the same with the Mega Sg. Not perfect but damn close. John Madden Football needs a 3 button controller. You'll get that same behavior on a real Genesis. Hold MODE when you plug a 6-button controller in or turn on the system. With the Mega Sg you may need to force 3 button mode even if you have a 3 button controller.

[@SegaLordX]

Yeah, I have been experimenting with the audio settings a bit and found a few settings really do go a long way to getting it closer to my VA1 Mega Drive. I think the fine tuning may be a bit of preference in the end, but I agree, it is damn close. I found that the "force 3 button" on the Mega Sg does fix the Madden issue. Right after I posted the episode, of course.

[@GANONdork123]

The difference you hear in audio is due to the difference in digital and analogue audio output. There is a low pass filter effect on the MegaSG you can turn on to emulate this though.

[@ErikSantana]

According to Digital Foundry, enabling the low pass filter with a cutoff of 3600 and a rolloff of 6 should make the sound similar to that of the console. Also adjusting the ladder effect should help. It all depends on the console you want it to sound like.

[@TheGemini5]

You do realize that you just made me play Streets of Rage 2, right?! That music is insane! Great review as always.

[@SegaLordX]

Nothing wrong with playing some Streets of Rage2!

[@gameplayfirst-ger]

You have to use 720p for good looking scanlines on Super Nt and Mega Sg.

[@captain3186]

or 5x Height for 1080P. Non integers is what screws up Scanlines

[@gameplayfirst-ger]

@@captain3186 In 1080p they are too small / too few IMO.

[@bishopwalton3122]

@@gameplayfirst-ger thats becsuse these console are 240p originally. So 720p is a multiply of 240p. Use 720p

[@Skellotronix]

Should I set my Wii U to 720p when I play emulators on it then? I play in 1080p with 4:3 or core provided scaling and it seems to look good, but if 720p will make it look more accurate then I'd like to do so.

[@bishopwalton3122]

@@Skellotronix original consoles ran at 240p. Setting to 720p is a multiple of 240 so when it upscales its square and correct. Also 4:3

[@michaelanderson9792]

I was 31 when I got the genesis it is one of my most loved consoles I subscribed to Analogue's news letter I am glad to see this happening finally

[@mikef8846]

I'll stick with software emulation on my Android tablet. It's 2019 and any computer is 100s of times faster than a Genesis. That should be sufficient.

[@MrCumstein]

Ffs there’s always someone like you in the comments of videos about retro gaming.😂

[@balaam_7087]

I like the voiceover work on these videos. Very soothing, almost like ASMR haha

[@jcchaconjr]

The way I see it, the fact that they targeted the YM2612 as the "definitive" audio experience shows that they had their mindeset in the right place - speaking of which, the audio in general sounds a bit brighter to me, but IIRC in MLiG's review, you can actually "tune-in" the sound quality by way of the available Low Pass Filter in the audio settings. It's amazing how much ability to dial in your experience Analogue put into this thing. I must have spent a good half hour just navigating the menus before I even started playing! With regard to Madden, I would go ahead and report the issue you had - they should be able to easily address that in a firmware update. As for the inability to use SMS controllers, I would expect that they have just reproduced the Genesis' ability to use native controllers (whose behavior the 8BitDo's probably emulate). That being said, I would expect that the few games that require a SMS controller to work probably ork with a Genesis controller instead, negating the need for an SMS controller altogether. I saw in another video that by way of the Hyperkin SMS adapter with card slot, F-16 Fighting Falcon works on the Mega Sg - something that NEVER worked on original Genesis hardware... They must have cheated a little on recreating the SMS experience, which is why it probably doesn't work through the EverDrive. Finally, although I appreciate the effort, plugging this thing into a Sega CD looks plain awkward. It would be ridiculously cool if they stepped up and designed a Mega Sg-CD attachment with a complementary design t the Mega Sg - it would also relieve the market pressure on the demand for WORKING Sega CD units. These things aren't going to last forever, you know - so "new" hardware is aleways welcome, and would probably have a reasonable attach rate with Mega Sg units.

[@tra0459]

Golden Axe 2...…………. It's no Revenge of Death Adder. Nothing is my friend

[@SlyBeast]

Seriously, Sega. Port this game to a console already! There's no reason not to! They own the damn IP!!!

[@hugh2hoob668]

Beat it

[@hugh2hoob668]

Golden Axe 1 was the best

[@craigjuan5744]

I really do wish Sega would release that game in future compilations

[@SlyBeast]

@@hugh2hoob668 They're all great so if that's your favorite, totally justified! My favorite is 2.

[@mgodoy-br]

You are not alone, I also love Road Rush sound track. Specially Road Rush 2.

[@pferreira1983]

Road Rush?

[@elimalinsky7069]

The sound of the Yamaha audio chip was very dependent on the DAC in use. Not only did Sega changed the DAC in each MD iteration, the DAC was also different depending on the batch of release within each iteration, the region of release, the manufacturing plant that assembled the Mega Drive, etc. There was no standard DAC vendor, and Sega basically used whatever vendor was available at the time and place. That is why the Mega Drive sounds different across all variants and regions. Emulators, on the other hand, struggle with emulating the actual FM synthesizer chip (also requiring to emulate the entire Z80 processor in tendem), resulting in inaccurate pitch levels in some of the less accurate emulators out there, such as Gens for example. The FPGA solution of the Analogue should be 100% accurate if done correctly, and I assume Analogue paid very careful attention when programming the microcode to fully simulate the Mega Drive hardware to the minute detail.

[@TheRealDustinNunn]

8bitdo needs to make some high quality arcade sticks for the Mega SG.

[@Clay3613]

Sega made them themselves, I have three!

[@duffman18]

8bitdo DO make an arcade stick. It connects through Bluetooth so should work fine. I dunno anything about arcade sticks though so I don't know if it's a good one, I've heard you get what you pay for with it, and it's one of the cheapest arcade sticks out there. But I do have 3 of their gamepads and they're all great, I bought this new mega drive one when it came out and I use it all the time on my switch now.

[@drakon32]

That hardware definitely looks beautiful and the performance looks great. For now, I'll stick with my Model 1 HDG and S-VIDEO.

[@jcchaconjr]

You'd be surprised how awesome an HD RetroVision Component cable with Model 1 adapter looks! ;) The cable even has a 3.5mm input jack to take the Stereo audio from the headphone jack. If you have it connected to a CRT, you are all set - if plugging into an LCD with component, you'll need to make sure that it accepts 240p over component though.

[@jokerzwild00]

Yeah, I've been lucky enough to spend a little time playing with the Sg, and I'd say it's image quality does look a lot cleaner than an original console using any sort of output or upscaler, but it's still too rich for my blood. I like playing on a CRT anyway. If all I had was an lcd screen though, and cared enough ($$$) to have the best I'd definitely consider buying the Analogue unit. For now I'm happy with what I have.

[@bonesjackson81]

I've had mine since Tuesday. Legit masterpiece. Dig into the settings and it gets even better. Love that it distinguishes between Genesis and SMS settings allowing for different setting saves. Looking forward towards the upcoming adapters. Now if these guys could figure out an Analogue Saturn my world would be complete!

[@SegaLordX]

I wonder what they would call a Saturn......a Titan SS?

[@vorenge]

The Everdrive X7 works with the Master System on the Mega SG, but you have to disable the SMS bios option within the Everdrive for it to function correctly with the SG.

[@GimblyGFR]

A very informative and well made review. I loved that you tried hacks, and especially those two amazing SFIICE hacks. Speaking of which, have you ever considered and episode covering some of those amazing rom hacks? You could even make a whole series on the subject.

[@DeathPrevails77713]

I've been waiting for your review of this product, SLX.

[@Oysterblade84]

Firstly i'd like to apologise SegalordX for leaving an awful lot of comments on your videos lately, you're probably getting tired of seeing so many comments from me but it's because i'm on my holidays from work and have more time to watch your videos. This is a really good review and I liked how you picked out your favourite games to try on the system rather than pulling out Sonic 1 for reference like so many others. I've seen hundreds of Mega SG reviews by many youtubers but i'm shocked I missed this one! And it was 3 years ago. My Analogue Mega SG story: I'm happy to say I invested in getting one of these in September 2019 and have been happy with it ever since. I'm still running firmware 4.6 and ignore the later ones why? Well because when I upgraded the firmware to 4.7 and 4.8 aside from some more worthy fixes and additional abilities that were not there in 4.6, one thing disapointed me about the later firmware updates and made me go back. I noticed that Analogue screwed up the Zero delay Zero lag video of the Master System mode, there is a nasty tear also known as a judder in the frame rate on 4.7 and 4.8 that was not there in 4.6, it's like a frame skip that appears every 3 to 7 seconds (depending on whether your system is set to PAL or NTSC) it's really noticeable on Sonic 1 SMS in the second level when you get the shield monitor, let Sonic stand idle and watch every few seconds, there is a tear in the frame rate and I didn't like it so I went back to 4.6 and stayed there ever since. Now I did contact Analogue several times about it but they just ignored it and now they have removed their contact page so the only way to contact them is through Twitter but I don't use Twitter or Facebook. When I mention this issue to other KZbinrs or owners of a Mega SG they don't ever share the same problem so it could be something that only affects my Mega SG (although I doubt it). I don't have any interest to play Game Gear games or 32X through the unit so a lack of support for the Dacs on 4.6 doesn't bother me, the only sacrifice is that Chuck Rock CD doesn't work on 4.6 and only works on 4.7 and 4.8 but i've sacrificed one game to get a smooth frame rate for Master System games. Aside from that nasty judder in 4.7 and 4.8 this console is a perfect way to explore Sega's history and I do still support it regardless of Analogue's odd communication barriers or lack of.

[@ScottWozniak]

Audio sounds a bit tinny on the Mega SG. You can really hear it in the hi hats where they're excessively bright. Probably has something to do with the high quality setting rendering at a higher rate which exaggerates the white noise levels. It throws the whole balance off, which is probably why they included the ladder filter setting, so you can tone it down. I'm a music producer that also masters records so I'm probably more sensitive to the difference than most people. Some people equate "brighter" to "better" but it just sounds a bit trashy to me.

[@rvfiasco]

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up!

[@jeffroberts9693]

If you play with the included options you can change all that.

[@ScottWozniak]

@@jeffroberts9693 I'm aware, which is why I mentioned the ladder filter setting. Point is, out of the box audio experience should be much closer without having to fiddle with these settings. Most people won't understand exactly what they're doing here and will probably end up making things sound even further from the original.

[@jeffroberts9693]

@@ScottWozniak True enough. But I'd say anyone getting one of these will have watched one of the 5 billion reviews available to help with the settings. This isn't for the casual gamer so I'd hope they researched. They may adjust default settings in future firmware if they get enough feedback. All that said many people may prefer the cleaner sound without the filtering. I'm with you in that I want it more accurate to a model 1 VA6 or closer.

[@Alexis40ar]

Not a fan of the audio either, it sounds a bit harsh, where on the original console sounds warmer. But I guess you can correct this in the options.

[@DreamcastQ]

Finally, a quality Genesis clone! I really NEED one! Great review

[@klehman215]

Thanks for the video I enjoy seeing all the games I missed with the Genesis. Maybe was just the Philadelphia area but growing up none of the kids or people I had known with a Genasis had not actually been gamers. Dare I say reminded me of the Wii in the sense that everyone had the sonic games maybe some sports games and then either Mortal Combat or Aladdin. Had just only seemed that Genasis owners had been the casual markit in that either purchased the Genasis for a specific game but never actually a library of games to experience. That said had been at a Macys store after just setting up a Genasis display and ended up walking a mile to the store any day I could just for Altered Beast. Wanted it so bad but somehow when the day came my Moms returned with a Turbo Graphic 16 stating the person at the store recommended as a much better console so pretty much was the only kid that seemed like in the entire country. Anyhow untill KZbin had never known of any Genisi games worth playing and based on price looks like they had actually been around or would be uncommon and at a higher price point than they are. Eventually brother and I being the not so into sports or racing or rail shooting arcade ports decided later to pick up a SNES so am pretty much just recently being made aware that the Genasis actually had some good quality games outside the games and genres mentioned. In fact I had just always went with the assumption that Genasis owners only cared for a few sports games but thought to be to cool for Nintendo. Again just my experience as a 14 year old kid from Philly who eventually took a gaming hiatus from say the ages of 17 through 21. That said evan in my deepest points of hiatus would occasionally pick up one of my little brothers games like Starfox and then after not playing a single game for 6 months would sit down and play a game everyday for the next few weeks. Sorry now Im just starting to blindly rant so in the immortal words of Sean Price, P!

[@LuisAdonay]

Japanese megadrive sounded A LOT better than the Mega Sg in the Bare Knuckle II samples in my opinion. Warmer sounds and better poliphonic balance in the original version! Btw, really great channel, congratulations!!!

[@HUNT3R737]

Joe from Gamesack did a great review on this as well. He talks about how you can adjust the audio to make it sound more like a Model1.

[@fortitude9932]

There is only Joe Gumby of game sack...dave left cuz Joe sucks and cursed out Sega 16 forums as he is an asshole

[@Skellotronix]

@@fortitude9932 what?

[@skyprojectro]

Rerez did it also

[@pferreira1983]

@@fortitude9932 Joe had a problem with Sega-16? I mean he still posts there.

[@l3monpig]

Great review and coverage like no other channel does it. We so need the Saturn Hardware done like this...

[@fennkell]

I’m 42 yo. Subbed to you about a year ago. Was a huge gamer about 20 years ago then I just fell off. Job. Wife. Kids. Life. But Watching your videos has made me remember way I loved gaming so much in the first place. I locked a major part of myself away for a very long time and your videos have helped me to set it free. You have a genuine organic perspective on all gaming. It’s real. It’s soulful. It’s liberating. Gaming has been a part of my life since 1987 and I’m proud of that and appreciative. Great content buddy. Thank you for sharing. BTW, My wife would beat my ass if I bought a mega Sg, so I’ll just have to stick with the genesis collection 🤣 great stuff buddy, thanks again.

[@NeloDiavolo]

This is a great video for me to review now that I finally picked up a Mega SG a few weeks ago. Hopefully they add 32x support. I recently picked one up just in case they do add it. Also picked up a Mega SD. It's hard to go back to emulation once experiencing FPGA.

[@obvfw]

Now what would really be slick is if Sega themselves released a Saturn Mini. Ah, one can dream!

[@greenkoopa]

March 2021. We're still dreaming.

[@mhage4188]

Do you think the megasg would be comparable to amazing quality I get running a 20 inch trinitron in RGB? I realize it is a hard comparison, but if color doesn’t pop the same way I am concerned I will never use the megasg. Another fantastic video from the guy I consider the definitive voice of anything Sega on KZbin. So glad this channel has returned to stay.

[@SegaLordX]

If you are running a Genesis in RGB on any CRT, you don't need anything else.

[@craigjuan5744]

YES! I've been waiting to hear your thoughts about the Mega SG! Great video as usual! Love your style of reviewing! Glad you enjoyed the system, despite some issues! I have no doubt Analogue will continue to improve in future firmware updates! Still, I think this is one of the best Genesis clones ever made! Got mine last week and I love it! Totally worth the money IMO! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Rock on!

[@Gaming_since_the_eighties]

Just my opinion: The Sega Genesis had the better graphics, while the Super Nintendo had the better sound / soundtracks. But both are great systems.

[@homejonny9326]

Please, why you thinks SNES had worse graphics? It is two years newer than sega genesis, its graphics system is two years ahead in terms of tecnologies

[@Fattydeposit]

@@homejonny9326 One weakness of the SNES was its slow CPU and how this made moving multiple sprites around quickly really tough work for developers. In this regard even the PC Engine had superior graphic (sprite shifting) abilities to the SNES.

[@homejonny9326]

@@Fattydeposit sorry man, but it is hard to believe that when i think of the donkey kong snes series...

[@adamn.4111]

@@homejonny9326 Donkey Kong Country on SNES is very good looking, but it doesn't have fast sprites. I agree with the perception that SNES graphics is slower than graphics on the Genesis, however the SNES had a more capable sound chip. It's still up to personal taste if you prefer the characteristic sound of the Genesis sound chip though. There must’ve been some kind of strategic reason behind making speed the whole point of the Sonic games, because SEGA probably realized this is one area where they could beat the SNES, which is more powerful in pretty much every other way. Even though the SNES had fast games like Contra 3, they didn’t scroll as fast as Sonic if I remember correctly.

[@Fattydeposit]

@TrueSinister I could play Console Wars all day long because I genuinely love all the major 8/16 bit machines. Both the MD and SNES had tonnes of classics which would never have been possible on the other machines for technical reasons. The MD's FM synth can do things the SNES sound chip cannot - and vice versa. If you're passionate about this era of gaming and don't have some kind of access to all of the consoles you're losing out hugely. I'm just glad that the Sega machines are finally getting some long overdue shine.

[@bjraleigh1439]

My biggest issue with playing retro consoles on newer tv's is the motion blur. I practically never hear anyone complain about this, but to my eyes this is a major problem. In my eyes it is night and day when compared with CRT. Especially faster scrolling games like sonic. What are the best modern sets with regards to motion blur?

[@mylliah7648]

If you have a lot of money, a XL2546 used in in frequency lower than 240Hz with DYAC (BenQ tech that remove LCD motion blur) should do the trick. The XL2546 has little input latency added compared to other monitor with motion blur removal tech.

[@bjraleigh1439]

@@mylliah7648 interesting. I will look further into this. Is this like image interpolation that is used on televisions? I find give the image an artificial appearance.

[@mylliah7648]

@@bjraleigh1439 Nope, check www.blurbusters.com/faq/motion-blur-reduction/ and their forums for more info on this. Beware too that playing at a framerate that is distant from the refresh rate add blur too, so you should be playing at 60Hz or 120Hz if you want to use the analogue on it since it's 60fps mostly.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

I'm not in the market for such a device, as Emulation does me just fine, but it is really great to see this option out there. The original consoles aren't gonna last forever after all. This really looks like a home run, for the price.

[@alexbrookner5331]

I don't understand in this day and age why they can't get music emulation for the mega drive quite right

[@SegaLordX]

The synth chip in the Genesis/Mega Drive isn't so easy to replicate. Hell, especially when you consider the versions of the original hardware often sounded different from one another themselves.

[@jeffroberts9693]

All the people complaining about the audio on the Mega SG need to keep in mind he left the audio settings to default. By adjusting ladder effect, psg channel levels, low pass filter, and the FM synth options you can have the SG sound much more accurate. Also after a firmware update you can run Master System games from a Mega Everdrive.

[@SegaLordX]

I wanted to review this with default settings since that is the experience many people will have. I did mention in the audio portion that settings can be played with to get the system to sound more like how you want. Even then, however, this still does not sound 100% like a real Genesis in some games. There are differences there no matter what you change.

[@jeffroberts9693]

@@SegaLordX Agreed and you even pointed this out in your video but people seemed to have missed it. I was just restating so people understood they could tweak it to sound closer if desired. Another excellent video and I appreciate your expertise. When it comes to Sega you and Game Sack are the pros to trust!

[@SegaLordX]

Yeah, I had considered doing a segment concentrating on the best settings, but you can find this info in many places now and I felt it still boiled down to personal preference in games like Batman and Revenge of Shinobi. The Mega Sg does a great job at default settings in a great many games to begin with, so I really wanted to hammer home at the end that preference was one of the systems greatest strengths.

[@ofmannotmachine3012]

I think sometimes the slight variance in audio is because of the higher quality sampling. At least it's a theory anyways. Despite the subtle differences, the Mega SG is freaking AWESOME

[@meltonthegamer]

It's between the Mega SG and the official Mega Drive Mini. Just buy both! 👽

[@ottosantiagolassus]

I'm on the same boat. I hope sega is taking notes, cause if the SG is better by far....it's gonna be embarrassing

[@meltonthegamer]

@@ottosantiagolassus I think that as long as the Mini has good games and OS and emulation it'll be fine even if the SG is overall the better machine

[@ottosantiagolassus]

@@meltonthegamer Agree. Plus, it'll have 40 free games. What they showed looks good so far

[@meltonthegamer]

@@ottosantiagolassus So hoping to have more games like Bloodlines that aren't available in collections already

[@duffman18]

I'm hoping that because AtGames aren't making it it'll be actually good this time. Plus when people hack it so you can load every mega drive game onto it, that'll be great, a cheaper version of the mega sg, even if it's emulation as opposed to playing the games normally.

[@JaminWarrenPMS]

Great review! Thanks for sharing your experiences with the console.

[@AlexKidd]

I never knew about that kick move in Shinobi III, looks like it would of saved me a lot of hassle trying to finish that game

[@retrosoul8770]

Shinobi 3 has some awesome mechanics that without reading the manual one may never realize. Holding the atk button enables you to block projectiles. Running and double tapping forward+atk does a sword slash move that has some invincibility frames and are super fun to exploit like against the samurai in stage 1 (or any enemy that throws projectiles). Then of course the kick and double jump rainbow knife throw. You can even map the 6 button controller. Incredible game, favorite on system.

[@Vlad-bu3mr]

ignored all the other reviews, I was waiting for yours Sir

[@skepticaltile]

The reason there's an option to switch left and right audio channels is because in some models of Sega genesis, and saturn sega messes up with the production of the av cables with the colour of the actual cables Depending on how you set up your system and which cable you plugged into which port makes it so some people will inevitably remember the sounds and ost of games differently than others! Thus the option is there to accommodate to the people how got different audio thanks to sega

[@Subninja2012]

720P will give you perfect scanlines. I can’t get them right on 1080p.

[@AveMcree]

The audio quality is great... I got the SOR 1&2 OST vinyls by Datadisc. It's similar to the Analogue Mega SG quality. I hope the guy who reversed engineered the MD will github the DSP for the SG.

[@ElvisRittmann]

I heard the sound difference after the first cadences. It sounds very good, though, but I like the original analogue sound of my modded MD1 better. I think there has never been an emulator that could replicate it more perfectly like the Mega Sg. Awesome video as always! I really like your narrative style and your elaborate usage of words. It makes your videos worth watching. :-)

[@mechanizedattack5100]

While Kevtris is very good at what he does, I fully expected him to get the ym2612 "perfect."

[@analog_ape]

There it is! Wonderful! Looking forward to watching this.

[@BabusGameRoom]

21:35 Gotta love the epic showdown between Treey and Canme!

[@somewhereoutthere8801]

Apparently, you can load SMS games from the Everdrive if you remove the SMS BIOS from the system folder

[@SegaLordX]

Thanks for the info. I'll give that a try.

[@retrosoul8770]

I admittedly believed that Analogue wouldn't develop a Genesis/MD machine, thinking that they were Ninty f boys over there...super glad to see that I was wrong and that they created a console that the system deserves. Awesome, definitely looking to get one in these upcoming weeks.

[@duffman18]

I think they're an American company aren't they? Americans are obsessed with their Nintendo. Gotta supply the market what they want, and then take the money from that to develop the better console, the mega drive 😉

[@retrosoul8770]

Hah! You sir, are definitely right about that, and boy is it really annoying. If only we had fair competition during the 8-bit era, then it'd be more balanced.

[@superspecky4eyes]

I've spent an hour or so playing Ultracore/Hardcore, and I must admit, I really like it. It's a shame it didn't come out back in the day.

[@SegaLordX]

Once it gets dumped, I'm hoping to buy a dedicated cartridge of it.

[@rockmanfan5104]

This is personally my fvaorite console ive ever owned. I play it constantly ever since release

[@hacksquad]

Funny aspect ratio, the aspect suppose to be a a bit wider, but i used 16:10 instead. you can easily identify proper ratio with circle object such as sonic.

[@GameTechRefuge]

Great review SLX. Looking forward to getting my hands on one of these.

[@PersianImm0rtal]

There are advance sound settings that fix this

[@Dirtybaz1]

Was hoping you would review this. Great stuff as always.

[@kubev]

21:32 - Ah, Treey versus Canme...truly the most iconic of match-ups. XD

[@SegaLordX]

Iconic for sure.

[@ESLTeacherTom]

Good review!

[@jeremybowers3181]

SOLD. I have to have one now!! Lol ....no seriously I need that in ma life. Great Vid man✌

[@HybridAngelZero]

There's no doubt that I'm a dyed in the wool Nintendo kid, but I am over the moon with joy that SEGA's 16 bit console is finally getting some love on the high quality clone console space. I know I'll be picking one of these up myself soon.

[@rickylovesyou]

Thanks for the review, I was on the fence about this but I think you pushed me over to get one! Suggested reference games for your next video: Shadow Dancer Eswat Valis 3 Magical Turbo Flying Hat Adventure Growl Ghouls N Ghosts Darius II Mercs El-Viento Thunderforce III/IV Gaiares Musha Aleste Alisia Dragoon Lords of Thunder Gynoug Sol-Feace Cheers.

[@rangoononline]

Gamesack would be stoked that you talked about Truxton.

[@kirgeez-gaming]

You probably know this by now but the John Madden Football select team screen is fixed by forcing the 3 button mode layout.

[@SegaLordX]

The real confusion came because the last time I played Madden with a 6 button controller, it played fine. But I was using the 8bitdo M30, which does not have any issues with Madden. Things are quite different with an official Sega 6 button controller, both on a real Genesis and the Mega SG here.

[@kirgeez-gaming]

@@SegaLordX That makes sense because that's pretty much what happened to me.. I noticed that the game was reacting to the xyz buttons so I turned off the 6 button layout and it started working perfectly.

[@cainhollis-snow891]

You are not the only one with a soft spot for the Road Rash OST :)

[@wojiaobill]

now i finally know where your end-video theme music comes from

[@majimamike4097]

Great video man as always.Well done.Maybe I will get one Sg if I have the money.

[@andrewmaasch1724]

You're not alone in loving the original Road Rash soundtrack, SLX 😎 It's awesome! 🤘

[@bonesjackson81]

We're a small club but RR soundtracks are great. I've been hoping Data Disc would release a vinyl soundtrack. 🤞

[@SegaLordX]

Haha. For years I thought it was just me!

[@BryanTruong]

Hey SegaLordX, I was able to get Sega Master System games to play off an EverDrive cart via a clunky work around. 1st, load the SMS game. Once you get to the blank or black screen, load up UltraCore. After UltraCore starts, select Run Cartridge. The Master System game will play! Not ideal, but it works

[@SegaLordX]

I have heard that a few times now. I'll give it a go.

[@BryanTruong]

@@SegaLordX I can't speak for the others but I completely found this by accident. You can't try to "run cartridge" after you get the black or blank screen either. You have to boot UltraCore in-between. Weird.

[@ValleDelSergio]

The differences in sound are due to the low pass filter. If you adjust those settings you will get the same sound as your japanese megadrive :)

[@SegaLordX]

I had a play with it, but some games are still not 100% IMO. Some do see some big gains, though.

[@ValleDelSergio]

@@SegaLordX digital foundry just published a video with some recommended settings. Give it a try

[@XOmniverse]

I can launch Master System games just fine from a Mega Everdrive X5. SG-1000 games too. The only thing I can't launch is Game Gear, and I bet once a firmware update comes out to support the cart adapter for it, that'll work too.

[@marcusgreene8434]

Mine arrived the other day! Hyped to play my Sega CD games!

[@projectw.a.a.p.f.t.a.d7762]

I wish these older console companies would come out with something like Atari's VCS, and just as the Atari VCS had all past games on it, they should do the same. One important aspect that seems to be needed is google stadia working with these companies to create a os so that stadia games can be played on all the consoles seamlessly and play across platform online.

[@sangbeta2043]

I've been using the Mega Everdrive X3 to play Master System games on the Mega SG. The pause button maps to the Genesis start button. Most games seem to play OK, but I don't see any MS-specific options in the SG menus.

[@sega20x80]

Hi Sega Lord X. Great video on the Sega Analogue Mega Sg. Too bad I have a different tv which isn't HDMI.

[@besotoxicomusic]

Finally, a non sponsored review.

[@clarencemerritt5003]

What are you insinuating? that the other reviews were sponsored? get out of here with that crap!

[@jacobferguson4651]

This is a instant buy for me!!! SLX How is life without a gallbladder?

[@jhcoverdrive9287]

Feel free to correct me SLX, my experience might be totally different from yours... I know you're asking him but as someone who unknowingly had gallbladder problems from 16 till i was 35 (years ago I worked at a restaurant at night and ate mucho fried foods...always went home feeling like i screwed up my back or shoulder)....he probably feels great! Also, unless you're eating masses of rich oily food, a gallbladder is somewhat an obsolete organ :). Through my 20s and early 30s I had so many digestive issues even when eating clean...had a gallbladder attack when I was 35, got that puss filled sack of stones outta me and so much has changed for the better for me in the 2 years since. I eat whatever I want now (I don't want fried or greasy food often but as long as its not a regular thing , like daily, its golden)

[@ronin6199]

The mega sg would be a steal if they can get sd card support for roms.

[@SegaLordX]

I fully expect that to happen soon enough.

[@TerriblyAwesomeGames]

Road Rash 1 & 2 soundtracks were highly underrated!

[@TheRealJPhillips]

The ONLY channel I was waiting to watch on this console

[@agentchris1482]

When you were talking about John Madden messing up on you. It’s an easy fix, hold the mode button down while you power on the console. For some reason the 6 button controller doesn’t work well with that game but a 3 button works just fine. Keep up the great work!

[@SegaLordX]

Actually, Madden works fine with a 6 button pad on my Genesis, but not on the Mega Sg. Enabling the 3 button mode in the Mega Sg options does fix it, though.

[@agentchris1482]

Odd I always had a problem with my 6 button controller on my model 2 genesis but holding the mode button down did the trick.

[@MartellThaCool]

Sega needs to partner up with analogue and happy to see Sega actually somewhat listen to their customers

[@S4vman]

It's been such a great few weeks for Sega fans! Segafes was great too, Mega Drive mini is coming with games from Konami and Treasure...

[@SegaLordX]

Very much looking forward to see how that turns out.

[@happyspaceinvader508]

Turn YM2612 high quality mode off. That’s what’s making the music/sound brighter than your Japanese Megadrive. Also scanlines look best in 720p. In 1080p, you must choose either 4x or 5x vertical scaling, otherwise they don’t line up properly.

[@charvelgtrs]

To get Mega Sg sounded more like a Model 1 do the following. Turn PSG Square and Noise channel volumes to 35. Ladder Effect +4 High Quality Mode Enabled Advanced Filter Settings LPF Cutoff +3400 LPF Roll off +6 Its not perfect but will come much closer than default.

[@posthumanistpotato]

OMFG it supports the Sega CD?! Now I'm impressed!

[@davidnelson1031]

@Sega Lord X have you reviewed the MegaRetroN HD gaming console for sega genesis/mega drive? Thank you for this video

[@Septer_Sever]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the massive amounts of audio settings available. You can make the Mega SG sound like any revision Genesis/Mega Drive ever made.

[@chadmichael7198]

"Those sh*tty multi-cards" had me laughing.

[@IMDLEGEND]

I am in that same minority in loving the road rash soundtrack. Thank you for giving the sound differences that us hardcore retro gamers would notice.

[@mekman4]

Great Stuff, as always!

[@kabirsharma17]

Enable the low pass filter to make it sound more like your reference system.

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

This one is a real tough one for me... I'm really tempted but I think getting my PAL Mega Drive switched for 60Hz and buy an Everdrive is a better solution. There's one good thing with French Pal Mega Drives though, you don't need to modify anything to get the RGB output to work, it was their factory default setting.

[@granzert1711]

Maybe it's due to a later firmware upgrade, but you can definitely play Master System games on it via an Everdrive.

[@IamMarkSmith]

With the issue you experienced on the original Madden Football if you email them with this feedback don’t be surprised to see this remedied in a forthcoming firmware update. I have seen a lot of people remarking about how attentive they have been to feedback like this as it helps them perfect the already stellar performance of their hardware.

[@ChaoticHoly]

That's nice. I'll wait for a Saturn version instead for a $200 price tag.

[@SegaLordX]

If Analogue successfully tackles a FPGA Saturn, you can bet you will be paying a hell of a lot more than $200 for it.

[@ChaoticHoly]

@@SegaLordX Too true! After all, the Saturn was $399 in 1995, which would translate to about $660 in today's money. However, that's a price tag most people wouldn't pay for a retro console unless it came pre-loaded with the Panzer Dragoon trio of titles, a properly finished version of Virtua Fighter 2, the Shining games including Force 2 & 3 in English, Christmas Nights, Daytona CE, etc. In other words, the games that didn't make it Stateside/Westernside or are just ridiculously overpriced today.

[@michaelromeo9567]

Aaaah Damn! Sound effect punches etc were my NUMBER ONE issue and all other glitches with emulation! And there is still this problem..? 😭😭

[@DocBrewskie]

Road rash has some of my favorite music of any game. Arizona map from road rash 2 is amazing!

[@LAVERTUEG]

nice. Thanks to you, Im now convinced to get one.

[@johneygd]

It’s definitely a great system, trough it would be cool if they also will implement pcm prediction upsampling to denoise and smooth up poor pcm voices for wich the genesis is famous for,also it would be cool if they will also implement a color fusion filter to get a smoother color transitions from one to the next to remove rainbow bandings in sega cd games,just in cases when smoothing dithering is just not enough.

[@IamMarkSmith]

I heard Virtua Racer won’t run from an Everdrive as the hardware looks specifically for the SVP chip when attempting to boot the game.

[@SegaLordX]

Yup. It just sits at a black screen.

[@Spaghettaboutit]

Thanks for showing the sound in Batman - it's so much lower in tone on the original Genesis - I hope they can patch this.

[@SegaLordX]

You can play with the audio settings to get it sounding more to your liking, but it's never 100%.