Forcing pal megadrive games into 60hz. Potential problems??

[SuperDanX]

Getting a 50/60hz modded md2 to replace my bog standard pal md2 for some full screen, full speed action, and was wondering what problems there may be forcing pal md games into 60hz? Thanks in advance.

[Dandy_sephy]

A lot of early games were designed to run in both modes on the same cart. Stuff like Streets of rage is the same game on each region cart - its the switches/solder positions on the board that dictate which mode it runs in. So old stuff shouldnt have any issues

There may be the odd game which isnt happy, but I'm sure most games run fine

[SuperDanX]

What 'issues' may occur though? And what about pal region protected games like probotecter and the punisher etc?

[Sketcz]

If you boot them in PAL, and then flick the Hz switch, it should suddenly go full screen.

I've noticed no problem with this, except for the odd game like VR Racing (which is a bit rubbish anyway), since it was optimised.

There's also the odd bit of flicker on one or two games, but really, it's so tiny as to not even worry about. At least I thought so.

EDIT:
How much did you pay for the system/mod? They're quite easy to do on Megadrives (1 and 2), the only problem being getting hold of a scart cable.

[SuperDanX]

?10 for the modded unit and i already have a md2 rgb scart so it all good. Thanks for all the info.

[anagrama]

Codemasters games are screwy in 60Hz, thanks to them being PAL-optimised. Almost everything else is happy as long as you boot in 50 and then flip up to 60.

There are a few other awkward ones, however, like Mega SWIV that do a region check every time you return to the main menu - if it's in 60Hz it stops working. Possible to work-around if you remember to flip back to 50 every time you die, but it's a bit of a pain.

[Team Andromeda]

Comic Zone doesn't work right in 60 Hz

[melody]

Shinobi 3 checks for 50hz every 30 seconds so it's impossible to play in 60hz.

[anagrama]

Shinobi 3 checks for 50hz every 30 seconds so it's impossible to play in 60hz.

Really? I was playing it in 60Hz for about 20 minutes a couple of weeks back and didn't have any problems.

[kyo_244]

Dude pal optimized games can be a real pain! Sure u can boot em up then flick the switch, but you'll notice that some of the games will run TOO fast (music, gameplay or both) and suffer from major slowdown half the time! Two games i know that are optimized are ranger x and comix zome. Alien soldier is also a mess at 60hz i hear. This is why im selling my modded MDII and getting a jap one with jap games!

[SuperDanX]

If only i could afford to replace my pal games with jpn i would! Thanks anyway.

[moonwhistle]

Wise from your gwave oh ancient megadrive thread.

I thought this would be better than starting a new one.

I've found what I think are some more PAL Megadrive games that have issues with forced 60hz.

Alisia Dragoon: her lightning attack does not display correctly and the beam is often invisible. A minor issue but it is annoying.

The Story of Thor: a total mess, displays only random bits of the screen. This is after bypassing the region lock on boot up. Totally unplayble.

Sonic 3: Slows to a few fps when sonic jumps. The music is too fast throughout.

I'm sure I come accross others as Ive got a load to loose carts test out. Hellfire which I tried last also seemed a bit off. The music seems to be running to slow but it's very hard to tell. I remember my jap version having faster music. I'm disappointed at the amount of PAL games that are screwy in 60hz as I'd had planned on ditching all my japanese games and replacing them with el cheapo loose pal carts.

[speedlolita]

Just buy an everdrive..

[egparadigm]

Another World also cannot be forced into 60Hz without issues.

[muddy]

just to confirm, Alien Solider is a right mess when forced to 60.