newbie Mega Drive owner needs advice

[Peet]

I picked up a used MD1 last week on impulse. So far I haven't really played it apart from checking if it works using a few bootleg carts that came with it. I've never been into (or even interested in, to be honest) the MD, so I'd like some advice on games to buy et.c.


So far my shopping list looks like this (compiled more or less from memory):

Sonic 1-3
Sonic and Knuckles
Gunstar Heroes
Ristar
World of Illusion (Disney game - always liked them )
Strider
Shinobi (there's more than one of these?)
Toe-Jam & Earl (which? )
Ecco (which?)
Moonwalker

Is there anything I'm forgetting? Any good shooters that don't cost a fortune? I'm not really into sports or RPGs, and I have other systems for puzzle games.


I'm also interested in both the MegaCD and the 32X. Are they worth getting? For these my shopping list looks like this at the moment:

MegaCD:

Sonic CD
Silpheed
Snatcher
maybe Ecco or somesuch

32X:

Chaotix
Afterburner (what's this like? anywhere close to the arcade?)
Virtua Racing (...and what about this?)

Anything I'm forgetting here...? Also, how much should I be paying for the 32X and MegaCD? There's a MD + CD bundle with some games on ebay right now with a reserve price of ?40.


What's the region/60Hz mod-ability of the CD and 32X like? And does anyone have instructions for getting the MD to output line level stereo sound (like by adding a 3.5 mm jack in the back)?

MD RGB scart cables are going for ?18.50 on ebay. It seems a bit steep - does anyone know where I could get one for less?

And finally: the white parts of my machine have yellowed a bit, and someone's been cutting around the cartridge slot, so I reckon that if I fall in love with the MD (which I feel I will) I should get a new one, or at least replace the top/front plate, so I figured I might as well ask here and now: does anyone have a broken MD or somesuch that they're willing to part with?

Is it hard to find a non-yellowed one? I almost feel like placing a bid on the MD + CD on ebay that I mentioned.


Any help/advice will be much appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Smeghead]

u want the original toejam and earl which will set up back up to ?40 complete. Panic on Funkatron was a bit pap in comparison. A non yellowed Megadrive? I didn't even know they turned yellow none of mine have Bumblebee edition?

the games on ur list all seem fine tho I'd recommend gettin Ecco on Mega CD rather than Mega Drive (if only for audio purposes) and you (criminally ) missed the Streets of Rage series, which is all good, though Streets of Rage 3 is pretty hard to get hold of now, 2 is definitely the best of the series.

My RGB cable set me back the pice you said, and tbh it's an essential extra so I'd pay the askin price oh an make sure you get a convertor so u can play Master System games too.

[Peet]

errh.. :P The reset button and the part around the power light have yellowed a bit on mine. And yes, I'm paranoid about this stuff. But thanks

[Adrock]

www.videogameimports.com sells good rgb cables. I got mine from there, think they are around 12.50 or summit.

[chocklo]

I reckon you'll find a ToeJam and Earl more towards the ?20 mark. They also show up fairly frequently in Gamestations - if you find one, you'd be talking about ?6-?8.

I honestly couldn't recommend any MegaCD games - Final Fight's alright because of the 2 player mode but nothing spectacular.........actually Time Gal was alright.

Also there are some good shooters like Gynoug and Truxton which go for peanuts. People may disagree here but I quite liked Batman and ESWAT.

[optimusomega]

Recommendation in for Thunderforce 4 Edit: oh yeah and alien soldier, but for some reason most peeps don't like it ft:

[lordcookie]

I wouldnt bother getting either a Mega CD or 32X. The only decent thing the 32X has going for it is the best home conversion of Virtua Racing and considering the PS2 is getting its own version soon there isnt much point blowing ?40+ on a crap system.

[optimusomega]

I wouldnt bother getting either a Mega CD or 32X. The only decent thing the 32X has going for it is the best home conversion of Virtua Racing and considering the PS2 is getting its own version soon there isnt much point blowing ?40+ on a crap system.

Etenal champions update for mega cd is quite good though, still if you can get one for a cheap price its all good.

[Kron]

If your after an unboxed but great condition MegaCD2 system I have one for sale.

[/whore]

Sorry

[lordcookie]

I wouldnt bother getting either a Mega CD or 32X. The only decent thing the 32X has going for it is the best home conversion of Virtua Racing and considering the PS2 is getting its own version soon there isnt much point blowing ?40+ on a crap system.

Etenal champions update for mega cd is quite good though, still if you can get one for a cheap price its all good.

True, but is it really worth the extra cost compared to the MD original? Personally I dont think so, but I was never much of a fan of the Eternal Champions games anyway.

[uVu N3M3S1S]

You should get one of those 6-button Genesis arcade pads (or whatever they're called).
I like it much more than the regular MD pad.

It actually looks quit like the saturn pad

[Vaipon]

If you get a MegaCD, you should hunt down Snatcher. Absolutely amazing story, and the only version of Snatcher that is in English too.

[Jay]

Agreed re the 6-button pad, though there is also a 3rd party pad by Gamester which is every bit as good.

Toejam & Earl hasn't dated well so I wouldn't pay much for it to be honest.

You really need to get the MD modded. It makes so much difference running it at 60hz. Be aware though that some games will check the speed the machine is running at. eg - a UK game may not start up if it detects that the machine is running at 60hz, though most can be switched to 60hz *after* the initial start up sequence. See Saurian about a mod.

Here are some of my recommendations:

Dragon's Fury(uk)/Devil Crash(Jap) - the best pinball game ever. Simple as that.
Spot Goes To Hollywood - Vastly underrated isometric platform game.
Puyo Puyo(Jap)/Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine(uk) - My favourite puzzle game.
Micro Machines - Get the whole series. Superb stuff.
Gunstar Heroes - The best MD game of them all, and in my top 5 games of all time.


Jay

[Streets Of Rage]

dont know if its been mentioned already but u should get:

Streets of Rage 1-3, if only getting one then SOR2 is the pinnacle of the series, the others are fantastic games in their own right though.

Gunstar Heroes - superb game, play it - love it.

Soleil - good rpg game, fun, even tho im crap at it and stuck

World of Illusion - Mickey and Donald game, excellent fun in cooperative 2 player especially.

Sonic 2 - my favourite in the series and its just an awesome game.

Shinobi 3 - the best in the shinobi series imo (i havent played the first but thats not onn MD anyway), fantastic side scroller with great variation in levels, a quality game.

World Cup Italia 90 - it probably sucks today but this game was so much fun when i was playing it, its like sensible soccer and i prefer it tho most ppl will say im insane.

theres more ill put em in if i remember em

[Peet]

Thanks for the advice guys. The 60Hz mod and RGB cable seem pretty easy to make yourself, so I think I'll be digging out the soldering iron for those. I'd still like to find out if I can get it to output unamplified stereo sound though...

As for 32X and MegaCD, I guess I'll try to build up a proper MD collection before touching them.

Are there decent home conversions of Space Harrier or Outrun? I just realized I had completely forgotten about those