Does Altered Beast (Japan) work on a EURO PAL Mega Drive I/II?...

ST Dragon · 29 January 2006, 22:15

Hello,
I just got a mint Japanese copy of Altered Beast Cart, for the SEGA Mega Drive (Japanese)
I have a EURO PAL SEGA MEGA Drive I (Bulky model) console and a EURO PAL Mega Drive II (Smaller model).
All my Japanese carts work perfectly on both consoles, either by directly inserting the carts into the slot (I have trimmed them out) or by using a Universal Adaptor cart. (Nitro Adaptor 2 for PAL & NTSC MD)

But when I insert Altered Beast (JPN) cart, the typical SEGA quote comes up:

“Produced By or Under License From SEGA Enterprises LTD”

Then a Black screen and then nothing…

Same thing happens on both MegaDrives, even when I used the Universal Adaptor.

The cart is fairly mint and does not look damaged, but could it be that this specific cart has a region lock-out? Altered Beast (JPN) was one of the 1st Mega Drive games (1988) so it’s doubtful.

So does anybody have this specific Japanese Altered Beast working on his EURO PAL SEGA Mega Drive I or II?
Is this a region-lock preventing it from working, or should I assume that this is simply a defective cart?

Please any feed-back will be highly appreciated, because if anyone of you has a working Japanese Altered Beast on a Euro Mega Drive, then mine would be a defective cart, so I’ll just send it back.

Anyway, after having modded my Saturn, PS-1, PS-2 & X-Box my self, I’m considering doing a 50/60HZ and country switch mod to one of my two MEGA Drives.
That should bring some light to the problem.

I found these instructions:

http://users.skynet.be/DuNe/djoen.html

MD Model I
http://users.skynet.be/DuNe/Console/md1/md1.html

MD Model II
http://users.skynet.be/DuNe/Console/md2/md2.html

Are these instructions ok by the way?
I wouldn’t want to mess up my consoles?

I think I’ll try the Model I 1st, it looks very easy. Unless there is a reason I should do my Model II instead?

Any one has better diagrams/info on how to mod a 50/60HZ & country switch on MD Model I & II by the way?

I also went ahead and tried the 3 known Altered Beast good Rom dumps:

Altered Beast (UE) (REV02) [!].zip
Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV00) [c][!].zip
Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV01) [!].zip

In Gens & Kega emulators set to PAL region under WinXP.
All three worked perfectly in 50HZ & did not freeze like my cart after the logo, so it might be a defective cart after all.
But I can’t be certain that my cart is in fact any of the 3 Rom dumps that I tried?
Only way to be sure is if could dump the Rom to my computer (using the Sega CD Transfer Suite tool from here: http://www.retrodev.com/transfer.html) and try it on the Emu.
But I would need a SEGA CD to connect to my pc via parallel cable and I don’t have SEGA MEGA CD at the moment.

Darn!

Any help will be highly appreciated?

Thanks.

Retro-Nerd · 29 January 2006, 22:42

There was no region lock for the early Mega Drive games, there must be something wrong with your cartridge.

ST Dragon · 29 January 2006, 22:47

Also, I have another problem with Super Street Fighter II (Japan MD). If I stick it into my EURO PAL consoles, a red screen comes up saying: “Warning! Developed for use only with NTSC Mega Drive Systems”
But when I use my Universal adaptor cart (On both MD I & II), the game does start ok, but the graphics in the levels will be really messed up. This happens in random too. One level will be ok and then the next will be messed up. I really don’t know if this is case of defective Super SFII (JPN) cart, or if my universal adaptor cart is simply just not up to the task for this game, leaving messed up graphics in the process.

Some peolpe suggested a 50/60HZ & country switch to solve these two problems.
I would prefer to dump the roms & try them on an emu...
Can anybody lend me a SEGA CD?

Retro-Nerd · 29 January 2006, 23:06

Why do want to dump the roms? You can grab them on planetemu.net

btw: have you tried to clean the contacts of your Altered Beast Cart?

ST Dragon · 30 January 2006, 12:04

Because I can’t be certain that the roms at planetemu are in fact the same dumps as my real cart.

Yes I have all ready tried to clean the contacts (They were pretty clean all ready)

Well, I went ahead and tried the 3 known Altered Beast good Rom dumps:

Altered Beast (UE) (REV02) [!].zip
Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV00) [c][!].zip
Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV01) [!].zip

In Gens & Kega emulators set to PAL region under WinXP.
All three worked perfectly in 50HZ & did not freeze like my cart after the logo, so it might be a defective cart after all.
But I can’t be certain that my cart is in fact any of the 3 Rom dumps that I tried.
Only way to be sure is if I could dump the Rom to my computer (using the Sega CD Transfer Suite tool from here: http://www.retrodev.com/transfer.html) and try it on the emu.
But I would need a SEGA CD to connect to my pc via parallel cable and I don’t have SEGA MEGA CD at the moment.

Retro-Nerd · 30 January 2006, 16:52

But another question: You play 60hz NTSC games in a 50 hz refresh rate on your emulator? You can't get a 100 % smooth scrolling without a 60hz refresh rate in NTSC games, so why you doing this? I'm only curious.

ST Dragon · 30 January 2006, 20:59

Well, I'm only trying to emulate this real life situation on my PC to figure out if this is actually caused by a defective cart, or an incompatibility of the NTSC -J Altered Beast game on the EURO PAL SEGA Mega Drive.

But since these NTSC-J ROMs work perfectly on the Emulators set to PAL, I presume my cart is probably fried! (Considering that these ROMs are the same dumps as my cart)
;(

This weekend I’ll do the 50/60HZ & Country mod on my Mega Drive Model 1 my self, so that will definitely clear the situation. Of course it would help if I had a MEGA CD to dump the cartridge and try it on the Emu. That would be even better.

Of course when I play my ROMs I always play the USA/JPN version and the Emu set to 60HZ NTSC for the smoothest possible gaming experience.

Retro-Nerd · 30 January 2006, 21:07

Ok ST Dragon,

i hope your 50/60 & country mod will be a success, post your results here. It sounds very adventurous.

ST Dragon · 30 January 2006, 22:06

No Problem will do that!
I’ll even post a few 640x480 Cell-Phone Pics.

At my previous job I used to mod PS-1, PS-2, X-Box, Saturns, etc... Compared to that this Mega Drive Mod, is like walking the dog in the park.

I have wanted to do this for some time now, but I was too lazy. So this is a good excuse. If I have time I'll do the mod on both my Model I & II Mega Drives.

Now, if anybody could lend me his/hers MEGA CD for the weekend, to also complete the ROM dumping process!
that would be the ultimate retro-modding experience

29 January 2006, 22:15	#1
ST Dragon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: home Posts: 171	Does Altered Beast (Japan) work on a EURO PAL Mega Drive I/II?... Hello, I just got a mint Japanese copy of Altered Beast Cart, for the SEGA Mega Drive (Japanese) I have a EURO PAL SEGA MEGA Drive I (Bulky model) console and a EURO PAL Mega Drive II (Smaller model). All my Japanese carts work perfectly on both consoles, either by directly inserting the carts into the slot (I have trimmed them out) or by using a Universal Adaptor cart. (Nitro Adaptor 2 for PAL & NTSC MD) But when I insert Altered Beast (JPN) cart, the typical SEGA quote comes up: “Produced By or Under License From SEGA Enterprises LTD” Then a Black screen and then nothing… Same thing happens on both MegaDrives, even when I used the Universal Adaptor. The cart is fairly mint and does not look damaged, but could it be that this specific cart has a region lock-out? Altered Beast (JPN) was one of the 1st Mega Drive games (1988) so it’s doubtful. So does anybody have this specific Japanese Altered Beast working on his EURO PAL SEGA Mega Drive I or II? Is this a region-lock preventing it from working, or should I assume that this is simply a defective cart? Please any feed-back will be highly appreciated, because if anyone of you has a working Japanese Altered Beast on a Euro Mega Drive, then mine would be a defective cart, so I’ll just send it back. Anyway, after having modded my Saturn, PS-1, PS-2 & X-Box my self, I’m considering doing a 50/60HZ and country switch mod to one of my two MEGA Drives. That should bring some light to the problem. I found these instructions: http://users.skynet.be/DuNe/djoen.html MD Model I http://users.skynet.be/DuNe/Console/md1/md1.html MD Model II http://users.skynet.be/DuNe/Console/md2/md2.html Are these instructions ok by the way? I wouldn’t want to mess up my consoles? I think I’ll try the Model I 1st, it looks very easy. Unless there is a reason I should do my Model II instead? Any one has better diagrams/info on how to mod a 50/60HZ & country switch on MD Model I & II by the way? I also went ahead and tried the 3 known Altered Beast good Rom dumps: Altered Beast (UE) (REV02) [!].zip Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV00) [c][!].zip Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV01) [!].zip In Gens & Kega emulators set to PAL region under WinXP. All three worked perfectly in 50HZ & did not freeze like my cart after the logo, so it might be a defective cart after all. But I can’t be certain that my cart is in fact any of the 3 Rom dumps that I tried? Only way to be sure is if could dump the Rom to my computer (using the Sega CD Transfer Suite tool from here: http://www.retrodev.com/transfer.html) and try it on the Emu. But I would need a SEGA CD to connect to my pc via parallel cable and I don’t have SEGA MEGA CD at the moment. Darn! Any help will be highly appreciated? Thanks.

29 January 2006, 23:06	#4
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,435	Why do want to dump the roms? You can grab them on planetemu.net btw: have you tried to clean the contacts of your Altered Beast Cart? Last edited by Retro-Nerd; 29 January 2006 at 23:18.

30 January 2006, 12:04	#5
ST Dragon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: home Posts: 171	Because I can’t be certain that the roms at planetemu are in fact the same dumps as my real cart. Yes I have all ready tried to clean the contacts (They were pretty clean all ready) Well, I went ahead and tried the 3 known Altered Beast good Rom dumps: Altered Beast (UE) (REV02) [!].zip Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV00) [c][!].zip Juu-Ou-Ki (J) (REV01) [!].zip In Gens & Kega emulators set to PAL region under WinXP. All three worked perfectly in 50HZ & did not freeze like my cart after the logo, so it might be a defective cart after all. But I can’t be certain that my cart is in fact any of the 3 Rom dumps that I tried. Only way to be sure is if I could dump the Rom to my computer (using the Sega CD Transfer Suite tool from here: http://www.retrodev.com/transfer.html) and try it on the emu. But I would need a SEGA CD to connect to my pc via parallel cable and I don’t have SEGA MEGA CD at the moment. Last edited by ST Dragon; 30 January 2006 at 12:12.

30 January 2006, 16:52	#6
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,435	But another question: You play 60hz NTSC games in a 50 hz refresh rate on your emulator? You can't get a 100 % smooth scrolling without a 60hz refresh rate in NTSC games, so why you doing this? I'm only curious. Last edited by Retro-Nerd; 30 January 2006 at 17:12.

30 January 2006, 22:06	#9
ST Dragon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: home Posts: 171	No Problem will do that! I’ll even post a few 640x480 Cell-Phone Pics. At my previous job I used to mod PS-1, PS-2, X-Box, Saturns, etc... Compared to that this Mega Drive Mod, is like walking the dog in the park. I have wanted to do this for some time now, but I was too lazy. So this is a good excuse. If I have time I'll do the mod on both my Model I & II Mega Drives. Now, if anybody could lend me his/hers MEGA CD for the weekend, to also complete the ROM dumping process! that would be the ultimate retro-modding experience Last edited by ST Dragon; 30 January 2006 at 22:25.

29 January 2006, 22:42	#2
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,435	There was no region lock for the early Mega Drive games, there must be something wrong with your cartridge.

29 January 2006, 22:47	#3
ST Dragon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: home Posts: 171	Also, I have another problem with Super Street Fighter II (Japan MD). If I stick it into my EURO PAL consoles, a red screen comes up saying: “Warning! Developed for use only with NTSC Mega Drive Systems” But when I use my Universal adaptor cart (On both MD I & II), the game does start ok, but the graphics in the levels will be really messed up. This happens in random too. One level will be ok and then the next will be messed up. I really don’t know if this is case of defective Super SFII (JPN) cart, or if my universal adaptor cart is simply just not up to the task for this game, leaving messed up graphics in the process. Some peolpe suggested a 50/60HZ & country switch to solve these two problems. I would prefer to dump the roms & try them on an emu... Can anybody lend me a SEGA CD?

30 January 2006, 20:59	#7
ST Dragon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: home Posts: 171	Well, I'm only trying to emulate this real life situation on my PC to figure out if this is actually caused by a defective cart, or an incompatibility of the NTSC -J Altered Beast game on the EURO PAL SEGA Mega Drive. But since these NTSC-J ROMs work perfectly on the Emulators set to PAL, I presume my cart is probably fried! (Considering that these ROMs are the same dumps as my cart) ;( This weekend I’ll do the 50/60HZ & Country mod on my Mega Drive Model 1 my self, so that will definitely clear the situation. Of course it would help if I had a MEGA CD to dump the cartridge and try it on the Emu. That would be even better. Of course when I play my ROMs I always play the USA/JPN version and the Emu set to 60HZ NTSC for the smoothest possible gaming experience.

30 January 2006, 21:07	#8
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,435	Ok ST Dragon, i hope your 50/60 & country mod will be a success, post your results here. It sounds very adventurous.

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