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  • Joined: 26 Feb 2021
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Play Game Gear games on the Master System
Post Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 10:34 pm
Bob from RetroRGB made a video where you can see my device in action:



Many thanks to him.
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Post Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:50 pm
I am absolutely blown away by this.
I have no words.

I remember years ago reading about the palette problem here on SMS Power and daydreaming about something like this, hoping an on-the-fly patching-adapter could be possible.

I can't believe there are no replies, I guess it's because this is not Main but the Development board?

For me this is the best we have ever gotten hardware wise for the SMS, up there with the 50/60Hz switch mod or the Everdrive cart. Huge respect to your knowledge.

Thank you so much for making us dream.

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Post Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2022 10:05 am
Hi Jair, thanks for the kind words.

I think main reason there's so few interest is it came too late. There are many alternatives to play GG games on a TV through emulation, MISTerFPGA or the GG2MS hacks. That said I designed this adapter in a way it could have been a thing BITD. It's good old 80's technology inside.
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Post Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2022 2:22 pm
Many thanks for this device !
I have been dreaming to play Game Gear games on my TV since my childhood (and just for a little story, I drestoyed my first megadrive by putting by force a GG game in the slot, thinking it might work !).

I don't know if you plan to release it one day but I'll be damned interested !
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Post Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2022 3:05 pm
@apocalypse how does it work? Do you watch the system bus for writes to the VDP and if they look like palette writes you intercept and send your own instead? If so, that's pretty sneaky :)

Out of interest, where did you get an edge connector for GG games? I'd love to play with getting them to work on my project at some point...
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:00 pm
Looks like there's a few of us interested :D

GG2SMS hacks on an Everdrive are convenient and accurate. But nothing beats connecting the cartridge. I love my MiSTer, but for my main systems I really like collecting and playing from the carts. And I agree: a piece of tech that comes from an alternate 80's is absolutely neat.

Another advantage: boxed Game Gear carts come in beautiful small boxes with colour manuals, much smaller than SMS clamshell cases. The Japanese ones anyway. Even if you collect loose carts, they look great inside slightly wide cassette tape cases. Height is the same as Jp GG boxes.

SukkoPera's obscure but fantastic SMS++ mod is a match made in heaven for this adapter. It puts an Arduino inside the SMS console so you can plug a Megadrive controller and use the Start button as Pause, among other quality of life improvements. Been using it for 2 years, works great: https://github.com/SukkoPera/SMSPlusPlus
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Post Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 6:08 am
@nguyom, yes I'd like to make it a commercial product. Please note a few games will not work (so far Micro Machines doesn't boot and Mortal Kombat has wrong colours). Also there's nothing I can do on the fly to get rid of the garbage in the normally invisible part of the screen. You can always create a bezel as Bob suggested. :D
Unfortunately no company wants to sell the remanufactured slots made for the Retron or Analog adapters nor share the details of their sources.
Only solution I found is having them remanufactured on my own. Last year after making the drawings I got a quote of $5000 for 1000 pcs. Not bad but it's probably more today and I don't have the funds anyway.

@willbritton it indeed spies on busses. The slots come either from an old repair shop or were pulled from dead units. I got (a few of) them from Bob.
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:01 pm
Here's an article from Nicole Express this time:
https://nicole.express/2022/sega-8-bit-conversion-kit.html
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2023 9:09 pm
I got the Gear Masters some time ago but forgot to post about it here.

Unfortunately they sold out in hours. Now we need to wait for the repro cart slots to assemble more units.

[EDIT]
Can't attach any pic (limited to 5MB each and 25MB total?).
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2023 9:44 pm
Could you use this? https://retrosix.co.uk/Game-Gear-GameSlot-Kit-p515558760

I increased your attachment quota - but we’d prefer you to attach smaller photos than 5MB.
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Post Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 8:54 pm
Thanks Maxim. I did resize the pics yesterday to be under 5MB but still got the 25MB message (is that for the whole forum or per message/topic?). Maybe it's a bug when pics are more than 5MB and you try to upload them, even if it fails it still counts towards the 25MB limit?

As per retrosix, I'm not too keen to do business with them given their past history:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/ktbgnf/retrosix_is_stealing_other_peop...

From a technical standpoint I could use part of their design and move the slide-in ribbon connector on my PCB (their base is just way to big to fit).
But that would leave the ribbon cable partly exposed and I don't like that idea.

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Post Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 11:14 pm
I told you in the past that i am interested in this , so one for me :D
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 7:15 am
I'm still interested in this :D
Is there a website or something where we can follow your work ?
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 9:52 am
Not anymore.
I'm a kind of hermit, developing things in my garage.

:D
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Post Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2023 5:37 pm
When are you expecting to do a release with a shell? Also as soon you get it to work on a genesis with a power base mini i shall buy this.
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Post Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2023 10:17 pm
I'm also curious to know if there's any kind of timeline. Mass production hurdles are huge.

The Unlicensed Game Otaku wrote
as soon you get it to work on a genesis with a power base mini i shall buy this.

The Gear Master spies on buses, so it's really pedal to the metal hardware-wise. In my *extremely* limited technical understanding of it, asking for anything other than vanilla Master System compatibility is pushing it.

I'm so thankful it even exists at all 😊
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2023 9:15 pm
A lot of time has been spent on testing the whole library (bar few titles using an EEPROM for saves = not supported by the ED).
Please note most games will show garbage in the screen area that's normally not visible.
Tested mainly on an ED, a few dozens with real cartridges.
Compatibility rate in its current form is 81%.
Special care has been taken to simulate the Gear-to-Gear link ports as some games don't boot or hang if not properly handled (Lemmings, CJ elephant, Primal Rage, etc.).

Work
For games with flickering HUDs: that's actually the intended programmed behaviour to create a fake transparency effect, works well on the OG GG screen with lot of remanence, not so well on a CRT.

Aa Harimanada (Japan)
Addams Family, The (World)
Adventures of Batman & Robin, The (USA, Europe) (flickering HUD)
Aerial Assault (World) (Rev 1)
Aladdin (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Alien Syndrome (Europe)
Arcade Classics (USA)
Arch Rivals - The Arcade Game (USA)
Arena - Maze of Death ~ Arena (USA, Europe)
Ariel the Little Mermaid (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Asterix and the Great Rescue (USA, Brazil) ED issue => Buggy mapper, double ROM for support. Wrong colours on text screens.
Asterix and the Secret Mission (Europe) (En,Fr,De)
Ax Battler - A Legend of Golden Axe ~ Golden Axe (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Baku Baku (USA)
Bare Knuckle ~ Streets of Rage (World)
Bare Knuckle II ~ Streets of Rage 2 ~ Streets of Rage II (World)
Batman Returns (World)
Batter Up (USA)
Battleship - The Classic Naval Combat Game (USA)
Battletoads (USA)
Beavis and Butt-Head (USA, Europe)
Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure, The (USA)
Berlin no Kabe (Japan)
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S (Japan)
Bonkers Wax Up! (USA, Europe)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (USA)
Bubble Bobble (USA) (Wrong colours on title screen)
Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble (USA, Europe)
Bust-A-Move (USA) (orange bubbles appear close to red)
Buster Ball (Japan)
Buster Fight (Japan)
Caesars Palace (USA)
Captain America and the Avengers (USA)
Car Licence (Japan)
Casino FunPak (USA)
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (USA, Europe, Brazil) SMS game
Cave Dude (USA) (Proto) SMS game
Chakan (USA, Europe)
Chase H.Q. (USA) SMS game
Cheese Cat-Astrophe Starring Speedy Gonzales (USA, Europe, Brazil) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Chessmaster, The (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Choplifter III (USA)
Chuck Rock (World)
Chuck Rock II - Son of Chuck (USA)
CJ Elephant Fugitive (USA, Europe) Requires CPLD update
Cliffhanger (USA) (Buggy introduction scenes)
Clutch Hitter (USA)
Coca-Cola Kid (Japan)
Columns (USA, Europe, Brazil) (Rev 2)
Cool Spot (USA)
Cosmic Spacehead (USA, Europe)
Crayon Shin-chan - Taiketsu! Kantam Panic!! (Japan)
Crazy Faces (Europe) (Proto)
Crystal Warriors (USA, Europe)
CutThroat Island (USA)
Daffy Duck in Hollywood (Europe, Brazil) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
David Robinson's Supreme Court (USA) (Auto Demo)
Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck (USA, Europe)
Desert Strike - Return to the Gulf (USA)
Devilish (USA)
Dinobasher Starring Bignose the Caveman (Europe) (Proto)
Doraemon - Noranosuke no Yabou (Japan)
Doraemon - Waku Waku Pocket Paradise (Japan)
Double Dragon (USA, Europe)
Dr. Franken (Europe) (Proto)
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (USA, Europe)
Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story (USA)
Dragon Crystal (USA, Europe)
Dropzone (Europe) (Wrong colours/black sprites on the presentation/selection screens)
Dunk Kids (Japan)
Dynamite Headdy (USA, Europe)
Earthworm Jim (USA)
Ecco - The Tides of Time (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Ecco the Dolphin (USA, Europe, Brazil) (Wrong colours for the S and G letters on the Sega screen)
Eternal Legend - Eien no Densetsu (Japan)
Excellent Dizzy Collection, The (Europe) SMS game
F1~ Formula One (USA, Europe) (Wrong colours on the selection screens & menus)
Factory Panic (Europe, Brazil) (Wrong colours on presentation screens)
Fantastic Dizzy (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It) SMS game
Fantasy Zone (USA, Brazil)
Fatal Fury Special (USA)
FIFA International Soccer (USA, Europe)
FIFA Soccer 96 (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball (USA)
Fray - Shugyou Hen (Japan)
Fred Couples Golf (USA)
Frogger (USA) (Proto)
From TV Animation Slam Dunk - Shouri e no Starting 5 (Japan)
Galaga 2 (Europe)
Gamble Panic (Japan)
Garfield - Caught in the Act (USA, Europe)
Gear Stadium Heiseiban (Japan)
Gear Works (USA)
George Foreman's KO Boxing (USA, Europe)
GG Aleste (Japan)
GG Aleste II ~ Power Strike II (Japan, Europe)
GG Portrait - Pai Chen (Japan)
GG Portrait - Yuuki Akira (Japan)
GG Shinobi II, The ~ Shinobi II - The Silent Fury (World)
Global Gladiators (Europe)
G-LOC - Air Battle (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Gojira - Kaijuu Daishingeki (Japan)
GP Rider (World) (Black sprites during intro and on bike selection screen)
Griffin (Japan)
Halley Wars (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Head Buster (Japan) (no cursor on selection screen)
Home Alone (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Honoo no Toukyuuji - Dodge Danpei (Japan)
Hook (USA)
Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima - Hyoutan-jima no Daikoukai (Japan)
Hyper Pro Yakyuu '92 (Japan)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Iron Man X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal (USA)
Itchy & Scratchy Game, The (USA, Europe)
J.League GG Pro-Striker '94 (Japan)
J.League Soccer - Dream Eleven (Japan)
James Bond 007 - The Duel (Europe)
James Pond 3 - Operation Starfish (Europe)
James Pond II - Codename RoboCod (USA)
Jeopardy! - Sports Edition (USA)
Jeopardy! (USA)
Joe Montana Football (USA, Europe)
Journey from Darkness - Strider Returns (USA, Europe)
Judge Dredd (USA, Europe)
Junction (USA)
Jungle Book, The (USA)
Jungle Strike (USA)
Jurassic Park (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Kaitou Saint Tail (Japan)
Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba (Japan)
Kinetic Connection (Japan)
Kishin Douji Zenki (Japan)
Kuni-chan no Game Tengoku (Japan)
Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Legend of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (USA, Europe)
Lemmings (World)
Lemmings 2 - The Tribes (Europe) (Proto)
Lost World, The - Jurassic Park (USA)
Lucky Dime Caper Starring Donald Duck, The (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Lunar - Sanposuru Gakuen (Japan)
Madden 96 (USA, Europe)
Madden NFL 95 (USA)
Madou Monogatari A - Dokidoki Vacation (Japan)
Madou Monogatari I - 3-Tsu no Madoukyuu (Japan)
Madou Monogatari II - Arle 16-Sai (Japan)
Madou Monogatari III - Kyuukyoku Joou-sama (Japan) (Rev 1) (glitch on the Sega/Compile screens)
Magic Knight Rayearth (Japan)
Magic Knight Rayearth 2 - Making of Magic Knight (Japan)
Magical Puzzle Popils (World) (En,Ja)
Majors, The - Pro Baseball (USA) (Not supported by ED)
Marko's Magic Football (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Mega Man (USA) (glitch when selecting a character)
Megami Tensei Gaiden - Last Bible (Japan)
Megami Tensei Gaiden - Last Bible Special (Japan)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - The Movie (USA, Europe)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (USA, Europe)
MLBPA Baseball (USA) (flickering HUD)
Moldorian - Hikari to Yami no Sister (Japan) (glicth on title screen)
Monster Truck Wars (USA, Europe)
Mortal Kombat 3 (Europe)
Ms. Pac-Man (USA)
Nazo Puyo - Arle no Roux (Japan)
Nazo Puyo (Japan) (Rev 1)
Nazo Puyo 2 (Japan)
NBA Jam - Tournament Edition (World) (Wrong colours on some selection screens)
NFL '95 (USA)
NFL Quarterback Club (World)
NFL Quarterback Club 96 (USA)
NHL All-Star Hockey (USA)
NHL Hockey (USA, Europe)
Ninja Gaiden (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Ninku (Japan)
Ninku 2 - Tenkuuryuu e no Michi (Japan)
Ninku Gaiden - Hiroyuki Daikatsugeki (Japan)
Off the Wall (USA) (Proto) (1992-06-28)
Olympic Gold (Japan, USA, Brazil) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Pt,Sv) SMS game
Ottifants, The (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
OutRun (Europe, Brazil)
OutRun Europa (USA) SMS game
Pac-in-Time (USA) (Proto)
Pac-Man (USA)
Paperboy (USA, Europe)
Paperboy 2 (USA)
Pengo (Europe)
Pet Club - Inu Daisuki! (Japan)
PGA Tour 96 (USA, Europe)
PGA Tour Golf (USA) (Rev 1)
Phantasy Star Adventure (Japan)
Phantasy Star Gaiden (Japan)
Pinball Dreams (USA)
Pocket Jansou (Japan)
Poker Face Paul's Blackjack (USA)
Poker Face Paul's Gin (USA)
Poker Face Paul's Solitaire (USA)
Pop Breaker (Japan) (Needs to be forced to Japanese region for the start button to be read properly = maintain B2 during BIOS sequence)
Popeye no Beach Volleyball (Japan)
Power Drive (Europe) (flickering HUD)
Predator 2 (USA, Europe) SMS game
Primal Rage (USA, Europe) Requires CPLD update
Prince of Persia (USA, Europe) SMS game
Pro Yakyuu GG League '94 (Japan)
Psychic World (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Putt & Putter - Miniature Golf ~ Putt & Putter ~ Minigolf (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Puyo Puyo (Japan) (En,Ja)
Puyo Puyo Tsuu (Japan)
Quest for the Shaven Yak Starring Ren Hoek & Stimpy (USA, Europe)
Quiz Gear Fight!!, The (Japan)
R.B.I. Baseball '94 (USA)
R.C. Grand Prix (USA) SMS game
Rastan Saga (Japan) SMS game
Riddick Bowe Boxing (USA) Flickering HUD
Road Rash (USA)
Ronald no Magical World (Japan) (En,Ja)
Royal Stone - Hirakareshi Toki no Tobira (Japan) Invisible cursor on the selection screen
Samurai Shodown (USA)
Scratch Golf (USA)
Sega Game Pack 4 in 1 (Europe)
Sensible Soccer - European Champions (Europe)
Shanghai II (Japan) (Rev 1)
Shikinjou (Japan)
Simpsons, The - Bart vs. the Space Mutants (USA, Europe)
Simpsons, The - Bart vs. the World ~ Bart World (World)
Simpsons, The - Bartman Meets Radioactive Man (USA)
Slider (USA, Europe)
Smurfs Travel the World, The (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Smurfs, The (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Solitaire FunPak (USA)
Solitaire Poker (USA, Europe)
Sonic & Tails (Japan) (En) (Sample)
Sonic Chaos (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Sonic Drift (Japan) (En) (Demo)
Sonic Drift (Japan) (En)
Sonic Drift Racing ~ Sonic Drift 2 (World)
Sonic Labyrinth (World)
Sonic The Hedgehog - Triple Trouble (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Sonic The Hedgehog (Japan, USA)
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (World) (Auto Demo)
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (World)
Soukoban (Japan)
Space Harrier (World) (flickering HUD)
Spider-Man - X-Men - Arcade's Revenge (USA)
Spider-Man (USA, Europe)
Sports Trivia - Championship Edition (USA)
Sports Trivia (USA)
Star Trek - The Next Generation - The Advanced Holodeck Tutorial (USA)
Star Trek Generations - Beyond the Nexus (USA)
Star Wars (USA, Europe)
Stargate (World)
Street Hero (USA) (Proto 2) SMS game
Striker (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Super Columns (USA, Europe)
Super Golf (USA)
Super Kick Off (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Pt,Sv) SMS game
Super Momotarou Dentetsu III (Japan)
Super Monaco GP (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Super Off Road (USA, Europe)
Super Space Invaders (USA, Europe) Flickering HUD
Super Star Wars - Return of the Jedi (USA, Europe)
Superman - The Man of Steel (Europe)
Sylvan Tale (Japan)
T2 - The Arcade Game (USA, Europe)
Tails Adventure ~ Tails Adventures (World) (En,Ja)
Tails no Skypatrol (Japan)
Taisen Mahjong HaoPai (Japan)
Taisen Mahjong HaoPai 2 (Japan)
Taisen-gata Daisenryaku G (Japan)
Tama & Friends - 3 Choume Kouen Tamalympic (Japan)
Tarot no Yakata (Japan)
Tarzan - Lord of the Jungle (Europe)
Tatakae! Pro Yakyuu Twin League (Japan)
Taz in Escape from Mars (USA, Europe)
Taz-Mania (USA, Europe, Brazil)
Tempo Jr. (World)
Tengen World Cup Soccer (USA, Europe)
Terminator, The (USA, Europe)
Tesserae (USA)
Tom and Jerry - The Movie (USA, Europe)
Torarete Tamaruka (Japan)
True Lies (World)
Ultimate Soccer (Japan, Europe, Brazil) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Vampire - Master of Darkness (USA)
Virtua Fighter Animation (USA, Europe)
VR Troopers (USA, Europe, Brazil) Wrong colours during presentation/character selection
Wagyan Land (Japan)
Wheel of Fortune (USA) Flashing colours during wheel spin
WildSnake (USA) (Proto)
Wimbledon (World)
Winter Olympic Games ~ Winter Olympics (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Pt,Sv,No)
Wizard Pinball (Europe)
Wolfchild (Europe)
Wonder Boy - The Dragon's Trap (Europe)
Woody Pop (USA, Europe, Brazil)
World Class Leaderboard Golf ~ World Class Leader Board (USA, Europe)
World Cup USA 94 (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Pt,Sv)
WWF Raw (USA, Europe)
WWF Wrestlemania - Steel Cage Challenge (USA, Europe) SMS game
X-Men - Gamemaster's Legacy (USA, Europe) Flickering colours on sprites
X-Men - Mojo World (USA) Flickering colours on sprites
X-Men (USA)
Yogi Bear in Yogi Bear's Goldrush (Europe) (Proto)
Yu Yu Hakusho - Horobishimono no Gyakushuu (Japan)
Yu Yu Hakusho II - Gekitou! Nanakyou no Tatakai (Japan)
Zan Gear (Japan)
Zoop (USA)
Lion King, The (USA) ("The Lion King" text invisible on the title screen)

Unplayable

5 in One FunPak (USA) Wrong colours
Alien 3 (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Andre Agassi Tennis (USA) Wrong colours
Barbie Super Model (USA) (Proto) Wrong colours
Batman Forever (World) Wrong colours
Championship Hockey (Europe) Wrong colours
Chicago Syndicate (USA, Brazil) Buggy selection screen, otherwise playable
Defenders of Oasis (USA, Europe) Wrong colours/Black sprites
Desert Speedtrap Starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (USA, Brazil) Wrong colours on some elements
Ernie Els Golf (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It) Wrong colours/buggy
Evander Holyfield's 'Real Deal' Boxing (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
F1 - World Championship Edition (Europe) Wrong colours
F-15 Strike Eagle (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Faceball 2000 (Japan) Wrong colours
Foreman for Real (Japan, USA) Wrong colours
Gambler Jiko Chuushinha (Japan) Wrong colours
GG Shinobi, The ~ Shinobi (World) (Rev 1) Wrong colours/Black sprites
Greendog - The Beached Surfer Dude! (USA, Brazil) Wrong colours
G-Sonic ~ Sonic Blast (World) Almost playable (wrong colours for some elements, white characters on the selection screen)
Hurricanes (Europe) Flickering screen
Incredible Crash Dummies, The ~ Crash Dummy - Slick Bouya no Daichousen (World) Wrong colours
Incredible Hulk, The (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Kawasaki Superbike Challenge (USA) Wrong colours
KLAX (USA, Europe) Black tiles…
Krusty's Fun House (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Kuni-chan no Game Tengoku Part 2 (Japan) Flashing colours
Last Action Hero (USA) Wrong colours
Magical Taruruuto-kun (Japan) Black screen in game
Man Overboard! (Europe) Blue sprites
Mappy (Japan) Wrong colours, black selection screen
Marble Madness (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Mickey's Ultimate Challenge (USA) Wrong colours
Micro Machines (USA, Europe) Works on a flashcart, not with real cartridge
Micro Machines 2 - Turbo Tournament (Europe) Doesn't boot
Mortal Kombat (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Mortal Kombat II (World) Wrong colours
NBA Action Starring David Robinson (USA, Brazil) Wrong colours
NBA Jam (USA) (Rev 1) Wrong colours
Neko Daisuki! (Japan) Wrong colours
Pac-Attack (USA) Wrong colours
Panzer Dragoon Mini (Japan) Wrong colours
Pete Sampras Tennis (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
PGA Tour Golf II (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Phantom 2040 (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Poker Face Paul's Poker (USA) Wrong colours
Pro Yakyuu '91, The (Japan) Wrong colours
Puzzle & Action - Ichidanto-R (Japan) Wrong colours
Puzzle & Action - Tanto-R (Japan) Wrong colours
Revenge of Drancon (USA, Brazil) Wrong colours
Rise of the Robots (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Ristar ~ Ristar - The Shooting Star (World) Wrong colours on selection screens, OK in-game
RoboCop 3 (World) Wrong colours
RoboCop versus The Terminator (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
SD Gundam - Winner's History (Japan) Wrong colours
Shaq Fu (USA) Wrong colours
Side Pocket (USA) Wrong colours
Sonic Spinball (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Spider-Man - Return of the Sinister Six (USA, Europe) Wrong colours
Spirou (Europe) (Proto) Wrong colours
Sports Illustrated - Championship Football & Baseball (USA) Wrong colours
Super Battletank (USA) Wrong colours
Super Smash T.V. (World) Black rectangles behind ennemies
Surf Ninjas (USA, Europe, Brazil) Wrong colours
TaleSpin (USA, Europe, Brazil) Wrong colours
Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (World) Flickering like crazy
Tintin in Tibet (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,Nl,Sv) Wrong colours
Urban Strike (USA) Wrong colours
World Derby (Japan) Wrong colours
Zool - Ninja of the 'Nth' Dimension (USA) Worng colours, flickering screen
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Post Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2023 10:03 am
so it seems most of the non-working games have wrong colors - do they do something different than the other games to set colors? I would say there's basically only one way to write to CRAM which is to set VDP write address to CRAM_START+color index*2 and then write to VDP data port but I'm puzzled at seeing how many games fail...
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Post Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2023 11:08 pm
There are different patterns when writting to CRAM:
1) Alternating 2 writes to $BF to set the address with two writes to $BE to set the value
2) Setting the base address with two writes to $BF, then successive 2 writes to $BE to set each colour value
3) Setting the base address with two writes to $BF, latching the first data byte with a write to $BE, then an other two writes to $BF to update the address and lastly successive 2 writes to $BE for the colour values

The problem with the GG/SMS VDP is the can't-put-the-toothpaste-back-in-the-tube-mechanism: only when the 2nd write to $BF happens you know it's a CRAM write, with the address LSB already set and latched in the VDP.
Basically problems arise when the base address isn't C000, and surprisingly only ~20% of the games do that.
This can be solved by using a similar approach to the Action Replay: injecting code in the NMI routine, but then it would not be cycle accurate anymore.
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 7:33 am
oh right, because the lower part of the address gets written first and when it's happening you don't know if the higher part is going to be $C0 (writes to CRAM) or anything different. I see how this works only when uploading both full palettes from $C000 then. Bummer.
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 7:47 am
It took me a while to figure it out :) you always know when the data is written whether the address is CRAM or not, but for any address higher than $c000 it is also necessary to adjust the address because the palette entries are one byte instead of two on SMS. Since you can’t change the low byte of the address without knowing the high byte, any palette accesses to addresses other than $c000 can’t be rewritten unless you also inject some code or steal the bus.
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 7:56 am
Would it be possible to buffer and hold back a byte from the data port until you know for sure whether the palette is being written to?

Also, purely out of interest, how are you handling reads from port $00 - i.e. the start button / region info? Are you just decoding that on-board, and I assume because it's a read it doesn't conflict with port $3e on the SMS?
Assuming you are simulating the start button through port $00, how do you receive an input for it? Is it a new button on the hardware somewhere?
I saw on Pop Breaker you said it needs to be forced to Japanese region for the start button to be read - why is that?
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:01 am
Maxim wrote
It took me a while to figure it out :) you always know when the data is written whether the address is CRAM or not, but for any address higher than $c000 it is also necessary to adjust the address because the palette entries are one byte instead of two on SMS. Since you can’t change the low byte of the address without knowing the high byte, any palette accesses to addresses other than $c000 can’t be rewritten unless you also inject some code or steal the bus.

Ah crap, thanks for that Maxim, I think (!) I see the problem now.
Buffering the data port might help for translating the data but I think buffering the command port would screw up the timings too much.
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2023 4:25 am
willbritton wrote
Would it be possible to buffer and hold back a byte from the data port until you know for sure whether the palette is being written to?

Also, purely out of interest, how are you handling reads from port $00 - i.e. the start button / region info? Are you just decoding that on-board, and I assume because it's a read it doesn't conflict with port $3e on the SMS?
Assuming you are simulating the start button through port $00, how do you receive an input for it? Is it a new button on the hardware somewhere?
I saw on Pop Breaker you said it needs to be forced to Japanese region for the start button to be read - why is that?

From what I have read of the situation, the Start Button and the region identity are different bits both from port $00, and sloppy code only responds to a specific value (the combination of Start pressed + Japan region).
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2023 6:27 am
KingMike wrote
willbritton wrote
Would it be possible to buffer and hold back a byte from the data port until you know for sure whether the palette is being written to?

Also, purely out of interest, how are you handling reads from port $00 - i.e. the start button / region info? Are you just decoding that on-board, and I assume because it's a read it doesn't conflict with port $3e on the SMS?
Assuming you are simulating the start button through port $00, how do you receive an input for it? Is it a new button on the hardware somewhere?
I saw on Pop Breaker you said it needs to be forced to Japanese region for the start button to be read - why is that?

From what I have read of the situation, the Start Button and the region identity are different bits both from port $00, and sloppy code only responds to a specific value (the combination of Start pressed + Japan region).

Ah of course, that makes sense, thanks KingMike!
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2023 7:10 pm
That's absolutely correct, Pop Breaker uses a mask relying on the region bit to be able to properly read the state of the start button.
Probably not a region protection feature but rather sloppy code.

The start button is remapped by the adapter to the pause button on the console.

Buffering VDP writes are of course possible, not sure about timings though...
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Post Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 8:54 am
Apocalypse wrote
The start button is remapped by the adapter to the pause button on the console.

Oh, so the pause button triggers an NMI and also sets the start bit in port $00? I had been wondering how the real GG deals with this - does it also do both, or does it turn NMI off for GG mode games?
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Post Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 8:56 am
willbritton wrote
Apocalypse wrote
The start button is remapped by the adapter to the pause button on the console.

Oh, so the pause button triggers an NMI and also sets the start bit in port $00? I had been wondering how the real GG deals with this - does it also do both, or does it turn NMI off for GG mode games?

On GG, NMI is used for serial transfer.
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Post Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 9:04 am
willbritton wrote
Oh, so the pause button triggers an NMI and also sets the start bit in port $00? I had been wondering how the real GG deals with this [...]


on a GG when in GG mode, the Start button will just reset the msb of the value in port $00 when pressed, no NMI triggered.

on a GG when in SMS mode instead, pressing the Start button will trigger an NMI, as to simulate what happens on the SMS when you press the Pause button. No bit toggled on port $00 (actually you shouldn't read port $00 at all on the SMS ;) )
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Post Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 9:48 am
Thanks both - yes, I had been erring on that side, since I feel like, empically, I've been getting somewhat better results from pausing GG games where I don't also fire an NMI pressing the start/pause button. Just wondering @Apocalypse whether you've seen any issues with pausing GG games with your converter?
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