Repro collecting advice needed

[insertclevernamehere]

So I had a Megadrive for a couple of years around 90/91 before I decided in my mid twenties that I was too old for gaming and turned my back on it for 15 years. After rediscovering gaming 9 years ago with modern systems, I recently developed the urge to revisit my old systems, correct past mistakes and fill in blanks in my gaming history. One of those is the Megadrive or Genesis as I now live in North America. I did my research and came up with a list of 62 original run games that I want. I then researched their availability and cost and found that about 90% of them are available at a much lower cost as repros, mostly from China. I know ROMS are cheaper but if, like me, you want a physical collection, repros are the cheapest option. Most of them are available on ebay and I've also seen some on aliexpress, a site I'm not at all familiar with. I was hoping if any of you with experience of buying repros can give me any tips and advice. Thanks.

[derFunkenstein]

Be careful with games that originally had battery backups. Make sure the listing specifically says that it has the battery and supports game saves.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I've bought a few repros myself. But only of games that were never released here in the US. I've gotten most of mine from Etsy shops. So far they have all been very high quality and most of the Etsy shop ones you find are built from old carts with new eproms and batteries installed.

Edited August 29, 2018 by -^Cro§Bow^-

[insertclevernamehere]

Be careful with games that originally had battery backups. Make sure the listing specifically says that it has the battery and supports game saves.

 

Great. Will do although I presume this is only an issue if I buy an original Genesis. If I hold out a little and go the Polymega route with the Genesis module, I'm guessing repros will still work and the need for battery back up will not be an issue.

[insertclevernamehere]

I've bought a few repros myself. But only of games that were never released here in the US. I've gotten most of mine from Etsy shops. So far they have all been very high quality and most of the Etsy shop ones you find are built from old carts with new eproms and batteries installed.

 

Etsy! Of course. I forgot about that one. I think I may have just added game number 63 (Mega Man: The Wily Wars) from there.

[schnuth]

IMO your money would be better spent on an Everdrive than a bunch of reproduction carts.

[icemanxp300]

I agree it is cheaper to just everdrive. However w/that said i make reproductions for Genesis.

 

I will let you know you should not buy Chinese repros for genesis. The pcb's they use are thicker than they should be and as such they are not good for system pin connectors. Plus they use 3.3V flash chips which is not good for your system.

 

I make mine w/5V eproms, how the Genesis was designed. I as well use original donor boards and shells so my games are just like originals.

 

If you have 2 options either Chinese repros or everdrive go everdrive. You can check out my Etsy in my profile. It is summer time (low sales) so I don't have many games listed but in another month I will likely put them all back up.

[Shawn]

I agree it is cheaper to just everdrive. However w/that said i make reproductions for Genesis.

 

I will let you know you should not buy Chinese repros for genesis. The pcb's they use are thicker than they should be and as such they are not good for system pin connectors. Plus they use 3.3V flash chips which is not good for your system.

 

I make mine w/5V eproms, how the Genesis was designed. I as well use original donor boards and shells so my games are just like originals.

 

If you have 2 options either Chinese repros or everdrive go everdrive. You can check out my Etsy in my profile. It is summer time (low sales) so I don't have many games listed but in another month I will likely put them all back up.

 

I agree with iceman. Those $10 repros on aliexpress are made from junk. The pcb's are the lowest of low end, the flash chips are not at the right voltage. They don't use anything to adjust the voltage, the labels are trash on 90 percent of them and last but not least, a good 50 percent of them use shells that the plastic is so thin I could put my thumb threw it if I so felt like it.

 

Try doing anything like that to a real genesis cart. You won't be able to. Repro's built from old stock donors and proper eproms are much more supirior. There are some people that have higher end brand new shells and there are some with proper brand new boards as well but they won't be $10 each. Remember, you get what you pay for. $10 repro's sound nice but do yourself a favor and pay $20 to $30 and get something of quality. You will be happier in the long run.

[Shawn]

At least $20 to $30 that is.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

yeap... I've only ever purchased my repros through Etsy and even a few from Iceman as well! Thanks again for Star Cruiser!!!

 

Also make sure that whomever you are buying repros from is using the latest rom versions for the translations. It took me 3 tries from three different repro makers to finally get a Monster World IV cart that had the full translation. All the others suffered from the intro scroller text missing during the intro. Not easily noticed unless you let the cart sit there powered up and watch it go through. On two of them I think it gave me some odd place holder text message like "Text insert here" or something and on the 3rd one it had an old hex code listed. On the third one the seller was willing to redo the whole cart at his expense with the rom I provided him. He even improved on it finding a translation patch from the Nintendo e-shop release with a different and easier to read font as well. So yeah. Just check with the seller to be sure of the rom they are using.

 

To be fair the MWIV carts I had still played all the way through and saved games without issue and the rest of the game was fully translated. It was just that opening star wars like scroller that was missing.

[Gentlegamer]

The answer is: Mega Everdrive

[icemanxp300]

Also make sure that whomever you are buying repros from is using the latest rom versions for the translations. It took me 3 tries from three different repro makers to finally get a Monster World IV cart that had the full translation. All the others suffered from the intro scroller text missing during the intro. Not easily noticed unless you let the cart sit there powered up and watch it go through.

 

I was actually selling a version of MW4 not knowing it had some minor bugs. Once I was made aware of the problem I was able to find a patch for the original rom. I fixed the game for the buyer at no charge. The bugs in it didn't really make the game unplayable though as far as I know.

 

The easiest way to tell if it has the bugs is to let it sit and run through the demo twice and if it freezes on the eyeball it needs fixed.

 

The other game that is really bad is Megaman Wily Wars. If you don't get a save version you can't really access the Wily Tower. If you do get a save version many versions will freeze at teleporters and some bosses. I have a fixed save version that does not freeze. Don't confuse freezing with slowdown. All versions will have slowdown in some areas of this game.

 

With that said there is always possibilities of bugs in any of these translated/ported games. Lets face it many of these are just fan translations and are not subject to the major play testing an original release would get.

[homerhomer]

I agree with the previous posts that your should get a Mega Everdrive. At least to test out each game before you buy. For instance, I bought a cheap AliExpress repro of MegaMan Wiley Wars a while ago. I was really excited to play it, so I sat down and..... I hated it. I played it for 20 minutes and that was it. The reason was it played different on the Mega Drive release than the original NES. This killed it for me and I realized I wasted my money. With a EverDrive you can confirm that you like it, also you can try various patches that can improve the game.

Good luck

[4300]

I've bought a handful of repros from aliexpress. For the most part, they've been decent, although I have had a few that were non working upon arrival and aliexpress isn't nearly as willing to issue a refund as ebay is. Just understand the chance you're taking when ordering a $4 game from china.

[insertclevernamehere]

Thanks everybody for the advice so far. Definitely some useful info.

[zylon]

If you do get any Chinese repros, remove the pcb from the case and take a small file to slightly bevel the connector edges on both sides. Don't need to go far, but it will help to not crush the pins in the most common of the 2 Genesis/MD cart ports. If you can see the top metal edges of the pins in your port, you've got the common one. The less common one has the metal rolled back away from cart and tucked down behind itself. That version will eat repros all day.

 

I use one of those 125-in-1 carts often. Between that and my Everdrive, I'm good.

Edited September 3, 2018 by zylon

[Great Hierophant]

The Mega EverDrive X5 is, at $89.00, the cheapest and best option you can find if you want to play. By the time you buy eight repros, the cost would have repaid itself.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I own the MegaED X7 and you know what? I still buy repros of the games I really enjoy. Am I wasting my money? Perhaps, but then I still like having that physical version of the game with case, insert, and manual in some cases sitting on the shelf along with the other games. To be honest I mainly use my X7 for home brew games or scene demos that end up not being put to cart. I also use it to try out games or translations of games that I might be interested in. If I like what I've played, I then look to see about getting it in physical cart form.

[TOYPIGG]

I've bought about 30 games clamshell and carts from Aliexpress no complaints well one they sent pal cart accidentally

[Austin]

The Mega EverDrive X5 is, at $89.00, the cheapest and best option you can find if you want to play. By the time you buy eight repros, the cost would have repaid itself.

 

The X3 is a great alternative for people that want to pay even less and don't need the extra bells and whistles--$49 and it still has things like backup save support and instant loading.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Austin