MegaSD or Mega EverDrive Pro - which should I buy?

[glazball]

I might be the last person on the planet not to own one, but I've decided to finally get an Everdrive-type device for the Genesis.  Looking over the features of both the MegaSD (TerraOnion) and the Mega EverDrive Pro (Krikzz), they seem pretty much identical.  Both support Sega CD and MD Plus games and even the prices are identical.  In fact, the only noticeable difference I see (that might affect my gaming anyways) is that EverDrive has save states for Master System games, but MegaSD does not.

 

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on which one you prefer.  Does one have a higher-quality build or a better menu/interface?  Of course I'll be looking for reviews on YT over the weekend, but wanted to pick the brains of my fellow AAers.

[Tanooki]

Maybe it's old history, but I wouldn't trust terraonion, unless you'll get a nice warranty out of stoneagegamer who would cover it themselves for a period.  If the only difference is the save states and it comes down to nothing much else other than some cost disparity I'd stick with the everdrive.  TO has a very checkered past as far as their kits go for quality control, talking hardware+firmware level failures on their part and the fact they relocated to places where they don't get held liable to deal with product issues isn't exactly confidence boosting, but that's all wrapped up in earlier stories with the PCE side of things and a second neo kit to a lesser degree.  Krikzz has never been a crap peddler, quite consistent, very open facing and helpful with stuff in and from what I understand even out of warranty goods.

[newtmonkey]

I posted a comparison in another thread, so I'll copy and paste here:

 

 

Both devices have some great features in common:

+ Support for MD/GEN ROMs, Mark III/SMS ROMs, and Mega/Sega CD images

+ Nice options for tweaking Mega/Sega CD game audio (though I believe both devices were developed using MDFourier for nearly perfect audio compared with real hardware)

+ In-game menus for saving/loading states, quitting back to the menu, etc.

+ Both support the ability to play certain carts with CD quality audio (MD+ and MSU-MD)

 

MegaSD

+ Attractive interface with preview image support

+ In-game menu that works with both MD/GEN ROMs and Mega/Sega CD images, allowing you to exit back to the menu without having to reset the console

+ A fun option: You can choose to speed up hardware scrolling/rotation in Mega/Sega CD games (doesn't work with all games)

+ Nice overall construction, looks and feels like a high quality product

+ Support for MD+

- Interface is slightly slow... there is a pause to fade in/out the Mega SD logo, and it does this every time you reset to menu.  Listing folders with many files also can cause a short pause.

- Firmware updates require you to link your hardware serial number with your e-mail address, and download a unique FW file specifically for your hardware; fine now, but what about 15 years from now?

- Random crashes/black screens when loading images; I thought this might be due to my SD card, but I tried several SD cards and still had the issue occur.  It's not frequent, and only seemed to happen if I was resetting to menu somewhat frequently.

- Weird region incompatibilities.  This might only be with JPN consoles, as that's all I have.  On both my MD1 and MD2, I could not get a handful of US ROMs to run no matter what I did (region set to AUTO or US).

- No in-game menu for Mark III/SMS games (no save states, no reset to menu)

 

Mega Everdrive Pro

+ Very fast menu, both loading and browsing

+ In-game menu that works with both MD/GEN ROMs and Mark III/SMS ROMs, allowing you to exit back to the menu without having to reset the console

+ A nice convenience: You can delete files from the Everdrive interface itself; very convenient for deleting a game you discover you don't like or that doesn't work (for whatever reason)

+ More compact than the MegaSD (the same size as a regular cart, whereas the MegaSD is the same size as the Virtua Racing cart shell)

+ Extremely stable; I've not had a single crash or failure to load

+ Perfect region compatibility; all the US games I couldn't load on my JPN consoles using the Mega SD load fine on the Everdrive

+ Firmware updates are easy; just go on Krikzz site, download the FW, and drop it on the SD card

- Interface is a little boring compared with the Mega SD

- No in-game menu for Mega/Sega CD images (no save states, no reset to menu)

- Support for MS-MDU; negative because it apparently has some issues with seamless looping of tracks?

[Austin]

Terra Onion is run by douche-nuggets, while Krikzz is pretty cool. I'd personally go with the Mega Everdrive Pro on principle alone.

[+remowilliams]

3 minutes ago, Austin said:

Terra Onion is run by douche-nuggets, while Krikzz is pretty cool. I'd personally go with the Mega Everdrive Pro on principle alone.

This.  Right there.

 

Unless of course you think that things like fleeing to a tax haven and screwing your customers in the process, or accusing a poor guy living in a frigging real life war zone as trying to 'profit' off of it are totally cool.

[glazball]

Thank you everyone for the input.  I’ve heard nothing but terrible stories about TO’s customer service.  Sadly, they seem to be the only (reliable) option for the AES, but I don’t like having to register my device to get firmware updates.  I’m going to go with the Mega EverDrive Pro.

[Tanooki]

Nice to see more people backing and adding to what I said about those terraturds. 
 

You want awful look at the neo geo forums posts from Alex when they had major problems with their pce kit.  They attacked people had then stalked and harassed for trying to fix their faults for free no less. If anyone ever called out their shit he’d get all injured and whiny. So much bitch behavior. And when it got too hot they move to a no recourse country to evade the complaints.  F them. 

[newtmonkey]

Another negative for TO ime is that I've had to pay outrageous import fees for whatever reason from the two orders I placed with them.  For me, it was another 30-50 USD on top of the price of the product and shipping.  I'm sure it's the carrier they use.  I order a lot of stuff from overseas, and the only time I've had to pay this is when I order stuff from TO or Analogue, who use the same carrier... either DHL or Fedex, cannot remember which.

 

I've never had to pay these extras fees for orders placed from anyone else, including Krikzz.

[glazball]

Ordered the Mega ED Pro on Saturday and spent most of Sunday curating a 256GB MicroSD card.  Setting up and organizing everything is half of the fun!  I like the fact that the Mega ED Pro will also play NES ROMs, and after adding everything (all regions of MD, SCD, 32X, NES, MSU-MD, etc) I have over 50GB left on the card.  I still have some tweaking to do after the cart arrives, but it's basically ready to go.  Looking forward to checking out my first Krikzz product on one of my all-time favorite systems.  I plan to pick up the SNES and Turbo carts later this year too.

[Tanooki]

I think you'll like it, the basic menus it has work keeping it simple and fast to get where you need to be.  I've got the current non PRO model and it's such a smooth thing to just get it started and into a game, and if you want to keep going, forget the menu, hit start and last game just goes right on in.

[eightbit]

I have an X5 (since I have a real Sega CD and didn't need that option) and I can tell you it is a joy to use. I've been using Igor's (Krikzz) hardware since the very first Everdrive...back in the days when it was board only and you had to supply your own shell

 

He's a good guy and has helped me twice to resolve specific issues. He even sent me some Ukrainian candy and a Ukrainian dollar bill which I still have. Cool guy. Highly recommended.

[turbo graphics 220]

Never had a problem with terraonions stuff, their stuff takes a long time to come out but when it does it feels complete. I've had a couple of krizz's things which were made obsolete because a better cart came out soon after i brought mine. Never had a problem with updates, don't see the big deal with having to sign in.

I've got the mega sd, neo sd pro and super sd. Would be nice if in game reset worked for sms but the speed up for the sega cd asic speedup is useful in some games and demos.

I would just get the cheapest flashcart because you just know it won't be that long and a cart with an fpga 32x will come out and then the upgrade cycles happens all over again.

I've been using flashcarts since the tototek genesis one and we have come such a long way. My latest Krikkz card is for the gba, so nice to have a gba cart that just works.

Also krikkz usually has a halloween sale each year.

[Tanooki]

And SAG does black friday cuts as well which are their biggest of the year.  SOme years ago when I had my last go with the PCE, once prices got toxic I waited for that sale and got a nice slice off on a Turbo Everdrive, and it came within a few days, solid product and came with a store warranty of a year or so in case it failed (it didn't.)

[+Black_Tiger]

Did the Mega Everdrive Pro ever updated to support most disc image types?

 

MegaSD is super easy to add cd games to and use.

[eightbit]

On 9/13/2023 at 7:59 PM, Black_Tiger said:

Did the Mega Everdrive Pro ever updated to support most disc image types?

 

MegaSD is super easy to add cd games to and use.

 

A late reply I know, but that is only because I couldn't answer this until today....just received my Mega Everdrive Pro

 

I have had no issues. I have the standard set of multi-bin/cue that you find anywhere nowadays. Same set people are using on MiSTer I suppose. And, it works like a champ....no issues I have seen at all. 

 

It also supports MD+...I am not sure as I haven't kept up on these things to see if that is a new inclusion or has been around for a while on the Pro. But yeah, it plays those splendidly. 

 

After an evening playing with this I am quite blown away. One of the best works from Igor no doubt. I can absolutely recommend this if you can drop the money. I ordered mine directly from the Krikzz website since it is always OOS on SAG it seems, and it was a bit cheaper as well. It only took around two weeks to arrive.

Edited February 3 by eightbit

[Shannon Birt]

I've only had good experiences with the Mega Everdrive Pro.

 

I'm not really using all its features, been heavily into development I do use the USB connection which is great for fast rom uploading etc.

 

I did have a Mega SD even before TerraOnion were duchbags (the owneres comments re krikkz and the war were totally unforgivable) , and whilst it worked fine the actual sd card insertion and ejection is horrible (feels brittle and fragile and its recessed etc) compared to the the everdrive , so I couldn't recomend the Mega SD if you need to swap SD cards all the time.

 

I sold the Mega SD once I had the Everdrive Pro (mainly for the usb feature) and never looked back.

[Tanooki]

TO employees/owners were d-bags far before making shade towards krikzz.  Just look up what they did to helpful modders/part makers (like Voultar) over the problems with defective hardware on their PCE device.  They gas list people, used the trolls of the neo geo forum as a buffer/shield, talked crap, stalked and harassed people, refused to take any friendly criticism let alone fully complete handed to them hardware repair work to fix their defective crap.  They instead moved from one country to another to stave off customers and the law so they wouldn't have to pay out for court stuff or simply defective replacement moving operations to cyprus to dodge responsibility.  They deserve nothing.

[+wongojack]

OK - I have a semi related question about EverDrives.

 

I find myself with the opposite problem from the OP in that I own 2 Mega Drives.  I have a (now discontinued) Mega Everdrive x7 and a Mega EverDrive x3.  The X3 seems to be much newer than the x7 but I got them both second hand.  Here are the comparison pages for both:

Mega EverDrive X3 (krikzz.com)

Mega EverDrive X7 (krikzz.com)

 

Now, I'm not really a Mega/Genesis expert, and I haven't used these things very much so understanding all the ins and outs is tough.  I am going to get rid of one of these and am having trouble deciding which one to sell.  What would be the recommendation of this community?

 

----------

More info from the carts themselves

Mega EverDrive x3

Generation: Model 16

OS Ver 3.13

MegaKey Mode - Software

Assembly Date 19.5.2020

---

Mega EverDrive x7

Generation: Model 15

OS Ver 3.06

MegaKey Mode - Hardware

Assembly Date 8.1.2018

 

This is the manual:  Mega Everdrive-v2 user manual EN.pdf (krikzz.com)

 

One thing that is different that I notice from browsing the menus is that "Game RAM to SD" and "SD to Game RAM" seems to be greyed out in the options of the x3.  I don't fully understand what those options are, but it seems to only be available on the x7.

[eightbit]

5 hours ago, wongojack said:

OK - I have a semi related question about EverDrives.

 

I find myself with the opposite problem from the OP in that I own 2 Mega Drives.  I have a (now discontinued) Mega Everdrive x7 and a Mega EverDrive x3.  The X3 seems to be much newer than the x7 but I got them both second hand.  Here are the comparison pages for both:

Mega EverDrive X3 (krikzz.com)

Mega EverDrive X7 (krikzz.com)

 

Now, I'm not really a Mega/Genesis expert, and I haven't used these things very much so understanding all the ins and outs is tough.  I am going to get rid of one of these and am having trouble deciding which one to sell.  What would be the recommendation of this community?

 

----------

More info from the carts themselves

Mega EverDrive x3

Generation: Model 16

OS Ver 3.13

MegaKey Mode - Software

Assembly Date 19.5.2020

---

Mega EverDrive x7

Generation: Model 15

OS Ver 3.06

MegaKey Mode - Hardware

Assembly Date 8.1.2018

 

This is the manual:  Mega Everdrive-v2 user manual EN.pdf (krikzz.com)

 

One thing that is different that I notice from browsing the menus is that "Game RAM to SD" and "SD to Game RAM" seems to be greyed out in the options of the x3.  I don't fully understand what those options are, but it seems to only be available on the x7.

 

 

The X7 can be used as a backup cartridge for the Sega CD if you have one. If not then it is a useless feature to you.

 

The X7 supports save states which people tend to like in order to cheat their way through games, but I never use it because I am hardcore

 

Also, I see the build date on the X7 is 2018. IIRC there was some kind of power issue with the X7 that could potentially lead to damaging the console but that was corrected on newer revisions. There may be someone else that has more information and links that can chime in on this, but I remember it being a pretty big thing some years back. I am not sure which revs were affected.

 

Another thing you didn't mention is that MegaKey feature. It might not be so useful to you if you are on a USA Genesis playing USA games, but it is necessary for me. I have an X3 for example in a Megadrive model 2. It has no hardware megakey so I can't play quite a few region locked USA games. That said, I need to replace that X3 with a variant that does have the Megakey. If you decide to sell the X7 let me know.

Edited March 5 by eightbit

[Tanooki]

I remember that power issue.  Some nameless drama queen showed up on social media formats then forums pissing and whining how terrible krikzz was and his design, seemed like just some salty asshole really in how it all came off.  He was acting like well the voltage is thus, therefore it will murder your system.  IT was more a matter of fact, then the reality of it being while it was possible it was dramatically unlikely, and the odds are using it or not the chance the hardware would fail for yet another reason is about as much of a chance as an old ED blowing it out.  People started pushing back, dude got all whiny and upset about not getting the ring kissed, and it just kind of fizzled until hardware stuff aged out, redesigns were done because of the part losses, and the issue either due to his bitching or not resolved itself.

 

As far as what ED matters, look at your region, look at what you own, look into the features that matter.  From there, see which one if you don't care would net you more money for your swap out and go for it.

[+wongojack]

1 hour ago, eightbit said:

 

 

The X7 can be used as a backup cartridge for the Sega CD if you have one. If not then it is a useless feature to you.

 

The X7 supports save states which people tend to like in order to cheat their way through games, but I never use it because I am hardcore

 

Also, I see the build date on the X7 is 2018. IIRC there was some kind of power issue with the X7 that could potentially lead to damaging the console but that was corrected on newer revisions. There may be someone else that has more information and links that can chime in on this, but I remember it being a pretty big thing some years back. I am not sure which revs were affected.

 

Another thing you didn't mention is that MegaKey feature. It might not be so useful to you if you are on a USA Genesis playing USA games, but it is necessary for me. I have an X3 for example in a Megadrive model 2. It has no hardware megakey so I can't play quite a few region locked USA games. That said, I need to replace that X3 with a variant that does have the Megakey. If you decide to sell the X7 let me know.

Yes, I remember when I bought this thing that it was possible to have a power issue - that is why it was sold to me.  I figured that I wouldn't be playing it much (I haven't) and I'd risk it.

 

I discovered tonight the Save State support is only on the x7.  I'm a big ugly cheater, so I like that and will likely keep it.

 

Despite reading lots of info on the Krikzz website, I still don't really understand "MegaKey."  Your post tells me it has something to do with region locked games - ok.  Is there a list of those games somewhere?

[eightbit]

17 minutes ago, wongojack said:

Despite reading lots of info on the Krikzz website, I still don't really understand "MegaKey."  Your post tells me it has something to do with region locked games - ok.  Is there a list of those games somewhere?

https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_region_coding

 

If I use the X3 on my Mega Drive or Mega Drive 2 and attempt to play any of those NTSC-U games (USA) I will get a nice message telling me the game was designed for North America territories. The only way I could get those games to work is by using a program on the PC to patch the rom to region free and then copy it back over to the microSD. Super tedious.

 

I have a Mega Everdrive Pro as well that has all of the bells and whistles and the megakey. With that I can choose the region before launching the game on the fly. So, pick Japan region and I am playing "The Super Shinobi" or USA region and I am playing "Revenge of Shinobi" for example. It's great and I wish I had two of them for both of my machines...lol!

 

The Mega Key thing is based on a cartridge back in the day that would allow you to play region locked games on any console. It's conveniently integrated into Krikzz's carts (X5 and up)

 

 

 

Hope that helps to explain it. Pretty simple, but man is it needed especially if you are into Japanese import Sega hardware like me

Edited March 5 by eightbit

[+wongojack]

8 minutes ago, eightbit said:

https://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_region_coding

 

If I use the X3 on my Mega Drive or Mega Drive 2 and attempt to play any of those NTSC-U games (USA) I will get a nice message telling me the game was designed for North America territories. The only way I could get those games to work is by using a program on the PC to patch the rom to region free and then copy it back over to the microSD. Super tedious.

 

I have a Mega Everdrive Pro as well that has all of the bells and whistles and the megakey. With that I can choose the region before launching the game on the fly. So, pick Japan region and I am playing "The Super Shinobi" or USA region and I am playing "Revenge of Shinobi" for example. It's great and I wish I had two of them for both of my machines...lol!

 

The Mega Key thing is based on a cartridge back in the day that would allow you to play region locked games on any console. It's conveniently integrated into Krikzz's carts (X5 and up)

 

 

 

Hope that helps to explain it. Pretty simple, but man is it needed especially if you are into Japanese import Sega hardware like me

But why wouldn't you just play US region games on a Genesis?  Does this also happen in reverse where you can't play Japanese region games on a Genesis?

 

Edit - I clicked the link and see all the various directions this goes.  Very helpful as always, thank you.

[eightbit]

10 minutes ago, wongojack said:

But why wouldn't you just play US region games on a Genesis?  Does this also happen in reverse where you can't play Japanese region games on a Genesis?

 

Edit - I clicked the link and see all the various directions this goes.  Very helpful as always, thank you.

 

That's right, if you have an X3 and a USA Genesis and play USA Genesis games you really don't need the Megakey functionality. But, if you are trying to play other region games you will. So the answer to that is YES, there are many Japanese and PAL region games that will spit out the error on your USA console that you cannot play them due to the region. In short, having the megakey function is a license to play games from all regions without region modding the console...which is pretty cool.

 

In my case I am not using a USA Genesis. I am using a Japanese Mega Drive. But, I am from the USA and want to play USA games on it, so the megakey is essential!

 

Now, why do I have a Japanese Mega Drive instead of a USA Genesis? No reason other than I like the console name and big gold 16-bit logo better! And, as far as I am aware the Genesis does not have "High Grade Multipurpose Use". I am still trying to found out what those high grade uses are...but I am sure they are in there somewhere!

 

 

Yeah...I am crazy...

Edited March 5 by eightbit

[eightbit]

11 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I remember that power issue.  Some nameless drama queen showed up on social media formats then forums pissing and whining how terrible krikzz was and his design, seemed like just some salty asshole really in how it all came off.  He was acting like well the voltage is thus, therefore it will murder your system.  IT was more a matter of fact, then the reality of it being while it was possible it was dramatically unlikely, and the odds are using it or not the chance the hardware would fail for yet another reason is about as much of a chance as an old ED blowing it out.  People started pushing back, dude got all whiny and upset about not getting the ring kissed, and it just kind of fizzled until hardware stuff aged out, redesigns were done because of the part losses, and the issue either due to his bitching or not resolved itself.

 

As far as what ED matters, look at your region, look at what you own, look into the features that matter.  From there, see which one if you don't care would net you more money for your swap out and go for it.

 

Yeah, I agree and I too took what he was saying with a grain of salt. I have been using Krikzz's devices since the very first Everdrive prototype which must have been...gosh...15 years ago? I have never had any issues with his devices and my consoles.