About GameGear Multicarts...

[crc_73]

I got one the other day. It's an 18 in 1 cartridge with the following games:

 

COLUMS (sic), GHOST HOUSE, PENGO, STAELLILE (sic), WOODY POP, HANG NO (sic),BASEBALL, SOCCER, ASTRO FLASE (sic), TENNIS, MY HERO, MACHING GUN (sic), SPY VS SPY, ARKANOID (same as Woody Pop), PIT POT, EASY PENGO (same as Pengo, but I think has unlimited lives), TEDDY BOY (I believe it to be TB Blues - music is like in arcade version), GHOST HOUSE

 

A few of the games appear to be the actual GG versions, like Columns, Pengo (and easy pengo), and work well, and the others have the "Sega Mark III" intro at the game start, but with these games there is a significant amount of constant flickering, almost like some refresh rate is incorrect.

 

Has anyone had any experience with these cartridges? Is what I'm expereincing normal fare? Is it possible that a newer GG model might make it work better?

 

I was thinking about the above, and the Master Gear adaptor device. Does this device just adapt to the different pin configuration, or is there also some electronics inside the adaptor to make the SMS cartridges work. If there is no electronics inside, then I guess that the GG handles the converting of the code, etc. of the older SMS cart to make it work on the GG. If this is the case, then maybe there is a slight problem with my GG unit.

 

Anyone with any clues? What might be at fault, the cartridge, my GG unit, or is the flickering normal with these carts.

 

Thanks for any helpful comments.

[SteveW]

It sounds like the games on that cart are European, which would mean they might be in PAL format. I wonder if playing PAL SMS games on a GameGear would cause the flickering effect? Can anyone shed a little light on this?

[crc_73]

I don't know for sure if the games are European or whatever, but the game listing on the front of the cart is also in Japanese (pic attached), so I figure maybe they are Japanese versions. I've downloaded a few of the ROMS to try to compare, but as far as I can tell, they are the same (Japanese games seem to have english in them regardless); I will try to do a proper analysis asap.

 

My system was bought in the UK, but I understand that shouldn't matter as far as carts are concerned - it should play them all.

 

But does anyone know about the Master Gear converters/adaptors, do they handle any sort of electronic "conversion", or do they just "adapt" to the different pin configuration between the SMS and GG carts?

[crc_73]

I don't know for sure if the games are European or whatever, but the game listing on the front of the cart are also in Japanese (pic attached), so I figure maybe they are Japanese versions. I've downloaded a few of the ROMS to try to compare, but as far as I can tell, they are the same (Jap games seem to have english regardless); I will try to do a proper analysis asap.

 

My system was bought in the UK, but I understand that shouldn't matter as far as carts are concerned - it should play them all.

 

But does anyone know about the Master Gear converters/adaptors, do they handle any sort of electronic "conversion", or do they just "adapt" to the different pin configuration between the SMS and GG carts?

[Bruce Tomlin]

There's not enough resolution to tell for sure, but I think that's Chinese, not Japanese. No katakana/hiragana means it's not Japanese. Probably some kind of HK bootleg.