Phantasy star 2/3 (Gensis/MegaDrive)

HorseBatteryStaple

OK, so i got a new (huh, new...lol!) genny!my favourite games (mentioned above) are A LOT cheaper in japanese. i ca get get acess to the copies( in japanese) i have done the cart port mod., but i would like to know if the auto-switch to english?
...
confused?
OK, so what happend is SEGA actuall hade the same cart pcb for everywhere (until 'bout '91) for EVERYWHERE. so if ya pop a '90 EU megadrive cart into a us genny (megadrive/genesis) ittl work. but i dont know if these game will do that, and i have to shell out 16 quid/$ for 'em PLUS shippin so i wanna know before hand.
-CorrectHorseBatteyStaple

BigCJ

As far as I'm aware, the Genesis used region lockouts based in the code of each game instead of the cartridge hardware. Each game is slightly different, with most I've tried not giving a crap what region the system is. Biggest problem I've seen is the speed of games, but since you want Japanese games there's no issue there; both American and Japanese games run 60FPS. Use an emulator and a ROM image of the game(s) you want. Make sure the region is set to North America and it is the Japanese version of the ROM. If it fails there, it'll most likely fail on real hardware as well.

HorseBatteryStaple wrote:

but i would like to know if the auto-switch to english?

You mean will the game text show up in English instead of Japanese? Probably not. Unless there's an in-game menu setting, there is no English text in the game. This is because Genesis game carts are not designed to change settings based on region, just freeze the console if it isn't the exact one it wanted. The region of the system makes no difference on the actual content if you can get the game to run.

HorseBatteryStaple

Well, i have tried a Emulator, but only to be dissapointed that it did not do that.Otherwise,I used a US Streets 'O Rage ROM with the emu region set to japan and when i started it (the emu/VM) up, it went to the title screen... of Bare Knuckle (what SOR was called in JP.).huh.
-CorrectHorseBatteryStaple
P.S The reason why SOR did that is SEGA didn't wanna spend the extra money on making diff. roms, ect. and its 60Hz not FPS! its actually 29.97 FPS.ik its werid.

BigCJ

HorseBatteryStaple wrote:

it went to the title screen... of Bare Knuckle (what SOR was called in JP.).huh.

New one on me. Never seen a Sega game do that.

HorseBatteryStaple wrote:

its 60Hz not FPS!

I use a lot of emulators. Every single one reads out 60 FPS when run at regular speed with an American ROM image on a capable system.

HorseBatteryStaple

I have used (Almost) every MegaDrive/Genesis emulator, and yes, it (they) do have a box that says something along the lines of 60(54-62) SOMETHING, but if you look, NTSC runs at 29.97 FPS (frames). It DOES however run at 59.845 FPS,basically 60. (Fields Per Second, a field is the vert./horiz. part of the frame, so its 1/2 of the frame.), so the is plenty of confusion to be had here.Thanks anyways,
-CorrectHorseBatteyStaple

(P.S it only works with some carts, even if the same game.)

BigCJ

Okay, I was wrong. I've had emulators blatantly say Frames Per Second.

A field is where the electron gun sweeps all the way from the top to the
bottom of the screen.

A frame is a complete picture of scan lines from the top to the bottom
of the screen.

The difference is that PAL (and NTSC), take two fields to draw one frame
because each field shows alternating scanlines on the screen.

You can see this by slow stepping video that has rapid side to side motion.

Anyway, I guess some games can swap between Japanese and English, but it's a real crapshoot whether one certain game will. If you find a certain game you want to buy, test it in the emulator first. If it works, buy it; if not, save up for the American version. Buy the American version anyway, waiting for packages from Japan is a real pain.

HorseBatteryStaple

Ah, Well, they soldit by my 2nd comment anyway.
P.S it was a US seller.