Megadrive/ Genesis import question (not as non-specific as it sounds...)

DusT_HounD

Guys, i'm having something of a shmup phase, and recently had a hankering for some megadrive (genesis to our 'merican cousins) action. I have an old European MD1, which still works, however i am becoming interested in certain games that did not receive a release in Euroland.

I was tempted to get one of those Blaze 15-in-1 Megadrive consoles, that are reportedly region-free, however i heard that they work by some kind of emulation, rather than genuine MD/Gen hardware, and as such may have some compatibility issues with games on carts.

There are conflicting reports regarding these devices, with some people saying none of their carts work, others saying that only a few have any problems, so i can't really tell who's right- my best guess is that some are receiving dodgy units, kind of like the Hong Kong Dingoo fiasco that happened recently, where some people received units from importers, that were intended for the Hong Kong market, and were completely unfit for purpose- i.e. shoddy knock-offs, while others received the genuine article that does work.

So my question is twofold- does anyone have first- hand experience of the Blaze units, and was it positive or negative? Secondly, would i actually be better off looking for an import adaptor for my real MD on ebay, and if so, which would be the best one to go for?

Madpanda

I would just find a used genesis on ebay, for american listings at least they seem pretty cheap (~$20).

I looked into a similar knockoff when I decided I wanted to get a SNES, the consensus seemed to be close, but had issues and sound is not 100% accurate on all games. Also they cost about the same as a used good condition snes ran me so the only thing I would gain is new hardware and nes compatibility.

Beasteh

I used a Blaze I got from Taiwan from early 2000 until 2003 after my MD1 AND MD2 both packed up at around the same time, just deteriorated due to age.

I ended up ditching the Blaze and buying a pristine MD1 for £15, well worth the investment.

I had a lot of problems with the Blaze - it absolutely refused to play several of my favourite carts (Rocket Knight Adventures, Columns 3, Sonic and Knuckles+Sonic 3) but had no trouble at all playing other games (just for reference these games include Streets of Rage 2, Street Fighter 2 Turbo Edition and Golden Axe 2)

Of course it's almost impossible to tell whether you get the genuine article or a shoddy Hong Kong knockoff so imho just stick with the genuine article.

unfortunately, I can't help with the adaptor question

Vulpine

From what I've seen, audio reproduction isn't accurate, either - some instruments are definitely lower in pitch than they should be, some samples not played accurately (or at all), and so on.