Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforce IV

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FunktionJCB
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by FunktionJCB »

Sadly, a message on this mini console brought to light the news of the death earlier this year of Rieko Kodama, who directed Phantasy Star IV, and was an artist or producer on several classic SEGA games (from Alex Kidd and Sonic games, to Skies of Arcadia).

Here's one of the various tribute messages posted, in this case by Yuji Naka:

https://twitter.com/nakayuji/status/1585517094971768832
Steven
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

This is most saddening. I imagine most people who are not super hardcore Sega fans from the 80s and 90s know of her, and she deserved a hell of a lot more recognition than what she got.

Well, a more positive thing: I have confirmed that the Cyber Stick does need to be connected to controller port 2 to function properly.

Now, what we all really are here for: Space Harrier II and Space Harrier. These seem really good. I checked the controls against the Switch Sega Ages Space Harrier (which of course Kodama Rieko worked on as producer), and the original Space Harrier is quite good. Unfortunately, if you don't like crazy amounts sprite flicker, you probably won't like this version. It plays just fine, though. Space Harrier II also has some flicker, but not as much. It controls the same as Space Harrier and arcade Space Harrier.

I also checked the credits and I found something interesting: Fantasy Zone's credits have a familiar logo: "Powered by M2 ShotTriggers". I haven't played it yet, but I already know it's going to be excellent. Not sure if there is really be a reason to play this instead of the Switch Sega Ages one, but I'll check it out, maybe tomorrow, as it's past midnight and I am quite tired.

Finally, input lag. I can detect a small amount on Sonic CD, but that's because I've been playing Sonic regularly and frequently for like 30 years and I can easily tell when there is input lag. Elsewhere it seems fine. Now I know someone will probably come along in the near future and say that it actually has like 5~6 frames of lag and that I'm a liar for saying that the lag isn't bad or whatever, but I quite literally can't detect any lag on anything else. Tatsujin is fine and cool with the fixed music, although I'd still rather play the arcade version. Overall, not a bad little mini console, I think.
SavagePencil
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SavagePencil »

Maybe this belongs in the Hardware section, but in this Twitter thread ( https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/158 ... tQlgFvzNrw ) it's asserted that some of the games on the MD Mini II are running as if they are on a TeraDrive, which apparently offered an overclocking option. Do people have more details on this?
Steven
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

Well, the Space Harrier games start with a big Sega Mark V logo. Yes, Mark V. TeraDrive was I believe M2's Mega Drive emulator that they used for the 3DS 3D games.
Bassa-Bassa
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

The Tera Drive was actually an IBM-compatible PC/Mega Drive combo with a dual sync monitor and the option to O/C MD games.
Steven
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

Oops, yeah, it was... maybe it was the GigaDrive that was the one on the 3DS. My memory is super terrible...
SavagePencil
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SavagePencil »

Yeah, more details on it can be found here: https://segaretro.org/Teradrive
Martinov
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Martinov »

I've spent a couple of hours with it, and I think all in all I prefer it to the MDM1.

You can now adjust the amount of time mode button is pressed before the menu comes up, which is a huge improvement. I lost track of the number of times I accidently hit it on the MDM1 during frenetic moments.

There's several games here that wouldn't work on the MDM1, such as Afterburner, and several that had no sound (Midnight Resistance, Truxton, Hellfire). In fact, I like the roster here. For me, the only glaring omissions are Rocket Knight Adventures, Snatcher and Time Gal or maybe Road Avenger.

The ability to switch sound between the MD1 and MD2 is a neat touch, although the sound still is off in many instances - Atomic Runner in particular isn't that accurate.

Weirdly, I have not found the lag on the MDM2 to be as intrusive as on the MDM1. The Ships in Tatsujin and Thunderforce IV still felt controllable at top speed. This however might be my imagination. At some point I'm going to go back and test between the MDM1 and MDM2 just to see if there any real differences in the audio/visuals and lag.
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Mero
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Mero »

It'll be a little while before I spend much time with this but I gave it a test drive this afternoon, played a few credits of Truxton (for the first time since about 1991) and had no issues. I could effortlessly do the double jumps in Revenge of Shinobi, which is a good sign regarding lag.
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TransatlanticFoe
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by TransatlanticFoe »

Things I forgot that I pre-ordered!

It has Gain Ground on it, so I have mostly been playing Gain Ground. The new Space Harrier is kind of nice but there's a fair bit of flicker/tearing - it's impressive but would probably have been easier to emulate 32X instead? Gave Desert Strike a go and, having only really played it on the SMS, came away with a newfound respect for just how good the SMS port is. Final Fight CD is, of course, largely superfluous now the arcade version has been ported many times - but it's fun to see just how close this is. The colour palette is obvious, it doesn't push as much on screen and some of the enemies' reach/priorities seem different (Holly Wood and El Gado have a longer reach and can hit you with certain attacks when you're mid-throw animation, Sodom and Edi E are less aggressive). There are a few instances of flicker and, while we get Roxy and Poison, we also get Thrasher and Katana. Still, would have been mighty impressive back in '93! Oh yeah, and this must be the only CD game where the music is shit, WTF were they thinking?!

Of course I'd rather be loading the games as a compilation on Switch instead of plugging something else in, but it's definitely worth the money.
bigbadboaz
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by bigbadboaz »

..FFCD music is incredible. And it certainly was back in '93 as one of the first Redbook games.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by pcb_revival »

Looks like micomsoft have been KO`ed from any new scalers so instead have brought back a peripheral (Cyber Stick) that was first released way back when for the Sharp X68000.

This new version is compatible with the mini 2 and PC.

Release date - 27 October 2022.

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google english.

https://www-micomsoft-co-jp.translate.g ... _tr_pto=sc
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Koa Zo
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Koa Zo »

One Amazon JPN reviewer is saying the CyberStick is supposed to be restocked near end of November.
I actually had one ordered through Amazon, but then cancelled it after really thinking about how much I'll actually use it.
I have the original CyberStick and it is pretty cool to play PCEngine Out Run with.

I'd been secretly hoping that M2 would add analog control to the driving games on the MD Mini2
SuperDeadite
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SuperDeadite »

Koa Zo wrote:One Amazon JPN reviewer is saying the CyberStick is supposed to be restocked near end of November.
I actually had one ordered through Amazon, but then cancelled it after really thinking about how much I'll actually use it.
I have the original CyberStick and it is pretty cool to play PCEngine Out Run with.

I'd been secretly hoping that M2 would add analog control to the driving games on the MD Mini2
If you have an original Cyberstick, there is a USB adapter for it designed specifically to work with the MD Mini 2. Sold on Beep, Ken, and Booth for about 5,000yen.
Also suppirts real MD pads. Considering yen is worthless right now, it's a great pickup.

https://www.beep-shop.com/ec/products/detail/28588
https://www.kadenken.com/view/item/000000001480
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RadiantAnsel
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by RadiantAnsel »

I've seen good feedback coming from the thing, if you use a strong enough power supply, you could be able to reduce the input lag and get away from emulation problems

It also supports an USB hub for a "multitap" (Columns III comes to mind first), and a mouse for compatible games.

I must say I'm mostly interested in the CyberStick the most tho
No fails are allowed.
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neorichieb1971
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by neorichieb1971 »

Is it worth the money then?

I held back wanting Keio on it, but that didn't happen. Maybe I should just buy it, even If I don't like it, it will be worth 250 smackers next year.
This industry has become 2 dimensional as it transcended into a 3D world.
Steven
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

SuperDeadite wrote:Considering yen is worthless right now
Please don't remind me. My money is worth basically nothing now, so importing anything or buying anything on GOG is fucking awful.
neorichieb1971
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by neorichieb1971 »

I'm changing quite a lot of cash into Yen at the moment, going in August. If that gets cancelled due to covid hopefully its worth a bit more by then.
This industry has become 2 dimensional as it transcended into a 3D world.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by KimagureMachibuse »

neorichieb1971 wrote:Is it worth the money then?

I held back wanting Keio on it, but that didn't happen. Maybe I should just buy it, even If I don't like it, it will be worth 250 smackers next year.

I had a good thought about this mini and realized

while i was thinking for some cool Sega CD Stuff and Genesis games they could put on this thing like Sparkster Rocket Knight Adventures 2, Pulseman, Lords of Thunder and Keio Flying Squadron

it be just better to hack a sega genesis mini instead or just use a good ol retropie instead as you could just put all the sega genesis and cd games you want on either.

Id say its worth getting it for those newly created games and hombrews Space Harrier 2 actually runs at a good framrate

and the Star Mobile port looks to be pretty cool looking. i have yet to play X68000 roms on an emulator though so i would not know how it may compare.

however it not being nativley available in the US is to say questionable and not worth hassling much on.
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BrianC
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by BrianC »

RadiantAnsel wrote: I must say I'm mostly interested in the CyberStick the most tho
I'm interested in seeing if it works with the XE1-AP games in MiSTer. The TG-16 core has a WIP that recently added support.
Steven
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

BrianC wrote:
RadiantAnsel wrote: I must say I'm mostly interested in the CyberStick the most tho
I'm interested in seeing if it works with the XE1-AP games in MiSTer. The TG-16 core has a WIP that recently added support.
Don't worry, I am going to test that eventually, although I have been lazy since I don't want to have to try to configure it since it's weird and stuff.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

The Thunder Force IV on this thing has the score fix from the Switch Sega Ages version.
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Koa Zo
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Koa Zo »

SuperDeadite wrote:
Koa Zo wrote:One Amazon JPN reviewer is saying the CyberStick is supposed to be restocked near end of November.
I actually had one ordered through Amazon, but then cancelled it after really thinking about how much I'll actually use it.
I have the original CyberStick and it is pretty cool to play PCEngine Out Run with.

I'd been secretly hoping that M2 would add analog control to the driving games on the MD Mini2
If you have an original Cyberstick, there is a USB adapter for it designed specifically to work with the MD Mini 2. Sold on Beep, Ken, and Booth for about 5,000yen.
Also suppirts real MD pads. Considering yen is worthless right now, it's a great pickup.

https://www.beep-shop.com/ec/products/detail/28588
https://www.kadenken.com/view/item/000000001480
Wow, that is incredible! Thanks so much for pointing these out!
I've never shopped using a proxy service but will have to figure it out for one of these.

If I'm remembering correctly, the original CyberStick did not function on MegaDrive/Genesis, do you know if an adapter was ever available to allow it to work?
SuperDeadite
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SuperDeadite »

So this cool Korean dude is using an OG Cyberstick with the USB adapter, then plugged into a USB to Atari arduino adapter to use the stick on MSX.
https://youtu.be/szd4XTzqHpw

Iirc, OG Cyberstick on MD is easy, just a pinout changer is needed. Been a long time though. Cyberstick was very well supported. X68000 was the main, but even some FM Towns games (Turbo Outrun, Galaxy Force 2, Wing Commander) support it directly.
FunktionJCB
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by FunktionJCB »

Steven wrote:Now, what we all really are here for: Space Harrier II and Space Harrier. These seem really good. I checked the controls against the Switch Sega Ages Space Harrier (which of course Kodama Rieko worked on as producer), and the original Space Harrier is quite good. Unfortunately, if you don't like crazy amounts sprite flicker, you probably won't like this version. It plays just fine, though. Space Harrier II also has some flicker, but not as much. It controls the same as Space Harrier and arcade Space Harrier.
It seems there's some hidden options to "fix" the flicker on both Space Harrier II and Space Harrier.

As reported by this user:
https://twitter.com/Ameron001/status/15 ... 4098584578

On the main menu, hold right over options and hit start.
This will add an additional option called "Deflicker", as shown on the video above.

---

He also found some hidden features for Fantasy Zone:
https://twitter.com/Ameron001/status/15 ... 6457716736


I wonder what else will be found. :)
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TransatlanticFoe
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by TransatlanticFoe »

Just tried in Space Harrier and neither makes much difference really. In the stages when the ceiling comes down, everything flickers hideously to the point where it's blind luck making it through. They'd have been better off doing a 3rd one with 32X games and port Space Harrier II into that, rather than try to make Space Harrier work on the MD.
Azathoth_0
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Azathoth_0 »

I noticed the title screen for Robo Aleste still has Tengen listed on it, which is something I definitely did not expect. I'm curious to know how the licensing issues went with including that particular version.

Also, what's the deal with removing digitized pictures from some of these rereleases? I get changing Revenge of Shinobi's title screen since that was an unauthorized straight copy, but why the hell change the ones in The Ninja Warriors? Same goes with Namco's rereleases of Splatterhouse 3 on some formats.
Steven
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

I tried the Cyber Stick on the MiSTer. It only registers as a digital controller on the Genesis/MD core, as that does not seem to have the ability to support analog controls as of right now. Kind of odd considering the XE-1AP exists, but that's how it is.
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BrianC
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by BrianC »

Oddly enough, it's only a WIP TG-16 core that added the XE-1AP emulation. The YC version of it here has the support and is a later build that works both via hdmi, component, and native s-video/composite. https://github.com/MikeS11/MiSTerFPGA_Y ... C%20Builds

Not sure why the Genesis core doesn't yet support it when TG-16 beat it to the punch.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Turrican »

I wish someone would write down a FAQ or at least a comprehensive checklist with all changes for the sixty games included, because I basically unearth a change per day and It feels like there was no ROM untouched.

1 After Burner II
2 Atomic Runner
3 Bonanza Bros.
4 ClayFighter
5 Crusader of Centy
6 Desert Strike
7 Earthworm Jim 2
8 Ecco CD
9 Ecco Tides of Time CD
10 Elemental Master
11 Fatal Fury 2
12 Final Fight CD
13 Gain Ground
14 Golden Axe II (6B pad compatibility fixed)
15 Granada
16 Hellfire
17 Herzog Zwei
18 Mansion of Hidden Souls
19 Midnight Resistance
20 Night Striker
21 Night Trap
22 The Ninjawarriors (altered title graphics?)
23 The Ooze
24 OutRun (Ferrari in-game graphics altered)
25 OutRunners
26 Phantasy Star II (Easy mode, fast walk, reduced epilepsy flashes in battle; hold down B button during battles for fast forward)
27 Populous
28 Rainbow Islands Extra (altered in game music)
29 Ranger X
30 The Revenge of Shinobi (altered graphics, rev?)
31 Ristar
32 Robo Aleste
33 Rolling Thunder 2
34 Sewer Shark
35 Shadow Dancer (Twin Towers removed in title graphics)
36 Shining Force CD
37 Shining Force II
38 Shining in the Darkness
39 Silpheed
40 Sonic 3D Blast
41 Sonic CD
42 Space Harrier II (new sprite scaling)
43 Splatterhouse 2
44 Streets of Rage 3 (Ash stage removed)
45 Super Hang-On (which rev?)
46 Super Street Fighter II (improved audio balance?)
47 ThunderForce IV (fast mode, score fix)
48 Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
49 Truxton (revised music)
50 Vectorman 2
51 Viewpoint (slowdown removed?)
52 Virtua Racing
53 Warsong
Last edited by Turrican on Mon Dec 19, 2022 2:38 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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