Megadrive borders (and how to get rid of them)

[sjewkestheloon]

Hi all, long time no post.

Just popped Gaiaries (jap version) into my Megadrive (pal system) and noticed that there are borders at the top and bottom of my screen. Does this mean that my system is running the game at a slower speed and with borders? Or does the game come bordered as a standard and it is running at full speed? I'm confused slightly.

How do i get my games running full speed if they are not? Is there any way to force my pal games into full speed?

Thanks in advance

*Edit*

Just done a bit of reading up and it seems that Thunder Force 4, another game i have, has been optimised for pal format and yet also has borders to the top and bottom of the screen. Is it simply due to my tele being in the wrong ratio? Or are the borders i am seeing something everyone has to put up with? It's not that bad and i've put up with it for long enough as it is but, as with everyone here, i want to best possible game experience within budget and reason.

[tassian]

A PAL MD always runs at 50Hz, no matter what. You're right that the PAL version of TF-IV is indeed optimized to run at the correct speed on a PAL MD (with borders, that is; to my knowledge there're no games that run at full PAL resolution on the Genesis/MD hardware). However, most other NTSC based games and most of their PAL conversions run too slow on a PAL MD. The only way to get the best gaming experience is to equip your MD with a 50/60Hz switch. And while you're at it, you should also mod it with a language switch. There's a good howto on MMMonkey's site for this mod. One important thing: the small minority of PAL optimized games like TF-IV and also PAL Streets of Rage 3 will be a complete mess when you run them on 60Hz. SoR3 will run in 60Hz if you switch from 50Hz to 60Hz directly after starting the console (right after the region check). But if you switch any later, it'll horribly garble up the game. TF-IV is messy no matter when you switch it to 60Hz. But all other games (even most PAL titles) run nicely and in the original speed in 60Hz.

[sjewkestheloon]

Many thanks for the info, although i'm totally rubbish with this sort of thing. I might have a go at it.

[tassian]

The Megadrive is neanderthal technology, you shouldn't have any trouble doing the mod. If you mess it up, get another MD for 5 € on Ebay. Seriously, the soldering is really easy. And there's plenty of room in the casing of the MD to put the switches.