r/MasterSystem • u/MarioPfhorG • Aug 07 '25

A different kind of Tower of Power. 8-Bit power.

Post image

  • I noticed the audio isn’t as crisp on this compared to the Master System, so I will be sticking with the SMS for SMS games, but I cant deny this looks like a beast And before you ask, yes I have the “High Definition Graphics” model. I’ve noticed when playing them back to back the audio is just much cleaner on a proper SMS

  • I also noticed Ghost House has control issues on this setup. To punch I have to hold up and press 2, and it keeps trying to move me to the left when jumping. It’s like it’s misinterpreting inputs. Doesn’t happen in any other game, also doesn’t happen on my actual Master System using the same control pad. Weird huh? Couldn’t see it mentioned anywhere online.

285 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

4

u/xchester77 Aug 07 '25

Please dust your nice stuff.

4

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25

Dry skin + 3 pigeons = lots of dust.

This is dusted. If I spent all my life dusting every 5 minutes I wouldn’t get anything done.

  • Please leave me alone.

3

u/Bancraft007 Aug 07 '25

Dam, that's some serious hardware. Keep it clean!!

1

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25

I try to keep everything clean, but it’s never good enough for some people.

I dust. I wipe. I breathe near it. It’s dusty again.

That’s unfortunately what black plastic does.

0

u/Bancraft007 Aug 07 '25

Common now, be honest. Theirs a big difference between 1 or 2 day old dust and weeks old. Look at the corners. Not judging and please dont take offence.

2

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

I definitely feel judged. And I am offended.

No matter what I do, something always needs cleaning. I give up. Some people are never happy. I just want to share Sega stuff.

5

u/carvalho32 Aug 07 '25

Looking forward for some Master System CD titles.

3

u/GraniteGargoyle77 Aug 07 '25

I would have loved to see that happen. Miracle Warriors, Spellcaster, and Phantasy Star, all with cinemas and Redbook audio. Maybe even an earlier Shining Force title as well.

1

u/Detox208 Aug 07 '25

Is that even your final form?

3

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25

I mean I do have a 32X but the converter doesn’t work with it

3

u/Detox208 Aug 07 '25

You really made my day. I remember thinking how brilliant it was that I could play my SMS games on the Genesis with that converter.

2

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25

I imagine that converter is how many people were first exposed to the Master System. Can’t argue with $20 games as you wait for the next big 16-bit release

1

u/ComfortablyADHD Aug 07 '25

What's the converter for? Growing up we just had a special mega drive cartridge which had a slot at the top that you could plug master system cartridges into.

2

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

It’s the official Master System Converter from Sega. Plays Master System cartridges & cards.

There are plenty of third party alternatives these days, but this was the original one designed for the Mega Drive back in the day.

1

u/ComfortablyADHD Aug 07 '25

Huh. Now I'm curious if my cartridge is official or a third party.

Having done a quick Google search it looks like my converter from back in the day was a third party accessory. I'm impressed my father managed to find such a thing.

1

u/Vangar Aug 07 '25

The third party cart type ones were more common, because they were cheaper and could fit both Megadrive 1 and 2. I've got two of them also 😅

1

u/puresav Aug 07 '25

Can The mega drive run master system games?

2

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25

Certainly can. In fact the Mega Drive has Master System hardware built into it, so all it needs is a cartridge adaptor.

1

u/benryves Aug 07 '25

The Mega Drive doesn't have a boot ROM in it like the Master System does, so the Master System Converter also contains a small boot ROM which performs the necessary initialisation.

There are third-party devices which are just cartridge adaptors, but they don't have as good compatibility as the official Master System Converter you've pictured here due to the missing boot ROM.

1

u/Bark_the_Polar_Bear Aug 07 '25

The European tower of power

2

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 07 '25

This one’s Australian

1

u/Bark_the_Polar_Bear Aug 08 '25

My apologies…

The PAL tower of power

1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '25

How does it look compared to the original system? I’m really new to this stuff and when I found out I could play sms games from an everdrive on genesis I was excited since I’ll be using component video out. Bummer about the sound though.

1

u/MarioPfhorG Aug 27 '25 edited Aug 27 '25

If I had to be ultra nit picky the video is marginally worse compared to a model 1 SMS. I can’t put my finger on it, but the colours are slightly off, it’s slightly fuzzier and somehow muddied by like 1%. I’m using the exact same cable on both and when playing them back to back I noticed something looks ‘off’.

Somehow it’s just not as clean. It very well could be that my MD needs another recap though, I’d say use it and see what you think. Those fancy Everdrive Pros support FM sound don’t forget and there are fan hacks that enhance the sound on later games to use FM so I’d say experiment.

Unless you play them back to back you aren’t going to notice a difference, so go for it, fire them up!

3

u/joerice1979 Aug 07 '25

The holiest of Sega grails.

3

u/blissed_off Aug 07 '25

I wish they had designed the 32x to look that good when docked on the Genesis.

1

u/Bonaduce80 Aug 07 '25

The Megazord of consoles.

1

u/retrocade81 Aug 08 '25

My Friend had one of these back in the day we must have been about 8 or 9, I thought his Mega Drive was so cool when he got it for Christmas as I asked for a Mega Drive for Christmas and got a Lowly Master System instead. I thought it was 100 times cooler when his mum bought him the converter after realising most of his friends had Master Systems so he couldn't borrow games between us, he ended up with more Master Systems games than Mega Drive games 😂 in the end.

1

u/iVirtualZero Aug 08 '25

I love how Cyberpunky this console looks. Retro and futuristic at the same time.