Analogue Mega Sg Review - Is the Sega GENESIS clone worth $190?!?

- Hello guys, this is Metal Jesus. Now I'm a big fan of the Analogue company, because for a while now they have been releasing very high quality FPGA based retro

clone

systems with almost 100% compatibility, zero lag, all within an elegant design. Their NES and Super NES

clone

systems are already well received. And their new FPGA-based cloning system is called Mega Sg. And that is also highly anticipated. So in this video we are going to

review

the system. I also have the controller here. We'll compare it to an original Sega Genesis and the RetroN 5 so you can decide which system is right for you.

We'll see. (metal music) Alright, here's a closer look at the Analogue Mega Sg. And as I mentioned, this is intended to be a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive clone system. But it is different from many others that already exist on the market and that are a little cheaper or maybe not as good because this one is based on FPGA. Which means it's not actually an emulation. It is technically a digital recreation of the original hardware. Now why would you want to do that and what is the problem with FPGA? Well, if you want to bring those classic Genesis games into the modern era with crisp 1080p output to your new HD TV without introducing latency, well, once again, FPGA is the way to go.

And with this version, they're pairing it with 8BitDo's high-quality M30 controller that streams wirelessly. But that is optional because you can use original drivers if you want. And you will notice that the size of this cloning system is smaller than even the Model 2 Genesis. It's actually almost identical to the size of their Super Nintendo clone system they released last year. They feel very sturdy and very high quality. Let's go ahead and walk around the unit. This is the front, and at the top you have the power. Plus the reset button. Then you have the two controller ports right there.

And you also have a headphone jack. On the back of the machine they keep it very simple. It has an HDMI output and a micro USB power input. And it comes with a power brick and cable in the box. On the left side of the unit is an SD slot where you can update the firmware. And on the right side there is a port where you can connect it to a Sega CD. And I'm going to demonstrate it in a moment. But for now, let's go ahead, plug everything in, turn it on, and check out the menu and settings. (calm electronic music) Here in the main menu you can run cartridges, which is pretty self explanatory.

But below that, check it out. It's Play Ultracore. This is an unreleased Genesis game that is included in each of these consoles. Now, I'll show you how to run in a moment. It's pretty cool. Below you have Settings. And then Tools. Now let's go ahead and go into Tools for a second. And you'll notice that there are two options here. Cheat codes, which is great. And then you can also test your controller inputs if you're having problems or want to check, you know, delays, things like that. Back in Settings, let's go ahead and go into Video.

This is where you can change the resolutions. You can also adjust the screen size. You can play with different climbers, which is something I don't normally do. But some people might. You can also activate a couple of different scan lines if that's what you like. And I'll demonstrate it in a moment. And if you want to dig a little deeper, there are advanced settings like the ability to adjust specific colors. That's not something I normally mess with. Under Audio there are some useful options such as the ability to change the headphone volume. You can also play with stereo panning and much more.

Now, if you go to System, this is where you can manually change the region of the cartridges you want to play. This is very useful if you are buying imported games. And this is really just the tip of what you can do and customize with this Mega Sg. I just want to give you an idea that if you like playing with your hardware and your software, you will love this. Because you can really play with it. But as you know, it's all about the games. So let's go ahead and take a look at some. I'm going to start by putting a copy of Earthworm Jim on my Sega CDX.

And then we will compare it with the same cartridge connected to the Mega Sg. So here is Earthworm Jim connected to my CDX output via composite. That's the simple yellow cable that many people would normally use in North America to connect their Sega Genesis to their TV. And as you can see, well, it's not very good when you upgrade to HD. It doesn't look good at all. And here's the same cartridge coming through the Mega Sg. And as you can see, it is day and night. The Mega Sg looks fantastic. (video game music) (screaming) The Mega Sg is outputting at 1080p, and I think some of you are going to say, "Well, okay, that's all well and good, but composite is really one of the worst types of connections that can be made." "I have for an older console like this." And it turns out that I am testing a prototype of a new Pound Cable that takes advantage of the RGB signal and outputs through HDMI.

Now this isn't completely finished yet, but I have permission to show it to you. So let's check out an RGB signal and then compare it to the Mega Sg. Here's my Sega Genesis Model 2, but instead of using composite which of course is bad, it's actually using the upcoming Pound Cable that takes advantage of RGB. And as you can see, it's already noticeably much better. And then let's go ahead and move between that Pound Cable and also the Analogue Mega Sg. And as you can see, it's definitely closer in quality, although I still have to admit that the Mega Sg is much sharper. (screaming) Now let's go ahead and insert the same cartridge into the Hyperkin RetroN 5.

Now, as you know, the RetroN 5 is a multipurpose emulation system. So it is compatible with Genesis, Super Nintendo, Nintendo. It also has support for GameBoy Advance and all that. So it does a little bit of everything, let's take a look and see if we can see the difference. So here's Earthworm Jim running on RetroN 5, and RetroN 5 outputs at 720p. Then it won't be as sharp. And when we switch to analog, you see that it becomes quite sharp. Also the colors are a little more vivid. And we can come and go here. And you know, it's subtle, but you notice it.

And we can also go side by side. Another side effect of emulation, especially with the Genesis, is that the audio isn't great. Now, the RetroN 5 is fine, but for now we'll just focus on the images. Now let's move on to Castlevania Bloodlines. And here we will start with the lowest quality. This is composed in my CDX. And yes, it looks absolutely terrible. You would never want to play it this way. Next up will probably be my Genesis 2 with Pound Cable. Again, that's taking advantage of the RGB signal. And then we have the same cartridge running in RetroN 5.

Again, this is through emulation. And here's Castlevania Bloodlines running on Analogue Mega Sg. It looks beautifull. It looks impressive. (upbeat music) And then here they are running side by side. And I've slowed down the footage a bit to hopefully help you see the differences. But again keep in mind that it is the same cartridge just connected to four different systems. And then I'll let you watch Gargoyles. Again, here I know it's not fair to show composite, but it's so impactful when you go back and forth between composite and again the Analogue Mega Sg. This is one of the most beautiful games and I love this level because of all the deep reds.

Again, you just don't get it when playing at composite or lower quality resolution. But when it's this sharp, this game looks amazing. In recent years, homebrew games or new games made for older systems like Little Medusa have really started to gain popularity. So let's see how it works in RetroN 5. (draft log) Yeah, well, this is typically my experience running these types of cartridges in RetroN 5, which again is an emulation system. They just don't work. And I get that they don't really support them, but it's definitely a bummer. But the same cartridge connected to the Mega Sg, which is again FPGA based, works perfectly.

It looks beautifull. And this is exactly what I'm looking for because that's what I love about this is that it's not emulation. It's a recreation of the hardware, so if you have a homebrew game or a new game like this designed to run on the original hardware. Well, it will normally run on Mega Sg as well. And that's really amazing. Now I know some of you really like scan lines. I personally don't usually have them on. But I know some of you are very nostalgic for them. And, of course, the Mega Sg supports them. Let's go ahead and show what that looks like.

Whenever you are in a game, you can press Home and Down on your controller to open the Menu. And then you can go into Video and also Scanlines and you can turn them on or off. And this is what they look like when they are on. (CG explosion) Let's look at another game called Blades of Vengeance. Now, these scan lines are turned off, but we'll go to the Menu here and then turn them on. And you can see what that looks like. (upbeat music) ♪ Sega ♪ - Bad audio is definitely annoying and is a byproduct of some of these cheaper low-end emulation devices.

So let's go ahead and see how the Mega Sg fares. We'll start with a Sega Genesis Model 2 and compare them side by side. (uptempo techno music) (clinking rings) (uptempo techno music) (clinking rings) (coil release) (brick breaking) (sonic accelerations) (clinking rings) (sonic accelerations) (clinking rings) (uptempo techno music) I think To me, the demo simply shows how crisp and full the Mega Sg sounds compared to the original. Now the sound effects, woodwork and all that sound pretty similar to me compared to the original. But there is an extra definition with the Mega Sg. That sounds great. Now, just so you know, I'm using two different Elgato capture devices depending on what type of connection I have.

But yeah, there's no comparison. I mean, the Mega Sg sounds fantastic. (banging) (screaming) (techno music) Now let's go ahead and take a look at the X-Men game. And we'll start with the compound. This is my CDX with the original hardware. (gunshot) (techno music) Here's a little RoboCop vs. Terminator. This game is so amazing. So bloody. (shot) Now let's go ahead and check for Sega CD compatibility. This is Model 2 of the Sega CD. I actually bought this at a garage sale. In fact, I had no idea if it worked until I made this video. But it's designed to have the Model 2 Genesis plugged in here on the side.

Now the really cool thing is that Mega Sg supports it too. So you see this little notebook here, it comes with this notebook. You put it down there, which raises it slightly. And then you open the side and you can slide your Mega Sg right next to the Sega CD there. All comfortable and cozy. And then when you turn it on, the Sega CD menu appears here. Looking glorious in 1080p. Alright, let's go ahead and watch Sonic CD. (upbeat music) I have to be honest, the first time I ran this, I didn't actually get any audio CDs.

And I was actually banging my head against the wall. I couldn't understand it. And luckily Joe from Game Sack discovered it. There is an option in the Mega Sg's settings menu to enable CD audio. So keep in mind that if they don't fix that in a firmware update, you have to go in and configure that setting to get CD audio on the Sega CD. It's fun to see Rise of the Dragon on the Sega CD because there are a ton of voiced characters in this game. - In three days my destiny will come true. - Blade!

Where the hell were you last night? We had a date. Or did you overlook it? - Yes, look, I have problems with my girlfriend for missing a date. - I see, I thought I detected anxiety in your aura. - Hello Blade, do you want to play house? - Another thing that's really good about a system that uses FPGAs and recreates the hardware is that things like everdrives tend to work. But you're probably wondering, "Does 32x work?" And the answer is no. It would be really cool if it were, but it's not a deal breaker because it's not.

In fact, I also tried it on the everdrive. And even the ROMs don't work. And they recognize it in their place. It would be great if they could add it in the future, but again, I don't think it will be a deal breaker. But they do have support for the Sega Master System. That's the console that came out before the Genesis. And they have an adapter included in the box. So let's go ahead and see Batman Returns running on the Sega Master System through the adapter on the Mega Sg. (uptempo music) (gunshots) (power on) And as you can see, the games look great.

So this is really cool. I mean, you basically have all the Sega Genesis games and you have 341 potential Sega Master System games that you can also play on the same system. That's pretty amazing. (shot) I was curious, since I have a Sega Master System game that is in card format, if the Hyperkin 3 in 1 adapter would work. So I went into Spy vs Spy and sure enough, it works, which was a little surprising. Maybe not. I'm not really sure how that adapter works, but yes, it really works and works well. Now, that adapter is also compatible with Game Gear.

I connecteda game to see if it worked. She was crossing her fingers, but that's not the case. It's okay because they have announced that they are. We will support it in the future with its own adapter. And then remember I said there's a game built into the Mega Sg called Ultracore. So this is a 2D, side-scrolling shooter, similar to the Turkin series that was in development in the 1990s. But it was canceled back then. And then it was almost lost forever when I guess a hard drive failed. But they were able to recover it. The good thing is that the game was originally developed by Digital Illusions.

Now they may sound familiar to you because they eventually became DICE. The developer who became world famous for the Battlefield series. But once it was recovered, Analogue was given the license to include it here. And as you can see in this footage, it's incredible. This is a really fun game to play. Very hard. But very satisfying. (upbeat techno music) (footage) The Analogue Mega Sg sells for $190. And if you want the optional wireless controller, it'll cost you another $25. It's not cheap, but as you can see in this video, it's pretty good. Now they also mentioned that they will be releasing adapters for the Game Gear, Master System Cards, as well as the SG-1000 and SG-3000 later this year.

Now if you want to learn more, I'll put a link in the video description below. I'd love to hear what you guys think of this system and also what other systems you'd tackle with Analogue next. There are so many to choose from it would be amazing. Alright guys, thank you very much for watching. Thanks for subscribing. Take care. As you can see, I had a lot of fun with the Mega Sg. I mean this is the kind of cloning system I want. I don't want these $40, $50, $60 plastic emulation systems that barely work or don't work as well or whatever.

I want these quality systems that really do it justice, and I'm so happy to see that Analogue exists and continues to create amazing systems like this. Alright guys, have a great day. (Metal music)