I never seen one of these running before and didn't realised how nice the Wondermega was. Didn't know it lit up and had a motorized CD door. It seems like they really wanted it to be a high class electronic product. Thanks for sharing it with us.
You're welcome! I'm glad to see there's still an appreciation for this console. I feel Sega was very experimental at the time. People tend to forget that this console is one of the very few iterations of a Genesis/Mega Drive. Some other examples are the Tera Drive and the Pioneer Laseractive. I will admit to this much... One of the reasons I bought this console is for the motorized door itself!
@@Ex_Savior awesome to see a demo of the door i've read about it but didn't know what everyone meant by "motorized". i thought it was a manual PS1 type one i think its cool
I recently found your channel when looking up videos about the sega genesis and hearing about the wonder mega and i have fallen in love with the thing it looks amazing i hope one day i could have a collection of cool video gane hardware like you one day and also amazing work looking after and keeping a old and rare console up and running after so much time good job keep up the good work
Thank you so much for making this video! It answered all the things I was wondering about in regards to modding a Wondermega. We also both know YoshiKnuckles which is cool, lol!
Thank you for watching! Yes, he is an smart engineer and a great guy. One of the main reasons I made this video is because there aren't any modded Wondermegas out there, so I felt I should shed light some pros and cons about modding one.
There are a whole bunch of additional mods I’d love to see on this thing, if you feel up to the challenge! 1 - Hook up the hardware timer interrupts on the YM2612 (because Sega forgot to) 2 - 128k VRAM mod (to make use of the Genesis’s 128k mode) 3 - Modem port (to emulate the Mega Modem) 4 - Four controller ports (via Sega’s Team Player or EA’s Four-Way Play) 5 - Replace the system PSRAM chips with SRAM chips (faster, reduced chance of memory corruption when overclocking, etc) 6 - Replace the original SRAM chip (for Sega CD saved games) with an FRAM chip (which requires no battery) 7 - Swap the 68000 CPUs for 68010s or 68020s (though be warned; you may want to keep the original 68k CPUs on hand so you can switch back to them at any time) 8 - Dump the original WonderMega BIOS and then modify it to be region free, then install the new BIOS chip 9 - Upgrade the CD drive itself to a faster one (and maybe get a red laser for it) 10 - Wire both a Sega Virtua Processor and a 32X directly into the console 11 - Replace the SH-2 chips on the 32X with J2+ or J4 chips (which are basically upgraded open-source versions) 12 - Give the 32X and Sega CD hardware direct access to the console’s video output and the main Genesis VDP, that way all of those annoying DMA transfers can be skipped 13 - Replace the Zilog Z80 with a newer eZ80 (but keep it running at the original clock speed) 14 - Add in the Sega Master System FM Sound unit, for SMS games It’s all complete overkill, I know, but it would nonetheless be awesome!
Wow what an amazing setup! I’m very much jealous of both that PVM and that wondermega. It’s amazing that you have two things that are somewhat impossible to find nowadays. Also the bass sounds boosted in a good way. Is that because of the cable used that’s plugged into the stereo headphone jack on the wondermega itself? Also I didn’t know you could only open it up in a menu that’s awesome but limited at the same time.
I think there are two ways to do this. You can either use an Everdrive to load a different region bios, or you can install a region free bios chip inside. I'd suggest the former just for sake of simplicity. I don't know anyone who sells a region free bios for this model Wondermega, or if anyone has tested it out.
There's an app that can overwrite the Region on backed up CDRs for Mega CD/Sega CDs. I forget the name but you can change a NTSC game, say Snatcher to play in your System in English, by making the encoding be deciphered as if i is a NTSC-J Region CD.
@Phatnightmares. Hi, I have a stock Japanese Wondermega with no mods applied and I would like to add that some CD based games like the USA version of Snatcher will not work correctly on the Wondermega when using the bios loading using the Everdrive, as you will get missing dialogue text, if you load a region free bios or a US model 2 bios like you shown in this video. To fix it, you have to patch the iso to Japan in order to have the text to show up, as every bios I have tried will not show the text. I have not tried with an original disc or region mod like yours. It might work without patching if you set the Language to Eng using your switch. Be interesting to know if it does.
Wow thanks for sharing this! I'm very curious to try it out. If I can get my hands on a US copy of Snatcher, I'll definitely let you if it works or not.
do you know if the first Sega model Wondermega uses the same lens as either the mega cd 1 or cd2 model? The lens of my wondermega has failed and no one knows how to fix it
Hi can you help? I have a wondermega that cannot power on its mega cd half. It also is not outputting sound. Can you point me in the direction of where a fuse may be located on the mega cd half?
Do you happen to know how the audio on the Wondermega compares to the “System C2” Mega Amp mod? Here’s a link: czcams.com/video/axcxR2_XEIc/video.html There’s a comparison video up with a sample of the X’Eye’s audio, which seems to have similar mixing/filtering, but the quality is bad so it’s difficult to make a direct comparison.
I've heard of various Sega Genesis/Mega Drive audio amps, but I've never thought about using one for the Wondermega. The way I have my audio set up with my SCART cable pulls the stereo sound from the headphone jack in the front. The LR audio outputs in the back of the Wondermega produce a lot of visual noise. I'm not an audiophile, but I can say that the audio sounds great to me.
I was actually curious about the way the stock output sounded. The “System C2” amp I mentioned uses two different low pass filters for the two different audio devices inside the Genesis (YM3438/PSG). Upon listening to that comparison video again (and knowing, to a greater extent, what I’m listening to), I’m pretty sure the LPF cutoff frequency overall is just quite a bit higher on the X’Eye sample, though. This results in less bass, more treble, and the PSG device sounding louder. The audio circuit in the X’Eye seems to be fairly good-sounding, and I’d imagine that the Wondermega would be as well.
If there it text on screen, like a message box, I believe any proceeding text will appear in the region it was switched to. Beyond that, I wouldn't know. Don't feel like trying this out more than once to see any other differences.
Haha! Only an original craftsman knows his work! I forgot that you did want me to credit your work, dude. I will edit my description and mention you for sure.
My ? is can you do a no cut RGB mod with this by replacing the weird looking RF connector with a Genesis 2 style 9 Pin Mini-DIN? It looks like the hole might be too small for this where that weird RF plug is, not sure. If it's not then I would think this would work. Anyone done this?
I haven't tried it myself, but I've seen someone flick the switch while the intro of Streets of Rage is playing and the words turn from English to Japanese and vice versa. Ultimately, I've been told that switching the switch while the console is on will cause stress on the console and possibly causing damage overtime.
Due to confidentiality, I cannot post that information. What I can tell you is that there are plenty of Wondermegas on eBay. One in good working condition will cost you a pretty penny, and that's not including the box and such.
You could install another ROM chip in there with an american BIOS for the CD portion or maybe even a region free patched one of the wondermega itself if you've got the tools to burn the chip and switch between that and the original via switch. www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/megacd-regionfree.htm
warpspeeding I've thought about it, but seeing how extremely picky the Wondermega is with different Sega/Mega CD bios versions I felt that it may not like a region free Wondermega Bios. I've tried booting up multiple region free bios versions and I still get the same results with non region free ones.
I never seen one of these running before and didn't realised how nice the Wondermega was. Didn't know it lit up and had a motorized CD door. It seems like they really wanted it to be a high class electronic product. Thanks for sharing it with us.
You're welcome! I'm glad to see there's still an appreciation for this console. I feel Sega was very experimental at the time. People tend to forget that this console is one of the very few iterations of a Genesis/Mega Drive. Some other examples are the Tera Drive and the Pioneer Laseractive.
I will admit to this much... One of the reasons I bought this console is for the motorized door itself!
@@Ex_Savior awesome to see a demo of the door i've read about it but didn't know what everyone meant by "motorized". i thought it was a manual PS1 type one i think its cool
This video is a precious gem! Wondermegas were works of art in the 90s. Any Sega hardware is amazing! 🇯🇵🇯🇵
I recently found your channel when looking up videos about the sega genesis and hearing about the wonder mega and i have fallen in love with the thing it looks amazing i hope one day i could have a collection of cool video gane hardware like you one day and also amazing work looking after and keeping a old and rare console up and running after so much time good job keep up the good work
love the set up well done!! I plan on having something similar in the future!
Hopefully enough time has passed from your post to my response where this became a thing!
Incredible vídeo! Fantastic!!! Thanks for all the information provided! Outstanding!
so cool i cant believe it 1991 made wondermega
It was definitely ahead of its time. It's withstood the test of time. Still working to this day!
@@Ex_Savior i always wished to have one lol, truly the rolls royce of sega mega drives
Thank you so much for making this video! It answered all the things I was wondering about in regards to modding a Wondermega. We also both know YoshiKnuckles which is cool, lol!
Thank you for watching! Yes, he is an smart engineer and a great guy. One of the main reasons I made this video is because there aren't any modded Wondermegas out there, so I felt I should shed light some pros and cons about modding one.
There are a whole bunch of additional mods I’d love to see on this thing, if you feel up to the challenge!
1 - Hook up the hardware timer interrupts on the YM2612 (because Sega forgot to)
2 - 128k VRAM mod (to make use of the Genesis’s 128k mode)
3 - Modem port (to emulate the Mega Modem)
4 - Four controller ports (via Sega’s Team Player or EA’s Four-Way Play)
5 - Replace the system PSRAM chips with SRAM chips (faster, reduced chance of memory corruption when overclocking, etc)
6 - Replace the original SRAM chip (for Sega CD saved games) with an FRAM chip (which requires no battery)
7 - Swap the 68000 CPUs for 68010s or 68020s (though be warned; you may want to keep the original 68k CPUs on hand so you can switch back to them at any time)
8 - Dump the original WonderMega BIOS and then modify it to be region free, then install the new BIOS chip
9 - Upgrade the CD drive itself to a faster one (and maybe get a red laser for it)
10 - Wire both a Sega Virtua Processor and a 32X directly into the console
11 - Replace the SH-2 chips on the 32X with J2+ or J4 chips (which are basically upgraded open-source versions)
12 - Give the 32X and Sega CD hardware direct access to the console’s video output and the main Genesis VDP, that way all of those annoying DMA transfers can be skipped
13 - Replace the Zilog Z80 with a newer eZ80 (but keep it running at the original clock speed)
14 - Add in the Sega Master System FM Sound unit, for SMS games
It’s all complete overkill, I know, but it would nonetheless be awesome!
One thing I like about this consol is the disk top opens by itself and also closes. I've never seen a system do that before.
It’s probably the biggest reason why I got this console lol
Well it's pretty cool and hard not to buy it. Relics from the past are always fun to find.
Wow what an amazing setup! I’m very much jealous of both that PVM and that wondermega. It’s amazing that you have two things that are somewhat impossible to find nowadays. Also the bass sounds boosted in a good way. Is that because of the cable used that’s plugged into the stereo headphone jack on the wondermega itself? Also I didn’t know you could only open it up in a menu that’s awesome but limited at the same time.
Seen the WonderMega on Pinterest and was curious!
Was is this one in particular? :D
So basically to play NTSC American Sega CD games on the Wondermega you need to have the Everdrive cart?
I think there are two ways to do this.
You can either use an Everdrive to load a different region bios, or you can install a region free bios chip inside. I'd suggest the former just for sake of simplicity.
I don't know anyone who sells a region free bios for this model Wondermega, or if anyone has tested it out.
There's an app that can overwrite the Region on backed up CDRs for Mega CD/Sega CDs. I forget the name but you can change a NTSC game, say Snatcher to play in your System in English, by making the encoding be deciphered as if i is a NTSC-J Region CD.
Oh very nice! I'll have to look into that in case I want to burn some games in the future!
cool
@Phatnightmares.
Hi,
I have a stock Japanese Wondermega with no mods applied and I would like to add that some CD based games like the USA version of Snatcher will not work correctly on the Wondermega when using the bios loading using the Everdrive, as you will get missing dialogue text, if you load a region free bios or a US model 2 bios like you shown in this video.
To fix it, you have to patch the iso to Japan in order to have the text to show up, as every bios I have tried will not show the text.
I have not tried with an original disc or region mod like yours. It might work without patching if you set the Language to Eng using your switch. Be interesting to know if it does.
Wow thanks for sharing this! I'm very curious to try it out. If I can get my hands on a US copy of Snatcher, I'll definitely let you if it works or not.
What guide did you use to do the RGB mod? Just wondering where I should be looking as I plan to do it myself. Thanks!
I wanna know how you add the region unlock thing.
do you know if the first Sega model Wondermega uses the same lens as either the mega cd 1 or cd2 model? The lens of my wondermega has failed and no one knows how to fix it
I don't know off the top of my head. I would say the laser would most likely be closest to that of a JVC X'Eye.
Hi can you help? I have a wondermega that cannot power on its mega cd half. It also is not outputting sound. Can you point me in the direction of where a fuse may be located on the mega cd half?
Where did you get your modifications done?
Info is in the description
God damn this is the most sexy Mega Drive model of them all. Why does it have to be soo expensive?? :{
Do you happen to know how the audio on the Wondermega compares to the “System C2” Mega Amp mod? Here’s a link: czcams.com/video/axcxR2_XEIc/video.html
There’s a comparison video up with a sample of the X’Eye’s audio, which seems to have similar mixing/filtering, but the quality is bad so it’s difficult to make a direct comparison.
I've heard of various Sega Genesis/Mega Drive audio amps, but I've never thought about using one for the Wondermega. The way I have my audio set up with my SCART cable pulls the stereo sound from the headphone jack in the front. The LR audio outputs in the back of the Wondermega produce a lot of visual noise. I'm not an audiophile, but I can say that the audio sounds great to me.
I was actually curious about the way the stock output sounded. The “System C2” amp I mentioned uses two different low pass filters for the two different audio devices inside the Genesis (YM3438/PSG).
Upon listening to that comparison video again (and knowing, to a greater extent, what I’m listening to), I’m pretty sure the LPF cutoff frequency overall is just quite a bit higher on the X’Eye sample, though. This results in less bass, more treble, and the PSG device sounding louder.
The audio circuit in the X’Eye seems to be fairly good-sounding, and I’d imagine that the Wondermega would be as well.
What would happen if you clicked the switch while on?
If there it text on screen, like a message box, I believe any proceeding text will appear in the region it was switched to. Beyond that, I wouldn't know. Don't feel like trying this out more than once to see any other differences.
Hmm... That console looks a bit familiar...
I think I might have seen that exact one before...
I can't remember why...
Haha! Only an original craftsman knows his work! I forgot that you did want me to credit your work, dude. I will edit my description and mention you for sure.
Hmmmmm, you look familiar!
JVC X EYE maybe?
My ? is can you do a no cut RGB mod with this by replacing the weird looking RF connector with a Genesis 2 style 9 Pin Mini-DIN? It looks like the hole might be too small for this where that weird RF plug is, not sure. If it's not then I would think this would work. Anyone done this?
Check what happens if you put Quackshot or Mega Everdrive on top of sonic and knuckles
I'll have to try this when I have a moment!
What if you flip that switch while it's on?
I haven't tried it myself, but I've seen someone flick the switch while the intro of Streets of Rage is playing and the words turn from English to Japanese and vice versa.
Ultimately, I've been told that switching the switch while the console is on will cause stress on the console and possibly causing damage overtime.
Does the 32X work with this?
It does, but you need to RGB mod your console and mod the plastic rim under the 32X. A bit of work, but it's nice when it comes together.
What ebay seller did you get this from?
Due to confidentiality, I cannot post that information.
What I can tell you is that there are plenty of Wondermegas on eBay. One in good working condition will cost you a pretty penny, and that's not including the box and such.
You could install another ROM chip in there with an american BIOS for the CD portion or
maybe even a region free patched one of the wondermega itself if you've got the tools to burn the chip and switch between that and the original via switch.
www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/megacd-regionfree.htm
warpspeeding I've thought about it, but seeing how extremely picky the Wondermega is with different Sega/Mega CD bios versions I felt that it may not like a region free Wondermega Bios. I've tried booting up multiple region free bios versions and I still get the same results with non region free ones.
This one has modded by me if you got it on ebay.
Does it work with 32x?
Check out my video about this:
czcams.com/video/CpzhdCROmwE/video.html
What bvm is that?
That is a Sony PVM-20L5. If you look at my other videos, I did a review on it.
Forgotten sega model
If you put sonic 2 in sonic & knuckles will appear as sonic 2 & knuckles
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2025 ?????! 0:50