No horses in this video, just me horsing about with Sega Master System converters on the TeraDrive! I’ve been playing around with this wonderful machine again, and today I thought I’d see whether I could persuade it to run a few Master System games. Wonder Boy seems like a perfectly good place to start.

Unfortunately, I hit the first problem before I’d even switched anything on. The converter doesn’t fit properly because part of the TeraDrive gets in the way. I’d need to remove more of the machine to get the clearance, and I’m not particularly keen on doing that just yet.

I wondered whether a Pro Action Replay might work as an extension and give the converter enough room. It sounded like a reasonable idea, assuming the necessary Master System signals were passed through, but all I got was a black screen. So much for the easy solution!

Next I opened up the Master System converter to see what was inside. It’s a rather substantial little device, complete with a fair bit of metalwork and a Sega 315-5342 chip. Plenty of screws, too. Sega certainly didn’t want it falling apart!

I also tried loading Master System games through the Mega EverDrive, but that didn’t get me much further. Again, I was seeing a blank screen rather than a working game. That had me wondering whether the necessary Master System mode signal was connected to the TeraDrive cartridge slot in the first place, much like the difficulties I’d encountered with the Genesis Nomad.

Sega’s documentation says the original Japanese Mega Adapter cannot be fitted to the TeraDrive because of its shape. That certainly explains the physical problem, but it doesn’t answer whether a properly adapted converter could be made to work electrically.

We didn’t have much luck with this one. If anyone knows what might need connecting or modifying to make a Master System converter work on the TeraDrive, feel free to leave a comment. I always read your comments! :)

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