A deeper dive into the installation of the Phantom Universal. After ASSEMbler Games burnt down, Bad_Ad84 was selling these through Retro Gamer Stuff, which later closed. I was very happy with the Phantom, especially paired with a region-bypass option such as Pseudo Saturn Kai.

The console for this adventure is my Japanese This is COOL Saturn. Apparently Sega thought people needed to be reminded that their Saturn was cool, which I suppose is fair enough. The smokey case is lovely, and I’ve managed to keep this one around despite my occasional attempts to reduce the collection.

The Phantom Universal is a small modchip board that sits between the Saturn motherboard and the CD drive. The board I’m using has a date marking from the thirteenth week of 2016, along with the connections needed for different types of Saturn optical drives. Not bad for such a tiny piece of hardware.

Getting inside this particular Saturn involves removing five screws from underneath the case. I also tend to remove the little backup-battery or Video CD expansion cover before lifting off the shell. I’ve forgotten that step on enough Saturns by now that you’d think I’d remember it. Apparently not!

Inside, the CD drive is a JVC mechanism with a 21-pin ribbon cable. That’s important because the Phantom supports both 20-pin and 21-pin arrangements, depending on the drive. The board also has a solder selection for the relevant mechanism, so it’s worth checking what you’ve actually got rather than making assumptions.

The ribbon cables use those little locking connectors that always look as though they’re about to snap. They’re fairly straightforward once you understand how they operate, but this isn’t the part of the job where you want to be applying excessive force. The metal contacts also need to face the correct way when everything is connected.

Power for the Phantom comes from a suitable 5 V point inside the console. I checked the connections before continuing with the installation, particularly because this is a Japanese machine and needs an appropriate step-down transformer for use here in Australia. The Saturn’s power supply is not something I particularly enjoy working around.

The lid switch also plays a part in the tests. Rather than trying to hold the switch down with something, I preferred putting the cover back on so the drive could operate normally. That’s also rather more sensible than having the machine running with everything exposed.

With the correct cables and configuration worked out, the installation was looking considerably less complicated than it first appeared. The actual gameplay and region-lock tests belong in the follow-up videos, so this one is mainly about understanding the hardware and getting the modchip fitted.

I’m still holding onto my This is COOL Saturn, which has one of these chips in it. Works a charm!

On another note, I’ve updated the menus to include my current hardware in case anyone was curious. Photos will eventually appear too. Way past cool!

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