The Mega Drive Power Base Converter

With today’s powerful consoles and fast Internet connections, gamers have the ability to download a wide range of games from years gone by via online game stores. All three of the major home game systems have the ability to download your favourite old games and enjoy them all over again. Some consoles also have the ability to be backwardly compatible with a previous console such as the ability to play Nintendo GameCube games on the Wii. There is a good demand from gamers who want to continue enjoying their older games but this isn’t a new thing though as consoles from the 90’s were capable of playing older games.

Let’s take a look at the Power Base Converter for the Sega Mega Drive. The Mega Drive was released in 1990, three years after the Master System console, and Sega felt that gamers might still want the option to carry on playing their Master System games. Their solution was to create a bridge between the Mega Drive console and the Master System game cartridge, so you would plug the Master System game into the Power Base Converter which would then plug into the Mega Drive.

The converter itself doesn’t actually include any parts from a Master System since the Mega Drive contains the CPU and sound chip from the older console and it simply acts as a pass through unit. There has been similar devices released for other consoles over the years, one of which was the Super Game Boy which allowed Game Boy games to be plugged into a Super Nintendo and enjoyed on the big screen.