Mega Drive/Mega-CD



"Wanna see more?"

Known as Sega CD in the US, this was not just a CD drive for the Mega Drive: it added a faster CPU, new graphics and audio processors, and more RAM. All this power was mostly wasted on hilariously cheesy FMV "games"; nonetheless, this system had a good number of quality games. It could also be combined with the 32X to form a behemoth of a system for which only six (terrible) games were made.

There's two models of the system. The Model 1, with a mechanical tray for the CD drive. And the Model 2, with a popup lid. The Model 1 was built around being used with a Model 1 Mega Drive and likewise for the Model 2. You can use either system model (or the SG Mega) with either Mega CD, but the Model 2 looks small on top the Model 1 Mega CD. The Model 1 Mega Drive does require a plastic extender to "properly" fit on the Model 1 Mega CD. Model 2s do have a tendency to last longer since there's no mechanical tray to load and eject each game. Regardless, both are identical in performance.

PROTIP: as the Mega-CD was released long before CD burners became popular, it has no copy protection system. Still, the games are region-locked, and it takes modding or a special cart / Flashcart to bypass that.

Sales: Some sources say the Mega CD sold  2.24 million, but due to Sega never actually releasing data for its product sales we never really knew, but according to the Book console Wars (2015) the Sales of the CD add on are at 6.1 million units with 2.7 million units sold in the Unites States.