Game Gear:Master System Games on Game Gear

A sampling of Master System cartridge adapters for the Game Gear.

The Game Gear hardware is fairly similar to that of the Master System, with only a handful of enhancements (namely stereo sound and a much larger color palette). In addition, the Game Gear itself is capable of running Master System cartridges using a passive adapter, making it one of the few handhelds capable of playing games from a home console. Several companies made such adapters , with some being officially licensed by Sega. All of these adapters were only sold in North America, Europe and Australasia.

None of these adapters are compatible with Sega Card games, and due to the Game Gear lacking any controller ports, it is totally incompatible with games that require the Light Phaser light gun, Sports Pad, 3D glasses, or the Japan-only Paddle Control. The Game Gear does not have support for FM audio on certain games, but a modification board from SYF is available which can add YM2413 support.

Although the Game Gear does not have controller ports, the link cable port can be used to connect a passive adapter with a Master System-compatible controller port at the other end for a second player. This adapter can only be used for two-player SMS games, and is not compatible with two-player Game Gear games.

Regional Differences

All Game Gears run at 60 Hz, which may pose a problem for PAL Master System games which were coded to run at 50 Hz. This can cause some games to run too fast, while others may have severe glitching or not run at all. A detailed list of SMS games which have problems running at 60 Hz can be found on this page. Some of these PAL games also saw a release on the Game Gear, where they do not exhibit odd glitches or speed differences. It is also possible to modify a Game Gear to play PAL SMS games properly by wiring the "NTSC" pin on the VDP (VA0 boards) or main ASIC (VA1 and later) to 5V instead of GND. However, this may have unintended consequences on Game Gear games.

Japanese Game Gears will also treat Master System games as if they were being played on a Mark III or Japanese Master System. This will cause some games to display a "Sega Mark III" splash screen before the title or have Japanese text. No adapters for playing Mark III/Japanese SMS cartridges on a Game Gear were ever released.

Screen Issues

Left, Altered Beast as seen on a Game Gear display. Middle, the same game as seen on a monitor. Right, the difference in screen resolution between the Game Gear and Master System.

Although the Game Gear's LCD screen is capable of properly scaling the higher resolution that SMS games run at, the display quality is not ideal for many games. This poses a large problem for games with a large amount of text, especially RPGs like Phantasy Star, Ys, and Miracle Warriors. The nature of the Game Gear's screen also precludes the ability to play games which require the Light Phaser or 3D glasses, as both of these accessories require the use of a CRT TV. Many LCD screen replacements such as those from BennVenn or RetroSix are capable of displaying SMS games at their full resolution and with much greater fidelity than the original LCD.

SG-1000 Games

SG-1000 games are capable of running on the Game Gear, but the Game Gear VDP does not actually map a color palette to them, causing many games to be near unplayable. This can be remedied by applying patches on SG-1000 ROMs, then loading them on a flash cart. These patches give these games a color palette very close to those used by the SG-1000's TMS9918 VDP.

Game Gear Games Running in Master System Mode

Below are the following Game Gear games which run in Master System mode:

Title	Notes
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse	Also on Master System
Cave Dude	Unreleased prototype, also on Master System as a South Korea-only release
Chase H.Q.	Also on Master System
The Excellent Dizzy Collection
Fantastic Dizzy	Also on Master System
Jang Pung II	Korean exclusive, also on Master System as a South Korea-only release
Olympic Gold	Also on Master System
OutRun Europa	Also on Master System
Predator 2	Also on Master System
Prince of Persia	Also on Master System
Rastan Saga	Japanese exclusive; the original Master System version was never released in Japan
R.C. Grand Prix	Also on Master System
Street Hero	Unreleased prototype; the original Master System version was only released in South Korea
Super Kick Off	Also on Master System
Super Tetris	Unlicensed release
WWF WrestleMania Steel Cage Challenge	Also on Master System