Uploaded March 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A single full loop of the boot screen for the original European version of the Mega-CD.
Why the random upload?
Well, partly because this particular version is kind of funny when you know the context of the 16-bit console tech wars.
The entire animation sequence is completely focused around Sega practically jumping up and down, yelling as loud as they can "Look, look, look! We can scale and rotate sprites now too!"
(Not that the SNES really could without the FX 2 chip, but it could manipulate background layers/tiles, which is the infamous mode 7. If a background layer was disguised as a sprite, it could create the effect, such as Ludwig Von Koopa in SMW).
And wow, they stretch and rotate these logos in just about every way imaginable for three whole minutes.
This was also fairly rare as, by the time the Mega-CD arrived in Europe, the cheaper to produce and more reliable Mega-CD 2 model was pretty much ready to go.
Rather than the space scene, or the frankly horryfing picture of Sonic used on the Japanese Mega-CD 2 screen, the European version had a fairly plain scene of shapes and a CD.
This music recently had a reprieve on the Nintendo 3DS as part of the Mega-Drive home menu theme, where it's titled "MEGA DRIVE BGM".
Unfortunately, the nostalgia kick is destroyed as that version of the music has several instruments that are completely out of time with the main theme, making it sound absolutely shocking.
(This is via the Kega Fusion emulator. Whilst the PAL Mega-Drive II was natively capable of RGB output by SCART cable, it still looks and sounds pretty bad when captured and rendered for PC)
A single full loop of the boot screen for the original European version of the Mega-CD.
Why the random upload?
Well, partly because this particular version is kind of funny when you know the context of the 16-bit console tech wars.
The entire animation sequence is completely focused around Sega practically jumping up and down, yelling as loud as they can "Look, look, look! We can scale and rotate sprites now too!"
(Not that the SNES really could without the FX 2 chip, but it could manipulate background layers/tiles, which is the infamous mode 7. If a background layer was disguised as a sprite, it could create the effect, such as Ludwig Von Koopa in SMW).
And wow, they stretch and rotate these logos in just about every way imaginable for three whole minutes.
This was also fairly rare as, by the time the Mega-CD arrived in Europe, the cheaper to produce and more reliable Mega-CD 2 model was pretty much ready to go.
Rather than the space scene, or the frankly horryfing picture of Sonic used on the Japanese Mega-CD 2 screen, the European version had a fairly plain scene of shapes and a CD.
This music recently had a reprieve on the Nintendo 3DS as part of the Mega-Drive home menu theme, where it's titled "MEGA DRIVE BGM".
Unfortunately, the nostalgia kick is destroyed as that version of the music has several instruments that are completely out of time with the main theme, making it sound absolutely shocking.
(This is via the Kega Fusion emulator. Whilst the PAL Mega-Drive II was natively capable of RGB output by SCART cable, it still looks and sounds pretty bad when captured and rendered for PC)
