Sonic 1 SMS - How rare is the US version?

[ThePirateMike]

I'm thinking of re-living my 8-bit SMS glory days by getting a Power Base Converter to play the SMS games I have in my closet on something other than my Master-Gear converter. (I still regret to this day selling my SMS, but at least I held onto Phantasy Star and a few other games.)

Anyway, I was thinking of getting the SMS version of Sonic the Hedgehog while I'm at it, but I wanted to get the US version if possible. (I prefer collecting games from my own region if possible.)

Since Sonic 1 was the last SMS game to actually be released in North America, is there any way I can tell the US version apart from its European Australian and Brazillian bretheren? As far as I can tell, the cart looks the same (since the SMS cart labels are uniform) but are the box/manual any different in other regions?

Also, if I do end up getting the European version, was it 50Hz optimized or will it run in proper 60Hz speed on a PBC+Genesis?

Any information would be appreciated.

[playgen]

There is no US version as such, the European version was exported to the US and a barcode/UPC sticker was slapped on the back. There is no difference whatsoever apart from that little sticker.
Some people insist on buying this 'US version' and spend lots of money on it, which is pretty pointless since its incredibly common and cheap in Europe, simple enough to print a barcode sticker if you really want it.

[ThePirateMike]

There is no US version as such, the European version was exported to the US and a barcode/UPC sticker was slapped on the back. There is no difference whatsoever apart from that little sticker.
Some people insist on buying this 'US version' and spend lots of money on it, which is pretty pointless since its incredibly common and cheap in Europe, simple enough to print a barcode sticker if you really want it.

Thanks for the info! I don't care about the barcode at all, especially since it's just a sticker and not part of the actual case/label. Getting the game mint and complete should be pretty easy if I go for the European version then.

[playgen]

Wise choice, I recommend picking up Sonic 2 while your at it, which is also very cheap and common. Theres lots of really good games released in Europe that wern't in the US, especially if you like platform games. Lucky Dime Caper (which was planned for US release), the Asterix games, Land of Illusion etc.

[TmEE]

The Sonic 1 in my PAL SMS2 BIOS fails to play smoothly(there's quite some choppiness) in 60Hz, I have no idea if the cart version has any issues. Sonic 2 on SMS is very nice.

[playgen]

Yeah Sonic 1 does have a bit of vertical scrolling choppiness in 60hz. Its not that terrible at all though, most people don't even notice it.

[Earthworm_Jim_Fan]

Sonic 1 is probably my favorite Sega Master System game. You also get Sonic Chaos, even though the game is really short.

In other news, some guy is trying to port Sonic Triple Trouble to the Master System: http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11178&sid=c755201c264774d1bfd2cb798a6b03dc

[Vyse of Arcadia]

Whoa, that's pretty cool. I'ma keep an eye on that project.

[sonicwatcher6969]

Me too triple trouble was the best 8 bit Sonic and its bogus it wasn't ported to the SMS.

[Joe Redifer]

Slightly off topic: Are there any SMS games that had more than 8 MEGA POWER? I know there are at least 2 or 3 SMS games that have 8 MEGA POWER but I forget which ones are that insanely powerful. I almost can't comprehend it!

[playgen]

Street Fighter 2, Sonic Blast and Virtua Fighter Animation are all 8 Megabit games. Those games are all pretty terrible though. With VF most of that space is used on still images for story scenes, and in Street Fighter 2 its the speech samples that hog up the ROM.
Theres not a massive benefit from having 8megabit roms or bigger with the Master System, since its VDP/RAM limits how much graphics you can have on screen at a time anyway. Typically 2megabit was enough to create excellent looking and sounding sms games.

[TmEE]

Sonic Blast is very nice game IMO... only reason I thought of building a SMS mapper adaptor so I could use my MD flashcart for SMS or GG stuff...