While most of us probably just boot up an emulator to try those MegaDrive games that were never released in our native countries, there are sure to be some retro gamers that insist on playing the real cartridges on the real machine. I’ve had a couple of people email me recently about how to play Genesis imports, so I thought I would compile some answers and share them with everyone.

What Keeps Us From Playing Imports?

The cartridge slot on the Genesis 1, 2, and CDX is different from that of the Japanese Megadrive. Japanese cartridges are rounded on the ends, so you won’t be able to get a Japanese cartridge to fit into the slotted and narrower cart slot on a Genesis 1/2/CDX. This can be taken care of by either using a pass-through cartridge or removing the tabs in your system’s cartridge slot. The software in the games also have some region lock-out code to keep them from playing. So naturally, we need to find away around these limitations.

The last known version of Game Genie Guy, used to patch codes into roms. Supported systems: Gameboy, Sega Master System, Game Gear, Genesis, NES, SNES, PCE/TurboGrafx-16: Download: GGGuy v20150313: Latest version of Game Genie Guy, a utility to patch ROMs with cheat codes. Works for most of the 8bit/16bit consoles and handhelds.

What Importing Solutions Are There?

In the the 16-bit era, there were a number of solutions to help play Genesis imports such as the Pro Action Replay, Universal Adapter, or Mega Key/Super Key, but a decade later these items are getting harder to find and more expensive. So what’s a budget-minded, import-hungry Genesis owner to do? If you grew up in the 16-bit era, I’m sure you remember a device know as the Game Genie. The Game Genie from Galoob is primarily known as a way to experiment with cheats for your games, but the Sega Genesis Game Genie also helps bypass regional lockouts for a number of games.

What’s The Catch?

The main disadvantage with the Game Genie method is that you will have to enter in some codes each time you want to play an import. If you will be frequently playing imports, you may want to look into one of the more expensive cart solutions or permenantly modding your system with a region switch. It’s also worth nothing that the Game Genie doesn’t work with the Majesco-released Genesis 3 model (much like many other accessories/add-ons).

1. For more Game Genie codes try The Code Hut and GSHI. Make your own Game Gear Game Genie Codes Addams Family, The Aladdin, Disney's Alien 3 Alien Syndrome Arch Rivals Ariel the Little Mermaid, The Asterix and the Great Rescue Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden.
2. Site Search; Classics. Atari. Atari 2600. Atari 5200. Atari 7800.

What Game Genie Codes Are Available For Imports?

I’m glad you asked. Here are some of the more popular imports and their respective Game Genie codes…

Alien Soldier (EUR/JPN PAL, A version)
RECA-A6XJ
RECA-A6XL
RECT-A60J

Alien Soldier (JPN NTSC, B version)
REBT-A6XN
REBT-A6XR
RECA-A60R

Bare Knuckle III
AABT-AA5L
DJBT-AADN
RYDA-A608
AJDA-AAHA

Contra: The Hard Corps (JPN)
CTBT-AA6J
A2BT-AA72
BBRA-AA3Y

Golden Axe III
BT7T-CA9E
AA7T-CA9R

Monster World IV
HT2T-BAEG
2A2T-AAEJ
RE2T-A6YL

Pulseman
LAXT-AA5L

Game Genie Cheats Genesis Index Download

Rockman Megaworld (Mega Man: The Wily Wars JPN)
V2AT-BMEJ
EAAT-BL1T
REBT-A6XL

Thunder Force IV
AABT-AA4J
AACA-ACBC
16CA-ACBY
9ACA-A60W
EACA-ANGY

Yuu Yuu Hakusho Makyou Toitsusen
9T9T-BCF8
EE9T-AAGA
BE9T-B98C
RE9T-A60E
BVBT-AA3A

Possible Issues With PAL Games

Sega Genesis Game Codes

If you’re in the US and want to play some European cartridges, there are a couple other things to keep in mind. PAL games have a 50/60hz lockout or territory lockout in place. Many PAL versions of games are no different from their US counterparts, which is why they play at a slower speed and with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen on European consoles. These games will play without trouble on US consoles. Other games (of which the European version of Alien Soldier is one) have been adapted to the PAL format, and thus will run too fast on US consoles (about 70hz).

Where To Find A Game Genie? How Much?

Since Game Genies are pretty common you can find them just about anywhere that sells vintage games. The most accessible places online to find them is obviously eBay and Amazon.com You can usually find a handful of them listed at any given time and they usually go for $10 or less including shipping. Not a bad deal at all.
Find a Genesis Game Genie on eBay
Find a Genesis Game Genie on Amazon.com

What About Sega CD Games?

There are a few Sega CD imports that are worthwhile, so I will cover that topic very soon.