Review: OpenED for Genesis/Megadrive

We love Krikzz and company, don’t we folks? Today we’ve got the first review out of several (spoilers) headed your way. This one got focus first and foremost because it’s the most affordable flash cart that Krikzz has available. And what better way to kick off the holiday gift ideas than an affordable one that may just also be great. Your loved one may just appreciate it! Let’s discuss the pros and cons.

Disclaimer: a free product was provided by the manufacturer for this review

Description:

Open-ED is a very simple and cheap open source Genesis/Megadrive cartridge. The cartridge does not have its own processor or FPGA, it is built in the old school style using only memory and discrete logic. Cartridge design uses an absolute minimum of inexpensive components.

Features:

Comes with 3 Supported Mappers:

• ROM_4M
• ROM_2M+RAM
• ROM_4M+RAM

Unboxing:

Pros:

• Compatibility. Firstly, let’s kick things off by discussing the three mappers that come built into the OpenED. Doing so will give you better clarification as to what they cover in terms of compatibility. There is not a complete compatibility list out there on the internet. But you can use this to compare to potential cheap Chinese flash carts to see which mappers they have and if it’s less than the OpenED, then you’ll know that you should buy it instead. The first mapper mentioned is ROM_4M. With that mapper, most games work. There are games that use battery ram, and the ROM_2M+RAM mapper can handle some of them. Finally, if you’re playing games like Sonic 3 or Beyond Oasis, then the ROM_4M+RAM will run them. Having said all of that, I recommend that you just google the mappers of your favorite games and see if they fall into one of the three that OpenED uses.And speaking of ROM, you noticed with the mappers that the largest ROM you can use is a 4MB. ROMS that are smaller in size that I tested seemed to be only 15-35 seconds to load, that’s most of the game library. If you happen to be playing a 4MB game, just know, it’s a two minute load time. Though, the added benefit of it being loaded into RAM is that if you start the same game the next time you run the OpenED, the ROM still will be in RAM. This means that the game will boot immediately. So for those large, advanced ROMs, just make sure you’re playing it until you beat it. I don’t mean in one sitting, either. I mean keep coming back to it and beat the game before swapping to a new ROM. Otherwise, it will eat you alive swapping from giant ROM to another game and then back to the giant ROM.

• Build Quality. Even though this Everdrive doesn’t have all the features and amenities of Krikzz other Megadrive carts, it’s not lacking in the build quality department. Krikzz may be humble and print on the box (as seen in the unboxing) that it’s made using “inexpensive components”, the outside shell, screws, and sticker are still the tried and true shell, screws, and sticker he uses on his Mega Everdrive models. So this is sturdy as heck and will definitely hold up as well as the others. He simply means that the PCB and mounted components are plain jane standard components that you might be able to source as an individual. But that does not mean that they’re crappy. Only time will tell how long the components last, but for now, I’m happy to report that this thing is built sturdy and ready for you to pop in and play without worry.

• Design. I do like to point out aspects of the physical design that I enjoy and I feel are noteworthy. First off, my largest complaint on flashcarts is when the SD card sticks out a little bit from the top. I don’t mean the sliver so that you can click it down and then it comes out. I mean like when there’s enough there to grab it with your fingertips. Here, Krikzz has his tried and true as-low-as-microSD-card-can-go. I know that some of you don’t mind, but if it protrudes, then it may get knocked and break the slot inside. Especially if you own a cat.

The next design point I want to touch on is the fact that he doesn’t use triwing screws in his Everdrives (at least not the ones that I review)! This is something that I thoroughly respect, because when you see triwing or torx screws, it almost feels like they want to keep you out of the product that you bought and now own. Another thoughtful inclusion is that the PCB comes complete with the clock battery already installed. This keeps the cost of the overall product down for the customer. Versus you then realizing that some games don’t work correct and after opening it and finding there’s no save battery, that you have to go buy one. Only to discover that they don’t come as single batteries, now you’re at least $5 deeper in the budget of the cart and you don’t even likely need the other batteries (for years to come). For those rolling their eyes at this last point, I can already tell that you have enough money to buy something better. You should scroll to the end of the article now and click on the link to the Mega Everdrive X3 instead.

Finally, the fact that it comes complete with a clamshell makes the cost of the whole thing even better. If you’re going to leave the cartridge in your system for the rest of forever, a clamshell may not matter to you, of course. However, if you do any amount of moving or taking consoles to parties or conventions/expos, then having a clamshell is a good idea. There’s not a book or manual inside, but honestly, just having a protective box is the best part. And the artwork on the clamshell (and by extension, the cartridge) is to die for. In my video I stick it into my Model 3 and it looks like they’re made for each other. I did also put it into my Nomad and I really love it in there too! Time will tell where I keep the OpenED, but it will definitely be one of those two since they match so well.

• Ease. Typically with Everdrives, the process to getting games running has an extra step or two. This usually entails having a download from wherever you bought the cartridge with a few files inside. You’ll extract the contents and then put them onto the microSD card, then insert that into your cartridge, and power it on and let it update. Then after the update process, you can delete the extra files and finally drag and drop any games you want. At that point they will run, and you’re set for forever unless you want to update it every time that Krikzz drops a new update. However, with the OpenED, since it is barebones, there is just an OS already baked into it and there will not be new updates to it. If you want to play games, it’s as easy as putting the ROMs onto the microSD and inserting it into your OpenED and powering on the system. So case and point, it’s very easy to setup out of the box.

• Open Source. This part is definitely cool, but it’s also strange. Do you think you can make the OpenED for less that what Krikzz is charging for it? Can you source the parts, the clamshell, sticker, and boxart for less than $29? Well then you’re able to do so! If you want to make one of these, from scratch, for only the manufacturing cost, you can go to the github page and get all of the files that you’ll need! This is a great way to have yourself learn new things and/or make countless flash carts for however many Segas that you own in your house. I myself own all four models (Model 1, Model 2, Model 3, & Nomad), so if I could make the OpenED using PCBWay or alternative and I could do it for less than $29, I would and they would go straight into my extra systems.

• Cost. This Everdrive is the least expensive model to date (adjusting for inflation). We’ve lightly touched on the reasonings why, and we will talk about more in the cons section. But I’ll briefly breakdown the primary reasoning as to why this is so affordable for your wallet. This is inexpensive because it has no FPGA, by using discreet logic and memory boards, the whole thing is made like old school flashcarts, rendering it a lower cost by default. Krikzz also used off the shelf parts in order to keep the cost low. He uses existing clamshells and cartridge shells to keep the cost down. He has a simple OS built into it and made it do only what a flashcart needs to do to load a game. And since it’s effectively featureless (no in-game menu with options), it doesn’t cost too much. You load game and it plays game, just the way that it would if you were putting in the cartridge (once it’s done loading the ROM into memory of course). So just know, that another way the cost is low is because it doesn’t support every game under the sun. Most of these cost cutting measures are great, considering you don’t have to spend much money overall to start playing most of your legal backups!

Cons:

• Comparisons. The price of this is only $29 which is a great price if you don’t need features. The OpenED does not have an FPGA inside, for example. The main purpose of this thing is to be a gateway into doing your own work using an open flash cart or doing mods and homebrew in general. Krikzz set out to create something that is for a niche market, but he’s clearly trying to get others to end up doing what he does. He obviously wants to help the community grow and learn. Having said that, on paper, this looks like a bad product. Because to the uninitiated, why buy it when you can buy the next option up for only ~$10 more that comes with plenty more features and an FPGA onboard? The reason that I put this into the cons section is because I firmly believe that they haven’t done a well enough job marketing this correctly. The price should be listed at $25 and the first point on the webpage should be in giant letters that it’s exclusively barebones. And underneath that, they should kindly direct anyone just wanting an inexpensive flash cart with features to the Mega Everdrive X3. My overall point here is that you should only buy this if you’re either just that frugal.

Final Thoughts:

You have a flashcart where you can’t load every game under the sun and you definitely don’t have tons of features like the Mega Everdrive models. I think that if you’re just looking for the cheapest of the cheap and you’re not really a purist, the OpenED is still better than buying a AliExpress special. It’s also better than paying big bucks for a Genesis Mini or Genesis Mini 2. However, if you want even some base level features, spend the extra ten bucks and at least get the Mega Everdrive X3. If you’re like me and you’re just trying to put a mod for running backups on every system that you own, then the OpenED is perfect for that. I’ll put the link to both of these down below!

Purchase Link:

OpenED from Everdrive.ME
Mega Everdrive X3 from Everdrive.ME