Question about Sega Mega Drive Mini

[CaptainCruch]

Hi, I'm late to the party, but I got a Sega Mega Drive Mini. I liked the device (though the choice of games is very save), but when I played the games they seemed to run so fast to me! I grew up in Europe with a PAL (50Hz) Mega Drive. Can anyone tell me if the games on the Mega Drive run standard on 60Hz? Because that could explain the difference in speed I'm experiencing.

[Atariboy]

Even though the PAL roms are all being used here unlike something like the SNES Mini, they're all running at a speed of 60 hz instead of 50 hz to match the game speed of the NTSC versions. For an example of how we can tell that these are the PAL versions, Castlevania's title screen says "Castlevania: The New Generation" instead of Japan's Vampire Killer or North America's Bloodlines title screen.

Thanks I suppose to lazy localizations during the 16-bit era and the lack of any Euro developed games being included here, apparently none of the featured games were actually PAL optimized back in the day. Thus they're all running at the correct speed that the designers intended now by forcing them to run in 60 hz (An optimized 50 hz PAL release would of course run too quick at 60 hz just as an un-optimized PAL release runs too slowly in 50 hz).

Still, it must be jarring for someone that is accustomed to an un-optimized PAL version that's now running in 60 hz. But apparently M2 didn't think the demand justified the option when so many PAL gamers now find the 60 hz experience preferable. People are even up in arms these days when the PAL originals are used, such as PAL versions of NES/SNES downloads for Switch Online in Europe.

[CaptainCruch]

Thanks for your reply! I can see why the 60 hz standard is preferred - the games run better. However, after playing for more than 30 years on an original 50 Hz PAL Mega Drive I find it hard to get used just to the new speed! It feels kind of 'off' for me now. Luckily I still own the original