Sonic the Hedgehog slowdown?

[Deleted-171178]

I have Sonic The Hedgehog on a pal Megadrive, and after seeing various videos/music clips on the internet, I realise that my version is slower than most others.
My sonic 2 works fine, so I am wondering if it is the game itself.
The cart is pal, so that shouldn't be an issue.
It appears to be running at about 4/5 the normal speed.
Does anybody know what is causing this?
I bet its just our dumb pal TVs.

 

[TrolleyDave]

If you're watching the video clips on the net then you're probably seeing them captured from a NTSC console/cart. The PAL version of Sonic 2 runs slower (as do most PAL games of that era) then the NTSC one.

 

[Dark Blade]

Haha..what a question!
But maybe sonic has a hangover or something!!!

 

[Deleted member 35947]

PAL = 50 fps
NTSC = 60 fps

They were quite lazy back then and butchered conversions from NTSC to PAL. They simply slowed down the game to match 50 fps and in many cases there were black borders on PAL games. PAL tvs also have more lines/space then NTSC.

 

[RupeeClock]

It's true sadly.
Hell, you know that the virtual console releases on Wii are just as lazy? We have to put up with the nasty 50 FPS limit in Europe too.

I never noticed it until I got the PAL SMB3, after years of playing the US version on NES DS.

 

[jalaneme]

if you have a xbox 360 get the sega megadrive (or genesis) collection it has all the games in full 1080p no need for a megadrive anymore

 

[Deleted-171178]

if you have a xbox 360 get the sega megadrive (or genesis) collection it has all the games in full 1080p no need for a megadrive anymore

I have a PS3, but do the games really look better?

 

[Strider]

No, not at all.

The "1080p" crap is just saying the video signal goes out at 1080p but the games themselves are emulated and scaled (you have a few video choices). They're not remade/reworked, though.

 

[Deleted member 35947]

I'll just stick to emulating it on the PC and turn up the resolution that way. Same thing and with added filters.

 

[Blaze163]

I noticed a wierd thing like this on the original Sonic as well. As I recall, when you fall onto spikes in the PAL edition, there's no temporary invincibility to allow escape. So if you've landed in a spike pit, that's it you're gone. In the other versions the feature is present and you can escape. First noticed it playing Sonic Mega Collection on the 'cube. There's a button you can hold or something and you play the JPN version of the game as I recall. Been a while since I played it. But I know the temporary invincibility thing is genuine. Try it.

As for the slowdown thing, I never really noticed. But then I can complete the older Sonic games with my eyes closed so I spend most of my time trying to outrun the screen for a laugh, or just zipping through as Super Sonic and tearing through everything.