Editing Sega Mega Drive (section)

==Backwards-compatibility==
[[File:genesis power base.png|thumb|225px|right|Sega Power Base Converter]]
One of the key design features of the console is its backwards compatibility with Sega's previous console, the [[Sega Master System]]. The 16-bit design is based upon the 8-bit design, albeit enhanced and extended in many areas. In order to achieve backwards compatibility, the Master System's central processor and sound chip (the Zilog Z80<ref name="sreac3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.skillreactor.org/cgi-bin/index.pl?megadrv|title=Sega Mega Drive information}}</ref> and SN76489 respectively) are included in the Mega Drive, and the Mega Drive's Video Display Processor (VDP) is capable of the Master System's VDP's mode 4, though it cannot run in modes 0, 1, 2, or 3.

As the cartridge slot is of a different shape, Sega released the Power Base Converter, a separate device that sits between a Master System cartridge and the Mega Drive's cartridge slot. The Power Base Converter does not contain any Master System's hardware components, instead functioning as a pass-through device. The converter contains a top slot for cartridge-based games along with a front slot for card-based games, as well as the 3D glasses adapter. When a Master System game is inserted, the system puts the Z80 in control, leaving the Mega Drive's main 68000 processor idle.<ref name="sreac3"/> This peripheral was released in Japan on 26 January 1989 for ¥4500<ref name="adapt"/> and can only be attached to the original model, making it incompatible with the later second and third revisions of the Mega Drive.<ref name="adapt">{{Cite web|title=Mega Drive Adaptor|url=https://sega.jp/fb/segahard/md/adapter.html|publisher=[[Sega]]|language=Japanese|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215062323/http://sega.jp/fb/segahard/md/adapter.html|archivedate=15 February 2013|accessdate=25 February 2022}}</ref>

Although the peripheral can play any game within the Master System's library, one particular game does not work with this device, which is ''F-16 Fighting Falcon''.<ref>Master System Converter Instruction Manual, p. 7.</ref>