The Mega-CD II was released alongside the Mega Drive II has a cost-reduced option that better suited the aesthetic changes made to the Mega Drive II. The console was released on the 23rd of April 1993 in Japan, June 1993 in North America and August 1993 in Europe. This version of the system features a top-loading mechanism as opposed to the motorised CD tray of the original design. The entire base of the unit extends to the left so that a Mega Drive can be securely fastened on top of it. The Mega-CD II can connect to an original Mega Drive using an additional plastic spacer which was also supplied with the machine. This is because an original Mega Drive has a wider footprint than a Mega Drive II. Alongside the console’s new aesthetic design, a new version of the Mega-CD BIOS is included, numbered v2.00. This features a new user interface design that functions largely the same as the original.

Specifications

CPU
Motorola 68000 @ 12.5 MHz

Display
Progressive: 320×224, 256×224 (NTSC) or 320×240, 256×240 (PAL) pixels, 512 color palette, 61 colors on-screen
Interlaced: 320×448, 256×448 (NTSC) or 320×480, 256×480 (PAL)

Audio
Ricoh RF5C164

RAM
6 Mbit
512 Kbit to PCM waveform memory
128 Kbit to CD-ROM data cache memory
64 Kbit are allocated as the backup memory

Storage
CD-ROM discs and CD+G discs

Images


Photo credit to Amazon