Master System Games on Game Gear
Game Gear cartridges can’t be played on a Sega Master System or Genesis, but you can get a converter to play SMS games on your Game Gear.
Many different companies made SMS-to-GG adapters and most were licensed by Sega. They all worked well with one exception: The Nuby Converter (the right-most adapter in the picture) is the only one that works with the Majesco Game Gear, as well as the original Sega Game Gear.
Although the adapters play all of the cartridge-based SMS games, they don’t support 3D games or light gun games. Also, the Game Gear will not output FM sound from the SMS games, just the standard audio.
While this was a neat adapter to have back in the 90’s, I would never recommend using this today on a stock Game Gear. The Game Gear’s screen looks bad enough (compared to modern LCD’s) when playing games that were designed for their resolution. When you play an SMS game, the Game Gear shrinks the resolution and aspect ratio to fit it’s screen, making it an even worse experience.
Here’s an example of an SMS game being played on a Game Gear (left) and on an RGB monitor, just to show how bad it looks (click for full-sized):
As an FYI, if you install an LCD replacement in your Game Gear, SMS games actually look great.
Please head back to the main Game Gear page for more information.