I’ve been after a Sega CD for a while. I have an X’Eye, but it’s not compatible with the 32X. I wanted to build the fabled Tower of Doom, a dream of almost two decades. In order to achieve this, I needed to somehow get my hands on a healthy model 1 Sega CD — there was no other way.

Fast-forward to a few days before Labor Day. I stumble on this unbelievable bundle on Ebay. Original (functioning) model 1 SCD + Genesis + games (most CIB). I didn’t care about the Genesis because I really love my non-TMSS model 1. I grew attached to the damn thing after rescuing it from a Salvation Army store in L.A.

The full lot — pic taken by the seller

After some wise (read: aggressive) bidding, I got the whole thing for $114, shipped. It even included two original 3-button gamepads.

Here’s the list of games:

Sonic CD (U.S.)
F-117 Night Storm (cartridge)
Racing Aces CIB
Cliff Hanger CIB
Dark Wizard (disc-only)
Mortal Kombat CIB
Pitfall CIB
Surgical Strike (got 2 of this one, 1 is disc-only and 1 is CIB)
Fifa Soccer CIB
Rage Cage CIB
Sewer Shark (pack-in, disc-only)
LHX Attack Chopper (cartridge)

Well, the package arrived today. I rushed to set everything up… I was so excited. First attempt was a FAIL: my non-TMSS console was not outputting a signal. So I disassembled it, cleaned the contacts with rubbing alcohol and tried again. Success!

Sega CD BIOS (version 1.10)

Tried a few games. Everything was perfect UNTIL…

Sitting at the BIOS, bizarre artifacts suddenly appeared behind the spinning Sega CD logo. They looked like the snow from a bad RF connection (I had the console hooked via RCA). It got worse… little by little, as the console remained on. In-game everything was fine.

Disassembled the whole thing (Genesis / Sega CD / 32X). Assembled again.

It seemed like I fixed it.. then it happened again. I noticed that only the screens generated by the Sega CD were affected: the BIOS and the memory manager. I was actually seeing garbled characters moving around the screen like some weird 16-bit rain effect. It didn’t look good. At all.

I disassembled and reassembled the whole Tower of Doom 4 more times (that has to be some sort of world record!) I suspected the Sega CD itself, the video plug on the 32X, everything BUT my trusty non-TMSS unit. Then it dawned on me. That console had started exhibiting a bit of audio distortion lately. It usually happened after an hour or so of it being on.

Could it be? Could the original console be dying? After 22 years of service, could this be it?

Except that, by sheer luck, I had a replacement at hand.

A unit I previously didn’t care for — which turned out to be a legit VA6 revision. High Definition Graphics ports, covered EXT port, no HDG logo. A bona fide MIRACLE.

I disassembled and reassembled the tower for the last time — now with a new heart at its core. It worked like a charm. No snow, no problem. Smooth as silk. I even let it “soak” for 1 hour or so while me and my wife had dinner, just to be sure.

And the sound quality… OMFG. I just can’t believe how good it sounds. I think the RCA outputs are responsible in part — I used to rely on the headphone jack. Every bit of music sounds 100 percent accurate, no distortion, deep strong bass. Freaked me out. I tested it with Ecco The Dolphin (sound test) — it sounded better than any other consoles I ever had, including the J’Eye and Sega Nomad.

So that’s my story. Started looking for a model 1 SCD. Ended up with a lightly used VA6 unit that now powers a newborn Tower of Doom. Plus a bunch of games :)

More pictures (click on each image for a high-res version):