Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 (Dreamcast)

Sega Smash Pack Volume 1
Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Platform: Dreamcast Released in US: January 31, 2001 This game has a hidden developer message.

Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 is a compilation of several Genesis games, plus Sega Swirl and Virtua Cop 2. This was the only Sega Smash Pack released for the Dreamcast, and was released the same day Sega announced that they were resigning from the console market.

Developer Message

The programmer of the Genesis emulator, Gary Lake, included a file named ECHELON.TXT on the retail disc image which details the emulator used quite a bit:

To whomever releases this pack..

Let me give you a few bits of info:

- I emulate a U.S. Genesis, including territory lock-out.
- ".sga" files are standard Genesis/Megadrive ".bin" files renamed.
- The emulator is looking for some parameters to be passed via Ginsu.
  If you don't know what that is, you'll figure it out:

MDE_US.BIN ALTBEAST.SGA MODE2 SKIP0 SOUND0

MODE0 = standard, fastest video mode settings
MODE1 = slower, supports some extra features
MODE2 = slowest, includes window layers (used by some games)
MODE4 = same as MODE0 with background skewing

SKIP0 = no sprite skipping until maximum reached
SKIP1 = moderate sprite skipping, used to prevent major slowdown
SKIP2 = maximum sprites skipped

SOUND0 = standard sound emulation
SOUND1 = sound tempo increased

And don't forget to pay your respects to Uncle Sonic.
Sony just doesn't get it.

   - Gary

Echelon is a pirate group, and this was Gary's last game with Sega. Ostensibly, Gary had left instructions for Echelon to make a tool that allowed emulation of other Genesis games with a modified disc.