MovieTom | 39 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Welcome to the Sega Game Gear US variants guide! Despite its relatively small library of games, the Game Gear did have a handful of variants in the US. Some of these variants are simply reuses of European carts. Variants: Columns There are 2 variations of the label: One with bold letters and one with staggered skinny letters. The bold letters are standard for the European release as well as the first release of the game in the US. Columns was a pack in title in 1991 and the game used the same artwork in both the UK and the US. When the Game Gear was released with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as a pack in title, Columns was released as a stand alone title and it is then that the logo was redesigned for the packaging. The bold letters seems to be more common. Lemmings There are 2 variations of the label: One with a large logo and one with a smaller logo I have not been able to determine which one was made first. Both are exclusive to the US. Neither one is more common than the other. Fantasy Zone There are 2 variations of the label: One with “bubbly” letters and one with “sharp” letters The ‘bubbly” letters are attributed to the European version but it is so common in the US that (I assume and cannot confirm) it was distributed in the US as well. The true US label has the “sharp” letters and that label is less common. Sports Trivia/Sports Trivia Championship Edition It's uncertain whether or not this is a variant or just an updated version. No one will no for sure since who is going to play through this game in it's entirety? It's only difference on the outset is the "Championship Edition" on the label. The non-Championship Edition was a pack-in game and the Championship Edition was sold as a stand alone title. Majesco Variants: When Majesco re-released the Sega Game Gear in 1999, they re-released 9 games and altered their labels, either slightly or entirely. Deep Duck Trouble Variation: Removed the purple stripe at the bottom of the label and added the Majesco & Disney logo and the ESRB rating. It also added “Disney’s” at the top of the title. Disney’s Aladdin Variation: Removed the purple stripe at the bottom of the label and added the Majesco & Disney logos and the ESRB rating. The “Disney’s” changes from black to white font and it is moved to above the Aladdin title. The Jungle Book Variation: Full artwork. The Majesco version uses the box art for the label. The title changes slightly from Disney’s The Jungle Book to Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book. It adds the ESRB rating and the Majesco & Disney logos. The Lion King Variation: Removed the purple stripe at the bottom of the label and added the Majesco & Disney logos. Artwork is enlarged and spills into the side stripe with Game Gear in it. It changed the GA rating to the ESRB rating. It added “Disney’s” to the title logo. It removes the Virgin Interactive Logo. It added “Assembled in Mexico”. Pac-Man Variation: Removed the Sega Game Gear and the 1 or 2 Players logos from the bottom of the label. Artwork is enlarged and the newer Game Gear logo is added to the side minus the purple stripe. The Namco logo is removed. The Pac-Man logo is moved to the bottom of the cart and the Sega quality seal is moved to the top left. The Majesco logo was added. Caesar’s Palace Variation: Full artwork. Original release was red dice on a black background. New artwork is of slots and a chariot being pulled by four horses. Added new title logo. There is a purple stripe on the right side of the label. The MA-13 rating is removed entirely. The Majesco logo is added as well as “Assembled in Mexico”. Ms. Pac-Man Variation: The Game Gear stripe was flipped to the right side of the label also flipping the “Game Gear” type. The artwork is enlarged to show the ghost more. The Namco logo was removed and the Majesco logo was added. It added “Assembled in Mexico” Sonic Chaos Variation: Removed the purple stripe at the bottom of the label and added the Majesco logo as well as “Assembled in Mexico”. The title logo was moved from the top to the right side and the artwork was zoomed out showing more of the drill Sonic is standing on. The rocks artwork spills into Game Gear stripe on the left side. Sonic Spinball Variation: Removed the purple stripe at the bottom of the label and added the Majesco logo as well as “Assembled in Mexico”. The title logo was moved from the top to the right side also adding a purple stripe. The GA rating was removed. The artwork was zoomed out to show Robotnik. If there are any other variations that you've found that are not listed here, please let me know and I'll update this guide. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrslam | 474 Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Nice guide. I notice the two versions of Sports Trivia have different part numbers, so maybe the game was changed. I looked thru my GG stuff and didn't find any variants you haven't already listed except this Jungle Book, and I think that's a Euro version so wouldn't count. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieTom | 39 Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 18 hours ago, nrslam said: Nice guide. I notice the two versions of Sports Trivia have different part numbers, so maybe the game was changed. I looked thru my GG stuff and didn't find any variants you haven't already listed except this Jungle Book, and I think that's a Euro version so wouldn't count. Yeah I have that same Jungle Book as well. It's the Euro version. I also have a Popils that I thought for sure was the US version and it turns out it's the Euro version. The US version is the exact same as the Japanese version complete with the Japanese text on the label! I debated putting Sports Trivia on here. I own both so I'm going to pop them in and see if I notice any differences. I have a feeling that its the same game but I'll check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrslam | 474 Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 So, is one of these the US version of Popils? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieTom | 39 Posted November 14, 2019 Author Share Posted November 14, 2019 3 minutes ago, nrslam said: So, is one of these the US version of Popils? The one on the right is both the US and Japanese version. The one of the left is the European version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Count | 526 Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 Great idea for a thread, Tom. Aside from the Majesco variants and pack-in carts, do these cart variants have corresponding box/manual changes as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH | 4,903 Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 1 hour ago, The Count said: Great idea for a thread, Tom. Aside from the Majesco variants and pack-in carts, do these cart variants have corresponding box/manual changes as well? I agree that this is an interesting thread and one worth following. I'll say as a casual observation about SEGA, though, is their stuff has always seemed way less tracked and quality-controlled than NES. I wish SEGA had serials on all of their materials, but since they don't even have that on their labels and manuals, keeping track of this stuff can be difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieTom | 39 Posted November 22, 2019 Author Share Posted November 22, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, The Count said: Great idea for a thread, Tom. Aside from the Majesco variants and pack-in carts, do these cart variants have corresponding box/manual changes as well? There's not a whole lot of Box/Manual variants from what I've seen. The biggest one that come to mind is Caesar's Palace which has a different box and manual corresponding to Majesco redesign. I know that the Majesco re-releases tweaked a lot of the boxes and manuals but much like the cart labels, it was a lot of subtle changes. Most of the Majesco re-releases have black and white manuals as opposed to colored versions. The original Jungle Book manual was in color and had a black box in the middle of it with white text that read "Instruction Manual". That was removed for the Majesco release. You can pretty much tell it's a Majesco re-release (for the most part) by 2 factors: 1) they'll have the ESRB rating on it. 2) the box has a more cardboard look and feel to it. They are not glossy boxes and to save money, removed the inner tray in favor of a built into the box cart holder similar to Atari boxes. Edited November 22, 2019 by MovieTom wrong info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieTom | 39 Posted November 22, 2019 Author Share Posted November 22, 2019 So it can be hard to distinguish a Sonic 2 original release box versus the Majesco re-release versions as the differences are fairly subtle. As far as I can tell the manual and cart are exactly the same (although I have never opened up the carts to check to see if the boards are the same). There are 2 differences that I can find: 1) The Sega logos on the front and back. If they have a white border around the letters, that is the Majesco re-release. 2) On the back of the box, at the bottom right above the number 2507, if that space has "Distributed by Majesco" then obviously you've got the re-release. Majesco version: Original release: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PII | 1,884 Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) Formerly pictured here - (Devilish PAL / Devilish NTSC) Edited January 2, 2023 by PII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PII | 1,884 Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 My bad, it looks like the one on the left is the PAL version. I had picked that one up a while back and had been led to believe it was a North American variant.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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