Multi Game Hunter

At the time of its release, Venus Corporation’s Multi Game Hunter (MGH) was a unique console copier that could connect to both Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis game consoles. The Multi Game Hunter included two interchangable adapters allowing it to plug into either machine; a third adapter, which allowed the MGH to play and dump Sega Master System ROMs while connected to the Genesis, was also available. These luxuries, however, were not cheap; MGH units (without the optional SMS adapter) originally sold for around $400.

The MGH is a large unit that overhangs the power and reset buttons of the Sega Genesis and hangs off the back of the machine as well. As a result, the MGH gets rocked and tilted quite a bit through normal usage. Unlike some of the later copiers, the MGH requires power from an external power source (I picked up a power adapter from Radio Shack that did the trick). The MGH can use 720k, 1.4, or 1.6 meg floppies.

The menu system is not as polished as many later units. The icons are oversized and undercolored, with the entire menu presented in four colors (not including the blue background). The menu presents the icons horizontally, but since they’re so large you must scroll back and forth to see all the options. The SRAM, SNES, Genesis icons all contain the same choices, which makes one wonder why they didn’t put them all under the same icon. Two other icons, labelled “options” and “MGH”, don’t do anything at all (“option not available”). With just a little thought, the menu system could have been greatly improved.

The MGH came with two memory configurations — 16 megabit (2 meg) and 24 megabit (3 meg) — which worked for a while, but could not dump the later 4 meg cartridges for either system.

Despite its memory limitations, the unit works quite well. The MGH is one of the more reliable Genesis backup units, and the fact that it does SNES ROMs as well is icing on the cake.