labelGGFM has been producing Game Gear compatible cartridges in recent years under the concept of creating a new Game Gear for a new era. So far, the studio has two releases, Only One Spirit and a port of the Steam release, Battle Marine. For this interview, we spoke with labelGGFM’s producer, Gear Taro.
Sega-16: Tell us about labelGGFM. How did it begin?
Gear Taro: With the release of the Game Gear Micro in October 2020, attention to Game Gear once again increased. Just around the same time, some Game Gear fans were excited about converting their Game Gear LCDs to IPS. Most Game Gear capacitors were not working due to age-related deterioration. Although this was a bit of a hurdle because it would require replacing the capacitors and other electronic work, playing on an LCD screen that was clearer than at the time would double the appeal of the colors of the Game Gear software and make it more enjoyable. In addition to the LCD screen, the power supply board can now be charged via USB-C, making the Game Gear more comfortable to play.
Also, many people know that Master System games can be played in Sega Master System (SMS) mode on Game Gear with the Master Gear Converter. However, I had thought that the Sega Mark III cartridges released in Japan were not played very often because of the different pin counts. I thought that Sega Mark III cartridges could be played with FM sound source via flash cartridges. Although there were already people trying to modify Game Gear to play FM sound sources, there was no precedent for integrating FM sound sources into the main unit, so we decided to realize this as one of the possibilities for customizing Game Gear that had not yet been realized.
Around that time, SYF appeared on the scene, reverse-engineering the Game Gear main board, and my encounter with SYF was a major turning point for me. I participated in the testing of the actual equipment and provided feedback on the noise generated and the volume of the FM sound source. Then, by attaching the actual YM2413 chip to the pinhole of a Game Gear cartridge, we succeeded in playing FM sound sources on the Game Gear. After about a year and a half of work, GGFM was finally completed, and SYF was able to release it as a commercial module in the summer of 2023. It is now possible to play FM sound sources by hand.
With the completion of GGFM, we decided to create a GGFM cartridge to enjoy GGFM installations. With this cartridge, one can enjoy FM sound anytime on a GGFM-installed game console without the need for adapters or flash cartridges. Although we knew that the need was very low, we launched “labelGGFM” to create a GGFM cartridge.
Sega-16: Tell us a bit about the GGFM dedicated cartridge Only One Spirit.
Gear Taro: Initially, my favorite Game Gear software music was Fray, released in Japan. I became acquainted with Mr. Nitta by attending live performances and events by Tadahiro Nitta, who had created that music. I knew that Mr. Nitta was familiar with FM sound sources, so I asked him to compose music for a dedicated GGFM cartridge, which I knew was a bad idea. He readily agreed.
A driver for playing music on game gear was developed by itoken, and functions such as playing, stopping, sending songs, and repeating music from the Game Gear cartridges were implemented. Two songs were created by Nitta. I am telling this story for the first time. The first song, “G-G TROIS,” was created in the image of Gear Taro, and the second song, “I-T SEQUENCE,” was created in the image of itoken, who developed the driver.
The data of these two songs were imported into the driver, and the result was Only One Spirit.
A cartridge was created that could play the FM sound source of YM2413 on game consoles with GGFM installed. Tadahiro Nitta (formally of Micro Cabin) has been working on music for Japanese computer games, mainly MSX games. His representative works include the Xak series, Illusion City, Final Fantasy (MSX version) arrangement, and Shenmue, in addition to Fray.
Sega-16: How was the response after the release?
Gear Taro: As expected, few people were able to enjoy the cartridge, perhaps because of the difficulty of installing the GGFM console, but the experience was generally well received by those who did. Since there were many requests for a cartridge that could be played on unmodified game consoles, we decided to make a game that could be played normally as the second cartridge for the label GGFM. That was Battle Marine.
Sega-16: What can you tell us about the Game Gear version of Battle Marine?
Gear Taro: It was released simultaneously at SYF on September 13, 2024, for domestic and international users. The sound source for this work is the DCSG sound source, which can be enjoyed on unmodified game consoles.
Battle Marine was originally released for STEAM and was ported to Game Gear by Suzuki Plan, the author and developer of the game. The development of a game released on STEAM using the full Assembly language of the Z80 and the limited specifications of the Game Gear must have been a very challenging theme, but we were able to port the game to the Game Gear considering the game balance and user interface that can be comfortably played on the Game Gear. However, we were able to port the game to the Game Gear, taking into consideration the game balance and user interface that could be played comfortably on the handheld.
For this Game Gear version, we were able to complete the package with the participation of Tadahiro Nitta for the BGM of the secret stage and Kodama Daigattai of the GG Aleste series for the illustration design of the package and manual. We are very happy to be able to create a Game Gear- compatible package in this new era. labelGGFM will continue to work on initiatives that game gear fans can enjoy throughout the ages.
Neither the modification parts mentioned in the interview nor the labelGGFM cartridges are licensed products of Sega.
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