SMS Peripherals
In this sub-section of the informative section of The Ela Fountain, we will take a look at and comment most of the accesories and peripherals that were released for the SMS. Some of them were useful, some weren't so useful, some were garbage.
Control Pad (#3020)
The good old control pad, the SMS wouldn't have been the same without it. In these times when controllers use to have at least 5230 buttons, it seems hard to believe that with two little buttons and a directional button we had anything we needed. Three versions were released: the early one, that had a removable cap on the D-button that could be used like a little joystick (pretty useless), a weird one, that had a little button in the center of the D-pad (totally useless)and the standard one, with no cap. If only the pause button was located on the controller...
Light Phaser (#3050)
One of the most popular add-ons for the SMS, this was a light gun that could be used to shoot to your TV screen and actually hit targets with certain games that were phaser-compatible (Rescue Mission, Gangster Town, Rambo III...).
Pretty fun and easy to use, there are some variations of the original black phaser with a white or orange tip. The phaser was so real that the police ordered Sega to paint the tips in the US. Oh well...
Control Stick (#3060)
Another popular peripheral, I guess the control stick was released for left-handed people, or people that was sick and tired of their old games and wanted a new challenge. Because I find impossible to play with this thing. Back in the day, I had a friend that thought he was the coolest for having an "arcade-like controller", as he called it. But actually, he was also unable to play properly with it. I had good laughs about him :)
Um...I want one for collecting purposes only...
Rapid Fire Unit (#3045)
These are the famous SMS 3D glasses, a revolutionary peripheral, ahead of its time, that could create 3-dimensional scenarios with 3D compatible games, like Out Run 3D, Zaxxon 3D or Space Harrier 3D. I only can say that they were too expensive for me back in the day, and now are rare as hell (at least in Spain), so no, I haven't had the chance to try them :(
SegaScope 3D Glasses (#3073)
INice item, that was plugged between the controller and the console. It could turn auto fire on, separately for both of the buttons, and was really useful for shooting games, like Fantasy Zone, Power Strike or Astro Warrior, keeping your thumb free of blood, sweat and eruptions.
Handle Controller (#3041)
This cool-looking device, not released in the US, was made in order to play racing and flying games in a more realistic way. It had turbo buttons, and it has been said it breaks easily. It's not very spread too, so this might be a totally crappy thing. Who knows?
Sports Pad (#3040)
Another rare item here in Spain (don't know about the US or the UK), that is basically a controller with two standard buttons and a rollerball. Used 'officially' only by a few sports games (Sports Pad Soccer, Great Ice Hockey), some people say it works great with other games, like Fantasy Zone and shooters in general. Oh, you can also use it as a mouse for 'SMS Windows 2.01".
Other stuff
These were the most popular peripherals released for the SMS, but obviously there were some more, like the Rapid Fire Control Pad, Rapid Fire Control Stick, or the Paddle Controller. These ones might be added to this page in a near future, so stay tuned!
This Action Chair released for the Mega Drive should be compatible with the SMS...and would have had something to say if it would have been more popular. Imagine playing Hang On with this! :)