This Sega MegaDrive-powered synthesiser is exactly what we need in our lives right now…

There’s DIY synth projects, and then there’s this latest effort from Sam Battle, aka Look Mum No Computer.

Battle has taken an old Sega MegaDrive and hooked it up to a vintage synth cabinet to take advantage of the console’s Yamaha YM2612 sound chip.

Using the chip’s capabilities, which include six FM voices, a sine-wave low frequency oscillator and per-channel programmable stereo sound, Battle’s creation might be cumbersome, but the sounds generated transport us straight back to darkened bedrooms in the early 1990s.

Initially, the net result sounds a little bit like the intro to 808 State’s Cubik – fast forward to 6:13 to see Battle really put the unit through its paces.

But can he get it to play the soundtrack to the Marble Zone of Sonic The Hedgehog – in our opinion the Sega Megadrive’s finest musical opus? Here’s hoping…

Read More: “Shoryuken..!” The music of Street Fighter II – How Yoko Shimomura soundtracked one of the biggest video games of all time

Altogether now… “SAAAAAY-GAAHHHHH!!!” 🙂

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