Editing J-Cart (section)

{{Short description|Video game cartridge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
[[File:Mega drive j-cart.jpg|thumb|200px|right|''Micro Machines 2'' as a J-Cart]]
[[File:Jcart.jpg|alt=J-Cart cartridges side by side|thumb|All six J-Cart released games]]
The '''J-Cart''' is a special [[ROM cartridge]] developed by [[Codemasters]] for the [[Sega Genesis]] console. It held not only the game data but also came with two additional [[gamepad]] ports. This effectively allowed four players to play simultaneously without any extra [[multitap|adapters]]. The first J-Cart game, ''Tennis All-Stars'', was released in early [[1994 in video gaming|1994]].<ref>{{cite news|date=30 March 1994|title=Quadro-Power|language=de|page=29|work=Megablast|publisher=Joker Verlag|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/a/af/Megablast_DE_1994-03.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|date=June 1994|title=Four-Player Fun|page=184|magazine=[[GamePro]]|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|issue=59|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/b/bf/GamePro_US_059.pdf}}</ref>

''[[Micro Machines 2|Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament]]'' also allowed up to eight players to play simultaneously using up to four gamepads, each player using only the [[D-pad]] or face buttons.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=A Small History Of Micro Machines|url=https://archive.org/stream/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_113#page/60/mode/2up|magazine=[[Retro Gamer]]|location=Bournemouth|publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]]|issue=113|pages=60–67|issn=1742-3155}}</ref>

The J-Cart came relatively late in the [[Product lifecycle (engineering)|life cycle]] of the console. In addition, Codemasters never licensed the technology to other publishers. Thus the number of games released as J-Carts was limited.