Tuesday, September 27, 2022

System Review: Sega Genesis Mini/Mega Drive Mini



After years of licensing the right to make retro consoles of their systems to AtGames, with varying results, Sega opted instead to design and manufacture the Sega Genesis Mini themselves. The emulation was handled by M2. 

Going with M2 for the emulation was the right call, as the emulator runs the game with no visual or audio differences from the original system, as far as I could tell.

The system runs on a Zuiki Z7213 system on a chip with a 1.3 GHz quad-Core Cortex-A7 central processing unit, a 500 megahertz dual-core Mali-400 ARM graphics processing unit, 256 megabytes of random access memory, and 512 megabytes of flash storage.

Outside of Japan, the system comes with two three-button controllers. The Japanese version comes with one six-button controller. It comes with forty games for the Genesis system. These games are excellently curated, as most of the games rank among the most fun games for the Sega Genesis.

The forty games include Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle,Alisia DragoonAltered Beast, Beyond Oasis (known as The Story of Thor: A Successor of The Light outside North America)Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, Castlevania Bloodlines (known as Vampire Killer in Japan), Columns, Comix Zone, Contra: Hard Corps, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Dynamite Headdy, Earthworm JimEcco the Dolphin, Eternal Champions, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, Kid Chameleon, LandstalkerLight Crusader, Mega Man: The Wily Wars (known as Rockman: Mega World in Japan), Monster World IV, Phantasy Star IV, Road Rash II, Shining Force, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, Space Harrier II, Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (known as Street Fighter II Dash Plus: Champion Edition in Japan), Streets of Rage 2, Strider, Super Fantasy Zone, Thunder Force III, ToeJam & Earl, Vectorman, Virtua Fighter 2, Wonder Boy in Monster World, and World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck

Mega Man: The Wily Wars was released on cartridge in Japan and Europe. North America only had access to Mega Man: The Wily Wars on the short-lived cable-based subscription game download service Sega Channel.

In addition to the forty listed above, the Sega Genesis Mini also includes two new ports of arcade games. The Darius port was developed by M2 and Hideki Konishi, while Tetris was a solo effort by M2. The Tetris port is based on Sega's arcade version. This is a new port and not the one that had an extremely small print run in the 1990s due to Nintendo holding the video game console rights for Tetris at the time.

The Japanese version of the system, the Sega Mega Drive Mini, also contains forty classic games and two bonus games. However, the game list is slightly different. It comes with Alisia DragoonAssault Suit LeynosCastle of Illusion Starring Mickey MouseColumnsComix ZoneContra: Hard CorpsDariusDyna Brothers 2 SpecialDynamite HeaddyThe Game's Crown CollectionGhouls 'n GhostsGolden AxeGunstar HeroesThe Hybrid FrontLandstalker, Langrisser II, Lord MonarchMonster World IVMUSHA, OutRun 2019, Party Quiz Mega QPhantasy Star IVPuyo Puyo 2, Puzzle & Action: Tant-R, Rent-a-Hero, Road Rash IIRockman: Mega World (known outside Japan as Mega Man: The Wily Wars), Shining ForceSlap Fight MDSnow BrosSonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog 2, Sorcery Saga ISpace Harrier IIStreet Fighter II Dash Plus: Champion Edition (known as Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition outside Japan)The Story of Thor: A Successor of The Light (known as Beyond Oasis in North America)Streets of Rage 2Strider, Super Fantasy Zone, The Super Shinobi, Sword of Vermillion, TetrisThunder Force III, Vampire Killer (known as Castlevania Bloodlines outside Japan), World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Wrestleball, and Yu Yu Hakusho: Battle to Unite the Demon Plane

As with the Nintendo Mini consoles, I’ll be looking in-depth at the above games in the future, and the links will be updated accordingly. With this mini console, it is like a return to the days of old since Sega has once again rivaled Nintendo. The emulation is excellent and the console is packed with enjoyable classic games. Whether you get the Sega Genesis Mini or the Sega Mega Drive Mini, you'll get tons of enjoyment.

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5

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