Sega Is Taking the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Mini Seriously Now

Sega made several announcements at Sega Fes last year, a weekend event in Japan that featured events for fans and announcements from the company themselves. It was a good time for everyone involved to celebrate the company’s long legacy as a video game software developer, and partly as a video game hardware creator, which is why they’re having it again this year. The festivities started this weekend with several announcements, though one of them stood over the others.

Sega reconfirmed the Sega Genesis Mini, after it was previously announced at last year’s Sega Fes for a release in the second half of 2018; but there’s a good reason why it was delayed. It was originally planned to be yet another attempt from AtGames, the same company responsible for the previous line of pitiful Genesis retro consoles. Their features were good on the surface, like the option to play Genesis cartridges in addition to the titles preloaded on the system; but the games themselves featured some of the worst emulation around, with poor sound and performance compared to the original versions.

The previous AtGames systems were licensed outsourced efforts from Sega, but the system they announced last year was also planned to be distributed by them. After they tried so many times, it was clear the manufacturer would never get what makes for a good retro console, so it was a mystery as to why Sega wanted to further hitch their wagon to them.

Fortunately, Sega listened to the heaps of criticism thrown in their direction, and put this one on hold to create a serious effort. Now, we’re getting an idea of how serious it is.

The Sega Genesis Mini, or Mega Drive Mini in territories outside America, will release on September 19th, and the details show how they listened to every single bit of criticism. The system will have 40 preloaded games, a number decided on thanks to Sega not being able to narrow it to 30, only ten of which have been confirmed. The Japanese version will include Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Puyo Puyo 2, Castlevania Bloodlines, Shining Force, Powerball, Gunstar Heroes, Comix Zone, Rent-A-Hero, Space Harrier II, and Madou Monogatari I.

It’s no surprise that the western versions won’t have that same lineup, since Puyo Puyo 2, Rent-A-Hero, and Madou Monogatari I were never localized. But there are more changes to the currently-known western lineup than expected. Those three games aren’t part of the current lineup, but Powerball (which was localized) is also missing, and the first Sonic the Hedgehog title replaces the second one. In the places of the other four games are Altered Beast, Ecco the Dolphin, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and Toejam & Earl. Thankfully, Bloodlines is kept, which could make this the first post-Genesis rerelease of the game thanks to how it never graced the Virtual Console. But only “could,” because it could be part of Konami’s Castlevania Anniversary Collection, which will arrive before this console releases.

The even better news here is that M2, who handled all the previous superlative Sega ports, will be handling the games here. It’s a big surprise considering how expensive their ports can be. Sega has previously only released them separately or in small bundles through various digital services, including through the Virtual Console and the recent Sega Ages releases on Switch. This alone shows how there will be drastic differences between this console and the originally-planned one they thankfully didn’t release.

The menus will also feature new music from Yuzo Koshiro, known for providing the soundtracks to titles like the Streets of Rage games and The Revenge of Shinobi. He’s the best choice, considering he knows how to make his music sound authentically like it’s coming from a Sega Genesis. With Koshiro involved, hopefully Revenge of Shinobi (likely the altered version that removes the unlicensed characters) and at least one SOR game make the cut.

The Japanese version will be sold in two variants: A base $70-equivalent version that includes one six-button controller and a $90-equivalent one that includes two controllers. The western version, however, will only be available in a bundle with two controllers, and will cost $79.99.

We’re talking about Sega here, so of course there’s an unfortunate catch. While the Japanese console will have six-button pads, the western counterparts will include the classic three-button ones. Why this is the case is anyone’s guess, outside of Sega being Sega. Here’s hoping they release six-button controllers separately, since there will be several games included that control better with them, like Comix Zone.

Sega will reveal more of the software choices on April 18th in Japan, and the western subsidiaries should do so the same since they’re all releasing on September 19th. The potentially great emulation might be enough to overlook the poor decision to include three-button controllers instead of six-button ones, and it’s good that a manufacturer not named “Nintendo” is actually giving a damn about a retro console release.