Sega Genesis Mini

[kitsunebi]

Well, half of the 40 games have been announced.  In the late 80s/early 90s, I was strictly a PC/Nintendo player, and never bothered with Sega until the Dreamcast, so I've only ever played a few of these.  But for all of you Sega fanboys out there, how's the list shaping up, and what are you hoping to see in the remaining 20 games?

The list (so far) of games for the US version:

• Ecco the Dolphin
• Castlevania: Bloodlines
• Space Harrier 2
• Shining Force
• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
• Toe Jam & Earl
• Comix Zone
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Altered Beast
• Gunstar Heroes
• Earthworm Jim
• Castle of Illusion
• Shinobi III
• Contra: Hard Corps
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• World of Illusion
• Thunder Force III
• Super Fantasy Zone
• Streets of Rage 2
• Landstalker

[Sivilius]

It's a nice list. But having a 3-button controller instead of the 6-button limits what games are possible, paticularly fighting games. Would like to see NHL '94 and maybe a couple Phantasy Star games on the list.

[consumer]

I'd like this thing to include Phantasy Star II & IV, Golden Axe I & II, Sword of Vermillion, Wonderboy in Monsterworld, and most especially, Herzog Zwei.

[ocelot085]

I was a gameboy only user back then and completely missed the 16 bit era back then.My first home console was the n64 But I am very eager to experience the 16 bit era with the Mega Drive  and the SNES.   I am more interested in original hardware though but after reading some good stuf about the Mini I a am not so sure anymore. Will be a not so easy decision which way to go Original or the Mini....

[E-Day]

The fact that they are including two Mickey Mouse games is pretty amazing. It means that just about any game can be included. I'm happy with the list of 20, so the next 20 are a bonus. 

If they can include Sonic 3 and Knuckles that would be great. If they can negotiate with Disney I don't see negotiating the music side on those Sonic games to be that much more difficult. 

[kitsunebi]

I know one game that won't be on there and will almost definitely never be released again in any format.  And it rhymes with Cycle Faction's NoonLocker.

[E-Day]

That's a shame too. 

[kitsunebi]

I think the loss of a game is a pretty insignificant tragedy compared to the things that guy did to children.

Btw, has anyone who thinks Phantasy Star II deserves a slot played it recently?  I've never played it myself but I've read lots of less than stellar evaluations from people who have played it without the haze of nostalgia that suggest that it may not hold up as quite the classic it's remembered as.  I've only ever played the first PS, and it was just another JRPG to me, but then most JRPGs are just another JRPG to me.

[Phillyman]

Even though I was never a true fan of the Sega Genesis or Sega in general, I preordered one. Back in the 90s I owned the NES, SNES and GameBoy and then got a Genesis. I never really built up a library for the Genesis because of "The Sega Channel" which was an adapter for the Genesis that hooked up to the coax cable in your house and allowed you to download games to the Genesis and play. Most of it was demos and trials, but what I remember is the following titles.....

• Altered Beast
• Comix Zone
• Sonic 1-3 and Sonic Spinball
• Vectorman
• Earthworm Jim
• Eternal Champions

So my experience even to this day is very limited with the Genesis.

 

[consumer]

4 hours ago, kitsunebi77 said:

Btw, has anyone who thinks Phantasy Star II deserves a slot played it recently?  I've never played it myself but I've read lots of less than stellar evaluations from people who have played it without the haze of nostalgia that suggest that it may not hold up as quite the classic it's remembered as.

 I acquired a copy of Phantasy Star II back in the late 90's, but didn't play through it until around 2010.  The "less than stellar evaluations," you've read are fair, I wouldn't deny the validity of those perspectives.  The story is only slightly more robust than Final Fantasy I for the NES, and the visuals seem pretty uninspired, even redundant.  I wasn't impressed with the title when I first attempted it back in 98'.  However, I dedicated myself to a playthrough in 2010 and was satisfied with the experience. 

Certainly, Phantasy Star II is not for everyone.  Even for a 80's/90's RPG, it's a real grinder with difficult random battles, and sprawling, featureless dungeons.  Solving the game by ones own wit requires some attention to detail, fair resource management skills, and patience.  As JRPG's go, this a tough one, but Phantasy Star's most redeeming quality is it's challenge.  The scant extant story of Phantasy Star II eventually culminates in an interesting ending (nothing too mind-blowing, but amusing).  The drama of an out of control AI initially designed to maintain a utopian world seems more relevant than typical JRPG fare.  I also liked the setting, stretching across multiple planets in Phantasy Star II' s solar system.

I can definitely see why most wouldn't like the title, but I enjoyed the challenge and the setting.  Also, I am one of those rare JRPG'ers that actually enjoys the grind.  Though I prefer PSII be included on the mini Genesis, I'd be completely content with it's absence, so long as Phantasy Star IV were given a slot.  Phantasy Star IV ratchets up everything good in PSII, and appears a much more refined piece of gaming art.  PSIV is't quite as challenging, but seems superior in every other comparable category.

[E-Day]

With the next 10 games announced, it's looking like a really fantastic lineup. The thing I find most interesting is that Sega had to use a scan of the Vectorman cover on their site for the Mini instead of using the original assets, which I am sure exist somewhere. They didn't even touch up the image to remove imperfections like the one at the top left.

 

[jonphilmitch]

33 minutes ago, E-Day said:

which I am sure exist somewhere

They probably exist in some sort of archive, but big companies seem terrible at keeping track of this stuff. Frank Cifaldi told me that all of the images in the bonus features of Mega Man Legacy Collection were scanned out of a book about Mega Man. I would have thought that Capcom could have provided an archive, but nope!

[kitsunebi]

Sega was never really a big deal in Japan, but to illustrate its faded influence here:

The other day I was in a class where kids were talking about their favorite animals.  A couple of kids wanted to know how to say "harinezumi" in English (hedgehog).  Since Sonic is called "Sonic the Hedgehog" in Japan as well (well, Sonikku za Hejjuhoggu), I figured I would point that out and everyone would realize that they already knew the English word.  Except that, out of a room of thirty 11-year olds, only a single kid (and the homeroom teacher) had ever heard of Sonic.  This is the same room of kids that when asked "What do you want for your birthday?" answered almost unanimously, boys and girls alike, with "game soft(ware)".  So it isn't as if they don't play video games.

Meanwhile Mario is everywhere, including on the covers of some of the official workbooks distributed by schools to teach kanji.

[Ethereal Dragonz]

Sega was the enemy when I was growing up... back when you were lucky if your parents would buy you one console. That made you heavily invested into the success of whatever you had.

I did get to play most of these games later on when emulation became wide spread. That being said, this is a very good list and this product has twice as many games as the SNES mini.

What baffles me is that the Japanese Mega Drive mini gets the six button controller and the USA gets the old-school three button version. Good luck with that copy of Street Fighter II.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Ethereal Dragonz

[E-Day]

1 hour ago, Ethereal Dragonz said:

What baffles me is that the Japanese Mega Drive mini gets the six button controller and the USA gets the old-school three button version. Good luck with that copy of Street Fighter II.

Probably a move to entice people to buy the officially licensed Retro-Bit 6-button control pads. Sneaky bastards

[gittles]

It would be cool if Sega released two models of the Mini: Model 1 with the 3 button and Model 2 with the 6 button. 

[kitsunebi]

6 hours ago, gittles said:

It would be cool if Sega released two models of the Mini: Model 1 with the 3 button and Model 2 with the 6 button. 

Having never owned a Genesis or had any friends who owned one either, I have to wonder, is there a reason anyone would prefer the 3-button controller?  Because it seems to me the way it should have been handled is to only include the 6-button controller, like they're doing in Japan, rather than short-change the rest of the world.  Which is ironic, since the Genesis was far more successful in the West than it ever was in Japan.  Kind of seems like they're crapping on their best customers.

[Areala]

17 hours ago, kitsunebi77 said:

Having never owned a Genesis or had any friends who owned one either, I have to wonder, is there a reason anyone would prefer the 3-button controller?  Because it seems to me the way it should have been handled is to only include the 6-button controller, like they're doing in Japan, rather than short-change the rest of the world.  Which is ironic, since the Genesis was far more successful in the West than it ever was in Japan.  Kind of seems like they're crapping on their best customers.

I felt the same way about the Mini PS1 released earlier. Why stick to the original controller when a lack of the analog sticks on a Dual Analog or DualShock limits the type of software you can include? Other than keeping the price lower, or for nostalgia factor, ie: "Here's what you originally got in the box in 1989!", I see no reason to exclude the six-button controller.

*huggles*
Areala

[gittles]

17 hours ago, kitsunebi77 said:

Having never owned a Genesis or had any friends who owned one either, I have to wonder, is there a reason anyone would prefer the 3-button controller?  Because it seems to me the way it should have been handled is to only include the 6-button controller, like they're doing in Japan, rather than short-change the rest of the world.  Which is ironic, since the Genesis was far more successful in the West than it ever was in Japan.  Kind of seems like they're crapping on their best customers.

Nostalgia is the biggest reason.

Comix Zone and SF2 use 6 buttons; SF2 is basically unplayable with 3. It's weird they're even including it.

Though it is so very Sega to launch a new product and offer immediate add-ons -- you can buy a Sega co-branded USB 6-button controller that will work with the Mini.

[Leathco]

It was announced that the RetroBit 6 Button Genesis controller will be compatible with the Genesis Mini.  So even though it ships with a 3 button, a 6 button will be available, at 20 bucks per controller.  I have a Genesis Mini on preorder and also plan on getting at least one of the 6 button pads.

Honestly, I'm just glad the game selection is good and has some gems on each of the announcements, like Bloodlines, Hard Corps, and Wily Wars.  Just hoping a miracle happens and we get Sonic 3 along with Sonic and Knuckles in the final games announcement, maybe even with lock-on tech available digitally for it.  Seems unlikely with the Sonic 3 licensing issues but we will see. 

[kitsunebi]

1 hour ago, Leathco said:

It was announced that the RetroBit 6 Button Genesis controller will be compatible with the Genesis Mini.  So even though it ships with a 3 button, a 6 button will be available, at 20 bucks per controller.  I have a Genesis Mini on preorder and also plan on getting at least one of the 6 button pads.

Like I said, screwing their best customers.  Of course, so long as Westerners are happy with paying extra for what could have been included in the box in the first place, Sega won't mind taking their money, so everyone wins?

Having no interest in these products makes this sort of a popcorn experience for me.  Watching the PS1 mini deservedly flop was great fun.  We'll see how this one fares.

[E-Day]

So the last 10+2 games were announced today. Sad that they didn't license the music for Sonic 3 & Knuckles. But Monster World IV, and Tetris, the game with less than 10 cartridges produced and a game Sega always pretended never existed? No one saw that coming.

The last 12 games seem like a good mix. I used to like Virtua Fighter 2, and Road Rash II. I didn't play most of the rest, but I was young and buying my own games at the time.

So 42 games, plus I am sure it will be hacked like the Super NES mini. At least I hope so so I can put Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles on it.

I almost want to pre-order two of these

 

[Leathco]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one excited for this release.  The last batch of games is the weakest, but they at least made it stronger by adding two games to it and having a couple of them be previously unreleased (Tetris and Darius, plus Wily Wars in the previous batch).  I've already bought a Retro-Bit 6 button controller back when Street Fighter 2 was announced, and it will also come in very handy for Eternal Champions, which for me was the biggest headline of the last batch. 

Still hoping for a hack after release to add games.  And did you guys see what looks like to be a Japanese exclusive "Tower of Plastic" which adds a -nonfunctional- Sega CD, 32X, Sonic and Knuckles lock on with Sonic the hedgehog on top?  Even if its a hunk of plastic, it looks pretty neat and I'd prolly snag it, especially once the console is hacked and we can add Sega CD and 32X games to it via USB.

[E-Day]

I thought the plastic add-ons were pretty cool. If they are available in North America I would get the Sega CD one for sure; not sure about the 32X.

[kitsunebi]

Re: People lining up to buy useless plastic add-ons for their Mega Drive/Genesis. 

The irony is palpable.

 

(I'll assume Sega is in on the joke and having a laugh).