Sega Mega Drive Mini

[big_smile]

There's been plug and play Mega Drive consoles in the past, but Sega's now getting in on the act with a first party version that will be releasing worldwide:
http://genesismini.sega.com/

The line up seems to differ by region. For example, at Sega Fes it was stated that Sonic 2 would be the only Sonic title on the system (having beat out Sonic 1 in a Twitter poll) and the console would come with a 6 button controller. But the US website suggests America will be getting Sonic 1 and a 3 button pad.

M2 is working on the system, so the quality should be better than previous versions. It's unclear if M2 will include any extras for the games.

[Yami CJMErl]

I'm just relieved SEGA realized how shit AtGames was at making their mini consoles, despite having a few year's head start on Nintendo.

[Gaz]

Another 10 games have been revealed.

I think the biggest surprise is the inclusion of the 2 Disney platformers: Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion. I would have liked to have seen Quackshot included but I can't see there being a third Disney platform game. I must admit I wasn't too interested in this initially but the inclusion of 3rd party titles and licensed games helps to differentiate this from the various Sega compilations that have been released over the years. I'm certainly curious to know the full line up at least.

[Crazy Penguin]

Another 10 games have been revealed.

I think the biggest surprise is the inclusion of the 2 Disney platformers: Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion.

It's a huge surprise, and a very pleasant one at that. Castle of Illusion is one of the games that defined the Mega Drive, so its inclusion really adds to the "time capsule" appeal. I have fond memories of renting World of Illusion - never completed it as a kid, so it'll be fun to see if it holds up.

I would have liked to have seen Quackshot included but I can't see there being a third Disney platform game.

I've never played QuackShot, but I hear it's generally regarded as Sega's best Disney game. It would have added a bit more gameplay variety than World of Illusion, but I'm sure it's the latter's two-player co-op that gave it the edge.

If there does end up being a third Disney platformer... well, they'd want it to be Aladdin, surely? It was kind of mediocre really, but the excellent sprite animation made a big impression. Like Castle of Illusion, it's one of the games that defined the platform. But it being a third party game complicates things. Who even owns the rights to Virgin Interactive's games these days?

I must admit I wasn't too interested in this initially but the inclusion of 3rd party titles and licensed games helps to differentiate this from the various Sega compilations that have been released over the years. I'm certainly curious to know the full line up at least.

They've been pretty savvy about it. I'm hoping for Rocket Knight Adventures.

[Malchik]

I wonder if they're releasing these in ridiculously slow numbers like Nintendo did with theirs.

[Malchik]

Also, I'm shocked they don't include the complete Sonic trilogy seeing as a lot of people just buy this shit for Sonic. The one property they don't have to licence and they didn't include Spinball and 3D Blast.

[Popcorn]

Sonic 3K is presumably excluded due to those ongoing legal issues around the music we've heard about. The game hasn't been rereleased for ages.

[big_smile]

Oddly enough Sonic 3 did appear on the Mega Drive console that was re-released in Brazil in 2016. So the legal issues seem to be bizarre.

---

https://www.polygon.com/2019/6/4/186521 ... ower-price
^ In Japan, you can purchase accessories for the Mega Drive Mini, including a 32X, Mega-CD, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 1 cart to recreate the Mega Drive Tower. Sadly, the accessories don't allow those system/games to be played.

[Brazillian Cara]

If those legal issues are what I think they are, can't they just use the soundtrack they did for the old PC version?
On the risk of saying some sort of blasphemy, it would be an improvement (Ice Cap aside).

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

I can't listen to the PC versions of the Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and Launch Base BGM without wanting to tune them out 20 seconds in.

[Malchik]

Is there really legal issues with Michael estate or just rumour?

[Popcorn]

The Sonic Mania guy said there was some sort of lawsuit going on a few years ago.

[big_smile]

https://ebten.jp/sega/p/7015019091906
^ The Japanese collector editions includes mini cartridges of all the games on the system.

[Crazy Penguin]

Oddly enough Sonic 3 did appear on the Mega Drive console that was re-released in Brazil in 2016. So the legal issues seem to be bizarre.

That's very peculiar. Maybe Sega wasn't paying close attention to what TecToy was doing?

[big_smile]

It gets even weirder. In 2015 Sega Europe licensed dance remixes of Sonic music including Sonic 3's Ice Cap.

Sega has made dysfunctional blunders in the past, so it's easy to assume that these dance remixes and the TecToy examples were just caused by a lack of attention. However, usually, when a company licenses something, that's when the lawyers get involved. So it's even stranger that they'd give the go-ahead for Sonic 3, especially given how Iizuka has talked in the past of Sega forbidding discussion of that title.

[big_smile]

The Mega Drive mini is out today.

In Japan, Beep! magazine has been revived, as a special edition is being produced for the mini: https://www.play-asia.com/beep-mega-dri ... /13/70cw69

Also, if the Mega-CD mini accessory is opened up, there is a print out of the internal circuit boards, together with a Sonic CD disc:
https://twitter.com/MobileHackerz/statu ... 0524676097
https://twitter.com/SpawnWaveMedia/stat ... 99937?s=19

[Crazy Penguin]

The Mega Drive mini is out today.

In Japan, Beep! magazine has been revived, as a special edition is being produced for the mini: https://www.play-asia.com/beep-mega-dri ... /13/70cw69

It's a double revival - a mash-up of both Beep! Mega Drive and Mega Drive Fan. I wonder if any of the original staff are involved.