Following the backlash against the product that was initially announced last year, it seems Sega is really pulling out all the stops after taking its Mega Drive/Genesis Mini console back to the drawing board. Not only is the emulation now being handled by veteran company M2 (the outfit responsible for the brilliant Sega 3D Classics line on 3DS, as well as countless other top-class ports), but it seems the physical casing itself is a significant step up from previous licensed efforts.

A pair of Japanese trailers have given us a better look at the console and it appears to go above and beyond even Nintendo's sterling efforts. The first one (above) highlights the features of the console itself and gives us a peek at the save state menus (in Japanese, of course).

Skip to 0:48 and you'll see all the buttons on the console being pressed, which appear to function as they always did (we imagine the reset button will work as it did on the NES Mini). However, the big surprise is the functioning cartridge slot doors!

Finger

Of course, this doesn't mean you'll be able to play original carts on the Mega Drive Mini - it's a purely decorative addition - but it highlights the attention-to-detail and effort that's gone into this console, a far cry from AtGames' previous pitiful stabs at all-in-one Mega Drive solutions.

A second trailer gave an overview of the ten announced titles for the Japanese version:

With menu music by Yuzo Koshiro, the inclusion of some hard-to-find classics like Castlevania: Bloodlines and the involvement of M2, this is shaping up to rival Nintendo's Mini Classics line. Of course, we've been disappointed in the past, but everything we've seen until now is very encouraging. We were previously operating on a sensible 'wait-and-see' basis, but now we're seriously eyeing those pre-orders. September can't come soon enough.

With the bar so low after previous efforts, do you think Sega is finally giving the Mega Drive the mini treatment it deserves? What games would you like to see in its 40-title lineup? Let us know below.

[source nintendosoup.com]