With all the news yesterday concerning the final games announced for Sega's upcoming Mega Drive / Genesis Mini console, it's easy to get a little confused over the regional exclusives for each version of the console. To add to that confusion there's also a third version of the plug-and-play mini console to consider with its own exclusive titles.
This Asian variant will release everywhere on the continent outside Japan, and it might have slipped your notice. It includes a mixture of games from the western and Japanese consoles, plus the following five exclusive titles:
- Alien Soldier (region exclusive)
- Puyo Puyo (region exclusive)
- Out Run 2019 (region exclusive)
- Shining Force II (region exclusive)
- Sword of Vermilion (region exclusive)
While the original Puyo Puyo might not seem like the most essential addition considering Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Puyo Puyo 2 are on the western and Japanese versions respectively, Shining Force II and Treasure's Alien Soldier certainly make this version a tempting prospect.
For the entire rundown of all the games featured on each version of the console, check out our Sega Mega Drive Mini page for the full list or our pre-order guide if you want to make sure you avoid the scalpers come 19th September.
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Is there such a thing as too many mini consoles? Are you tempted to add this variant to your list? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 30
@rjejr
Still counting? Add this to the list...
That said, I personally don't have anything against them bringing this. It's only an interesting side note for me, and I don't have to click it after all, but I agree that the connection to Nintendo as in "let's see what the competition does" or "hey, M2 of 3DS-port fame are involved" is a little far-fetched. Though I don't think it hurts anyone either.
How about they do the Mega Drive International Variant. Include all individual games (where any licenses allow) and release at a higher Price? Some can be skipped because they have never been translated, but Alien Soldier did get a Western release.
wonder what outrun 2019 is?? sounds intriguing
Outrun 2019 ?
No I don’t want to say anything else
Ha, it's like they saw the date and thought 'well, that's a no-brainer'
Outrun 2019....
Oh my....
Hmm... I don't remember OutRun 2019 being very good, but Alien Soldier and Shining Force II are absolute classics.
Outrun 2019 was great. A very good futuristic racer that still holds up today. It also has some impressive graphical effects for the Genesis like overhead highways.
A shame this is absent in the west. Not a single Sega racing game is set to be included, which is one of the few gaping holes in the lineup.
I'll pass
Unless there's a version that has working 32x games I aren't interested.
Shining Force II .....oh how I love thee.....
@JunkRabbit Yeah I am. The counting is fairly easy, it's the time math that takes a minute pre-caffeine. I think it's 3 more articles the last 1:50. Knowing damo I'm considering the possibility that now he's just doing it out of spite.
Look, it's their site, I'm not telling them how to run it, but I'm a person with feelings, and my feeling is too many articles.
Fortunately Pokemon Direct in 90 minutes, or 3 hours and 30 minutes, a little fuzzy on that, then the E3 leaks should start in earnest, so they, and we, can get back to Nintneod stuff.
Though there is that Google Stadia live stream tomorrow.
Hey @damo is NL doing a live feed chat of Stadia tomorrow. Seems just as Nintendo related, and you know we likes us some live chat.
Google announced the first "Stadia Connect" livestream presentation, airing on June 6, 2019 at 9am PDT / 12 noon EST / 5pm BST.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2019/06/04/google-stadia-console-price-game-announcements-and-launch-details-ahead-of-e3/#7646bec514ea
didnt realise outrun 2019 was an actual game! lol. doesnt look that great tbh so not that sad were not getting it
This is just another ARM SoC with some free/libre emulator, isn't it?
Such a disappointment to me, even sadder to realize that these are using software made by the community these companies regularly sue.
Weird how Alien Soldier is an Asian exclusive for the Mini, it did get a western release (i have the original cart) and it's on the MegaDrive collection.
Alien Soldier is one of the best games on the MD. It's an absolutely incredible pseudo sequel to Gunstar Heroes, and is technically amazing. It's Treasure at their best.
It's also an incredibly expensive game to acquire now.
Super difficult too. I expect most people won't get past the first mid level boss.
Outrun as well....
Aww Sword of Vermillion. I love that game!
Shining Force II? No brainer: this is by far the best version of the MD Mini
6 button controller + Shining Force 2 + huge 16 bit lettering + Purple coloring... this cannot simply be matched!
Other than Shining Force II and Alien Soldier, the other 3 are just meh.
Argh. The mishmash, unordered list of games makes it difficult to compare the 3 versions
I didn’t have a chance to post elsewhere but keep posting news about Atari, Sega, and SNK hardware/plug in plays.
There’s a good overlap between the fan bases.
@StevenG No, M2 is doing emulation. If you know M2, you know they are the best of the best.
What about the language of the games? English? Japanese? Korean? Chinese?
Haven't found any info on this...
@scamander So still a bog standard SoC and their "own" emulator. Considering the history of these devices, I would want proof the emulator isn't reusing code.
@StevenG You don't know what you're talking about. M2 hasn't worked on any mini devices before. They have done a tremendous job with the Sega Ages and GBA Virtual Console games for example, though; not re-using any code and often even using a specialised emulator for every game to ensure perfect emulation. Furthermore, I don't know why the hardware is a problem as long as it gets the job done.
In the end it is clear you didn't spend a second to educate yourself about this product and are just being negative for the sake of being negative.
Ohhhh how I wish Shining Force 2 was included in the US version......<3 that game so much. Someone mentioned Crusader of Centy was a notable omission and while it was a great game in its own right (if not a LoZ: LTTP derivative), SF2 was where it was at.
I remember Outrun 2019 had a Radica Plug & Play.
@scamander
It's pretty clear you are a fanboy with no real information.
No software emulator is perfect. It can't be.
That you blindly trust marketing claims says tons about you.
@StevenG I don't blindly trust marketing claims, I trust M2, because I KNOW of the quality of their emulations. That aside, I never owned a Sega console and am not familiar with most of the games on the system- not exactly fanboy material, but nice try.
@scamander, I called you an M2 fanboy. For you this device will be perfect, for me wanting exact reproduction and hopefully an easy way to add games, it won't be.
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