Rejoice! The Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis to our American friends) is back in business this holiday season. As you'll know if you read our review of the gorgeous little thing, the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini finally does justice to a console and catalogue that has suffered some appalling treatment over the years, with a variety of substandard efforts tarnishing its good name.
With that in mind, it has come to our attention that budget supermarket chain Lidl will be putting out the 'SEGA Mega Drive Flashback' this December in Ireland, and presumably elsewhere, in an effort to hoover up your hard-earned cash. Unfortunately, this is not (repeat, NOT) the same device as the lovely Sega Mega Drive Mini that released back in September.
No, the device advertised is one of AtGames' sub-par efforts. Despite the fact that it boasts a larger roster of games (including, oddly, a dozen Master System titles) and the ability to run original cartridges, the emulation in this console is distinctly disappointing - far from the gold standard achieved by M2 on the genuine article. Here's a pic of the packaging of the two consoles so you know which one to pick up (and which to avoid):
On the left, the Good One™; on the right the Bad One™ - don't get caught out!
To add insult to injury, the SEGA Mega Drive Flashback reportedly costs €69.99, more or less the same as the newer, infinitely superior offering of 16-bit nostalgia. If it were drastically cheaper you could be forgiven for considering it as an alternative, but at that price there is absolutely no question as to the mini console you should be picking up this Christmas.
We speculated in our Mega Drive Mini buyer's guide that unscrupulous retailers might try to offload old AtGames stock on unsuspecting customers, and it seems we were right to be suspicious. Imagine the face of Tiny Tim when he rips the paper off his Mini Mega Drive only to discover it's the Flashback one...
Why would you do that to Timmy? Take our advice and don't get lumbered with a turkey this Christmas.
This has been a Sega Life public service announcement. Carry on.
[source extra.ie]
Comments 40
Oh, you know it's gonna happen
And Sega wil be blamed for the mistakes of clueless parents.
As usual .
Being able to play original cartridges does sound very appealing. Damn I with the Original mini could do that!
Yikes, it would be messed up if you asked for the Mega Drive/ Genesis Mini for a birthday or a Christmas gift but you forget to tell whoever to get it for you that there is an inferior version out there too and they end up getting that version instead. Then you open up the gift thinking it’s the superior version but instead it’s the AtGames version. Ugh, that would ruin my day lol.
@Zuljaras
Pick it up cheap.
Very very, very cheap like, 20 bucks cheap.
And never use the wireless controllers.
Except Tiny Tim is 30+ years old now.
At least the worse version supports the carts.
All of these retro consoles should support carts.
I had no idea that the AtGames version supports carts. Gotta give props to that at least.
Argos were selling the flashback one for only £30 not too long ago. Would be surprised if someone like Lidl would be putting it out for anything more.
@Bomberman64
But you know his mom stil likes to give him Christmas pressies
He gets so lonely in that basement of hers otherwise.
@StevenG Yeah but support for cart is awful too : sound is bad, picture is bad, .... Buy a real Megadrive instead !
I thought with it being at Lidl they might be getting rid of them super cheap but it being the same price as the new mini seems overpriced to me
This arguably does look slightly better than the old Argos one to be fair. That one doesn't have HDMI support or wireless controllers.
Yep, was at Target and saw the Flashback and almost thought it was the Mini before I was like "wait, that's the bad one! Pass!"
... and they wanted 55 bucks for the Bad One? Were they always that expensive?
Probably it's just me, but that's a dangerous thumbnail and main picture. I totally thought the flashback was the right one until I read the whole article.
Talking of dodging a bullet, or rather, a terrible copy-console.
Getting the older unit cheap (like PS Classic cheap — USD $20) is OK.
Paying the same for the AT Games HD unit as the newer unit — that is NOT OK.
Yeah definitely, buy the 2018 ATGames MD/Genesis Flashback. It has a better emulation core without the audio lag. With a free firmware update you can not only run real carts, and what's inside, but you can side load more Gen/MD games via an SD card.
There's no reason to be faked out buying the latest device from Sega or the buggier android or the dumpster fire pre-android AT Games devices.
This is the truth, don't take what this site says at face value I'd done my research, DF Retro has, and other credible sources.
@BakaKnight You're right, it is a terrible thumbnail
@KitsuneNight Just like the good ol days.
Mega Pegasus or Reindeer?? (Who remembers?)
@smashboy2000
Even if it's a II
It's stil better .
@BakaKnight
GRID Good !!
No Grid !!! Bad !!!!!
That about sums it up, no grid on the box ?
avoid avoid avoid
@KitsuneNight
SEGA should be blamed for partnering with AT Games to make these inferior products in the first place. If there weren't so many crappy Genesis plug and plays on the market already the potential for confusion wouldn't be there. SEGA is not blameless.
"Worse" version has cartridge support, 6 button controller, wireless support, and possibly Sonic 3 and Knuckles (game list not out yet?).
Things I wish Sega would have considered with the official model.
Yes make sure to buy the one that says analogue mega sg.....
If its black, don't it back. If its blue, its a load of poo.
I'd feel sorry for those potential poor souls who got the one with the bad sound. This is exactly why I got the real version at launch.
The AtGames Sega Flashbacks are almost gone where I'm at. My Kohls has 2 remaining Flashbacks on shelf and my FYE only has one remaining AtGames Sega handheld in stock.
@KitsuneNight If dumb parents do blame Sega, it still is Sega's fault for getting into business with a garbage company like At Games in the first place. You reap what you sow.
@RushDawg
Off course Sega isn't blameless
But i doubt Sega is asking unscrupulous retailers to sabotage their business, by displaying the garbage AT systems either.
@Maulbert
Yeah, you are the second one who tells me this.
See my previous awnser just above this one .
@KitsuneNight Maybe Sega should make sure these models don't go on the shelves by ending the deal with the AtGames and then paying for any spare systems to be taken back or whatever.
@KitsuneNight History repeating itself with Sega having too many hardwares out at the same time..
Hehehe right now the AtGames Sega Genesis Flashback is better than the Sega Genesis Mini. Not only do you get 45 Genesis games but also a few Game Gear and SMS games too plus 12 garbage games which could easily be avoided. It also came with 2 six buttons 2.4ghz wireless controllers and had support for the 8Bitdo M30 and real Sega Genesis controllers as well.
Not only that the 2019 model of the Sega Genesis Flashback had a firmware update and an SD Card support so you can run any SMS, Game Gear or Genesis roms right from the SD Card slot. If that's not enough it also support Sega Genesis cartridges and had a new firmware update that allows the Genesis lock-on to work so games like Sonic 3 and Knuckles now work as well as Knuckles in Sonic 2. The system also cost only $70, ten bucks cheaper than the actual Genesis Mini.
That AtGames model is really good, after years of “good enough” AtGames stepped up and made something worth purchasing.
I tried Googling info on the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Sega Genesis Flashback and couldn't find any info.
The 2018 Sega Genesis Flashback HD was great.
The problem is this picture is showing the box of the 2017 model, which utilized the lackluster in-house AtGames developed emulator rather than Genesis Plus GX like the 2018 version.
Anyone considering this in Ireland, look at the circles on the front of the box to tell these apart. The 2017 version has four circles, as shown in the lower left hand corner of the front of the boxart pictured in this article.
The 2018 iteration has five circles. "Save, Resume, and Rewind Games" from the 2017 version was split up into two circles marked as "Save and Resume Games" and "Rewind Games".
If it's four circles, you're buying a shoddy product. If it has five, you're buying a quality product that you'll likely enjoy (And which can do a lot more than the Sega Genesis Mini can).
@BestNerdLife They sold both for a while. AV standard def one and this HD version
This isn't a very accurate headline, the @games mega drive isnt great out the box agreed but with the update from the website it becomes a far far better machine and matches if not passes Sega's own mega drive, and that's not to mention the SD slot, after the update drag and drop ROMs to the SD card pop it in you have access to all the homebrew or whatever,
So there’s two versions? I didn’t know about this. I didn’t get the old one because of reviews, but if this ones good I may grab it.
Was the original article just a big mistake perhaps? Lidl in the UK are selling the actual proper Sega Mega Drive Mini 😅 https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/black-friday-deals/sega-mega-drive-mini-game-console/p27683
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