In this regard, Sega has taken the mini console to a whole new level of authenticity to the point where every button and panel on the system works in some fashion - it truly looks and feels like a tiny version of the original console. This is why form factor is crucial for a mini console - you want to channel that nostalgia with hardware that looks and crucially feels just right. The Mega Drive delivered highly impressive results here across its lifespan, but similar to Nintendo, it was actually the first-party games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage among many others that elevated Sega to the next level.Īfter falling in love with the system, I've never stopped playing it or collecting for it and yet, for many people, it's been decades since they last held the iconic game pad. This was a time when bringing the arcade experience to the home was still something companies were fighting for. Sega's 16-bit masterpiece first arrived in the late 80s and while it got off to a slow start, it would eventually go on to challenge market leader Nintendo, with the Super NES vs Mega Drive seeing the first skirmishes in the now never-ending console war. And as a celebration of the machine and its games, Sega's new Mega Drive Mini pulls out all of the stops: the miniaturised rendition of the hardware outstrips similar efforts from Nintendo and Sony, the library of titles is larger and brilliantly selected, while the emulation itself is delivered by none other than M2 - acknowledged masters of bringing the games of yesteryear to the hardware of today. The Sega Mega Drive - or Genesis, as it was known in North America - is quite rightly revered as one of the greatest consoles of all time, with a spectacular library of brilliant titles that still hold up today. It has the same features and games line-up as the European model, and we'll return to this review to update it if there are any changes at all beyond the appearance of the outer shell. Editor's note: As you may have noticed from the photography, our Mega Drive Mini review unit is actually the Genesis Mini - the US version of the same hardware.

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