Sega Mega Drive Mini | Ashens

[@redbarchetta20]

The fact that Ashens can do a review of a bunch of PopStations, but decided to not review the PS classic says a lot about it 😂

[@Enbious]

The PSC really upset me, as well. I was a huge PS boy, still am. I probably have the largest PS2 game collection in Missouri.

[@rhysdavies4903]

I bought a PSC on sale for about £18. I put it on once. Played Tekken 3. Or tried to. The input lag made it unplayable. I feel ripped of even at that price. It's currently hidden away in a dark place thinking about what it did.

[@eLJaybud]

@@Enbious is that a similar feat to having the biggest ball of twine?

[@bookshelffury]

I don't get the hate of the ps1 classic. The build quality is on point. Software can always be fixed. Games can be changed. The ps1 had thousands of games. Make it your own!

[@Dreadjaws]

@@bookshelffury It's a joke, right? Sure, software and games can be fixed, but they shouldn't have to be. They're asking you money for this product, they should release it properly. And if we're going the piracy route, I can already do that in any current low-end PC, or even a freaking Raspberry Pi, which is much cheaper than the PSC. There's no excuse for this product, don't be a sheep.

[@Bt3615]

Actually M2 confirmed that the Darius conversion is the same homebrew of few years ago and that the guy who made it was already contracted for other works with them. Basically they said "hey, why not publish your port with the Megadrive Mini" and he accepted. SEGA was apparently unaware of this when asked the first time, but M2 clarified the whole matter few weeks ago.

[@DimT670]

Lol that's kinda funny

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

Which, frankly, is the way the games industry SHOULD behave. Id and Valve both worked that way; they shipped the level editors with the game, HL1 came with the full blown SDK on the disc. A LOT of shit mods were made (go watch jollywangcore for examples) but some really good stuff was made, some of which Valve ended up hiring/buying. Team Fortress and Counter Strike both started out as community projects.

[@demolisherbpb3390]

As he was saying it did wonder if it was the case

[@Anex952]

@@thegardenofeatin5965 They Hunger is a God-Tier half life mod.

[@sausagesausage]

I believe the guy was actually a girl :) SEGA are great with supporting fan projects and games. Glad to see M2 are too.

[@FlippytheMasterofPie]

Honestly, the fact that you can switch between the Japanese version and the English version of these games sort of makes it a must-own for me. I didn’t know that was the case. What a good feature!

[@TheTurnipKing]

I seem to recall a lot of the actual carts would do this too, if you had a region modded megadrive

[@mgtowlite7414]

*_Bare Knuckle!_*

[@DragonNexus]

It changes all the boxart to the japanese ones, too!

[@The_Real_DCT]

Yeah you can do the same with the Japanese version and play Musha, Revenge of Shinobi and such I English the only games that won't be in English are Japan only releases

[@z0pu2]

While I wholeheartedly agree Echo the Dolphin was a really interesting and beautiful game. It seems to me everyone that looks at it so fondly just forgot how PAINFULLY DIFFICULT the game was. I still have nightmares about getting past that bloody octopus...

[@kittikoko]

When I went back to it as an adult, I couldn't be bothered to actually play it properly - I was just having fun splashing about. 😄 Way too difficult for my 6 year old self!

[@ReanimatorsMutilations]

I only had the sequel and still can not complete it..

[@jessie4pink615]

Street fighter 2 used to use the start button to switch between the kick and punch buttons on the 3 button pad, I wonder if this is still the same on this setup?

[@RondoOfBloodX]

Yeah Echo is a great game but man FUCK Welcome To The Machine.

[@Reddles37]

It was a real missed opportunity not calling it the "Sega Mini Drive" though...

[@eLJaybud]

Sega modder drive?

[@desmondalloffo7915]

Sega sodomiser

[@KermitArchive]

Travis Ruston SEGA genesis mini

[@RondoOfBloodX]

Travis Ruston Sega MINIsis..............I'll see myself out now.

[@jerazm]

@Travis Ruston Sega Gemini

[@CiromBreeze]

Fun Fact: In America, technically Mega Man: The Wily Wars is a "Bonus Game" too, as it was only fully released in Japan and Europe. It's also very surreal seeing Mega Man's weirdly upsized sprites next to Proto Man's ordinary ones, especially since Mega Man has the same hitbox as the NES.

[@xDrew64]

I'm still annoyed it doesn't have Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

[@yourworstnightmare7343]

At games released a handheld version that has every sonic on it! It looks cheap as fuck & like the busted snyde versions of game boys but it's one of the best remakes I've ever seen, sneak mine into work all the time. Well worth the cash! It has virtua fighter 2 on there too! @@centuriongaming1868

[@LazerLord10]

S3&K was probably the best 2D sonic game. It was what Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was supposed to be, but it got stuck in development was was tradition for Sega. Now I need to re-play this on my genesis.

[@KaizoeAzurum]

Might have been some weird move to try and sell Sonic Mania. You buy this, play through the first 2 games and then try to find a way to buy the third and you find that you can play & Knuckles & knuckles & Knuckles on current gen consoles, and PC.

[@KaizoeAzurum]

@Alexander McDonald Oh, it's greed, and not greed, that made them not include Sonic 3 & Knuckle & Knuckle & Knuckle. Or maybe someone just didn't feel like they want more money.

[@IvanovIvanAKrutoi]

@Alexander McDonald Couldn't SEGA have re-released Sonic 3 and Knuckles with different music from the PC compilation, but re-composed for the Mega Drive hardware? That's what I would've done, personally.

[@epicenter713]

If no one mentioned it: I seem to recall having a stereo setup with my Genesis and Sonic's ring-pickup sound effect would play alternating on the Left and Right channels.

[@wolarts]

that's normal for the game, not a problem with the emulator.

[@epicenter713]

@Kyle Applin yes, this was observed with Sonic 1 on an original Genesis model 1

[@AnthroFox99]

That something that happens in sonic mania as well.

[@TheNextDecade244]

Fun fact: "Dandy" is actually the name for the Taiwanese NES knockoff that was ludicrously popular in the USSR, to the point that nobody even knew it wasn't the original until later.

[@Mentski]

Hello. I am Science, and can officially confirm that Streets of Rage II, aka Bare Knuckle II: Requiem of the Deadly Battle, IS without a shadow of a doubt the greatest game ever made. Although OutRun is up there, of course.

[@jakublulek3261]

That japanese name, man, that name. The most glorious and ridiculous name ever.

[@Ivy_Panda]

Oh god, I recently got to play an OutRun 2 SP cabinet and I almost died it was so good.

[@dreamindistortion]

Quit being Dendy

[@ohnoitschris]

God Emperor Mentski himself showing up in the comments!

[@BrokenCircus]

OutRun2 > Out Run

[@wesleybcrowen]

In what alternate timeline would North American Mega Drive be called "Dendy" The sour outcome of the Cold War?

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

As opposed to the existent bitter ending?

[@Anex952]

It's a reference to the famiclone that had cartridges that was released in the cold war era USSR called the Dendy, which was extremely popular at the time for gamers there. It even has it's own wikipedia page.

[@wesleybcrowen]

ANEX ага.

[@krucefix]

@@Anex952 there was another version called "sjubor" i used to have it, and a buddy of mine used to have dendy

[@Jdbye]

The Berenstein Bears dimension. Chances are at least one person reading this comes from there.

[@waltercomunello121]

42 which is, obviously, the Answer to the Universe, Life and Everything.Back in the days when your parents allowed you to buy like 1 game every 6 months, you had to squeeze all the possible juice out of it. Those were THE good times. And I never managed to beat Mega Drive's Tazmania in the hard difficulty.

[@michaelturner2806]

Weird, I could've sworn I'd seen this video like a year ago, beat for beat. Longest continuous deja vu I can remember having. Turns out what I was thinking of was the Sonic Man IA review, with the replica Mega Drive with Sonic standing atop it.

[@TheDrZamboni]

It should be noted that Mega Man the Wily Wars is a really good addition to this system because it basically stopped exisitng. It was released as cartridges only in the PAL region and was available to North America only through the Sega Channel and thus disappeared with it. Now we have a permanent copy of it to play, hooray!

[@KillThad]

No, you're right, Stuart. There is about 11 frames of audio lag.

[@johnnyparker1258]

I have to be honest I haven't noticed any lag at all but I haven't played all the games yet so perhaps it hasn't cropped up on so far. Either way it doesn't spoil my enjoyment of it.

[@KillThad]

@@johnnyparker1258 Yeah, it's not a deal breaker or anything, just a small issue.

[@DOSRetroGamer]

@@benjammin2020 That definitely doesn't sound like 'tiny' or 'micro' though

[@bookshelffury]

11 frames but with what fps?? 60 or 30?

[@Lightblue2222]

I dont know how it plays but the sound lag is noticable just from watching. Even AtGames didn't have sound lag, nor did any of the previous Sega collection releases on other platforms, or any free emulators. It may be just a small issue for some but it's the only thing holding it back from being perfect.

[@jalbo9975]

I didn't actually own a Megadrive during my youth. I went to empty the rubbish in the bin outside my flat, and by the bin was an official Megadrive carry case containing a Megadrive and 8 or so games. Plugged it in and it worked 100%.

[@timmer919hep]

This doesn't have Ristar though. Why doesn't it have Ristar? :(

[@RoboBlue2]

They're saving it for the next one (which will hopefully be shaped like the model 2)

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

Ristar is on the Mega Drive Classic collection for Ps4, Xbox 1 & Switch.

[@arkworthy8594]

No Rocket Knight Adventures, either. SADFACE

[@SapphireDragonDX]

Also no Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles... Sigh...

[@theactualTVB]

It didn’t even include Decap Attack. I mean the Sega Genesis Mini was decent but it was missing a few underrated gems. Ah well, back to the Kega Fusion. *FEELS BAD MAN.*

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

The addition of the different regions of games depending on what language you have the console on is probably the most genius thing any of these Mini consoles do. Brilliant feature.

[@ailierobertson4543]

Ecco the Dolphin is still nightmare fuel to me. I don't know what it is about it but it evokes this primal terror in me.

[@sebman6031]

Sea is scary. Like an complete alien world but below our feet

[@darkshade2k7]

Genuinely had no idea that you could play the Japanese versions of the game on here. Thank you, Stuart!

[@KillThad]

Which means you can play the Japanese version of Sonic 1, which was released after the US launch and is a slightly enhanced version.

[@geoleo965]

But how come did you skip the most important part: *what does it taste AND smell like?*

[@TheLobstersoup]

Yeah! Why didn't he slice it like a hotdog bun?

[@Prizm17]

Taste and smell of* 😂😂

[@Seantendo]

"Ooh. That's faintly unpleasant."

[@tylergarza8695]

@@Prizm17 that's a nationality thing. It's correct depending on what country you're in.

[@Prizm17]

Tyler Garza yea I know I was making a joke

[@olliepop369]

damn that intro hit me right in the nostalgias

[@epicenter713]

Right in the 90s.

[@xigbar1994]

The sonic music makes me instantly happy. Like there's no troubles in the world.

[@garou1911]

"Instructions! *throws aside*" I can relate to this

[@Vollification]

Looked like a big manual for something you just hook up to the HDMI port. Must be an american version :(

[@Openreality]

It is hilarious though that they feel the need to give instructions to a self explained plug and play console. Just remember, when outside of the US just get the adapter for the different volt plug for the region you're in.

[@Wolfina2]

sonic the hedgehog's ring sound effect has Always been like that

[@grumpyoldwizard]

The good old days of video gaming. I loved the years of Genesis and Nintendo.

[@kittikoko]

World Of Illusion is honestly one of my favourite games of all time - awesome that it's made it on to the Mini!

[@dons9213]

Cheers for a comprehensive review Dr Ashen. I never played the mega drive as a kid (was more a Nintendo kid) but will check it out.

[@NightfallGemini]

The fact it has Light Crusader on it floors me. That game, as far as I know, is pretty obscure.

[@KORNdog1986]

I feel the lack of Flashback is unforgivable!

[@Maynards_so_blue]

and sonic 3

[@BoyGeorgiaX]

It's nice to watch you review stuff you like.

[@IanC14]

The PlayStation Classic also broke the license used for the open source software emulator it uses.

[@LordArikado]

Sony was also so lazy and incompetent that they used a woefully outdated version of PCSX-R instead of a more recent and stable one. That's partly why modded PS Classics objectively run the games better than unmodded ones do.

[@DOSRetroGamer]

I could listen to ashens talk about old games for hours

[@sadetucker2094]

Gotta love that classic intro......"SEGAAAAA!!!!"

[@markandtfe]

I had the same thing with Shining Forces 2. Loved it as a kid and never completed. Bought the Sega mega collection on Xbox one earlier this year as it has it on there. Finally completed it and really enjoyed it. Playing it filled me with child like joy.

[@WilsTube]

Dear Mr. or Miss at Sega, Since people like your new Mega Drive Mini, can you please finally move on go making mini versions of the Master System or Dreamcast? Or even good versions of the Saturn and 32X please?

[@IanC14]

The Saturn is painful to emulate though.

[@Lightblue2222]

With the small sound lag issue they couldnt get past with this, theres little hope for a Saturn mini

[@Lightblue2222]

@Travis Ruston sg1000 YES. pico NO.

[@VinceR3000]

Stuart reviewing Sega games makes me feel like a twelve year old version of me. I just finished and want to put this on my Christmas list.

[@David315842]

M2: We no need no stinking Yamaha sound chips for emulation. :D Oh Ashens, you goofed! There are technically 44 GAMES in this collection. Mega Man: The Wily Wars is a mini collection of 16 bit conversions of Megaman 1, 2 and 3. 'Stuart drops the Mega Drive Mini box on his foot and appears unscathed by it'. Fine, but you still should have said 44 GAMES in one, not 42, which makes this mini even better! :) This more then makes up for at AtGames/Blaze shenanigans. SEGA WINS! :) Next they should a Model 2 Mega Drive with six button pads and different games to this one, maybe throw in a few Mega CD titles in perhaps, if this sells well, that will most likely be something that Sega might do in the future. :)

[@Wolfie_D]

Great video as always! AND.... the best review of the Megadrive Mini I've seen so far! I'm going to buy one now. 👏

[@cowradical1585]

It’s always a good day when Ashens uploads.

[@lsynno]

THE STORY OF THOR WHOO! My fave childhood game. So many secrets, so much fun.

[@ChodaBoyUSA]

I cannot believe you went through the list of games in non-alphabetical order...like a MONSTER! :-)

[@WOOOPdoctorFROGhere]

If you switch the video to Japanese he reads to games in alphabetical order

[@mathematics117]

I was waiting since I saw it on the menu screen to see what you thought of shining force. I played shining force on like a Genesis best of CD ROM port when I was a child and fell in love with it. I never knew if it was my nostalgia was the reason why I thought it was great, but now I know I'm not crazy! Haha, great video as always!

[@ferret83uk]

No desert strike, that's a deal breaker for me

[@AlexBell1991]

Yeah. At least one of the Strike games would have been ace but I am suprised to see Road Rash 2 on there. The greatest Road Rash game with the BEST soundtrack!

[@JAS0N_M00RE]

I guess EA wouldn't let them put it on

[@SasakiKiyotaka]

Hearing Dark Savior gave me a twinge of nostalgia from my time watching playthroughs of the game when I was young, what a curious game that was...also a kinda fighter???

[@wideband]

Only thing missing for me is Sonic 3 and Knuckles and also Outrun or Outrun 2019.

[@TheTurnipKing]

Outrun Megadrive isn't all that great. M2 have a much better AGES version available, based on the arcade.

[@IanC14]

@@TheTurnipKing m2 are gods when it comes to that sort of thing. You can play Virtua Racing with 8 players on one Switch.

[@almahbuby]

Outrun 2019 is available in the Asian Version of the Mega Drive Mini iirc

[@Lightblue2222]

I can think of about 100 great games It's missing. Genesis was too big for a mini hehe.. Still, a very nice collection.

[@Noobsaibot21]

@@TheTurnipKing I'm going to assume you are referring to the 3D Ages release on 3DS and not the 2500 Ages PS2 version. That PS2 Ages Outrun was woeful. As for Sonic 3&K.... It's odd that it's not here. And also odd that Chris Whitehead never got the go ahead to remaster it on mobile like he did the first three 16-Bit sonic releases. Not sure why this is the case.

[@GmodPlusWoW]

Yup, definitely looks like the best mini-console so far. At least until they release a Mini Saturn. Which I imagine a lot of Sega fans would probably be falling over themselves to acquire. Also, speaking of Sega Saturn, apparently one of the reasons it ended up so niche (other than it being trickier to program for than other consoles) was because it didn't manage to put out a Sonic game. The big Sonic game planned for it, known as Sonic X-Treme, basically languished in development hell until 1997 when it was properly cancelled. But on the plus side, if you wanted a Sonic platformer that felt like it could have been on the Saturn, the original Freedom Planet is basically that. Mainly because it started life as a Sonic fan-game, and got reworked into its own thing, and was apparently pretty bloody good from what I remember.

[@IanC14]

There will never be a Saturn mini. Emulation is just too complicated especially for a cheap SoC like these mini consoles use.

[@johneygd]

42 builtin games, that means that sega does what nintendon’t.

[@mathewsoltan8487]

Meh, half the games blow on the Mega Drive classic are average at best.

[@abramelinomago516]

Mathew Soltan I disagree. It's a great selection, not only a BIG selection. Also, it has a lot of great 3rd party titles. I don't even understand how they dig up the licensing to put all these games in this system. They deserve the praise.

[@leebalmforth2269]

Saga mega drive/cd had some of the best games back in the day. Feels like only yesterday. Where does all the time go 🤪

[@halleystarbun]

There's actually a reason as to why you might want to use the 16:9 mode. Say you're using a 4:3 display, either a CRT or modern display. Even with the console set to 4:3, it's still outputting a 16:9 image, just with black bars at either side. On a 4:3 display this would result in a horribly squished image with massive borders down both sides. By stretching the game out to 16:9, a 4:3 monitor can take that input and scale it back down to fill a full 4:3 screen.

[@BrokenCircus]

I dunno, you'd end up with uneven pixel scaling in that case, wouldn't you?

[@ZipplyZane]

@@BrokenCircus Not unless the 16:9 uses uneven scaling. Plus, on a CRT, the built in blur and lower resolution would probably hide it.

[@Jdbye]

I noticed the CRT emulation also turns on a blur filter. I don't personally care for scanlines but the people that like them had one pretty solid argument for using them: It makes the image appear to have more detail/pixels than it really does. Of course in this case you have a blurry smear added to that, completely negating the useful effect of scanlines. But I can understand why people like scanlines, they're just not for me. I never noticed scanlines on the CRT TVs back in the day either, it looked more like a grid pattern around the pixels to me, but that was only visible up close. Playing at a normal distance I didn't notice it. I did however notice the glow from each pixel bleeding slightly into the ones next to it and I guess that is what the blur filter here is trying to emulate, but it's too blurry and just looks bad. Hope there's a way to turn the blur filter off while keeping the scanlines.

[@TheTurnipKing]

The GBA version of shining force has a different translation, and the whole thing winds up feeling like "slightly aimed at a younger audience".

[@Helldhaz]

The Narsha & Mawlock stuff is also a bit weird.

[@gwishart]

Probably due to Nintendo's stricter content rules.

[@3DJapan]

9:44 Altered Beast came with the Genesis too until Sonic came out, then that was changed to the pack-in game. The Sonic cartridge had a big "NOT FOR RESALE" on it.

[@FromeFmAjayD]

“It mostly plays the part...mostly” Nice Newt impression.

[@jek__]

Probotector for the gameboy original was one of the first video games I ever played. I had heard of contra but it took me a really long time to realize they were the same game. Dunno how I ended up with the european copy in north america as a kid

[@retrogamer64007]

I like how it has 16:9 option. Sega does what Nintendon’t. Give us more games and options.

[@SDLearmonth]

16:9 is eye cancer though, and learn to use your tv, you can stretch any 4:3 signal to 16:9 if you want to (for some reason)

[@HaydenX]

@@SDLearmonth The stretching effect 16:9ing a 4:3 image isn't bad in a game without characters/many characters. I prefer 16:9 for Columns, and Mean Bean is fine.

[@anononomous]

@@SDLearmonth Unless the console outputs 4:3 as pillarboxed 16:9, which would make things more tricky.

[@IanC14]

What are you on about? There's no reason to include a 16:9 option for games which ran orginally in 4:3

[@phazonlord0098]

Why would you want to distort everything ? Srsly ? It just pisses me off people making everything stretch to their full 16:9 tv, disrespecting the source intended aspect ratio.

[@Berserkerkitten]

Happy to see that Ashen likes Shining Force, one of the greatest games ever made. Sad to see he never played Phantasy Star IV, also one of the greatest games ever made.

[@MsCholmondley-Warner]

Berserkerkitten Preach my friend! I’ve actually kept or re-purchased PS4 and SF2 for my original Megadrive. Was gutted when they didn’t include 4 on the Phantasy Collection for GBA! 😩

[@Itsumi456]

I was getting heavy deja vu at first due to the mini model you did a bit back.

[@TheGreatestPlayerInTheWorld]

NOSTALGIA HIT!👍😍✅

[@sheep1903]

Just hearing the Green Hill Zone music makes my heart very happy.

[@sausagesausage]

Best Mini Console by a country mile... Agreed! The Megadrive/Genesis was so packed with awesome games I could think of another 42 games that could've been included.

[@thayt1m]

They really, reaaaally should've put in Aladdin instead of Virtua Fighter 2 Maybe even Robo Aleste/MUSHA

[@IanC14]

Disney are giving that a re-release later this year, so they probably didn't want to give Sega the rights.

[@BAKU2K2]

MUSHA is on the Japanese version though.

[@overweightactor]

It would have been funny if at the 4:00 mark, where Stu says he'll stop ranting about usb power adapters (...probably), if he was still ranting about them when the card went away.

[@johng7410]

I kept thinking "Isn't This A Repost?" Then I realised when he showed the model, that I was remembering that.

[@jddmbth1]

Same

[@Hysteria98]

Vectorman's soundtracks were phenomenal. Peak Mega Drive music, for any audiophiles out there.

[@HappiestCabbage]

Gunstar heroes easy mode: Step one: choose the homing gun Step two: pick up lazer and combine the two Step three: beat gunstar heroes

[@Kude1707]

Dual Homing works well too. But laser is god tier even if the targeting was a "bit" janky...ffs stop trying to kill a box, *sigh* thats a sandbag, no not the leg, argggh aim for the body dammit!!! *yeets controller at the wall*

[@milanvillan]

I have the original Sega Megadrive, yet the 2 control pads don't have red buttons. This shows how great they were!!

[@Chaos89P]

The Genesis/Mega Drive Mini has literally twice as many games as the SNES Mini.

[@coyoteartist]

I do believe he said that.

[@boodro2122]

Until you mod your SNES Classic...EXTREMELY Easily, I might add. You can find rom packs of about 747....I have every game I ever grew up with and then some. I'm sure y'all can do the same with your Sega consoles.

[@ericpode6095]

@@boodro2122 Yes, great little console. Mine was a present so I didn't even have to mod it myself! Waiting to see if anyone mods the Sega mini.

[@t3hGawd]

If Sega wanted to sell Mega Drives they'd damn well put in everything they can scrape together. Novel bit of nostalgia of packaging and mini Sega alone wouldn't move a single unit anywhere else than Brazil and UK.

[@DanielGreen07]

I never liked Darius either. Especially when he sang Britney Spears on telly.

[@WOOOPdoctorFROGhere]

More of a Rik Waller fan are ya?

[@Justinian-IV]

Looks like I'm off to Game tomorrow, I was sold on hearing the SEGA start up.

[@j.m.74]

Contrary to what most ppl say, I bought the AT Games mini Genesis a couple years ago and was relatively happy with it. Sure it wasn't perfect, but honestly, what emulator is? If you want a perfect nostalgic experience, you need the original hardware & game cartridges. One problem was lag in the wireless controllers, easily fixed with Sega original wired controllers. What really sealed the deal for me was 1) the lower price point - $40 USD vs $60 for the NES Classic & 2) AT Games mini Genesis came with 80 built-in games vs NES Classic only including 30. (Some people may be thinking "Wait a moment, wasn't half of the mini Genesis games homebrew or some such nonsense?") Technically that is true, yes... but that also means the other half is still legit, real games. And half of 80 is 40, still 10 more real games than what came with the NES Classic. Finally, before I forget... 3) The AT Games mini Genesis console has an actual, functioning cartridge slot, so if you happen to own some vintage games not included with the machine, you can still play them. How is it that all of the more expensive mini consoles are lacking this seemingly most basic of features?

[@LordArikado]

The biggest problem people had with the AtGames Mega Drives wasn't just the subpar emulation, it was that they were charging you for subpar emulation that has tons of issues that even the most basic free emulators on PC had worked out years ago. If AtGames had made any efforts to improve their emulation quality instead of relying on the same emulator for the better part of a decade, it would've instantly shut their detractors up. That being said, ever since they split with Sega and shifted their focus to HDMI dongle mini-consoles and arcade machine replicas, they've certainly stepped up their quality.

[@PiousMoltar]

Megaman & the Wily Wars is just the first 3 Megaman games I believe. Something like that.

[@TheGaluMoD]

7:24 You're not being weird. There's a bit of sound delay on the system, unfortunately. ^^ See digital foundry's great analysis for more info on that. :)

[@eLJaybud]

Imperfect... Burn it with fire...

[@spookylemon4947]

IanC14 Why?

[@DiddyBohlen]

@@spookylemon4947 He enjoys it.

[@Lightblue2222]

Yea every single sound in the entire system on every game suffers 11 frames. Certain things maybe more noticeable than others but it's always there.

[@Zycyzyx]

My main memory of Gunstar Heroes was seeing shots of it in EGM or GamePro and getting really jealous of folks who owned a Genesis, to the point I had to admit it to myself. This was at the height of the console wars factionalism too - Treasure tested my faith in the superiority of our benevolent great leader Nintendo. (Keep in mind that I wouldn't even see the game in motion until I played it on an emulator years and years later. Just imagine how much I'd have wanted it more if I had.)

[@AcornElectron]

More like ‘Tower of ill judged add on components that didn’t get supported fully and were quickly dumped when Saturn rocked up’.

[@ShiitakeWarrior]

The Retro-Bit 8-button controllers work wonders on the Mega Drive Mini, and they're £18 on Amazon UK. That said, I don't think the 6-button controllers ever came in transparent blue, back in the day, but damn, is it nice! Also, Street Fighter II' isn't the only game in this collection to utilise the 6-button controller. Eternal Champions (which, to be fair, is inferior to SF2 in every way) can also be played with the 6-button controller.

[@SsnakeBite]

Huh, that actually looks pretty good. I have no interest in most Mini systems as you can usually find digital versions of the games for bugger-all on various digital stores and frankly, even the physical copies and systems are pretty easy to find (with the exception of the PC Engine Mini, which I am very much looking forward to because, well, that's the exact opposite, the system is absurdly rare and surviving ones are incredibly expensive, with no guarantee they'll even work properly, and a single game can cost more than the whole PCE Mini), but that legit looks like something that might interest me. Might look into it if they drop in price or I can find a decently cheap second-hand one.

[@leegsy]

They might be easy enough to find but some of them are very expensive. Castlevania & Probotector especially.

[@TiberianFiend]

Sega might not have had as good third-party support, but they made a shitload of good games of their own.

[@MegaCunnie]

They’ve done a good job. I wonder why they left out the John Travolta simulator out ? It was one of my favorite games.

[@AngelicaFanGirl]

Wow, a mega man game released for Sega Genesis, I always thought it was a homebrew game. I learned something new today.

[@jtcglasson]

This review did not come with a power adapter, but you can find one in a Poundland special

[@eLJaybud]

Is it on fire?

[@ericpode6095]

@@eLJaybud HaHa 😊 Interestingly Bigclivedotcom did a teardown of one & was quite impressed by the quality.

[@silpheedTandy]

haha, Ashens has some kind of vendetta against Altered Beast. i LOVED playing the PC version of that game with my older brother as a kid.

[@The_McFortner]

Because of this video I finally found out that this was a thing and bought one. I'm glad I did. My wallet, not so much. I just wish there was a way to add games to it. I guess if we give them enough time the modding community will find a way to do that.

[@RupeeRhod]

Just to clarify, yeah the Playstation Classic received the most flak, that's also why it's currently the cheapest, it's also the most powerful of the lot. If you install Bleem Sync on your Playstation Classic and add proper games to it, it's a beast. The emulation and roms are fixed by the modders, and you can have any number of games on the console with very easy hacks. It's been so straight forward modding the Playstation Classic you almost think whoever produced it wanted that to happen. Consumer advice: buy a playstation classic, they're cheap, come with two great controllers and is incredibly easy to mod. Also not sure what Ashens is on about the Playstation Classic controllers work on PC.

[@kittikoko]

I respect you Ashens, and I respect your opinions, but Sonic 2's soundtrack was far superior and that is a FACT.

[@Kude1707]

Chemical Plant and Mystic Cave best tracks in S2. Still Lava reef on S3&K ooooh that was the good stuff

[@PaulMuzik]

Alex Kidd was an awesome game i loved it when i was a kid

[@K-16]

Damn, was hoping SEGA would send you the tower accessories. I feel like they're gauging demand for the cosmetic add-ons by sending to select people, since they already have the manufacturing process and packaging ready. Also, your box art is cooler than mine (North American Genesis).

[@EvtheNev]

Sonic The Blue Monster, what a classic game! Also, the PS Classic is brilliant when modified. I currently have just under 250 PS1 games on mine and absolutely love it.

[@Trazgazm]

I'm annoyed he didn't call it 'Mega Man: The Willy Wars'.

[@IvanovIvanAKrutoi]

Or, the Wahwee Wars.

[@Defensive_Wounds]

I loved Castle of Illusion on the SEGA Master System!

[@samgarnett9174]

Ashens your right Alex Kidd wasn’t very good, however, it was the first and only game I ever completed so stuff you it was the best 😂🤣

[@crashsmash1461]

Yes & so was main arcade Shinobi from 1987, yes I remember Alex Kidd in the enchanted castle, a thing that was much fun, like Alex Kidd in miracle World, & the ninja & Kung Fu kid, Shinobi on master system version was really nice to. But other then that, were hear for mega drive 16 bit street of rage 16 bit power☮️✌️🙏🤘👍☯️👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🤘🤘👍🤘👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍✌️.

[@DOSRetroGamer]

Stuff you? What a strange typo

[@samgarnett9174]

DOSRetroGamer it’s a phrase in the UK from the 90’s

[@crashsmash1461]

@@DOSRetroGamer yes what ever🤷‍♂️.

[@crashsmash1461]

🤷‍♂️💭🤫.

[@ChronosCruiser]

Oh, now I want him to review the Mega Drive we have here in Brazil!

[@Craftysage72]

I miss when Ashens had to record the tv from his view

[@Relyx]

As soon as I saw they had Road Rash II on this, I was sold

[@mantisxz]

No Boogerman? How could they leave out that beloved classic?

[@DragonNexus]

I can recommend the Retrobit 6 button pad. I bought one in anticipation of getting a Mega Drive Mini and then forgot to get one. But I used the pad on my PC and played a couple of Sega games on there and it's spot on. I forgot I was using a third party thing, I didn't at any point curse a wobble D-pad or a laggy button or anything of the sort, it was spot on. I got a wired one because that's how I feel it should be, honestly, but they do come in wireless too. You can also get USB or 9 pin cable versions if you want to just get one for your existing original Mega Drive.

[@MVC2fan1]

My friend ordered the Genesis mini along with 2 retro-bit 6 button pads and Nintendo Switch, then he brought them over to me. My dad like Eternal Champions and wanted to play it because he and my uncle use to play it.

[@Arthurzeiro]

Hmmm I would have put Shining Force 2 in there instead, great game. Also, why did they not include Zombies Ate My Neighbors?

[@FoxMan_FF]

Shining Force 2 actually was on the Mini, but only on the version exclusive to China and Korea, sadly. They also got Alien Soldier, which royally pisses me off because the US/PAL version has the much worse Treasure game of Light Crusader. At least we got Dynamite Headdy and Gunstar Heroes, though! 👍

[@solkar7]

The game list gave me such a nostalgia smile

[@hdofu]

Also, am I crazy.... or does the game selection music sound a bit like "Whats the new Mary Jane?" by the Beatles

[@bigb333]

No it definitely does!