Sega Genesis Mini 2 Review - IGN

Updated:

Nov 10, 2022 6:51 pm

Posted:

Nov 10, 2022 6:48 pm

I'm going to conscionable spell up and paraphrase Mad Men’s Don Draper present and accidental the Sega Genesis Mini 2 isn't conscionable a miniature all-in-one console, "it’s a clip machine. It takes america to a spot wherever we ache to spell again." Don was banking connected nostalgia to merchantability slideshow carousels erstwhile helium said that, but the full transportation works conscionable arsenic good for these retro consoles. While this miniature homage to Sega’s beloved 16-bit strategy falls abbreviated of its predecessor and the TurboGrafx-16 Mini (also by M2) erstwhile it comes to the prime of the controller and its menus, it's inactive a fantastic small portion of exertion that "lets america spell to a spot wherever we cognize we are loved."

Nostalgia - It's Delicate, But Potent

The Genesis Mini 2 is the follow-up to the Genesis Mini I reviewed backmost successful 2019. I was rather taken by Sega's archetypal travel into the satellite of the mini console, and frankincense I was excited by the announcement of a 2nd Genesis, this 1 based appropriately connected the Sega Genesis Model 2. The Model 2 was a smaller mentation of the archetypal Genesis released successful 1994, the aforesaid twelvemonth Sega launched the ill-fated Saturn.

It's a neat small motion to the improvement of the Genesis console, and looks bully sitting adjacent to its somewhat bigger, older brother. Like the erstwhile Genesis Mini, it has a removable enlargement slot doorway truthful you could, successful theory, popular it onto the purely aesthetic Sega Tower of Power mini. (As was the lawsuit past clip around, this ridiculous yet awesome Sega CD attachment was lone disposable successful Japan, and it sold retired agelong earlier I adjacent learned of its existence.)

The cartridge larboard has tiny, moving spring-loaded doors conscionable similar the existent Genesis, truthful if you person immoderate of the miniature cartridges that were disposable with the Tower of Power (you astir apt don’t!), you tin slot those in. Again, they service nary functional purpose, they conscionable look cool.

On the beforehand of the Genesis Mini 2 is simply a powerfulness power and a fastener labeled “reset,” but that’s not really what it does: pushing it brings up a paper surface letting you save, load, oregon discontinue backmost to the main paper during games. A fastener with the aforesaid functionality is besides built into the included six-button wired Genesis controller. It’s bully that it’s a modular USB device, with a astir 2-meter cord, truthful you tin plug it into a PC if you want.

The paper fastener connected the controller is casual to entree and doesn't messiness with the archetypal plan of the controller successful the slightest. It's located wherever you mightiness expect to find a right-shoulder fastener connected different controller, but blended into the mold truthful it doesn't instrumentality out. At archetypal glance, it's conscionable an mean six-button controller – thing we were robbed of with the 2019 Genesis Mini. The bully quality is the due expanded controller is close there, included successful the box, and volition enactment with your archetypal Genesis Mini, too. The atrocious quality is that the controller benignant of sucks.

As acold arsenic first-party replicas of aged controllers go, the 1 that comes with the Genesis Mini 2 is conscionable passable astatine best. The buttons consciousness beauteous terrible. They person a mushiness I recovered truly off-putting, and the D-pad shares the aforesaid tactile unpleasantness. I didn't announcement immoderate deficiency of responsiveness portion playing, but it conscionable feels airy and cheap, astir similar it was an afterthought. The three-button controller that came with the archetypal wasn't great, either, but astatine slightest determination were 2 of them successful the container alternatively of conscionable one.

A Twinge In Your Heart

The Genesis Mini 2’s UI is mostly unchanged from the original. The paper surface euphony isn't astir arsenic good, but each the different options I liked person returned, similar seeing your "collection" spines-out, arsenic good arsenic a fewer caller wallpapers for the paper screens and during gameplay. There's not overmuch successful the mode of betterment from the first, and honestly, since I'm not excessively fond of the music, it's somewhat little great. It’s a shame that Sega didn’t instrumentality immoderate inspiration from the acold superior UI delightfulness of the TurboGrafx-16 Mini. For instance, portion the Genesis Mini 2 does see a steadfast enactment of Sega-CD games, it lacks the TurboGrafx-16 Mini's added interaction – a custom, region-specific animation erstwhile you loaded up a cart oregon CD-ROM game.

In different words, if you loaded a CD from the US interface, it resembled the US mentation of the TurboGrafx, whereas loading from the Japanese interface resembled the PC Engine, portion EU games looked similar the EU mentation of the PC Engine – it adjacent simulated the dependable of a CD thrust spinning up and speechmaking the disc. It was a precise cool, precise pointless, but loving interaction that's wholly missing from the Genesis Mini 2, and it's disappointing to me, a grown antheral who loves make-believe sounds.

What the Genesis Mini 2 shares with the TG-16 and archetypal Mini is however the database of games changes to bespeak the connection settings. Choose "Japanese" from the options paper for language, and the full acquisition changes. You're not conscionable changing the connection for the on-screen prompts successful the UI, you're changing the container art, the crippled language, adjacent the UI changes to bespeak the region. I overmuch similar the Japanese Mega Drive packaging and ocular plan due to the fact that of however aggressively 1990s it is, and simply switching to Japanese successful the connection paper gives maine what my eyeballs crave.

It's not conscionable the UI and connection that change, either, but the crippled container creation – but sadly we successful the US didn't get the afloat database of games recovered connected the Japanese mentation of the Genesis Mini 2. Magical Taruruto-kun, for example, is connected the Japanese console but not the Japanese-language mentation of the Genesis Mini 2 sold successful America. It’s a colorful, ace cute side-scroller possibly astir notable for being developed by Game Freak, who you mightiness cognize from Pokemon. We're besides missing a Captain Tsubasa crippled for Sega CD that ne'er came west, and the archetypal Shin Megami Tensei. It's benignant of odd, honestly, due to the fact that you can't really bargain a Genesis Mini 2 present successful the US. You person to import it from Amazon Japan. It's a weird omission, particularly considering the Turbo Grafx-16 Mini had each the games careless of what state you bought it.

The crushed I'm not giving up anticipation connected the afloat database of Japanese games is due to the fact that M2 is fundamentally a radical of trickster gods. That institution perfectly fascinates me. It’s liable for immoderate of the champion crippled preservation projects around, and has acceptable the high-water people successful video crippled preservation and restoration. This squad could person built a customized emulator and UI, copy-pasted successful immoderate ROM files and called it a day, but that isn't however M2 operates. Not adjacent close! No, M2’s developers not lone went up and added a fewer unreleased games to the Genesis Mini 2, it ported immoderate aged arcade games to the Genesis. Which is amazing! They didn't person to bash that but they did, conscionable arsenic a flex – but there's more! Space Harrier II, a Sega arcade classic, primitively did get a Genesis port, but M2 said, "Yeah, but what if the Genesis had enactment for sprite scaling?" and conscionable went up and made that a thing, but besides added the aforesaid sprite-scaling enactment for the Genesis mentation of Space Harrier. So you get a bonus game, 1 that I personally emotion rather a bit.

On apical of creating ports wherever nary existed before, M2 has made a fewer tweaks to its included games. Phantasy Star II, 1 of the astir legendary of the 16-bit RPGs of old, has quality-of-life improvements successful a akin vein to what M2 did with the Sega Ages mentation of the archetypal Master System mentation of Phantasy Star. Basically, it’s been made much palatable to play successful 2022 acknowledgment to an "Easy Mode" and an accrued walking speed. Trust me, you're going to privation to alteration it. The walking velocity connected those aboriginal Phantasy Star games is rough.

Aside from the "new" games, determination are a clump of different large ones connected here, for 61 total. It has Sonic 2, which each the coolest kids I cognize hold is the champion one, and Sonic CD. There's besides Ecco the Dolphin and its sequel, some for Sega-CD. If you consciousness similar punching random 16-bit weirdos you person Streets of Rage 3, Final Fight CD, and Super Street Fighter II. For RPGs there's the aforementioned Phantasy Star II, Shining Force CD, Shining successful the Darkness, and more. It's packed with games from fundamentally each genre of the time, with the objection of sports games.

Compared to the original, it's hard to accidental if the Genesis Mini 2 has a amended enactment of games oregon not. I'd enactment them astatine a dormant heat, and accidental the crippled selections are complementary to 1 another.

Literally 'The Pain From an Old Wound'

There are besides immoderate weird games similar Ooze, which I had ne'er played oregon adjacent heard of before. After a fewer minutes with Ooze, I astir apt won't play it again, and determination are decidedly a just fig of duds here. Bonanza Brothers is not a crippled I enjoyed astatine all, The Ninja Warriors feels similar it was added due to the fact that the licence was inexpensive, and Virtua Racing for Sega Genesis is the slightest of each versions of that game. However, successful the lawsuit of Virtua Racing, it makes consciousness from a humanities position to adhd it to the Genesis Mini 2 due to the fact that astatine the clip it was mind-blowing – but present it's conscionable clunky and unfun. Night Trap is different 1 of those games that is conscionable famously awful, but historically it mightiness beryllium the astir important crippled connected the list. None of the different games connected the Genesis Mini 2 tin boast they invited the wrath of the legislative subdivision of the US government. It would beryllium a shame not to person it included, adjacent if it is simply a beauteous craptacular FMV game.