The Sega Genesis Mini, known as the Mega Drive Mini in regions outside of North America, is a

dedicated console A dedicated console is a video game console that is limited to one or more built-in video game or games, and is not equipped for additional games that are Digital distribution in video games, distributed via ROM cartridges, Compact disc, discs, d ...

modeled on the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

. The Mini emulates the original console's

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...

hardware, and includes 42 games made available through emulation software by M2. It was released in North America and Japan in September 2019 and in Europe and the Middle East in October 2019. A follow-up, Sega Genesis Mini 2, was released in October 2022 and includes 60 games from the Genesis and

Sega CD The Sega CD, known as in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory and format for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. Originally released in November 1991, it ca ...

Hardware and accessories

The Mini is half the size of the original

. Inside the unit is an

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between ...

-based

SOC SOC, SoC, Soc, may refer to: Science and technology * Information security operations center, in an organization, a centralized unit that deals with computer security issues * Selectable output control * Separation of concerns, a program design pr ...

ZUIKI Z7213 and 512 MB of

flash memory Flash memory is an Integrated circuit, electronic Non-volatile memory, non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for t ...

. It includes either one or two (dependent on region's bundle options) full-size replica controllers that connect through

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

(thus original controllers are incompatible), a USB-to-Micro-B power cable (USB

AC adapter An AC adapter or AC/DC adapter (also called a wall charger, power adapter, power brick, or wall wart) is a type of external power supply, often enclosed in a case similar to an AC plug. AC adapters deliver electric power to devices that la ...

in North America), and an

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary digital interface used to transmit high-quality video and audio signals between devices. It is commonly used to connect devices such as televisions, computer monitors, projectors, gam ...

video cable. There are separate releases for North America, Europe, Asia and Japan, as the Mini reproduces the original console's decal and color variations in those regions. Korea is a slight exception, as the Mega Drive was released there by

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

as the Super Gam*Boy and Super Aladdin Boy; none of these names appear on the Korean Mini. All of the games have a

save state A saved game (also called a game save, savegame, savefile, save point, or simply save) is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. From the earliest games in the 1970s onward, game platform hardw ...

feature to pause and resume progress and can be played in either the original 4:3

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

with optional wallpapers or stretched to 16:9 widescreen with HUD elements modified to fit onto the screen. Certain games have regional variants that can be accessed by changing the system's language settings (e.g. switching the system language from English to Japanese will change ''

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine ''Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine'' is a falling block puzzle video game developed by Compile and published by Sega. It was released for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive and Game Gear in 1993 and ported to the Master System in 1994. The game i ...

'' into ''

Puyo Puyo , previously known as ''Puyo Pop'' outside Japan, is a series of tile-matching video games created by Compile. Sega has owned the franchise since 1998, with games after 2001 being developed by Sonic Team. ''Puyo Puyo'' was created as a spin-of ...

''.) The North American and European models of the Genesis Mini come bundled with two three-button controllers, while the Japanese model comes with two six-button controllers. Officially licensed six-button controllers made specifically for the Mini are also sold separately in North America and Europe. Official model accessories of a miniature Mega-CD, a miniature Super 32X, a miniature ''

Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog or Knuckles the Echidna in their quests to save Angel Island; Sonic tries to stop Doctor Robotnik fro ...

'' lock-on Genesis cartridge, and a miniature ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'' standard Mega Drive cartridge were also sold separately in Japan. Miniature replicas of the

and

Sega 32X The 32X is an add-on for the Sega Genesis video game console. Codenamed "Project Mars", it was designed to expand the power of the Genesis and serve as a transitional console into the 32-bit era until the release of the Sega Saturn. The 32X ...

in both the North American and European versions were also manufactured but only distributed to select members of the media. The Mini 2 system is modeled after the Mega Drive 2 variant of the original console and comes bundled with over 50 games and a single six-button controller in all regions. It uses the same SOC chip as the first Mini, albeit with more memory and storage. In addition to the first Mini's emulation features, the Mini 2 includes the option to emulate the sound outputs of the original Genesis or Genesis 2. Like with the original Mega Drive Mini, a set of model accessories consisting of a miniature Mega-CD 2, a miniature ''

Virtua Racing ''Virtua Racing'' or ''V.R.'' for short, is a Formula One racing video game developed by Sega AM2 and released for arcade game, arcades in 1992. ''Virtua Racing'' was initially a proof-of-concept application for exercising a new 3D graphics plat ...

'' cartridge, and a miniature ''

Sonic CD is a 1993 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega CD. As Sonic the Hedgehog, the player attempts to protect an extraterrestrial body, Little Planet, from Doctor Robotnik. Like other '' Sonic'' games, Sonic runs through the ...

'' disc was released in Japan alongside the system, including compatibility parts with the first Mega Drive Mini and its accessories. Additionally, a USB-powered Cyber Stick controller based on the original flight stick controller produced by Sharp was released alongside the system in Japan and provides analog input for ''

After Burner II is a rail shooter arcade video game developed and released by Sega in 1987. The player controls an American Grumman F-14 Tomcat, F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and must clear each of the game's eighteen unique stages by destroying incoming enemies. Th ...

'', ''

Night Striker is a 1989 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for the Taito Z System. In the game, the player flies an armoured car shooting enemy invaders to destroy a terrorist organisation. ''Night Striker'' combines gameplay elements ...

'', and '' Starblade''.

Games

Sega Genesis Mini

The Sega Genesis Mini features 40 Sega Genesis games, with the selection varying depending on the region. In addition to these titles, the game includes two bonus games, ''

Darius Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, ma ...

'' and ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...

'', which are new conversions made for the Mini system that were previously never released for the original console.

Sega Genesis Mini 2

The Sega Genesis Mini 2 features 53 games released for both the Genesis and the

add-on peripheral. Like the original Mini, the Mini 2 also features seven additional games that were never released for the Genesis, including both unreleased games and new arcade ports.

Production and release

The Sega Genesis Mini was first announced at the

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

Fes show in April 2018. The announcement was part of a trend of releasing smaller versions of retro

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally ...

s. It was delayed in September, missing the console's 30th-anniversary window, when Sega dropped its partnership with

AtGames AtGames Cloud Holdings Inc. (formerly AtGames Digital Media Inc.) is an American video game and console manufacturer, known for their Legends Ultimate Arcade and creating the connected arcade. Since 2011, they have produced and marketed the Atar ...

, whose 2017 Sega Genesis Flashback was critically panned for its production quality. Instead of using AtGames's Flashback software on a Japan-exclusive Mini, Sega handled the entire production of the system. The system was released worldwide on September 19, 2019, except in Europe and the Middle East, where it was delayed until October 4, 2019, due to distribution issues. M2, who previously collaborated with Sega on the ''

Sega Ages is a series of video game Porting, ports, Video game remake, remakes, and compilations published by Sega. It consists of Sega arcade games and Home video game console, home console games, typically those for the Sega Genesis and Master System. Th ...

'' and '' Sega 3D Classics Collection'' series, produced the Mini's

ports Ports collections (or ports trees, or just ports) are the sets of makefiles and Patch (Unix), patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages. T ...

. Sega emphasized first-party production quality in its marketing for the Mini, as the company returns to the hardware business after last producing the

Sega Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

in 2001. The menu music was written by

Yuzo Koshiro is a Japanese composer and sound programmer. He is often regarded as one of the most influential innovators in chiptune and video game music, producing music in a number of genres including rock, jazz, symphonic, and various electronic genres s ...

, who was also the composer of the compilation's '' Beyond Oasis'', ''

Streets of Rage 2 ''Streets of Rage 2'', known as ''Bare Knuckle II'' in Japan, is a 1992 beat 'em up game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. The sequel to ''Streets of Rage'' (1991), the characters Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding return while the ga ...

'', and '' The Revenge of Shinobi''. The Sega Genesis Mini had sold over 300,000 units by the end of March 2020. A followup, the Sega Genesis Mini 2, was released worldwide on October 27, 2022. Koshiro returned to write the menu music.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Linux devices Dedicated consoles Products introduced in 2019 Sega Genesis Linux-based video game consoles ARM-based video game consoles Retro style