Sega Genesis/Megadrive Mini (Official Thread)

[Baloo]

Are you sure you are not missing something?

Let's do a top glaring omissions shall we? Here's mine:

1. Thunderforce IV (just why?)
2. Sonic 3 & Knuckles (because of music rights, MJ, etc?)
3. Soleil (a bit too Zelda clone? Problems with the translation? Why?)
4. Rocket Knight Adventures (because already too many Konami games?)
5. Ristar (because already Dyna Headdy and too many platformers?)
6. (in that order) Alien Soldier, MUSHA, Mega Turrican, Batman & Robin, Ranger X (too obscure for western market, too many shooters?)
7. Yu Yu Hakusho M.T. (same thing)
8. Aladdin (too many Disney games already?) also Lion King and especially Quackshot
9. Outrun, Micro Machines 96 & sports games
10. Sequels (Shining Force 2, Ecco 2, EWJ 2, Vectorman 2...) & prequels (Streets of Rage 1, Revenge of Shinobi, Phantasy Star II)
11. TMNT ?

You make a lot of good points here, but there are answers to about half of these games:

MUSHA - Niche Shooter in the US Market
Batman and Robin - Licensing
Micro Machines - Licensing
TMNT - Licensing
Aladdin - Developed by Virgin Games, not SEGA.
Lion King - Also developed by Virgin Games.
Outrun - Ferrari Licensing
Ranger X - Obscure Shmup not popular in the Western Market
YuYu Hakusho - On the JP Mini, game was based on a more niche anime license and not released in the US.
Streets of Rage 1 - Far inferior gameplay and graphically to SoR2.
Vectorman 2 - Not popular or different enough from Vectorman 1
Revenge of Shinobi - Licensing issues with Spiderman and the other bosses, also not as good of a game as Shinobi III id argue.
Shining Force II - I would argue the occult themes got this one thrown out in the US.
Sports Games - No licensing from players or major sports leagues.
Alien Soldier - Its a fantastic game, but it wasn't released in the US. Popular for people like us, but niche for the Genesis Minis target audience.

Games that should have been included:
Crusader of Centy/Soleil - Atlas is now owned by SEGA
Ristar - A fantastic platformer.
Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force - Way better than Thunder Force III.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles - The story just gets more bizarre as the years go by. Its currently on Steam. They should have worked out a deal.
Rocket Knight Adventures - A Konami classic that should have been included if they got Contra and Castlevania.


Games that should have been left out:

Virtua Fighter 2 - By far the biggesr clunker on this list. SEGA brass must love this game though to keep including it on compilations.
Columns - Really bare-bones puzzle game that while fun, was the SEGA version of Tetris. Why include Columns with Mean Bean Machine and Tetris on the system as well?
Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle - This wasn't a hit. Why include it on the US release?

[Sik]

Right, Outrun with the licensing issues may have been a mess (they got away in the past by editing out the Ferrari logo, but I'm not sure how well that'd fare nowadays?). They got Outrun 2019 on one of the minis tho so it'd have been nice to get that on the rest to compensate :​v (and use the year as an excuse to include it lol). Some of the games they included are pretty obscure(-ish) including that one so I'm not sure that's a good excuse regarding the rest… At some point games were going to get the chop.

Could have been worse, they could have done 20 games like the other minis :​P

As for Columns: I've seen a bunch of people say they'd have preferred Columns III instead. And yeah, I'd say I like it better too, but one big problem is that all the modes it includes are competitive (even single player is against the computer), which may be an issue for people who just want to chill out. Even puyo has the non-competitive endless mode despite being a series heavily focused on competitive gameplay.

[Leynos]

I don't fully buy the niche argument. Some of those niche games not on the US version are in the US Genesis collection on PS4/PC/NS/XBO and MUSHA has a big cult following among SEGA fans and Shooter fans. More would want MUSHA over Thunder Force III. Shining Force II, Vectorman 2, Alien Soldier are on the Genesis collection as well. Thunder Force IV is probably because it's one of the SEGA Ages games on Eshop.

I don't think SEGA gives two fucks about occult images when they own Persona/Shin Megami Tensei and when revealing SMTV the first thing they show is a pentagram on a Nintendo live stream. Not to mention they own the Bayonetta IP.

[Vector]

Btw, I can already see it being hacked 3 hours after release with sd card sticking out of the cart slot on top and 3.5 front audio wire to old Hi-Fi systems LOL.


I'm hoping the next 10 games aren't AfterBurner II, Vectorman II, Columns, Golden Axe II, TJ&EII, Turtles Hyper, Dynamite Heady, VF2, SSF2, SOR3, etc but instead Eternal Champions, Virtua Racing ot Aladdin, Alien Storm, Strider, Revenge of Shinobi, Sonic & Knuckles w/ Sonic 3 (rom out there), SOR1, Phantasy Star 1 (pay homage to master system and early genesis), Kid Chameleon and MUSHA .

Well I predicted 7 or 8 out of 12 games in one way or another.

Darius looks like rtype mixed with hellfire and Lord of Thunder man I can't wait to play it, damn 32 mbit =0 that is tied with ssf2t as officially licenced and recognized as biggest rom/cart ever (Pier Solar is not licensed by Sega)? Also 1986 pre genesis to 2019 post genesis dates on Darius screenshot LOL nice.

Cool if they added Tetris or Columns but replace Mean Bean with SOR1 and VF2 with Rocket Knight. We all agree we wanted TF4 not TF3. I think most of us agree here.

Is the legendary composer who did music for Revenge of Shinobi still doing menu music for mini, is that confirmed?

Also I can't read Japanese, is the autistic sega cd and 32x with carts, only available if you buy japan mini system too or is it separate bundle? Because if its separate I'll buy the autistic bundle (I wonder how much american $40) but I want the SouthAsia Samsung mini and its games (does that come with 6 button controllers?).

How many of you will upgrade OS once its hacked? I just want my bundle in corner of bedroom to quick boot up and play gas68 Wolf3D or Sonic All Stars or other great hacks like Pyron and Stef sf2sce v7 and other gems.

Also I am sad guys, I remember a time when Genesis was slapping NES and SNES around at the same time and was the king for a couple to few years according to EGM and others I'd say 1991 to 1994, but I guess some people see the Genesis as TG16 after Donkey Kong and SFA2 released =( Like I said adding up the variants, I have a feeling Genesis sold more than SNES but I guess all variants can't be counted and SNES sold 10 million more than Genesis (shrugs).

[Gryson]

I honestly never knew that Sega had so many licensing issues with Sonic 3, but the whole MJ music shenanigans must be a legal minefield for them. Somebody previously mentioned that Sega have licensing issues with the music from Sonic 1 as well now, due to the fact that the music for the game was composed by Japanese band Dreams Come True. I find this confusing because I'm fairly certain that Dreams Come True also composed the music for Sonic 2, and Sega never seem to have licensing issues with that title so why would they have any issues with Sonic 1?

Unless I'm missing something, I don't think there are any licensing issues with either Sonic 1 or Sonic 3.

Sega didn't license the music from Dreams Come True - they paid them to compose it. Sega owns the rights to it.

I imagine the same is true for Sonic 3. That's why it's available now on Steam. If somebody else had a copyright claim on the music, Sega isn't just going to look the other way and release it on Steam. The reason that a few of the tracks were changed for the PC release of Sonic 3 related to MIDI format issues, as I recall (i.e. the tracks used samples that MIDI can't do).

[Zygrunt]

Are you sure you are not missing something?

Let's do a top glaring omissions shall we? Here's mine:

1. Thunderforce IV (just why?)
2. Sonic 3 & Knuckles (because of music rights, MJ, etc?)
3. Soleil (a bit too Zelda clone? Problems with the translation? Why?)
4. Rocket Knight Adventures (because already too many Konami games?)
5. Ristar (because already Dyna Headdy and too many platformers?)
6. (in that order) Alien Soldier, MUSHA, Mega Turrican, Batman & Robin, Ranger X (too obscure for western market, too many shooters?)
7. Yu Yu Hakusho M.T. (same thing)
8. Aladdin (too many Disney games already?) also Lion King and especially Quackshot
9. Outrun, Micro Machines 96 & sports games
10. Sequels (Shining Force 2, Ecco 2, EWJ 2, Vectorman 2...) & prequels (Streets of Rage 1, Revenge of Shinobi, Phantasy Star II)
11. TMNT ?

Well, if you expected them to deliver the perfect list you were set for disappointment. Surely I miss some games like TFIV, Mega Turrican, SoR, TMNT and others, and I don't see the point of having Alex Kidd in there or triple puzzle games but I count 34 games that I like or that I'm interested to see in the list, even if we can come up with a better list.

And it changes from person to person. You want more rpgs, I would cut all rpgs but Phantasy Star 4 which is the only one that gives me fun.

[Gryson]

Well, if you expected them to deliver the perfect list you were set for disappointment. Surely I miss some games like TFIV, Mega Turrican, SoR, TMNT and others, and I don't see the point of having Alex Kidd in there or triple puzzle games but I count 34 games that I like or that I'm interested to see in the list, even if we can come up with a better list.

And it changes from person to person. You want more rpgs, I would cut all rpgs but Phantasy Star 4 which is the only one that gives me fun.

Pretty much. It doesn't matter how incredible the selection is, you can't please everybody with only 40 games out of a library of almost 1000 games.

But I think we have to acknowledge that Sega is doing way more here than some other Classic releases. Rather than nitpick game selection, we should be thankful that it's turning out so much better than it could have.

[Leynos]

You would have to try really hard to be worse than PlayStation Classic.

[Vector]

Pretty much. It doesn't matter how incredible the selection is, you can't please everybody with only 40 games out of a library of almost 1000 games.

But I think we have to acknowledge that Sega is doing way more here than some other Classic releases. Rather than nitpick game selection, we should be thankful that it's turning out so much better than it could have.

Actually 44 or 45 games right? As Mega Man is 3 games plus Darius and Tetris bonus games. But everything else, you are right imo. As for the 6 button controller, only 4 out of 44 games on US list need a 6 button controller and most of us have usb controllers laying around anyway I guess. Also, once it is hacked, we will play every genesis, homebrew, indie, demo hack etc game ever! I'll put it in corner of my bedroom with little hdmi tv and zone out a hour after work playing SoR2.

[chilled]

Mega Man is just one game just as S3K is (when you play both carts combined). It's not a compilation like 6-Pak or Mega Games 10. Also SSF2 (without t) is 40 MEGA POWER not 32.

I thought it was already established that the western line-up is awesome (way better than the JP and Asian ones IMHO, even without taking into account that most of the best japanese-exclusive games are unplayable without knowing the language).

Ok so most omissions are due to licensing issues concerning outside gaming industry characters or sports players, ok. Or some games are a bit too obscure or niche, I think I understand. Not having the sequels doesn't bother me that much though most of them are better than the first game, but maybe not so better so to loose the first game on the series criteria.

Columns is a classic and was pack-in in many regions. III is not. Tetris is just there to prove a point a to be a retro-mini system seller. Robotnik had some momentum at the time and is tied to the Sonic franchise.
Also Columns is tied to the Game Gear as Alex Kidd is to the Master System, so probably those games are there to remind us that too?

I would have replaced those 5 by those 5 myself: TFIV, RKA, Ristar, Soleil & S3K just as Baloo said, instead of TFIII, Pinball, Robotnik, VF2 & Alex Kidd

Although a 50 list would have been even better (and a hundred even better, and the option to load custom roms out of the box even better...), I think those 5 would have round up a quite awesome list, which is already great that's for sure.

Is it possible that they were having emulation issues (or lack of time) on some of those 5?

[Vector]

Mega Man is just one game just as S3K is (when you play both carts combined). It's not a compilation like 6-Pak or Mega Games 10.

I thought it was the first 3 mega man games touched up? They should have put the 6 Pak game on honestly and used spots for other games (like add 6 Pak instead of VF2, then put TF4 in place of Golden Axe since it is on 6 Pak but I guess you can't because Shinobo has all those other copyright characters).

Also SSF2 (without t) is 40 MEGA POWER not 32.

Experts state 32 http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/...pic.php?t=1878

I thought it was already established that the western line-up is awesome (way better than the JP and Asian ones IMHO, even without taking into account that most of the best japanese-exclusive games are unplayable without knowing the language).

Not really, I'm ordering the Asia Samsung Mini for Musha and 6 button controllers.

Ok so most omissions are due to licensing issues concerning outside gaming industry characters or sports players, ok. Or some games are a bit too obscure or niche, I think I understand. Not having the sequels doesn't bother me that much though most of them are better than the first game, but maybe not so better so to loose the first game on the series criteria.

Mutant Legaue Football has no licence except with EA who has Road Rash II on Mini.

Columns is a classic and was pack-in in many regions. III is not. Tetris is just there to prove a point a to be a retro-mini system seller. Robotnik had some momentum at the time and is tied to the Sonic franchise.
Also Columns is tied to the Game Gear as Alex Kidd is to the Master System, so probably those games are there to remind us that too?

I agree with that physiological theory, good point.

I would have replaced those 5 by those 5 myself: TFIV, RKA, Ristar, Soleil & S3K just as Baloo said, instead of TFIII, Pinball, Robotnik, VF2 & Alex Kidd

Amen, most agree.

Although a 50 list would have been even better (and a hundred even better, and the option to load custom roms out of the box even better...), I think those 5 would have round up a quite awesome list, which is already great that's for sure.

It'll get hacked 3 minutes after release, don't worry we can even play gas68 Wolf3D v11 on Mini by October =)

Is it possible that they were having emulation issues (or lack of time) on some of those 5?

Could be, honestly might be why M2 can't handle 50 games right now just "42 to 44".

[Baloo]

I don't fully buy the niche argument. Some of those niche games not on the US version are in the US Genesis collection on PS4/PC/NS/XBO and MUSHA has a big cult following among SEGA fans and Shooter fans. More would want MUSHA over Thunder Force III. Shining Force II, Vectorman 2, Alien Soldier are on the Genesis collection as well. Thunder Force IV is probably because it's one of the SEGA Ages games on Eshop.

I don't think SEGA gives two fucks about occult images when they own Persona/Shin Megami Tensei and when revealing SMTV the first thing they show is a pentagram on a Nintendo live stream. Not to mention they own the Bayonetta IP.

I'll grant you that MUSHA probably should have been thrown in over the never-released in the US Super Fantasy Zone, but as crazy as it sounds, you know there will be many more people excited for the likes of Eternal Champions, Sonic Spinball, and Road Rash II than MUSHA in the grand scheme of people who buy this thing. The games do need to be palletable to a general audience. Hence why games like Galaga and Defender II made it onto the NES Classic.

[Sik]

Mega Man is just one game just as S3K is (when you play both carts combined). It's not a compilation like 6-Pak or Mega Games 10.

Erm… it is a compilation actually. It's a remake of Megaman 1 to 3, then an exclusive extra game with its own stages after you clear all three.

[Zebbe]

Experts state 32 http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/...pic.php?t=1878

No. 4 MBytes is 32 MEGA POWER, because 1 MByte is 8 MEGA POWER. He just said the SSF2 banker allows up to 32 MByte, which is 256 MEGA POWER. SSF2 is 5 MByte, which is 40 MEGA POWER.

[Vector]

No. 4 MBytes is 32 MEGA POWER, because 1 MByte is 8 MEGA POWER. He just said the SSF2 banker allows up to 32 MByte, which is 256 MEGA POWER. SSF2 is 5 MByte, which is 40 MEGA POWER.

Okay, I'm just saying I see a lot of experts saying 32 and a lot saying 40
http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/...pic.php?t=1878
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards...3431804?page=3 and https://www.gamespot.com/forums/game...esis-28927124/

Either way it is big either 40 or 32, but 2nd to Pier at 64.

I didn't see him state anything besides 40. He is also wrong about Mega Man not being a compilation.

So Strider is 1 MByte (how many mega bits is megabyte idk) because it is = 8 mega powah? Like a math class bro LOL.

1 MByte is 8 MEGA POWER

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....FpnZL._AC_.jpg

Or should MegaPowah now be called MegaMemory like ^

How many Genesis games could fit onto a 3.5 floppy disk?

Anyway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xBY1uThIIQ

Out Run 2019? http://www.nintendolife.com/news/201...ega_drive_mini