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As a Nintendo guy, the Sega Genesis Mini is nostalgic as f*ck

I need this new, retro offering now.

Sega genesis mini main image
Image: Sega

This is the first mini console I actually feel like I actually need.

Growing up,  I always had game consoles in my house. My parents owned an Atari and some of my earliest memories were playing Tanks with my mom. I got an NES for my 3rd birthday (who buys their kid a console when they are a toddler), a SNES for Christmas of ’90, and an N64 on Thanksgiving of ’96.

My first Sega console was a hacked Japanese Dreamcast that I bought at the Daytona Beach Flea Market for $99. The Sega Genesis was what I played at friends’ houses when I went over. It was the system my jerk half brother never let me use. It was the console I posted up at and played for 30 minutes while my parents shopped at Sam’s Club. I was entrenched in Nintendo from the get-go, but Sega Genesis was that forbidden fruit.

When Sega announced the Genesis Mini, I was interested to see what was brought to the table

I expected Sonic games, Phantasy Star, probably Golden Axe or Columns. Those seemed to be the games that my friends owned. The Sega Genesis Mini is going to include 42 games and, for the most part, they are very recognizable.

  • Ecco the Dolphin
  • Castlevania: Bloodlines (Castlevania: The New Generation in AU/UK)
  • Space Harrier 2
  • Shining Force
  • Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
  • Toe Jam & Earl
  • Comix Zone
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Altered Beast
  • Gunstar Heroes
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • Earthworm Jim
  • Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
  • World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
  • Thunder Force III
  • Super Fantasy Zone
  • Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
  • Streets of Rage 2
  • Contra Hard Corps (Probotector in AU/UK)
  • Landstalker
  • Mega Man: The Wily Wars
  • Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition
  • Sonic Spinball
  • Phantasy Star IV
  • Beyond Oasis (The Story of Thor in AU/UK)
  • Ghouls ‘N Ghosts
  • Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
  • Golden Axe
  • Vectorman
  • Wonder Boy in Monster World
  • Tetris
  • Darius
  • Virtua Fighter 2
  • Alisia Dragoon
  • Monster World IV
  • Kid Chameleon
  • Road Rash II
  • Eternal Champions
  • Columns
  • Dynamite Headdy
  • Strider
  • Light Crusader

I remember playing Kid Chameleon on my half brother’s Genesis while he was at football practice. I remember going over to visit my friend’s house and playing Eternal Champions and reading through EGM to try to figure out stage fatalities. Golden Axe is the only virtual console game I owned for the Wii.

While I debated with friends that Final Fantasy IV was the best, some dared to suggest Phantasy Star IV was just as good. I remember playing Ecco the Dolphin and trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

As someone proud of their gaming background,  these games played an important role

These were the games I saw in magazines and thought “I was I could play those.” I saw many of these game played during the console wars but never had any ownership of them. I’ve emulated NES titles from games I owned, but have never bothered to mess with Sega games. The Sega Genesis Mini is a second chance to experience these classic Sega Genesis games in the way they were meant to be played.

In the end, I’m super hyped to have a small version of a console that I never had a chance to own. As an adult that can now choose to own whatever console I’d like, the Sega Genesis Mini is highly coveted because of this. It’ll be weird to handle the Genesis gamepad after such a long time, but I’m looking forward to it.

The Sega Genesis Mini is currently available for preorders on Amazon and other retailers, like GameStop.  It will launch on September 19th and will run $79.99.

What do you think? Interested in the Sega Genesis Mini? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Longtime games journalist and Florida resident. I'm a Guinness World Record holder, wordsmith extraordinaire, MOBA fan, devoted dad and husband. I'm here to spread the gospel of video games.

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