Over this past weekend, there’s been a lot of chatter regarding the announcement of the Mega Drive Mini (Working Title) from SEGA, the Japanese gaming company’s entry point into the “micro-gaming” market that Nintendo kickstarted with the NES Classic Edition back in 2016. It sounds all well and good; more legal ways to support classic titles is always a plus, right? Well, there’s just one issue that’s come to light regarding the Mega Drive Mini, and that’s the company who are bringing it to life.
You may remember the much-despised SEGA Genesis Throwback console that was globally released by a Chinese manufacturer known as AT Games back in 2017. On paper it sounded like an incredible concept; a legitimate throwback to the incredible 16-bit era offered by the Genesis/Megadrive offered almost 30 years prior. There was just one itsy, bitsy problem — it was a poorly slapped together piece of hardware that did more harm than it did well to the legacy of the Genesis.
Let’s just go over a few of the most common issues with the console:
- Choppy emulation of games (The console does not use original Genesis hardware)
- Frustratingly bad menu designs and navigation issues
- Wireless controller issues, a whole lot of ’em
- Poorly constructed hardware
- Weak game lists (Largely filled with “junker” titles and no third-party games)
You see, it’s the very same company who put together that SEGA Genesis Throwback console that SEGA has called on to create the Mega Drive Mini, and while we don’t know the specifics of their reach in the project, that certainly calls for alarm. In the advent of Nintendo pushing out some legitimately incredible pieces of hardware that are offering faithful and entertaining glimpses into the console’s history, there’s definitely no room for more slip-ups on SEGA’s end, especially now that the world is watching with anticipation.
With SEGA additionally having announced that the ‘Sega Ages’ collection which is set to come to Nintendo Switch beginning this Summer, it becomes even harder to justify the purchase of yet another home console, especially if it ends up being something subpar. Boasting 15 of the companies greatest titles across generations, I feel infinitely more inclined to direct my excitement towards something like this, which is being handled by a company with an incredible reputation in the video game porting realm.
There’s currently little information released about the console, but we’ll definitely be holding it under the magnifying glass until it releases later this year. Here’s hoping that SEGA can take charge on this one and make sure it becomes something truly deserving of the Mega Drive name, because believe us, it needs it.