If you're a fan of retro gaming, then you'll be pleased to hear that a new retro console, the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 (that's Genesis Mini 2 if you're in North America), has been announced. It'll have 50 games built in, although it doesn't have a Western release date as of yet.
What do we know about the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2?
Following on from 2019's Sega Genesis Mini, the Mega Drive Mini 2 will feature a lineup of 50 games, and this time, that lineup will include Sega CD ports, as well as some unreleased titles. We'll be calling it the Mega Drive Mini 2 here; it doesn't have a release date outside of Japan yet, and the Genesis was known as the Mega Drive everywhere except North America. The console was announced during a rather lengthy Sega live stream which also showed off some of the games you'll be able to play on the new retro console.
Which Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 games have been confirmed?
So far, it doesn't look like there's any crossover between the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2's lineup and the 42 Sega Genesis Mini games, which is pretty impressive. The console will also feature several as-yet unreleased games and ports of Sega arcade titles, as well as what VGC calls a "mysterious new work", which indicates that we could be getting an entirely new Mega Drive Mini 2 game. Here's everything that's been confirmed for the Mega Drive Mini 2 so far (and bear in mind that more games will be announced in the near future).
- Sonic CD
- Shining in the Darkness
- Shining Force (Sega CD)
- Mansion of Hidden Souls
- Silpheed
- Virtua Racing
- Magical Taruruto
- Bonanza Bros
- Fantasy Zone (new port)
- Thunder Force IV
- Popful Mail
When is the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 release date?
The Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 is currently slated to launch in Japan on October 27th. It'll cost 9,980 yen, which works out at around $75. Unfortunately, Sega hasn't announced a Western release date for the console yet. Given that the Genesis Mini was released in the West, though, we can reasonably assume that the Mega Drive Mini 2 will see a Western release as well. There's still a lot of interest in Sega's old-school IPs; just last year, the studio said it wanted to revive some of its older properties, so a Mega Drive Mini 2 Western release would make sense to shore up interest in that proposition.
We'll bring you more on the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 and whether it'll see the light of day on Western shores as soon as we get it. Until then, if you're jonesing for a fix of retro Sega nostalgia, then you've still got the upcoming Sonic Origins collection, if you can stomach its rather distasteful approach to DLC. Just make sure you don't fall foul of the upcoming Sega NFT program while you're at it. Stay tuned for more info on this exciting-looking new retro console.
