Apparently, SEGA does what Ninten ... does? Seeing the massive successes of the NES Classic Mini and the SNES Classic Mini, SEGA has jumped on the opportunity to release their own with the SEGA Mega Drive Mini. For those in the U.S., it will likely be called the SEGA Genesis Mini. It will release sometime this year.
The list of games, or the amount there will be, has yet to be announced, but we can most assuredly expect some of the classics to make an appearance, like Sonic the Hedgehog.
This isn't the first foray SEGA has made into putting out a new Genesis console with a set of games. Last year, the Sega Genesis Flashback was released, which released to less than stellar reviews. Without getting into all of its problems, much of it lies with its developer: AtGames. That's not a name you've likely heard but most certainly seen some of their mini consoles, mainly Atari, on the shelves at some store. If you've played one of those consoles before, you likely know why many were disappointed with the Sega Genesis Flashback. To sum it up: the hardware choices weren't great, like the poor wireless controllers, and the games didn't run that well.
https://twitter.com/ATGFlashback/status/985158110837911552
AtGames announced on Twitter, as seen above, they will be working on the Mega Drive Mini. This will be the fourth console AtGames has worked on for a Genesis release, none of which have been reviewed well. However, the Flashback was the most high profile and releases last year, so many would hope that AtGames has learned from the criticism and will provide a better quality product. That will be all the more important as everyone will be comparing it to Nintendo's mini releases, especially with the similar names and marketing. If you're looking for other ways to play classic Sega games, they also announced the new Sega Ages initiative for Switch yesterday, and this summer has the Sega Genesis Classics coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Update 4/14/2018
In a reply to a comment on Facebook, AtGames had this to say about the wariness some might feel to them producing the Mega Drive Mini:All the negativity is perfectly understandable. You'll either see the improvement this year in the HD hardware or you won't. Talking about it doesn't do much at this point. There is a switch to a proven emulator and other features that have been requested for years making it into the 2018 HD models. There will be similar changes on the Atari HD side. Exciting stuff, but no reason to believe any of it until it's actually in the wild.So, it appears that they are taking notice of past issues and will be working in improvements for the mini. In particular, they will be moving to a different emulator. The other features mentioned will be detailed later in the year. AtGames said in another comment on Facebook to keep an eye out for news a little before E3, which happens in the middle of June.
What games do you hope make it on to the Mega Drive Mini (Genesis Mini)? If you have the SEGA Genesis Flashback, what did you like about it and what do you hope is improved? Let us know in the comments below!