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Knockoff Sega Genesis emulation hardware has existed for years. Now, finally, Sega has an authentic plug-and-play miniature console loaded with a stellar lineup of 42 classic games. Yes, Sega followed Nintendo’s lead after observing the success of the NES and SNES Classics. But at least Sega didn’t drop the ball like Sony. In fact, the Sega Genesis Mini might best Nintendo’s efforts in design while offering the best way to play Sega Genesis games today.
Let’s start with the lineup. The Genesis Mini has an eclectic library of games, organized by box art tiles either alphabetically, by genre, or release date. Sonic the Hedgehog leads the way in name recognition, but there’s a lot to choose from, including classic beat ’em ups like Golden Axe, wonderful role-playing gems like Phantasy Star IV, and engaging platformers like Kid Chameleon. You could argue the console actually includes 45 games, as Mega Man: The Wily Wars compiles 16-bit versions of the original NES trilogy.
As an added bonus, two games appear on Genesis for the first time. Tetris and Darius, both of which were ported to the Genesis by developer M2 from their arcade counterparts. Playing Tetris on a Sega console was weird, and since the Sega version didn’t have holds or hard drops, I doubt I’ll play it again. Still, it’s a neat bonus to an already great lineup.
The game select menu features new chiptune music composed by Yuzo Koshiro, one of the best in the business. Koshiro worked on the original soundtracks for a few games in the collection, including Streets of Rage II. In another neat trick, the box art changes to match the region when you change the console’s language. If you switch to Japanese, the entire menu changes to Mega Drive box art.
Sega specifically wanted the Genesis Mini to be authentic to the original games. Developer M2 emulated each game to adhere to that desire, leaving bugs and cheat codes in the games. But authenticity doesn’t mean you’ll have to write down passwords to save your progress. Each game has four save states, so you can pick up where you left off each time.
I played with the CRT filter, which made it look like I had gone back to the ’90s. You can choose from a couple backgrounds to fill the black space on each side of the screen when using the 4:3 aspect ratio. If you opt for a 16:9 ratio, M2 formats games so the pixels aren’t blurred in wide screen.
Sega’s dedication to authenticity extends to the tiny console itself, which can fit in the palm of my hand. Despite that, the Genesis Mini mirrors the design of the original unit. There’s an on/off toggle, a volume slider, and a functional reset button. The reset button brings up the options menu, letting you exit to the main screen, restart a game, or save your progress.
A couple of the other design features are just for show. The cartridge slot on top flaps open. During my preview, I placed small plastic replicas of Sega cartridges into the slot. Sega says these decorative pieces of plastic won’t be sold. Remember the cover on the bottom that could be removed to connect the Sega CD and 32X add-ons? That slot is on the Mini, too. Sega will actually sell those non-functional add-ons, though only in Japan.
The Sega Genesis Mini comes with two wired controllers. The chunky, three-button controllers have just the same shape and feel as the original design. The A, B, and C buttons are huge and appropriately squashy, and the eight-directional D-pad still feels great. If you want the sleeker Buy at Amazon , Retro-bit is releasing an official gamepad for the Mini on September 16 for $20. The Retro-bit controller will also have new right and left triggers.
The Sega Genesis Mini launches September 19 for $80. The console comes with a USB power adapter, power cable, HDMI cable, and two wired gamepads. It’s available for Buy at Amazon now.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.