The explosive success of the NES Classic in late 2016 led to a surge of miniature, plug-and-play retro console replicas, courtesy of rights holders who were interested in cashing in on the fad and making a buck. We of course saw the SNES classic, but also the Playstation Classic, the Turbografix Mini, the Neo Geo Mini, and even the Commodore 64 Mini. There might even be more that I forgot about.
That is a pretty substantial list of pre-HD video game platforms, but it is missing one crucial (and sadly, former) hardware manufacturer - Sega. To be fair, Sega has been licensing out the rights to make plug-and-play Genesis replicas for years, but these third-party devices have generally been cheap and low quality. The NES Classic added a level of quality and care that changed the game for these mini systems, and a lot of people wanted to see the same treatment be given to Sega hardware. It took Sega until 2019, three years after the NES Classic, to finally release their own Genesis Mini, just in time for the console’s 30th birthday.
Segaaaaaaaaaaa
So, is it any good? Did the quality in prove by bringing the design and development in house? Let’s find out.