Mega Drive Mini

From Sega Retro

MegaDriveMini logo JP.svg
MegaDriveMini EU.jpg
Mega Drive Mini
Manufacturer: Sega Games, M2
Distributor: Sega Games (JP), Sega of America (US), Sega Europe (EU,AU), Ecoplay (PT), Epicsoft (Asia)
Built-in games: 42
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥6,980 (7,538)6,980e[1]
CERO: B
Sega Mega Drive
JP
(W) 		¥8,980 (9,698)8,980e[1]
CERO: B
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$79.9979.99[2]
ESRB: Teen
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		€79.9979.99
PEGI: 16+
Sega Mega Drive
DE 		€79.9979.99[4]
USK: 12
Sega Mega Drive
ES 		€79.9979.99[4]
PEGI: 16+
Sega Mega Drive
FR 		€79.9979.99[4]
PEGI: 16+
Sega Mega Drive
PT 		€79.9979.99 RTGSE0874
PEGI: 16+
Sega Mega Drive
UK 		£69.9969.99[4]
PEGI: 16+
Sega Mega Drive
PL 		346zł346
PEGI: 16+
Sega Mega Drive
AU 		$139.95139.95 MK16010-03
OFLC: Mature (M)
Sega Mega Drive
ID 		Rp1,499,0001,499,000[6]
Sega Mega Drive
KR
GRB: 18
Sega Mega Drive
MY 		RM 359.00359.00[6]
Sega Mega Drive
PH 		4,5904,590[6]
Sega Mega Drive
SG 		$119.90119.90[6]
Sega Mega Drive
TH 		฿1,3901,390[6]
Sega Mega Drive
TW
GSRR: 12+
Sega Mega Drive
AS
Sega Mega Drive
ZA 		R 1,3991,399[8]

The Mega Drive Mini (メガドライブミニ), sold in North America and Southeast Asia as the Sega Genesis Mini, is a miniature Sega Mega Drive console with 42 built-in games. It was released in September 2019 for most regions, and two weeks later in October 2019 for Europe.

The development codename for the Mega Drive Mini was "Moon", following in the old tradition of Sega consoles being named after planets. Moon was chosen due to a misunderstanding that the Mega Drive's codename was "Earth"[9].

As of 2022, the Mega Drive Mini has sold over 1.5 million units worldwide.[10]

Hardware

The Mega Drive Mini follows in the footsteps of other hardware manufacturers; Nintendo with its NES and Super NES Classic Edition units, Sony with its PlayStation Classic and SNK with its Neo Geo X Gold and Neo Geo Mini systems. The unit is designed to resemble the original model of Sega Mega Drive (or Sega Genesis) at 55%[11] the size of the original, but is incompatible with any of the original games or controllers, relying solely on its built-in library of emulated games and slots for two USB peripherals. Video is output at 720p 60Hz via HDMI.

Prior to the console's release, other "mini Mega Drives" were available, such as the Sega Mega Drive Flashback by AtGames and a similar cost-reduced system by Tectoy, however while both are officially licensed by Sega, the Mega Drive Mini is the only one of the three to be developed by the company (although the actual software emulation was handled by M2). It was therefore marketed as being the more "official" product.

Also, unlike these older systems, Sega acquired the rights to feature games by a variety of third-party publishers in the Mega Drive Mini, including the likes of Konami, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Capcom, Interplay, Electronic Arts and Taito.

In Japan, two packages were released - a standard edition with one USB Six Button Control Pad, and a "W" edition with two. In Western territories, the Mega Drive Mini only ships with three button control pads. Malaysia and the Philippines got both the US Genesis version and the Asian Mega Drive "W" version.

Technical specifications

  • System-on-chip: ZUIKI Z7213
  • RAM: 256 MB
  • Output: 1 HDMI port
  • Storage: 512 MB NAND flash
  • Power: AXP223
  • Operating System: Linux kernel
  • Other: 2 USB controller ports

Features

The menu interface from the European system.

The Mega Drive Mini presents the user with a graphical interface displaying the covers of every game included on the system. Twelve covers are displayed on the screen at a time, but the user can choose to display all games at once by pressing B, displaying their spines. The games can even be sorted alphabetically, by release date, by genre, or the number of supported players. The menu music is composed by Yuzo Koshiro of Streets of Rage fame.

Changing the system language in the settings menu will do more than just change the menu language; it will also change the menu interface to match the selected language, changing to a Japanese Mega Drive-themed menu for Japanese, Chinese and Korean, a Genesis-themed menu for English (with the exception of European/Australian systems), and a PAL Mega Drive-themed menu for French, Italian, German and Spanish. Most of the covers will also change to match those of the respective region, and alternate regional versions of the games can be played. Most intriguingly, changing the language of a Western system to Japanese will change Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine into Puyo Puyo. All games run at 60Hz regardless of system region, including the European versions of certain games such as Castlevania: Bloodlines and Landstalker which have been fully optimised to run at NTSC speeds (though Sonic Spinball remains unoptimised). Not all games have an alternate regional variant available and will remain the same. The Japanese and Asian models use the Virtual Console revision of The Revenge of Shinobi.

During a game, the user can call up System Menu at any time by pressing  START  and X together on a Six Button Control Pad, holding the  START  button down for a few seconds or by pressing the  RESET  button on the console. From this menu, the user can save their progress to a savestate, with each game supporting up to four savestates. Savestates will also remember which region the game is set to, so if the system language is changed, and the savestate is loaded, the regional variant of the game that was played when the savestate was created will be loaded.

The settings menu gives the user the ability to alter the display in various ways. Games can be displayed in a 4:3 aspect ratio or they can fill the entire screen, along with an optional CRT filter that blurs the image and displays scanlines. When playing in a 4:3 ratio, the user can choose to have one of two wallpapers displayed around the game screen to fill the blank space. The menu also includes a QR code that takes the user to a site hosting the original game manuals when scanned using a smartphone or tablet.

List of games

While all editions of the Mega Drive Mini contain 42 games, the lineup has been adjusted to better suit the region. All regions contain English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Korean menus which affect the language the game is in. Some inaccessible games might also be present on versions of the console, such as Disney's Aladdin and Mortal Kombat II on the European version[12] of the console.

For a more detailed list that specifies what language versions are available for each game, click the following link:

Main article: Mega Drive Mini/Versions.

Japan

United States / Europe / Australia / Southeast Asia / Middle East / Africa

China / Taiwan / South Korea / Southeast Asia W Edition

Hidden content

Main article: Mega Drive Mini/Hidden content.

Production credits

MEGADRIVE MINI / GENESIS MINI
SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY M2
  • Directors: Naoki Horii, Takayuki Komabayashi
  • Planners: Takayuki Komabayashi, Tsuyoshi Matsuoka
  • Programmers: Daisuke Koizumi, Shintaro Ishikura, Tetsuya Abe, Yuu Igarashi, Hiroyuki Sawai, Makoto Harashino, Nobuhisa Shinoda, Takayuki Kawanishi, Jumpei Issiki
  • Graphic Designers: Makoto Shiina, Yoshiyasu Matsushita, Satoru Hasegawa, Goh Takahashi, Moriwo Ashizuka (TORO KIKAKU), Yoshimi Mishima (TORO KIKAKU), Ryoetsu Ino (WAMSOFT)
  • Package Art for "Value Games in a Can": CASIO Matsushita, Satoru Hasegawa, Takayuki Komabayashi
  • Sound Designers: Tatsuhiko Kasuga, Sakuoki Kudo
  • Library & Tools: Jun Okada, Hiroaki Goto (GORRY), Toshinori Yuuki (WAMSOFT), Go Watanabe (WAMSOFT)
  • Theme Music Composed: Yuzo Koshiro (Ancient), Mucom Dev Team (gasshi, onitama, OXYGEN, WING☆), Masanobu Kumata, quad
  • Project Manager: Takehiro Kawachi
  • Special Thanks: Jemini Hirono, Kazuki Kubota, Keiichi Sato, Shinnosuke Nemoto, Ryohey Miyaki
Darius for Mega Drive 2019
  • Planner & Programmer: Hideki Konishi
  • Supervisers: Hiroshi Uemura (Taito Corporation), Katsuhisa Ishikawa (ZUNTATA), Yuichi Toyama (Taito Corporation), Masato Nishimura (SEGA)
  • Special Thanks: Satoshi Fujishima (fupac)
Tetris for Mega Drive 2019
  • Programmers: Num Kadoma, Satoshi Fujishima (fupac)
  • Sound: WING☆
  • Music Driver: MUCOM88 ©YUZO KOSHIRO
SEGA TOYS Co., Ltd.
Special Thanks
Source:
In-game credits

Digital manuals

  • JP manual

  • JP manual (menu)

  • JP title list

  • JP title list (US version)

  • JP title list (AS version)

  • PT manual

  • AS manual

Promotional material

Main article: Mega Drive Mini/Promotional material.

Artwork

Japan

  • MegaDriveMini logo JP.svg

  • Darius JP cover

  • Game no Kanzume Otokuyou JP cover

North America

  • MegaDriveMini US Stock genesis mini blueglow.png
  • MegaDriveMini US Stock controller purpleglow.png

  • Darius US cover

  • Tetris US cover

  • Mega Man: The Wily Wars US cover

  • Monster World IV US cover

  • Super Fantasy Zone US cover

Europe

  • MegaDriveMini EU mini blueglow.png
  • MegaDriveMini EU Stock controller purpleglow.png

  • Darius EU cover

  • Tetris EU cover

  • Monster World IV EU cover

  • SEGA Mega Drive Mini Screenshots Joint EU.png
  • SEGA Mega Drive Mini Screenshots Main EU.png
  • SEGA Mega Drive Mini Screenshots Pad EU.png
  • SEGA Mega Drive Mini 2D Packshot EU.png
  • SEGA Mega Drive Mini 2D Packshot Final EU.png
  • SEGA Mega Drive Mini 3D Packshot EU.png
  • SEGA Mega Drive Mini 3D Packshot Final EU.png

Physical scans

Mega Drive, JP
MegaDriveMini MD JP Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngMegaDriveMini MD JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, JP (W)
MegaDriveMiniW MD JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, US
MegaDriveMini MD US Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngMegaDriveMini MD US Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, EU

Mega Drive, AU
Mega Drive Mini AU Top.jpeg
Mega Drive Mini AU Back.jpegMega Drive Mini AU Spine.jpegMega Drive Mini AU Front.jpegMega Drive Mini AU Spine2.jpeg
Mega Drive Mini AU Bottom.jpeg
Cover
Mega Drive Mini AU Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, PT
MegaDriveMini MD PT Box Top.jpg
MegaDriveMini MD PT Box Back.jpgMegaDriveMini MD PT Spine Right.jpgMegaDriveMini MD PT Box Front.jpgMegaDriveMini MD PT Spine Left.jpg
MegaDriveMini MD PT Box Bottom.jpg
Cover
MegaDriveMini MD PT Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, PL
MegaDriveMini MD PT Box Back.jpgMegaDriveMini MD PL Box Spine Right.jpgMegaDriveMini MD PT Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, KR
MegaDriveMiniW MD KR Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, TW
MegaDriveMiniW MD TW Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, SG/MY/PH/TH/ID
MegaDriveMini MD US Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngMegaDriveMini MD SG MY TH PH ID Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, TR

MD Mini TR Manual.jpg
Manual

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://sega.jp/mdmini/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-07-14 21:12)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https:/twitter.com/SEGA/status/1111968820208513024 (Wayback Machine: 2019-04-01 16:32)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-07-29-sega-mega-drive-mini-delayed-to-october-in-europe (Wayback Machine: 2019-10-12 16:42)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 https:/twitter.com/SEGA_Europe/status/1111968818203643904 (Wayback Machine: 2019-04-20 03:06)
  5. ↑ https://www.siliconera.com/2019/04/02/sega-mega-drive-mini-to-have-asia-specific-version-with-sword-of-vermilion-and-more/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-04-19 18:07)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 https://www.gamerbraves.com/epicsoft-asia-is-bringing-the-sega-genesis-mini-to-south-east-asia/ (Wayback Machine: 2020-10-17 00:30)
  7. ↑ https://sagamer.co.za/2019/07/30/the-sega-mega-drive-mini-slips-to-an-october-release-date (Wayback Machine: 2020-10-17 00:26)
  8. ↑ https://nexushub.co.za/nexus/sega-mega-drive-mini-confirmed-for-sa-local-pricing-and-availability-detailed.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-10-17 00:28)
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqdN_L4YaDE
  10. ↑ https://gamerant.com/sega-genesis-mini-2-low-limited-supply/ (Wayback Machine: 2022-08-29 12:22)
  11. ↑ https://www.tomsguide.com/us/sega-genesis-mini,review-6562.html (Wayback Machine: 2019-12-14 07:01)
  12. ↑ @Micro_Repairs on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2020-02-25 17:20)
  13. ↑ https://www.4play.pt/acessorio/sega-megadrive-mini/ (Wayback Machine: 2020-10-17 00:36)


Mega Drive Mini
Versions | Comparisons | Hidden content | Development | Merchandise
Mega Drive Tower Mini | Mega Drive Mini Bag | Mega Drive Tower Mini Zero
Book
 Mega Drive Mini Perfect Book (2019)
Music
 Mega Drive Mini: Celebration Album (2019)
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