The Mega Drive/Genesis Mini must have been a success for SEGA, as a follow-up has not only been revealed, but is now confirmed for the US.
The Genesis Mini 2 – based on the smaller Genesis 2 – features improved hardware and comes with a 6-button pad as standard. Only one controller is bundled with the system, however, which may be down to the fact that controllers from the original Genesis Mini are compatible.
The big news is that it’ll feature Mega CD/SEGA CD games, with the first to be revealed including The Ninja Warriors, Night Striker, Sonic CD, Shining Force CD, Silpheed, and Mansion of Hidden Souls. Lunar and Final Fight CD have also been announced for Japan. Notice the lack of FMV games – SEGA is clearly aiming for the best the add-on had to offer.
The drip-feed of game announcements has commenced, with SEGA promising 50+ titles. Here’s what we can expect so far. (Thanks, Nintendo Life.)
- Sonic CD (Sega CD)
- Shining Force (Sega CD)
- Silpheed (Sega CD)
- Mansion of Hidden Souls (Sega CD)
- Night Striker (Sega CD)
- The Ninja Warriors (Sega CD)
- After Burner 2 (Genesis)
- Out Run (Genesis)
- Out Runners (Genesis)
- Virtua Racing (Genesis)
- Super Hang On (Genesis)
- Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
- Shining in the Darkness (Genesis)
- Vectorman 2 (Genesis)
- The Ooze (Genesis)
- Bonanza Bros (Genesis)
- Alien Soldier (Genesis)
- Rainbow Islands Extra (Genesis)
- Splatterhouse 2 (Genesis)
- Rolling Thunder 2 (Genesis)
- Thunder Force IV (aka Lightening Force: Quest For The Darkstar) (Genesis)
- Fantasy Zone (Genesis)
- Star Mobile (Genesis)
The Japanese list is looking more complete currently, featuring such games as Fatal Fury 2, Super Street Fighter II The New Challengers, and Columns 3 in addition to most of the above. So far, the lists are entirely dissimilar – it looks like SEGA is aiming for parity.
Eagle-eyed retro gamers have noticed that Rainbow Islands Extra appears to be the lost US version, with the trademark date showing as 1994. Star Mobile, meanwhile, is an unreleased conversion of a PC Engine puzzler, while Fantasy Zone is brand new. The original never made it to Genesis.
The Genesis Mini 2 is an Amazon exclusive in the US and due out on October 27th.
There’s no official word on a European release yet, but we have a feeling it’s inevitable.
