Retro Dodo
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Gear
  • Games
  • Collect
  • Guides
Retro Dodo
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Gear
  • Games
  • Collect
  • Guides
  • Gear
  • Sponsored

Sega Mega Drive Mini Review

  • January 25, 2023
  • Brandon Saltalamacchia

Mega Drive Mini

$69.99
Mega Drive Mini
8

Nostalgia at its finest

8.0/10

Pros

  • Zero Lag
  • HD Quality
  • Nostalgic AF

Cons

  • Price
  • Wired Controllers
BUY NOW

The Sega Mega Drive Mini is here, or as our friends over the pond like to call it, the Sega Genesis Mini. It’s Sega’s latest mini console that’s packed full of nostalgic games all in crispy HD.

We’ve had ours for about two weeks now and we want to run you through our opinions about this product, because that’s what we do here at Retro Dodo, we tell you if products are worth your hard earned cash or not!

The Sega Mega Drive Mini is a nod to the 90’s, when the original Mega Drive Mini was released to us Westerners.

It was one of Sega’s most popular games consoles and it had some playable bangers (a British phrase for something great) such as Earthworm Jim, Dynamite Headdy and the old school Sonic The Hedgehog.

It was a direct competitor with Nintendo and in my opinion it smashed them out of the water (don’t @ us), the console quality was far better, and its over saturated colours and strong characters made it one our most memorable consoles ever.

Even the soundtracks used within the games are still somehow embedded into our brains and are playing as we write this review!

Table of Contents

  • Taking A Look At The Sega Mega Drive Mini!
  • How Well Does The Sega Mega Mini Drive Play Games?
  • What Games Are Available?
  • Do The Games Feel The Same?
  • Is This Better Than The Mega Drive Emulator On The Switch?
  • Overall Opinion

Taking A Look At The Sega Mega Drive Mini!

Let’s start with the packaging, Sega has kept EVERYTHING as close to the original as possible, even the box itself.

They’ve left the 90’s square grid as the background, kept the awesome logo, and obviously our good pal Sonic is still pointing in the air almost 20 years on.

The box is a bit smaller, obviously because they don’t need to waste packaging on making it identical as the console itself is much smaller. The box will certainly please you collectors out there, this thing looks great.

In the box you are greeted with the Sega Mega Drive Mini, two classic wired controllers, a power cable and your HDMI cable. Everything comes neatly packaged, as should be.

sega mega drive mini box

The great thing about the Sega Mega Drive Mini is the incredibly easy setup, it takes seconds to get this piece of kit going.

It’s literally a plug and play system. Connect it to power, then connect it to the HDMI slot in your TV and wallah, you’re ready to get your game on.

The first thing we noticed when we turned on the console was the muscle memory holding the controllers.

The controllers are by far the most nostalgic thing about the Sega Mega Drive Mini. It’s liking going back two years, and turning into a child again. The controllers hasn’t been changed, it still has the oversized D-pad and the thick buttons, just the way we like it.

The only downfall with these controllers are the short cable length, we sit quite close to our TV, but still seemed to be worried about the length of the cable, for those far from their TV screens, you will 100% need an extender.

The cable is around 6ft long, we want at least 10ft.

sega mega drive controller

The console itself has a cartridge slot that you can’t use for games but it does open up, so yes you can stick your finger in it should you want to… penetrate it?

Everyone does it, but we’ll let you know that it does feel weird doing so. It comes with all of the Sega branding, the infamous On/Off switch which is used as normal, a volume rocket which doesn’t work and a reset button which does in fact work also.

Finally your two USB slots are on the front for your controllers.

How Well Does The Sega Mega Mini Drive Play Games?

First I want to talk about the menu in the Sega Mega Drive Mini. It’s a clean user interface with high saturation, nostalgic theme tunes and an easy way to discover all 40 of its games.

Everything is laid out just as it should be, game artwork as the main way of seeing what to choose, and then game titles underneath.

You can order the games in alphabetical order, date of release, number of players and more. This was a nice feature as it sped up our process of finding the games we love to play.

sega mega drive mini menu

We also noticed, if you change the language to Japanese you actually get all of the Japanese artwork for every game, plus the Japanese version of the games, meaning some will have extra levels that you don’t get in the English version.

This just goes to show how thought out this product is from Sega, the small touches go a long way. and they’ve nailed it.

When you start a game you will be greeted with an incredibly fast load time, just a few seconds in fact.

Once you’re in a game you can hold the START button to access the System Menu which allows you to save or loads 4 different states, reset and access to the main menu should you want to quit the game. It’s an easy to use, simple UI that will allow young gamers and old to know exactly what to do without being confused.

sega mega drive mini system menu

What Games Are Available?

In terms of selection of retro games that the Sega Mega Mini Drive has in its bank is phenomenal, and we’ll be honest, we don’t think Sega could have picked a better 40.

The selection is great and there’s something for everyone, there’s games in here that you’ve never played, and nows the time to dive in. They hands down the best Sega Genesis games. Below are the 42 games included:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog

2. Ecco the Dolphin

3. Castlevania: the new generation

4. Space Harrier 2

5. Shining force

6. Dr. Robotnik’s mean Bean machine

7. Toejam & Earl

8. Comix zone

9. Altered Beast

10. Gun Star heroes

11. Castle of illusion starring Mickey mouse

12. World of illusion starring Mickey mouse and Donald duck

13. Thunder force 3

14. Super fantasy zone

15. Shinobi 3

16. Streets of Rage 2

17. Earthworm Jim

18. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

19. Probotector

20. Landstalker

21. Mega Man: the wily Wars

22. Street Fighter 2: special champion Edition

23. Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

24. Alex Kidd in the enchanted castle

25. Story of Thor

26. Golden Axe

27. Phantasy Star 4: the end of the millennium

28. Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball

29. Vectorman

30. Wonder Boy in Monster world

31. Tetris

32. Darius

33. Road Rash 2

34. Strider

35. Virtual Fighter 2

36. Alisia dragoon

37. Kid Chameleon

38. Monster world IV

39. Eternal Champions

40. Columns

41. Dynamite Headdy

42. Light Crusader

Do The Games Feel The Same?

The games play almost flawlessly, the 720p HD gameplay makes it feel crispy all while keeping its nostalgic pixelated look.

The controller has a fast response rate letting you play fast paced games with ease. Save states and load states work as they should and load from the exact frame you left it, checkpoints are no more!

Playing these old classics at 60fps is incredibly, you forget how much you needed silky smooth frame rates in Street Fighter II, and how dang good Sonic looks on the big screen.

The only mini issue we had was sound. In two out of the 42 games we had issues of the sound cutting out for about a second ever 30 seconds or so.

Now this isn’t a major issue, and to be honest you forget about it, but while playing Dynamite Headdy for hours on end this issue quickly got annoying.

This could be just our unit, but we’re reviewing it as if it was one we bought with our own money.

Is This Better Than The Mega Drive Emulator On The Switch?

Honestly, the answer to this question will all depend on how much you love Sega. If you’re really into your hardware and want to have a little Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis) on show, then you can’t go wrong with this bit of kit.

Personally, we do love having the option of playing Sega games on the go while playing in handheld mode and playing some of the games with our friends online, especially when adding the official Sega controller into the equation.

There are around the same number of games on the Mega Drive list above as on the Switch too, and more games are arriving all the time. If you have a Switch, it’s worth having a look.

And let’s face it, even if you don’t use this Mega Drive Mini, it will look wicked on a shelf!

Overall Opinion

Overall the Sega Mega Mini Drive is an excelling retro gaming console, one that we’ve been waiting for every since it’s announcement.

Even with its small cabled controllers and weird sound glitch in some games it’s still one of our favourite mini consoles yet.

They’ve kept the old school design perfectly, the plug and play aspect opens up the games console to any age and the list of games is perfect. Sega have really taken into consideration what gamers they want to entertain, from old gamers to newcomers.

The controllers even though are cabled still feel like they did when I was a child. Big, bulky, but responsive.

Even the fact they chucked in Japanese versions of the games makes me smile as I write it. Sega know their audience and if you’re a Sega fan, this thing will keep you entertained for hours on end and it will become like a child to you.

We’ll admit we don’t spend 4 hours a time on this thing, it’s very much a “I’ve got 30 minutes before i have to leave” kind of console, and tied with the save states, you can pick it up from the exact frame you left before you had to go out.

We think the $69.99 is reasonable but with wireless controllers, or controllers that can reach our hands at the least. We would love to see two versions of the console, a cheaper $49.99 version which is this one we are reviewing, and a more expensive version priced at the same $69.99 but with a wireless controller.

It’s a nostalgic nod to the 90’s that we absolutely adore, and the selection of games could not be better. The Sega Mega Drive has still got it, 20 years on.


This article may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to purchase an item we may earn a commission. Thank you for your support.

Brandon Saltalamacchia
Brandon Saltalamacchia

A 29 year old fella that’s had a Gameboy addiction ever since he was a child. Brandon is the founder of RetroDodo and created a YouTube channel with 240,000 subscribers dedicated to retro gaming products. He now wants to create the No.1 site to showcase the latest retro products from around the globe.

You May Also Like
View Post
  • Gear

10 Best Bakugan Toys Of 2023

  • January 1, 2023
  • Seb Santabarbara
Best Toploaders for Trading Cards
View Post
  • Gear

5 Best Toploaders for Trading Cards in 2023

  • January 1, 2023
  • Jason Brown
View Post
  • Gear

8 Best Cloud Gaming Handhelds Of 2023

  • January 18, 2023
  • Anthony Wallace
Pimax Portal
View Post
  • Gear

Pimax Portal Is A New Android Gaming Device and VR Package

  • November 17, 2022
  • Anthony Wallace
View Post
  • Gear

5 Best Magic The Gathering Sleeves Of 2023

  • January 1, 2023
  • Jason Brown
View Post
  • Gear

8 Best Nintendo Switch Steering Wheel Controllers

  • November 11, 2022
  • Jason Brown
View Post
  • Gear

6 Best Xbox 360 Steering Wheel Sets Of 2023

  • January 1, 2023
  • Anthony Wallace
View Post
  • Gear

5 Best Pokemon Emulators For iPhone Of 2023

  • January 1, 2023
  • Seb Santabarbara
  • How To Restart Fire Emblem Engage
  • How To Change Outfits In Fire Emblem Engage (The Easy Way)
  • nyxi wizard
    NYXI Wizard Review
  • 10 Best Fire Emblem Engage Tips For Beginners
  • Sega csmashvrs.com
    Sega Is Up To Something After Revealing Cryptic Message To Fans
retro dodo logo
RetroDodo is an online magazine dedicated to showcasing the world's best retro products. We're a team of passionate gamers and nostalgic hunters who want to create a modern, hip hub for all things retro gaming.
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Spotify
  • Facebook
  • TikTok
  • Mail
About Us
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Affiliate Disclosure
Contact
Owned by Click Hill Limited, Bartholomew Way, Corsham, SN130FR, United Kingdom. Company No: 13923009. All rights reserved. Copyright Click Hill Limited 2022.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.