A Mix of Mega and Meager

Another Sega Genesis Mini 2 update? Why, don't mind if I do! All the games for both the American and Japanese versions of this micro console have been announced, and the American line-up brings with it a rather large spoonful of bitter disappointment. Hope you weren't expecting the Lunar games already announced for the Mega Drive Mini 2... what we'll be getting instead are Night Trap and Sewer Shark, two full-motion video titles released early in the life of the Sega CD. There's no question these two games were a part of that system's history, for better or worse, but it's unlikely that anyone who owned a Sega CD back in the 1990s was looking forward to being re-introduced to them. Hell, they're not even the best FMV games on the system, getting trounced by Cobra Command, Time Gal, and the over the top vehicular lunacy of Road Avenger.

Imagine if you will, John Wick crossed with
an old episode of the cartoon M.A.S.K. That's
Road Avenger in a nutshell.
(image from YouTube/NintendoComplete) 

Other highlights in the Sega CD library that Americans won't be getting in the Sega Genesis Mini 2 include Lords of Thunder, Keio Flying Squadron, Eternal Champions CD, Dark Wizard, and Wonder Dog. Luckily, a few worthwhile titles managed to sneak their way into the selection, including Final Fight CD, Sonic CD, and Robo Aleste, the less memorable but still diverting sequel to MUSHA on the unexpanded Genesis. So it's not a totally hopeless collection of Sega CD titles, but personally speaking, there's a little too much Dana Plato and a lot too much Ecco the Dolphin for my tastes.

Fortunately, although the system's Sega CD library is underwhelming, Sega found a whole lot of cartridge games to cram in here. They include enhanced versions of previously existing games, deep cuts you might have missed in the Clinton years, and even some arcade conversions written from scratch. One example of the latter is Super Locomotive, a late 1982 release which has you criss-crossing tracks on the top half of the screen while firing missiles at the cabooses creeping up behind you on the bottom half. I just played the arcade game out of curiosity, and it's tough, pushing your multi-tasking skills to the limit. Your reward for chugging your way to the depot at the end of the stage without crashing is an uninterrupted cover of Yellow Magic Orchestra's Rydeen, which is strikingly good for an arcade game of this early vintage.

Here's the recently announced
Crusader of Centy, which had provided
Genesis owners a welcome dose of
methadone for their nagging Legend
of Zelda addictions. Hey, at least it
wasn't as shameless as Neutopia.
(image from Wikipedia)

I mentioned the overclocked version of Viewpoint in a previous post, but M2 is going that extra mile with a conversion of the original Fantasy Zone, a port of the 32-bit puzzle title Puyo Puyo Tsu, and astonishingly, a remaster of Space Harrier II which smooths out its infamously choppy 3D effects AND adds a port of the original Space Harrier for good measure. Convincing scaling, on the Sega Genesis? If anyone can pull off such a feat, it would be the mad geniuses at M2. There are also dozens of games you actually played on a Genesis in the 1990s, with The Revenge of Shinobi, Rolling Thunder 2, Ristar, Shadow Dancer, Hellfire, and Midnight Resistance being among the standouts. (You already added most of these to your old Sega Genesis Mini, didn't you? I know I did.)

I'm still hesitant to buy a Sega Genesis Mini 2, especially with the Lunar games off the table and especially for the uncomfortably high price of $130. Still, I couldn't blame others for taking the plunge. The quality of the Genesis games on tap is higher than I'd expected, and considering that this is an Amazon exclusive, its price is likely to only go up in the future, just like the Turbografx-16 Mini before it. Plus, you're getting brand new games for the long-dead Genesis, which holds its own peculiar attraction. A good Genesis version of Space Harrier after all these years? Now that I'd like to see.

Embracer, shown here claiming its prize.
The sea, she is a harsh mistress.
(that was just an old episode of Wild Kratts
that you badly Photoshopped!)
(hey, shut up!)

By the way, there's important news about one of the games on the Genesis Mini 2, Truxton. Tatsujin, a game company founded by former employees of Toaplan, were drawn into the insatiable tentacles of the Swedish conglomerate Embracer Group. You could say that all Toaplan's base 're belong to Embracer... although I suspect most people would have the good taste not to say something so stupid.

(Not me, though.)