SEGA Japan surprised an entire globe of fans today by casually revealing that its upcoming Mega Drive Mini micro-console will launch alongside several decorative add-ons that replicate the Mega CD, 32X and Sonic & Knuckles’ lock-on technology!
Collectively dubbed the ‘Mega Drive Tower Mini’, the set will come with a micro SEGA Mega CD, 32X, Sonic & Knuckles lock-on cartridge as well as a Sonic the Hedgehog Mega Drive cartridge. The set was unveiled during today’s SEGA Japan livestream, where SEGA reps even shocked M2 developers who had no idea the company was working on these models!
If you’re hoping that these add-ons will unlock some kind of additional functionality for your Mega Drive Mini, then it’s best you keep your expectations in check – these items are purely decorative and will not suddenly add a bunch of CD or 32X games to your micro-console lineup.
We’re still investigating how fans can get their hands on the additional models – in Japan, they seem to be launching alongside the Mega Drive Mini, at a cost of 3,980 Yen… however there seems to be additional caveats that we’re still trying to confirm (use of email was mentioned on the livestream, potentially meaning that the Tower Mini could be subject to a lottery where fans get a chance to purchase the set).
As soon as we find out more, we’ll update this article.
In the meantime, the final ten games for the Sega Mega Drive Mini were revealed. As we suspected, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is notably absent (most likely due to continuing rumoured issues related to the game’s soundtrack), but there’s still a lot of deep cuts here for both casual and die-hard fans to sink their teeth into.
Interestingly, SEGA actually revealed 12 final games instead of 10 – the surprise exciting inclusions of Darius and Tetris takes the total game count to 42. Here’s the list of both versions, below.
Western Version
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Castlevania: The New Generation
- Space Harrier II
- Shining Force
- Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
- ToeJam & Earl
- Comix Zone
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Altered Beast
- Gunstar Heroes
- Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
- World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
- Thunder Force III
- Super Fantasy Zone
- Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
- Streets of Rage II
- Earthworm Jim
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Probotector / Contra: Hard Corps
- Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole
- The Story of Thor
- Ghouls n’ Ghosts
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Golden Axe
- Phantasy Star IV
- Street Fighter II Special Championship Edition
- Mega Man: The Wily Wars
- Sonic Spinball
- Vectorman
- Wonder Boy in Monster World
- Eternal Champions (NEW)
- Light Crusader (NEW)
- Monster World IV (NEW)
- Kid Chameleon (NEW)
- Dynamite Headdy (NEW)
- Columns (NEW)
- Alisia Dragoon (NEW)
- Virtua Fighter 2 (NEW)
- Strider (NEW)
- Road Rash II (NEW)
- Darius (BONUS, Brand New Port)
- Tetris (BONUS, Extremely Rare Version)
Japanese
- Madou Monogatari I
- Space Harrier II
- Rent A Hero
- Comix Zone
- Gunstar Heroes
- Wrestleball
- Vampire Killer
- Shining Force
- Puyo Puyo Tsu
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Game no Kanzume Otokoyou
- Dyna Brothers 2
- Contra: Hard Corps
- Landstalker
- The Hybrid Front
- Bare Knuckle II
- World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
- Musha Aleste
- Super Fantasy Zone
- Thunder Force III
- Yu Yu Hakusho Makyo Toitsusen
- Party Quiz Mega Q
- Puzzle & Action: Tant-R
- The Story of Thor
- Phantasy Star IV
- The Super Shinobi
- Golden Axe
- Rockman: Mega World
- Street Fighter II Plus: Champion Edition
- Daimakaimura
- Lord Monarch (NEW)
- Snow Bros (NEW)
- Slap Fight MD (NEW)
- Road Rash II (NEW)
- Alisia Dragoon (NEW)
- Langrisser II (NEW)
- Assault Suit Leynos (NEW)
- Dynamite Headdy (NEW)
- Monster World IV (NEW)
- Columns (NEW)
- Darius (BONUS)
- Tetris (BONUS)
You can buy the Sega Mega Drive Mini via the official sites:
I hope the games will run on 60hz (faster music in Sonic 1 and in-sync audio in Castle of Illusion) instead of 50hz
No Sonic 3 & Knuckles is really sad T_T
Don’t worry. If the NES and SNES Classic Editions can be hacked, so can the Genesis Mini. THEN we can add Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and to a lesser extent, Sonic 3D Blast Director’s Cut! Maybe Flicky, Shining Force 2, EarthWorm Jim 2, Streets of Rage 1 and 3, Golden Axe 2 and 3, and even Rocket Knight Adventures, and QuackShot starring Donald Duck. And how about Goofy’s Hysterical History Tour? Most people forget about that one. My recommendation, see if a Flash Drive is needed for the hacking.
At the time of posting this comment, Road Rash II is missing from the EU list of games on the official site. It still says 40 plus 2 bonus games though even though the list shows 39 + 2 boxarts. 🤷🏻♂️
http://megadrivemini.sega.com/
The image is there, but isn’t appearing on the site for some reason. http://megadrivemini.sega.com/img/titles/roadrash2_sm.jpg Must be a glitch.
You can’t go and do this and not add Knuckles Chaotix to the system. 100% buy if they did, but whats the point when I got the original system with the original games good to go w/e.
The point is to bring these older games to a new audience, as well as offer those who used to have a Genesis but don’t anymore a chance to relive their childhood memories.
I’m starting to wonder which Sonic game players really want to be re-released the most, Sonic CD or Sonic 3 and Knuckles.
Alicia Dragoon is only on the JP model? That’s a shame, I adore that game and it alone would have me buying one.