After revealing just 23 named titles back in July, Friday morning Sega announced the full lineup of 60 games that will be included on the limited supply of US Sega Genesis Mini 2 units starting on October 27. Beyond the usual retro suspects, though, that list includes a couple of games that have never been released in any form, as well as several fresh arcade ports and Genesis titles sporting new features for their plug-and-play rerelease.
Those unreleased retro games include Devi & Pii, a title designed by Sonic 3 developer Takashi Iizuka. The “paddle-style game” looks like something of a cross between Arkanoid and Twinkle Star Sprites, with one or two players shifting back and forth to juggle angels and avoid bouncing devils.
The Genesis Mini 2 will also see the worldwide premier of Star Mobile, a game completed in 1992 by little-known journeyman developer Mindware but never actually released. The puzzle-heavy gameplay involves stacking stars on a carefully balanced mobile in a way that reminds us of the tabletop game Topple.
Besides those two never-before-seen titles, the Genesis Mini 2 features a few Sega arcade games that are being “ported” to Genesis-level hardware for the first time. These include:
- Fantasy Zone: The cute-and-cuddly side-scrolling shooter gets ported to the Genesis by the same team that ported Darius on the first Genesis Mini, with a new Easy Mode that wasn’t in the arcades.
- Space Harrier and Space Harrier II: While the sequel was already technically native to the Genesis, these new ports use “modern technology” to provide a much smoother sprite scaling function than was previously possible on 16-bit hardware (it’s unclear if these new ROMs could run on a standard Genesis).
- Spatter: A little-known 1984 maze game featuring a clown on a bouncing tricycle.
- Super Locomotive: A 1982 train game focused on switching tracks to avoid collisions.
- VS Puyo Puyo Sun: A competitive two-player-exclusive “demake” of the third game in the popular color-matching puzzle series, with “new rules not found in the original version.”
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A flashy angle of the Genesis Mini 2.
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Another flashy angle of the Genesis Mini 2.
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This decorative-only shell of a Sega CD Mini will be sold in Japan. No word if a similar product will come to the United States.
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The same question about American availability goes for this wholly analog joystick system, which will be sold in Japan for 18,000 yen starting in October. It will be compatible with at least three games in both the Mega Drive Mini 2 and the Genesis Mini 2.
Other titles that were first released on the Genesis decades ago are getting brand-new features for their Genesis Mini 2 re-releases. These include:
- Hellfire: Sega’s trailer discusses unspecified “new features and options for the Genesis.”
- OutRun: The four in-game radio stations will now include “new [music] tracks not featured in the original.”
- Phantasy Star II: The classic RPG now features “adjustable movement speed and a new easy mode.”
- Rainbow Islands Extra: The “Extra mode” with new enemies comes to North America for the first time.
- Truxton: Comes with a new option to play background music “at its original arcade speed.”
None of these titles or additions may have the sheer star power of the shelved Star Fox 2 that finally appeared on the Super NES Classic Edition. Still, taken together, they show a certain level of care and attention to detail on Sega’s part that goes well beyond just throwing some ROMs on a cheap emulation box.
The complete list of titles available on the Sega Genesis Mini is included below (titles that were previously announced in July are marked with a *).
Genesis titles
- After Burner II *
- Alien Soldier *
- Atomic Runner
- Bonanza Bros. *
- ClayFighter
- Crusader of Centy
- Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
- Earthworm Jim 2
- Elemental Master
- Fatal Fury 2
- Gain Ground
- Golden Axe II
- Granada
- Hellfire
- Herzog Zwei
- Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar *
- Midnight Resistance
- OutRun *
- OutRunners *
- Phantasy Star II
- Populous
- Rainbow Islands Extra
- Ranger-X
- Ristar
- Rolling Thunder 2 *
- Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
- Shining Force II
- Shining in the Darkness *
- Sonic 3D Blast *
- Splatterhouse 2 *
- Streets of Rage 3
- Super Hang-On
- Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
- The Ooze *
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
- Truxton
- Vectorman 2 *
- Viewpoint
- Virtua Racing *
- Warsong
Sega CD titles
- Ecco the Dolphin (CD Ver.)
- Ecco: The Tides of Time (CD Ver.)
- Final Fight CD
- Mansion of Hidden Souls *
- Night Striker *
- Night Trap
- Robo Aleste
- Sewer Shark
- Shining Force CD *
- Silpheed *
- Sonic The Hedgehog CD *
- The Ninjawarriors *
Bonus games
New ports and/or previously unreleased titles
- Devi & Pii
- Fantasy Zone *
- Space Harrier II (and Space Harrier)
- Spatter
- Star Mobile *
- Super Locomotive
- VS Puyo Puyo Sun
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