Sega Mega Drive Classic Game Console With 80 Built-In Games Revealed

With Pokemon and He-Man diving back into mainstream relevance, it's the turn of Sega to come to the nostalgia party.

And while we're not referring to the company's current avatar as a game publisher of the likes of Total War and the recently announced Sonic Mania, but its previous form as console maker. Reason being, in October, the UK gets the Sega Mega Drive Classic Game Console made by Chinese manufacturer At Games. In commemoration of 25 years of company mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog.

(Also see: Nintendo Launches NES Classic Edition With 30 Built-In Games Like Mario, Pac-Man)

Much like Nintendo's NES Classic Edition, the Sega Mega Drive Classic Game Console comes with games bundled. In this case the number stretches to 80 over the NES' 30. These include classics such as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Vector Man along with questionable titles such as Sudoku and Curling 2010.

A description for it on UK toy retailer Smyths claims that "this device is not an emulator and will not play SEGA Mega Drive [Mega Drive] ROMs - however, it will play original cartridges" and that "some cartridges are not compatible due to cartridge conditions or original specification of games and cartridge hardware."

However this isn't anything particularly new either, At Games has been working on licensed Mega Drive clones for a few years now and this latest attempt seems to capitalise on the hype surrounding the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition. Unlike Nintendo's offering, there's no support for save states nor will you find an HDMI port. Rather you'll be using a composite cable for this.

In addition to this is a portable variant dubbed the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Retro Games Handheld. It comes with a 3.2-inch display and USB charger. There's SD card support as well. Both consoles will retail for GBP 49.99 (around Rs. 4,400) and be available from October.

Don't expect either to hit India officially anytime. Sega has a presence here but as a game publisher. In the past At Games' hardware based on Sega consoles have never made it into the country. Besides, similar devices from Mitashi exist at a fraction of the cost.