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Games: Sega Goes Black to the Future with Mega Drive Mini

Sega are releasing a Mega Drive Classic Collection for PS4 and Xbox on May 29
Sega are releasing a Mega Drive Classic Collection for PS4 and Xbox on May 29 Sega are releasing a Mega Drive Classic Collection for PS4 and Xbox on May 29

Sega Goes Black to the Future with Mega Drive Mini

Rivalries among the proto-PlayStation set were common currency, and if it was protractors at dawn for Spectrum v Commodore, no rumble came close to Nintendo and Sega.

The upstart Mega Drive rode a crest of cred, and though Nintendo's vice-like grip on quality control ensured its SNES had the better library, more cool you for turning to the dark side.

And while failing to best Nintendo on its home turf, the Mega Drive became the best-selling 16 bit console in Europe, eventually bowing out amid an orgy of add-ons.

Three decades on and Nintendo have been wallowing in filthy nostalgia of late with the release of the ridiculously popular NES and SNES minis – tiny replicas of their classic hardware preloaded with digital gems. But not everyone was a child of their creamy-grey kit – it's now time for black history as Sega follows suit with an itsy-bitsy repro of the ebony Mega Drive, launching later this year to mark the legendary console's 30th anniversary. The yin to Nintendo's yang and hewn in the same angular black chic as the original, expect the Mega Drive Mini to harbour dozens of baked-in games, plugging directly into your telly with a better build quality than the knock-offs that prop up shopping centre kiosks. Sega haven't made any collection promises yet as to how many games will swell the innards of their cartridge pie, or which icons they'll choose, but given the Mega Drive's groaning library there are hundreds to pick from. And if your 16 bit hunger can't wait, Sega are releasing a Mega Drive Classic Collection for PS4 and Xbox on May 29, shoehorning over 50 bygones into one package, complete with enhanced features like rewind and visual filters along with multiplayer and trophies. It's a high-quality, if predictable, medley, stockpiling a swathe of entries from the Sonic, Golden Axe, Phantasy Star and Streets of Rage series.

Highlights include Kid Chameleon, Treasure's cartoony Contra reboot Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage II, Shinobi III and Golden Axe, though it sheds some of the older PS3 collection's standouts, such as Sonic 3 and the soothing fishy frolics of Ecco the Dolphin.

Worse still, some of the console's finest hours still aren’t to be seen, like Disney gems Castle of Illusion and Aladdin, Strider (one of the console's strongest arcade ports) and Road Rash.

Hell, I even have a soft spot for Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Given they're perfect for on-the-go gaming, Nintendo's Switch would provide a worthy womb for the collection, yet the popular portable is missing out.

With Nintendo launching their Virtual Console this year, it appears Switch owners hankering for some Mega Drive will have to pay considerably more money for old rope when Sega instead releases at least 15 of their classics individually on the handheld. Retro geeks have plenty to celebrate this year, with a deluge of 16 bit marvels from a time when Sega part-ruled the videogame world.

And it's black to the future with the Mega Drive Mini – the first time gamers can plug a new Sega console into their telly this century.