Mega Drive handheld out now

By Kristan Reed Published 17 July, 2008

Not by SEGA, but has 20 oldies on it.

Clever company Blaze has decided to turn the SEGA Mega Drive into a handheld console for the very first time ever.

You can buy it now and it comes with 20 golden oldies for just GBP 29.99. It even looks a bit like a Game Gear.

It also has built-in speakers, a colour LCD screen ooh, and a TV-out connection. You need triple-A batteries to power it.

Games included are Sonic and Knuckles, Columns, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Alex Kidd - Enchanted Castle and Ecco the Dolphin.

There's also Alien Storm, Arrow Flash, Crackdown, Decap Attack, Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Ecco Junior, Flicky, Gain Ground, Jewel Master, Kid Chameleon, Sonic Spinball and Shadow Dancer.

Shiny.

Will you buy one, Eurogamer reader?

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (55) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • chrisjm #1 4 years ago

    hasnt something like this existed for ages? are they actually making it or just rebadging it?

  • TheNinkyNonk #2 4 years ago

    retro schemtro

    buy some rose tinted spectacles instead

  • retr0gamer #3 4 years ago

    Sega Nomad anyone?

    Also only 3 buttons, feck off!

    Are the games built in or can you also plug in cartridges since that would be nice.

  • king borbon #4 4 years ago

    this has already been done. it was called the nomad and released by sega. - http://en.wik ipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Nomad

  • Colin8703 #5 4 years ago

    Pretty boring choice of games to be honest. Even for £30.

    The portable Megadrive was called the the Nomad but it the US Megadrive which was known as the Gensesis If that makes sense. It had a TV out and and an extra socket for an additional controller for two player games. Six buttons too.

    Another old handheld that didn't do well and ate batteries. Still, at least the games could be changed as it took normal cartridges.

  • Colin8703 #6 4 years ago

    Gee that took a while for me to write.

    There was only two comments when i started.

  • skillian #7 4 years ago

    Heh, the RSS feed for this story is funny. "MegaDrive handheld in works!", then about a minute later, "MegaDrive handheld out now!".

    I was like "Damn, that was quick!".

  • bad09 #8 4 years ago

    A tiny bit late for anyone in the know *cough* emulators *cough*, but a nice idea and £30 for 20 games 'ain't too bad.

  • the_dudefather #9 4 years ago

    cool! a handheld version of crackdown! can't wait to leap all over the shai-gen area and throw cars about!

  • Skeletor #10 4 years ago

    It's been out in Germany since December 2007, costs 50 Euros.
    I bought one to play Revenge of Shinobi on the bus and while I don't regret buying it there are certain flaws and problems people should know about. The TV playback is slower which means pluging it into your TV results in significantly slower gameplay (my guess: around 10 - 20 %). The games are not made for such a tiny screen which means that while Revenge of Shinobi's rather simple graphics are no problem at all, playing Crack Down or Gain Ground isn't exactly easy on the eyes. Last but not least many people, including me, experienced crashes and freezes during certain games (mostly Sonic and Knuckles and Ecco). I guess that's the reason why the German distributer mentions a Version 2.0 now...
    On the plus side: good and bright screen, not great but solid and precise buttons+d-pad, Revenge of Shinobi and Shadow Dancer for cheap, MUCH better battery life than the Nomad.

    [link url=http://www.megadriv e-portable.de/
    ]http://www.megadriv e-portable.de/
    [/link]
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/08 @ 17:16

  • rhubarbandcustard #11 4 years ago

    One lesson I have learned from XBLA is that retro gaming sucks. Old games I remembered fondly from my youth many years later turn out to be shockers.

  • peterfll #12 4 years ago

    E-Swat was fab.

    Unfortunately. I have the Megadrive Collection for the PSP.

  • Wyrm #13 4 years ago

    If it took original cartridges, then I'd take one.

    I had a Nomad and it was bollocks, didn't even have a battery compartment.

  • mischief #14 4 years ago

    i got one of those sega mini console things a few years ago. it plugged straight into the telly and had about six of those games in there including sonic, golden axe and altered beast.
    the nostalgia melted away after about 15 minutues and now it is gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere. If you really need to play a sega retro game that badly the best thing to do is go for sonic on your mobile phone.

  • bad09 #15 4 years ago

    "One lesson I have learned from XBLA is that retro gaming sucks. Old games I remembered fondly from my youth many years later turn out to be shockers."

    WHAT???? Someone get the giant wicker Sonic ready. BURN THE NON BELIEVER!!!!!!!!

  • JohnnyFireBlade #16 4 years ago

    Ooh, professional website! Not! Taking half of their content from a different domain and doesn't even mention whether it takes cartridges or not.

    Think I'll stick with the Sega Megadrive Collection on my PSP or good ol' Virtual Console.

  • mcwildcard #17 4 years ago

    No Toejam & Earl? No chance.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #18 4 years ago

    Surely the kiddies of today are hardened FPS players?

  • Bleh #19 4 years ago

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah the good old days. I can remember spending a lot of hours with the megadrive.

  • tomdominer #20 4 years ago

    Where the fuck is Road Rash?

  • Bagpuss #21 4 years ago

    No Gunstar Heroes = epic fail.

  • Doctor_What #22 4 years ago

    Or I could just plug in the one in my cupboard...

  • Skeletor #23 4 years ago

    "Picodrive and a PSP. This is redundant surely..."

    Had a look at the pricetag? Apples and oranges...

  • PlugMonkey #24 4 years ago

    Where the fuck is Road Rash?

    On EA's MegaDrive collection for PSP, meaning their legal team is most likely very much on standby...

    "One lesson I have learned from XBLA is that retro gaming sucks. Old games I remembered fondly from my youth many years later turn out to be shockers."

    And many many others turn out to be exactly as fantastic as I remember. Streets of Rage and Speedball 2 being a couple still in regular rotation.

  • FenderMaster #25 4 years ago

    I'd be really tempted if there was a better selection of games, but no Sonic 2?, no ToeJam and Earl?, no Mortal Kombat 2, Streets of Rage?

    hmm...

    + it looks nowhere near as nice as the GG

  • smelly #26 4 years ago

    I thought the bundled game selection was good!

    But it'll end up being one of those toys selling for 5 quid at a market that chav mums buy their kids on holiday
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/08 @ 18:43

  • caligari #27 4 years ago

    Awesome - I already own all of those games, but I think I'll have to buy this!

    I no longer own a DS or PSP, so this will fill the handheld void in my life.

    Portable Decap Attack FTMFW!

  • Vin #28 4 years ago

    I'll stick with my PSP, ta.

  • élbéróss #29 4 years ago

    gives you some entertainment while doing a floater, id' buy one..

  • caligari #30 4 years ago

    Exactly, Elbeross.

    Sure the PSP is great when it comes to playing these games...BUT £130 is just too darn expensive for a handheld. I never dared to take mine anywhere as I was so paranoid about breaking/scratching/losing the bloody thing.

  • T4RG4 #31 4 years ago

    I'd only get it if it had Super Monaco GP 2

  • caligari #32 4 years ago

    Perhaps the next version could include the following:

    Afterburner
    Aladdin
    Alien 3
    Alien Soldier
    Another World
    Battle Squadron
    Bloodshot
    Bubba N Stix
    Buck Rogers
    Cannon Fodder
    Castle of Illusion
    Castlevania Bloodlines
    Chakan
    Comix Zone
    Contra Hard Corps
    Crue Ball
    Decap Attack (or 'Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure' if you want to be a purist!)
    Desert / Jungle / Urban Strike
    Donald Duck's Quackshot
    Dragon's Fury Pinball
    Dynamite Headdy
    Earthworm Jim 1 and 2
    Ecco 1 and 2
    Eternal Champions
    Fantastic Dizzy
    Fifa Soccer Series
    Flashback
    Gaiares
    Gain Ground
    General Chaos
    Ghouls N Ghosts
    Golden Axe 1 and 2
    Gunstar Heroes
    Hellfire
    James Pond 2
    Kid Chameleon
    Landstalker
    Legend of Galahad
    Light Crusader
    Madden 93
    Mega Bomberman
    Mega Turrican
    Mega-Lo-Mania
    Mercs
    Mickey Mania
    Micromachines 1 and 2
    Midnight Resistance
    Monaco GP 1 and 2
    Moonwalker (I had an odd dream about it last night)
    Mortal Kombat 1 and 2
    Ms. Pacman
    Mutant League Football
    Mutant League Hockey
    NBA Jam TE
    New Zealand Story
    NHL 94
    NHLPA 93 (BLOOD!)
    PGA Tour 96
    Phantasy Star 3 and 4
    Prince of Persia
    Rainbow Islands
    Rambo 3
    Ranger X
    Red Zone ;)
    Revenge of Shinobi
    Risky Woods
    Ristar
    Road Rash 1, 2 and 3
    Rocket Knight Adventures
    Rock & Roll Racing
    Rolling Thunder
    Shadow Dancer
    Shadowrun
    Shining Force 1 and 2
    Shinobi 3
    Slapfight
    Soleil
    Sonic 1, 2 and 3 (with Sonic and Knuckles cart)
    Sonic 3D: Flicky's Island
    Space Harrier 2
    Sparkster (Rocket Knight 2!)
    Speedball 2
    Spiderman
    Splatter House 2 and 3
    Story of Thor
    Street Fighter 2 (CE and Super)
    Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle) 1, 2 and 3
    Strider
    Sub-Terrania
    Sunset Riders
    Talmit's Adventure
    Tazmania
    The Lion King
    Thunderforce 4 (AND 2 AND 3!)
    Toejam and Earl
    Vapour Trail
    Vectorman 1 and 2
    Wonder Boy in Monster World
    World of Illusion
    Xenon 2
    X-Men 1 and 2
    Zero Wing
    Zombies Ate My Neighbours
    Zool

  • djcool3005 #33 4 years ago

    I can use my psp as a handheld megadrive. I also have a megadrive emulator on my Nokia N95 so i have no need for this product.

  • wingzerosys #34 4 years ago

    ^You forgot Mighty Morphin Power Rangers the movie, I'd buy one just for that.

  • Rodney #35 4 years ago

    caligari

    You just listed my childhood.

    I guees they can only release first party games because of licensing issues.

    This would be an awesome machine if you coul load your own ROM's

  • Rodney #36 4 years ago

    Streets of Rage 2 would be worth the price of admission alone.

  • Pulsar_t #37 4 years ago

    Too bad nobody will bother to hack the firmware to accept 'backup dumps' of other MD titles. My DS simply isn't efficient enough for perfect 16-bit emulation.

    Edit - This is from their Reviews section "I am DEFINATELY geting this! I has all my fave games on it! - DAMY"
    Hahahahahaha! Looks like our friend Damy is too young to have ever played on a Megadrive! Either that, or they made it up.. (probably the latter)
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/08 @ 01:29

  • antonluyt #38 4 years ago

    No. Where is Stridaer? Desert-, Jungle-, or Urban Strike.

  • Eraysor #39 4 years ago

    Nooooomaaaaaaaad.

  • Farzlepot #40 4 years ago

    What is it with this general reluctance of companies to release Sonic 3 + Knuckles, like, the best (SP) Sonic game ever? Ain't even on XBLA for crying out loud. It's always the two on their own or just Sonic & Knuckles, which was shite on its own...

  • HEAVYface #41 4 years ago

    the video lied to me - it showed shinobi 3 return of the ninja master in play, but then only had revenge of shinobi and shadow dancer in the list.

    might of got one if it had shinobi 3, but most of the games are quite meh, so i'll give it a miss.

  • Ranger101 #42 4 years ago

    Caligari's list = WIN.

  • Skywise #43 4 years ago

    throw in some Game Gear games into the next version as well, I'd love to play Crystal Warriors and Defenders of Oasis again

  • smirny #44 4 years ago

    it looks more like a lynx than a game gear...

  • Ryze #45 4 years ago

    Where are the 6 buttons?

    Cartridge slot?

  • lemonfist #46 4 years ago

    No Gunstar Heroes, no sale.

  • m0thr4 #47 4 years ago

    So... explain to me how they get to call it "World's first Sega Mega Drive handheld console" again?

  • Skeletor #48 4 years ago

    @HEAVYface

    There are two version of this handheld now. Only version 2.0 has Shinobi III. Follow the link I posted above to see for yourself. You can order the new version from this German online shop:

    http://ww w.computerchess.com/shop/index....
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/08 @ 11:26

  • TheTingler #49 4 years ago

    No Sonic 2? Sod off.

    And from experience with handheld Sega consoles, I'm worried about the battery life...

  • Skeletor #50 4 years ago

    @The Tingler
    It's not a Sega product, games are licenced. Battery life is 7 to 12 hours.

  • HEAVYface #51 4 years ago

    Skeletor, cheers!

  • Ghost_Dog #52 4 years ago

    Why all the moaning?

    For 30 sheets it aint bad. Sure there are cast iron classics missing, but £30 for a handheld with 20 games, some of which are classics, that not too bad.

    That site is crap though...

  • Darren #53 4 years ago

    What no Ghosts 'n' Goblins or Super Hang-on, two of my favourite games on my import SEGA Genesis?!? No purchase for me then! :(

  • captain-future #54 4 years ago

    For 30 quid not bad, not bad!

  • technofranki #55 4 years ago

    Play-Asia.com have the Mega Drive handheld on its Summer Sale for £18.50 (with shipping included). So that is even a better deal.