Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforce IV

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bigbadboaz
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by bigbadboaz »

Bassa-Bassa wrote:That's a sentiment I can share, but it's just responding to a demand, mirroring a fan base which is more about quantity and cuteness than quality and playtime, just check this thread.
Yes and no. Sadly people do indeed line right up and support, but interest in in expandable minisystems has been there from the start. They could have responded to that demand and kept the consoles already out there relevant.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Atariboy »

There's no sign that this is going to make the original irrelevant. While not official, it appears like they're going to avoid any duplicate game inclusions and support existing accessories.

Support for Mini 1 compatible controllers remain to be confirmed but seems likely. And they've already shown it off attached to their cosmetic accessories that can be interfaced with the Mini 1.

This is a supplement to the Mini 1 for those that enjoyed it and want more. It's clearly not being done with an intention to supplant the original from anyone's setup.

M2 no doubt is happy to have this business and this should end up one of their best selling products if it indeed sees a worldwide release like Famistu is saying it will. The original largely delivered where 99% of their customers were concerned. Folks around here need to remember that this is built for casual nostalgia, not for the diehard classic gamer.

While many of us will support this and find some enjoyment out of it, that's not their goal. The modern hardware built for the Sega fans at this forum are things like the Analogue Mega Sg, high end upscalers like the Retrotink 5X Pro for getting the best picture out of classic Sega hardware on a modern display, etc. Not the Sega Genesis Mini 2/Mega Drive Mini 2.

There's room for both to exist.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Sengoku Strider »

bigbadboaz wrote:Yes and no. Sadly people do indeed line right up and support, but interest in in expandable minisystems has been there from the start. They could have responded to that demand and kept the consoles already out there relevant.
But why? You then have to run a detailed promotional campaign which explains this and how it works, pay for global network hosting, digital transaction management across multiple currencies and banking systems, and sell into a market that can only ever be a fraction of the people who bought your mini console 3 years ago, assuming they remember where they put it and care enough to hook it up.

Or do it this way, put out a single YouTube trailer, instantaneously sell out a larger number of units and be done with it.

That said, it would have been cool if they sold this as a stand-alone model-1 Mega CD you could attach under the old one, but I guess the fact that they already did a purely cosmetic one would create unnecessary confusion. Or a CD-X, but I get why they went with the model with recognition factor. I'd bet more people had that model 2 than any other piece of Sega equipment ever.
Atariboy wrote:The modern hardware built for the Sega fans at this forum are things like the Analogue Mega Sg, high end upscalers like the Retrotink 5X Pro for getting the best picture out of genuine Sega hardware on a modern display, etc.
This. The other thing is, they had M2 doing the Sega AGES line and absolutely killing it, but it wasn't pulling in numbers like the mini consoles do, so they put it to bed and got them on these instead. If it made sense to be servicing the purist market like that, they'd be doing it.

And I say this as a guy with 150+ physical Sega games across the Mega Drive, Saturn & Dreamcast, and who bought almost every AGES games on Switch. I am exactly that market.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Zeether »

I preordered it as soon as it hit Amazon. Yeah, it's gonna probably have sound lag/input lag but an official rerelease of Silpheed is pretty cool.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by hamfighterx »

Zeether wrote:I preordered it as soon as it hit Amazon. Yeah, it's gonna probably have sound lag/input lag but an official rerelease of Silpheed is pretty cool.
I missed it despite keeping an eye out for it. Not too concerned though, it'll come back in stock.

Anybody know what the Amazon Limited version included as a bonus?
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by hamfighterx »

Second batch of games announced. Amazon has additional pre-order stock for now too, for those who are interested.

Cartridge:
After Burner II
Columns III: Revenge of Columns
Megapanel
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Out Run
Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R
Splatterhouse 2
Star Mobile (previously unreleased game, see https://sega.jp/mdmini2/soft/star-mobile.html)

SEGA / Mega CD Titles:
Night Striker
The Ninja Warriors
Starblade
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

hamfighterx wrote:Star Mobile (previously unreleased game, see https://sega.jp/mdmini2/soft/star-mobile.html)
lol look who made it, too; it's our old buddy Ichikawa of Slap Fight MD.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Ghegs »

hamfighterx wrote:Second batch of games announced. Amazon has additional pre-order stock for now too, for those who are interested.

Cartridge:
Out Run
My first reaction was "WTF did Sega renew the Ferrari license after all this time and does this mean we can get Outrun 2 for modern consoles" but no, they changed the car sprite for this release. The prancing horse is replaced with an eagle spreading its wings, and the car's backlights are different as well.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SuperDeadite »

Micomsoft is actually bringing back the Cyberstick for this! Fun for the Mini, but even better once all the emulators add support for it!

https://www.micomsoft.co.jp/release20220624-1.html
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by bigbadboaz »

I expected to see an arcade stick. That's freakin' insane.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

Way too overpriced at 19000 JPY though? Doesn't seem to be much better quality than your average analog joystick for the 80's PCs, other than having a throttle stick.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SuperDeadite »

Bassa-Bassa wrote:Way too overpriced at 19000 JPY though? Doesn't seem to be much better quality than your average analog joystick for the 80's PCs, other than having a throttle stick.
The original was built to take the severe punishment of Afterburner. The shafts are metal and there are huge shock absorbers, as it's meant to be slammed in all directions for rolling and activating the afterburner. You can also swap the positions of stick and throttle, plus it has built in calibration. Even after 30+ years of heavy use, I've never seen a broken one.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Sengoku Strider »

I actually just got Mega Panel a week or so back. Initial impressions are that it's not bad, but I was hoping for a little more impact in the sound design dept. Like some satisfying slide, click snap sounds etc. It seemed a little...light weight? But the concept is totally solid.

Night Strikers is a pretty rough port compared to the Saturn version, but it was one of the few games that really gave the Mega CD's sprite scaling a workout.

Ninja Warriors I've never played on Mega CD, but personally I always thought the visuals looked pretty bleh.

Starblade is a good get, a cool showcase for the hardware.

Nadia I assume is not going to leave Japan, probably same with Ichidant-R.

The real winner here is Splatterhouse 2 imo. Given how much that game is going for these days, it does a lot to justify the purchase. I'd bet a lot of people who'd love it don't even know it exists.
SuperDeadite wrote:
Bassa-Bassa wrote:Way too overpriced at 19000 JPY though? Doesn't seem to be much better quality than your average analog joystick for the 80's PCs, other than having a throttle stick.
The original was built to take the severe punishment of Afterburner. The shafts are metal and there are huge shock absorbers, as it's meant to be slammed in all directions for rolling and activating the afterburner. You can also swap the positions of stick and throttle, plus it has built in calibration. Even after 30+ years of heavy use, I've never seen a broken one.
That's really cool, I've never even heard of this thing.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

Sengoku Strider wrote:That's really cool, I've never even heard of this thing.
They are not exactly easy to find, which is probably why.

It doesn't seem to available to actually buy as of right now, it seems. Edit: disregard. Sega Store has it. Insta-preordered!

I love their little disclaimer that says that it doesn't work with the X68000. I don't think I've ever seen an X68000 with USB ports in it, but I suppose you could get a converter... not that this would work on it anyway given the disclaimer. I'm sure someone will try it anyway. Hell, I'd try it myself if I had an X68000, but maybe it will work on the MiSTer.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SuperDeadite »

Steven wrote:
Sengoku Strider wrote:That's really cool, I've never even heard of this thing.
They are not exactly easy to find, which is probably why.

It doesn't seem to available to actually buy as of right now, it seems. Edit: disregard. Sega Store has it. Insta-preordered!

I love their little disclaimer that says that it doesn't work with the X68000. I don't think I've ever seen an X68000 with USB ports in it, but I suppose you could get a converter... not that this would work on it anyway given the disclaimer. I'm sure someone will try it anyway. Hell, I'd try it myself if I had an X68000, but maybe it will work on the MiSTer.
The Sharp produced version (green logo, black buttons) is fairly common, though the original Micomsoft version (red logo and buttons) is quite rare. I think most X68000 owners end up with one eventually. As there are over a dozen games that support it. It got a lot of support on other platforms as well. Even places you wouldn't think of, like the FM Towns version of Wing Commander and PC-Engine Forgotten Worlds (the throttle controls the rotation).

I think the disclaimer is because there actually is a doujin group that sells adapters to use an original Cyberstick on modern systems over USB.

Edit: Here's a quick and dirty video of my original:
https://youtu.be/zaRHWHMTLIQ
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

SuperDeadite wrote:
Bassa-Bassa wrote:Way too overpriced at 19000 JPY though? Doesn't seem to be much better quality than your average analog joystick for the 80's PCs, other than having a throttle stick.
The original was built to take the severe punishment of Afterburner. The shafts are metal and there are huge shock absorbers, as it's meant to be slammed in all directions for rolling and activating the afterburner. You can also swap the positions of stick and throttle, plus it has built in calibration. Even after 30+ years of heavy use, I've never seen a broken one.
Ah, then I eat my words, thanks for this valuable info. Too bad we can't be sure this 2022 version is going to be the exact same in this regard. It claims to be Windows-compatible, so we can expect specific drivers if there's need for them, and Mame should be easily configurable for this. Not sure about Mame's support for analog controllers on its X68000 emulation, though - apparently this driver has been improved lately but it's not in a finished state yet.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Necronom »

SuperDeadite wrote:Micomsoft is actually bringing back the Cyberstick for this! Fun for the Mini, but even better once all the emulators add support for it!

https://www.micomsoft.co.jp/release20220624-1.html
All they have to do now is rerelease Afterburner Climax on Steam 8)
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Atariboy »

Odd coincidence that it's getting announced now. I only learned about the existence of the original accessory and the analog controls in several games like Afterburner II and Galaxy Force II a few nights ago.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Jonpachi »

https://www.polygon.com/23207254/sega-g ... der-amazon

Update! Now coming to NA as an Amazon exclusive. Pretty good list revealed so far.

After Burner 2
Alien Soldier
Bonanza Brothers
Fantasy Zone (new Genesis port, previously released on Master System)
Lightening Force
Mansion of Hidden Souls (Sega CD)
Night Striker (Sega CD)
Ninja Warriors (Sega CD)
OutRun
OutRunners
Rainbow Islands Extra
Rolling Thunder 2
Shining Force CD (Sega CD)
Shining in the Darkness
Silpheed (Sega CD)
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic CD (Sega CD)
Splatterhouse 2
Star Mobile (new Genesis port, previously released on PC Engine)
Super Hang On
The Ooze
Vectorman 2
Virtua Racing
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by bigbadboaz »

The Amazon exclusivity is already looking like a fiasco. Let's hope they work out something better before launch.

The (actual Sega) US-sized 6-button pad looks real nice though!
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Ghegs »

Looks like there might be some titles exclusive to JP and US versions, how annoying. Or it could be that they just haven't been announced yet, but considering the first Mini had region-exclusive titles, I'd say it's the more likely thing to happen.

Cursory check says JP has Popful Mail and Starblade, US has Rolling Thunder 2, OutRunners, and...The Ooze.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SuperDeadite »

Considering that Working Designs is long dead, I doubt USA Popful will make it. Curious about Star Mobile, I'd assume it's going to be the X68000 version with typical color/pcm downgrades.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by BurlyHeart »

Is M2 definitely involved with the mini 2 and porting games to the system?
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by hamfighterx »

BurlyHeart wrote:Is M2 definitely involved with the mini 2 and porting games to the system?
Yes. They were part of the initial reveal event, M2 posts about it on their official twitter (https://mobile.twitter.com/M2_game), and they’re listed on the official Sega site: https://sega.jp/mdmini2/feature.html
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Atariboy »

SuperDeadite wrote:Curious about Star Mobile, I'd assume it's going to be the X68000 version with typical color/pcm downgrades.
No, it's a previously unknown but finished prototype for Sega's 16-bit system.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by SuperDeadite »

Atariboy wrote:
SuperDeadite wrote:Curious about Star Mobile, I'd assume it's going to be the X68000 version with typical color/pcm downgrades.
No, it's a previously unknown but finished prototype for Sega's 16-bit system.
That's what I mean. Like Granada, Arcus Odyssey, Metal Stalker, etc. All are very similar to X68000 versions with some down grades.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by BurlyHeart »

hamfighterx wrote:
BurlyHeart wrote:Is M2 definitely involved with the mini 2 and porting games to the system?
Yes. They were part of the initial reveal event, M2 posts about it on their official twitter (https://mobile.twitter.com/M2_game), and they’re listed on the official Sega site: https://sega.jp/mdmini2/feature.html
Excellent, thank you!
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Steven »

Tatsujin is here and with fixed music. Thank god that they finally fixed that shit. Surprised there isn't a ROM hack for that after all of these years.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by BulletMagnet »

SuperDeadite wrote:Considering that Working Designs is long dead, I doubt USA Popful will make it.
Who does own the rights to that title nowadays, alongside WD's other projects? I did see someone state online that IP and distribution rights for a particular region are two different kettles of fish, and that the latter actually remains effective for a certain period of time after a company ceases to exist, but I have no firsthand idea if that's how it actually works. It'd be a real shame if that kind of background issue winds up hobbling the US console's game selection.
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Re: Genesis/Megadrive Mini II - Silpheed Sega CD,Thunderforc

Post by Ms. Tea »

I'm not sure of the situation with Popful Mail, but with Lunar, WD owned the localization outright before Game Arts bought it back. WD held on to the voice rights, which transferred to Vic Ireland after WD closed down. "We have the rights to the translation but no English voice acting" could be a dealbreaker for anyone who wanted to rerelease them unless they want to license the dub from him. Apparently this is why the PSP and iOS versions of Silver Star Story got a new dub.
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