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SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive Mini |OT| To be this good takes M2, to be this good takes SEGA
- Thread starter Lant_War
- Start date
Han
Thank you. Im gonna trade the newer 6 button switch friendly controllers.
It just released and has good reviews compared to the PS Classic. It might be a long time before you see discounts.
I really like it so far. Tons of games I would've wished were on it, but hey. 42 isn't bad, and there are som really good ones. Great design too.
The controller thing really is a shame. I lean more towards it being a deal between them and retrobit and less about nostalgia. I mean Street Fighter II is on there. Why the fuck would you do that to people? If you want to argue about the nostalgia of the 3 button controller okay, but the Mega Drive released a few years earlier in Japan so their nostalgia for the 3 button controller should be just as rabid as any American, right? It is what it is.
The guys putting together the system had two difference audiences in mind--the Genesis/Mega Drive was a mainstream success overseas so that version pushed hard on popular/nostalgic choices, whereas the Mega Drive had a more niche audience in Japan so they made decisions with the hardcore audience in mind.
The Japanese producers also seem surprised that overseas reviews keep singling out the 3-button controller as a point of contention, so I think they genuinely believed people were going to prefer the 3-button pad. (There was enough demand for it in Japan that they got their own 3-button pad, even.)
There isn't an excuse that I can think of for the 3-button controller that doesn't involve the desire to sell more 6-button controllers separately.
Any producer who genuinely believes that anyone would prefer the former on a system that includes Street Fighter II, while also crippling its use as a general purpose USB PC controller, should not be making major decisions for these products.
Like... I think I'd prefer that this decision be made out of a motivation to sell more peripherals. That's cynical, but it at least also makes some business sense.
Any producer who genuinely believes that anyone would prefer the former on a system that includes Street Fighter II, while also crippling its use as a general purpose USB PC controller, should not be making major decisions for these products.
Like... I think I'd prefer that this decision be made out of a motivation to sell more peripherals. That's cynical, but it at least also makes some business sense.
Well when I say "genuinely believe" I think they were convinced of its popularity by the overseas branches and are surprised to find out it wasn't the case, but that's not to say the overseas branches didn't have an ulterior motive, or that everyone involved isn't just bullshitting.
The nes and snes are much better than this and were handled better. They are better more robust packages.
1. Heavy input lag on the menu
2. Audio lag unacceptable
3. Sold with a controller that doesn't properly support everything.
4. Replacement controllers from retrobit dont fully support game button combinations.
Sega doesnt do better here and have messed it up badly that only hacking can save it. More games doesnt mean better if they cant be played to an acceptable level as other sources.
1. Heavy input lag on the menu
2. Audio lag unacceptable
3. Sold with a controller that doesn't properly support everything.
4. Replacement controllers from retrobit dont fully support game button combinations.
Sega doesnt do better here and have messed it up badly that only hacking can save it. More games doesnt mean better if they cant be played to an acceptable level as other sources.
We played with ours a fair bit at the weekend and came to the conclusion that the games list looked better on paper than it does in action. There's a lot of umming and ahhhing on the title screen until we pick one of the few games that are really stand out. VF2 will never not be a wasnted slot on these compilations - it's terrible and looks like a Master System game. Tetris is a cute idea, but it's hardly the best version and it's value is surely in the physical cart itself not a ROM. The Mega Man game also sticks out like a sore thumb - I would've preferred Quackshot or Rocket Knight Adventures just off the top of my head. Gain Ground is a sore exclusion for me too.
I also thought the menus were kind of big and ugly - I think they could've stuck to the same design but made the overall UI niftier and with a better use of space - a way to make the box art smaller and fit more on the screen would've been nice (something like how the 3DS menu works). It irks me to press A to confirm everything, my fingers always want to use C or start.
The two Wonder Boy games are still fantastic, it's a joy to play MW4 officially. I recently completed PS4 so will not be hoping back in to that just yet, but it's also a great inclusion. I didn't experience any lag or anything, but maybe I'm just not perceptive enough to that kind of thing, I was happy with responsiveness of the controllers in game.
I also thought the menus were kind of big and ugly - I think they could've stuck to the same design but made the overall UI niftier and with a better use of space - a way to make the box art smaller and fit more on the screen would've been nice (something like how the 3DS menu works). It irks me to press A to confirm everything, my fingers always want to use C or start.
The two Wonder Boy games are still fantastic, it's a joy to play MW4 officially. I recently completed PS4 so will not be hoping back in to that just yet, but it's also a great inclusion. I didn't experience any lag or anything, but maybe I'm just not perceptive enough to that kind of thing, I was happy with responsiveness of the controllers in game.
This seems nuts to me. SF2 is unplayable.
Well, many people on this thread warned gamers that the western mini was just good, not as excellent as asian or Japanese mini: Bad inclusions like Alex Kid, Altered Beast, Virtua Fighter 2 are switched into Treasure's masterpieces like Yuyu Hakusho, MUSHA(compile)...
Definitely Asians mini games list play as good as it looks on the paper. Especially for those who thought Street Fighter was the top of Snes/Genesis fighting games...
Will do! Now you mention it I remember seeing this in preview videos and completely forgot about it :)
They are.
I got the JP version out of convenience though I prefer the Asian version game list (gotta put Alien Soldier on mine ASAP).
And I'd previously only played SFIICE on a 3-button pad in the states. Playing it for the first time on the 6-button pad was sweet and plays so smoothly.
Both are equally excellent, both quite are superior to the western one.
Asia has Alien Soldier, Castle of Illusion, Sonic, Shining Force 2 when Jap has Yuyu Hakusho, SF2', Dynamite Headdy, The Hybrid Front.
Has anyone managed to get any other USB controllers to work with the Mini? I don't mean hacking, just out-of-the-box plug-and-play. I tried some d-input generic 6-button Mega Drive USB controllers that I use for PC; didn't work.
I tried my Mayflash F500 Elite in all modes: X-input, D-input, and pass through. Didn't work. Pass through showed some signs of life, but I think it's more of a power issue than compatibility. It seemed the the Mini couldn't give up enough juice to power the fight stick.
Anyone try anything else?
I tried my Mayflash F500 Elite in all modes: X-input, D-input, and pass through. Didn't work. Pass through showed some signs of life, but I think it's more of a power issue than compatibility. It seemed the the Mini couldn't give up enough juice to power the fight stick.
Anyone try anything else?
I tried my Dualshock 4 and Xbox 360 controllers and they were no good.
I think somebody in this thread (or somewhere else?) said the Mini can technically read input from any HID-compliant controllers, but there's a special whitelist built in to the console so it only really works with the select few (the ones that came with the system, and the Retrobit controllers)
I think somebody in this thread (or somewhere else?) said the Mini can technically read input from any HID-compliant controllers, but there's a special whitelist built in to the console so it only really works with the select few (the ones that came with the system, and the Retrobit controllers)
Anything not included with the genesis mini or from Retrobit won't work. They are blocking generic controllers from working. Your best bet is buying the 8bitdo adapter when they upgrade it to support the genesis mini.
It's a retro system selling on nostalgia. Many, many, many more people remember the 3 button Genesis controller than the 6-button. It's how most people played games on the Genesis. While the 6 button can replicate the functionality of the 3-button, the large size of those 3 buttons makes it quite a different experience.
They didn't choose the better controller for playing games, they chose the one people will have nostalgia for.
The confirm button in Genesis games was always all over the place, so I find it strange that anyone would have any expectations for that going into a product like this. Doesn't the confirm button change continually in Contra: Hard Corps? As much as I prefer the three-button or six-button layout of Sega's controller's, I have to say that it's a flawed layout in the sense that it doesn't encourage consistency in certain regards. For example, in Contra: Hard Corps, I definitely prefer to shoot with B and jump with C, since having the A button so close to the shoot button is important to how that game plays. That said, I prefer to attack with A and jump with B in Castlevania: Bloodlines, since it's easier to access your sub-weapons with the C button.
Yeah, honestly, this is my main gripe with the same selection. Aside from the Genesis version of any given Street Fighter game not being the ideal means of playing it now, it just seems like a bad decision to include any game that makes proper use of the six-button controller.
The three-button Genesis controller is one of my all-time favorite controllers. I feel as though people seem to forget that it works perfectly with 99% of the games released on Genesis, and I agree that the choice in games on the Mini is a bit unfortunate in that regard. The size of the buttons on the three-button controller and their close proximity to one another makes the three-button Genesis controller very versatile. I wish developers had a better handle on this earlier in the system's life, as I think it could've changed the way the three-button controller was viewed after a certain point. Look at Mortal Kombat 3 or Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, for example. Both of those games play really well on the three-button controller, thanks to the proximity of the buttons to one another. I don't even mind playing Mortal Kombat II on a three-button controller, though it's a bit of a bummer that you can't do Kung Lao's fatality in which he slices his opponent down the middle with his hat.
The 8bitdo wireless adapter works when you upgrade to the latest beta firmware. I use it with the M30 controller, works like a charm.
I would have loved to see Samurai Shodown make it in here instead of Street Fighter II. That game actually plays perfectly with the three button controller.
Considering that it was the direct inspiration, it's probably the closest thing to a home port of Arika's Tetris TGM we'll see this side of that one ill-fated X360 game or Tetris 99
I know this might not be what some of you want, but if you're patient the lag issue will be resolved once Project Lunar is released. I haven't opened mine yet because I don't want to be disappointed so I'm just waiting for the official release.
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That's not the lag issue people are annoyed with though. I thought people were annoyed with things like audio lag across all titles, not occasional choking points in a handful of games.
Sega's directly selling the import Genesis Mini and 3-button pads in Japan now, and their 3-button pads have the JP Mega Drive design rather than the Genesis design--it's just a cosmetic difference but it is a difference.
I think that's overstating it a little, but I guess you could spin it that way.
Do you have a link to where they can be purchased (the 3 button Mega Drive controller)?
wait what? Which 8bitdo wireless adapter works on the genesis mini with the m30? Thanks in advance:)
This one works. They made specially for the genesis mini (black adapter):
It comes with the 2.4G version of their M30 controller.
Somebody said that there will be a firmware update for the bluetooth adapters, too (grey and orange adapters). I don't know when that will happen because the latest firmware on their site is from August and doesn't support it yet. If you have the bluetooth M30, you'll have to get a bluetooth adapter and wait for the update.
Ooooooh I thought the gray and orange ones. Unfortunately the black one doesn't ship to Canada :( Do you have the black one already? I thought it was not out until next week.
sorry I'm a bit confused by Ogni-XR21 post. I was under the impression they had a gray one or an orange one and updated that to work with their current M30 2.4 GHz?
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Sorry, I meant that the black one will work. You can pre-order it now and it ships on October 18.
Some other user in a previous page said that an 8bitdo representative confirmed that they will release a firmware upgrade for the bluetooth adapters. I don't know where it was confirmed but it makes sense because the M30 that was first released is bluetooth and it won't work with the black adapter.
User Ogni-XR21 said that there is already a beta firmware that supports the genesis mini but I don't know where to download it.
Edit: found the posts:
my sincere thanks to you for quoting those posts, I clearly missed them. Much appreciated! Guess I'll be picking up a M30 with the receiver from a local store in case it doesn't work I can return it.
I have a gray adapter (PS classic version) and use that adapter with my M30 Bluetooth controller.
You have to update the firmware of the adapter manually and then press left+up+select (the middle button of the 3 buttons below the start button) to switch the controller to MDmini mode. This took me a few tries to work, but once I did that it remembers the setting.
Here is the email I got from 8bitdo support:
You have to select an option to include beta builds somewhere in the software first, otherwise they won't show.
I hope this helps.
Only downside to this is that you cannot fit a second controller into the 2nd port because the adapter is a bit too wide.
Fantastic!!! Thanks for the detail!!! Will pick up bluetooth m30 and a gray adapter.
was hoping it was the Bluetooth version so I can also use it on PC :)
Removing the underclock doesn't reduce lag, it just reduces hitches and slowdown. Any sound/display lag is caused by the emulator and not the speed of the CPU.
I imagine the only way to reduce lag is to go outside of M2's emulator and use the read-ahead function in Retroarch to reduce latency, if the system is capable of pulling that off successfully.
It would be great to have this as an option instead of always RA.
I'd want about the same number (but I'd also like to remove some of the included games if possible).
That is not strictly true. More CPU is required to increase the polling. One of the big sources of latency in emulation. More CPU is also good for other stuff like slowdown, of course. It is why it is important to manage expectations with low resource devices such as these. The technical proficiency of the team or emulator only goes so far when you hit limits. Now why M2 went with an underclocked SOC one can only guess. Maybe it was part of the contract for the SOC that the manufacturer would guarantee a certain performance benchmark at a certain price and it isn't like M2 is going to break contract to make weirdos on a forum happy who wants to improve lag by like 2 frames or whatever. Just a guess, who knows what the story was.
M2 on the subject. (Turn on CC)
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Super Fantasy Zone is so fun. I go back to it again and again... The SHOP is such a good mechanic. Love outfitting Opa Opa with upgrades.
OP
OP
Wish I could get into these games. I really like the artstyle but not the gameplay.
For Canadian folks with a Shopper's Drug Mart around (not all have videogames stuff available), EVERYTHING in store is 20% off today if you have a Shopper's card and check your email for the 20% off coupon. I finally snagged a Genesis mini for $79.99 Cdn. This thing is neat to play with the Six button controller for SF2.
BTW is SF2 supposed to sound this terrible? The voices are so garbled. I never played the original so I have no reference.
It seems so silly to want to REMOVE games from a compilation but I am 100% in agreement lol
Sound quality of SFII on Genesis is notoriously bad (although I do prefer some of the tracks to the SNES counterparts). There was actually a fan patched version of the game which improved all the audio.