Adorable, Japan-only Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 faithfully re-creates the Sega CD

Enlarge / Sega's Mega Drive Mini 2 includes Sega CD games and, for a little extra, an adorable recreation of the Sega CD attachment. But it has only been announced for Japan, at least for now. (credit: Sega)

Sega's Genesis Mini console was one of the only officially licensed retro emulation boxes that came close to the NES and SNES Classics' combination of software quality and hardware authenticity, even if its emulation wasn't quite perfect and its game selection was missing some heavy hitters. The company's mini-Game Gear was also the first device to make the mini-console fad portable.

Sega is going back to the well one more time with the Mega Drive Mini 2, which will be released in Japan this October (the Mega Drive was what the Genesis was called outside of the US). The console will cost 9,980 yen before tax; at just under $80, this is in line with the pricing of earlier mini-consoles.

The Mega Drive Mini 2 will include an entirely different 50-game lineup, anchored by Sega CD titles like Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Shining Force CD. New Mega Drive games have also made the cut, including Virtua Racing and Thunder Force IV, and a version of the Sega arcade game Fantasy Zone has also been thrown in for good measure (the original Genesis Mini includes Super Fantasy Zone, the Genesis-native entry in the franchise).