Let’s get the contrast we should make out of the manner: No, the Genesis Flashback isn’t as first-rate as the SNES Classic. But it’s nevertheless quite accurate, if you like the video games.

While Nintendo is setting the sector on hearth with its 90s nostalgia ride, allow’s say your 16-bit goals are greater unconventional. Perhaps you enjoy your games with a piece more violence and/or hedgehogs. AtGames has you covered with the Sega Genesis Flashback HD, a $seventy nine.ninety nine all-in-one console to be launched November 10. Besides being complete of traditional video games, this Genesis does what Nintendon’t—it permits you to use your original Genesis cartridges and controllers. This function is imperfect, but it’s a nice addition while it works.

You may additionally have already heard a few not-so-desirable matters about the Genesis Flashback. AtGames sent out evaluation samples in July to numerous shops, along with Kotaku. As we had been placing together our insurance, a spate of damaging critiques hit—Gizmodo called it “warm garbage,” as an example— citing wonky controllers and laggy gameplay. AtGames recalled the review units, announcing they had mistakenly gone out with early, unfinished firmware.

Several weeks later, we acquired an updated model, on which this overview is based totally. While now not each difficulty with the Flashback HD has been addressed, the fundamental ones have. The controllers paintings, and the emulation is not choppy. That way the gadget now fulfills its simple promise of letting you play accurate Genesis games to your HDTV. Hooray!

The Hardware

The Sega Genesis Flashback HD is smaller than an real Genesis, however it’s additionally bigger than SNES Classics prepare. This is comprehensible, even though, because of the real functioning cartridge slot, which limits how small this factor could genuinely be while nonetheless maintaining the classic Genesis proportions. It has an AC adapter (not USB) and HDMI out.

The unit includes two wireless controllers that each require AAA batteries (now not included). The layout of these is based on, if no longer completely 1:1 accurate to, the six-button Genesis controller that Sega rolled out across the same time that Street Fighter II got here to its hardware. They sense a bit mild and hollow, but they work high-quality. A turn on the pinnacle of each controller lets you set them to govern Player 1 or Player 2.

The Flashback has a Rewind feature, although it’s not as fashionable because the SNES Classic’s; it actually jumps back six seconds in the game and replays them automatically till you decide to leap in. This is done by pressing a dedicated Rewind button at the wi-fi controller. The controllers even have a Menu button that helps you to carry up a menu overlay at some point of gameplay, from which you may store and load your sport in one of ten save slots in keeping with sport, in addition to switch on and rancid a unmarried rudimentary “scanline filter.” This will also permit you to cease the game and pass again to the system’s important menu with out getting up from the couch, which the SNES Classic lacks.

If you need greater authenticity, the Flashback helps classic Genesis controllers through physical ports on its front. This, too, worked great for me, although I handiest ended up testing some wellknown Genesis controllers and no longer any 1/3-celebration stuff. Of course, traditional Genesis controllers don’t have a Rewind button, however preserving left on the D-pad and urgent Start activated the rewind characteristic. This is convenient but makes me worry I may press it by accident.

The system’s menu is where things start getting dicey. See the menu screen? Would you consider that, to start navigating your manner down that menu from “Cartridge Slot” to “Favorites” and “Recent,” you’d press Up and Down on the D-pad? You fool. What you have to do is to press the B and C buttons at the controller. The relaxation of the menu features are equally unintuitive, and you’ll possibly press the wrong button commonly even after days of playing. (Don’t accidentally hit Down on the D-pad if you have the sub-menu open, or you’ll be immediately booted out of a game!)

Flashback does can help you play Genesis video games off of your authentic cartridges. When you placed a recreation inside the slot and flip the device on, it'll download the full sport into reminiscence and play it within the identical emulator that the built-in video games are performed on, with all of the same features—even shop slots. But the compatibility is spotty. I tested it with a wide kind of video games, which include:

  • A u.s. Replica of Growl, a Taito shooter
  • A u.s. Copy of the third-celebration recreation Bubsy
  • A European replica of The Lion King
  • A Japanese reproduction of Battletoads
  • Joshua, an unlicensed Biblical recreation
  • Various Taiwanese multi-game bootleg cartridges
  • Pier Solar, an unlicensed RPG launched in 2010

In fashionable, I observed that unlicensed games did now not paintings at all. Most of them clearly by no means “dumped” to the reminiscence when the gadget grew to become on, and the “Cartridge Slot” option stayed greyed out at the menu. Pier Solardumped, but it crashed once I attempted to run it.

On the alternative hand, video games from all territories regarded to run just pleasant so long as they were officially certified Sega merchandise. The Lion King, Battletoads, and Bubsy all labored, no matter what territory they have been at first released in. The one certified sport that gave me sizeable troubles became Dashin’ Desperadoes, that's a cut up-display multiplayer game. The game ran great up until the break up-display mode started, when everything glitched out. This makes me assume the emulator in the Flashback doesn’t recognize a way to take care of that portraits mode.

Would I buy a Flashback HD to replacement for a widespread Genesis? Absolutely no longer. The compatibility is a long way too low. But if you simply have multiple wellknown, certified Sega video games kicking around the residence, you might find this delivered characteristic a pleasant bonus.

The Software

The box for the Sega Genesis Flashback HD says it consists of eighty five video games. This sounds outstanding and is legally real. But it does now not contain 85 Sega Genesis video games. It carries forty five Sega Genesis games, 14 Sega Master System games, 7 Game Gear video games, and 19 random pieces of shovelware like Checkers and Air Hockey which you ought to never, ever play.

So really it contains 66 video games made by way of Sega. That’s extra than three times the video games on SNES Classic, but in which Nintendo selected a very cautious stability of the very excellent games the machine needed to provide and additionally Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, AtGames’ selections of Genesis software program is, let's consider, scattershot.

Here are the real Sega games:

Genesis: Alex Kidd within the Enchanted Castle, Alien Storm, Altered Beast, Arrow Flash, Bonanza Brothers, Chakan: The Forever Man, Columns, Columns III, Comix Zone, Crack Down, Decap Attack, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, ESWAT, Eternal Champions, Fatal Labyrinth, Flicky, Gain Ground, Golden Axe, Golden Axe II, Golden Axe III, Jewel Master, Kid Chameleon, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat III, Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star III, Phantasy Star IV, Ristar, Shadow Dancer, Shining within the Darkness, Shining Force, Shining Force II, Shinobi III, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Sonic 3-D Blast, Super Thunder Blade, Sword of Vermilion, The Ooze, Vectorman, Vectorman 2, Virtua Fighter 2.

Master System: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex Kidd: High-Tech World, Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars, Assault City, Astro Warrior, Dragon Crystal, Fantasy Zone, Fantasy Zone: The Maze, Kenseiden, Kung Fu Kid, Phantasy Star, Psycho Fox, Snail Maze, The Ninja.

Game Gear: Baku Baku, Defenders of Oasis, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic Triple Trouble, Super Columns, Tails Adventure.

It’s either dinner party or famine with this game list. If a positive franchise is represented, they go all the manner. If you’re partial to a certain Mister Sonic T. Hedgehog, you will be very glad. Ditto if you need to dive deep right into a Sega RPG series like Shining Force and Phantasy Star, or in case you’re one of the remaining last diehard fans of Alex Kidd.

But otherwise, it’s an entire bunch of filler. I should have long past my complete existence with out playing Crack Down, Psycho Fox, Sword of Vermilion, or any range of different B-tier games in this machine. And the Genesis versions of Mortal Kombat had been now not precisely the pinnacle of arcade-exceptional perfection, even if the first one did have the “blood code.”

This is not a choice of the fine the Genesis needed to provide. Gunstar Heroes? The whole Streets of Rage series? Castlevania: Bloodlines? MUSHA? Splatterhouse? I’m actually just looking on the listing of video games already released on Virtual Console. Perhaps AtGames is restricted in what it's miles allowed to position at the gadget, however Sega need to be as a minimum a touch embarrassed by this. It would be fantastic to see the 2 agencies get together and bring something that’s in reality reflective of the very high-quality games at the platform.

The Sega Genesis Flashback HD has an disturbing menu machine and a haphazard choice of games. But it plays the games it does have appropriately and pleasantly, that's a massive step up for AtGames. Its previous Genesis hardware used a ways less expensive answers, which triggered the graphics and mainly the sound to be notoriously terrible. This isn't always those merchandise, thankfully. (Those merchandise are nonetheless on shop cabinets, so don’t by accident buy that if you’re looking for this!)

I’d imagine a whole lot of Genesis enthusiasts might be bummed out that their favorites aren’t on right here, but if you’re a huge Sonic, Phantasy Star or Golden Axe fan trying to recapture that magic, this might get the job done for you.