Sega Genesis Mini 2019 - Not Flashback, Not AtGames

[pook99]

I get people being more cozy with the 3 button controller since it was standard for most of the genesis life cycle, I just think if they are going to include a 3 button controller they should have not chosen games that require 6 buttons to be on the system

[marurun]

If people could play Doom on a 386 sx in a postage stamp sized window, people could play SF2 and others with a 3-button controller. Wasn't always pretty. Certainly wasn't optimal. But when you want to play a game, you find a way to do it. I played a variety of FPS games in TINY LITTLE windows to make them work. I also played Gold Box games on an Apple //c, which lacks a number pad, so doing diagonals meant memorizing which numbers were which diagonals and using them from the top row of the keyboard.

That there are 6-button aftermarket pads doesn't completely ameliorate this complaint, but it does take some of the sting out of it. People who are invested in those titles will pick up the 6-button pads after the fact, much as people picked up wireless controllers for the SNES mini to deal with the fact that being tethered to a TV and to USB power and a corded controller could create some spatial issues in a great many living rooms and game rooms.

[isiolia]

I get people being more cozy with the 3 button controller since it was standard for most of the genesis life cycle, I just think if they are going to include a 3 button controller they should have not chosen games that require 6 buttons to be on the system

Seems to me like that would have fallen just a little short of viable. Offhand, the only 6-button game on the list that wouldn't be sorely missed is Street Fighter 2: Special Championship Edition. Neat as it might be to have the various ports around for their slight differences, SFII is a very available game. Eternal Champions seems to have evaded inclusion in other compilations, so it's good it's on there. Comix Zone would be an odd omission given previous collections, and Virtua Fighter 2 was on the 8th gen one at least. They're good inclusions even if you need a different controller - the caveat being if there's a second version of this on the way, maybe with CD/32X stuff and bundled 6-button controllers.

[pook99]

@marurun: how into fighting games are you? Just speaking as someone who was a huge fighting game fan in that era, playing street fighter 2 with 3 buttons is impossible, outside of button mashing, or extremely low level play. Can you do it? Sure, I mean you can, but it will not be a good experience, nor will it recapture anything about what made sf2 such an amazing game.

@isiola: the main games I am taking issue with are sf2 and eternal champions. Virtua fighter is only a 3 button game so thats not an issue at all, and comix zone is slightly easier with the 6 button pad but its not that big a deal. If you are using 6 buttons your items get assigned to x,y,z, if you are using 3 you just need to toggle your items, its a minor inconvenience but the game is still fun and very playable.

And yes, I know I am nitpicking with those 2, I just look at the system and the huge library of potential games and feel that those are 2 wasted slots that could have been put to much better use. I don't think I would moan about it as much if there were not so many regional differences, but when you look at some of the potential inclusions and weigh them vs 2 games that are unplayable without spending extra money, it is just annoying.

[marurun]

@marurun: how into fighting games are you? Just speaking as someone who was a huge fighting game fan in that era, playing street fighter 2 with 3 buttons is impossible, outside of button mashing, or extremely low level play. Can you do it? Sure, I mean you can, but it will not be a good experience, nor will it recapture anything about what made sf2 such an amazing game.

Most people suck at SF2, much as I do. High level play is reserved for a select few people, and those people are unlikely to want to play SF2 on a Genesis Mini. When I was a kid playing SF2, I could only use 4 buttons on the SNES version because I couldn't make the shoulder triggers work for me in actual play. So if I could enjoy SF2 with 4 buttons, I can probably also enjoy it with 3. Am I going to enjoy it as much as I would with a 6-button controller? Nope. But I might still get some fun out of it. And the sales of SF2 in the US probably out-paced sales of 6-button pads, not to mention rental traffic, so I imagine there were a lot of people who ended up playing SF2 on Genesis with a 3-button pad.

The ultimate point is that I don't think it was worth the expense or the un-nostalgia for Sega to include 6-button pads just to accommodate 2 games out of their selection of 42. Rather than raising questions about why they didn't go with 6-button pads, the question, instead, should be why they included those 2 games (though it could be argued they are important for both history and nostalgia).

[Ack]

Just speaking as someone who was a huge fighting game fan in that era, playing street fighter 2 with 3 buttons is impossible, outside of button mashing, or extremely low level play. Can you do it?

I've beaten Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition with three buttons on the default difficulty. I threw a lot of Hadoukens. All it requires is a fundamental idea of when to block and your character's move set and abilities. Only M. Bison and Sagat really posed a threat.

[Ziggy]

I've beaten Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition with three buttons on the default difficulty.

I once beat Mortal Kombat II on the SNES using the SNES mouse.

[Ack]

I've beaten Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition with three buttons on the default difficulty.

I once beat Mortal Kombat II on the SNES using the SNES mouse.

Man, I love when folks do stuff like this. That is so excellent.

[Ziggy]

I think the left or right click was low kick, and somehow I was able to low kick my way through the game. Maybe a little luck was involved.

[pook99]

@,marurun: I agree, and thats been my point the whole time, I just feel that those 2 games could have been replaced with literally dozens of better choices.

Just speaking as someone who was a huge fighting game fan in that era, playing street fighter 2 with 3 buttons is impossible, outside of button mashing, or extremely low level play. Can you do it?

I've beaten Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition with three buttons on the default difficulty. I threw a lot of Hadoukens. All it requires is a fundamental idea of when to block and your character's move set and abilities. Only M. Bison and Sagat really posed a threat.

Yeah, when I used to bring my ps2 to school I used to beat my students in capcom vs snk 2 with just one hand, and I used to beat them in tekken using just my nose to hit buttons. That would never fly against anyone with any modicum of skill though, but it sure was fun and really wowed my kids.