The Full Game List for Genesis Mini 2 Revealed! (Spoilers: No Snatcher or WD Games)

SEGA recently announced the full games list for the North American version of the Genesis Mini 2. As expected, there are no Working Designs based games, or Konami’s most famous title for the system, Snatcher…

For those anticipating these titles, it has been a massive let down. If they had been released with the Genesis Mini, it would have been the first time any of those versions got official North American releases since their original counterparts on the SEGA CD back in the ’90’s…

While we can’t know for sure why Konami decided to leave Snatcher back in the ’90s, we have an idea why the famous Working Designs titles (Lunar, Popful Mail, etc.) were left off, courtesy of CJ Iwakura:

fee to get as many games on there as possible without offering royalties, and they're confident it'll sell out anyway, so they're not eager to go overboard more than they have to. (Sadly, they're probably right.)

Still, he said not to give up hope, so maybe there's a (2/?)

— cj_iwakura (@cj_iwakura) August 12, 2022

chance. He also says the JP versions would be very labyrinthine for US players, and doesn't recommend them as a selling point. So yeah, uh, maybe telling Sega how much you want the US Lunars would be our best bet… pic.twitter.com/dsgDITmM6W

— cj_iwakura (@cj_iwakura) August 12, 2022

Essentially, SEGA is offering a flat fee to get as many of the games on the system as possible, and the hold out seems to be the lack of royalties for the Working Designs games on each console sold.

Business arrangements like this have been a struggle for many years, and at this point, the only real way an English re-release would be possible would be either using a non-Working Design translation (see Xseed’s Lunar: Silver Star Harmony on the PSP) or just translating them all from scratch.

From a business perspective, especially for a mini console like this one, the cost to do a full translation wouldn’t make any sense sadly. Leaving us high and dry for the chance to play these amazing titles on a mini console (without hacking it of course).

Even without such high profile titles, there still seems to be a lot worth getting the Genesis Mini 2 for, such as two unreleased games, a ton of new and updated features for existing games, and of course the inclusion of Puyo Puyo Sun, which is originally a Saturn release! (Will only be including the 2P VS mode though.)

Speaking of Puyo Puyo Sun, it’s inclusion is a very interesting story!:

Okunari figured they'd only be able to produce two extra games, same as last time; if Space Harrier II' was equivalent to Darius, what'd be equivalent to Tetris?

then he realised: M2's MD Mini 2 director Matsuoka originally directed the arcade+Saturn versions of Puyo Puyo Sun

— GSK | https://cohost.org/gosokkyu (@gosokkyu) August 19, 2022

Twitter user gosokkyu shared an interesting tidbit about the port, saying how M2 decided to try their hands at porting a Saturn game to the Mega Drive, and got pretty far into it, adding in the 2P Vs. match into the game. Sadly, due to time constraints, M2 could not finish this port. Not wanting to shelve the entire thing, they added what they completed into the MD Mini 2.

With that, here’s the complete list of games coming to the Genesis Mini 2 (Thanks to Bob from RetroRGB for sorting this out):

Previously Unreleased Games:

• Devi & Pii
• Star Mobile

New or Updated Games:

• Fantasy Zone – adds an easy mode
• OutRun – Select from four radio stations featuring new tracks not featured in the original.
• Phantasy Star II – Includes adjustable movement speed and a new easy mode.
• Rainbow Islands – New Extra mode which features brand-new enemies.
• Space Harrier II – This 3D classic gets a new revamp thanks to modern technology, creating a game experience more akin to the arcade version.
• Spatter – new arcade port
• Super Locomotive – new arcade port
• Truxton – Features an option to play the BGM at its original arcade speed.
• VS Puyo Puyo Sun – new port of the 2-player vs mode

Sega CD Games:

• Ecco the Dolphin
• Ecco: The Tides of Time
• Final Fight CD
• Mansion of Hidden Souls
• Night Striker
• Night Trap
• Robo Aleste
• Sewer Shark
• Shining Force CD
• Silpheed
• Sonic The Hedgehog CD
• The Ninja Warriors

Genesis / Mega Drive Games:

• After Burner II
• Alien Soldier
• Atomic Runner
• Bonanza Bros.
• ClayFighter
• Crusader of Centy
• Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
• Earthworm Jim 2
• Elemental Master
• Fatal Fury 2
• Gain Ground
• Golden Axe II
• Granada
• Hellfire
• Herzog Zwei
• Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar
• Midnight Resistance
• OutRunners
• Populous
• Ranger-X
• Ristar
• Rolling Thunder 2
• Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
• Shining Force II
• Shining in the Darkness
• Sonic 3D Blast
• Splatterhouse 2
• Streets of Rage 3
• Super Hang-On
• Super Street Fighter II The New Challengers
• The Ooze
• The Revenge of Shinobi
• ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
• VectorMan 2
• Viewpoint
• Virtua Racing
• Warsong

If this has all impressed you and would like to place a pre-order, you can do so here

SEGA seems to be trying to take the Mini consoles to the next level, but we’ll have to see when this drops in October if it lives up, or just becomes another piece of tat for your shelf.