{"id":100786,"date":"2019-09-25T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/09\/hardware_review_should_you_import_the_japanese_mega_drive_mini"},"modified":"2019-09-25T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T15:00:00","slug":"hardware-review-should-you-import-the-japanese-mega-drive-mini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/09\/25\/hardware-review-should-you-import-the-japanese-mega-drive-mini\/","title":{"rendered":"Hardware Review: Should You Import The Japanese Mega Drive Mini?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Sega Genesis \/ Mega Drive Mini is pretty special \u2013 as you’ll know if you’ve already consulted our exhaustive review<\/a>. Packed full of retro goodness and blessed with a lineup that contains some of the system’s most desirable titles, it’s proof that Sega is finally taking the ‘micro-console’ approach seriously, after years of allowing manufacturing partner AtGames<\/a> to sully its good name.<\/p>\n

However, just as was the case with the SNES<\/a> and NES<\/a> Classic Editions, the western version of the Mega Drive Mini is only one part of the story. In Japan, the machine has different packaging and a different lineup of games which better reflect the tastes of players in that region \u2013 as well as vastly superior controllers.<\/p>\n

But should you consider importing this version over the more easily-obtainable western editions? Let’s find out…<\/p>\n

Mega Drive Mini Japanese Version: The Hardware<\/h3>\n
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While the North American and European versions of the console come with the iconic 3-button controller that shipped alongside the original machine in its early years, the Japanese edition has the much-improved 6-button pad in the box, which is based on the pad which launched around the same time that Street Fighter II<\/strong> arrived on the machine to much fanfare.<\/p>\n

The pad is smaller and more comfortable to use, and that 6-button layout \u2013 with all of the buttons on the face of the pad \u2013 is absolutely perfect<\/em> for Capcom’s famous one-on-one brawler. We still can’t fathom why Sega decided to ship the 3-button variant in the west, especially as it makes Street Fighter II a real pain in the arse to play (you have to use the Start button to toggle between punches and kicks \u2013 and it’s as bad as it sounds in practice).<\/p>\n