Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

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VideoGameCritic
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Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby VideoGameCritic » October 8th, 2016, 2:08 pm

I reviewed the latest iteration of the Genesis Classic Console by AT Games

http://videogamecritic.com/extras/revie ... assic2.htm

Comments?

eneuman96
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby eneuman96 » October 8th, 2016, 4:37 pm

It seems like every "throwback" incarnation of the Genesis has sound issues for some reason. It's a shame considering how stellar the music is in games like Sonic and Streets of Rage when you're playing them on the original Genesis.

Do you plan on reviewing the NES Classic Edition and Atari Flashback Portable when they come out later this year?

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby VideoGameCritic » October 9th, 2016, 9:55 am

Yes, I'm looking forward to reviewing both of those.

Robotrek
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby Robotrek » October 9th, 2016, 11:55 am

The audio is not "slightly" off by any means. In fact, the music on every game that I've seen is two steps DOWN. If you're using a windows PC, and have realtek audio manager, turn the karaoke dial up to +4. Then you'll see that amazingly, the music is accurate!

tortimer
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby tortimer » October 9th, 2016, 12:19 pm

Phantasy Star II. This was one of the most memorable RPG experiences of my youth. A very different experience (in many ways) from the Final Fantasy games everyone was playing on Nintendo systems.

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Atariboy
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby Atariboy » October 9th, 2016, 11:28 pm

eneuman96 wrote:It seems like every "throwback" incarnation of the Genesis has sound issues for some reason. It's a shame considering how stellar the music is in games like Sonic and Streets of Rage when you're playing them on the original Genesis.


It's because besides some minor modifications that yielded some improvement a few years ago, it largely has remained static since day 1. The only differences here this year are that battery saves for the included games work at long last (But not for roms that you load via SD card in the handheld counterpart).

Big plans are in the works at AtGames for 2017 though. HDMI output, completely new hardware, save states, and hopefully far improved emulation are some of the things that their representative that's active at AtariAge has spoken about. They're completely overhauling their Sega and Atari products for next year.

There's possibility that one of the Atari themed products might sneak out this Fall and reach store shelves alongside the just released Atari Flashback 7 and the new Atari Flashback Portable (Neither of which has a new emulator or is powered by their next-gen hardware, just like with this year's round of Sega rehashes). But the counter is going down fast so I assume it's increasingly unlikely that anything from this new wave of hopefully far superior products from AtGames will make it out in time for Christmas 2016.

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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby Atariboy » October 10th, 2016, 1:37 am

If anyone's interested, here's a fair sounding review of this year's handheld model which represents the other half of their Sega lineup for 2016. It's from that AtGames source over at AtariAge that I previously mentioned, but he's clearly an honest reviewer despite the appearance that there might be some bias sneaking in due to his ties.

http://armchairarcade.com/perspectives/ ... es-videos/

What's perhaps of most interest to this thread isn't the review itself, but the embedded videos that he's included that were recorded from this year's console that the Critic has reviewed. They illustrate the audio issues spoken about in this thread better than any words could.

I suggest anyone interested in either of these products to give those a listen to as they debate whether or not to hit the buy button.

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Rookie1
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby Rookie1 » October 10th, 2016, 7:45 am

I have thought about picking these up at one time or another, but dont really see any reason. They are cool, but they are just emulation machines. I can hook my PSP or my Laptop to my tv with the same results.

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scotland
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby scotland » October 10th, 2016, 11:28 am

I've bought a lot of these Flashbacks, some of these for $20-$30 despite the higher MSRP. Its the price of a 3DS game, and I've always enjoyed them - Atari, Genesis, Intellivison, Colecovision,whatever. They are portable to friend's houses, even airplane trips. The A/V out is fine since most of my gaming is on CRTs anyway. The Retron 3 had A/V, and every Flashback has had A/V. I don't mind upgrading to HDMI though, but I hope they keep an A/V out as well.

I am not sure why the handheld has the SD card slot, but not the console unit. That's a bummer. The RPGs with save states is nice. Not sure why they both with the 40 amateur games. The first batch was pretty loathsome, so don't imagine its any better here. Overall though, the game selection or features don't do much if you already own the previous version.

In our hobby, there are lots of degrees of what people want. You can play your original Genny on a CRT, or emulate it on your PC, or whatever. These Flashbacks' business model is probably mostly Christmas gifts orf a bit of nostalgic gaming. Many probably get used from Christmas to New Years, and then boxed up again. For us on this forum, we look at these differently. Maybe this doesn't float your boat because you own the games already, you don't like the sound, or the A/V output or build quality or infrared controllers or whatever it is that annoys you. That's fine. For me though, I hope they keep making more.

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Atariboy
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Re: Sega Genesis Classic Console (2016)

Postby Atariboy » October 10th, 2016, 6:24 pm

Their thinking seems to be that the console version with a cartridge slot doesn't need the ability to load roms via SD card since it supports original media, where as it's more important on the handheld that is otherwise restricted to the built-in games. I imagine part of it is also keeping cost down.

That's something that hopefully will be changing. Bill over at AtariAge basically said to me to wait until 2017 when I said that they should incorporate rom loading from a SD card on the Atari Flashback console, just like the new handheld counterpart has. Hopefully that applies to their Sega products as well.

And I guess those videos in that review aren't taken from the console, but via the handheld's tv out functionality. I think I said the opposite in an earlier post. Either way, it's common hardware running the same emulator, so it's representative of either version of the product.


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