Sega Megadrive Handheld

This handheld games console isn’t much like the new Nintendo DSi. Instead of the up-to-date technology the DSi contains, the Megadrive Handheld takes us back to the technology of the early 1990s and, as the name suggests, the original Sega Megadrive console.

When that machine was new it was the state of the art and required a tabletop and a mains connection. Progress being what it is, the handheld version does exactly the same thing but it’s tiny, weighs hardly anything and is powered by three AAA batteries that lasted for hours.

Instead of taking games on cartridge like the original, this version comes with 20 games loaded on to it. Today’s kids are unlikely to see this as any more than a novelty so the Megadrive Handheld has to appeal to older gamers, which means that if you don’t like the games it contains (there’s a list below), tough. It’s an interesting selection, the best probably being Golden Axe.

The build is a little plasticky, but it was certainly up to our frantic button-mashing. The screen is small but clear (and it comes with cables to hook up to a TV) and the built-in speaker is impressively loud (there’s a headphone socket for public gaming).

While the included games weren’t the ones we’d have chosen, the Megadrive Handheld was able to sustain our attention for a long time and with its excellent battery life, is a good alternative to more modern handhelds. Our main problem was being nowhere near as good at Golden Axe as we remembered.

Included games

Alex Kidd
Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Arrow Flash
Columns 3
Crack Down
Decap Attack
Mean Bean Machine
Ecco
Ecco Jr
Eswat
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe
Jewel Master
Kid Chameleon
Shadow Dancer
Shinobi 3
Sonic and Knuckles
Sonic Spinball