#clone console

Firstly, let's try to say some nice things about this piece of junk. Dull and generic though it may look, I like the small form-factor of this console. It doesn't take up too much room and unlike a lot of these clones, waste more plastic than it needs to. It could arguably even be considered the first of the now legion mini consoles. Atgames had been churning these out for close to a decade or more before the NES Mini hit the shelves.

So what are the games like? While it only contains a relatively paltry 10 games built-in, almost all of the games are surprisingly fun titles that I actually enjoy playing. But to tell the truth, it's still a rather sad collection of mostly B and C tier games. Only 3 (or 4 at a push) could really be considered grade A classics. As expected for a console named the "Streets of Rage Limited Edition", Two of the games are Streets of Rage titles: 1&3 (curiously omitting the second game, considered to be the best in the series by many).

Weirder still, Sonic Spinball is the only Sonic game included here at all. Why? It's hands down the worst of all Mega Drive Sonic games, I can only assume it's here because they wanted to slap Sonic on the box and it's all they could license at the time. The rest of the games included are: Alien Storm, Altered Beast, Columns, ESWAT, Fatal Labyrinth, Golden Axe and Shadow Dancer.

The Controllers aren't too bad at all.

In the box are two half-way decent wired 6-Button controllers. Indeed, they may be the best thing about this console. Yes, they're extremely cheap and longevity may be a factor, but for now they work pretty well. I had no problems executing a barrage of Hadoukens with the D-Pad and the buttons have a good responsive springiness to them. I even like these controllers enough to use them with my original Mega Drive.

Update:  Sadly, the brittle plastic in the D-pad did snap fairly quickly after a few more session of SF II. But Atgames redesigned later versions of the pad and they do appear to be more durable. 

Despite not having a PAL/NTSC switch as listed in the manual, the console is also completely region free. It plays all of my UK, JP and US carts without any trouble, albeit at 50hz (because of course it does. It's made for Atgames by some pirate outfit somewhere in China after all). Image output is also decent and crisp enough if played on a CRT television. That said, if you're the kind of person to still own a CRT in 2021, there's a good chance you're already a dedicated retro gamer and not likely to be the market this console is aimed for.

The logo is just a poorly printed sticker. Surely a mark of quality.

And finally, it's technically a Mega Drive... In the same way I'm "technically" a fully grown adult. But it's still a Mega Drive and that's what counts, right? Right..?

That's just about it for the good stuff. But don't think that means we can't still have some fun with it. Because in a strange way, this little console is quite entertaining, though not in the way its makers likely intended. If you've ever owned one of these, you'll probably know what I'm getting at.

Yes, it's the notoriously terrible audio of these plug and play atrocities. The de-tuned atonal wreckage this console makes of some of the most beloved Sega chiptunes had me chuckling out loud more than once. The sound is so bad it's funny. Think the Thunder Force III and IV soundtracks are true chiptune masterpieces? Not on the Atgames Mega Drive they ain't! I found myself digging out most of my collection just to see what kind of mess the system would make of each game's soundtrack. The better the music, the funnier it would be to hear it butchered.

Taking out Mecha Pon in Strider. Video output isn't too bad...

Not all games are affected equally, however. As a general rule of thumb, the earlier the game the better it is likely to sound. Flicky and Space Harrier II, for example, play down pitched but are close enough to how they should sound (which is great, because I love these games). Apparently, the off-key music has something to do with the way the PSG chip is implemented (A technical explanation of the issue can be found at Big Evil Corporation). So chiptunes that don't contain much PSG tend to fare better.

But that doesn't mean they sound "good" exactly. The output is still only mono after all and there's an unpleasantly scratchy, harsh, metallic, off-colour tone to every sorry note this console spews into the air. It might be more accurate to say they sound somewhat tolerably wrong. Interestingly, Probotector is one of the few games that sounds kind of OK on an Atgames MD because it actually has a selectable monaural setting for the music in the options menu!

As for the game play, it's OKish but a bit slow, even when compared to the already slow PAL region Mega Drive Model 1 that I've owned since childhood. Cart compatibility is not too bad either. It ran most games I tested, but don't expect it to play nice with the usual suspects. So that means no Virtua Racing or Super Street Fighter II. The latter is no big deal however, since SF II: SCE is better anyway and it plays that game just fine (hilariously botching the soundtrack, naturally).

Aside from the built-in games, some other titles I had a tolerable if occasionally glitchy time playing on this console included Super Hang-On, Truxton, Micro Machines 2 Turbo Tournament, Mortal Kombat, Fatal Fury, Space Harrier II, Road Rash II and Strider. But other games such as Gunstar Heroes and those in the Sonic, Thunder Force and Streets of Rage series are too aurally brutalising to be endured for long.

One of the more entertaining glitches I encountered while testing games was a disappearing goal in NHLPA '93, which certainly added some extra challenge to the game! A funny glitch also popped up in the early stages of my copy of Golden Axe (Mega Games II version). On the first stage, the magic pots those little imp dudes drop are completely invisible, slowly glitching into view as the levels progress. But at least it’s not an NTSC ROM forced into PAL model like the built in version (seems like Sega corrected the music speed for PAL territories when they put together the Mega Games compilation carts). So choose your poison, I guess.

Another thing to note is how strongly the console grips onto carts. It really hangs onto some games for grim death. Hopefully it will loosen up with use, but I won't be playing valuable or rare games with this console very often, if at all. 

At least the Box art looks cool...

I fully expected to hate on this thing. But honestly, I had a fun (if thoroughly janky) experience testing it out. There are better knock-off clones out there for sure, and other better ways of playing these games, but it's not nearly as terrible as some make it out to be. Marooned on a desert island with one of these, a CRT television, a source of electricity and nothing else better to do, it'd say this would be a fine alternative to playing the genuine article. When every last Sega manufactured Mega Drive has fried its very last chips, this could indeed be a viable option.

Besides, I don't want to be too critical of this hardware. I strongly suspect western countries are very much a secondary market for the majority of these consoles. There are plenty of places in the world where this might be the only games machine a parent could afford to buy for their children. When you're catering to such a market, quality wise some things have got to give and even an Atgames Mega Drive is better than no Mega Drive at all.

The biggest cost to producing these systems for the west undoubtedly comes down to officially licensing the games. So Sega too must share some of the blame, for cynically attempting to eek out every last drop of profit from hawking long dead IP to the likes of Atgames, and for not giving a shit about the quality of the end product. After all, those Radica plug and Play consoles predating the Atgames era were so much better. Had Sega cared, might we have had a revision of the Radica hardware with a fix for the distorted audio and an added cartridge slot? But instead, we got 10 years of this junk filling up the bargain bins after Christmas. Fortunately, with the release of the Mega Drive mini Sega have redeemed themselves somewhat.

Read the fine print. Sega want you to know they had next to nothing to do with this hunk of junk.

With all that said, as a Mega Drive of last resort it's not too bad. But does that mean I think you should get one*? God no. Please, please don't.

If there's a Mega Drive waiting for us all to play in hell, this is it**.

Nevertheless, it's still a part of Sega history. I'm happy to have one of these in my collection as a reminder of Sega's darker times.

Final note: If anyone is interested in what internal chip set this particular console is running on, it’s the RK 2 (RedKid 2) Mega Drive/Genesis on a chip from a company called Digital Media Cartridge. The PCB has the letters RK2 printed on it just above the cartridge slot. 

*However, I do think the second version of the Atgames Mega Drive Flashback HD console is worth picking up if you can find it for a good price. Just be sure you visit the GBAtemp forums for an update to the firmware. I plan to review this console one day too.