Sega will be following up the Mega Drive Mini – and the soon-to-be released Game Gear Micro – with a miniature version of their iconic Astro City arcade cabinets. The Astro City is one of the most famous fixtures of the arcade scene back in the 80s and 90s. If you head to Japan today you will see tonnes of these cabinets lining up in arcades in places such as Akihabara, and random cheap 50 Yen parlours you may stumble upon.
And Sega will be honouring the Astro City’s historic legacy by releasing a miniature version of it for retro enthusiasts that will be dropping later this year.
News of the Astro City Mini was reported in a post by Sega Driven, with details on the console originally appearing on Game Watch in a now-deleted article.
The Sega Astro City Mini will be loaded up with 36 classic arcade titles such as Virtua Fighter and Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder.
The latter is a brilliant beat-em up based on the famed series that Sega fans will know from the Mega Drive days.
Unfortunately Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder never received a home console port, despite seeming perfectly placed for a release on the Sega Saturn.
So it has stayed a part of the Sonic maker’s esteemed arcade history that only a select number of players have been lucky enough to play – until now.
Besides the Astro City Mini, there will be one other way Sega fans can play this Golden Axe hidden gem.
Arcade 1Up has also announced an arcade cabinet will be launching in 2020 with Revenge of Death Adder, which as to be expected looks suitably awesome.
Here are the confirmed games that have been revealed so far for the Sega Astro City Mini…
• Alien Syndrome
• Alien Storm
• Golden Axe
• Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder
• Columns II
• Dark Edge
• Tant-R
• Virtua Fighter
• Fantasy Zone
• Altered Beast
It remains to be seen what other Sega arcade classics could be featuring on the 36 strong games list for the Astro City Mini.
But looking at the eras these games were made could give an idea of what other titles may feature.
The games that have been confirmed for the Sega Astro City Mini are running on the Model 1 system board (which was released in 1992) or before.
Which could suggest that the Astro City Mini’s games list will be made up of titles mainly from the 80s and early 90s.
One other Model 1 game that may feature on the Astro City Mini (if Sega can sort out the rights) is the brilliant Star Wars Arcade game from 1993.
While Arabian Fight and Spider-Man: The Video Game are among the System 32 (the board which Death Adder runs on) that may feature on the Astro City Mini.
It remains to be seen if latter era Sega arcade games, such as Fighting Vipers, Skud Race or Last Bronx could also feature on the Astro City Mini.
The Astro City Mini is due to release by the end of the year in Japan and is priced at 12,800 Yen, which currently converts to around £94.
There has been no official word so far on whether the Sega Astro City Mini will be heading to the West as well.