'does this have sonic and the hedgehog': A brief look at some Sega Genesis clones

The other day I was looking for Chicago Enforcers jerseys on Poshmark. That's an actual real thing I did, I'm not ashamed. Somehow that search led me to their video game section. I thought Poshmark was only for clothes. What do I know about anything though?

That's where I spotted this listing:

Poshmark listing

Now that's a terrible deal. I bought that same thing at a Dollar General for under $30. Sega Genesis clone systems like this were a staple of their "black friday" deals in the early-to-mid 2010s.

The first, so far only, question for this listing didn't floor me:

Poshmark question

OK two things:

  1. Back when I worked at Electronics Boutique I probably had someone ask this exact same question. I definitely had hundreds of questions just like it. Someone asking "does this have sonic and the hedgehog" about a Super Nintendo would not make the top 10 dumbest questions received on an average day.
  2. That system totally comes with "sonic and the hedgehog". All these clone systems do.

Right? They all do? Let's find out...

To make my life slightly easier, I'm going to finally unbox this:

RCA coupler

This will turn a regular RCA cable, of which I have many, into an RCA extension cord. It's clearly been in a drawer of cables for a long time. I don't remember what plans I had in mind when I bought it.

Yes, I simply wanted to show a picture of something with a RadioShack logo on it. Also it saves me walking like 3 feet when I want to change systems. I probably upset someone by opening this.

With that out of the way, let's see the clones.

AtGames Nomad clone

This is an imitation Sega Nomad with some built-in games. The quality of the system is not awesome. Mine came with a crooked sticker along the top. This was also a "black friday" deal at Dollar General. This site is not sponsored by Dollar General.

AtGames - Nomad clone

It includes an earphone jack and A/V out.

AtGames - Nomad clone - ports

It plays most Sega Genesis cartridges. A non-supported cartridge acts like there is no cartridge at all.

AtGames - Nomad clone - cartridge support

The whole thing looks and feels extremely cheap, because it is. I'm not bashing it. I understand that buying a cheap system means I bought a cheap system.

does this have sonic and the hedgehog

AtGames - Nomad clone - Sonic and Knuckles

Yes, it includes two games that meet the minimal definition of "sonic and the hedgehog". Although it does not include Sonic 1 or 2.

The full game list

  1. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
  2. Alien Storm
  3. Altered Beast
  4. Arrow Flash
  5. Columns 3
  6. Crack Down
  7. Decap Attack
  8. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
  9. Ecco the Dolphin
  10. Ecco Jr.
  11. E-SWAT
  12. Flicky
  13. Gain Ground
  14. Golden Axe
  15. Jewel Master
  16. Kid Chameleon
  17. Shadow Dancer
  18. Shinobi 3
  19. Sonic & Knuckles
  20. Sonic Spinball

OK, time to rate this:

Game Selection     Emulation
3     3

The game selection is good but not overwhelming. It's a pretty standard assortment of games in a Sega Genesis collection except for a complete lack of Sonic 1 or 2. Games play fine on it. The sound is funky but that's going to be reoccurring theme today.



AtGames console

This is the thing seen in the Poshmark listing. With the cartridge slot for scale you can tell it's very small. I would not use this as a primary Sega Genesis system. It's the kind of thing you'd throw in a guest room. I don't have a guest room, I imagine if I did it would include some games. That seems like a good guest amenity. I would overthink which cartridges to include in the guest room. I'd want to avoid looking like a hipster by including some virtually unknown sleeper games. I also wouldn't want to look like a poser by including extremely common games. I'd also want a couple different genres. See, I'm overthinking it already. Let's just go with OutRun, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, Madden '96, and Super Street Fighter II. I think that covers it.

Alright, the console:

AtGames console

It includes two wireless controllers that are junk.

AtGames console - controllers

They look nice but don't work well.

That's OK because it has connections for original Sega Genesis controllers too.

AtGames console - front ports

It has mono AV out and requires a power brick.

AtGames console - back ports

Hmm... it's gotta be one of these:

Bin of power bricks

I did not test it exhaustively, but it appears to have the same cartridge support as its portable cousin.

AtGames console - cartridge support

does this have sonic and the hedgehog

AtGames console - Sonic 2

Yes, it has 5 games that people would recognize as "sonic and the hedgehog".

The full game list

  1. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
  2. Alien Storm
  3. Altered Beast
  4. Arrow Flash
  5. Bonanza Brothers
  6. Chakan
  7. Columns
  8. Columns 3
  9. Comix Zone
  10. Crack Down
  11. Decap Attack
  12. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
  13. Ecco the Dolphin
  14. Ecco Jr.
  15. Fatal Labyrinth
  16. Flicky
  17. Gain Ground
  18. Golden Axe
  19. Golden Axe 2
  20. Golden Axe 3
  21. Jewel Master
  22. Kid Chameleon
  23. Ristar
  24. Shadow Dancer
  25. Shinobi 3
  26. Sonic 3D Blast
  27. Sonic & Knuckles
  28. Sonic Spinball
  29. Sonic the Hedgehog
  30. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  31. Streets of Rage
  32. Streets of Rage 2
  33. Streets of Rage 3
  34. The Ooze
  35. Vectorman
  36. Vectorman 2
  37. Virtua Fighter 2
  38. 40 knock-off games developed by AtGames or someone

OK, time to rate this:

Game Selection     Emulation
4     3

This is an impressive game selection. It could only be improved with some RPGs and I suspect they didn't emulate save batteries. The emulation is no better or worse than the previous system.



Madden '95 + NHL '95

I'm unboxing two items today. I've been annoyed at how much space this takes up for years now.

Madden '95 + NHL '95 - front

It's not like I have this box displayed anywhere. It's in a storage cube with a dozen other cheap plug 'n play systems like it.

Before I destroy the box, here's what the back looks like:

Madden '95 + NHL '95 - back

Wait, what's that?

Madden '95 + NHL '95 - player numbers

Interesting - the player names have been scrubbed. I vaguely remember Madden '95 being the first in the series with player names. This seems to suggest benching Dan Marino for Bernie Kosar. Also there was no 88 for the Detroit Lions that year and even so he would have been a receiver. The 52 for Buffalo would have been... John Holecek, a linebacker. No, I did not know that off-hand. You won't find another site that thinks this much about a blurry screenshot on the box for a cheap clone system.

Anyway, let's fire-up the original and compare:

Madden '95 with names

So at a glance, this looks like a quickly thrown together product. I don't think that's the case now. Besides the removal of the names, they also replaced the licensed music. Doing the former while avoiding text formatting issues, and doing the latter at all, are not trivial ROM hacks.

I have to question their choice of games now. Madden '94 would have been less work because it lacks player names. NHL '94 has a hardcore cult following. I get it's a year older but it seems like a better choice. '95 wasn't the last year for these games on the Sega Genesis, they lasted 3 more. For the target demographic of these gizmos, '95 was the de-facto final 16-bit version of these. So I understand why '95 was selected.

There is a manual included:

Madden '95 + NHL '95 - manuals

And the system itself:

Madden '95 + NHL '95 - controller

That beat-up looking system there, that is exactly how it was out of the box. It's also heavier than it appears.

The d-pad is kind of funky but functional. It has an internal battery for saving.

Madden '95 + NHL '95 - controller up-close

The games look kinda off. These are not just bad pictures, they really do not look right.

Madden '95 + NHL '95 - screens

They play well enough though. This is fine for a quick nostalgia hit if these were someone's old favorites.

does this have sonic and the hedgehog

No, of course it does not.

The full game list

  1. Madden '95
  2. NHL '95

OK, time to rate this:

Game Selection     Emulation
1     3

I was going to knock the emulation score down to 2 but remembered it supports saving which is a nice addition. I suppose that makes up for the odd graphics.



Radica Genesis clone

I could swear "Radica" was the name of a 90s alt-brit band. Anyway, I bought this in 2009 and haven't used it much.

They made an interesting design choice with this system. The miniature Sega Genesis is mostly a battery compartment. It probably but not definitely has the chip running the games crammed in there too. That could also be in the controller. I'm not doing a tear-down.

Radica Sega clone

The look of the controller is alright. I could see a 3rd party controller in that color selling in 1992. The competition that year was not great, this controls better than the average 3rd party controller of 1992.

does this have sonic and the hedgehog

Radica Sega clone - Sonic the Hedgehog

Yes, it has the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

The full game list

  1. Sonic the Hedgehog
  2. Golden Axe
  3. Kid Chameleon
  4. Altered Beast
  5. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
  6. Flicky

OK, time to rate this:

Game Selection     Emulation
2     2

Kind of a meh selection compared to the AtGames clones. The games all look and sound just enough off to knock it down a point on this totally arbitrary ranking I invented out of nowhere.



Arcade Motion

This is the first of these systems that I've played close to heavily.

This is a small enough system to throw in your backpack for a business trip. I have done this many times. If I'm given a choice between (a) go out to dinner with co-workers or (b) eat at the hotel bar alone then play poorly emulated Genesis in my room - I will choose (b) every single time. 10/10, would recommend. The wireless controllers let you kick back and play from a distance.

Arcade Motion

I mean the controllers aren't any good but the range is fine and I'm usually not playing action games.

The real reason I've brought this system along so many times is the SD card support.

Arcade Motion - top

You know, for playing homebrew games. Just homebrew games. Here it is playing one now:

Arcade Motion - running a homebrew game

It includes some knock-off Wii Sports games:

Arcade Motion - Wii Sports knock-off games

These are OK. They were probably a lot of effort. 90% of the golf game is watching the ball landing animation which goes on forever. I don't think the controllers have any precision to the motion. For example, in the baseball game flailing the controller at the right time will always produce a home run. If you had an extremely gullible child in 2006 perhaps you could convince them this was a Wii.

does this have sonic and the hedgehog

Arcade Motion - Sonic the Hedgehog 2

It does and it's weird. The menu has dozens of entries that are names of Sonic stages. Choosing one starts the game as normal but after the title screen you immediately start at the selected level. Perhaps I should have chosen screen shots that match to explain this better.

The full game list

  1. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
  2. Arrow Flash
  3. Bonanza Brothers
  4. Columns
  5. Columns 3
  6. Crack Down
  7. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
  8. Ecco the Dolphin
  9. Fatal Labyrinth
  10. Flicky
  11. Ristar
  12. Sonic Spinball
  13. Sonic the Hedgehog
  14. The Ooze
  15. 20ish knock-off games
  16. 7 attempts to create Wii Sports

OK, time to rate this:

Game Selection     Emulation
2     3

It's not an amazing game selection but that's not the appeal of this clone.



The Firecore, but it's not called that

I believe the official name of this is the "Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player". It was another sub-$30 deal one weekend in November. The screen and buttons are an upgrade from the first AtGames portable device on this page. This is one of the better clones covered on this page, really the best one so far.

Firecore

It does not have a cartridge slot but has an SD slot. You know, for homebrew games.

Firecore - top

See, it runs homebrew games just fine. Maybe other games work off the SD card too.

Firecore - running a homebrew game

Here's a close-up of the button layout, I can't recall why I thought this was important to include.

Firecore - buttons

I think I wanted to illustrate they are better than the other AtGames portable clone. It's a cheap system for sure, but it feels slightly less cheap than the others.

does this have sonic and the hedgehog

Firecore - Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This one also has 5 games that people would recognize as "sonic and the hedgehog".

The full game list

  1. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
  2. Alien Storm
  3. Altered Beast
  4. Arrow Flash
  5. Bonanza Brothers
  6. Chakan
  7. Columns
  8. Columns 3
  9. Comix Zone
  10. Crack Down
  11. Decap Attack
  12. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
  13. E-SWAT
  14. Eternal Champions
  15. Fatal Labyrinth
  16. Flicky
  17. Gain Ground
  18. Golden Axe
  19. Golden Axe 2
  20. Golden Axe 3
  21. Jewel Master
  22. Kid Chameleon
  23. Mortal Kombat
  24. Mortal Kombat 2
  25. Mortal Kombat 3
  26. Phantasy Star II
  27. Phantasy Star III
  28. Ristar
  29. Shadow Dancer
  30. Shinobi 3
  31. Sonic 3D Blast
  32. Sonic & Knuckles
  33. Sonic Spinball
  34. Sonic the Hedgehog
  35. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  36. Sword of Vermilion
  37. The Ooze
  38. Vectorman
  39. Vectorman 2
  40. 41 knock-off games

OK, time to rate this:

Game Selection     Emulation
4     3

Including the Mortal Kombat games is a big licensing win for AtGames. This is also the first clone system with RPGs included.



Sega Genesis Mini

This is the newest Genesis clone as of whenever I posted this. It is an attempt to recreate the NES Classic craze that enriched so many scummy scalpers.

Sega Genesis Mini

This is an HDMI system that I assume runs Android. It supports USB controllers and includes an OK reproduction of the original controller. It's a 3 button controller despite the system including at least one game that really needs a 6 button one. The emulation is very good, that's the biggest selling point of this. It costs more than the other clones but it's overall a better experience.

does this have sonic and the hedgehog

Sega Genesis Mini - Sonic the Hedgehog

This whole article was just an excuse to try out a very cheap HDMI capture device I bought recently. For all the other systems I took bad pictures from my fairly old phone. Anyway, this has fewer "sonic and the hedgehog" games than some of the cheaper clones.

The full game list

  1. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
  2. Alisa Dragoon
  3. Altered Beast
  4. Beyond Oasis
  5. Castle of Illusion
  6. Castlevania Bloodlines
  7. Columns
  8. Comix Zone
  9. Contra Hard Corps
  10. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
  11. Dynamite Headdy
  12. Earthworm Jim
  13. Ecco the Dolphin
  14. Eternal Champions
  15. Ghouls 'n Ghosts
  16. Golden Axe
  17. Gunstar Heroes
  18. Kid Chameleon
  19. Landstalker
  20. Light Crusader
  21. Mega Man The Wily Wars
  22. Monster World IV
  23. Phantasy Star IV
  24. Road Rash II
  25. Shining Force
  26. Shinobi 3
  27. Sonic Spinball
  28. Sonic the Hedgehog
  29. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  30. Space Harrier II
  31. Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition
  32. Streets of Rage 2
  33. Strider
  34. Super Fantasy Zone
  35. Tetris
  36. Thunder Force III
  37. ToeJam & Earl
  38. Vectorman
  39. Virtua Fighter 2
  40. Wonder Boy in Monster World
  41. World of Illusion

OK, time to rate this:

Game Selection     Emulation
4     4

This is going to be the overall winner. It cost about as much as all the other ones combined so the quality should be a lot better. The game selection is a tad eclectic. It feels like it is going for a "greatest hits" compilation.


That's all I have this time around. I already declared this article would be "brief". I know there are many clone systems I did not cover. If I acquire any new-to-me ones I will likely add them to this page.


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