The Hyperkin Mega 95 Handheld Makes Your Old Sega Genesis Games New Again

Sega fans will soon be able to play all their favorite 16-bit games on-the-go with Hyperkin's Mega 95 handheld, a portable game console that's compatible with original Genesis game cartridges.

It's a big deal for fans of old-school Sega: A handful of classic Genesis games are now playable as emulated through the Nintendo Switch Online's retro gaming collection, but until now, the only other way to play actual Genesis cartridges on the go was to use a nearly thirty-year-old Sega device with a tiny screen.

Longtime gamers may remember that the Game Boy Advance was slightly more powerful than the Super Nintendo, allowing the handheld to play classic SNES titles like Super Mario World. Lesser known was Sega's attempt to make 16-bit Genesis (known as the Mega Drive internationally) games portable.

The beefy Sega Nomad was compatible with Genesis game carts, but only offered a 3.25-inch screen to play them on. The Nomad's expensive price tag and limited battery life also hindered its sales. With a five-inch LCD display and a battery that Hyperkin promises will last up to 10 hours, the Mega 95 looks like the portable Genesis that Sega fans would have excitedly embraced 28 years ago.

Like the Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive consoles, the Hyperkin Mega 95 plays physical game cartridges instead of requiring gamers to wade into the sketchy world of downloading digital copies of their favorite retro games. It also means that if you have your childhood copy of Sonic the Hedgehog, your saved progress may still be available.

The ill-fated Sega Nomad offered built-in connectivity to a TV for playing games on a bigger screen. With its Mega 95, Hyperkin is going the Nintendo Switch route with an included dock that adds AV connectivity as well as a pair of ports on the front for connecting original Sega Genesis controllers. Wireless controllers are, unfortunately, not an option.

Hyperkin hasn't announced pricing for the Mega 95 handheld yet, but The Verge speculates that it could arrive with a price tag comparable to Hyperkin's $120 SupaBoy which plays original 16-bit Super Nintendo cartridges.