Sega announces Game Gear Micro, the strangest retro mini game device yet

Sega is reviving its 1990 handheld, the Game Gear, as a mini retro-console for the company’s 60th anniversary. The Sega Game Gear Micro will be released in Japan this October, and it may be the strangest retro device yet: The system comes in four different colors, and each colorway comes with four Game Gear games built-in. Each Game Gear Micro costs 4,980 yen (about $46) and will be released in Japan on Oct. 6.

The Sega Game Gear Micro is tiny indeed; it’s 80 mm wide (about 3.15 inches) and 43 mm tall (about 1.7 inches). The screen measures just 1.15 inches diagonally, about a third the size of the original Game Gear’s LCD screen and much tinier than the two-inch screen on the Game Boy Micro.

Here’s a look at each color variation and which games — emulated by developer M2, by the way — are included in each:

Image: Sega

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Puyo Puyo 2
• OutRun
• Royal Stone

Image: Sega

• Sonic & Tails
• Gunstar Heroes
• Sylvan Tale
• Baku Baku Animal

Image: Sega

• Shining Force Gaiden
• Shining Force Gaiden 2
• Shining Force Gaiden Final Conflict
• Nazo Puyo Arle no Roux

Image: Sega

• Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible
• Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special
• The GG Shinobi
• Columns

Playing those games on such a tiny screen will likely result in some eyestrain, but Sega has a solution: the Big Window Micro magnifying glass, a recreation of the Big Window released for the original Game Gear.

Image: Sega

Getting your hands on the Big Window Micro requires pre-ordering all four Game Gear Micro units at the same store (in Japan, at least — Sega has not announced a Western released for its mini Game Gear).

The Sega Game Gear Micro will be powered by two AAA batteries but can also be powered by a USB micro cable. It features a built-in speaker and a headphone jack.

Sega Genesis Mini

• $50

Prices taken at time of publishing.

The iconic Sega Genesis console that defined a generation of gaming returns in a slick, miniaturized unit.

• $50 at Amazon

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