Check Out Sega’s New Pocket Arcade, The Astro City Mini
Sega has been on a “mini” binge recently, creating miniaturized versions of its most popular devices from the past. You know about the Genesis Mini, and we just found out about the Game Gear Micro last month, but they have even more in mind.
Not a miniature Dreamcast, not a microscopic Master System, but an homage to their formative years: a tiny arcade machine, the Astro City Mini. Though Sega is known for its 80s and 90s consoles, it also had a long and profitable stint in the arcade business. Sega developed a scaling engine that wowed crowds in games like After Burner, OutRun and Space Harrier.
None of those three are yet confirmed for the Astro City Mini, though with 36 games packed in, we’d be shocked if they were all left out. Here are the games Sega HAS confirmed:
- Alien Syndrome
- Alien Storm
- Golden Axe
- Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder
- Columns II
- Dark Edge
- Puzzle & Action: Tant-R
- Virtua Fighter
- Fantasy Zone
- Altered Beast
So about the name “Astro City.” It’s the name of the generic cabinet shell Sega introduced to Japanese arcades in 1993 and used for many years. Arcade cabinets have a different shape in Japan; they are usually white with CRTs pitched at an angle. And in case you haven’t guessed, the Astro City Mini has only been announced for Japan.
If Sega decides to create an Americanized version, we’ll let you know. In Japan it will be released at a cost of 12,800 yen (or $120).