Remember this? (Sega Megadrive)

Member Name: January

Product:	Sega Megadrive
Date:	02/09/05 (2313 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Games included and affordable

Disadvantages: Has flashing lights and patterns.

When the Sega megadrive first came out my three children clubbed together their pocket money and bought one to play on, that was quite a while ago and when I last went to my daughters to see my grandson his dad had found one I his attic and had given it him to play on.
My grandson who is only four absolutely loves it, he plays the Sonic games and the Street Racer game. The only thing is that the machine is dated and the wires are worn so having to mess around with the wires to get it tuned in is sometimes a bit of a hassle.

However, last week I earned enough Dooyou miles to cash in for an Amazon gift voucher and was surprised to see the Sega Megadrive New and boxed for sale for £16.99
Knowing how much my grandson loves his sega, I thought this would be an excellent time to start my Christmas shopping. I usually start getting something each week from September as I hate the rush of going into last minute panic buying.
I ordered a Sega mega drive from Amazon and a week later it arrived on my doorstep.

WHAT I GOT
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The Sega Megadrive comes in a purple coloured box with Sonic the Hedgehog on the side, the controller is shown at the front through a plastic front and the names of the six games included are written on the box.
When you open the box you see the parts inside which you have got, these include:-
The Control Pad which is a metallic blue and silver colour looking very up to date.
The Scart Adapter for your connection.
The 16 bit Mega Power Drive which is about the size of a personal stereo cassette player. This is a good up to date version of the older model, more compact and has to jack plugs which plug into the television.
An instruction manual for how to use and play the games.
Six games already installed onto the machine which is a change from the original where you had to fit the games into the top section of the Sega.

HOW TO USE
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The first thing to you need to do is to fit the batteries, it takes four AA batteries and these have to be placed in the battery compartment by using a screwdriver. Adult supervision is needed to install the batteries, or they need to do it for the very young one’s.
Once your batteries are installed then plug in the jack plugs which fit into the audio and video input of your television, if you don’t have these on your television you can connect the jack plugs into your video instead.
There is also a Scart adapter included if you have a scart plug at the back of your television and once this is connected the jack plugs will fit into the adapter.
It’s very easy to install, once you have installed the Sega turn it on and find the channel on your television which is your auxiliary channel, this can be found by pressing the AUX button on your remote. Press the power button on the Sega mega drive and it should automatically come onto the screen.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAMES
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Once you have found the right channel and turned on the power switch a menu screen will appear. There are six choices of games.:-

Sonic the Hedgehog
Altered Beast
Golden Axe
Kid Chameleon
Dr Robotnik’s Mean Machine
Flicky

Each game uses different control buttons to get through the game. The descriptions of which button does what is shown in the instructions manual, but by playing the games within minutes you get to know what button does what.
Select which game you want to play from the menu and off you go the basic controls for all games are the directional button on the pad which is the large black button with arrows going up-down, left-right. The A,B,C, buttons which are the small black one’s on the right of the control pad are pressed to get other movements out of your character of play, movements like jump, duck, use magic, attack, kick, throw and other such movements.
This is an easy to install and play game, it says for children of 8 years upwards but my grandson who is four going on ten can operate it easily enough and enjoys getting on next levels of the games.
I think in the 90’s when this game was popular the older teens played and loved it, but with the update of so many fast and furious computer games, children of a very young age seem to be able to grasp the mechanic’s of these older versions of games. Which to the teenagers of today they must seem only for the younger kids. Still, this sega mega drive will hold hours of entertainment for my grandson until he gets older and at £16.99 I think it’s a bargain.

BIT OF HISTORY
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Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 and was the best selling game of the year. It was the most popular of the sega megadrive games.
Other popular games are Golden axe which was released in 1989 as it was one of the first games to arrive on the scene. Choosing between being a warrior, a dwarf or Amazon to find and fight the evil death adder who has slain your family gives you loads of entertainment.
Dr Robotnik’s mean bean machine was released in 1993 and is a puzzle game that still is sold today.

WHAT I THINK
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On the whole I think I got a real bargain, a brand new boxed sega mega drive with control pad and scart adapter for £16.99.
I know my grandson ids going to love this when he opens it on Christmas day, it will give him so many hours of entertainment, much more than any set of cars, trains or board game he might receive. It is easy to install and tune in and I also know that my daughter will probably end up playing the Sonic game when she’s bored as she used to have the game when she was at home,.
I like the idea of the compact version as the older console was huge and clumsy looking, this mini version will sit nicely on the side of the television stand without taking up too much room.
The six games included are also a good idea, as buying the games separate become a problem and extra expense.
I am glad I found this on Amazon and am very happy with my purchase. I would recommend this to you as an idea for smaller children’s entertainment.
However, there is the warning clearly written in large black letters on the instruction manual that anyone with Epilepsy and seizures must consult their doctor before playing on this as it does have flashing lights and patterns.

Summary: A Good Buy