Sega Megadrive Handheld with 18 games built-in : Streets Of Rage - Special Edition

I didn't really plan on a 5 star rating, but after getting the full console version, this seems to have even better audio and is much easier to just pick up and play. It has a tv jack to play on the big screen, a headphone socket, quick and easy volume on the top and the buttons seem to be pretty nice and easy to use. It is a bit more expensive than the standard version, has less games, but they are by far better. Has streets of rage 1 and 3 but not 2, and only golden axe 2, but virtua fighter 2 is pretty decent though.Kind of a bit expensive considering the other one is almost half the price, but I only cared about streets of rage so it is worth it to have that game on a dedicated device for the odd muck about now and again. Playing ROMS on a smartphone is a bit of a pain with touchscreen and I can never be bothered to pair a controller to it. So this is really handy to have around.

If like myself you get nostalgic for the days of two dimensional side scrolling game play this device is absolutely for you, I have been told that these devices are effectively games emulators which run a set number of games but I could not tell them apart from any of the games which I recall playing on the consoles themselves or, in some cases, the cabinet arcade games themselves.The device itself is a small, light, plastic LCD screen handheld console with a directional pad and three button keys to each side of the screen itself, there is a "start" key and also a "menu" key for quickly switching between games, a "wheel" key on the top of the device for adjusting the volume of the device (it plays the original keystroke and game soundtracks) and a port for attaching the handheld device to a TV via a lead (included with the device in its box).Included with the led and device, are two inlay cards, one is provides instructions upon battery care and use, the other is an instruction manual which reproduces the inlay cards from each of the games and the controls for each game. The games included are Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle; Alien Storm; Altered Beast; Arrow Flash; Bonanza Bros; Columns; Crack Down; Decap Attack; ESWAT:City Under Siege; Fatal Labyrinth; Flicky; Golden Axe 2; Jewel Master; Shadow Dancer - The Secret of Shinobi; Streets of Rage; Streets of Rage 3; Sonic and Knuckles; Virtua Fighter 2.I think this is an excellent pick of games, providing a very good overview of the games which were available on the Megadrive, the best of the side scrolling beat 'em ups which where exclusive to that system, one of the final Sonic games, one of the ultimate or penultimate Shinobi games, puzzlers, a side scrolling shoot 'em up and top down shooter. The difficulty of each of these games is pretty much as I recall it, reproduced here with the limited continues available to gamers back in the day and frustrating lack of ability to save gaming progress, these features are not going to win fans among younger gamers or among gamers who have played these games on emulators or in collections released for other consoles or platforms which made made an infinite amount of continues available. However, while these games were difficult and at times frustrating for anyone who grew up with that as a staple it will not be any deterrence to play. I am also convinced that the core game play, often pretty simple, is so good that despite it all these games could win new fans among people new to this sort of gaming. A few of these games have been featured in online presentations by both the Angry Video Game Nerd and his counterpoint the Happy Video Game Nerd and anyone following either of them would no doubt appreciate this device and game anthology.It is perhaps an omission on the part of the developers that they havent provided a port for or lead to connect the device to the mains electricity supply, it is therefore going to be dependent upon batteries and while I havent noticed it being too demanding in terms of replacement batteries it could be that I have not played it as intensively as some of the other reviewers reporting that this is a big problem for them. It is easily fixed by using a rechargeable set of batteries.I was concerned about the reports in other reviews that the hinged battery cover is difficult to open with a smaller than usual screw which will become impossible to remove and require it to be broken open! I have to report that it is a very small screw, it is a star head and I think using a larger than necessary star head screw driver or the wrong sort of tool for the job could lead to problems I was able to remove this with a smaller screw driver without issue. Once you do remove the screw its not necessary to use it again, unless you are seriously concerned about someone stealing your batteries, because the door is hinge and closes and holds fast without the screw affixed. It is a light and mainly plastic device, so I am not sure how durable it is or if it would survive many drops or rough handling, so far it has not proven too fragile though. Sound is good from whatever sort of speakers it uses but it is of its day (no award winning scores accompaniment here). The LCD screen is small, its not impossible to read the dialogue boxes or onscreen options, it doesnt interfer with the game play but there is always the option of hooking this up to the TV to play with a bigger picture.

The product is not bad, but honestly, I was expecting more.As other reviews said, the sound quality is pretty bad. The screen is quite small and the image quality is slightly poor.The plastic case it's nice, but the quality of the plastic is quite ordinary.Best of all is the packaging.

I already have the standard rechargable edition (4 stars) and bought this one for my wife. This edition has a battery cover with a single screw. It's made of cheese and tightly fastened. A normal screwdriver blurs the screw head into flat metal.Don't buy this - you won't be able to get into it.

Broke after one days occasional use!Really hard to get batteries in as they are screwed in. Blaze need to spend more time refining the product and improving build quality. If it was only about £10 I would understand but £30!!

Just received my handheld mega drive streets of rage edition. Its a present but i had to have a go. didn't want to put it down. Great games with authentic sounds. Great, think I want to buy all the editions!

I love it, it's a must have in my purse, keeps children quiet on trips in the car or train, and it brings back some good memories

Timely Delivery and Lego as always a big hit with the kids. Kept them amused for 30 mins on Xmas day