Sega's Yosuke Okunari and Hiroyuki Miyazaki discuss the recent Japanese release of the Asian Mega Drive Mini, which just sold out of its second & final allotment, the anniversary of Alien Soldier & the logic behind the Asian version's game lineup game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/interview…🇯🇵
on the Asian lineup: although the MD was sold in countries like Korea & Taiwan, there weren't many localised games at that time, so one of their priorities was making sure the lineup was full of games that weren't language-dependent, as well as pruning all the JP-heavy games
there were also games for which the license only covered Japan or for which the rights for specific countries couldn't be found; conversely, there were games that they could only license for the Asian region & couldn't be included on the other systems anyway
they didn't plan to release the Asian MD Mini in Japan but fan demand, as well as the surprising uptick in interest around Alien Soldier thanks to the Isekai Ojisan manga, made them think it was worth a shot; to that end, they specifically pushed it as an Alien Soldier box
(icymi, the Isekai Ojisan mangaka drew the special Alien Soldier promotional postcard that came with the JP release of the Asian MD Mini) 
even so, the JP release of the Asian mini was a fluke: they basically sold leftover stock from Asia which typically would've required additional domestic certification they weren't budgeted for, but it turns out Sega's hardware dept initially did tons of extra cert just in case
on Alien Soldier: it was being made right around the time Okunari joined Sega in '95; he remembers the excitement of seeing all the new bosses whenever a new ROM showed up, and how there were tons of fully-completed bosses that were cut due to the whims of the main dev, NAMI
later on, when Sega was making Gunstar Super Heroes with Treasure, he got to see it happen all over again—NAMI wouldn't hesitate to cut completed bosses that others thought were cool if he decided they didn't fit or weren't fun, regardless of the Sega producer's complaints
Alien Soldier's a really fun game to watch in the right hands, so for the Sega Ages 2500 Treasure Box, Okunari sought out JP's best Alien Soldier player, then sent this non-industry guy a dev kit & recorded his run; high-level replays are easily attainable nowadays, but not then
(I can't watch to verify atm but I believe this is said replay )
on Miyazaki's part, he remembers that Akihiko Mukaiyama, director & planner on Thousand Swords, Panzer Dragoon, Sakura Wars, etc declared it the best game he'd ever played, and how it was a game that really was perfect for certain people
on Sword of Vermilion: someone from the US suggested it as a Genesis Mini candidate so it was already on the 70-game short list, and M2's director Komabayashi really loved it; the game was AM2's first RPG & Rent-A-Hero was their second, so the JP Mini went with Rent-A-Hero, but…
…it seemed like a game Asian players could easily enjoy even in English, so it went on the Asian Mini
they also wanted a game that was easy to get into, as opposed to say, the more popular Phantasy Star II, which is a brutal game by today's standards, irrespective of language
they also wanted a game that was easy to get into, as opposed to say, the more popular Phantasy Star II, which is a brutal game by today's standards, irrespective of language
on Outrun 2019: the MD Mini was launching in '19 so Okunari wanted a game with 2019 in the title; they also wanted a racing game & it was one of the few without big licensing issues, but when they ended up getting Road Rash they picked it for JP & put Outrun2019 on the Asian Mini
Okunari also thinks Outrun 2019 is the sort of game people wouldn't necessarily buy if you presented it on its own, but if you put it in a collection then people will play and appreciate it
on Wonder Boy in Monster World: the JP Mini had a rule of one game per series; Monster World IV was considered a better standalone game for newcomers, so they went with MWIV over WBiMW, but the other Minis had no such rule, so they got both games (much to the joy of Komabayashi)
(the same goes for Mickey, Puyo, etc)
on Strider: it was the first 8Mbit MD game & one fondly remembered by megadrivers of a certain era, but it ended up being cut from the JP Mini due to wanting to avoid too many third-party games from any one publisher (in this case, Capcom)
on Strider: it was the first 8Mbit MD game & one fondly remembered by megadrivers of a certain era, but it ended up being cut from the JP Mini due to wanting to avoid too many third-party games from any one publisher (in this case, Capcom)
looking back over the three Minis, Miyazaki's happy they were able to encapsulate the different regional tastes for MD/Genesis in an affordable way, and how it accurately demonstrates the massive popularity of the Genesis vs. the underdog status of the Japanese Mega Drive
on Okunari's part, he sees the Genesis Mini as a nostalgia play with lots of successful popular games, whereas the JP MD Mini's lineup (which he basically chose himself) was an attempt to introduce the MD to people who knew of it but hadn't really played it, so the games were...
...chosen not just due to mainstream or cult popularity but on what would be most appealing to new players; going back to Phantasy Star, PSII was & still is considered the most impactful of the MD games but for today's players, PSIV is the recommended introductory point
Miyazaki thinks this will probably be the last press they do for the MD Mini; it was a seat-of-the-pants project that nobody was prepared for but he thinks there's no way the knowhow they developed & the motivation they received from the public won't carry over to future projects
on a Saturn Mini: Okunari personally wants to do Sega CD Mini more than anything, as he's a big fan of Game Arts' CD games in particular
"the MD Mini's done for now but who knows, maybe in 5 or 10 years we'll do a 'Shin MD Mini', and put Sylpheed on it"
"the MD Mini's done for now but who knows, maybe in 5 or 10 years we'll do a 'Shin MD Mini', and put Sylpheed on it"
Miyazaki notes the PCE Mini & wants ppl to share pics of them side-by-side, as the success of any & all retro hardware makes future projects more likely
Okunari wants to see more direct comparison of competing products, because he like reliving the old "console wars" of the day
Okunari wants to see more direct comparison of competing products, because he like reliving the old "console wars" of the day
Miyazaki's final words: "MD Mini won price.com's '19 product award; thx to u, we beat Sony & Nintendo for the first time"
Okunari's final words: "I've been reissuing games for over 12 years but this project, both in terms of sales & hype, was especially impressive"
Okunari's final words: "I've been reissuing games for over 12 years but this project, both in terms of sales & hype, was especially impressive"
(if you were looking for an explicit reason why Alien Soldier's only on the Asian Mini, Okunari did share some reasons on twitter: it was cut from JP/US in favor of Headdy for reasons of difficulty, popularity, etc but they couldn't not include it, so it went on the Asian Mini)
