Radica Ghouls n Ghost & Street Fighter II Plug n Play
After taking a quick trip to the Goodwill Outlet store I found the final piece of the puzzle. Yes, I finally found the last Radica Sega Genesis Plug n Play for my collection, unless I find out they made more. This one varies from all the rest in a few ways, but in more functional ways than the OutRun 2019 I reviewed last time.
Firstly you will notice the two controllers sticking out of the system, instead of just one, as well as the Street Fighter II logo adorning both controllers. Radica decided to save space by using the smaller (model 2) style Genesis controllers, player 1 in red and player 2 in blue. But this time Radica gave us both Street Fighter II and Ghouls and Ghosts, two games that offer a 2 player mode and make full use of having two controllers hardwired to the system.
But soon after putting the controller in my hands, I immediately had a pair of problems. The first is the blatant fact that these controllers are obviously smaller than the Genesis controller of this shape; they’re comfortable don’t get me wrong, they’re just smaller. The second is a major issue I’ve voiced many times with Famiclones, and other systems alike, that put the Menu/Reset button right where I expect the Start button to be.
Although placed slightly below the actual Start button, in a hurry to get the phone, take a bathroom break or even just simply not paying attention this is TOO CLOSE to the Start button to avoid! And not only that, but both controllers have a Menu botton, this means either player can accidentally hit the Menu button and screw up a whole game. Perhaps Radica should have made use of where the Mode button on the Genesis controller was for their Menu button, but its too late to complain about it now.
Radica did an ok job on these little systems, but I have seen modders take a crack at them and add cartridge slots, enabling them to play almost any Genesis cartridge (I assume they become essentially a Genesis 3). As these systems are pretty much a Genesis on a Chip (Genechip? Take that and use it freely, just remember where you learned it!) this particular system would be the best one to modify, having 2 controllers. But with how plentiful the Genesis 2, the system these are modeled after, are on the market, you’re better off with the real thing.
I won’t go into any detail about Street Fighter II or Ghouls n Ghosts, as I’m sure we’re all fairly familiar with these games by now. I will however say that I wish Radica had chosen more games with two player modes to put in here and didn’t market it so heavily as a Street Fighter II machine. I’m not a Street Fighter II fan, so the game that I like most in this system doesn’t get top billing, nor does it even get honorable mention (or mentioned at all) until the title screen!
Sure these systems aren’t vintage, but the system they’re inspired by and the games they offer are. If nothing more than a fun novelty to own I would collect many more of these systems, had Radica made more. But on the practical side, these are far easier to pack for trips than the real thing.
OutRun 2019: Radica Plug n Play
Yet again I found a Radica Plug n Play system, but this one is different in 2 respects. Firstly this one is a dedicated system, as it only has OutRun 2019 built in, as where the previous two had six games each. Secondly, and most notably, instead of a normal Genesis controller this one offers a pseudo steering wheel.
The system looks the same, but that controller is WILD!
Now I said pseudo steering wheel because from the look and feel of it one may assume the wheel is analog, but once I took the controller apart I found it only has 2 contact points, making essentially a two direction D-Pad. Another issue with the controller is that in the heat of racing and trying to keep your car on the track, the wheel portion feels weak and I often found myself letting off to avoid breaking the controller, leading my car off track and losing valuable time. However, you don’t need to use the wheel part to steer as you can use the D-pad on the face of the controller, but its too cramped to be comfortable, let alone any real use, subconsciously forcing your hand back to the wheel.
The C button is on the back, for some reason.
Stepping away from the controller and onto the game, OutRun 2019 is a fun game, albeit a bit removed from the rest of the series. OutRun 2019 was developed by a completely different company, but still published by Sega. Despite that you can expect pretty much the same experience as any other OutRun game.
OutRun 2019 is, obviously trying to be, a futuristic version of OutRun, in which you race through the course trying to beat the clock. My only problem with this is that the cars look slightly futuristic but the tracks and environments all seem to be modern day. Other than this slight oversight, again, the game plays just as the same as any other OutRun.
You still pick which direction you want to go to complete the course, but this time there are roads with two tiers, causing you to be more cautious as to not fly off the track. Also something new is if you max out your speed for a certain period of time you will receive an automatic turbo boost. This is pretty neat, but usually speeds the car up too much causing me to let off the gas within seconds to take a turn, really rendering this feature useless.
I have noticed OutRun 2019 seems to be a bit more forgiving in the wrecking department. Almost anything in OutRun that would send your car flying off the track, causing you to wait for it to recover, seem to merely cause your car in OutRun 2019 to spin around, quickly recovering and back on track with minimal interruption. Although the game handles much the same as OutRun, I can’t really connect with it as much as I do the other games in the series I’ve played.
Radica Sega Genesis Plug n Play version 2
You could say I’ve been on a bit of a plug n play kick lately, but I prefer to think of it as playing vintage games I don’t own in any other form. As we all know vintage games are getting harder and harder to find, so I will play them almost any way I can. Luckily these plug n play systems make that affordable and simple, while taking steps to make the experience feel more genuine than simply emulating the systems they’re trying to be.
Comparative of Versions 1 and 2.
This Genesis plug n play system is the second that I own, and it included 6 different games than the one I previously reviewed. This time they managed to pack in: Sonic 2, Ecco the Dolphin, Gain Ground, The Ooze, Columns and Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle, the last of which I was most excited to get my hands on as I’ve never played an Alex Kidd game. I have to say that this system delivers a very good facsimile of a Genesis experience, especially with the controller design they’ve chosen.
Version 2 has a bold red controller.
I won’t go too in depth about this system, as it works the exact same as the blue one from the other article, I will however say that this one, to me, has the better choice of games out of the two. There is a third one that simply has 2 games on it, and 2 controllers, and if I manage to get my hands on that one I will review it as well. The game choices and 2 player controller design of that one deserve a bit more of an in depth review.
I love that miniature Genesis Model 2 design!
You may be wondering how they packed in 2 player games as the system only has a single controller, well somehow they’ve changed it to VS mode, at least in the games I’ve seen that should offer 2 player. I thoroughly enjoy these Radica Genesis plug n play systems because they give me 6 great game options to play through that I may not have otherwise had the opportunity to try. These plug n play systems aren’t technically vintage gaming, but the classic games they offer and experience you have playing those games sure are!
Radica Sega Genesis Plug n Play Review
When it comes to plug n play systems that look like, feel like or play vintage video games, I must own them! Although to some these systems might seem outdated, the plug n play era is pretty new to me; but I’m happy to dive into any of them that I don’t already own. So far, through the many different plug n play systems I have collected, I’ve been pretty surprised by what they bring to the table.
Obviously I prefer to collect the original hardware and software for the classic systems, but when I have the chance to get a handful of games built into one system for a fraction of what it would cost for the originals, that will tide me over until I can get the real thing. This is exactly what many of these little systems do, in fact some even bring new games to my attention that I never knew about or are so hard to find that I couldn’t possibly get my hands on them anyhow. While not completely the case today, I would have to say the Radica Genesis is still a pretty cool system to own!
Radica made a few variations of their Sega Genesis plug n play, the one I own is a single player system, which is obviously modeled after the Sega Genesis model 2. The system has a large, blue Genesis controller hardwired into the system, as well as hardwired AV cables that come out of the back. The system is powered by 4xAA batteries or a power supply, which I do not own.
Once the system is powered on you’re presented with 6 original Genesis titles: Sonic The Hedgehog, Golden Axe, Flicky, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Altered Beast, and Kid Chameleon. Everything looks to be pretty well executed with respects to the menu, everything is presented by a nice logo for each game. From here you simply move the D-pad in any direction and select the game you want, what I found surprising here is that each game starts up the same way they would if this were a genuine Sega Genesis.
The controller looks and feels exactly like the original, large Genesis controllers, except it is a transparent blue shell, has the D-pad upgraded to the smaller Genesis controller style, and has black contoured buttons. The controller is setup exactly the same as well, with the exception of a menu button to bring you back to the game select screen when you tire of the game you’re currently playing, which is set in deep enough to easily avoid accidental resets. Overall, since this controller has the upgraded D-pad, I find it a bit more comfortable than a genuine Genesis controller.
I haven’t noticed any slow down or any significant issues from this being a Genesis on a chip type system; Gameplay for each game is the same as if it were played on a genuine Genesis. The picture quality is good, although you are reduced to mono sound, so this system gives off an organic Genesis experience, to a point. I personally have no issues with this system and found it quite fun.
Perhaps my only complaint would be that it leaves out my whole Genesis library and doesn’t get much attention, as opposed to my real Genesis. This does offer games that I don’t own for the Genesis, so sometimes I just feel like breaking it out for those games alone, namely Kid Chameleon. Again Radica made a few variants of this system, so if I happen to get my hands on one I will be sure to review it!
