Aerodynamically designed. Ha ha.

Nostalgia seems to turn up in rushes. We move on from the original and suddenly, x many years later, everywhere you look it's being referenced. In recent weeks I've been amazed by how often the old Sega Mega Drive has cropped up in movies, conversation, and even here on the site, as this week's Warp Pipe was half of a two-week musing on the console's history, fueled by its twentieth anniversary. Not to mention remakes of classic Mega Drive titles.

And now, to make it seem almost as if all the constant niggling reminders were just some incredibly clever and pervasive advertising campaign, comes the announcement of the release of a new Mega Drive handheld console, the Blaze Sega Mega Drive Handheld.

Nostalgia causes us to do a lot of foolish things, but in this current generation of lush, beautiful graphics firing up your old consoles can be an exercise in masochism, as you try to bear the awkward awfulness of sprite animations and remind yourself how cutting edge they were fifteen years ago. Nevertheless, most of us do it, and simply because there are some great games out there that are still worth a play even if they offend your modern aesthetic.

This is precisely why publishers turn out collection titles, featuring a handful of classic games, or make them available via download. Still, the problem of stretching low-res graphics over your hi-res TV is a difficult one to solve, unless you cut it out completely, and use a much smaller screen. The popularity of retro games on the PSP and DS, legally and through priate emulation, stand testament to the potential success of this marketing ploy.

May as well be in a safe.

The Blaze Sega Mega Drive Handheld (doesn't roll off the tongue, does it?) is an attempt to cash in on our desire for ancient games on tiny, portable screens, but lovingly encased in official Sega branding. Complete with 20 built-in games from the Mega Drive's library, built-in speakers, a 2.4 inch LCD screen, and TV output for those who really want the retro experience and have a tiny CRT sitting around somewhere, probably in the wardrobe under the plaid shirts.

The inbuilt games are Alex Kidd, Alien Storm, Altered Beast, Arrow Flash, Columns III, Crack Down, Decap Attack, Dr. Robotnik, E SWAT, Ecco, Ecco Jr, Shinobi III, Flicky, Gain Ground, Golden Axe, Jewel Master, Kidd Chameleon, Ristar, Shadow Dancer and Sonic & Knuckles. If there wasn't at least one on that list that made you go a bit misty eyed... then I'm seriously getting old.

I must admit my credit card trigger-finger itched a little bit when I saw this, purely out of nostalgia, but rationality soon talked me out of it. The unit costs almost AU$75.00, which seems a lot for games of which many can be obtained for tiny amounts as downloadable content or in collection packs, not to mention shipping from the U.K. on top of that. I can't help feeling Sega would be better off selling their licenses to developers for revamps, as with Golden Axe: Beast Rider or by officially releasing them for legitimate use on PSP or DS.

In any case, if you're interested, the Blaze Sega Mega Drive Handheld is available right now and can be ordered here. No news as yet as to whether we'll see this one in Aussie department stores.