Wednesday 2 June 2004

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It ain't over 'til the fat hedgehog sings

The year is 1988; Michael Jackson has just purchased a little ranch in Santa Ynez, California, which he would from then on lovingly refer to as Neverland, Nirvana kick-started their career and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles burst onto the small screen brandishing ninja weapons and scoffing pizza. In the same year, Bill and Ted made their most excellent debut as a pair of air-headed time-travelling high school students who set out on a journey to, like, totally ace a make-or-break history report, and Japanese sprogs were frantically badgering their parents to buy them the world's first 16-bit games console in time for Christmas.

While some momentous happenings of yesteryear are best left in the past, electronic games company, Radica, are set to stage the very welcome comeback of the immensely popular Megadrive allowing it to live on to entertain and amuse a new generation (without the aid of a magic phone booth!). The revived gadget, which looks very much like a pocket-sized Megadrive 2 with an authentic styled joypad, will plug directly into a TV set and feature 6 built-in games including Sonic the Hedgehog, Golden Axe and Altered Beast.

Sega clones aren't new, though this seems to be the first officially endorsed plug and play device to be distributed in the UK via mainstream gaming outlets. If you find you've got a spare £29.99 burning a hole in your pocket next month, you might not be able to resist the temptation to pop one into your shopping cart at boy's toys specialist, Firebox.

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