Sonic the Hedgehog is well known as Sega’s enduring mascot, especially during the publisher’s nearly two-decade stint as a console manufacturer from 1983 to 2001. The company is also a pioneer in the arcade space, with many of its most important games starting out as groundbreaking arcade cabinets. However, despite that, the original Sonic the Hedgehog never got its own dedicated arcade version–until now. Sega is teaming up with My Arcade on a new Sonic the Hedgehog Joystick Player mini cabinet. The tiny device includes the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games with fully playable controls, but is small enough to fit on your shelf. The collectible launches on November 1, and preorders are available for $60 at Amazon.
$60 | Releases November
The Sonic the Hedgehog mini-arcade includes both the first game and its sequel, all housed in a device that features a 3.5-inch full-color display, a joystick, three buttons, and artwork inspired by the original Sonic the Hedgehog arcade cabinet. In terms of dimensions, this is a snug little machine that measures 4 inches wide and 6.8 inches tall, so it can easily fit on your desk or your shelf. It can be powered by four AA batteries or a USB-C connection, and for audio it has a built-in speaker and a 3.5mm audio jack in case you want to connect a headset.
My Arcade also has several other compact arcade cabinets to choose from right now, if you’d like to build a cute collection of gaming machines. Like the Sonic cabinet, these all feature vivid screens and roughly the same physical dimensions, and the Galaga Joystick Player is noteworthy as it swaps the traditional arcade joystick for a larger one that feels like it came out of a spacefighter cockpit. You can also grab Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man devices here, and each one is priced at around $50.
More My Arcade Mini Cabinets
Outside of My Arcade, you can also check out the machines from Arcade1Up. The $168 Arcade1Up Class of ’81 Countercade has a 7-inch vertically oriented LCD screen and full-size arcade controls, and the games on this model include Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga. and Dig Dug. It can also be powered by four AA batteries or a USB-C connection, and it can easily be placed on a desktop for when you need a quick retro-inspired diversion. It looks great thanks to the period-accurate artwork of Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga.
The $260 Evercade Alpha Taito Bartop Arcade is set to launch on November 12, and this miniature cabinet has an 8-inch display and 10 preloaded games. You can even expand the library with hundreds of other titles on it by purchasing Evercade cartridge collections. This is the third Evercade Alpha following the launch of Mega Man and Street Fighter editions, and if history repeats itself, we’re expecting it to sell out shortly after it arrives.
Our other recommendation does cost a lot more, but comparatively speaking, there are still budget-friendly standing arcade cabinets for sale from Arcade1Up available. Each one is priced at $334, and these are themed around Mortal Kombat 2, Ms. Pac-Man, and Pac-Man. Each cabinet comes preloaded with 13 games and they’re all outfitted with a 15.6-inch IPS display, dual stereo speakers, Wi-Fi support for leaderboards and multiplayer, and a great selection of controls.
You’ll also find quite a few games preloaded on them in addition to the marquee titles, and if you feel like increasing their height to be more adult-friendly, you can purchase a universal Arcade1Up Riser for $59 and raise them up to 5 feet. These do require some assembly, but Arcade1Up’s instructions are easy to follow and building one of these is an extra bit of fun.
Arcade1Up Machines
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