Hyperkin Mega95 Enters Mass Production

It has been a long road, but the Hyperkin Mega95 is finally nearly here. Hyperkin says its handheld for original Mega Drive and Genesis cartridges has finished development and testing, and is now going into mass production, with pre-order news promised soon.

What Hyperkin said

In a post on its social channels, shared alongside a short video of the console in hand and docked to a TV, Hyperkin wrote: “R&D and community testing are complete!” It added that mass production is starting, packaging is being finalised, and pre-order news is coming soon. Retro Dodo, which spotted the update today, says it is one of the first proper looks at the finished hardware.

A long time coming

The Mega95 was first shown back in January 2024, and it has slipped more than once since:

In January this year, Hyperkin said the hardware was finished but the software was not, with glitches in how classic game graphics were being drawn.
A later update said Hyperkin had sent the factory back to fix quality problems rather than rush out a build.
Now, by Hyperkin’s account, both are sorted and production has begun.

What we know about it

Going by Retro Dodo’s report and the new video, the Mega95 has a large 5-inch screen that can switch between 16:9 and 4:3, which should please anyone worried about stretched Sonic. It plays your real cartridges, and a dock connects it to an HD TV with extra controller ports, so it can double as a home console, Switch style. It is a chunky handheld built around that big screen, not a pocket machine.

Hyperkin has not announced a price or release date yet. That should come with the pre-order news.

Our take

Sega’s own Nomad played Mega Drive carts back in 1995, so a new handheld for them is a big deal. A modern take with a dock and a proper 4:3 mode is very welcome, and Hyperkin choosing to delay rather than ship a dodgy batch is the right call. Now it just needs a fair price. Keep an eye on our hardware news for pre-order details.