The Sega Genesis has been in the public's hands for a few days now. But some reviewers did get early release versions about a month ago that they were able to evaluate on their YouTube channels or other forms of media. One such reviewer was the YouTube channel GameSack. His review was very thorough and showcased the good and bad. One issue was he received a controller that simply did not work. Another, he was the first to notice and point out audio lag issues. Games audio/sound effects would play much later than it actually should, the main example shown in the video was the first boss fight in Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. When Mickey would do his butt-bounce on the boss, the sound was delayed somewhere around 11 frames from when the sprites made contact.
Once the Sega Genesis Mini released to the public people were quick to run their own tests to see if this audio lag issue was fixed. I am not quite sure what methods most people were using to test audio lag, but many were quick to claim that the retail units did not suffer from the same lag as GameSack's review unit did.
It appears some people called for GameSack to retract or edit his initial review because they claim it to be inaccurate. These calls for editing a review do seem strange, as a reviewer will typically give their honest impressions on what they actually received and not base it on others experiences.
As the video clip above demonstrates, GameSack went above and beyond to find out if his review unit was different than the retail units. Unfortunately, he finds the retail unit suffers from the same lag as his review unit. Is there going to be vast differences between people's units they purchased? I suspect not. I think maybe some are finding differing values of audio or input lag depending on either how they have the console hooked up or possibly other unknown factors. Some people may not even notice the lag. But in the end, its all about the games. The Genesis Mini may not be for everyone, but in my opinion it is a neat option for those looking to play Genesis games on a modern display with a neat mini replica of the original. My YouTube review is available to view here.
What do you think? Is GameSack's latest findings the end of the debate? I believe so, but comment below what you think!
Original Twitter post can be seen here.
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I think gamesacks got it right all along and anyone who didnt take gamesacks word for it simply wasnt paying attention and didnt understand how to do the test. I got mine today finally and issue aside it's my favorite mini console yet. I love this little beast.