How M2 went back to the Game Gear for its magnum opus

Modern games based on the perceived technical limitations of vintage systems are not uncommon. However, it takes a certain kind of courage - maybe even a tiny little bit of madness - to not only emulate the look and feel of yesteryear's classics, but to produce games for systems long past their prime. While such endeavours do happen in the indie- and homebrew-sector, it's unheard of for bigger companies to dabble in this sort of development. Nintendo, Square Enix or SNK might happily re-release their back catalogues in various physical or digital formats, it's unlikely they would ever go back to their old devkits.

Enter M2, a fascinating publisher and developer located in Tennodai near Tokyo, mostly known for producing conversions of classic games to modern hardware. M2 always goes the extra mile in order to deliver a product that not only immaculately represents the original games, but also improves them in many regards - always optionally of course. M2 is the kind of company to take the plunge into the technical depths of vintage hardware, as it has shown in the past: For one of its earlier Sega Ages projects, Fantasy Zone for PlayStation 2, the team programmed a port of the Master-System-exclusive Fantasy Zone 2 for Segas System 16 arcade-board; for the Namcot Collection in summer 2020, they helped produce impressive NES-conversions of Gaplus and Pac-Man Championship Editions.

These projects now feel like a dress rehearsal for M2's magnum opus: GG Aleste 3, an all-new entry into the venerable Aleste-series for the Sega Game Gear. Yes. That Game Gear. The dim-screened, battery-guzzling handheld that fruitlessly took on Nintendo's Game Boy in the early 90s but surprised with a neat library of games. GG Aleste 3 is part of the Aleste Collection that came out in Japan last December for Switch and PS4 and is not yet slated for a western release. The collection consists of fantastic ports of Aleste on Master System, released as Power Strike in the west, its PAL-exclusive sequel Power Strike 2 and the two Game Gear episodes GG Aleste and GG Aleste 2, the latter of which was also renamed to Power Strike 2 in the west, just to make things extra-complicated.

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