Sega brings Mega Drive games to iOS and Android

Sega has announced it is once again delving deep into its back-catalogue of 16-bit classics, launching a selection of Mega Drive titles on Android and iOS mobile platforms for the princely sum of free - or £2 if you have an aversion to adverts getting in the way of your gameplay.

Dubbed Sega Forever, the once-and-former console-maker's new programme will see the most popular first-party titles from the company's long and storied history re-released as free-to-play titles on Android and iOS. Although the term 'free-to-play' conjures up visions of pay-to-win and micro-transaction mechanisms, Sega is clear these are anything but: The games are simple remasters of their original Mega Drive incarnations, modified only to get them to work with modern mobile devices and to tweak the graphics, and all revenue comes strictly from pre- and post-game adverts.

Those who have an aversion to adverts, though, are given another option: Advertising can be disabled for each game in exchange for buying the full version, priced somewhere around the £2 mark. Once purchased, the game will play entirely without advertising and as close to the original experience as possible - bar the aforementioned control and graphical modifications.

Sega's classic titles have made their way to mobile before, but the company claims that Sega Forever is different: The initial launch comes with five of the company's titles, but it has pledged to continue with follow-up releases to kick-start what it describes as 'a retro revolution that will transport players back through two decades of console gaming.'

The initial batch of games are: Altered Beast, Comix Zone, Kid Chameleon, Phantasy Star II, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Follow-up titles have not yet been confirmed, with the games due to go live on the UK Google Play and Apple App Store on June 22nd.