Handheld Super Retro Champ lets you play SNES and Sega Genesis games on the same device

Thirty years ago, Nintendo and Sega gave the world the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Genesis, two consoles that defined a generation of video games and gamers.

Since their debuts in 1990 and 1989, respectively, those two devices have never left the popular imagination — as much for the games that they offered as the stories those games told. And now, at CES 2020, My Arcade has brought those consoles together in a beautiful synthesis: the Super Retro Champ, a handheld console that plays carts from the Genesis and the SNES. Behold, the magic of technology!

According to Gizmodo, the Super Retro Champ will top out at five hours of battery life — which is fine, and possibly enough for a satisfying on-the-go gaming session, although it isn’t quite the length of a cross-country flight. Luckily, the Super Retro Champ will plug into the wall and can be connected to a TV via HDMI, which means two players can compete using the console’s wireless gamepads.

The device will run you $110 when it appears later this year, but that’s about in line with other handheld versions of classic consoles. (Although this one only plays cartridges; there’s no way to add virtual games via ROM files.) And plus: it’s basically two consoles in one not-exactly-svelte package.

The future is amazing. And the past is never very far away.