There's nothing quite like going back a few years to enjoy a game. Okay, it has been 20 years since the last time I played most of the games I'm about to talk about.

Innex, makers of the Portable Handheld - Sega Genesis, has released a new retro gaming console in the Firecore - Classic Console (Sega Genesis). It is exactly like its little brother, but it has a few features to make it worth it.

Two is always better than one (unless we're dealing with punches)

The first thing you'll notice when you unbox your Firecore is how incredibly light it is. Compared to the actual Genesis console, which has to be at least 5lbs.+, the Firecore comes in at a whopping 1lb. It's extremely light and feels like you could shatter it with your hands; thankfully, you can't.

Much like my review of Innex's Portable Handheld, I put this system through the ropes with my kids. If my kids can do anything well it's that they can break technology; ask their VCR and DVD players. Anyway, the system comes with a y-cable RCA cord that features one channel of video (duh) and one channel of audio (eh?). That is the biggest knock on the system. I remember the Genesis having the capabilities of doing true stereo, but I'm not quite sure if that would have really hurt the Firecore by adding such a thing. It was easy to hook up in the kids room and they immediately began playing.

Once you turn the system on it comes up with basically the same menu system as the Portable Handheld except that it's completely reverse onscreen (so, your games are listed on the left with pictures on the right). My oldest chose Columns III and her and her sister were playing two-players; that's right, two-players. This is nice considering that the system is roughly the size of a dual CD case. Having the ability to have two controllers plugged up makes this worth the price of admission. It's certainly an upgrade to the Portable and it keeps everyone happy.

Speaking of controllers, I was mildly surprised by their durability. For a system that costs $49 you shouldn't expect that much quality out of it, but Innex certainly does deliver. The buttons are very crisply done, though the entire controller is light and plastic. The directional pad is solid as a rock and the controllers can take some mild abuse, especially when one child 'pwns' another and the 'pwn'ed child gets a bit upset and throws down the controller. Call me crazy, but for you gamers out there you know you do this with the equipment. Anyway, I was very impressed by the controllers and the system.

Moving on to the games, the list is the same as it was on the Portable Handheld, but in case you missed that list here's what's on it:

- Sonic & Knuckles

- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

- Gain Ground

- Arrow Flash

- Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja

- Ecco, Jr.

- Ecco

- Golden Axe

- Crack Down

- Altered Beast

- Flicky

- Decap Attack

- Cyber Police Eswat: City Under Siege

- Alien Storm

- Shadow Dancer

- Columns III

- Sonic Spinball

- Jewel Master

- Kid Chameleon

- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Here's where the two systems separate. You have the ability to play Genesis cartridges in the system. Now, it says 'most' cartridges, but the ones we had on tap worked like a charm. I'm unsure about which ones it can't play, but I was happy it did play everything we had in our library (which is extensive). Regardless, you have plenty here built-in and plenty to look forward to when you use your own games. It's nice to have both options.

With all of this said, I do have a complaint about the system (and I'm hoping it's me). Once you go into a game you have to press 'reset' on the console itself to get back to the menu. There isn't a clear-cut way of going backwards. For the lazy gamer inside all of us, we expect a menu system to lead us back to the main menu. Regretfully, this isn't the case. Now, if I'm wrong I expect someone to call me out on it, but I couldn't find anything in the instructions or onscreen to prove me wrong.

Still for $49 it's not a bad gig.