M2 has publicly appealed for fans to stop distributing an unauthorized Mega Drive port of GG Aleste 3 after a mod team announced the conversion is "100% complete." The dispute highlights tensions between rights holders and the retro modding community surrounding titles included in M2's Aleste Collection, which launched in 2020 for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
GG Aleste 3 was created by M2 as a brand-new entry in the long-running Aleste series and was coded for Sega's Game Gear handheld as part of that 2020 collection.
The title never received an official standalone or physical release; players who wanted to play it on original hardware have relied on a ripped ROM.
In June 2026, the mod group Morb released a Master System port of GG Aleste 3, and on 15–16 September 2026 Blast Processing Arcade announced it had completed a Mega Drive conversion.
Blast Processing Arcade's Mega Drive build reportedly preserves the Game Gear gameplay while adding Mega Drive-specific enhancements: a Stereo FM YM2612 conversion of the soundtrack, a revised HUD, an optimized colour palette, S-RAM save support, and an uncapped 60 FPS run-time with removal of slowdown and sprite flicker.
The team also stated the ROM was successfully tested on original Sega Mega Drive hardware and asked fans to "stay tuned" for further information.
M2 responded on social media the following day.
M2 president Naoki Horii, posting from the @hor11 account, framed the studio as the game's rights holder and said the company had been discussing potential future developments for GG Aleste 3.
He warned that once fan-made versions are publicly released, those official development options become impossible to pursue, and he asked followers to urge the modders to halt the project until permission could be obtained.
Reaction from the retro and shmup communities has been mixed.
Several users replied that an official M2 release would still find buyers despite any fan port, while others argued that, absent an official Mega Drive edition from M2, the community treats such projects as fair game.
Observers also noted it was unusual for M2 to appeal via a news account rather than contacting the mod team directly.
For now, the situation rests on the social-media exchange and any next steps from Blast Processing Arcade or M2.
Aleste Collection remains available on PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch eShop, and GG Aleste 3 continues to draw attention as one of the most technically impressive modern releases for Game Gear hardware.
GG Aleste 3 was created by M2 as a brand-new entry in the long-running Aleste series and was coded for Sega's Game Gear handheld as part of that 2020 collection.
The title never received an official standalone or physical release; players who wanted to play it on original hardware have relied on a ripped ROM.
In June 2026, the mod group Morb released a Master System port of GG Aleste 3, and on 15–16 September 2026 Blast Processing Arcade announced it had completed a Mega Drive conversion.
Blast Processing Arcade's Mega Drive build reportedly preserves the Game Gear gameplay while adding Mega Drive-specific enhancements: a Stereo FM YM2612 conversion of the soundtrack, a revised HUD, an optimized colour palette, S-RAM save support, and an uncapped 60 FPS run-time with removal of slowdown and sprite flicker.
The team also stated the ROM was successfully tested on original Sega Mega Drive hardware and asked fans to "stay tuned" for further information.
M2 responded on social media the following day.
M2 president Naoki Horii, posting from the @hor11 account, framed the studio as the game's rights holder and said the company had been discussing potential future developments for GG Aleste 3.
He warned that once fan-made versions are publicly released, those official development options become impossible to pursue, and he asked followers to urge the modders to halt the project until permission could be obtained.
Reaction from the retro and shmup communities has been mixed.
Several users replied that an official M2 release would still find buyers despite any fan port, while others argued that, absent an official Mega Drive edition from M2, the community treats such projects as fair game.
Observers also noted it was unusual for M2 to appeal via a news account rather than contacting the mod team directly.
For now, the situation rests on the social-media exchange and any next steps from Blast Processing Arcade or M2.
Aleste Collection remains available on PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch eShop, and GG Aleste 3 continues to draw attention as one of the most technically impressive modern releases for Game Gear hardware.
