SEGA has announced the first slew of games for its SEGA AGES for Nintendo Switch program, which brings classic SEGA titles over to Nintendo Switch. It revealed that five games would be making the jump initially, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Phantasy Star, Thunder Force IV, Sonic the Hedgehog and as well as a port of the original arcade version of Gain Ground. While originally announced without confirmation of a western release at SEGA Fes, that was confirmed along with additions of Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Gain Ground to the collections list.

This new release of Sega Ages promises that several of the titles in it will be making their way west for the first time, with a Summer 2018 release date given for when we can expect the first batch of games. The ports are being handled by M2, the Japanese developer known for the SEGA 3D Classics series on the Nintendo 3DS. SEGA AGES aims to bring prominent titles from a selection of home console classics and a host of perfectly-emulated arcade games.

Some additional details about some of the games to be featured in SEGA AGES were revealed at SEGA Fes 2018 in a panel after the announcement. It was revealed that for Sonic the Hedgehog, elements from the 3DS version would be added, including the Spin Dash move and some features from the Mega Play arcade version. Thunder Force IV will see the Styx Mode from the SEGA Saturn edition return, and online leaderboards will also be supported. With Phantasy Star, you'll be able to change the walking speed, difficulty and more features from the Phantasy Star Collection.

Some of you may remember that SEGA AGES originally launched on the SEGA Saturn in 1996 in Japan, bringing enhanced arcade ports of Puzzle & Action: Tant-R and Quiz Shukudai wo Wasuremashita to home consoles. The series then came West, with SEGA Ages: Volume 1, a collection of enhanced ports of Space Harrier, OutRun, and After Burner II, released in 1997 on the Sega Saturn. Now, over 20 years later, the series aims do the same on Nintendo Switch this Summer, adding ports of Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and arcade games to the platform's library. SEGA AGES will launch in North America, Europe, and Japan.

This announcement follows last week's news that SEGA will be releasing a SEGA Genesis Mini sometime this year, though the list of games has yet to be announced.

What SEGA games do you want to see brought over to Nintendo Switch as part of SEGA AGES? Let us know in the comments.