Sega has an amazing legacy and a library of fantastic, cherished franchises that remain among the most memorable experiences in gaming history. Then we get something likeShadow the Hedgehog, and everything turns to brittle rust and dried, blackened blood.
Thankfully, Sega is not above milking its history and reminding us of the good old days with endless compilation discs, the latest of which isSonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. With over forty titles from the days when you could be proud to be a Sega fan, this is arguably the most comprehensive collection yet.
Is it worth your cash, or has Sega milked nostalgia’s teet so hard that only dust is dribbling out of its red, cracked flesh? Join Dale North and myself as we reviewSonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. ensure to check out our HD video review too, where we invite a very special guest to share his thoughts.
Developer: Backbone EntertainmentPublisher: SegaReleased: February 10, 2009MSRP: $29.99
Jim Sterling
Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collectioncompiles over forty titles of the Genesis/Mega Drive’s long and healthy career, providing a mixture of famous classics and a few obscure gems. One of the most notable aspects of this collection is the fact that Sega has used a couple of games that it’s never exploited on a disc before, such as the terrificZelda-lite adventure gameBeyond Oasis. EvenSonic the Hedgehog 3is rarely churned out for these nostalgia fests, but it’s present this time around, which makes the collection feel that much more complete.
As has become standard with the Sega and Backbone ports, these games have been emulated without any change whatsoever, right down to any bugs and glitches that were present in the original releases. As is also the norm, you can “upgrade” the visuals to include widescreen, and select “smoothing” to make the images less pixelated. Many gamers aren’t fans of this, but I tend to personally like the option and routinely upgrade everything I play.
As well as the Genesis titles, players can also unlock a selection of Master System and arcade games through the performance of various in-game tasks. Quitewhywe need two versions ofAltered Beastwhen one is bad enough confounds me, but if you’re supremely masochistic, it’s there for completion’s sake. Many of the unlockable games are fairly rubbish, but tend to fall under the “interesting” category, justifying their existence by being just curious enough to warrant a mention, even if they’re only played once and swiftly forgotten.
The various extra tasks add a little more incentive to try games and earn Achievements/Trophies, although they tend to either be incredibly asinine and pointless or so difficult as to not be worth the bother. Eating 200 fish inEcho IIis just stupid, whereas getting to the fifth level inFatal Labyrinthsimply isn’t worth the pain. That said, some players will doubtless kill themselves trying to get some of the harder ones. By all means attempt to playSuper Thunder Bladefor more than three seconds and get the required high score … nobody will respect you for such a horrible act of self-deprecation, but you might be proud of yourself for a minute.
Reviewing a title like this is difficult, since you don’t really knowhowto recommend a compilation of old games that most people wouldn’t want to spend money on these days. That said, there is an incredible amount of content on the disc. Extras aside, thePhantasy StarandShining Forcegames alone will provide you with more gameplay than you’ll see in most full-priced retail releases, and some of the classics such asStreets of RageandSonic 3D Blastare full of endless replay value. I was joking aboutSonic 3D Blast.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to how much of a Sega nerd you are. Those who grew up with a Genesis in the house and remember a world before Shadow the Hedgehog really should do themselves a favor and pick this compilation up, as it will provide them with hours upon hours of entertainment. Even the rubbish games are worth playing for the comedy value, and there are enough high quality games on the disc to make up for the questionable inclusions. Having so many Genesis games conveniently stored on one disc and ready to play in High Definition is perfect for children of the nineties such as myself, but younger gamers will likely be offended by the lack of ragdoll physics and bump mapping.
Dale North
As a “Sega kid” and a product of the 1980s, I know that I’m precisely the target audience for these seemingly endless releases of game compilation discs. It’s obvious that the sole intent of these releases are to prey on my love of classic gaming and take my money. And I was fine with that for awhile. Now, looking at my game collection, I see a shelf full of collections from various companies that I never play. And now Sega has a new one? Great.
But now that I’ve spent time withSonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection,I don’t feel so bad for giving in and adding this one to my collection. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that this is Sega’s best (and best-looking) games collection yet.
Before I get into that, let me take a moment to call out Sega on the name of this collection. First off, it’s not that “ultimate.” At about $30 for 40 or more games, it’s certainly a great value. But I think they should have saved the moniker for that eventual (hopefully) mega-disc that contains everything 16-bit and Sega. Or at least one where they leaveGain Groundoff. The other beef that I had is the inclusion of Sonic’s name. The Sonic I know and love would put all of the games starring himself in something calledSonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection.Instead, you only get six or so Sonic games in this collection. Perhaps they’re saving those other ones for the inevitable Sonic collection on this generation’s hardware.
As said before, the value here is fantastic. You get 40 Sega Genesis titles that cover just about all the bases, as well as nine more unlockable titles coming from either the Sega Master System or the Arcade. It lacks a good one-on-one fighting game, but everything else is here. There’s a veritable pile of role-playing treasures here, though there’s a couple of duds, too: let’s just say thatFatal Labyrinthdid not age well. Fans of side-scrolling beat-’em-ups will definitely be pleased as over a dozen great titles are included, including moreGolden Axethan you may shake an axe at. Platforming fans have nothing to complain about either: sorry Sonic, but in my mindDynamite HeaddyandRistarhave shown you up in your own collection.
All of the games look better than ever on your high-definition set as they’ve been scaled up to 720p; that’s quite a jump from that old RF connector you had on your Genesis back in the day. Colors pop and details shine; I found myself noticing new details on games I’ve played for years now. Darkly colored games likeVectorman 2have so much more noticeable detail now.
While the games themselves are fine, I feel that the overall presentation of the collection lacks a bit of polish. After viewing your now typical flying screens montage opening movie, I was surprised to hear the select menu music coming out of only one speaker, the front left one. In contrast, the menu sound effects considerably louder, and in stereo. Sound oversights seem to move into bugs, probably in the emulation code. I found a few instances of sound breaking up or distorting in some games. Remember the first boss inSonic 3? The bombing airship? The sound effects crackled and distorted the whole battle.
The lack of polish continues into the unlockable developer interviews. The videos seem pretty low-res and grainy. Also, the subtitling on Japanese speakers is so poorly timed that it seems like they could have just omitted the video and featured text and screenshots for the interviews instead. Maybe they could have saved room to includeSonic CDinstead.
So how do you recommend a games collection? I think you look at the sum of its parts. I personally put 50+ hours playtime into this collection, and I can say that I really enjoyed playing my favorites over again. I missed these games. I am proud to say that I demolished the insanely challengingDr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machinefor the first time, too. I was also going to completeFatal Labyrinthjust to say that I did, but I couldn’t stomach it. Sorry.
In all, it was great to be able to flip through a menu and boot up classics that I’ve loved for years. It sounds cheesy, but this collection really brought me back. It immersed me in those 16-bit days where I’d spend an afternoon of playing a game for hours, then rip the cartridge out, put another one in, and go at it again into the night. The advantage here is high-definition graphics and the lack of cartridge blowing. And at $30, this collection is probably cheaper than that stack of cartridges, even now.
Score: 8.0
Overall Score: 8.0 —Great(8s are impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won’t astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.)
