Sega Genesis Collection

November 20,2006 - Perhaps more than any other, this generation has seen a large quantity of games released, yet these numbers are mostly reflected by compilations of games from years past with such huge names as Capcom, Taito, Namco, Midway, and of course, Sega, all chipping in massive chunks of their back catalogues to contribute to current-gen gaming. The best of the bunch includes Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Midway Arcade Treasures 3, Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary Edition, and Sonic Mega Collection.

Sega has already done the megamix-style pack earlier this generation in Sega Classics Collection, which was a poorly received bundle of Sega's Japanese 3D Ages line. Though classics like Columns were unaffected, and other titles like OutRun were better off with the updated, smoother look, most of the titles in the package were considered downgrades from the source material, and so, the set was judged as a whole, panned (unjustly at times) by media and community alike.

Now Sega's back with another, more familiar type of old school bundle with the Sega Genesis Collection. Right away, between the $29.99 price tag and the 33 games featured within, you will notice the immense value it holds over the previous collection. When you take a look at the actual list of games, you'll see what a steal you're really getting.

There are plenty of usual suspects among Sega Genesis Collection's 33-game lineup: the first two Sonic games and Columns being the most obvious. After those and select other hits, however, you have a host of games that were either not featured in past collections, or difficult to get to. One of the most noteworthy inclusions is Golden Axe III, featured alongside its two predecessors, fully translated into English and sent to North America for the first time ever. Also present is the complete Genesis Phantasy Star trilogy, consisting of II, III, and IV. To underline the raw value this package contains, Sega makes a point of reminding gamers of PSIV's $99.99 price tag when it first released, and comparing it to the price of this collection. “You're welcome,” indeed.

With the larger game lineup, it was possible for Sega to throw in some would-be obvious picks from the past, like Ecco the Dolphin, Vectorman 2, and the cult-favorite Comix Zone, none of which have been featured in past collections. Master System legend Alex Kidd shows up in his lone Genesis Adventure, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, which, alongside Kid Chameleon, does a great job of delivering a nice one-two punch of platformers from Genesis' extreme old-school era.

Meanwhile, those looking for some ninja action will get their fix in Shadow Dancer and Shinobi III, two great games that successfully deliver two distinct flavors of the Shinobi series pre-Hotsuma. Further mileage is pulled from the bundle's T rating in a rather odd selection: the Genesis version of Virtua Fighter 2. While this game was bashed horribly at the time in nearly every corner of the gaming industry, it was in comparison to the arcade and Saturn versions of the game, which were vastly superior (and, of course, in 3D). Today, the title makes a nice addition to this mini-library, if only to show off how console games were often scaled back from their arcade counterparts back in the day.

The Genesis wasn't all about what today one would call its “killer apps”. The system was a gaming atmosphere unto itself, and that atmosphere was no less present in games like Gain Ground, Sword of Vermilion (Yu Suzuki's lone move into the RPG genre), and Super Thunder Blade than it was in Sonic The Hedgehog. Poke around the disc a little and really explore the lineup of games Sega has provided. Even if you were there in the early 90s, chances are you missed a number of the games featured in this collection. If you weren't a Genesis gamer, or if you weren't playing games at all back then, you have a real treasure trove to dig into.

The fun doesn't stop there, though. Throughout the 28 Genesis games, there are Xbox 360-style achievements to be unlocked, and with each achievement comes bonus material. Much of this consists of developer interviews, but there are also five arcade games to be had. These are different selections than were featured on the PS2 version, however, and are headlined by Super Zaxxon and Congo Bongo, the latter of which is best remembered today thanks to its appearances on G4's Starcade reruns a few years ago.

The main thing that cannot be understated here is that, unlike other collections, SGC utilizes something called “savestates”. Typically, these have only been implemented with not-so-legitimate emulators on the PC, and it's actually quite surprising to see them in use here, largely because savestates are often tied to the concept of cheating. In SGC, they work like this: you press the select button at any point during a game, and then go to “Save Game Data” on the menu. Save like you normally would. When you come back to the game in question, press select, “Load Game Data”, and it will drop you in the exact same state the game was in when you saved, right where you were standing. No need for save points or playing through part of the area to get back to where you were. It's just as if you put the game in sleep mode, and the convenience cannot be understated.

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