Overview

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Review

Release Date: 11.16.2006
Platform: PSP
Developer: Digital Eclipse Software, Inc.
Publisher: Sega of America, Inc.

Reviewed by Luke Campbell on 3.5.2007

Review Rating: 8/10

In the early 1990s, Sega's Genesis propelled the company to the top of the videogame industry. Sega because a household name with its "Sega Scream", "Blast Processing", and the infamous "Genesis does what Nintendon't" television spots. The Genesis was the birthplace of many famous Sega characters, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Ecco the Dolphin, and Vectorman. For many Sega fans, the Genesis was Sega's true heyday. The Sega Genesis Collection was created with the notion of reliving some of those old Sega classics.

Sega Genesis Collection has twenty-eight selectable titles from the outset:

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Altered Beast
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
Ecco Jr.
Kid Chameleon
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III (previously unreleased in the United States)
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium
Ristar
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Thunder Blade
Sword of Vermilion
Vectorman
Vectorman 2
Virtua Fighter 2

Additionally, five titles can be unlocked by meeting various requirements in the game's "extras" menu:

Astro Blaster
Congo Bongo
Eliminator
Space Fury
Super Zaxxon

This works out to less than one dollar per title, giving it one of the best price-per-game values of any classics compilation ever released. Low cost aside, the wide variety of titles also ensures that there's something enjoyable here for anyone.

The options are also user-friendly; while each game's controls are mapped out differently for the PSP, an option allows you to swap to "ABC mode", which makes the control layout familiar to players of the original releases (and is also necessary for entering codes, for cheating types). The screen can also be resized three different ways, in case a player hates a certain display ratio. A wi-fi option is also present for multiplayer; simply enable PSP's wi-fi and players can either join or host a game against other wi-fi players. Perhaps the best inclusion is a save state option, which allows saving on the fly, eliminating the need to replay the first few stages of a platformer or backtrack to savepoints in RPGs; this fits perfectly with the PSP's on-the-go gameplay.

These ports are very close to the originals but not perfect. As is the case with the Dreamcast's Sega Smash Pack, the visuals appear to be spot-on, but some of the sound effects are off. While this has no bearing on the actual gameplay, and newer players will never know the difference, purists may scoff at the inaccuracy.

In the game's "extras" menu, there is a list of unlockables, including the five games mentioned earlier. In addition to these games, there are preview videos for Phantasy Star Universe and Virtua Fighter 5, as well as several interviews with Sega employees talking about the games on this collection. These interviews are only a few minutes long each, but give some interesting backstory to how some of these titles came about. While this may not be an incentive to buy this title, it is a nice bonus for those who do.

The games in this collection are not all stellar representations of what once made Sega great; for example, Flicky and Decap Attack would not likely show up on many must-have lists for Genesis fans. Other oddities like Sword of Vermilion (a Yu Suzuki RPG!) and Bonanza Brothers showcase Sega's ability to try anything once, and are interesting to play, if not outstanding titles. However, classics (like Columns, the Sonic titles, and Phantasy Star II-IV) alone make this collection worth buying.

Some may be puzzled by the exclusion of some titles - Shadow Dancer and Shinobi 3 are here, but Revenge of Shinobi is nowhere to be found. The Streets of Rage series is also noticably absent. Perhaps these will be included in a Sega Genesis Collection 2, but for now, just know that the Sega Genesis Collection is well worth your gaming dollar. Buy it.

Box art

Media

1.25.2007 - Screenshots (8)