Sonics Ultimate Genesis Collection Review

Posted 4 years ago By - Brian Edey

For those older gamers who played on one of the best home video game console systems, the Sega Genesis, you will find that “Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection” is a worthwhile treat and a game collection which is actually worth buying. There are many (40 unlocked and 9 unlockable) titles from the golden age of console gaming when controllers were less complicated, the games did not need patching and getting together to play with friends meant sitting on a couch and playing with people you knew in real life not over a headset, the internet and calling them by their gamertag. Times may have changed and certainly games have improved in many ways but there are always those classic games which are held up and admired by many and are still fun to play today.


The list of games is impressive with a ton of titles from almost all of the normal genres except sports. From platformers to role playing games there is a game here for everyone to enjoy.

Platform Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle Decap Attack Dynamite Headdy Kid Chameleon Ristar Sonic & Knuckles Sonic 3D Blast Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2, 3 VectorMan 1, 2	Role Playing Game Beyond Oasis Fatal Labyrinth Phantasy Star 2, 3 ,4 Shining Force 1, 2 Shining in the Darkness
Shooter Alien Storm E-Swatt	Puzzle Columns Dr. Robotnik’s MBM Combat/Sim Gain Ground Super Thunder Blade
Brawler Altered Beast Comix Zone Golden Axe 1, 2, 3 Shinobi III Streets of Rage 1, 2, 3	Other Bonanza Brothers Ecco the Dolphin Ecco: The Tides of Time Flicky Sonic Spinball

As you can see the list is impressive but that is not the only games there are a few games which need to be unlocked and those include the Master System / Arcade versions of Golden Axe Warrior, Altered Beast, Phantasy Star, Congo Bongo, Shinobi, Space Harrier, Alien Syndrome, Fantasy Zone and Zaxxon. An amazing list of classic games and most are still fun to play. To unlock these games you must do a few various things such as for Zaxxon you must play Decap Attack and collect 5 bonus coins and for Phantasy Star play Sonic 2 and defeat the first boss with two players. It is a worthwhile attempt to unlock these games because they are actually very well done.

What makes this collection even more impressive is the fact the games which had multiplayer back in the day on the Sega Genesis still have multiplayer today in this collection and while, no, you cannot play over your gaming network with your friends (that would have been cool) you can sit down, on a couch and play with them just like you used to-do or would have if you were a gamer back then and mock them to their face.

The Museum part of the game has some interesting tidbits of information and some of it is actually informative while other is a poor attempt at being funny. It fails. Such as for Columns it says “Despite the insistence of Columns’ instruction manual, it’s highly unlikely that ancient Phoenicians of 1000 BC had SEGA Genesis systems to play this game on.” Yep that’s funny alright. Included in the museum is some basic art work from the box art and cartridge for the game. But nothing else and that is sad for a gamer like myself who would like to have seen perhaps early art for the game, concept art, screen shots or movies.


As a technical achievement the collection is impressive and not so impressive on a few levels such as there is zero loading of the games, you just select the game and it loads very nice and simple. You can also save anywhere and adjust the video size for each game as needed. But what would have been even more nice would have been better graphics across the board for all games, even if the price would have jumped up to a regular priced game and if some of the games were dropped. I can see why they did not update the graphics but the low quality sprite graphics become a little hard on the eyes after a while in many of the actual games.

Lastly I hope this is not the last collection of Sega games like this because there are many great games I would love to see in a future collection such as Herzog Zwei, Eternal Champions, Panzer Dragoon and many more.


This is a must buy for gamers who are looking for a ton of games which are quick and easy to play for a few minutes here and there or even those gamers who wish to experience some of the classic RPG greatness which influence some of the best RPG games of today.

Pros

+Phantasy Star and Shining Force games are worth the price alone for RPG fans
+There is a game for everyone in there
+Museum is a nice touch but I would have liked more depth and information
+Easy to find your game and see different genres unlike some of these all-in-one packs
+Nice graphic options like stretching the screen for widescreen TVs, etc.
+Interviews with Makoto Uchida and others are a great addition
+Comix Zone still kicks ass

Cons

-Can’t rip the games to the HDD (other than with the NXE on Xbox 360)
-Not really true HD, it would have been nice to see these games with updated graphics
-Some of the games just do not control well with the default controller, a true arcade stick is needed

Final Score

8.5/10 - Must buy for any gamer, this is an oustanding value

March 4th 2009 :: Sonics Ultimate Genesis Collection Review

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