Sega Mega Drive Collection

PS2 review by Terence Gage, published on Sunday 29th June 2008

With the possible exception of Nintendo and perhaps Capcom, few videogames companies have a retro back-catalogue which could begin to rival that of Sega. It’s no surprise then that the Sega Mega Drive Collection is so bursting with quality that anyone who has been gaming since or is a fan of the SNES/Mega Drive (or Genesis to our US friends) glory days should go and purchase it immediately.

There are sadly a few apparent omissions - the Streets of Rage and Toejam and Earl series and forgotten classic Dynamite Headdy, amongst others - but presumably these titles would have found their way onto a Volume 2 edition, although it seems unlikely to ever happen now, given the rise of downloadable retro games. After all, why would Sega release another such collection for £25/$35 when they can release individual titles on Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points each or more?!

The full line-up boasts a mighty 27 games which covers most of the staple genres from the 2D era, including platformers, adventures, RPGs, puzzlers and fighting, and has more than a few undisputed classics. I’m not going to discuss the entire content, but instead focus on a select few of the best games which even on their own would make this collection both an essential purchase and a wallet-friendly bargain:

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Without doubt one of the finest 2D platformers ever, and almost certainly developer Sonic Team’s finest hour, Sonic 2 remains as fast, intricately-designed and enjoyable as it ever was more than 15 years ago. With a great soundtrack, beautiful and colourful graphics and animation and some legendary level design Sonic 2 unquestionably maintains its deserved place in the Platformers Hall of Fame.

Columns

Columns was to Tetris what Sonic was to Mario; that is, Sega’s answer to a phenomenally popular Nintendo franchise. While Tetris focuses on filling in whole horizontal lines to clear the screen, Columns is about making rows of three or more identical coloured jewels in any direction to similarly clear the screen and work up huge scores. While it never enjoyed the success or acclaim of the Game Boy classic, Columns in many ways deserves to be just as fondly remembered and is a near-perfect example of a puzzle game in its purest form.

Comix Zone

Comix Zone is a curiosity. Not the game, you understand; the tale of artist Sketch Turner having to fight his way through his own comic is a simple and well-balanced tale with echoes of Viewtiful Joe. No, the thing which springs to mind when playing Comix Zone is why this wonderful game wasn’t a huge success upon its 1995 release. Boasting some inspired innovation based on the comic book theme (physically moving between cells, ripping the page during attacks, etc) and a great combat engine, this is easily one of the best and most original Mega Drive games you’ve never played.

Ristar

Sonic may have been Sega’s most famous and successful platformer, but that doesn’t make it the best. That honour goes to Ristar, Sonic Team’s most underrated creation, in this overlooked gem. Strange though it may sound, much of Ristar’s acclaim and originality stems from his long spring-like arms and predilection to grab and head butt stuff… The level design differs from most by catering for his unusual abilities - you’ll spend almost as much time travelling vertically as horizontally across the seven beautiful and varied planets, and there is an abundance of poles, bars and grapple points to quite literally get to grips with. A fantastic game and a quiet classic, and like Comix Zone you should make it your mission to play this fantastic game as soon as possible.

Vectorman

A bastard hard but beautifully compulsive marriage of shooting and platforming, Vectorman was yet another late Mega Drive title which failed to make much of an impact at retail and which shares visual similarities with SNES title Donkey Kong Country (although, unlike the two above, at least this got a sequel). The vast levels are brimming with hostile robotic foes which will test your gaming affinity to its absolute max and the huge & tough bosses are enough to make even Mega Man blush. Fantastic visuals and music round off this underrated and action-packed title.

Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium

The Phantasy Star series has long been an RPG cult favourite, even though it has never enjoyed the success of equivalents such as Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. Taking something of a unique sci-fi route (which is the series’ trademark), this instalment casts you as Chaz Ashley as you lead your team of strange and colourful allies to save the troubled Algo solar system. Delivering a huge and in-depth quest and gameworld, beautifully developed characters and some inspired game mechanics, Phantasy Star IV is utterly deserving of being the most highly regarded of the series’ offline iterations.

That line-up in full:Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Altered Beast
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco: The Tides of Time
Ecco Jr.
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Kid Chameleon
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Ristar
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 2What is fantastic about every game included in the compilation is how well Digital Eclipse has converted them and how intuitively and responsively the controls have been mapped to the Dual Shock controller. Load times are absolutely minimal - lasting just a matter of seconds - and the (mostly brilliant) visuals and audio have all been carried over to flawless effect. Pleasingly, you can also save and load the game at any time, which can encourage saving overkill almost bordering on cheating, but many of the games are very tough by today’s standards so you don’t feel too bad about it. Overall though, you literally could not ask for better conversions, so much credit is deserved on this front.

Furthermore, the game is stuffed with extra features. There are a further 7 unlockable arcade games which show their age a lot more than the rest of the disc’s content, and are perhaps not as enjoyable as the standard line-up. There is also information on each title as well as interviews with some of the games’ programmers and creators. Some of these features are relatively easy to access - simply load up Sonic 2, for example - whilst others require a bit more effort, such as getting past stage 2 of Altered Beast. For fans of classic Sega they are a great watch, and help suggest that this overall is a package which has been put together with the highest level of passion and fondness for the product. If there is a more accomplished retro collection out there, I have yet to see it.

Retro gaming is obviously an acquired taste, but with Sega Mega Drive Collection the legendary Japanese platform-holder-come-publisher have granted us a generous and varied journey into their almost unrivalled back-catalogue. Boasting easily dozens of hours of gameplay and at least half a dozen bona-fide classics, SMDC is not only one of the best value packages ever released, but one of the best retro packaged ever compiled.