Sega Genesis Collection (PS2) (gamespy)

- gamespy -

Depending on whom you ask, the Sega Genesis may or may not have "beaten" Nintendo's SNES in the 16-bit wars. The contest was certainly close, and both sides had tons of fantastic games. Genesis, though, always seemed a little more edgy and a little less mainstream. Perhaps as a consequence, some of its best games don't seem terribly well-known to today's mainstream. The aptly named Sega Genesis Collection looks to remedy this by offering a ton of Genesis classics at a bargain price point of 20 bucks. Collection has its problems, but in this case the great gameplay carries the day.

The Good Stuff

Ignoring technical stuff for the moment, a retro collection is only as good as its games, and this one has its fair share of masterpieces. We start with Shadow Dancer and Shinobi III, two of the best ninja action games of the era. Shinobi III in particular is amazingly tight, though Revenge of Shinobi (the first of this Genesis trilogy) seems an odd omission.

The incomplete trilogies continue with Sonic the Hedgehog and its first wonderful sequel. Though you've probably played them by now, they're still as charming as ever. Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles are missing in action, but I think the first two are better anyway.

The Genesis Phantasy Star games are fully represented by Phantasy Star II through Phantasy Star IV. Two of the three are excellent RPGs, even if they're more than a bit old-fashioned by today's standards. They're essential plays for classic RPG fans.

Bringing up the rear for the good stuff is Gain Ground, a really strange overhead shooter that is so slow it becomes strategic. It's surprisingly fun to make and execute a plan of attack for each single-screen stage.

The Less Good Stuff

There are also a lot of middle-of-the road games. The ancient Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was the final outing for one of Sega's early mascots. Sonic did him in, and here you can see why. The infamous Altered Beast was packed in with every early Genesis, despite having about three feet worth of depth. Bonanza Bros. is a creaky arcade port focused on some decidedly uninteresting criminal capers.

Columns is pretty decent. Sega's first attempt at the falling-block puzzle genre invented by Tetris, I mainly like it for its ethereal music. Comix Zone is one of the American titles, a difficult comic book-themed beat 'em up with great graphics but so-so gameplay.

Sega's aquatic hero is well-represented via the first two Ecco the Dolphin games and the throwaway curiosity Ecco Jr. Kid Chameleon is a homely American platformer notable mainly for its bizarre secrets and high difficulty. Not my cup of tea. I'd rather play Flicky, mediocre arcade game though it may be, because at least it's easy to look at and consistently makes sense.

All three 16-bit Golden Axe beat 'em ups are present, including the Japanese-only Golden Axe III. Though the original is pretty classic, the two sequels aren't so hot. Ristar might be the most technically advanced platformer on the Genesis, with amazing graphics and a highly funky soundtrack. Unfortunately, its gameplay doesn't really take off in a similar manner. Sword of Vermilion is AM2's little-known RPG, and in this case the obscurity is merited. Amazing music, though. Last but not least, we have the two Vectorman platform shooters. While often overrated, their smoothly animated sprites are worth a quick look-see. You might like 'em.

The Junk

Almost every retro-pack has some turds, and Sega Genesis Collection is no exception. Decap Attack (starring Chuck D. Head!) isn't really terrible so much as aggressively mediocre. I reserve "bad" for stuff like Super Thunder Blade, a rusty arcade port that would've been great if only the Genesis had supported sprite scaling. But it didn't, so this game should never have been. Finally, we have Virtua Fighter 2. Yep, Sega's then-flagship 3D brawler was reduced to jerkily animated sprites. Pass.

Content Over Presentation

This collection was put together by Digital Eclipse, and it has most of the same issues as the company's other retro-packs. Chief among these is a lack of support for the games' original low-resolution graphics. The interlacing scheme used here makes the games look worse than they did back in the '90s. A progressive scan option improves things a bit for HDTV owners, but still can't deliver an authentic picture. As ever, this is disappointing. There are also numerous little but noticeable sound errors. If you're a big Genesis fan you can make a meta-game of counting them as you play. On the bright side, the music is better-sounding than expected; perhaps the developers took recordings from the original console instead of emulating it. That must be it, because the sound effects don't sound quite as good.

Digital Eclipse does deserve credit, though, as the front-end is fairly snazzy. You can save and load states mid-game, button remapping options are everywhere, and there are some pretty solid extras (though they require unlocking). You'll find several emulated Sega arcade games, such as Altered Beast and Tac/Scan, as well as video interviews with some of Sega's classic game creators. Cool stuff.

Though it's far from perfect, Sega Genesis Collection delivers some fantastic games for a great price. Games like Shinobi III, Phantasy Star IV and Gain Ground are worth the cost of admission alone. While a real Genesis console can offer a better-looking and sounding experience, Sega Genesis Collection is the next best thing.