Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection Review (Xbox 360)

Let me paint a few pictures for you. It’s a school night. The words “Rise from your grave” echo ominously through your stereo speakers. Then a knock is heard. You’ve been told it’s time for bed, and time to put away that brand new video game system. You quickly press pause and turn down the sound on your TV before powering it off. Then you hit the lights. Just before you fake sleeping, you remember to put a shirt over that annoying red light that could foil your plans. Once the coast is clear, you turn on your TV, and your beastly transformation begins. It’s Saturday morning. You’ve just made a fresh cup of hot cocoa. Strategically laid out next you are your favorite childhood toys, their eyes fixed on one thing. The TV. Sonic rips through the landscape. You’re a teenager. You’ve set aside toys and remnants of your adolescent life. Now, there are only two things that you’re interested in: dating and 16-bit graphics.

Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection comes packed with 40 Genesis titles and 9 Sega Master System titles from Sega. Now, I won’t go as far as to say that these are 40 of your best Sega Genesis games ever made. You’ve got excellent games like E-SWAT, Phantasy Star (II, III, and IV) and Streets of Rage 2. But, you’ve also got the occasional, “Why the heck did they put that in their game?” Personally, I would have loved to see Strider or R-Type included in this collection. Regardless, you’ll be able to relive the 16-bit revolution all over again in a nifty thirty-dollar HD package.

Delivering these classic Genesis titles in HD doesn’t add much to the game. Younger gamers, unfamiliar with the Genesis, will no doubt be unimpressed by the graphics. But, Sonic’s Ultimate Collection isn’t about graphics. It’s about delivering nostalgia and reclaiming those precious moments from your childhood. For instance, Golden Axe reminded me of hacking away at those little gnomes everyday after school for a quarter at Joe’s pizza. Playing Altered Beast drummed up memories of thinking this is the greatest free game ever made, only to be disappointed at how quickly I beat it and never wanted to play the game again. I also thought graphics couldn’t look more real than those wolf-like transformations. Sure, I never liked Ecco as a kid and I still don’t. But with Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and every Phantasy Star game under the sun included – there are plenty of rock solid titles to wet my gaming palette for a long time.

If you’ve frequented the Xbox Live Arcade, you may have purchased several of these titles already (see below). The only difference is now you get a neat interface that allows you to rate and sort your favorite Genesis games. The interface is designed like the original Genesis console. And, remember that annoying red light I mentioned earlier. It’s back too, except now the red light is used to rate each Genesis game so that you can quickly sort games from least to most favorite.

Also you can save the state of your game at any point. So, if there was ever a game that was really difficult to beat, you can actually save it right to your Xbox hard drive and reload it from the same state you left it in. That means you can save every time you’re gearing up for a big fight, even if you’re in mid jump. This is kind of a cheat if you’re a gaming purist, but it allows you to rack up quick Xbox Gamer Achievements without the added frustration. The only draw back from the Live Arcade to the collection is the lack of online functionality. You’ll probably want to play Streets of Rage 2 with your friends online, but for some reason online play was left out of this translation. For a street value of $30, I won’t complain one bit.

The controls have been adapted to allow you to use both the D-Pad and the analogue stick. Also, you’ll find yourself checking out the controls a few times, because the menus still have the old Genesis button menus depicting the C button.

One thing you’ll notice is that over the course of playing 40 plus games, you’ll hear all the classic ways the company name Sega was said on startup.

Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection is definitely one collection that is worth buzzin’. Plus you can get yourself an easy 1000 gamer points for playing anywhere from one to twenty-percent of the full title. By unlocking certain Achievements, you’ll also unlock any one of the nine Sega Master System titles. I nearly did a back flip when I got to play Space Harrier all over again. There are several developer interviews to unlock, so you can learn more about the parents of modern day gaming.

If you grew up on the Sega Genesis and Master System, then Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection is one title you’ll want to own this year.

GAMES INCLUDE:
· Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
· Alien Storm
· Altered Beast
· Beyond Oasis
· Bonanza Bros.
· Columns
· Comix Zone
· Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
· Dr. Robotnik’s MBM
· Dynamite Headdy
· Ecco the Dolphin
· Ecco II: The Tides of Time
· E-SWAT
· Fatal Labyrinth
· Flicky
· Gain Ground
· Golden Axe I
· 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
· Shining in the Darkness
· Shining Force
· Shining Force 2
· Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
· Sonic 3D Blast
· Sonic and Knuckles
· Sonic Spinball
· Sonic the Hedgehog
· Sonic the Hedgehog 2
· Sonic the Hedgehog 3
· Streets of Rage
· Streets of Rage 2
· Streets of Rage 3
· Super Thunder Blade
· Vectorman
· Vectorman 2

Plus 9 UNLOCKABLE GAMES:
· Golden Axe Warrior (SEGA Master System)
· Phantasy Star (SEGA Master System)
· Alien Syndrome (Arcade)
· Altered Beast (Arcade)
· Congo Bongo (Arcade)
· Fantasy Zone (Arcade)
· Shinobi (Arcade)
· Space Harrier (Arcade)
· Zaxxon (Arcade)