Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection PlayStation 3

Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection Product Details

Released on 20/02/2009

• SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection Review

  Mega collection

  Old skool gaming is officially cool again. Thanks to the downloadable retro titles available on Xbox Live Arcade, The PlayStation Store and Wii's Virtual Console, we're increasingly happy to spend our money on twenty-year-old digital relics. Even new downloads like Geometry Wars and Mutant Storm owe a lot to their eighties forbearers, boasting the sort of iconic 2D visuals and straightforward gameplay that characterised the home console experience before machines like the PlayStation and N64 came along.

  Sonic's youth

  So Sega has shown a good sense of timing with the release of the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection, a generous collection of 40 classic titles, originally created for the company's 1988 console. On a single disc you'll find some of the most important titles of the 16bit era, emulated with pixel-perfect precision.

  A generous collection of 40 classic titles, originally created for the company's 1988 console.

  Top of the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection list are the first three Sonic the Hedgehog titles, still as brash, beautiful and bullet-fast as they ever were. Sega watchers will also appreciate the sideways scrolling majesty of Golden Axe, Alien Storm and Streets of Rage - these simple hack-n'-slash favourites were famed for their gaudy comic-book visuals and compellingly repetitive gameplay and they're fascinating to scholars of the whole fighting game genre.

  Plenty of the titles on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection provide more than just a quick nostalgic hit. Undersea adventure Ecco the Dolphin is almost as interesting now as it was 15 years ago, with its ecological themes and peaceful charm. Elsewhere, Phantasy Star II is widely considered to be one of the finest RPG titles of all time, its epic story and huge cast of characters setting a vital precedent for the whole genre. Phantasy Star III is on here, too, famed for its innovative history-spanning story, in which the player controls three successive generations of the same family. Plus, RPG fanatics can also check out the likes of Shining Force and Beyond Oasis, both of which messed about with the standard fantasy gaming recipe to great effect.

  Cult classics

  There are also plenty of more offbeat treats to discover. Comix Zone, for example, is a visually arresting arcade action title designed to look like a comic book, complete with speech bubbles and game sections separated into panels. And Sonic fans should really check out Ristar, a cute platformer designed by Sonic Team, which came out of the same brainstorming sessions that led to Sega's spiky blue mascot. With so many games in the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection, even die-hardfans will find titles they never played or have completely forgotten about.

  RPG fanatics can check out the likes of Shining Force and Beyond Oasis, both of which messed about with the standard fantasy gaming recipe to great effect.

  And importantly, you don't just get a whole mass of classic games. Hidden on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection disc is a wealth of extra stuff including concept art and developer interviews, providing absorbing background info on the creation of some of your favourite Sega titles. It's even possible to unlock several extra arcade and Master System games, including the original Phantasy Star. Plus, the disc will output the games in 720p HD, giving an extra clarity to these blocky vintage greats.

  Inevitably there are disappointing exclusions. Racing fans will wonder what's happened to Super Hang-On, Super Monaco GT and OutRun, while other will pine for the likes of Gunstar Heroes and cult Japanese shooter Zero Wing, infamous for its poor text translation, including the legendary line "All your base are belong to us", which became an inexplicable internet phenomenon in 2000. Perhaps Sega doesn't have a self-depreciating sense of humour...

  Lost forever?

  Of course these games have aged and, of course, an emulation is never going to recapture the excitement of shoving a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 cartridge into the slot for the first time. But, the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection works, both as a record of a brilliant, ground-breaking console, and as a diverting opportunity to take a blast down memory lane.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • A huge collection with most of the classics.
  • Lots of interesting extras.
  • Unlockable arcade and Master System titles.

  

  • Some obvious exclusions from the liine-up.
  • A lot of these games haven't aged well
  • If you already own the PS2 Mega Drive collection, you may feel short-changed.

  Review by: Keith 'Sonic Speed' Stuart
  Version Tested: Xbox 360
  Review Published: 20.02.09

  Published: 20/02/2009

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