Sonic Gems Collection

Sonic returns for his latest retro compilation, with some of his most rare adventures ever. But is it enough for our oversized Sonic appetites? Final gameplay videos included.

	Version PS2, GCN	Developer Sega	Publisher Sega	Genre Compilation

By Joseph Jackson

Sega obviously led an excavation deep into its classics vault for Sonic Gems Collection. We picked up the Japanese version, because quite frankly, we weren't the least bit interested in getting short changed along with the rest of North America and Europe.

You see, while the main games included in the Japanese and western versions are, for the most part, identical, the Japanese version is blessed with the original, vastly superior Japanese Sonic CD soundtrack, and also additional bonus content such as the entire Bare Knuckles (Streets of Rage) trilogy being unlockable - a cool bonus that was left out of the western versions.

Nonetheless, we've spent ages with all of the games included in the collection, and it's by no means all bad...

One of the first things you'll notice the lovely presentation style. The game sports a simplistic and pretty interface that players can easily navigate to access many of the game's features. Aside from the playable games included in the collection, players can view a variety of artwork and promotional materials from past Sonic games. There's also a Game Museum where players can view additional artwork, videos, and listen to remixed music tracks unlocked throughout the compilation.

Players will also be able to check out game demos from past Mega Drive Sonic games, access Sonic game history data, as well as unlock full version games of other classics like Vectorman 1 & 2 - two cool-looking and highly challenging action platformers that up until the release of Sonic Gems Collection were never officially released in Japan but are now available in both the U.S. and Japanese versions of Sonic Gems Collection. Other unlockable games in the import version also include Bonanza Bros., Sega's crime-based action game that also underwent the Sega Ages treatment and appears in remake form from Sega Classics Collection. And last but certainly not least is the much revered Bare Knuckles trilogy, which, as mentioned before, is only available in the import version.

When navigating around the main portion of Sonic Gems Collection, players will come across a total of nine games based on the Sonic franchise that were released for arcades, Mega-CD, Sega Saturn, as well as the Sega Game Gear, all of which are available to play straight away.

The Game Gear offerings, include traditional side-scrolling platformers like Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Sonic & Tails 2, Tails Adventures, another side-scroller with a slightly Wonderboy 3-esque feel to it (yet nowhere near as good), Sonic Drift 2 - a character-based racer in the vein of Sega's classic arcade racer Power Drift (but with lousy controls), the highly underwhelming pinball action of Sonic Spinball, and finally the flying, puzzle solving action in Tails' Sky Patrol. They all look, sound, and play virtually identically to the Game Gear originals, but with not-so-hot Game Gear emulation leading to some very choppy movements. Some of the games were average at best, while a few were just downright painful to play.

While the Game Gear offerings are easily forgettable and feel like bonus additions more than anything else, the most significant inclusions in the compilation are Sonic The Fighters, Sonic CD, and Sonic R.

Sonic CD

This is the crowning jewel of the collection. Players who missed out on this Sega/Mega-CD classic finally get an opportunity to take this masterpiece for a spin. Originally released for Sega's CD-based add-on in 1993, Sonic CD was the series' first foray onto disc-based technology. Using the digital audio and video capabilities of the Mega-CD, Sonic CD allowed gamers to experience, for the first time in a Sonic game, cool cinematic intros and endings, as well as gorgeous CD-quality sound.

Players take control of the lightning quick hedgehog and use the game's all-new time traveling element to travel through time and thwart Dr. Eggman's evil efforts, across different time periods, to create a good future. Along the way, Sonic meets up with the love sick Amy Rose and Sonic's mechanical nemesis, Metal Sonic, who was first introduced to the series in this game.

The gameplay is a lot like the first two games in the series, with fast-paced side-scrolling platform gameplay that has players running, jumping, and spin dashing their way around colorful 2D game worlds, collecting as many golden rings as possible to gain extra lives and protect themselves from one-hit kills. Sonic can also acquire shoes to make him run a lot faster, magical stardust for temporary invincibility, and protective shields that allow him to get hit once without incurring any damage.

All of the levels and their alternate time periods look a little different in appearance, with the Past levels sporting a more ancient look and the Future levels a more metallic and futuristic look. Despite their altered appearance, the level designs of the Past and Future levels, for the most part, remain pretty similar to the Present time period, with slightly different obstacles, and even altered music, making it fun to travel to past and future just to see how they look and sound.

As players work through the game's 21 levels they'll encounter a variety of enemies and funky contraptions, smashing through walls, speeding up loops, engaging in some pinball styled action, racing through underwater levels while trying not to drown, and even navigating around pixelated 3D Bonus Stages smashing UFOs for bonus points. Compared to the other Sonic games in the series, Sonic CD is a great offering but a little underwhelming when put up against classics like Sonic 2 and Sonic & Knuckles, which are my personal favorites of the 2D Sonic games. The levels in Sonic CD are ridiculously easy by comparison, and even the bosses are a joke.

While the graphics of Sonic CD look a little dated by today's standards, the visuals, for the most part, are colorful and maintain the look of previous 2D Sonic games with swift and almost non-existent load times compared to the Mega-CD version. The audio portion of the game is simply awesome, with some incredibly catchy and memorable musical themes that unfortunately didn't make it into the U.S. version of the same game.

Sonic R

While Sonic CD had Sega's little blue hog traveling through time, Sonic R for the Saturn (and later PC) had gamers racing through a variety of open-ended courses.

Developed by Traveller's Tales, Sonic R is a character-based racing spin-off of the Sonic series that has characters competing in a number 'of foot' races. Taking control of Sonic and friends, as well as enemies, players have to quickly make their way through each of the courses, racing down winding pathways, and taking shortcuts to the finish line. While the premise sounds good, the somewhat clunky control scheme of Sonic R makes for an often frustrating experience.

On the plus side, the controls seem to have been tweaked a little in Sonic Gems Collection and I didn't have as difficult a time controlling Sonic and company this time around as I did in the Saturn original. Regardless, the controls are still quite sensitive; controlling the characters tends to be quite a chore, and remains the foremost reason why the game quickly loses entertainment value for me.

Sonic R doesn't really offer much in the way of features and contains a standard Grand Prix mode , Time Attack and VS. mode. At the start of the game players can choose 1 of 4 characters that are available from the game's outset with more characters becoming unlockable by satisfying certain requirements (collecting items during the races) and completing the races in top form.

Graphically, Sonic R's colorful visuals look pretty solid for a Saturn title, and is one of the more visually appealing games in the compilation. The races are really fast-paced, the character models are decent and the courses are well-designed and a little open-ended, allowing players to deviate from the normal race paths by taking short cuts through the courses. The audio portion of the game is also pretty solid, with all of the racing action accompanied by some very bouncy, cheesy but catchy instrumental and vocal tracks composed by former Sega Europe musical wonderkind, Richard Jacques.

Sonic the Fighters

As far as obscure gems go, Sonic the Fighters (aka Sonic Championship in U.S. arcades) certainly fits to a tee. Receiving a very limited U.S. arcade release in the Summer of 1996 (thanks to SOA's paranoia!) and remaining there with no home conversion ever being released, Sonic the Fighters adds to the value of the collection as a 3D fighter, developed by AM2 for the Model 2 arcade board, using the studio's standard three-button fighting game layout, and a number of other familiar AM2 fighting conventions .

The fighting roster consists of characters found throughout the Sonic universe, with mainstay characters such as Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles making the rounds along with a variety of other lesser-known characters, including the likes of Bark the Polerbear, Espio the Chameleon, Fang The Sniper, and Bean the Dynamite. All of the characters and backgrounds are fully polygonal and the graphics for the most part retain the solid visual quality of its Model 2 counterpart with colorful, vibrant visuals. Audio-wise, the game contains a number of upbeat musical themes that aren't very memorable, and sound effects that are pretty average at best.

The gameplay of Sonic the Fighters is decent enough, but doesn't have the lasting appeal of Virtua Fighter or Fighting Vipers. The battles take place within enclosed arenas - somewhat similar in style to Fighting Vipers - and the fighting action is fast paced. The game controls well and its whimsical style of combat plays well initially, but there just isn't enough there to stay interesting for long. While simple punches, kicks and throws can be easily performed, the fighting engine just doesn't feel as deep or smooth flowing as Sega's previous 3D fighting game releases.

The character move sets are limited, but wacky and fun to watch at times, as you smack your opponents and send them flying up into the air or splat right into the arena walls in cartoony fashion. The game contains a total of 9 levels with the final battle taking place in space against Metal Sonic and Dr. Robotnik.

Overall, once the novelty of playing Sonic the Fighters wears off after playing a few rounds the game's flaws become quite apparent. It's just not that great of a fighting game. But regardless of how average Sonic the Fighters is, it's still nice to finally get this baby in the home.

Now, if only Sega would lead another excavation into their vault and dig up AM3's SegaSonic Arcade and Knuckles Chaotix and bring those back as well, then we can really call it a wrap... [And while they're at it, they could also include stuff like the Hidden Palace BETA of Sonic 2, the canned Sonic X-Treme which recently saw a BETA copy sold on the interweb, and even Sonic Pocket for the NeoGeo Pocket Color... well, we can dream - Adam].