"A true testament to the power of Blast Processing......no, really....what?....stop laughing at me!!"

OK, Im going to attempt to be fair, and try not to bias the review based on what's missing. So, to get it off my chest, yes, I want, nay, DEMAND Sonic CD make it onto a compilation sooner rather than later. The people crave Sonic CD!!!!

All right...now that thats out of the way....

This collection isnt quite perfect, even when putting aside issues with the selection of games available....but what is here is as pristine as the day they were released.....the nostalgia alone is worth plenty.....but as the atrocious Sega Smash Pack proved, nostalgia isnt enough, and this set manages to shine beyond that, which is definitely a good thing.

Graphics--8
I'll leave my hatred of ''3-D purism'' out the door here and just say that the games look as great as they did back in the 90s, and actually a little better, since S-Video cleans up the image considerably.

Sound--9
OK, this is really an 8, but, you know, after the Sega Smash Pack made me question the sanity of the guys porting this stuff over to next-gen systems, it put a silly grin on my face to hear the sound burst forth unaltered, and clear as day....thats worth a point in my book.

Overall, though, its all good stuff....and for those gamers out there who havent been fortunate enough to be around when these games were released, and all they've heard is the techno/80's pop/rock of then Sonic Adventure series, I'm gonna have to break your hearts and tell ya, i seriously believe a lot of the stuff here wipes the floor with the new tunes. Of particular notice: Spring Yard Zone in Sonic 1, Sky Chase in Sonic 2(as well as the unused Hidden Fortress music in the sound test menu...more on this soon, btw), the Ice Cap zone in Sonic 3(and its remix in act 2), the Doomsday Zone music in Sonic & Knuckles. On the downside, though, after all these years, could somebody PLEASE do something about that grating mess that plays in the options menu in Sonic Spinball?!

Gameplay--8
Um, its Sonic. Duh.
However, youve got the three ''dark horse'' games in this set...Sonic Spinball, Mean Bean Machine, and 3D Blast.....instead of going through the ''core'' Sonics which every gamer worth their weight in rupees should be familiar with, ill just comment on these....

Spinball--7
It takes a little while to adjust to,(and i swear, ''Fast'' mode makes NO difference) but this game grows on you quick.
The problem is, in the third and fourth stages about, this game moves into ''toss your controller at the TV like a Batarang'' territory, and doesnt look back. be warned.

Mean Bean Machine--6.5
This game is HARD. Period. In a Super Monkey Ball 2 way, where you wanna toss the controller again in anger, and you cant, cause you're so frickin addicted to it!! AGGGHHHH!!! But i know some people live for this type of puzzler, so I'll leave it to them. But this game should serve as a fast reminder of why no puzzle game has caught on with the fervor of the original Tetris.

3-D Blast--4
::snickers::
Sweet merciful crap i hate this game....but, on the upside, let's remember that if Sega hadnt tested the waters here, Sonic Adventure wouldnt be as good as it turned out to be.

Control--8
I was worried the entire trip home that the GameCube's controller would absolutely kill these games....if you couldnt use the analog stick, you'd have to resort to the teensy control pad, which i hate....yet, somehow, it works like a voodoo charm....the main problems are with Sonic 1, trying to turn into a ball, and with Mean Bean machine, where if you dont use the analog, you have to use the pad, and having big fingers, far too often, ive tried to press down, and ended up moving a piece clear across the board....

Extras--6
Herein lie the problems...
I've gotten my ''BRING ME SONIC CD!'' mess out of my system...so i can get to the REAL issue.....ok, the selection of ''secret'' games here are fine....not great, but fine....the big problem, as those of you patrolling the message board for this game know, is how you gain those secret games....you have to enter certain games anywhere from 20-50 times before they unlock...On the upside, i can see Sega's intention...the games are rewards for the dedicated player who'll run through these games time and time again....and thats admirable....but In the end, the games you get are NOT worth that much trouble....i mean, even in the Genesis' heyday, i dont think i played Sonic and Knuckles on its own more than about 15-17 times. i seriously think Sega's asking a bit too much of the average gamer......the far more balanced way to go about this would've been:
Sonic 1 & 2--beat the game with all 7 Chaos Emeralds without using a continue
Sonic 3--have ''Clear Game'' Saves for both Sonic and Tails, with all Chaos Emeralds collected for both
Sonic Spinball--beat the game with over (pick a high number) points
mean Bean machine--there shouldnt be a bonus here....yes, im a craven coward.

Then theres the issue of what's available immediately.....and quite frankly, there's not nearly enough of what i expected here.....where's interviews with Sonic team, Yuji Naka, retrospectives on the Genesis in general?? I have an out-of-print Sonic The Hedgehog Boom CD with almost every PCM track from the game extended and enhanced as well as 3 remixed Sonic Spinball tracks.....a nice sound test with those wouldve been great...Would a finished version of the Vacuum stage from Sonic 2 be too much to ask?(for the uninformed, this is the stage that mysterious ballad-ish music track in the sound test came from) What about fan art? There's bound to be PLENTY of that(ask the guys who made Soul Calibur how fast they can put a gallery of these together). And, most important, what about all the Sonic games we poor Americans never saw? Not even a mention????

Sadly, the only feature in here that made me say ''that was cool'' was seeing the intro and ending movies from Sonic CD in fullscreen, without the MASSIVE frameskippage that plagued the Sega CD's rendition. Everything else feels prepackaged and flimsy, unless you were a fan of the Archie Comics(which I am not....i miss the cartoon that used to come on ABC Saturday mornings, though) I honestly believe we need another collection.....pronto. until then...the extras department on this game is pretty jilted.

Overall--So far, this has been the best attempt to bring the classics homethat didnt betray everything that made the originals great, and for that alone, I think this set is worthy of praise....but several gleaming mistakes exist outside of the games themselves, and if Sega wants to make sets worth that $40 price tag, i suggest they wise up to it......I simply pray they can be remedied when/if a Sonic Mega Collection 2 rolls around.... course, this is just one old-school gamer's opinion.....

....by the way, while we're on the topic....I had a premonition a few days ago.....imagine if you will.....a Streets of Rage/Shinobi set with SoR 1, 2, 3, Revenge of Shinobi, Shadow Dancer and Shinobi 3, all with options for original/arranged/remixed soundtracks? now for that, Sega could name their price, I'm all theirs.

Ahh...those were the days.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/02, Updated 12/28/02