"I could've did without Spinball and 3D Blast."

I was never a big fan of the Sonic series. Only because I never found the fast gameplay to be fun. But when I played this game at my friends house, I quickly grew addicted. While I've seen better mascots, Sonic and his collection is far behind.

Note: I'm not going to rate sound and control for most of the games as it was mostly the same throughout the series. That's a good thing.

Sonic the Hedgehog(7): The series starts off with an okay game. Sonic doesn't have a lot of moves and the game becomes ancient after awhile. You can only hop around with a hedgehog for so long. Good thing 2 and 3 were better. For it's time, the graphics were pretty good. But no graphical updates have been added. Compared to today's, they're horrendous.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2(8): More moves, a sidekick(Tails), and the same gameplay. They did a good job of helping this series make a leap. It only gets better with 3.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3(9): A new rival(Knuckles) and a save feature are the best parts of this game. Games where you could save were rare at this time due to the system's memory power. In future Sonic games, Knuckles will make a decision to turn to the Sonic team.

Sonic Spinball(4):
Graphics(7): The pinball machine looks okay, but Sonic is very small. Graphically, pinball machines are noticed for their uniqueness, and the pinball machine is a little bland looking.
Control(10): It's just like pinball, easy and simple. But that's the only reason this game gets that bonus.
Sound(6): It doesn't really sound like pinball game. There is music, but it's not very good. Hedgehogs are not good substitutes for pinballs.
Gameplay(4): From the start of the game, doesn't really look like pinball. It looks like an action platformer. You start out in this small area, and then you enter the pinball machine. Pinball is not very car trip like;it's more arcade like. It's very boring and perhaps the creators should have tried Sonic racing(like Crash Bandicoot and Mario did). This game should be left in the past, not in the future.

Sonic 3D Blast(2):
Graphics(5): Sonic and the levels look 32-bit, but they lack detail.
Control(4): There's not many attacks and the 3D levels make attacking and moving Sonic puzzling.
Sound(1): I had enough of the music. I've seen it multitudinous number of times. The bird chirping and other sounds are make me vehement.
Gameplay(1): I give this game a 2 because of the graphics. But his is the worst game on the disc. The 3D world is confusing. The game has a very boring concept. Now you have to kill enemies ;you can't run past them. Dr. Robotnik turned birds into enemies, and you have to collect the birds. What a ''cool'' game.

Dr. Robotniks Mean Bean Machine(8): An addictive Tetris rip-off with Sonic characters. Great with 2 players. Lacks a story mode, though.

Sonic and Knuckles(8): The fact that you can use another character is cool, but it's the same game as Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Now there are 5 hidden games. Now I know I shouldn't reveal the games, but I'm only doing it to prove a point. Do we really need Knuckles in the same Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2? Yes, that's what they included instead of some good Sega Saturn Sonics. The 3 other game don't even have Sonic in them! I'll reveal one: Flicky. In this Atari-looking game, you must protect birds and defeat enemies. A waste of disc space.

Replay/Extras(7): There are extras, but not very many. You can view movies, art ,and comics. The History of Sonic is too short and laconic, though.

However, I will say Sonic Mega Collection is a worthy purchase. Although you could find most of these games for 10 bucks or less, you're getting a decent deal if you don't have Genesis.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/03, Updated 01/05/03