Sonic Mega Collection Plus

"Buy for $20. Enjoy all of your favorite Sonic games"

Sonic Mega Collection is a game containing many classic Sonic games from the Game Gear and the Sega Genesis, from Sonic 1 on the Sega Genesis all the way onto Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for the Game Gear, along with many unlockables.

This game features classic Sonic games from the Genesis with Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and Sonic 3D Blast, unlock with Blue Sphere, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and Knuckles in Sonic 2 for unlockables, while the Game Gear has Sonic 1, Sonic Blast, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Laybrinth, Sonic Drift, and the port of Mean Bean Machine.

This game stepped up quite a few improvements from the Gamecube version, with more games, and more artworks, movies, a few more games, and a lot more. This is also improved because of the Playstation2's controller and it's fine D-pad, making this game a snap to control, and using X to jump. Just like a Genesis Controller, and you can choose between one of 3 configurations. Another thing you can do that you couldn't do in the Sega Genesis days (and Game Gear), is that you can save your game data if you have a memory card. You can save right where you are without having to start all over again and continue from where you are. A really neat feature in this game.

But, this game has a few downs on its side too. Most of the games aren't good, like Sonic 3D Blast. His first adventure in 3D was confusing and hard, and had no point in it other than just looking for 5 flickes in each level and jumping through a hope. Yeah, that's fun, and it's really boring too. Most of the enemies are even hard to defeat.

Another bad game that I would say is Sonic Blast on the Game Gear. The graphics were incredibly choppy and the game was boring and slow. The game is also pathetically easy, especially the bosses. It's like they didn't even try making this game. And even though the game was way too easy for any player out there, the puzzles are near impossible to get through do. Look at Blue Ocean. You have to go through a series of tubes and try to land on springs in the air. This is very hard to get used to and I spent nearly an hour doing this. I felt like an idiot trying this out.

Other weird games are like Sonic Drift. Many people consider this a rip off of Super Mario Kart. I do too. You only get 4 characters to choose from (Sonic, Tails, Amy, or Robotnik), and you race). There are a lot of obstacles in front of you that you can't even pass without having to drive off the track. The controls are impossible to get used to as well.

But many of the Sega Genesis games were great. Like Sonic 1, still fun for players who are good at it, and it's a great classic. Pretty hard for beginners though. Then you have Sonic 2. If not for Sonic 3 and Knuckles being an unlockable or not on the game, this would've been the best Sonic game on the disc. There are 11 levels in the whole game (on one cart too!), huge graphic improvements, a lot new features, really fun, and most of the bosses were fun to do. This was my first Sonic game I've ever played too.

Sonic 3 came next. It had 6 save slots, and you could pick your character and start at the beginning of the level you left off at, and it had really fun special stages. Tails could also start flying. This only had half the levels of Sonic 2, really taking most of the great out. The game was fun though in most of the early levels and great hard in the later ones. The graphics were really nice and colorful though, and Sonic Team has done a really great job developing the graphics. You also have Sonic 3's "partner", Sonic and Knuckles. This game wasn't great playing alone, but some parts were fun. You could play as Knuckles too and the special stages, levels, and graphics were just like Sonic 3's.

The last normal game of the Genesis games here is Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. This had a few similarities to tetris, but it was extremely fun and addicting to watch and play. The point of the game is to try and make sure your pile of "beans" doesn't reach the top of the screen, otherwise, your side of the screen clears and you lose. You had to match 4 beans of the same color to get rid of a set of 4, and everything under the beans falls down too, so if the falling beans matched another set of 4, it would go away, and send a huge set of rocks to the other player. You could also control the directions of how the beans land and so fourth. Rocks can block the path of you/the other player's beans, and could stop you from making a set of beans. Even though the game is incredibly addicting, it gets very hard on the second level, and many people have trouble with it. Many of the levels are very hard and it will take a lot of times to play to know the other player and what he does.

For some of the unlockables, one was called "Knuckles in Sonic 2". This is the same thing as Sonic 2, except you play as Knuckles in the levels of Sonic 2. This made the game easier and harder in some spots, like Knuckles could just glide through the whole Emerald Hill stage, and he could climb up walls to get secret 1-Ups and Chemical Plant Zone, where Sonic and Tails could not get to without cheating. Making the game harder meant his lower jump, which can be harder for beating certain bosses.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles was also another unlockable. This was probably the greatest Sonic game ever. This was a combination of Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles, and they were "merged". You could start from the first level of Sonic 3 to the last level of Sonic and Knuckles. This meant you could play Tails in the Sonic and Knuckles levels and Knuckles in the Sonic 3 levels. You could play all 14 special stages and collect Super Emeralds, allowing you to get Hyper Sonic/Knuckles or Super Tails. This game was really fun and it had 8 save slots instead of 6.

There is a game called "Blue Sphere". This game has thousands and thousands of Special Stages from Sonic and Knuckles. You had to collect all of the Blue Spheres and not get any red spheres. If you got a perfect by collecting all of the rings, you would advance up 10 levels, and it would tell you the level's difficulty as a bonus. You could access the level by entering it's password, and it tells you before the level starts. Some are fun, some are not.

But the music in many of the games were great, just to name out a few. Sonic 1's Marble Zone, Sonic 2's Metropolis and Chemical Plant Zone, Sonic and Knuckle's Lava Reef, and the Special Stage music. The sounds were average in many of the games, but near horrible in many of the Game Gear games. So most games had no flaws with the audio.

Overall, this is a great value for Sonic fans out there. It is on a much more stable system now and you can enjoy all of your favorite Sonic games. If you like a lot of the Sonic games, go out and get this, it is only $20. Also for people who never lived the Genesis days.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/05