Face it, the only reason you're curious about Sonic Gems Collection in
the first place is because of Sonic CD. Had Sonic CD not been included,
the collection otherwise would of been a mediocre list of half-decent
Sonic releases heralded no less by two of Sonic's most disappointing
spin-offs: Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters. But does that mean Sonic Gems
Collection is still worth your hard earned dough? In a word no. None of the games featured in Sonic Gems Collection have
stood well against the test of time. And while any retro gamer might
scoff at the thought allow me to retort. The gameplay has long since
been overshadowed and put to rest. The thing about these titles, such as
Sonic the fighters in particular, is that they resemble only the
expectations that the 90s had of the poor blue mascot.
As expected though, Sonic CD is absolutely fantastic. It is a rapid,
intense entry into the loco 2D platformer series. With a varied set of
levels and the ability to travel in time, Sonic CD did alot for the Blue
Blur in it's heyday. There really isn't anything that has to be said
otherwise. It is Sonic as you know him, without Tails, ripping apart
Robotnick's robots piece by piece. However there is one minor issue with
the game otherwise. Had you been fortunate enough to have played the
Japanese or European version of Sonic CD for Mega CD, you'll know it
featured a funky electronic music that was influenced by the dance scene
led by Chemical Brothers and Prodigy of the time. This worked well
alongside the rapid intensity of each zone in Sonic CD, including the
mode 7 designed minigame. It is a shame then that the Japanese
soundtrack was replaced in Sonic Gems.
Moving on, Sonic R, as any Sega fan would know, was Sega's half-arsed
effort to atleast bring some kind of Sonic gameplay to the 32-bit
realms. The long overdue Sonic Xtreme was going nowhere by that point
and fans continuously pestered Sega for a 3D Sonic after being teased
with the 3D world featured in Sonic Jam. Sonic R provided the gamers of
the time with a seemingly solid attempt at Mario Kart, with exploration
playing a major part to its core. these days it plays as a very casual, slow and frustrating racer that
has a saving grace only in its bizarrely enjoyable R&B soundtrack.
On Sonic Gems, Sonic R is a port of the PC version. This isn't a bad
thing, it is visually superior (featuring weather effects on the stages
even) and has four player splitscreen modes. But who wants to play this
boring rip-off when there are so many better racers are on Playstation 2
today?
And we have Sonic the Fighters (or Sonic Championship). It is a wonder
that people like me wanted this. It was destined originally for the Sega
Saturn of all machines. Although despite being a 3D fighter based on
the excellent Virtua Fighter template, it absolutely stinks. Sonic the
Fighters is yet another spin-off that simply doesn't give the blue-blur
the sense of speed and aciculate celerity that we know him of. Sonic is a
terrible fighter as the likes of Egoraptor (crappy spin-dash anyone?)
have recognised. It makes as much sense for Sonic to fight as him
driving a car! (Which coincidentally Sonic Drift 2 has him doing).
Regardless the constructive criticism for Sonic the Fighters is that the
fighting is too inconsistent. Unlike the games it is based on as well, the ability to chain combos and
attacks is next to impossible and you'll often be resorting to special
attacks leading to cheap victories. Yet cheap is more or less how Sonic
the Fighters runs anyway. Which makes the game infuriating as the
computer will often take advantage of this, especially with characters
like Fang who have powerful projectile attacks. The only thing Sonic the
Fighters had going for it was the high quality 3D graphics offered only
by the Model 2 hardware of the time, this port on Sonic Gem is
surprisingly good in maintaining it's prowess however obviously it
doesn't hold up now either.
So there are your main games summed up, excluding some bonus handheld
ports. The Game Gear titles, although a nice inclusion, are not worth
your time. Obviously a release like Sonic Triple Trouble which is
intended for a teeny tiny front-lit screen doesn't look anywhere near as
impressive blown up onto a 19" TV. Tails Skypatrol and Tails Adventure
are to be ignored altogether also. The number of games available is
second-rate conclusively. It is unbelievable that Sega even has the
nerve to sell the Sonic Gems Collection with abundant yet unpopular Game
Gear titles. They could of instead fitted the compilation with
additional gems from the Mega Drive, like the included Vectorman titles. Hands down the most disappointing thing to take into account is the lack
of Knuckles Chaotix. Apparently Sega did actually have plans to include
more Mega Drive titles with the collection. The Japanese version of
Sonic Gems includes Bonzana Brothers and the Streets of Rage which were
both inexplicably left out of the European release. Sega could of also
gone one step further by including a few of the Sega Ages 2500 releases.
As it would be apparent, from seeing the Sega Classics Colection, the
2500 line-up is rather expendable to Sega. Why on Earth not include them
then?
All in all don't bother with Sonic Gems Collection unless you can find
it cheaply, and I mean cheaply. Sonic CD is the only reason to divulge
into this series of average Sonic related titles, and compared to Sonic
Mega Collection Plus, it is a bit of an embarrassment. Besides a lack of
games, there are the usual digital manuals and artwork that Sega have
included as bonus material to this compilation, they're not worth your
time. None of the titles included on this collection have aged well,
perhaps with the exception of Sonic CD, and you're better off buying
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 instead.
