Budget compilations have slowly become the "in" thing for the industry. Sega's second attempt will be received far better than their weak remake collection that butchered a lot of memorable titles. By focusing on Sega's first-party Genesis lineup and keeping it intact while still adding a plethora of extras, the Sega Genesis Collection is a blueprint for how these should be done.
There's little logic in including some less-than-well-received titles in any release like this, and Sega has picked a better roster than any before it. The duds are here more for nostalgia or history purposes, while the extras reveal a few more surprises. The default roster of games is as follows:
- Alex Kid in the Enchanted Castle
- Altered Beast
- Bonanza Bros.
- Columns
- Comix Zone
- Decap Attack
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Ecco: The Tides of Time
- Ecco Jr.
- Flicky
- Gain Ground
- Golden Axe
- Golden Axe II
- Golden Axe III
- Kid Chameleon
- Phantasy Star II
- Phantasy Star III
- Phantasy Star IV
- Ristar
- Shadow Dancer
- Shinobi III
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Super Thunder Blade
- Sword of Vermilion
- Vectorman
- Vectorman 2
- Virtua Fighter 2
As the title states, with the exception of the hidden ones, all games mentioned are the Genesis version. Virtua Fighter 2 is not the 3-D fighter most people are familiar with. It's a surprisingly accurate 2-D port that retains quite a bit of the arcade game.
A surprise is Golden Axe III, famously destroyed by gaming magazine EGM over a decade ago when they claimed it wasn't good enough for a stateside release. It stayed in Japan, and this is the first time a US audience can play any kind of official release. Not only is the inclusion unexpected, but also the game itself is a superb hack 'n slash.
The few less than high quality games here include Altered Beast, Flicky, and Super Thunder Blade. In their time, they might have been successful. In today's gaming climate, their sole selling points (graphics) prove hard to swallow. Super Thunder Blade is borderline unplayable. As for missing games that should have been included, the Streets of Rage trilogy is the immediate deletion that jumps out. Columns 3, the final two Sonic platformers, and Chakan are definite must-haves should Sega give this another run.
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