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While most long time Sega fans have most likely played every Sonic the Hedgehog game ever made, there is a new generation of gamers who possibly never had the opportunity. Sonic on a Nintendo system would seem like a sacrilegious idea just a few short years ago, but now Sega disproves their own marketing slogan. Back in the day, Genesis-Does what Ninten-Don’t. These days, with Sonic Mega Collection on the GameCube, Ninten-Does. Sonic Mega Collection is essentially all the Genesis (or Mega Drive, outside of the US) Sonic titles in one little GC disc. The game includes Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and a few unlockable hidden games, a couple of which are not directly Sonic related. Most games look and sound exactly as you may remember them, though with a crystal clear S-video or component video connection and a surround sound audio system, they withstand the test of time pretty nicely.
Along with the games are plenty of extras for the serious Sonic fan. High resolution scans of the Sonic comics, a ton of various Sonic art through the years, commercials, a History of Sonic feature and even a super high quality, full-screen Sonic CD intro and ending. You can definitely spend a while sorting through all the fun and interesting stuff from years ago. The selection of games is pretty similar to Sonic Jam for the Saturn, and Sonics 1,2,3 and Sonic & Knuckles still make up the meat of the collection. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, which is really Puyo Puyo in disguise, is still a lot of fun in the 2-player Vs. mode, and Sonic 3D Blast is fun for a while. Sonic Spinball has not really aged well. The gameplay in all the games are faithful to the originals, and the GameCube controller seems to work as well as the Genesis pads did. Sega is never going to hear the end of this, but having Sonic CD included (which was originally for the Genesis Sega CD) would have made the collection so much more worth it. I still have my fingers crossed that Sonic CD, Sonic R, and the Model 2 arcade game, Sonic the Fighters, will end up on a collection disc one day. While a great collectible, the Sonic Mega Collection is still full of games that most of us fans still probably own in one form or another and it is also a bit too similar to Sonic Jam. Though for those who were only playing on Nintendo’s side of the fence since back in the 16-bit days, it is a definite piece of history that should at least be given a try.
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