GameCube

Sonic Gems Collection

Sonic CD alone would be a good reason to own this collection. If Mega Collection has left you hungry for more Sonic, Gems Collection has got everything else between it and Sonic Adventure DX. Sonic Gems Collection completes the continuum of Sonic history available for GameCube.

The games industry split the gaming populace in two back in the early 90s. It seemed like gamers were either "Mario dudes" or "Sonic dudes," which of course, depended entirely on your system of choice. If you found yourself planted in camp SEGA, then you saw Sonic the Hedgehog as your digital mascot of preference. Faster and "cooler" than Nintendo's chubby plumber, Sonic quickly established himself as the hippest character to ever grace a 16-bit console.

So, really, it all comes down to Sonic CD. And the Vectorman games, which are fun if you can get round to unlocking them. Since you can buy this for less than twenty quid if you shop around, it's a nice way to experience a game sadly marginalised on the stillborn Mega Drive CD-ROM add-on, and it's also pleasantly rebellious in the current climate of 3D gang warfare action games with 80 billion polygons. In other words, if this sort of thing matters to you, if you still can't bear to unplug your Dreamcast, and you do own Virtua Fighter 4 and all the others and think they're brilliant, this is for you.

There's no doubt in my mind that these wouldn't have fit on Sonic Mega Collection – it's obvious to see Sega's intent here. Still, releasing so many games in one package is a significantly better deal than some other companies re-release strategies, even if some of these are barely worth mentioning. Sonic CD is fine game, however, and Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters are worth checking out at the very least. Any fan of Sonic really ought to pick it up, and if you think you'd like it I'd advise you to pick it up at the first reasonable price you see.

Taken as a whole, Sonic Gems Collection is definitely a weaker package than Sonic Mega Collection. The only games that truly hold up today are Sonic CD and the Vectorman titles. The rest are merely passable and are only of interest to the hardcore crowd. Still, the game's low price tag ($29.99) is easily worth it for Sonic CD alone. Now we just need a final Sonic collection that features Knuckles Chaotix, the arcade's Segasonic the Hedgehog, and the rest of the Game Gear titles.

The Sonic Mega Collection (GameCube, 2002) was an enjoyable compilation for the GameCube, but longtime Sonic fans were miffed by the conspicuous absence of the highly regarded Sonic CD (Sega CD, 1993). Sonic Gems addresses that glaring omission, and tosses in a bunch of miscellaneous Sonic titles for good measure. To be honest, I never considered Sonic CD to be as good as the original Sonic titles for the Genesis.

Der blaue Sausewind Sonic, Marios ehemals größter Konkurrent, sprintet schon seit längerem auf Nintendo-Konsolen. Wer aber einige seiner früheren Abenteuer nicht kennt, der kann dies jetzt nachholen. Sega packt die Klassiker Sonic CD, Sonic R, Sonic The Fighters sowie die Game-Gear-Spiele Sonic The Hedgehog 2, den Flipper Sonic Spinball, Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, das Rennspiel Sonic Drift 2 und die beiden Spin-offs der Sonic-Serie, Tails Skypatrol und Tails Adventures, auf eine Disk.

Most big game publishers are content to get some extra mileage out of their back catalog with broad classic compilations. Sega has instead focused its nostalgic energy specifically on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Having already repackaged all the original Sonic games for the Genesis with Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Mega Collection Plus, Sega and Sonic Team return with nine rather obscure Sonic games in Sonic Gems Collection. Unless you're a devout Sonic fan, you probably haven't heard of most of the games included here--and, with a few exceptions, most of these games aren't really worth hearing about.

To conclude, then - is Gems worth shelling out £20 for, even if Sonic CD is the only worthwhile game on it? (After all, there’s a reason why the NOM quote on the front of the box reads “Rejoice for Sonic CD!”) From a purely financial view the answer is yes, as there is no way you’d be able to get your hands on a Mega CD and the game for anything approaching that figure. However, it’s hard to recommend the game to anyone apart from die-hard Sonic fans, as this collection of “gems” is decidedly flawed.

Overall, for $29.99, it’s not a bad deal to get 3 "A" tier games, 2 "B" tier games and a lot of junky Game Gear games. However, if you’ve already played them, it’s not really worth a purchase unless there’s some hazing rule that requires you to get every Sonic game ever made.

Voilà un titre qui manque de contenu. En effet, seuls Sonic CD et Sonic R ont un réel potentiel. Pour ce qui est de Sonic Fighters, il est beaucoup trop court. Quant aux jeux Game Gear, ils ne constituent que de petits apéritifs. En outre, on se demande bien ce que devient Knuckles Chaotix qui n'est présent sur aucune compil. A quand la compilation ultime avec tous les jeux Sonic 8, 16 et 32 bits ? Messieurs de chez Sega au travail !

In the end Sonic Gems Collection feels like something that should never have happened. It makes business sense, but it's not great for the games buying public. Sonic CD should definitely have been included in the original Mega Collection, and Sonic The Fighters and Sonic R could have been thrown in as well. With only one gem in this set, it's just not worth it.