SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection Review

By Simon Parkin Published 1 March, 2009

This takes ages.

Version tested: Retro

Nobody talks of retro films or retro music. Read a novel by Tolstoy or a passage from the Bible and you aren't retro-reading, just as sitting down to a DVD of Citizen Kane or Lost in Translation would never be referred to as retro-viewing. And yet our industry is still yet to reach the point where it can refer to eras and movements rather than retrogames and retrogaming. Moreover, the process of buying a film by Orson Welles or Sophia Coppola is virtually the same today, despite the fact that more than fifty years separates their birthdates and best work. If Madonna and Tchaikovsky CDs are separated by metres in the local music store, mere inches on iTunes, why is it nearly impossible to buy a new copy of any videogame released anytime before yesterday?

It's a frustration that's been slightly eased, albeit in a patchwork, unsatisfactory way, by PSN, XBLA and WiiWare. Here it's possible to pick out a specific videogame from yesteryear and pay a few pounds for the privilege of owning the ROM, albeit with little guarantee of how good the emulation is going to be and without any of the enjoyment that comes from owning the box and manual. It's certainly convenient when you want to dip back into your youth in a moment of drunken sentimentality. But what single download releases can't offer is a broader snapshot of a console's library, a sense of where each game sits with other titles of the era or, indeed, the handiness of having all of your "retro games" in one place, restored with a consistent degree of care and context.

Backbone Entertainment, maker of the recent and quite brilliant Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, is aiming to do just this with the boastfully named Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. Bundling together 40 of the system's better titles and presenting them with high-resolution artwork and a slew of developer interviews, its title bespeaks its ambition: to provide the definitive collection of SEGA-published Mega Drive games yet offered on a contemporary system.

'SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection' Screenshot 1

One oversight bound to work up Mega Drive fanatics is the lack of an option to link up Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic 3, a hardware marriage that brought the two games together to create arguably the best 16-bit Sonic experience.

Of course, with only 40-odd games represented from the Mega Drive's far bigger library, it is, in the strict sense, anything but Ultimate. But SEGA has done a good job of selecting a wide range of titles and genres and while there are some notable omissions, the collection offers a reasonable overview of the system's highlights with some generous bonuses. From Comix Zone, Columns, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Flicky through to the full set of 16-bit Phantasy Star and Shining Force titles, the quality games in the collection are still eminently playable.

Backbone's presentation is assured, a sharp menu screen interface incorporating into its design the console's retro-future lights and fonts, presenting the full range of games on the disc in an easy-to-browse format. You can rate games from one to five 'power lights' and then filter the list by your ratings, a useful homebrew way of sorting the wheat from the chaff. Each game enjoys its own save file and you can save any game at any point (as in an emulator) to help you get through some of the less-forgiving, which have little time for the contemporary gamer's shortcomings.

Visually every game is available in the original 4:3 screen ratio or in a widescreen option. It's possible to stretch and move the screen around so you can find the best balance between authenticity and big-screen comfort. The box claim that the games are now in HD is misleading at best, however: nothing here has been redrawn (as was the case with SSIITHDR), rather simply upscaled to HD resolutions. Viewed on an HD television the games naturally look worse than they did on the original hardware through a CRT television, and the option for a scanline filter would have been welcome.

In-game the emulation is good rather than great; better than some of Backbone's previous Mega Drive output, but far worse than the Japanese-only (and far more expensive) SEGA Ages releases. Many fans will be disappointed that there is no online multiplay, but thinking about the logistics of implementing such a feature, and the number of players who would likely want to take advantage of it, we don't think it's an unreasonable omission. However, the lack of any leaderboards is harder to swallow, as this feature would have added some useful longevity to the package.

One of the most compelling reasons for making it through every game included on the disc (including the terrible duds, such as Alex Kidd and Altered Beast) are the Trophies and Achievements on offer. Almost all of the games have their own bespoke Achievement, which is, in the main, by no means tricky. Sometimes you'll be required to pass a certain score threshold on the first level of a game, or to make it through a level section without dying. While some gamers would no doubt have relished more challenging goals, the fact that they are so attainable will count as a positive for the majority. In those older titles in particular, a meta-challenge is welcome, adding a much-needed layer of complexity and focus to the straightforward in-game goals.

The game's bonuses are broad if not particularly deep. There's a short description of each game, and high-resolution image of its (American) box art and a number of rare but pedestrian Japanese developer interviews. The inclusion of some arcade game unlocks such as Shinobi, Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone are welcome but the overwhelming feeling is one of quantity over quality of execution. Indeed, viewed ungenerously, it's a collection just one or two steps up from the bumper game compilations you might find in a garage bargain bin for a few pounds.

'SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection' Screenshot 2

Literally.

For many players this will be more than enough: the chance to buy and play a large chunk of the Mega Drive library for a fraction of what it would cost on eBay (the Phantasy Star and Shining Force games alone still fetch top prices) or, indeed, on XBLA. But for the Mega Drive aficionado hoping for a Criterion Collection-style presentation of the system's highlights, Mega Drive Ultimate Collection will no doubt be a grave disappointment.

It is, by definition, trying to serve both two audiences: the casual fan who wants low price and high content, and the hardcore enthusiast, who wants polish, precision and concentrated fan service. It serves the former group very well, but the latter group less so. As a cheap and cheerful overview of many of the system's treasures it offers far better value for money than the download services, each title costing well under a pound. But it lacks the reverence and polish that would make it essential buying for the SEGA devotee. Perhaps, though, this is the best we can ask for while we still have 'retrogames'.

7 / 10

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Picture of Simon.

About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A regular contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, his work has also appeared in Edge, The Telegraph, Gamasutra and Boing Boing.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (68) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • EmiliasHorse #1 3 years ago

    I really want this, and yes it is only £25 but with SFIV and Halo Wars this month and a slew of Xmas purchases that are still on a to do list. I am affraid they will have to wait for a little while, although seeing as they have waited 15 years + for me to play I don't suppose another month will matter too much.

    7/10 seems a bit stingy for what is on offer, even at XBLA cheapest 400 point price this lot would cost far more than £25...Unless every game is broken I do not need to have played the package to know what I am getting.

    Digs out rose tinted glasses

  • khaz #2 3 years ago

    I'll repeat what I said in the general gaming thread:

    No Gunstar Heroes.

    No Castle of Illusion.

    No World of Illusion.

    No Alien Soldier.

    But Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Streets of Rage 2 and 3 are in there.

    I'm currently oscillating between GTFO to ZOMG! GIEF NOW!

    :|

  • Krelle #3 3 years ago

    Castle of Illusion, omg so long ago, do want

  • NumberNone #4 3 years ago

    Bought this yesterday and spent much of the afternoon playing Sonic 2 and Streets of Rage with my eldest son who has been brought up on a diet of X360 and PS3. Really nice to see the games hold his attention despite being a gamer who has only really known HD gaming. And he's pretty decent at Super Thunderblade. Value for money is great and the extras menu has a fair few features. And the games look pretty great on my 46inch HD screen despite there age. You can't expect miracles but this is a package well worth the asking price.

    Oh and Comix Zone is awesome on this....

  • Chrispynutt #5 3 years ago

    khaz: Erm this is SEGA's Mega Drive Collection, not Treasure's Mega Drive collection or Disney/Capcom's.

  • SuperBas #6 3 years ago

    I'd rent this just for the achievements. They're REALLY easy, and made even easier by the quick save and quick load slots that work at any time. This is like a regular emulator! The only achievements that I found hard were getting 20.000 points on Columns and finishing Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/09 @ 09:12

  • Kazzahdrane #7 3 years ago

    I really wish people would stop complaining that great NON-SEGA games they remember playing aren't in this collection! I haven't played it but the selection looks pretty good considering they were limited to SEGA titles.

    However, I'll agree with khaz that the Illusion games were great and I'd love to see them on XBLA with Live co-op : )

  • secombe #8 3 years ago

    As has been said many many times, opening a huge can of licensing worms if we are ever to see some of the titles people badly want to see.

    Some of the Disney titles were published directly by Sega, some had Virgin Interactive tied up in them. No idea how that all sits today, I guess the only hope would be that Disney could sort something from their end and release a compilation.

    More surprising is that EA haven't done anything similar, they have a superb 16-bit back catalogue which has never seen the light of day since the original releases.

  • Eraysor #9 3 years ago

    No Gunstar Heroes was the killer. Best game ever.

  • Ryze #10 3 years ago

    No Sonic 3 & Knuckles lockon mode:

    FAIL

    /plays Sonic Jam on the Saturn

  • bad09 #11 3 years ago

    / hugs megadrive emulator puts on Castle of Illusion (I'm not a pirate BTW - I already bought all my MD games when the thing was out!)

    Anyway anyone who didn't buy Megadrive first time around should get this, some cracking MD games in that compilation and a great price.

    What I'd like to see though is a SEGA arcade compilation, surely with the size of a blu SEGA could put something together for PS3.....

  • dominalien #12 3 years ago

    List of games is one thing, but it would be also cool if the review mentioned what platforms/systems this is available on. Mention of trophies/achievements points to ps3/x360, but as someone who'd never even heard about this before, I'd like to have been enlightened if it at all pertains to me.

  • Gastrian #13 3 years ago

    Dominalien, the link to get to the review has the icons of the consoles its being reviewed on. Its a PS3 and Xbox360 review

  • SlackMaster #14 3 years ago

    A saturn collection with nights, panza dragoon games, and the odd game like burning rangers, fighting vipers and last bronx would be great.

  • Pulsar_t #15 3 years ago

    Who or what is this Matt Hazard?

  • CapnCloudchaser #16 3 years ago

    I love this collection, it lets me play a lot of games I've been holding off buying on the Wii VC, such as the Shining series.

    But, I do feel like it's just a rushed collection of games whipped up in five minutes and thrown out of the door to make some quick money. Even the videos that are unlocked on the disc are probably as old as 2006, since one of them was talking about the 360/PS3 Sonic game as if it was just being released. The 'museum' section is also utterly pointless and more of an after thought.

    That said, I know a lot of people on my game design course at Uni that have never played a MegaDrive before, and thus compilations like these are a must have for those that are really into game design and history but haven't touched the console before. There is certainly a huge chunk of Sega history here!

  • Venkman90 #17 3 years ago

    No Flashback = no sale

    That and Castle of Illusion

  • riz23 #18 3 years ago

    @ Secombe EA did make this.
    Also with regards to 'retro' or not, gaming is a pastime that is so reliant on cutting edge technology, that anything that isn't at the bleeding edge will always be 'retro' by definition. Like my vinyl collection I guess. I don't see that changing until technical progress ceases to make much difference.

  • schnide #19 3 years ago

    If Madonna and Tchaikovsky CDs are separated by metres in the local music store, mere inches on iTunes, why is it nearly impossible to buy a new copy of any videogame released anytime before yesterday?

    The answer to this is incredibly simple - it's a matter of medium, format, standardisation.

    Let's think about cinema first. No matter what advances there've been in camera technology over the past 75 years, at the end process you are still only ever seeing a captured image reproduced on a rectangular box. With all other things being equal, if you'd shot Citizen Kane with a modern digital camera or the one they used at the same time, it'd be the same film. It's still the same experience you get up on screen as the viewer.

    The same goes for music. You'll get people who tell you that listening to the White Album on CD just isn't the same as on an LP, but ultimately you still hear the same album. If a few barely audible scratches on a turntable are that important to you then yes, it matters, but otherwise what you pump into your two ears is the same music.

    Both of those have been standardised for some time. Even though we play games using those rectangular boxes and listen to the audio with those two ears, there's an extra element which is processed largely in realtime. We may end up with an all-powerful console/PC which no longer needs to be upgraded, and when that's fully established you'll be able to look at gaming in terms of eras by looking at it retrospectively.

    Until then, while the base hardware is changing every 4-6 years, games which you could play on your system become obsolete as soon as your system does, assuming you don't have backwards compatibility. You can't load up the first Metal Gear and compare it to MGS4 on the same system (at least without having to think about it) and assess those titles purely on gameplay.

    For as long as we have competing consoles which are advancing at such a rate and don't have 100% backwards compatability with every game ever released, we'll still be talking of things in terms of retrogaming. PSN and XBLA are getting us closer to it, but we're not there yet.

    In short - we won't be able define boundaries on the medium until the goalposts have actually stopped moving.

  • dryden555 #20 3 years ago

    These 40 games are too close to the last SEGA collection fro 2 years ago. Not sure why someone would want this one when you can buy the last release for cheap.

  • BBIAJ #21 3 years ago

    Heh, Matt Hazard surrounding this review is rather fitting, given his retro origins!

  • Retroid #22 3 years ago

    Comix Zone, Gunstar Heroes, Altered Beast, Phantasy Star II, Shinobi III & Sonic The Hedgehog 3 are set to come to XBLA, just for people's information....

  • jonsaan #23 3 years ago

    @secombe

    'More surprising is that EA haven't done anything similar, they have a superb 16-bit back catalogue which has never seen the light of day since the original releases. '

    EA replay is available on PSP. It's missing a ton of content but some of their gems are on there, along with some absolute shite:)

  • firm3d #24 3 years ago

    I got this for £20, making each of the 40 games 50p. That makes all the bitching here as worthless as the paper it's printed on.

  • firm3d #25 3 years ago

    @dryden555

    I bought the last collection for PSP and bought this one because I don't use my PSP or DS much any more and would rather have it on my TV ... and I like trophies :(

  • DanC89 #26 3 years ago

    Where's Toe Jam & Earl? :(

  • khaz #27 3 years ago

    @Chrispynutt: this is the SEGA Mega Drive ultimate collection and all the games I mentioned were on the MD. The games in the collection are not all Sega developed either.

    Sega will either give the remainder of the MD gems in a different collection or never at all. The point is, its not quite the ultimate collection when its missing some crucial games. :)

  • Sinist3rRock3t #28 3 years ago

    Has anybody who got this already bought sonic2 from xbox live. Just want to know if its the same upscaled graphic on the disk thats provided in that xbox live game. If the games are all done at that level then this game becomes a must have title for me.

  • secombe #29 3 years ago

    @ khaz

    It's pretty obvious that rights are going to be an issue with masses of titles though, an original IP published by Sega that has never been used again (or stayed firmly in the Sega ranks) is likely to be ok.

    Anything with licensed characters (Disney ones being the most obvious going) or where the developers are still going strong but are under somebody elses wing these days is probably going to be more hassle than it's worth.

  • jaluuk #30 3 years ago

    Altered Beast, a terrible dud?

    Wtf.

  • Skywise #31 3 years ago

    I haven't played Altered Beast yet, but I remember it getting awful scores back when it was first released too.

  • darm #32 3 years ago

    @firm3d

    If it weren't for the achievement, they would have to pay me for playing such outrageous crap as Alex Kidd or Alien Invasion. Not that I think that the collection is not worth buying - I have it and I'm enjoying Shining Force quite a bit. Just that it's not fair to divide the price by the sheer number of games there.

  • Zomoniac #33 3 years ago

    Has anybody who got this already bought sonic2 from xbox live. Just want to know if its the same upscaled graphic on the disk thats provided in that xbox live game. If the games are all done at that level then this game becomes a must have title for me.

    Yes, it's the same. Full-screen stretching with smoothing filter.

  • Farzlepot #34 3 years ago

    I desperately want Sonic 3 & Knuckles on my 360! I don't know why I want this, as I have the original and my old Mega Drive, but not putting it on here (they cited 'development costs' apparently) is bloody bizarre to say the least. Looks like my only hope now is the LIVE Marketplace!

  • scouserfuller9 #35 3 years ago

    You also have the chance to buy many of these titles on the Wii for just £5.60 each!

  • espibara #36 3 years ago

    Man I just download the Jenesis emulator for my NDS and play the whole Genesis/Megadrive back catalogue on the go via my R4.

    I've downloaded over 60 meagdrive roms imcluding all the streets of rage, all the sonics , all the Thunderforce games etc. I've even got all tehshinobi games including Shadow dancer and Revenge of Shinobi.

    Makes this seem a waste of money to be honest.

  • dominalien #37 3 years ago

    @Gastrian

    Thank you. I got to the article through the RSS, so I wasn't clicking no links.

  • septimus #38 3 years ago

    I'll stick with my pristine Mega Drive console thanks.

    Any decent game is available on eBay.

  • frycrayola #39 3 years ago

    I can get GTA IV off the internet. Kinda makes the game seem like a waste of money.... oh, I see what I did there.

  • Farzlepot #40 3 years ago

    Are these emulators legal? Specifically, is downloading ROMs legal?

  • metalachilles #41 3 years ago

    A Lamborghini is a waste of money if you can steal a brand new one and never get caught.

  • Charlie_Miso #42 3 years ago

    WiiWare is 'original' games.

    Virtual Console is 'retro games'

    FYI

  • Zaltan #43 3 years ago

    For it to be truly ultimate it would need EVERY Mega Drive game... Or at least Castle of Illusion.

  • 3william56 #44 3 years ago

    Farzlepot: emulators are only legal *IF* you buy the ROM to play (or if you bought the cart on Ebay and extracted the code). Which you can do if you really want to, but it's pretty difficult - like most things, companies haven't embraced emulators and put put legit versions for sale, even for stuff that stopped making money for them decades ago. As usual, it's a heck of a lot easier to find illegal ROM copies for download. But some companies have opened up the back catalogue and given them away (usually old home computer games). A bit of googling will tell you which.

    That said, although I'm generally against piracy, grabbing a copy of an obsolete game 20 years after it stopped being sold and making the owner money doesn't do much harm IMHO. Especially one (like Sonic) I've bought a couple of times already or owned back in the day. These collections are OK to save the hassle of emulators, but mostly it's money for old rope.

    But an iTunes of ROMS to buy for a quid a go would both make it legit, make the owners some moneyoff of old IP, and keep our consciences clear. Not expecting it any time soon though. :/

  • Pro_Gamer #45 3 years ago

    *sigh*

    It absolutely disgusts me that people would ACTUALLY pay money to play games that were release over a decade ago. Go onto Google, type sega emulator and you will have full and unlimited access to play any of these old games that you want. And guess what? It stops giving money to lazy publishers who are only looking to make a quick buck and actually force them to create some DECENT games. However, Sega is so dead I wish they would hurry up and shut down for good. The ironic thing is that the homebrew emulators are actually SUPERIOR to the emulator used by Sega themselves. It sickens me.

  • Daikon #46 3 years ago

    Are these emulators legal?

    Yes.

    Specifically, is downloading ROMs legal?

    No.

    Btw this compilation is superb value for money.
    Yes, there are a few titles I would have like to see also included, but just look at the list, so many great games on it.

    9/10 for me.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 00:10

  • smelly #47 3 years ago

    Funny how sega stop making hardware.. and all of a sudden people dont mind admitting they enjoyed segas games - without all this fanboy nonsense tarnishing people is it?

    It wont happen any time soon.. but i wonder if the same thing would happen if nintendo got out of the market?

  • frycrayola #48 3 years ago

    Pro_Gamer: "It absolutely disgusts me that people would ACTUALLY pay money to play games that were release over a decade ago."

    It really disgusts you that people would pay for games? Why does the age matter? What is it about gaming that makes you think it should be free after a certain amount of time?

    It looks more like you have a different point to make, that you're actually upset at what you perceive to be a cash cow. Funnily enough, it's an optional one. You don't have to buy, but that doesn't make the ones that choose to into strange, brain-damaged cretins. Maybe we just fancy buying some games.

  • Pro_Gamer #49 3 years ago

    It really disgusts you that people would pay for games?
    Look, these games are rubbish. If you are going to pay for software, it needs to have longevity and creativity to warrant a sale. If you have a look at what Bungie do, they carefully create each masterpiece BEFORE offering it for sale to the public. This is what every publisher should be like. Instead, we have people giving money to Sega for no good reason whatsoever.

  • Landmaster #50 3 years ago

    "Masterpiece"

    Lol

  • rommy667 #51 3 years ago

    Man SEGA should be shot you could fit the ENTIRE mega drive collection PAL/USA/JAP on a dvd9 3 or 4 times,40 would fit on a cd and nearly a floppy LOL........

  • bad09 #52 3 years ago

    "Funny how sega stop making hardware.. and all of a sudden people dont mind admitting they enjoyed segas games - without all this fanboy nonsense tarnishing people is it?

    It wont happen any time soon.. but i wonder if the same thing would happen if nintendo got out of the market? "

    LOL what are you talking about big N HAVE gone, and I miss them dearly.. :)

    So when were people "ashamed" they enjoyed the MD anyway?

  • metalangel #53 3 years ago

    Not gonna bother - all the games I want I bought at the time or used shortly afterward. Though it's a hassle to hook my Genesis Sega CD 32x up (three plugs, ffs) at least I don't have a horde of unwanted shit and also have stuff like the amazing Terminator CD.

  • Daikon #54 3 years ago

    @Pro_Gamer

    It absolutely disgusts me that people would ACTUALLY pay money to play games that were release over a decade ago
    ...
    Look, these games are rubbish.

    I have this nagging feeling you were not even born when these games were released.
    Why don't you go back up to your room and play your "Halo" and leave the adults in peace?

  • secombe #55 3 years ago

    That said, although I'm generally against piracy, grabbing a copy of an obsolete game 20 years after it stopped being sold and making the owner money doesn't do much harm IMHO. Especially one (like Sonic)

    Fair point, VERY bad example of a game though.

    The original MD Sonic is still a very commercially viable property for Sega. Between these compilations, downloadable content on the current consoles and stand-alone handheld devices it's fair to say that "Sonic 1" is very much still relevant and profitable for Sega. Thinking you've 'paid for it' by buying the original release is by the by, I went to the cinema to see Jurassic Park AND bought it on VHS, I then bought it on DVD etc etc...

    If you were to mention an obscure game from an obsolete company that has no chance of ever seeing the light of day again, then you probably have a fair point as nobody is likely to ever make money from it again. Many titles are still commercially viable in one way or another though and have become more so these days, which in my opinion makes ROMS/emulation less clear cut than it may have been 5 or 6 years ago.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 08:11

  • bad09 #56 3 years ago

    @ secombe

    I don't agree, those are new games on new systems I don't see why you are a pirate if you play an old MD version rather than pay again to play it on your 360.

    If they had their pound of flesh I see nothing wrong in dowloading ROMs especially if those formats are no longer on the shelves. It matters not that these companies want to re-release titles on NEW formats for new customers (and sopme old fans - I still buy a few I have on PC emulation)

    Although that indeed is the grey area for emulation do/did you pay originally, but then who cares those machines are not in the shops.

    Anyway surely the MD roms are legally free to download now? Recently Dreamcast became legal in the US I believe, is Europe that far behind...

  • Dillinger #57 3 years ago

    >>Anyway surely the MD roms are legally free to download now? Recently Dreamcast became legal in the US I believe, is Europe that far behind...

    umm, where did you read that?

  • Gecks #58 3 years ago

    the problem with this release is that most of the games here have been released in previous collections. companies keep releasing slight variations of the same subset of sega-published (hence the lack of most of the highlights of the third party-heavy megadrive library) titles, and it's high time they were called out on it.

    and the achievements - most of them are attained by doing nothing more than loading up a certain game(s)! those that aren't are just utterly trivial challenges like using your sonar to talk to a dolphin on ecco. that's not 'casual-friendly', that's just utterly pointless, and a real sticking-point as a lot of the titles on offer here would benefit from some quantifiable goals to get you past that "my, this hasn't aged well" factor. ironically, it'll be the hardcore gamerscore whores who will lap this up for the fact that you can max it in a couple of hours.

    a real stinker.
    Edited by 2 at 02/03/09 @ 10:13

  • frycrayola #59 3 years ago

    @Gecks - "the problem with this release is that most of the games here have been released in previous collections."

    It's a valid point, but it's a symptom of a larger problem, that of the hardware having a relatively low lifespan. If we bought a music CD in 1992, we can still play it on today's hardware. We can barely even do that with a game bought in 2002 as neither the 360 nor the PS3 provide full backward compatibility, and few systems in the past did so.

    The only way, therefore, to ensure a given generation can play the classics in a legal fashion is to re-release them, just as music became available on CD and latterly digital downloads, and video back catalogues made the jump to DVD. And so with gaming, we get single releases as downloads, or these whole packs.

  • Gecks #60 3 years ago

    @frycrayola
    that's a fair point and i'd never really thought about it like that :)

    however, in this case at least the 'sonic mega collection' (which contains all the sonic and sonic-related games here, plus more) is 360 and PS3 compatible, and the PS2 'sega megadrive collection' which contains most of the rest is also PS3-friendly.

    i don't expect people to dig through crates to find these just to make a point, but it does seem like these collections are becoming a license to print money.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 11:38

  • frycrayola #61 3 years ago

    The PS2 games are only PS3 friendly if you've one of the backwardly compatible models that aren't made any more, though. It's a shame, as it really should be the norm. Certainly the 360's successor had better be compatible or we're all fucked!

  • cherryuk #62 3 years ago

    This is a little unreasonable - the space on a blu-ray disk is around 40-50 gigs each game/ROM only takes up 3-4mb each. I think they could put the entire MD collection on there.

    Evidently and unforgivably missing:

    Outrun
    Turbo Outrun

    Midnight Resistance

    any shooters

    the amazing arcade conversion of Double Dragon

    and loads more besides

  • bad09 #63 3 years ago

    @ Dillinger

    Can't remember where sorry one site somewhere (it was only a few weeks back two - after the EG article I read that somewhere). It's still illegal here tho

  • cherryuk #64 3 years ago

    Ultimately the emulators are good for what they do and cheaper, but the PS3 Collection is perfect with no slowdown or sound defects.

    However I'm not sure if we have the 60hz Genesis versions as I have not done a side by side comparison.

    Any one tried to test this yet?

  • smelly #65 3 years ago

    @ProGamer:

    "Look, these games are rubbish. If you are going to pay for software, it needs to have longevity and creativity to warrant a sale. If you have a look at what Bungie do, they carefully create each masterpiece BEFORE offering it for sale to the public."


    You say games need longevity and creativity.... Which is fine... But then you mention BUNGIE of all companies?!?

    Oh brother.

  • Farzlepot #66 3 years ago

    So the emulators are legal, but the ROMs aren't - unless you have the capability to rip them from the cartridge for yourself.

    Back to hoping for a Sonic 3 & Knuckles release on LIVE then!

  • secombe #67 3 years ago

    If they had their pound of flesh I see nothing wrong in dowloading ROMs especially if those formats are no longer on the shelves. It matters not that these companies want to re-release titles on NEW formats for new customers (and sopme old fans - I still buy a few I have on PC emulation)

    Although that indeed is the grey area for emulation do/did you pay originally, but then who cares those machines are not in the shops.

    Without getting into a full blown piracy/emulation discussion...isn't anyone who gets hold of free ROMs potentially meaning that the new revenue streams for these games loses out (be it compilations, Virtual Console etc)? You are essentially getting something for free which can otherwise be purchased legitimately, albeit on a new format.

    A few years ago there may have been less of a case in that respect, but 'retro' gaming is huge business even if the original cartridges etc can no longer be bought new.

    How is that different from downloading an old movie from a file sharing site, but where there are plenty of options available to still get hold of that movie legitimately (DVD, BluRay, On-Demand, Rentals etc)

  • lmephisto #68 3 years ago

    hahahahaha some achievements look quite easy but are not indeed :p Its cool though that i have a good collection of sega mega drive games it reminds me a lot :))))