Sega Mega Drive Collection (PS2)

...first clapped eyes on a Sega Mega-Drive, having turned the heat up more than a few notches since my last form of game playing machine (a Commodore 64) the Sega Mega-Drive featured breath-taking graphics, and unprecedented game playing compared to anything that had gone before. Armed with £15 of credit on my Game Loyalty Card I headed off to Game where I purchased the Sega Mega-Drive Collection priced £14.99; for playing on the Sony PSP console. I ...
...remember playing this on a Sega Master System and thinking at the time the quality of the graphics was poor, that being said the game play is quite addictive; but it’s very much aimed for younger children.

Altered Beast
This influential beat em up game originally released in 1989 into amusement arcades seems is incredibly frustrating now, the fighting is identical with no combination of fight skills, on top of that everything ... more

It was 1992 I believe when I first clapped eyes on a Sega Mega-Drive, having turned the heat up more than a few notches since my last form of game playing machine (a Commodore 64) the Sega Mega-Drive featured breath-taking graphics, and unprecedented game playing compared to anything that had gone before. Armed with £15 of credit on my Game Loyalty Card I headed off to Game where I purchased the Sega Mega-Drive Collection priced £14.99; for playing on the Sony PSP console. I have to confess I was feeling in the mood for a little nostalgia.

I cant deny I felt a little disappointed at the time of purchase with the quality of games that were on the disc, however the opportunity to play Sonic 1 and 2, and Golden Axe was too much of a temptation to pass me by.

Contents:

Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle

Wow what a difference 15 years makes did I say Breathtaking graphics earlier? This nifty little game follows Alex on his travels to find his father who is held hostage by some evil bad guy. No violent fights hear to worry about, because when the tension builds Alex fights off his opponents with a game of rock, scissor, paper. I actually remember playing this on a Sega Master System and thinking at the time the quality of the graphics was poor, that being said the game play is quite addictive; but it’s very much aimed for younger children.

Altered Beast
This influential beat em up game originally released in 1989 into amusement arcades seems is incredibly frustrating now, the fighting is identical with no combination of fight skills, on top of that everything just seems so slow. Battle your way through a dozen levels and transform into a variety of mythical beats as you fight your way to rescue a Greek God’s daughter.

Bonanza Brothers

This incredibly dull game was just as dull in 1991 when it was released, you guide the Bonanza brothers through a variety of buildings collecting secret documents and testing out the security systems. I’m taken back to a time where quantity and quality are very much two different things.

Columns

As addictive now as when it was first devised in 1990, this Tetris style game finds you collecting similar coloured jewels together in order to try and clear the screen. Columns allowed for better combinations of movement, in order to create different effects, why it never became as popular as Tetris always amazes me.

Comix Zone

Sketch Turner is a comic book character, and the screen becomes like a comic book layout. Complete each task in each picture frame before moving on to the next. After the forth window however this becomes incredibly tiresome, although the graphics are incredible and were only beaten in quality a few short years ago.

Decap Attack

As Chuck D. Head you play a mummified zombie who must stop the evil Max D. Cap from decapitating the people of the world as he rises from his grave. This massive level game features too much similar gameplay, and screen after screen finds you literally just walking from one side of the screen to the other.

Ecco The Dolphin, Ecco: Tides Of Time, Ecco Jnr

This game was revolutionary when it first launched in 1993, with several sequels (3 outings on disc in total here) Ecco was Sega’s second iconic character next to Sonic of course. The aim of the foirst game was for Ecco to meet up with his friends who are stuck in various areas of the ocean, the following games followed a similar style. To my amazement Ecco seems as much fun as it was when I first played it nearly 15 years ago, and if these three chapters were all the disc had on it, it would still be worth £15 of anyone’s money. Nice game play for kids and adults alike and of course a modern environmental and ethical storyline too.

Flicky

If Flicky had been on the Commodore then I could understand it, but this awful graphically flawed game follows the travels of a depressing blue bird. Its very much old early 80’s style platform gaming not dissimilar to Chuckie Egg or Manic Miner. But in 2007 it seems lost and highly depressing, this is one of the worst items on the disc.

Gain Ground

Turn based action game in which you must fight to “gain ground” although the graphics are poor the game play is pretty good, starting with 3 soldiers you progress to an army of 20 as you try to get as many men as you can through each stage. For those of you familiar with the Commando’s franchise this has a lot of similarities.

Golden Axe 1,2,3

One of the main reasons for purchasing this disc leads to sadness, Golden Axe is now incredibly tedious, movements are limited, fights are identical each time, and everything is just so incredibly slow. None of the 3 volumes improves on the last with the reality being that the first one was the best. The story finds you as one of a choice of warriors making your way through the land fighting enemies and getting your goods back from thieving dwarves.

Kid Chameleon

Set in the future a game called Wild Side allows the popularity of the earth’s children to play a high quality virtual reality game, but once the children get to a certain level they become trapped inside the game; as Kid Chameleon you must enter the game to get them free. There is nothing advanced about the graphics, or the game play which in my mind is like a poor mans Mario brothers.

Phantasy Star 2, 3, and 4.

Not a bad roleplaying game series in which you travel the universe trying to solve various mysteries behind the downfall of several planets. As the game series became more popular the playability and graphics improve with each game. From a hear and now perspective however kids of today are going to find this incredibly dull, the only people who will gain any satisfaction from it are those who are going through a retro phase or have fond memories of the game.

Ristar

Entertaining platform game in which you play Ristar hero of the galaxy with extending arms. This follows a progressive style of the platform game and those familiar with the James Pond games will see similarities. The characters bendy motions at times will raise a smile, and while the graphics are incredibly basic this will still appeal to game players now.

Shinobi 3

I remember having a Shinobi arcade machine in my first shop, I also remember playing it for hours. This game however made me mad as hell, as it took the heart out of game playing. Fights are annoying, the music is terrible and everything is just so incredibly slooooooooow! From the minute the fight starts you can see how its going to end, regardless of how well you play, whoever gets the first hit in first is the winner.

Sonic The Hedgehog 1 and 2

Something that needs no introduction is without a doubt the best aspect of this disc. Follow the adventures of Sonic (and Tails in Sonic 2) as he completes a series of levels collecting rings and preparing for the demise of Dr. Robotnik. Its great to see Sonic again after so many years and it looks sounds and plays just as it did 15 odd years ago. It’s highly addictive and this has seen a good many hours on my PSP I can tell you, even my other half in her “Computer games are for kids” mode wants a go. There is nothing tedious here and the game is without a doubt the reason Sega were so popular during the 90’s. Whether your new to Sonic or an old lover of the game, you’ll love it; its addictive, stylish and great fun.

Super Thunder Blade

This awfully monotonous helicopter game might annoy kids rather than amuse them, the copter is incredibly difficult to fly and there is no build up of damage; meaning that no matter how hard you play and how good you are, one little knock and your right back to the start. Worse still the graphics are awful and the music bares more than a passing resemblance to finger nails scraping down a blackboard.

Vectorman 1 & 2

This is a walking guns and jumps game, where you literally walk from the left to the right of the screen shooting everything that gets in your way. Interestingly enough the graphics in the first game are far superior to the second, but annoyingly the game is just awful.

Virtua Fighter 2

When you look at fighting games nowadays its incredible the variety of moves you can achieve in battles, turn the clock back to 1996 and its amazing what you could not achieve. That being said this fighting tournament style game, which echoes 1985’s Way Of The Exploding Fist Game (for any Spectrum and Commodore game players of the time) is not too bad, there are a decent amount of moves and some nice responses to kicks, punches or throws. Its easy to see why the Virtua Fighter games were and still are so popular as even with this early volume, its great game play.

So in summing up my purchase at £15 it’s a good buy Sonic and Ecco undoubtedly sit as the most popular titles on the disc. I doubt you’ll get too much thanks however if you are buying this for a child as they wont see the nostalgic aspect, and when more than 70% of the games are quite frankly crap they might not want to continue looking to find the good ones before they turn back to the more modern games like Grand Theft Auto etc. This is definitely something you might buy for someone who’s childhood was spent in the 80’s and they would more likely than not appreciate the purchase.

On the plus side there are 11 games that have 2 player options on the disc, so two PSP owners that have the game could have some great fun. 

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