Sonic Gems Collection (PS2)

...where I was missing some Sonic games, and on that note it didn't disappoint. But on the gameplay aspect of these missing games, I may as well have not bothered.

Sonic Drift 2 (2?! where's 1?) is a pretty difficult racing game, probably Segas answer to Mario Kart. Its a Game Gear port, so graphics aren't spectacular, but due to the speed of the game and the sensitivity of the buttons its really quite difficult to stay on the course ...
...this game.

Sonic Spinball. The Game Gear version. For those who don't know, Sonic Spinball is a pinball-style game, where you play sonic as he bounces his way to finding the chaos emeralds and defeating Dr Robotnik. On the Mega Drive, this game performs quite well as a smooth running adventure, albeit a little hard.
On this Game Gear version, you might as well not bother. In my opinion, using a FAR lower quality version of a ... more

I bought this game mainly to fill the hole where I was missing some Sonic games, and on that note it didn't disappoint. But on the gameplay aspect of these missing games, I may as well have not bothered.

Sonic Drift 2 (2?! where's 1?) is a pretty difficult racing game, probably Segas answer to Mario Kart. Its a Game Gear port, so graphics aren't spectacular, but due to the speed of the game and the sensitivity of the buttons its really quite difficult to stay on the course track. You'd have to have a lot of patience to complete this game.

Sonic Spinball. The Game Gear version. For those who don't know, Sonic Spinball is a pinball-style game, where you play sonic as he bounces his way to finding the chaos emeralds and defeating Dr Robotnik. On the Mega Drive, this game performs quite well as a smooth running adventure, albeit a little hard.
On this Game Gear version, you might as well not bother. In my opinion, using a FAR lower quality version of a game for this compilation is completely pointless. Its unplayable. I know one can't expect amazing graphics from a Game Gear game, but they're bad to the point where for example, you're a good 2cm away from a pipe you need to go down, yet you get though. Also, the special stages are totally different from the MD version, (which has a sub-pinball mini game, which is pretty fun) as it has you running around strange rooms full of huge eggs which are damn hard to get to. Its jerky, its slow and its difficult. Go for the Mega Drive version.

Triple Trouble. This is pretty much the same as Sonic Chaos. Again, a GG game. I never really got too far with this one either. Graphics are reasonably poor, music as good as you can expect for an 8bit game, so cant fault it too much there. Its your standard Sonic-runs-though-levels-collecting-emeralds, except this time you're up against knack the weasel. (some of you may know him from Sonic the Comic) Also, like Chaos, tails is a playable character. Its more playable than most of the GG games on the collection though, so its not a total waste of time.

Sonic 2. Now I have the original of this on the Master System, and the only difference I have noticed is different boss music. So on the conversion front its pretty OK. Again, another standard Sonic game, you collect rings, emeralds, and bop Robotnik. The game is quite novel, in that it introduces many elements previously unseen in Sonic 1 (MS/GG); you can ride carts, fly paragliders, spin on wheels, and go though tubes. For a GG/MS game, the musics pretty good, nice and upbeat, suits the levels well. (also, Japanese or European Sonic CD owners might recognise one of the tunes later in the game. Toot Toot Sonic Warrior anyone?) And graphics are pretty good too, only fault with this version is that the screen is a little small, and as opposed to most Sonic games, you're dead in the middle of the screen which makes foresight quite hard.
There's a fault with this game, a major one. One that's haunted me from childhood to now.
Its hard. Hard to the point where I can't get past the first level. o_o Which annoys me a lot as the rest of the game isn't nearly as hard. Well OK, some is, but its generally OK. So, I'm on the fence with this, as I do like the game, but I cant play it, but maybe you can?

Tails Skypatrol. This is a new Idea, you're Tails, you fly around, and you er...do stuff. Namely attack badniks. Apparently you're saving an island against an evil witch.
To be perfectly honest, along with this and tails adventures, I haven't bothered playing them so much. Its got nice smooth graphics, and good sound, but its just a little tricky. And Tails adventures I didn't find had much going for it, poor graphics, poor gameplay. Can't comment too much as I played it once and got fed up with it after 5 minutes.

Now, onto the good stuff.

Sonic R. If you're buying Sonic Gems, the only sure-fire thing you'll be happy with is this. Its not the original Saturn version, its a PC port, and I'm not sure if its just me, but it seems a better version than the Saturn version. (as much as it pains me to admit.) Its a racing game in which you can play as either Sonic, Tails, Amy Rose, Robotnik, Super Sonic (after completing game), Metallix, Knuckles, Metal Knuckles, that robot Robotnik you see on Sonic 3, and...dun dun DUUUUUN!!! The awesomely scary, Tails Doll!
you race though some pretty well animated 3D tracks, while simultaneously trying to get chaos emeralds and win the race! Not all characters are available to play straight away, and winning a race allows you to face the unlockable characters in a race. Win, and you can play as them.
Sound is excellent. It has a great soundtrack with real vocals. Its a little cheesy, but I'll wager you'll be wanting to sing along in no time. Has a 2 Player and time attack modes, as well as reverse tracks and a balloon hunt game. Downsides, once its finished, there's not much else going for it unless you go over the time attack scores. I wouldn't call it an especially hard game either. Its idea for kids though, as its fully of colourful characters and landscapes and its got that right degree of difficulty.

Sonic the Fighters. Apparently this was originally an arcade game, although I think it was only released in Japan, so it does have a rightful "rare" tag applied to it. Unlike pretty much all other Sonic games, its a fighter. A tricky fighter at that. I'm pretty sure this uses a Virtua Fighter engine on this, as it just screams "Virtua Fighter" when you play it. Its got the same 3D square arena idea, and the controls are ever so similar.
And as all Sonic games have a love of chaos emeralds, they wouldn't leave them out of this surely? Nope, they didn't. An emerald for every level completed. You fight against increasingly difficult players, as with most fighting games. Characters include Sonic (duh), Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Knack The Weasel, Bean, Espio, (of Chaotix fame) and Bark.
Its a good game for fighting fans, but gets a little tedious and monotonous after a while. OK graphics and sound wise, nothing spectacular though. Imagine Virtua Fighters angular players and you're pretty much there. OK game.

Sonic CD.
I bought Sonic Gems mainly for this, as I have the Mega CD version, and didn't want to risk getting it scratched or damaged any more. This port, is quite frankly, awful. Words really fail me with this one, as I can't begin to understand why they not only ported a PC version of the game, but they left the American soundtrack on it. And for those of you who don't know, there's a huge debate over Sonic CD soundtracks. Japan and Europe had the original, which is, in my opinion, the best video game soundtrack of all time. No question. The Americans got some bland, pop-rock tripe which does nothing to add to the levels. I STONGLY urge anyone who really wants this game to get the original Mega CD Euro or Jap version.
This version also, has loading times. Yes, loading times. Its a PC port, on a Playstation 2, and it has loading times. The MCD version NEVER had loading times. You'll notice this a lot when you warp from past to present, an animation you can quickly skip on the original, but on this you sit though a good 5+ second sequence, and a loading period.
This is one of my all time favourite Sonic Games, and for all this soundtrack has spoilt it for me, I cant fault the game itself. Being a CD game, graphics are excellent. Its well shaded, and runs well. Levels are more than just the regular rings+lamppost=special stage formula. Oh my, much more...
You're trying to save Little Planet against Dr Robotnik, who is trying to steal the Time Stones (I think this is the only game without the chaos emeralds) which have to power to transport you to the future or past, and you'll be putting these to your advantage along the way. You'll need to travel to the past on each stage and find the Metallix robot and badnik machine, and then give them a good and thorough bopping. To travel to the past and future, you run though a signpost (much like you do on other Sonic games as a marker point) and you'll collect the said signposts direction, be it past or future. You then have to run for a number of seconds until you complete the warp. This is easiest done by finding a long stretch you can spin down, or 2 springs facing each other.
Once warped, you'll be transported to the same level, but in a different environment. Past will give you old ruins, moss covered stones and natural, ancient landscapes. The Future shows you what it'll be like if you don't stop Robotnik: Pollution, mechanisation, and all together griminess.

There's a time attack mode on the game too, and after you get below a certain time for completing all the levels (about 25 minutes) you can unlock music and video players, which let you view the excellent opening and ending sequences, as well as some more.
Its a real shame what they've done with this game, as its really not the same without the correct soundtrack. Its also the case with some other games on Gems, incorrect ports make for a bad gaming experience. Its also hard to give overall scores for this being a compilation game.

BUT! What the games lose in crappyness, it makes up for in bits, and by bits I mean unlockables. If you're a sonic fan you'll probably appreciate the huge array of unlockable images, tunes and videos. And they're crafty those Sega peeps, as to unlock these freebies, you have to play the games more and more! There's also unlockables in the way of 2 games, Vectorman 1 and 2. (Japan got Street fighter 1 and 2 though, so I cant help feeling that again, we Europeans get short changed)

There's one more moan I have to have about this, and that's loading times. It loads when it starts and ends games, as its saving playing data for opening unlockables. But its really quite unnecessary, and should have some means of being turned off. Most if not all games can be saved, which is a godsend in Sonic games, and most games only require X to play, so its not like you're going to get your brain scrambled remembering sets of controls.

Overall, good for a Sonic fan, but if you're just looking for some playable games, don't bother. Its only worth it for the 3 main games. If you just want a dose of sonic, get the Sonic Mega Collection.  

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