Sega Mega Drive Collection

Retro is very in at the moment. And I’m glad. I miss the days of the Mega Drive (hence Tristan and I building ourselves one out of an old broken computer – a feat I bring up regularly because, impressively, we actually got the thing finished). So it’s exciting, if unsurprising, to hear that there’s going to be a Sega Mega Drive Collection coming out for the PS2 and PSP.

The Collection contains 27 classic Mega Drive titles, as well as five more unlockable Sega arcade games. The list is pretty promising, but seems a little lacking in places:

Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle
Altered Beast
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
Ecco Jr.
Kid Chameleon
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium
Ristar
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Thunder Blade
Sword of Vermilion
VectorMan
VectorMan 2
Virtua Fighter 2

I’m psyched about Sonic 1 and 2 – but what about the rest of the series? Sonic 3 combined with Sonic & Knuckles is quite possibly the highlight of the whole 2D platform genre, so it’s a shame to skip that. It also would have been nice to see classics such as Streets of Rage and Shining Force (especially the second of each) in there. But the Golden Axe games will provide some of the side-scrolling beat-‘em-up action that Streets of Rage would have offered. Altered Beast…well I guess I understand its inclusion. It is a classic. But it’s also an atrocious game – very poor when compared to later Mega Drive releases – and really more fun to laugh at than to play seriously.

For those of you who, like me, enjoy living in the past, this pack will likely be well worth the price (around NZ$60 – or $70 for the PSP). The graphics may not have aged brilliantly in some cases, but the games are still a hell of a lot of fun. Even just for the Sonics, I’d recommend it. And if what you really want from a portable console is the Game Gear Mk 2, this might finally make a PSP worth your while…

The Sega Mega Drive Collection hits these shores on the 10th of February. Keep it locked to NZGamer for this review, and more previews, reviews, and gaming news.