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  • TSS REVIEW: Sonic Gems Collection


    If you were a jewellery shop owner, and you decided to sell to your customers a collection of your most precious Gems, what would you decide the contents would be? A diamond, perhaps? A sapphire? A ruby or two?

    SEGA, lapping up the (quite justified) success of Sonic Mega Collection, decided to bung a compilation of apparently equal-value 'gems' featuring our favourite hedgehog. Sonic Gems Collection boasts an array of titles that the die-hard fan just cannot pass up. Is the press release (and indeed, the box) accurate in this claim however?

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    Production of Sonic Gems Collection appears near-identical to Japan VRI's 'Mega' offering - from the rather basic menus to the humdrum extras. Just like Mega Collection, this title is no doubt going to be compared to Sonic Jam in terms of just how much SEGA has offered in the bonus content department. But perhaps doing such a comparison is a little unfair - while Mega Collection was more akin to Jam in terms of its game content, the pull with Gems is less about the extras and more about being able to play long-lost esoteric classics.

    However, the selection of games appears confused and inconsistent in Gems Collection. There are three headlining titles: Sonic the Fighters, Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Sonic R. Sonic CD, SEGA knows, is a star title that fans have been anxiously waiting for ever since the first Mega Collection was even announced - for many, Sonic the Fighters and Sonic R are simply hors d'oeuvres to the main course.

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    And what a main course it is too. Sonic CD plays every bit as well on the Gamecube and PlayStation 2 as it did on the Mega CD. The only difference being that you don't have to worry about that fiddly SEGA add-on console. It's refreshing to play a solid version of Sonic CD on a console that has stable save functionality and is easily accessible. There is the odd technical glitch, but it doesn't impact gameplay too much.

    The Japanese version contains the glorious native soundtrack, yet the European version has been severely shot down with the inclusion of the inferior American soundtrack. It is sorely depressing to play this game on a European or American console - Spencer Nilsen's depressing compositions will have you wanting to jump off a bridge come Collision Chaos Zone. The original atmosphere and 'Sonic' feeling found on the Japanese version has been lost on the US version, and it's criminal that Gems Collection doesn't even give you the option to change it.

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    Sonic R's inclusion in Gems Collection seems strange, considering its age and the general fan consensus about its quality. Its place in the compilation isn't really justified. Nevertheless, it's still as enjoyable on the Nintendo Gamecube as it was on SEGA Saturn. Control is only a problem for those missing fingers - using the shoulder buttons to turn your character does seem like an absurd design choice (probably implemented due to limitations with the Saturn's control inputs), but in practice it's a great tool to master and makes for some expert play.

    Playing on a PlayStation 2, however, will give you several problems - the "Run" button is bizarrely placed on the "O" button while jumping is commanded with "X" - while it's a simpler "B" and "A" button placement for Gamecube respectively. It is also much more difficult to turn using the PS2 shoulder buttons. Further, Sonic R is extremely limited in its offerings; Sonic fans who know their route through the game already will complete it well before the compilation's 60-minute Sonic Museum mission.

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    Sonic the Fighters appears to be the only title to be truly considered a "gem" by which the collection defines; Sonic R and Sonic CD can be easily picked up on the PC for a budget price. Being able to play this arcade rarity in your home is strangely satisfying, despite its extreme shortcomings. For Sonic the Fighters is a very short game, and has little depth to it. One could argue that during the time of Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers, there were no real 'techniques' to speak of in 3D fighting games. It simply did not exist at the time of STF's conception. But for being a spinoff title intended for quick plays at the arcade, Sonic the Fighters is enjoyable in what it sets out to accomplish, and succeeds in providing a new - if short - Sonic experience once lost on a generation.

    Alongside the three major titles, Sonic Gems offers a smattering of Game Gear games as well: Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Spinball, Sonic Triple Trouble, Sonic Drift 2, Tails Sky Patrol and Tails Adventure. Despite the fact that Sonic 2, Sonic Triple Trouble and Tails Adventure are three extremely playable Game Gear titles, you will be hard pushed to even consider playing them on a massive TV.

    Those looking for a complete 'GG Collection' on PlayStation 2 will be happy though, as this will complete what Sonic Mega Collection + started. Gamecube owners won't see the point in their inclusion however - especially considering all of these titles have already appeared on Sonic Adventure DX.

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    Beyond that, there are bonus games included which increase the overall value of this collection significantly. The Japanese version of Gems wins points for featuring Vectorman, Vectorman II, Bonanza Bros and the entire Bare Knuckle (Streets of Rage) series. However, the castrated European release simply leaves us with the Vectorman duo - which are excellent in their own rights. The green robot dude with attitude has two great and very playable games under his belt but for omitting Bonanza Bros and Streets of Rage, SEGA has done this collection no favours.

    The Sonic Museum mode is another attempt at showcasing various Sonic-related nik-naks to appease fans. Sonic Mega Collection's extras were poor. The bonus features in Mega Collection + were even worse. Sonic Gems Collection is surprisingly packed in comparison. There are hundreds of artwork pieces on offer - all of which we have seen before, but at least aren't all ripped off from Sonic Jam. Beyond the 'Sonic the Screensaver' images (that were in Sonic Jam), there are character and Badnik design images for Sonic CD, course renders for Sonic R and character poses for Sonic the Fighters, along with a bunch of random images (including, ironically, a page full of Knuckles' Chaotix stills - stop teasing us, SEGA!).

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    The gallery is strangely satisfying on its own, but SEGA has also included several exclusive Sonic music remixes and archive videos. The videos are fine, nothing to write home about, but the remixes are quite decent. When you consider Sonic Jam's extras, the only things of note missing in Gems Collection is a 3D explorable world, a Hall of Fame and a slew of Japanese commercials.

    An assessment of a compilation like this must primarily focus on how the whole package is presented. In this case, we need to look at the extra features alongside the games it offers. However, the quality of the games themselves must also be taken into account. On the first front, Sonic Gems Collection succeeds with its much-improved Sonic Museum and improved changes in unlocking such content.

    On the second front, while the games on their own stand up well, their placement is misjudged in Gems. The inclusion of other 'real' gems to stand alongside Sonic the Fighters, such as SEGASonic Arcade (or even Knuckles' Chaotix) would have been more appropriate. Instead, SEGA relied on the Sonic fighting game to help bolster a collection that was in fact just a transparent way of selling a re-release of Sonic CD.

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    The thing is, for the most part it works. For only £20, Sonic Gems Collection does offer good value for those fans who missed out on Sonic CD. But, we must heavily advise against purchasing the European or US version. While Sonic Gems Collection is a compilation designed to target die-hard fans, it's ironic that die-hard fans interested in the title should import the Japanese version instead. For skipping on Streets of Rage and (bizarrely) Bonanza Bros, this collection suffers severely - which is a shame because if Sonic Gems Collection actually offered a number of Sonic 'gems' as its namesake suggests, the omission of mere bonus games wouldn't have mattered so much.

    But, for failing to localise the game for the European market - which is the third time SEGA has done this - and for including the American soundtrack of Sonic CD with no option to change it, the US and EU versions of Sonic Gems Collection really are inferior products compared to its Japanese counterpart.

    Buy it by all means if you wish. Just be sure it's the Japanese version. If we were reviewing the Japanese release, we'd have given it 3.5 Stars (out of 5). But we're not. So we're giving it this.


    NOTE: This was given a score of 4/10 at time of original publication. We have converted its score to the below 5-star rating based on this score, and adjusted to best represent the original intent and sentiment of the overall article. This is not a re-scoring of this review.



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