Sonic Gems Collection...What If

[Guntz]

Interesting you guys bring up Sonic Gems Collection. I think I bought this game right around release date, so I'm definitely not a stranger to it. Before I ever had some real Sega hardware, I would play ports instead. This one really isn't that bad. It's assortment of miscellaneous games makes it a nice companion to Sonic Mega Collection. I probably unlocked every single thing in the bonus content menu. I wonder if I still have a memory card with that save still on it...

I think it's worth a purchase for Sonic R personally. Sonic CD is best played on the Sega CD.

No, Sonic CD is best played on Windows. Haven't you ever seen the intro on that port? It's the essence of Sonic condensed into a video.

The GG games are what made it worthwhile for me. Finding a functioning Game Gear that doesn't have a dying screen is next to impossible these days, and Triple Trouble is one of my favourite games of all time, so that alone is what made it worthwhile. And since I have no interest in owning SADX, this was a good choice for me.

And thinking like this is why Game Gears probably end up in the garbage. Have you ever heard of a capacitor kit and a soldering iron before?

It would have been awesome had they included SegaSonic though, I'd love to actually play that game. As for Chaotix, I already own that for 32x so I don't really care. It probably would've made Sega a few more sales had they included it, so why they chose not to is beyond me. I'd assume they rushed the project and couldn't be bothered to figure out the emulation.

Curious, I don't remember seeing anything in the bonus content that suggested SegaSonic would have been included. There's lots of material for Knuckles Chaotix, sure, but where are you guys getting SegaSonic from?

[The Jackal]

@Guntz: The director/producer/someone involved annouced they had planned to include it in an interview; got scrapped beause they couldn't replicate the original trackball controls. As for Gems; I imported the Gamecube version from the US when I knew Sonic Cd was on it (European launch was two months later; no way was I waiting); got it about one week after launch from Lik-sang (man I miss them). Played all the three main games to death, unlocked all the pics, music tracks and even the hints. Going back to it now; it feels empty; like it's a half-arsed effort. Still love playing it now and again, though.

[Diosoth]

I think compared to Mega Collection, Gems felt about half as much for the same price.

Now, first off, I am NOT a fan of games that have to be unlocked on these compilations and Sega's the only one who does it. Partly because the unlock methods are just goofy or redundant(play a game 30 times?). Just let me play it. I'm also not big on including games but not really advertising it, because I do like to know how many there are. It was like the Game Gear stuff got shoved on as an afterthought.

But what did Gems have? Sonic CD, which many regard as a classic, but they ported the PC version and it had issues. Sonic R which I'll be honest, it's not a great game... it's certainly not a total failure like the Rivals series or much anything made since/including Adventure 2 but it's got issues. And Sonic Fighters just feels like a very odd game. I think in the end we got 1 good game with issues, and 2 games that aren't really great anyway and most people had probably never heard of. Missing Knuckles Chaotix was a really bad move. I can't even really count the GG games as they weren't advertised as part of why I should buy it. I've never bothered to pick up a copy of Gems used because stores seem to want a small fortune for it.

Though it's still not the worst compilation they did. The Genesis collection for DS ran pretty terribly and I actually compared it to playing the games on JenesisDS on an flash card and Jenesis ran them better. Not that Sonic Genesis GBA wasn't the worst port they'd released but that was one game.

[djshok]

And thinking like this is why Game Gears probably end up in the garbage. Have you ever heard of a capacitor kit and a soldering iron before?

You just ooze sunshine don't you, and yeah I know about replacing the caps, it still doesn't do much to make the screen look all that good since they were pretty crappy to begin with. I'm holding out hope that someone will figure out a way to replace those screens like they do on the Nomads. Or that those consolized GGs will become available for sale.

As for SegaSonic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_G...ems_Collection
I know it's wiki and you can't trust it that much, but I recall some print magazines at the time also mentioning this.

[Guntz]

You just ooze sunshine don't you, and yeah I know about replacing the caps, it still doesn't do much to make the screen look all that good since they were pretty crappy to begin with. I'm holding out hope that someone will figure out a way to replace those screens like they do on the Nomads. Or that those consolized GGs will become available for sale.

Sorry, I'm just a bit touchy about people not knowing that something can be easily fixed. The same thing applies to freeze-prone consoles and the N64's analog stick (which only need cleaning and lubricating, respectively). I apologize for being snappy...

[djshok]

No worries man it's cool. I get pissy about people throwing out their model 2s. It's still a Genesis dammit.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Didn't the Japanese version also have Streets of Rage 1-3 in it? I still don't get why they felt the need to remove those.

Sonic CD would have been better if they gave the option for which soundtrack to use.

[Zz Badnusty]

Yes, the JPN versions have the Bare Knuckles trilogy as well as Vectorman as unlockable games.
They were reportedly removed from the North American Gamecube release because the Bare Knuckles games would have prevented a "kids" rating from the censor board.



As for the topic at hand. Yes, I think Sonic Gems Collection is a very worthwhile package. Sure a few more games would have been nice, but whatever, we didnt get them. What we got is lots of fun and a very worthwhile purchase for fans. Heck it costs less than $20.

My big complaint, and pretty much a game breaker, is that the "pause suicide" is not possible in Sonic CD on the Gems collection. I play with specific goals in mind when playing Sonic CD, and there are times when you might be about to accidentally warp to the wrong time period or messed something else up in a level, the Sega CD original allows the player to pause and kill Sonic so you can go back to a checkpoint. You can't do this on PS2 or Gamecube (nor Windows afaik) so you either have to let the time run out, find a spike or enemy to kill yourself (which sometimes isn't as easy as it should be), or backtrack to find a way to get back to the desired time zone.
Anyway, without the "pause suicide" I can't really play Sonic CD too seriously.

[Guntz]

^Vectorman 1 and 2 are still present in the US version... On GameCube at least.

[The Jackal]

They're on the European PS2 release as well; Bonanza Bros, Bare Knuckle 1, 2 and 3 were the Japanese exclusive games.

[Obviously]

Though I got Gems Collection anyway it's pretty bleh. It would've been a lot more worth it if it included these games.

[Nobi]

Without Knuckles Chaotix, or SegaSonic, Sonic Gems Collection was indeed pointless. I agree with the op, but I'm not a very big fan of Sonic CD, in fact it is the worst Sonic game ever made in my opinion(I have limited experience with any Sonic games released after 1999).

[M4R14NO94]

I know I mentioned it in my almost two-year-old Gems Collection thread, but playing the Japanese version on a modded US or Euro system has the menus and the three main games in English (the Game Gear games, Bonanza Bros and the SOR/Bare Knuckle titles are the Japanese ROMs), plus you can unlock the JP-only games.