Remember the Sega Genesis, the strong arm [second only to the Governator's - ed.] of Sega's industry? The best console Sega released, also one of the only ones that didn't fail from some sort of poor development or financial problems? Well, congratulations, you are invited to the funeral. This isn't quite the same thing as being invited to, say, a birthday, but hey - it's still a worthwhile a peek into the Sega Genesis' now expired life. Besides, funerals are a good place to pick up chicks.

The Sermon

   Dear friends, here lies the Sega Genesis Collection for Playstation 2 - 28 classic Sega games that will take you back to your dateless teens or your sugary childhood. Whatever you happen to call it, it's the period from the late 1980's to the mid 1990s. Holy cow, you are old. Holy cow, I am old. I first stumbled upon this gem of yesteryear awesomeness while looking at the terrible, yet similar and older, Sega Collection for Playstation 2, a much smaller compilation that isn't worth the time of day. But back to the body of work at hand, which is. Reminsce with me, friends.

The Guest List

The Good Sons

   Platform games are first on the list, and platformers a-plenty is what we have here. Tells you a lot about trends in game development. Run, fight, and run some more till you reach the end of the level. [Ecco, seeing as how he belongs to the number one intelligent race on the planet, gets to swim instead - ed.] This genre includes such games as Sonic, Altered Beast, Comix Zone, Flicky, Decap Attack, Kid Chameleon, Shinobi, Ristar, Vectorman 1 and 2, Golden Axe 1-3, and, of course, the Ecco games. All of the games play solid and each one of them generally provides a fun but familiar experience. Most of them don't require too much thinking, time, or a learning curve. Just pick up the controller and play! Ah, the 80's! Where did you go! There are, of course, a few exceptions. Comix Zone and the Ecco games are pretty hard. Not only are they slightly complex with their respective gameplay but it also takes a little time to get a handle on the controls and the general play mechanics. Also, several of the games including Sonic 2 and Golden Axe 1-3 require a friend to make it really fun and/or to beat the game. And friends are hard to come by, unless they are paid. Bastards.

The Threesome

   As for strategy games, no two of them are remotely similar to one another, especially since there are three of them. They are like milk, beer, and gelcaps of liquid arsenic, a bunch of different things that appeal to different age groups. Columns is a blast and a blatant rip off of Tetris. But all ages can get going at this crazy colored gems game for hours. It does take a certain degree of skill at the higher levels. Bonanza Brothers is a wanna-be crime/strategy game, pitting you against the old formula of get in somewhere, steal something and don't get caught by somebody. There is less of a learning curve than Columns, but I found that it was more frustrating and not as addictive. [Of course, it's not a blatant rip off of Tetris, so its chances weren't that good to begin with ed.] The last game is Gain Ground, which I had never heard of until this compilation. This one is a Gauntlet clone. It's not bad, and unlike the other two strategy games requires no learning curve, or any real effort, for that matter.

This used to be my playground

   As far as role-playing games go, our compilation features 4 of these bad boys. Or 2, if you count all the Phantasy Star Series games as one. This is not your brother's Phantasy Star Online! This is Phantasy Star 2 through 4, hard edge techno fantasy role-playing games. These are very fun, in-depth and can consume many 5-hour shifts. Or somewhat fewer 6-hour shifts, depending on the size of your bladder. The other role-playing game is, of course, Vermillion which sticks to the classic fantasy themes prevalent in most role-playing games. But while it has the usual kill the evil wizard, knight, dragon theme it is still a captivating role-playing game worth checking out.

   The remaining two games each live in a category of their own. One is Virtual Fighter 2, which, as the most astute of you have undoubtedly guessed, is a fighter best served ice cold with two people. Unfortunately it's not in 3D: sadly, the Genesis didn't have the hardware. Rounding off the compilation, there is also Super Thunder Blade, a game like Outrun with helicopters and guns. Not much to it considering it was made in the late 1980s, the age when we still thought that helicopters don't crash every 5 minutes on an actual field of battle.

The Wonder Years

   The best thing about the game play features in all of these games isn't in the games themselves, per say - it's the reset save/load anywhere feature. This would have been nice back in the days when Mountain Dew fueled all nighters after the a power glitch. (Starting all over NEVER AGAIN!) This also makes parts of the harder games easier to complete to the point where certain areas crumble to my all-powerful touch. Then again, that's probably better than my angry yells of "that was my last continue on the 7th level mini boss you rat bastard" followed by a cartridge-stomping and controller-smashing rampage. Aw, childhood.

   The ubiquitous save feature notwithstanding, some of the games are still just as hard as they used to be [or maybe someone is just starting to get old ;) - ed.] : Games like Shadow Dancer, Phantasy Star 3, Comix Zone and Vectorman are still harder then they should be. Enemies are too powerful and I keep dying or, what's worse, I get lost in Phantasy Star after several hours. Compass anyone? On the other hand, a few of the games, like Sonic and Golden Axe are easier then I remember. No matter what the difficulty level is, most the games are fun for at least 30 minutes and that's what the Sega appeal was, just to have fun, and to pickle your brain with video games. Nintendo is the sole survivor that's still carrying that flag now.

The Three Stooges

   If control is your middle name, here is what you need to remember: the D-pad on the PS2 controllers is pretty unusable in these games. And I miss the A, B, and C simplicity of the old Genesis controllers. What is this X and O? Ok, so maybe you didn't need to remember that last part. Anyway, the analog stick works the best to control the games, especially for Ristar and Virtual Fighter where it makes aiming or jumping diagonally much easier than the cumbersome D-pad. As long as you remember that, all the games controls are perfect, no hit or miss here.

   Sound-wise, these are classic games from a classic era. That doesn't mean LucasArts developed the sound effects. You get the best midis gamers could afford back then: many of the sounds are classics, like the Vectorman firing noise, and the "SEGA" at every start up. If the sounds sounded strained from your TV in the mid-90s expect them to sound exactly like that still - this is emulation at its finest. Nevertheless most of the sounds fit well with the games. Moving on to sound's hip sibling, music, some of the games have fantastic scores. Sonic has great music, Phantasy Star has great music, and Golden Axe 3 has a very nice theme as well - for the 90's, anyway. The music of some of the older games in the collection such as Alex Kidd and Flicky's do tend to get on your nerves fast, though. Luckily if the music bugs you, shutting it off using the in-game menu is easy. For the most part the music takes me back to my time of innocence. And no that wasn't in High School. [According to Encyclopedia Insanica "High School" is the time of not getting any. - ed.]

   Although it's hard to talk about something like graphics when it's been so long, some of the games have definitely aged well, especially given that at least 15 years have passed for some of these titles. Classics like Sonic appear as if they never aged, and Comix Zone's graphics could still be called top notch today for a 2-D platformer. On the other side of the spectrum, a few of the late 80s games such as Alex Kidd and Kidd Chameleon didn't age well at all, which means they look pretty terrible now matter how I tweak things. Nevertheless, no matter what game you play the graphics aren't going to matter all that much, since the primary purpose of these games is simply to have some fun re-living your college or childhood days [Or both if you are Doogie Howser, MD - ed.]

Amen

   All in all, this is a great compilation. I recommend it to anyone who has never experienced the Genesis [or the embrace of a live woman - ed.] The replay value is endless, and the save anywhere feature makes these games great for someone who doesn't have 4 hrs a day to devote to gaming, like the typical college student. If you have any love for retro gaming in you, you owe to yourself to at least rent this game.

       ... Kube00