Sonic Gems Collection Review
Introduction
Sega is taking a rest with his 3-D sonic platformers this year, yet they are working on Shadow’s new game that will be released later this year. But for now Sega does once again another collection of more classic old sonic titles for the Gamecube in Sonic Gems Collection. Fans were waiting a long time to have Sonic CD on a collection and finally Sega brings it in Gems Collection. But this collection also includes Sonic R, Sonic the fighters and 6 game gear titles. In Sonic the fighters sonic and friends must battle each other to see who is the best and must go battle Robotnik in his space station. In Sonic CD you must rescue Amy that has been captured by Metal Sonic. The other games don’t have an actual story, but old games at that time did not really focus on a story.
Gameplay
Sonic the fighter is a 3-D fighting game that was only in arcades and it was hard to find on the US, but finally everyone can play it on a home console. You can play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Fang, Bean, Espio and Bark. Fang, Bean and Bark feel like new characters for those who are not big fans of Sonic. The game plays like a streamlined version of Virtual Fighter. Each character has special unique moves; Sonic can turn into a ball and hit the opponent that will blow him way up. Fang uses a gun instead of punching, Amy uses her hammer, which can squish opponents to the floor or even make them tiny size. Yet the problem here is that some of the moves require you to do a lot of button combinations that can be really hard to perform because your opponent keeps attacking and doesn’t give you time to perform it. The battles run pretty smoothly with no slow downs and funny animations. Yet is too bad that the game is really short, but it still does offer a solid multiplayer that can keep you busy.
Sonic CD is also included on the collection and fans cannot be happier. The game
plays like a hedgehog game in 2-D side scrolling platforming. What does new is
that some of the loops you go through are possible to see in 3-D. They are also
other cool moves that go nicely in 3-D. The game also introduces for the 1st
time Metal Sonic and Amy that gets capture by him. The game even offers a time
traveling system that let you travel through the past or future of the stage.
The stage changes the background in a futuristic one or an old antique one.
Sadly the time traveling can only be perform when you are going in high speed
and you will see some lights on you, meaning that is working, but if you stop
then is all over and you lose the opportunity. Sonic CD can also be pretty easy,
but with the interesting level design on each stage and traveling through each
level it makes up for a deep sonic experience.
Another game on the collection is Sonic R that consists of racing against other
sonic characters. What is really good is that is no kart racer. Even tough Amy
uses a car and Eggman a machine, Sonic, Knuckles and Tails go racing on foot.
The game runs pretty smoothly not slow, but Eggman goes in a slow pace. The
controls can be a bit of clunky trying to take turns with Sonic, Knuckles and
Tails since they go a lot fast, it doesn’t give you time to take turns. Which is
also a problem trying to collect the chaos emeralds on each area and special
coins that are hidden on each course, if you collect all 5 on a stage you will
get the opportunity to race a new character, and if you beat him on the race you
will unlock him. Most chaos emeralds and these coins are hidden in special doors
that can only be open by having a certain amount of rings; they can also be
hidden in secret paths. The races can be a lot of fun but it has a lack of
courses, it only offers 5 courses and one of those is an unlockable when you win
1st place on all of the 4 main stages. Sonic R is not terrible but
the control feels clunky and is overall a really short experience.
The game even has 6 Game Gear titles, one of those game gear titles is Sonic the Hedgehog 2 that plays pretty boring since the backgrounds look plain and there is no true fun to be had, but mainly because it is a port of the game gear title, but it means Sega did not take the time to redone the graphics in it and the pace. There is also Sonic Spinball that runs really slow compared to the one on mega collection. Sonic Drift 2 is racing with cars in one street going left and right and is totally boring and slow. Tails’ Sky patrol is different, you are flying around with tails all the time grabbing and destroying things on your path, but is really hard to determine what things are walls. Tails Adventures is probably the best in the game gear games, because it’s like going normal sonic speed through levels but instead of jumping to attack, you throw bombs at the enemies, which is having something original that fits in nicely. The game also has 2 unlockable games: Vectorman 1 and 2. Both are the same gameplay platforming experience but are also combined with shooting. The level design can be weird and interesting but the game can sometimes get confusing.
Graphics
This collection is full of old titles so don’t expect Gamecube graphics here. Sonic the Fighters is the best looking in terms of characters and animations. In terms of backgrounds and places, Sonic R has the best design with the nice different places to race in. Sonic CD looks like any other sonic 2-D games, mix with some 3-D moves which look nice. When you travel through you can see the place in a new look, that keeps the graphics very varied on each level. Now the Game gear titles can feel a bit slow and with poor quality. The game gives you the option to play any of them in full screen or GBA size screen, while everyone prefers big to see it better, the graphics lose their quality in a big screen, yet we must remember that the game gear was a small screen not a TV size one. The menu screen is nicely done that can sometimes feel like a DVD menu.
Sound
The music in these games is not rock style like those on the latest 3-D sonic titles, instead is more like Pop, and all of the singers are girls. Even tough is a different style is nicely well put in Sonic R. You get some electronic in Sonic the fighters and sounds properly with each stage. In Sonic CD the music fits nicely with each stage’s environment. The sound effects on all of the games sound great and classic, yet the footsteps sounds in Sonic R are a pain. There is nothing new to hear from this collection except for a pair of cool Sonic R and Sonic CD music that keeps the whole thing fresh.
Replay
The collection delivers around 11 games to play but only around 5 of them are the best to play. Sonic the fighters is the best multiplayer experience you can get from this collection because of the cool funny moves you can perform at your opponent. Sonic CD is a great fun game to replay on each level so you can visit them in their past and future form. Sonic R can challenge you a bit by trying to find all of the special coins to unlock all characters and collect all chaos emeralds. Each game delivers something strong that makes them replayable. The game gear titles can be play around 1 or 2 times in a while, just nothing addictive. The game also has the Museum that has lots of sonic artwork from the games and pictures of Sonic in different places with his friends. It delivers a nice package of fun sonic titles that can keep you playing for a while.
Overall
Sonic Gems Collection may not be the collection of all of the best sonic games out there, but the 3 main titles Sonic the fighters, Sonic CD and Sonic R worth the 30 bucks price tag. If you are a sonic fan than you may want to check this one, but if you like Sonic but not a fan then rent it so you can check out some of his old classics like Sonic CD.
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics:
6/10
Sound: 8/10
Replay: 7/10
Tilt: 8/10
Overall 7.5 out of 10
Pros
+ Sonic R is faster then the PC version
+ Sonic CD is original
+ Sonic the fighters finally comes to consoles
Cons
- While Sonic R is faster, is harder to control
- The game gear titles are not really impressive
- Not all of the best Sonic games included