Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection

This game is one that I was most definitely looking forward to playing, so to be able to review it was a great opportunity for me. Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection contains a grand total of forty-nine games, of which forty are available on startup, and nine are unlockable through achieving certain tasks within the games already available. There are also eight interviews with various game development team members, as well as artworks and background story from each game.

The Mega Drive is a 16-bit console that was released to Japan in 1988, North America in 1989 and Europe in 1990. However, Sega couldn't get the legal use of the name Mega Drive in N America, so renamed it to Genesis for them. It was the most popular console of its generation in Europe, outselling even the SNES, its main competitor. It is Sega's most successful console, with over twenty-nine million units selling worldwide. The Mega Drive II was a redesigned console that looked much better, and the European version came with Alex the Kidd auto-installed onto it.

I started by looking at some of the artwork and game histories before even playing any actual games, and even that was enough to get the nostalgia flowing. Seeing the original case designs alone simply got my enthusiasm going even more. All of the games contained within this collection are original games, with some of the unlockable bonus games being arcade versions.

The buttons for each individual game are shown before you enter the game, and you can review or change them from the menu screen (press back to access). They correspond to the original Mega Drive's control pad fairly well, in terms of reach - the general layout is Y, B/X, A compared to A, B, C. A couple of games that could take advantage of the six-button control have had extra commands spread across the 360 pad, such as The Story of Thor (or Beyond Oasis in N America) which has six button bindings (one each for A, B, C, X, Y and Z).

The layout of the main game menu is good, with options to rearrange the games by name, year, or favourite preference - you can assign a star rating out of five for each game. The menu has controls onscreen at all times and it is really simple to get where you want to go.

Sonic The Hedgehog is the game that most people will associate with the Mega Drive first - the blue hedgehog has been the icon of Sega for a fair few years. The basic aim of the game is to stop Dr. Robotnik and his robot armies, which have been turned from innocent animals. Along the way, Sonic needs to collect the Chaos Emeralds, rare gemstones that hold wondrous powers that can help him defeat his nemesis. There are seven of the Sonic games in this collection: Sonic 1, 2 and 3; Sonic and Knuckles; Sonic Spinball; Sonic 3D Flickies' Island and also an offshoot, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. I was disappointed to find though, that the Sonic and Knuckles inter-game compatibility with Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 was missing. However official sources have said including these would have meant leaving out even more of the other games.

Streets of Rage was a popular side-scrolling beat ‘em up, and for the fans there are three of them in this compendium. The story is along the lines of a team of ex-police officers fighting a powerful criminal syndicate that has taken over their city. At the end of each level is a boss fight against much more powerful enemies. You also have access to a special attack that can break through enemy defences, and save you from taking too much of a beating.

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was a game that game pre-installed on many Mega Drives, and featured the popular Rock, Paper, Scissors deciding game. Alex's father, Thor has been kidnapped by the ruler of the planet Paperock, Ashra. Alex goes on a mission to save his father, battling through paper rock to do so.

Although I'd never heard of the Phantasy Star series before, it has become a firm favourite of mine. It is an RPG set on an idyllic planet that has been overrun by monsters. It is up to the character to sort the monsters out and stop them from appearing all over the place. It is one of the longer games of the collection, and fans will be pleased to hear that there are three of the series' games already available, with the first game from the Master System available after unlocking it.

Fatal Labyrinth was a game based on a maze design. With 30 non-stop levels of increasing difficulty, it is a challenge for players. The hero starts off with just a weapon, and must find his way to the top level of the labyrinth in order to defeat the Dragon King and save his town. There is also a strategic side to this game, as you need to decide what order to fight enemies - plunge straight in with no thoughts and you may well be killed by a 4 versus 1 fight.

Shining Force is another RPG style game taking place in various fantasy worlds. It employs a turn-based style for battles, as well as the team of fighters and different classes such as priest, swordsman and knight.

Golden Axe is another side-scrolling fighting game, this time with weapons and magic. The plot is essentially the same for each game in the series; your chosen character must fight through the enemy armies to battle the overlord that has been attacking their homeland, and win the Golden Axe from them. There are also elven creatures that hold magic potions - collecting these will allow you to perform magic spells, with better spells available for more potions held.

Columns is another game that will be familiar to a lot of people. The idea is to not let the stack of jewels reach the top, in the same fashion as Tetris. Each piece that drops consists of three jewels, and players must align three or more same coloured jewels to score them off. When done, any jewels that were on top of the removed ones will fall down, opening the possibility of combos for big points. The game carries on until the stack reaches the top. After the player reaches a certain amount of points, the game increases a level, usually meaning a change in speed or harder combinations of jewel pieces.

The unlockable interviews are in Japanese with English subtitles, and offer background information on the interviewee's gaming work, as well as a little interesting inside information on what it's like as a game developer in general. It would be an idea if you are interested to look at these, they also show a little of the development of each game the interviewee was mainly involved in.

The unlockable games comprise of Alien Syndrome, Altered Beast, Shinobi, Phantasy Star, Tip Top, Space Harrier, Golden Axe Warrior, Fantasy Zone and Zaxxon. A few of these have the main Mega Drive series or game within the compilation as well, so these fit in quite nicely with the other games already available. Seven of these are arcade versions, and the other two are from the Master System - Golden Axe Warrior and Phantasy Star.

If you are a big retro or Mega Drive fan, then this is a game for you. Even if you only like a few games on the list, I'd still recommend it as the other games may grow on you - I know this was certainly the case for me. The nostalgia you get from playing this game is pleasant, and remembering the good old days as you beat that final boss once again can be nothing short of bliss