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Game Title: Sonic Gems Collection
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Compilation
Age Rating: BBFC: U for Universal
Release Date: 30th September 2005
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Game Score: 6.0/10
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Summery:
You'll might get some enjoyment from seeing some classics in Sonic Gems Collection however there are other games in this pack that do not hold up even in the slightest.
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Sonic Mega Collection and later Mega Collection Plus allowed you to play some of the various Sonic the Hedgehog games on both Mega Drive and Game Gear systems. There were plenty of really good Sonic games that still hold up well today. However the same cannot be said for Sonic Gems Collection which dispute having some games that are reasonably decent many of the games in this pack do not hold up today and are just terrible.
Let's talk about the positives. Now to be fair it does have about 9 Sonic games featured in this compilation with 2 non-sonic games as well which is good but however Streets of Rage sadly never got included in all western versions of this compilation which is a shame. Compared to Mega Collection there are less games on there but it seems understandable that the 3D Sonic games on there make up for it.
Now all of the games once again are emulated and for what it is the emulation is really good and like Mega Collection you can use Save and Load states for most games which makes playthroughs easier.
As for the majority of games sadly do not hold up. Vectorman while it looks cool and all but it can be brutally difficult and running out of lives and continues means starting over from the beginning. The Game Gear titles can also be very difficult as well and can mostly be beat using the save and load features when you die. The Game Gear titles aren't really all that good and I think we can agree that Tails Sky Patrol is easily the worst of the Game Gear titles featured in this compilation because of the terrible controls, very difficult and just simply awful gameplay across the board. Another worst Sonic game featured in this compilation is Sonic R which has terrible handling controls, short number of tracks and it also has some of the worst music tracks to grace gaming. Another game featured called Sonic the Fighters isn't really that bad seeing that it is the only fighting game in the Sonic franchise but you can easily beat the game with button mashing but goodness do all the damage impact look hilarious.
Out of all the Sonic games worth playing on this compilation the best goes to Sonic CD which has awesome music, impressive controls and really amazing graphics even for the time. Sure it has confusing level design but it is a great Sonic game and the main reason to get the compilation. Aside from Sonic CD and being able to play Sonic the Fighters on a console this compilation mostly features plenty of games that have aged poorly with Sonic R and Tails Sky Patrol being the worst of the pack. For the price second hand stores charge for the compilation that features more average to bad Sonic games as supposed to good Sonic games is going to be hard to recommend even to Sonic fans.
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The Good Points:
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1.Sonic CD is a really good Sonic game
2. Other Sonic games including first console release of Sonic the Fighters
The Bad Points:
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1. Not many games featured hold up well
2. Sonic R and Tails Sky Patrol are just so awful
3. No Streets of Rage included in the English releases of this compilation
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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