Gems collection features some of Sonic's more obscure titles from his old days and is overall a decent compilation.
Right so our game list is Sonic the Fighters AKA Sonic Championship the arcade fighter game. Sonic CD for the Mega/Sega CD -it features some interesting gimmicks and is overall a good game, but it feels like something is missing. Sonic R an incredibly short racing game. The Game Gear titles are those which were not featured on Mega Collection Plus. These are Sonic 2, Triple Trouble, Drift 2, Tails' Adventure, Tails' Sky Patrol and Spinball. And the aforementioned Vector Man.
Sonic the Fighters is a quick arcade fighting game. You have a selection of eight characters and you battle opponents on a total of ten stages. The game is very very cheap. One mistake in the later half of the game and you are almost guarenteed a loss. However the game is pretty fun to play and can be quite satisfying.
Sonic CD is the most overrated Sonic game I have ever played, though that's not saying it's not good. While it features the classic sprint to the finish whilst picking up rings, something feels missing - can't quite put my finger on it. Anyway it features a very interesting time travel gimmick which adds a lot to the game's life span. Overall this is a decent title and the best game on this compilation. Strangely the original PAL European release had teh Japanese sound track for the game - yet this port has the American sound track. The Japanese one has better tunes, but the American one is more atmospheric and compliments the game play atmosphere better.
Sonic R is a very short racer. The game features only five tracks and can be completed with all collectables and unlockables within under an hour. The game doesn't control to great but it is quite fun to play and is a satisfying experience.
Most of the Game Gear library is mediocre at best in my opinion. Sonic 2 for Game Gear plays like a dunned down version of the Mega Drive/Genesis titles. You run through the level picking up rings. The game has a bigger focus on platforming than speed. Every level feels different. Sky High has you fly on hang gliders, Aqua Lake features under water sections and Gimmick Mountain has several spinning wheels you need to launch yourself off to get to higher places. The levels are good, but the bosses are just too hard! I can't do most of them without using the compilation's quick save feature. It wasn't so bad on the Master System as there was more on screen which made dodging easier, but here it's just too hard.
Triple Trouble is really cool! One of the best 8 bit Sonic games. You race through stages with Sonic and Tails! The levels have nice differentialtion between them and the mechanics are more like that of a 16 bit sonic game by comparisen to the other 8 bit titles.
Sonic Drift 2 is an okay racer. The difficulty has been pumped up over the first one, but it feels cheap. The graphics are almost headachey - you won't want to play this for long. The game is rather bland if I'm honest.
Tails' Adventure has Tails walking around through areas. he can fly and shoot bombs and use items such as remote control dogs. I really don't like it. BOOORING and hard!
Tails' Sky Patrol is actually underrated. Sure it's hard, but overall it is mildly enjoyable game. You fly around as Tails shooting enemies with your ring and evading hazards. The game is hated for being hard - personally the thing that stops me giving it a higher score is that it quickly becomes boring. but overall - a decent title.
STAY AWAY FROM SONIC SPINBALL. It controls horrifically. You control Sonic as a pinball through a pinball machine in an attempt to collcet Chaos Emeralds to move on. Forget the Mega Drive/Genesis version - that looks like pure genius compared to this version. Worst Sonic game ever, debatable but certainly for me!
And as for Vectroman I can't get onto it. It's a side scroller shooter game. Very hard for me. I've heard it is pretty good though.
For the Game Gear titles there is a quick save feature, so you can save in a certain place and come back to it should you mess up by quick loading. It is kinda cheating, but it's probably the only way you'll complete Sonic 2 and Tails Sky Patrol for the first time. You can also save the games to the memory card and come back to playing them to continue exactly from where you left off another day.
As for extras, like Mega Collection there are images to view though they have to be unlocked this time. There are also videos to watch including Sonic Adventure's introduction video and and a Sonic Heroes promotional advertisement.
Overall Sonic Gems is a decent compilation. It's good games compensate for the lacklustre games. Overall it's worth checking out.
Individual game scores
Note I rate compilations according to the higherst scoring game and will only downgrade them if the other games bad points outweigh the good game's good points.
Sonic the Figthers, CD and R = all 7/10
Sonic 2 = 6/10 (7/10 for Master System since the bosses are too hard on this one)
Triple Troube = 8/10
Drift 2 = 5.5/10
Tails Adventure = 3/10
Tails Sky Patrol = 6.5/10
Spinball 1/10
Vectorman = haven't played enough of it to give a valid opinion
- Milesprower2k9 Original Reveiws