Time travel with a video game controller
I never thought I would see a retro compilation on the 360, what with X-Box Live and it's Marketplace. So it was a nice surprise to learn of a compilation disc coming out and even more surprising that it was over 40 games, most of them from the old Mega Drive/Genesis.
And even better the three Streets of Rage games and Shining Force 1 and 2, and Shining in the Darkness, was being added.
The research and wait was worth it in the end, after the disappointment that had been Sonic Gems when Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3 had been removed for release outsie of Japan, it is wonderful to see them return in their glorious 16 bit glory.
But it fairly makes you feel old if you used to play these games back when they were brand new.
So let's do a brief peek at the pack:
You get a lot of Sonic games, sadly no Sonic3 and Knuckles lock on feature like the last compilation discs from Sega on the PS2, X-Box and Gamecube which is a shame, but oh well. Maybe in a second disc.
You get Phantasy Star, pre-online, 1, 2, 3 and 4 in full. With PS1 being an unlockable, easy to unlock really. You get Shining in the Darkness and Shining Force 1 and 2, still no Shining Force 3 and it's been over ten years since that game was created and we're still waiting outside of Japan.
You get the usual Vector Man, Comix Zone, Flicky, Altered Beast and Columns - ditch Comix Zone, Vector Man and Altered Beast please Sega, there are other games like Afterburner.
You get all three Golden Axes, if you like those, all three Streets of Rage games. Basically you get a fair amount of games and all under £30. Compare that to the cost of buying just a few of those games on the Marketplace or Wii Virtual Console one by one and you can see you've gotten a good deal with this disc.
Aye there are several games missing which would have been nice to see - Afterburner, Gunster Heroes if possible, Thunderforce 1 to 4, Ranger X, Red Zone and any others that are Sega made/owned. But maybe there might be a second to this pack one day, hope so.
So to just cut a long story short, you get a lot of games on one disc. You get a lot of RPGs and these came out back in the day before CGI scenes became the new idea of a video game, back when gameplay was important.
It's not a perfect collection, but it is one of the best, especially from Sega who in many gamer's eyes have fallen from grace in the past decade plus.
So for old time gamers here's a nice retro collection to go back in time to, for younger generations how about putting aside your five minute wonders for a bit and trying out games from back when gaming was about the gameplay over the graphics.
And that's all there is to say, a good collection that could have been so much more, but is still a great buy and a great bargain. Enjoy, to the time machine!