Sega Mega Drive Collection
For PS2, also PSP. £19.99
Verdict: To be this good takes ages.
Rating: 4/5
When I were a lad and all this was parallax scrolling trees, there came a cutting edge games console with the most ‘radical’ games. Introducing the world to the 16-bit era with an explosion of garish pixels and the blue blur of a hedgehog, Sega re-imagined gaming with an attitude fit for a teen.
Beating Nintendo to the 16 bit arena, Sega was responsible for introducing some of history’s most iconic games to us through the power of its Mega Drive. This collection, while not definitive, brings many of them back for some rose tinted action.
Made up of thirty two games, the Sega Mega Drive Collection offers up classics such as the stylised Comix Zone, the sublime Ecco the Dolphin, the action packed Vector Man and the epic Sword of Vermillion.
With retro compilations often made up of filler content it’s refreshing to see how many quality titles make up the collection and with barely a dud in sight, the nature of nostalgia means even they have some kitsch value worthy of a bash.
With the terminating ‘Game Over’ screen a rarity these days it’s a refreshing lesson in the history of game design from simpler times, albeit one of the teeth gnashing, pixel perfect, one hit and you’re out variety. In the present age of adaptive difficulty levels and auto-save points it feels almost alien to have to play a game from the start every time you lose.
For those of us who grew up with these delights the collection houses some fond memories that thankfully remain authentic and untarnished and for those that missed out the first time round there are some genuinely playable titles that can still thrill today.
There are some notable absentees that would have been welcome instead of the number of sequels included but for the budget price you can’t really complain - if only Nintendo were so generous with their Virtual Console.