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Review : Sega Genesis Collection for PSP
Last night I picked up my first PSP game since Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories. Sega Genesis Collection for PSP is a pretty kick ass collection of 28 classic 16-bit games (Genesis/Megadrive) in a nice hand-held portable form and for a mere 30 bucks.
It includes the full untouched 16-bit versions of
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Altered Beast
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
Ecco Jr.
Kid Chameleon
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium
Ristar
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Thunder Blade
Sword of Vermilion
Vectorman
Vectorman 2
Virtua Fighter 2
Now it is a little deceptive for Sega to put Akira from Virtua Fighter on the front cover when it actually includes the painfully unplayable 2d 16-bit port of the 32-bit 3d Sega Saturn/Arcade game. It is like trying to play Quake on a 386.
I regret getting a Sega Nomad AKA the portable handheld Genesis but it ends up that this is way more compact way of playing Genesis games on the go. They really did a great job of including a wide variety of games including all three 16-bit Phantasy Star games
The emulation is well done and looks perfect on the PSP. The graphics can be set to fit to full screen but non stretched, crisp non scaled but centered and stretched widescreen.
Sega also built in an mid game save feature where you can take advantage of the PSP large memory card and save a game at any moment in the game then switch to a different game and then load their saved game right from that point. So if you get way into a game like Sonic 2 that does not have a save feature originally you can save it and then go play something else.
They put together some awesome un-lockable extras by having a list of easily achievable task that are unlocked when you meet the goal such as getting a thousand Sega bucks in Alex Kidd. There are four unlockable early 80s Sega arcade games like Super Zaxxon and Congo Bongo and a bunch of subtitled interviews with game developers talking about the Megadrive/Genesis games that they worked on.
There is multiplayer action via wifi but not game-sharing so you need to each have a copy of the collection.
Now they included some great games in this collection but there is some games that I want in a sequel collection. I want Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckle, Streets of Rage 1,2 and 3, Toe Jam and Earl, Moonwalker, Landstalker and the Shining Force games. I also hope that they include third party Genesis games if they do another collection. The 8-bit Sega Game Gear and Sega Master System games would be totally awesome on the PSP.
This is a really great collection of games on the PSP and there is also a version of it on the PS2 for $20. It is sort of sad that a collection of 16-bit Genesis games was the release that I looked forward to on the PSP.
Jake at December 7, 2006 
Reviews
Comments
And it's also a shame this took so damned long to come out. This should have been a launch release. I already sold my PSP.
Posted by: Shawn Laplante ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.8bitjoystick.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 7, 2006 5:40 PM
Moonwalker? Come on that game wasn't a classic. Especially not while there are still so many great games out there, e.g. Shining Force 1+2 (or if necessary SF DS) or Landstalker which are probably 3 of the best RPGs ever made.
I just hope Konami and other 3rd party developers would do the same...
Posted by: develin at December 7, 2006 8:55 PM
Well I remember when Moonwalker was cool. Of course since then Mr Jackson has shilled for the Sony Playstation and been accused several crimes but still it is a part of the Genesis/Megadrive’s past. Did you know that Sega wanted to call the Genesis the Megadrive in the US but they could not get the legal rights?
Was this game delayed? Also they have a PS2 version for $20 Shawn.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at December 8, 2006 9:32 AM
I so had this title on preorder for months before getting sick of waiting and cancelled it. Will probably either get it from EB or Trade Me if I really want it.
Posted by: Matt at December 8, 2006 3:06 PM
That is too bad Matt. It is Segalicious.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at December 8, 2006 4:29 PM
I miss when Michael Jackson was just weird, rich, recluse of a pop star and not a weird, creepy and rich, recluse of a pop star.
I still have him in my Space Channel 5 games.
I was thinking about picking up this collection for PS2 though. Although, I'd probably rebuy some of those titles again on the virtual console. $20 is worth it for some of the best RPGs of all time.
Posted by: Llydis at December 10, 2006 8:22 AM
What, no OutRun? This is an OutRage! :D
Posted by: Stephen Shores at December 13, 2006 11:28 AM
No Outrun, No Thunderblade, No Space Harrier 2 there is a whole bunch of Sega Genesis/Megadrive games that they did not include in this release and are probably saving them for a next volume.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at December 13, 2006 12:42 PM
