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Review : Sonic The Hedgehog and Golden Axe for Xbox Live Arcade

Last week during the Microsoft press conference at the E3 expo Peter Moore announced that the Sega classics Golden Axe and Sonic the Hedgehog were going to be made available that night on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade and he also said that they were going to be in HD. Now I am sort of a sucker for old school 2d Games and I love Golden Axe and the idea of playing it cooperatively with another gamer on Xbox Live would just be awesome. Now Sonic the Hedgehog on the other hand despite it being a great game I've already gotten it on a bunch of systems since the Sega 16-Bit Genesis/Megadrive. Now some Xbox Live arcade games have had HD makeovers (Like Double Dragon and Missile Command on Xbox Live for example) where they redid the aging sprite graphics with new detailed 2d -artwork or new 3d animation. Capcom is working on a high-definition remake of Street Fighter 2 for Xbox Live and Playstation 3 but I was stoked by the prospect of an HD version of 3d Sega games. So I purchased both of those games without trying the demo. I was a little disappointed in seeing that Sonic and Golden Axe were not remade with new graphics but there was just an optional edge smoothing filter to blur the edges for an HDTV display. Curse you Peter Moore. Just taking old 16-bit graphics and throwing a blur filter on them does not make them "High Definition."

Both games are perfect versions of the original and features an instant save feature so you can pause the game save it quit and then go back right at the same spot.

Golden Axe is one of the better side-scrolling cooperative fighting games of the late 80s and it still holds up after all the years. It had good game play and classic fantasy character design.
Actually this version of Golden Axe is based on the arcade game and it has some extra frames of animation that were not in the home Sega Genesis version. It has a different ending and is a little shorter than the Genesis/Megadrive version. It is an absolute blast to play co-op on Xbox Live and unlike Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade for Xbox Live Arcade there is unlimited continues so you can finish the game no matter how bad the other player is. A high quality mix of the music is included and sounds better than the old 16-bit soundtrack.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a true 2d classic and will always be right next to Super Mario Bros. for the most beloved 2d mascot games. Some might think that the old 2d game from 1991 is still more fun than the some what unpolished Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Xbox 360 that came out last year. However I still have this game on the Sega Genesis/Megadrive and have a version of it for the Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, PSP and even got a little battery operated system with it. If you already have the original Sonic game on a different system than there really is no compelling reason to buy it again for the Xbox 360. However if you or your kids have never played this classic game this is a great chance.

Each game cost 400 MS points on Xbox Live Marketplace and that works out to $5 a piece.

Each game as a number of Xbox Achievements and most the ones on Golden Axe are pretty easy to get. Playing Golden Axe is a pretty quick way to give your Gamerscore a quick 150 point boost. The Speed achievements on Sonic are going to be tricky for me to get and I need to convince my girlfriend to play through Golden Axe with me so I can get the non-Xbox Live co-op finish the game achievement.

These two games mark Sega joining other classic game companies in trying to package and cash in on their classic game on Xbox Live and while it would have been nice to have some remade graphics.

And if anyone at Sega is reading this, please please bring the three Street of Rage games out to Xbox Live with Co-Op that would be awesome. Just about any classic Sega arcade games with co-op over Xbox Live would be awesome.

Jake at July 16, 2007 Reviews

Comments

Posted by: Matt at July 17, 2007 9:24 PM

Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at July 17, 2007 10:41 PM

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