Sonic Mega Collection Platform GameCube Publisher Sega Developer Sonic Team Genre Adventure Number of Players 2 ESRB Rating E MSRP $39.99 Release Date Nov 13, 2002 Gameshark Rating: 7 Graphics: 7 Sound: 7 Control: 10 Fresh Factor: 8 Game Life: 7 My Brother, Anthony, writes: "Since my cousin first introduced me to Sonic the Hedgehog back in 1992, I have remained an avid fan. The speed and abilities of the characters of the Sonic the Hedgehog series has always drawn my attention. The only downside, I am also a huge fan of many Mario Brothers characters and to enjoy both Mario and Sonic, I had to spend much more money to buy all the Nintendo and Sega console systems in which both had games on. Perhaps the best thing to ever happen to gaming was Sega deciding to dedicate themselves to games rather than consoles. I now only need a GameCube to enjoy both Nintendo and Sega characters."

My brother and I have been playing video games since way back when Atari and orange sodas went hand in hand. I have a photograph to prove it; it shows us sitting on the floor with our bottles of Sunkist and joysticks in our hands. I think we were playing Defender. At any rate, we have grown up and when Sega presented the speed that is Sonic, we had no choice but buy the systems and the games for ourselves. For the reason of family and togetherness… And also because he is the one who taught me the ways of Sonic, Anthony, and I wrote this review together. Plus to prove that Kilokahn isn't totally evil after all.

Here is the part you have been waiting for. Drum-roll please:

Sonic Mega Collection is not flashy; it does not promise any new levels, flashy new graphics or sound that will blow your head clean off your shoulders. The images are sharpened a bit compared to the old Sega Genesis. The games are not pixilated, as some may have expected. The overall aesthetics are appealing and have that Sega collection vibe that you've seen on many other compilation titles.

The sounds equal the graphics mainly because the sounds are pretty much the same as they are from the original titles. Nothing really was added to the game experience. The sound is in stereo, which would normally be expected with the capabilities of the GameCube.

The controls haven't changed a bit in this. Instead of A, B, and C buttons on the Genesis controllers it's now B, A, and X. Nothing hard to remember and everything is at your fingertips. Sing it with me: "ABC as easy as BAX…" Sonic has never been on the forefront of multi-button combos and sequenced button pushes. It's just mash a button and spin away. Also to add to the fact of controlling saves, if the game had a save feature like Sonic 3 did then it will save to your memory pack.

Instead of just being a rehash title, Sega gives you even more reasons to buy it. The game disc offers seven games, many images, comics and short movies. As you move along in the games, you unlock more features and other games. Anthony and I got goose-bumps from watching the Sonic CD movies; it surely took us back. This is a great offering from Nintendo and Sega for both new and old gamers alike. It will also help you learn some of the back-story to the newer series of games now being offered. If you own a Sega Genesis and only Sonic games, it may be time to trade them all in and buy this single disc; you will save space and come back with even more then what you left with.

The game life is really up to how much of a Sonic fan the person is. It is a great title to give someone insight on how it all began but does leave out some of the later games of the series. It's more of a Sonic history on the Sega Genesis with a little bit of information on the later evolutions of the series. Aside from that point you get seven titles to play (those being Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Pinball and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine), many extras for this title. For the price you're sure to get your money's worth.

In the end we were very satisfied with the Sonic Team's collection of what essentially made them a force in the gaming industry. Personally I'm looking for them to release a part two with such games like Sonic CD, Knuckles Chaotics, Sonic Racing, Sonic Adventure 1 and the Sonic games from the Game Gear.