Blog:Sonic Gems Collection (CGW)

Article originally created by ItMeansNothing and deleted by DuchessTheSponge

Sonic Gems Collection is a 2005 compilation of Sega video games, primarily those in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was released worldwide for the GameCube, and for the PlayStation 2 in Japan and Europe. An Xbox version was planned, but cancelled for unknown reasons.

Why Super Mario All-Stars and Sonic Mega Collection shattered these gems

 * 1) Wasted potential. This entire compilation is mostly filled with mediocre or even straight up bad Sonic games from the past (big offenders would Sonic R and Sonic Drift 2). In Mega, while that compilation had some games like the first Sonic Drift, most of the games were classics and were acclaimed by critics, gamers, and even all-time fans of the franchise. Here, it's games that were either received average reviews or was negatively criticized alike.
 * 2) * Believe it or not, Sonic Team wanted to add more obscure games, like SegaSonic The Hedgehog but couldn't do such because of emulation issues. Which leads to this...
 * 3) Games such as mh:awesomegames:Sonic CD, Sonic The Fighters, and Sonic R have been altered differently. They are now their own emulation. The idea was decent on paper, but the execution was bland. Nothing new was ever added, such as fixing issues or adding bonus features to make the games more stylish (for instance, Sonic CD could've had an option to change the soundtrack from the USA to Japan/Europe (like in the 2011 Christian Whitehead port), since everyone enjoys that music more than the USA by popular demand).
 * 4) *Sonic CD and Sonic R basically use the Microsoft Windows version of these games. Fortunately, while the execution was bland, it didn't cause issues and bugs.
 * 5) On the subject of Sonic CD, the soundtrack was replaced for the European release of this compilation, where it now has the American soundtrack instead of the Japanese soundtrack, which is now relegated to the Japanese release of Gems Collection.
 * 6) Games like the aforementioned SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 3D Blast (the Saturn port), Knuckles' Chaotix, mh:awesomegames:Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, mh:awesomegames:Sonic Advance and its sequels are left out despite being either well-received or more obscure than said games. Other than SegaSonic, there was no explanation.
 * 7) The unlockable games led to some criticism. In the USA and Europe version, you only get two unlockable games, which are Vectorman and its sequel. But in Japan, you get 6 unlockable games including Bonanza Bros as well as the first three Streets of Rage games.
 * 8) The extras are very boring and lackluster compared to Mega.
 * 9) * All you get for playing the game for a long period of time is either demos of other Sonic games, videos, and artwork.
 * 10) ** In Mega, you can view the Archie comics as well as artwork, but the artwork is rather just the promotional artwork for said games as well as games from mh:awesomegames:Sonic Adventure 2 or mh:awesomegames:Sonic Heroes (you know, games that came out before this?)
 * 11) ** Music was an interesting addition, but the only music they have are just remixes of old songs and not the normal ones.
 * 12) ** The demos of said Sonic games are just levels or boss fights of Sonic games that were already in Sonic Mega Collection! And another reason why it's pointless is because in some games, you can just do a cheat code for level select, and you would have the same experience.
 * 13) The main games don't take really long to complete (like Sonic R since it only takes 30 minutes to complete it) so spending tons of time playing the games to unlock the extras would be very difficult considering you would repeatedly play the same game over and over again.
 * 14) As a compilation, it's a watered down version of Mega Collection, considering it did everything backwards compared to said game, and feels more like an expansion pack for Mega Collection.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) There are some good games on this compilation like Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, and Tails Adventure.
 * 2) * If anything, if you enjoy basically any game on this compilation stand alone from their original systems, you will most likely enjoy this compilation.
 * 3) The soundtrack for this compilation's userface is very good especially the remix of Can you feel the Sunshine.
 * 4) The games, despite being bad and using some versions that would be risky to run, all run very well. If you were to play it on a Wii or PlayStation 3, it wouldn't affect the gameplay.

Reception
Sonic Gems Collection received mainly average reviews from critics, who criticized its selection of games, especially around Sonic R and its Game Gear games, but thought Sonic CD and Vectorman were good additions. It has a score of 64 on Metacritic.

Videos
ozTWkuXx17M hQyV16tAYfE G4-iy9Nw5Xs