[Análisis] Sega Mega Drive Classics – Nintenderos.com

Historical value

Note: This game is called Sega Genesis Classics in other regions than the Spanish one.

The library – or is it more convenient to call it a playroom? – Nintendo Switch is perfect for storing conventional of all generations of video games. Personally, I like to see how it's fed files of Neo-Geo, Psikyo, NES, an infinity of ports or classic game collections such as Mega Man's Legacy Collection, Street Fighter 20^th Anniversary Collection or Namco Museum.

I say that Switch is perfect, knowing that others will say that everything is perfect. With the exception of some cases such as Neo-Geo or NES games, the other collections are available even before the Nintendo game consoles (PS4 and Xbox One). However, in older games whose technical performance and resolution are so scalable for any platform, Portability and multiplayer features with Joy-Con make Switch the best home for the retro.

In addition, seen in perspective, Nintendo has in its console titles of last generation as Crash Bandicoot or, now, the entire catalog of Sega Mega Drive is no longer a feat, as a medal to hang on the chest.

A final comment in this introductory section. It never ceases to surprise me that they are launched under the title of Sega Ages some of the most memorable titles of Sega individually at 6.99 €, when this compilation (Sega Mega Drive Classics) allows you to play some of the games sold separately, to which you add 50 additional games for a price three times higher at the price of individual games.

Game compilation

I have not found any other way to analyze this compilation than to do it by nostalgia. This is precisely what Sega wanted to play to successfully launch more than 50 of its classic titles. How can I know that they appeal to nostalgia as the main factor? Only activate the game a loaded intention menu appears: the interface for selecting games, options, modes or achievements collection is a teenager play full of details that remind children who has experienced the launch of Mega Drive and is now over 30 years old. What kind of details? The library with game boxes, posters of favorite games such as Golden Ax or Sonic, a turntable and amplifier, an analog wall clock, a water pistol, a landline telephone, a skateboard, a carpet play and, most importantly, the Mega Drive console plugged into a tube TV.

Apart from the details, the important thing is the game tablet. Thanks to the fact that the menu is perfectly tactile, the selection among more than 50 games is excellent. Before detailing the games in play, we will say that, in the same menu, you can Load items at last freezing point, a great addition that allows you to resume any game where you left it; and you can mark games as favorites, to facilitate the selection according to your criteria.

Now yes. This is the complete retro catalog that you can buy in one purchase. (In bold, those that the publisher has marked as favorites, which ones do you mark?):

Alex Kidd in the enchanted castle

1. Foreign soldier
2. Alien Storm
3. Altered Beast
4. Beyond the oasis
5. Battle Bio-Hazard
6. Bonanza Bros.
7. The columns
8. Columns III: The Revenge of the Columns
9. Comix area
10. Crack Down
11. Decap Attack
12. Dr. Robotnik's Medium Bean Machine
13. Dynamite Headdy
14. ESWAT: City under siege
15. Fatal labyrinth
16. glittering
17. Gain ground
18. Galaxy Force II
19. Gold hatchet
20. Gold Axis II
21. Golden Ax III
22. Gunstar Heroes
23. Chameleon
24. Landstalker
25. Light Crusader
26. Phantasy Star II
27. Phantasy Star III: Generations of Destiny
28. Phantasy Star IV: The end of the millennium
29. Ristar
30. Shadow Dancer: The secret of Shinobi
31. Shine in the darkness
32. Bright force
33. Bright Force II
34. Shinobi III: The Return of the Ninja Master
35. Sonic the hedgehog
36. Sonic the hedgehog 2
37. Sonic 3D Blast
38. Sonic Spinball
39. Space Harrier II
40. Streets of Rage
41. Streets of Rage 2
42. Streets of Rage 3
43. Super Thunder Blade
44. Sword of vermillion
45. The revenge of Shinobi
46. ToeJam & Earl
47. ToeJam & Earl Panic on Funkotron
48. Vectorman
49. VectorMan 2
50. Virtua Fighter 2

Despite being an extensive collection of games, it lacks proprietary titles like Sonic 3 & Knuckles or any other third party like Ghouls & Ghosts. In the third-party field, there is more lack of licenses, which is understood from the point of view of the protection of rights.

Despite the absences, this collection is brilliant because it allows new and old generations of players to see how genres have been adapted to 16-bit graphics. There are many colors and tastes: platforms (Alex Kidd, Ristar), runners (Sonic), dungeons (ToeJam & Earl), beat & em ups (Golden Ax, Streets of Rage), Fighters (Virtua Fighter 2), RPG (Phantasy Star II, III, IV), Shmups (Super Thunder Blade), Strategy (Shining Force), Puzzle (Columns). Being able to revisit the consolidation of genres through technical innovations is a joy.

Besides free storage, which I think is the best contribution of this collection, Sega Mega Drive Classics comes with a wide variety of options to enjoy again this vast collection of games. At the visual level, you can retouch and play even through the digital TV screen that the game brings. In addition, there is a mirror modeMario Kart, which allows to rotate horizontally all games, including texts, experiment in a different way some passages that veterans already know by heart.

At the level of the new mechanics, they incorporated multiplayer online and a list of achievements and online ranking. For the nostalgic, there is far time to invite a classmate to your home. Well, now you can recall your games remotely. Of course, there is never anything better than doing it in a physical business.

The list of achievements to which I refer in the previous paragraph requires mastery of all the games, because it tests the player in some parts of each of them, as well as encourages him to find secret purposes, hidden placesetc. In other words, pushes the player to fully enjoy each hour of play which allows the collection. If you want to spend everything, you may have to mortgage your life!

conclusions

It's a compilation that, in addition to capturing the essence of the early 90's and expressing it in the future, incorporates a variety of ways to play, between achievements and online games, giving perfect excuse for veterans to return to the past. The collection, which is the most important, has a low sensitivity. But it offers 53 games!

The Sega Mega Drive Classics will be available physically and on the Nintendo Switch eShop from December 6 at the price of $ 29.99 (There is a 10% discount on pre-purchase). It occupies 1280 MB. Menus are in Spanish, but not most games.