Alan Williamson returns to the halycon days of Sega with Mega Drive Ultimate Collection

A return to the halycon days of Sega with The Student's most obsessive Sonic fan.

If you remember blowing into dusty cartridges until they accumulated a thin layer of saliva and Robinson’s orange squash, or if someone chanting “SEEEGGGAAA” causes your heart to skip a beat, then Mega Drive Ultimate Collection is less a walk down Memory Lane and more a crash landing on Nostalgia Island. All of your favourites are here- Sonic, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Shinobi and many more- and in some ways, that’s part of the problem.

You have to admire Sega for putting forty Mega Drive games on one disc for £25 while Nintendo charge a fiver a time for their relics on the Wii. However, there’s no escaping the fact that some of these titles were awful in 1991, have aged terribly and should have been replaced by genuine classics like Gunstar Heroes and Thunderforce IV. The omission of Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a particularly infuriating one, but you should be aware this is coming from someone currently wearing a Sonic t-shirt.

For Mega Drive fanatics who own most of these titles already (and I’m one of them) there’s not a lot here to warrant a purchase. Bonus content in the form of interviews with developers and unlockable arcade titles is welcome, as is the inclusion of Treasure’s insane puppet platformer Dynamite Headdy, but the overall feeling is that this release is a predictable retread- a well produced, cleverly put together retread, but still one nonetheless.

Of course if you have no experience of these games, this collection is just what the doctor (Robotnik) ordered: classic ‘blue skies’ gaming before the world turned brown in 1996. If you haven’t played Sonic the Hedgehog, you shouldn’t be reading this. You should be playing Sonic the Hedgehog. Ultimately, £25 will net you childhood in a box without the bullying or lack of athleticism, and that’s definitely worth the money.

Ecco the Dolphin

Dishy: Reading the walkthrough on GameFAQs by yours truly and enjoying a truly unique swim-em-up adventure

Fishy: Realising how badly it has aged, being constricted to death by an octopus and having recurrent nightmares about it for the next fifteen years

Sonic the Hedgehog

Supersonic: The version included runs at 60Hz, 17.5% faster than the original European release!

Catatonic: I’ve just alienated the majority of readers by using the term ‘60Hz’

Fatal Labyrinth

Great-al: The opening sequences promise you will fight a dragon at some point

Fatal: I didn’t get far enough to see the dragon. Collecting money in the labyrinth serves no effect aside from increasing the number of observers at your funeral. Is this the most cynical game ever made?

Streets of Rage 2

Tough: Beating up fire-breathing fat people, smashing a knife wielding psycho in the face with a lead pipe, the wonderful 90s techno soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro…

Rough: The XBLA release is arguably better and definitely cheaper

Shining Force II

Shining: A huge adventure with a lovable cast, interesting story and deep strategic battles that will last you for months

Bad timing: I lost a summer to this one and I daresay it will happen again

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

Enchanted: There is something strangely enjoyable about riding through hostile meerkats on a sports bike

Rancid: Having to fight end of level bosses with a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, dying over and over (when was the last time you punched a car?)… the whole game is just rubbish

Flicky

Soaring: There is no single positive thing I can say about this game whatsoever

Boring: Not only is Flicky crap, it provided the inspiration for Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island, which was even worse. Destroy all remaining copies on sight

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