Sonic Classic Collection is a compilation game for the Nintendo DS developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega, and is the eighth compilation in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was released on March 2010 for all countries.
The games are an emulation of the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive games rather than a port, and uses the GenesisDS emulator.
Development
Title screen.
The game was officially announced 2 December 2009 by Sega of America, despite news of this circulating around gaming sites two weeks before when the Australian Government run OFLC posted its daily "Latest Classification Decisions" and had Sonic Classic Collection submitted by Sega Australia.[3] A few days later, the UK's BBFC posted information in a similar manner to the Australian Government about the game, but revealed what the game contained.[4] Sega's official press release about what the game contained confirmed what the BBFC found.
Content
The collection features four original Sonic games on one cartridge in similar fashion to Sonic Jam, with two lock-on games of Knuckles. The collection includes an art gallery featuring thirty Sonic pictures previously seen in Sonic Jam and Sonic Gems Collection. There is also a credits screen.
Games
Original
Lock-on
- Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (listed as Knuckles in Sonic 3)
Reception and Criticism
The game has received generally mixed to positive reception from reviewers, receiving a 70/100 from Metacritic.[5] Because the games are an emulation, the graphics have been "squished" from the Genesis' resolution to the DS' resolution. There is also minor slowdown, and the bugs and glitches are still prevalent. It was also criticized because Multiplayer was removed. Also, the only way to pause the game is a pause button on the touch screen as the Start/Select buttons will not pause the game. It was also criticized because illustrations was the games' only bonus content.
The game has been praised for having perfect replicated sound and tight controls, with good value for its price.
Merchandise
Limited-edition commemorative tin
A special tin was concentrated to consumers in Spain and Australia. The tin included a special Sonic figurine and five collector’s cards.
Trivia
- This is the fifth time Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) is having a save feature (after Sonic Jam, Sega Genesis Collection, Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis) and the fourth time Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is having a save feature (after Sonic Jam, Sega Genesis Collection and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection).
- This game marks the first time Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and its two expansions Knuckles in Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, are on a handheld console. It is the second time that Sonic & Knuckles alone has been released on a handheld console.
- The menu music is the same as the Sonic World music in Sonic Jam.
- Sonic The Hedgehog 1's level select is now fixed. The list of the levels is now placed in the right order than it was when it originally released.
- If the player hits a Power Sneakers Item Box in any of the Sonic games, a higher-pitched version of the theme is played instead of speeding up.
- In the EU and US release of this game, if one looks at the bottom right of the title screen of the actual game itself, it says (c) 2009 instead of (c) 2010 when the game was released.
- The two-player modes for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 & 3 have been removed as well as sound tests for both games, as the options menu in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is absent.
- Under the captions of Sonic & Knuckles there is an inconsistency. The caption says "Floating Island" like in the original game when it should be Angel Island.
- When facing a boss (or sub-boss), in Sonic & Knuckles is the same music that plays in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
- The format of this game is very similar to Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES. The reason being because they're both collections of enhanced remakes of the first four mainstream games of their corresponding series. However, here the graphics aren't enhanced.
- The artwork for Sonic in this game was reused on the 3DS cover of Sonic Generations, (except that the color is slightly altered), the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #239, and appears on the back of wave seven figure packs from Jazwares.
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles was renamed Knuckles in Sonic 3, though Sonic & Knuckles Stages are still played.
- According to the master volume of each game, the music, sounds, and the drum kit's voices is mono instead of stereo, the volume is low, it cuts off the silence when the music is playing, and the voices that are in the music for example, Launch Base Zone is far too deep.
- All of the artwork in the game was reused from another game, with the exception of Sonic on the cover of the game.
- This was the third time the original Sonic the Hedgehog was on a handheld console; the first being Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis and the second being Sega Genesis Collection.
- During the credits sprites from games that were not included in the game are seen. Sonic in a ball and an emerald from Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball are seen as well as multiple emeralds from Sonic 3D Blast.
Gallery
Screenshots
Artwork
| Gallery |
|---|
 Tails (Recycled artwork from Sonic Rush Adventure)  Knuckles (Recycled artwork from Sonic Advance 2) |
External links
References
- ↑ Craig Harris (5 March 2010). Sonic Classic Collection Review. IGN. Retrieved on 2 January 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sonic Classic Collection. IGN. Retrieved on 2 January 2015.
- ↑ http://www.oflc.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/2e7b942b57d6a5c7ca257672000f80fb!OpenDocument
- ↑ http://www.bbfc.co.uk/recent/games
- ↑ Sonic Classic Collection DS. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2 January 2015.