PixlBit

I love classic video game compilations, but you hardly see them anymore.  Most video game companies now just sell their classics separately for you to download.  I guess that makes them more money, but in a way, it’s also kind of sad.  Luckily, SEGA just released a collection of some of their 3-D remakes on the 3DS.  SEGA also sells these remakes separately on the eShop, but now you can play nine of them on a cartridge.  So since I like to go over games in classic compilations, here are all the ones you can play on the SEGA 3-D Classics Collection.  I’ve even reviewed a few of them a couple of years ago that were released separately, so when I come across those, I’ll make a link to my original reviews in case you want to read further!

Altered Beast

This is the Genesis version of the game.  Too bad they didn’t include the arcade one, but oh well.  The neat thing about this remix is that they allow you to mix up the beast transformations if you want.  So you don’t always have to be the wolf in Level 1 if you don’t want to.  I thought that was a neat idea.  By the way, all the games here use some sort of 3-D graphical effects, but since I’ve been blind in my left eye since birth I can’t see them.  It always cracks me up when you pick up one of the spheres and your guy gets more muscles and says, “POWER UP!”  One other funny thing about Altered Beast is that the cover for the 3DS collection has the bear from the game all enveloped in fire on the bottom part of the box.  But it’s a really cartoony looking teddy bear!  That’s even the icon they use for the game on the 3DS, too!  It’s so silly looking!

Sonic the Hedgehog

I’ve never been a big fan of Sonic, and it all started with this game.  I never understood why people like his first game so much.  Back in the day, I thought it paled in comparison to Super Mario World (its biggest competitor at the time), and it still does.  I don’t know why they didn’t pick a sequel to put on here.  It didn’t stop them from putting sequels on here from other games.  Sonic 2 is a little better than this, and I think you can also get it on the eShop.  Sonic 3 was really the first time a Sonic game somewhat impressed me, though. 

Puyo Puyo 2

I know that SEGA now owns the rights to this puzzle game series, but I didn’t think they always owned it.  The Puyo Puyo games were originally made by Compile, an awesome company that has made cool shooters like The Guardian Legend and Zanac.  Did you know that Puyo Puyo games are actually based on an RPG series that Compile made, and the little blobs you clear out in the puzzle game were actually the minor enemies (like Slimes) in the RPG?  Anyway, maybe SEGA helped Compile publish the arcade versions, so that’s why this one is on here.  Not sure, but that sounds feasible.  Unfortunately, Compile is no more (don’t let that Compile Heart company fool you, they just make those crappy Hyperdimension games).  If you’ve played Kirby’s Avalanche or Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, you’ve played a Puyo Puyo game because they’re the same.  In fact, I’m surprised SEGA didn’t use the Dr. Robotnik version instead of this one, as it’s probably more recognizable here in the US, and I think you can download it on the eShop as well.  Puyo Puyo 2 was a Japan-only release, even all the text here is in Japanese!

Power Drift

This was an arcade go-kart racing game way before Mario Kart.  It uses the same pseudo 3-D effects as other SEGA games did at the time, like OutRun or Space Harrier.  No power-ups, just racing, but since this is the arcade version, it’s also insanely hard.  A difficulty selection would’ve been nice and definitely would have made the game more fun.  Did you know that on the SEGA Game Gear, there were a couple of Sonic racing games (trying to compete with Mario Kart) called Sonic Drift, and they chose the title because of this original arcade game!  I used to play Power Drift quite a bit in the arcades back then, but I always got it mixed up with Rad Mobile, another SEGA arcade racer.  Rad Mobile is significant because it’s the first appearance of Sonic the Hedgehog in the US.  In the game, you can see a Sonic keychain dangling from the rearview mirror!

Thunder Blade

I was never a big fan of this 3-D helicopter shooting game.  Part of the reason why is because the arcade controls were a bit complicated.  They replicated that on the 3DS by making it compatible with the second control stick.  But if you don’t have that attachment or the new 3DS, you can still control it with one stick, and it works just fine to me.  I’m glad they put in the arcade version and not the Genesis one, as the arcade game is much better.  After playing it on this collection, I’d have to say it’s a little better than what I remember, but I still don’t like it on the Genesis.

Galaxy Force 2

When I was a kid, most arcade machines only cost a quarter to play.  Galaxy Force 2 was in a movie theater arcade I went to a couple of times back then, and it was more like a ride as the seat went up and down and swiveled in full 360 degrees as you played.  But it cost a dollar to play so I never tried it back then.  So it’s good that it’s on this collection.  It’s a pretty fun little arcade game, like an early Star Fox on-rails space shooter.  I like some of the additions they made to this.  You can toggle options that’ll make background noise that simulates the arcade machine and joysticks moving around and clicking, and you can even make the screen tilt when you turn!  Some of the other games on this collection let you do that, too, and I thought that was kind of neat.

Fantasy Zone 2

There are actually two versions of Fantasy Zone 2 on this collection.  The SEGA Master System version and an ‘arcade’ version (you’ll see why I put it in quotes later).  Fantasy Zone is a series of cute (yet hard) 2-D shooters starring Opa-Opa, one of SEGA’s pre-Sonic mascots.  Did you know that Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier are set in the same universe?  Fantasy Zone also reminds me of Defender in that you must move left and right and follow a radar to shoot major bases before taking on a boss.

The ‘arcade’ version of Fantasy Zone 2 at first glance just looks like they pooped out pretty much the same game, just different backgrounds and enemies, which was a common practice at the time.  But they did add a neat feature to the sequel.  When you defeat certain bases, a warp hole appears.  If you choose to go in it, you’ll end up in a ‘dark’ version of the level.  Enemies here are tougher, but you get more coins for the shop when you defeat enemies.  I thought that was a pretty neat ‘risk vs. reward’ system.  You can also select which stage to tackle (as long as you’ve beaten it already), and you can also hold coins in a bank for later use.

The SEGA Master System version is pretty much the same, except the warp holes take you to different parts of the level, so you have to go through them to destroy all the bases.  I figured this was one of those changes they would make on the home console version to make it last longer than the arcade one, but that’s not be the case here. According to Wikipedia and the in-game instructions, there WAS no Fantasy Zone 2 in the arcade back then.  The SEGA Master System was the original one! But in 2008 on one of SEGA’s collections, M2 decided to reimagine the SEGA Master System version as an arcade game, and even used SEGA’s old arcade System 16 hardware to make it so it would look authentic.  Pretty cool!

So now that I know the history behind Fantasy Zone 2, I can kind of understand why they put both versions on here.  But I’d still just rather have one version (like the arcade one), and maybe have a different Master System game.  Like Fantasy Zone: The Maze.  That was an awesome combination of Fantasy Zone shooting and Pac-Man!  And you hardly hear about it.

Maze Walker

One of the things I like about arcade collections is coming across a game I’ve never heard of.  That’s how I learned of such gems on the Namco Museums like Tower of Druaga and Legend of Valkyrie.  So I was happy to see this game because I had never heard of it.  But I became less excited when I learned it was a Master System game and not something in the arcade.  It was originally known in the US as 3-D Maze Hunter and used 3-D glasses for effects, so I guess that’s why they put it on this collection.  You plod around in overhead viewed mazes, picking up items like iron bars to bash enemies and other goodies like jump boots that make you hop farther.  But the pace of the game is so slow and gameplay is a bit plodding and not very fun, unfortunately.  You also need to read the in-game instructions to know what the heck you are supposed to be doing.  Luckily the in-game manual is pretty well-written.

Conclusions

And those are the games on the SEGA 3-D Classics Collection.  My only disappointment is that they didn’t put any of the Streets of Rage games on this one.  I think you can even download them on the eShop.  I guess they may have decided not to since it might’ve changed the rating.  Also I’m surprised other popular 3-D Classics didn’t make it on here, like Space Harrier or Super Hang-On.  Maybe there will be a sequel (I kind of doubt it).

But other than that, they did a pretty good job with this collection.  Like I said, the in-game instructions are very well-written, and there are a lot of neat options for the games.  They even have tiny details like during loading screens; a dapper rabbit named Professor Asobin will give you tips on each game.  Who is Prof. Asobin?  Well he’s actually SEGA’s first mascot!  Before Sonic and Opa-Opa and Alex Kidd, Prof. Asobin would live in the instruction manuals of SG-1000 games and give you hints and thank you for purchasing the game.  So he was kind of like Capcom’s Captain Commando from the NES booklets.  I had never even heard of Prof. Asobin until recently, when I watched a YouTube video about his history.  It was actually a pretty good video, if I do say so myself, so if you want to check it out, just do a search for ‘Slopes Game Room’ and look for the entry on SEGA’s first mascot.

So if you see this collection in a store, I’d say pick it up!  First run copies should have little black and white sticker decals of SEGA logos and Prof. Asobin included inside, so that’s a nice little extra.  Plus, you probably won’t see too many physical collections like this for a while, so enjoy them while you can.  And I doubt we’ll be seeing any more physical copies of games from SEGA anyway since they’re not doing too well and I think they’re only staying afloat by selling their games digitally on Steam and 3DS and whatnot.  It’s too bad, but at least we got this collection!  --Cary