{"id":15061,"date":"2016-06-10T00:01:22","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T00:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=15061"},"modified":"2016-05-06T06:08:04","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T06:08:04","slug":"the-games-of-sega-3-d-classics-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/10\/the-games-of-sega-3-d-classics-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"The Games of SEGA 3-D Classics Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SEGA_BOX\"<\/a>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.\u00a0 I guess that makes them more money, but in a way, it\u2019s also kind of sad.\u00a0 Luckily, SEGA just released a collection of some of their 3-D remakes on the 3DS.\u00a0 SEGA also sells these remakes separately on the eShop, but now you can play nine of them on a cartridge.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I\u2019ve even reviewed a few of them a couple of years ago that were released separately, so when I come across those, I\u2019ll make a link to my original reviews in case you want to read further!<\/p>\n

Altered Beast<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This is the Genesis version of the game. Too bad they didn\u2019t include the arcade one, but oh well.\u00a0 The neat thing about this remix is that they allow you to mix up the beast transformations if you want.\u00a0 So you don\u2019t always have to be the wolf in Level 1 if you don\u2019t want to.\u00a0 I thought that was a neat idea.\u00a0 By the way, all the games here use some sort of 3-D graphical effects, but since I\u2019ve been blind in my left eye since birth I can\u2019t see them.\u00a0 It always cracks me up when you pick up one of the spheres and your guy gets more muscles and says, \u201cPOWER UP!\u201d\u00a0 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.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a really cartoony looking teddy bear!\u00a0 That\u2019s even the icon they use for the game on the 3DS, too!\u00a0 It\u2019s so silly looking!<\/p>\n

Sonic the Hedgehog<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve 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.\u00a0 Back in the day, I thought it paled in comparison to Super Mario World (its biggest competitor at the time), and it still does.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why they didn\u2019t pick a sequel to put on here.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t stop them from putting sequels on here from other games.\u00a0 Sonic 2 is a little better than this, and I think you can also get it on the eShop.\u00a0 Sonic 3 was really the first time a Sonic game somewhat impressed me, though.<\/p>\n

Puyo Puyo 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know that SEGA now owns the rights to this puzzle game series, but I didn\u2019t 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.\u00a0 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?\u00a0 Anyway, maybe SEGA helped Compile publish the arcade versions, so that\u2019s why this one is on here.\u00a0 Not sure, but that sounds feasible.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Compile is no more (don\u2019t let that Compile Heart company fool you, they just make those crappy Hyperdimension games).\u00a0 If you\u2019ve played Kirby\u2019s Avalanche or Dr. Robotnik\u2019s Mean Bean Machine, you\u2019ve played a Puyo Puyo game because they\u2019re the same.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019m surprised SEGA didn\u2019t use the Dr. Robotnik version instead of this one, as it\u2019s probably more recognizable here in the US, and I think you can download it on the eShop as well.\u00a0 Puyo Puyo 2 was a Japan-only release, even all the text here is in Japanese!<\/p>\n

Power Drift<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 No power-ups, just racing, but since this is the arcade version, it\u2019s also insanely hard.\u00a0 A difficulty selection would\u2019ve been nice and definitely would have made the game more fun.\u00a0 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!\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Rad Mobile is significant because it\u2019s the first appearance of Sonic the Hedgehog in the US.\u00a0 In the game, you can see a Sonic keychain dangling from the rearview mirror!<\/p>\n

Thunder Blade<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 They replicated that on the 3DS by making it compatible with the second control stick.\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t have that attachment or the new 3DS, you can still control it with one stick, and it works just fine to me.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad they put in the arcade version and not the Genesis one, as the arcade game is much better. \u00a0After playing it on this collection, I\u2019d have to say it\u2019s a little better than what I remember, but I still don\u2019t like it on the Genesis.<\/p>\n

Galaxy Force 2<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 But it cost a dollar to play so I never tried it back then. \u00a0So it\u2019s good that it\u2019s on this collection.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pretty fun little arcade game, like an early Star Fox on-rails space shooter.\u00a0 I like some of the additions they made to this.\u00a0 You can toggle options that\u2019ll 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!\u00a0 Some of the other games on this collection let you do that, too, and I thought that was kind of neat.<\/p>\n

Fantasy Zone 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are actually two versions of Fantasy Zone 2 on this collection. The SEGA Master System version and an \u2018arcade\u2019 version (you\u2019ll see why I put it in quotes later).\u00a0 Fantasy Zone is a series of cute (yet hard) 2-D shooters starring Opa-Opa, one of SEGA\u2019s pre-Sonic mascots.\u00a0 Did you know that Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier are set in the same universe?\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

The \u2018arcade\u2019 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.\u00a0 When you defeat certain bases, a warp hole appears.\u00a0 If you choose to go in it, you\u2019ll end up in a \u2018dark\u2019 version of the level.\u00a0 Enemies here are tougher, but you get more coins for the shop when you defeat enemies.\u00a0 I thought that was a pretty neat \u2018risk vs. reward\u2019 system.\u00a0 You can also select which stage to tackle (as long as you\u2019ve beaten it already), and you can also hold coins in a bank for later use.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s not be the case here. According to Wikipedia and the in-game instructions, there WAS no Fantasy Zone 2 in the arcade back then.\u00a0 The SEGA Master System was the original one! But in 2008 on one of SEGA\u2019s collections, M2 decided to reimagine the SEGA Master System version as an arcade game, and even used SEGA\u2019s old arcade System 16 hardware to make it so it would look authentic.\u00a0 Pretty cool!<\/p>\n

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\u2019d still just rather have one version (like the arcade one), and maybe have a different Master System game.\u00a0 Like Fantasy Zone: The Maze.\u00a0 That was an awesome combination of Fantasy Zone shooting and Pac-Man!\u00a0 And you hardly hear about it.<\/p>\n

Maze Walker<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the things I like about arcade collections is coming across a game I\u2019ve never heard of. That\u2019s how I learned of such gems on the Namco Museums like Tower of Druaga and Legend of Valkyrie.\u00a0 So I was happy to see this game because I had never heard of it.\u00a0 But I became less excited when I learned it was a Master System game and not something in the arcade.\u00a0 It was originally known in the US as 3-D Maze Hunter and used 3-D glasses for effects, so I guess that\u2019s why they put it on this collection.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 But the pace of the game is so slow and gameplay is a bit plodding and not very fun, unfortunately.\u00a0 You also need to read the in-game instructions to know what the heck you are supposed to be doing.\u00a0 Luckily the in-game manual is pretty well-written.<\/p>\n

Conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n

And those are the games on the SEGA 3-D Classics Collection. My only disappointment is that they didn\u2019t put any of the Streets of Rage games on this one.\u00a0 I think you can even download them on the eShop.\u00a0 I guess they may have decided not to since it might\u2019ve changed the rating.\u00a0 Also I\u2019m surprised other popular 3-D Classics didn\u2019t make it on here, like Space Harrier or Super Hang-On.\u00a0 Maybe there will be a sequel (I kind of doubt it).<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 They even have tiny details like during loading screens; a dapper rabbit named Professor Asobin will give you tips on each game.\u00a0 Who is Prof. Asobin?\u00a0 Well he\u2019s actually SEGA\u2019s first mascot!\u00a0 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.\u00a0 So he was kind of like Capcom\u2019s Captain Commando from the NES booklets.\u00a0 I had never even heard of Prof. Asobin until recently, when I watched a YouTube video about his history.\u00a0 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 \u2018Slopes Game Room\u2019 and look for the entry on SEGA\u2019s first mascot.<\/p>\n

So if you see this collection in a store, I\u2019d 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\u2019s a nice little extra.\u00a0 Plus, you probably won\u2019t see too many physical collections like this for a while, so enjoy them while you can.\u00a0 And I doubt we\u2019ll be seeing any more physical copies of games from SEGA anyway since they\u2019re not doing too well and I think they\u2019re only staying afloat by selling their games digitally on Steam and 3DS and whatnot.\u00a0 It\u2019s too bad, but at least we got this collection!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 I guess that makes them more money, but in a way, it\u2019s also kind of sad.\u00a0 Luckily, SEGA just released a collection of some of their 3-D remakes on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15061"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15063,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15061\/revisions\/15063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}