Surprise! Sega Genesis Collection coming
by Joystiq Staff 
{ Aug 10th 2006 at 4:15PM }
If you're a Joystiq reader with a very good memory, then the latest news that Sega is releasing a massive game collection of Genesis titles to the PlayStation 2 and PSP should come as no surprise. But, now that it's official, have a look at what is in store for the Sega Genesis Collection.
Planned for release sometime this fall -- we were told November before -- this virtual time machine will have the following games:
- Alex Kidd: The Enchanted Castle, Altered Beast, Bonanza Bros, Columns, Comix Zone, Decap Attack, Ecco the Dolphin, Ecco: The Tides of Time, Ecco Jr., Eternal Champions, Flicky, Gain Ground, Golden Axe, Golden Axe II, Golden Axe III, Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star III, Phantasy Star IV, Ristar, Shadow Dancer: Secret of Shinobi, Shinobi III, Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Super Thunderblade, Sword of Vermillion, Vectorman, Vectorman 2, Virtua Fighter 2
And yes, we're still a little upset ToeJam and Earl isn't included. Give us ToeJam! Are there any games missing that you would sell your soul to see in this collection?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dmnkly @ Aug 10th 2006 4:17PM
Herzog Zwei. RTS precursor and all-around awesome game.
Ben @ Aug 10th 2006 4:19PM
I spent so much time playing Vectorman I + II and both sonics that I am about to cry since I sold my PSP :(
Hurmun @ Aug 10th 2006 4:20PM
Sonic 3 would have been nice. I've been dying for a Sonic collection on the PSP.
DaveThe1Mendez @ Aug 10th 2006 4:20PM
Damn..................
Zaxxon; now that's going wayyyyyyy back!
LOL
dragon23ninja @ Aug 10th 2006 4:23PM
What? No Earthworm Jim?! Bah. Clearly one of the Genesis's best.
Chris @ Aug 10th 2006 4:24PM
There are a lot of great games on there. I'm a little sad that ToeJam and Earl and Shining Force isn't represented, though. Also, even though it wasn't incredibly popular, General Chaos was one of my favorite Genesis games and is still one of my favorite strategy games; I would have loved to see that included.
Jeff @ Aug 10th 2006 4:24PM
"Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star III, Phantasy Star IV"
Whoa. Have these games ever appeared together before on a compilation?
What's up with the PS1 omission?
pppp @ Aug 10th 2006 4:25PM
Toe Jam and Earl, Streets of Rage, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. They're needed!
Ramone @ Aug 10th 2006 4:32PM
NHL '94
Confusatron @ Aug 10th 2006 4:32PM
If memory serves, we should be able to expect these to be released on the Wii as well.
Jay @ Aug 10th 2006 4:33PM
What we need is a collection of all the old Working Designs games for the Sega CD & Saturn ... of course, now that Working Designs is gone ...
J Ron @ Aug 10th 2006 4:35PM
PS1 was a master system game.
AoE @ Aug 10th 2006 4:39PM
@ dragon23ninja, Earthworm Jim was fantastic, but it was also a 3rd party title, developed by Shiny, and published by I can't remember who; but regardless, it wasn't a Sega developed or published title...
@ Ramone, same story with NHL '94, it was EA developed/published.
Also, I second pppp, what genesis collection is complete without Streets of Rage?!
Xizer @ Aug 10th 2006 4:41PM
Who cares? I already own most of those games for my Genesis anyway. Then there's the fact that I can already emulate all of those on my modded Xbox. Yes, they run at 100% speed too. With savestates, graphical enhancements, fast forward, etc...why would anyone want to PAY for this crap? Just get a modded Xbox and a Street Fighter Anniversary controller and it will be infinitely superior to these retro collections companies are always releasing.
Kendrick @ Aug 10th 2006 4:42PM
The first four Phantasy Star games appeared together in a Saturn compilation, but that was released in Japan only. The first three were released together as a Gameboy Advance collection which was available in all most regions. The Saturn version had some minor enhancements, like increasing the walking speed of your character or different sound options.
Adam @ Aug 10th 2006 4:50PM
I played all these games before. So, who cares? Unless they are on Xbox Live Arcade and offer Achievements, I don't see much replay value of this collection.
Dave @ Aug 10th 2006 4:53PM
Definitely lacking in the Road Rash.
Thad @ Aug 10th 2006 4:53PM
How'bout Gunstar Heroes?
Or maybe some Sega CD titles -- I'm thinking Working Designs.
Adrian @ Aug 10th 2006 4:54PM
It is a shame neither of the shining forces showed up. But phantasy star 2-4 plus vectorman... that game was a riot.
I'll second Jay's notion of putting out a sega cd/saturn working designs collection. I'm still considering going through ebay to get them :p
Gerwurztraminer @ Aug 10th 2006 5:01PM
TJ&E! I loved that game. It was the reason I got a Genesis before an SNES. Hopefully it'll be a Wii download?
Fods @ Aug 10th 2006 5:02PM
sell my soul? i'd sell my whole family if Streets of Rage was included!!
apoc06 @ Aug 10th 2006 5:03PM
Shinobi III!!!!
I'm sold already. lol. Why can't they release a true current-gen version of Shinobi that doesn't require inhuman timing of combos over bottomless pits?
I still have blisters from Shinobi and Nightshade...
Chessasaur @ Aug 10th 2006 5:05PM
Sign me up for a copy! During that time I was a SNES player so I missed all the Genesis titles. Very cool!
superbagman @ Aug 10th 2006 5:06PM
Damn, now I really want to play Shining Force... time to break out the Dreamcast
indysurfn @ Aug 10th 2006 5:14PM
to #1 LOL I would have bought it (Herzog zwie) sight unseen! And of course the PSP with it!
Geoff @ Aug 10th 2006 5:23PM
I really want to like the PSP. If it had a hard drive instead of a UMD drive and used CF/MMC/SD or something standard instead of memory stick I would have bought a PSP a long time ago.
These Sega games are definitely a step in the right direction though.
Mark B @ Aug 10th 2006 5:26PM
Kid Chameleon.
KID CHAMELEON!!!!
Did I mention Kid Chameleon?
pandafresh @ Aug 10th 2006 5:31PM
i know this is a genesis collection, but i would KILL, i mean KILL, for jet set radio to be ported to the psp. the psp and dreamcast have the same button layout, they'd just have to dumb the graphics down a bit.
herman allen @ Aug 10th 2006 5:37PM
No Space Harrier? Damn !
Grim @ Aug 10th 2006 5:37PM
I think i'm gonna pass on this one. Most of those are on gametap.
Evan @ Aug 10th 2006 5:39PM
Doesn't this conflict with Nintendo's virtual console, which also promisses to include Sega games?
Kamalot @ Aug 10th 2006 5:47PM
You should be able to download these to the PSP instead of having to buy all of them.
Or, play them using an emulator. You can do that on your PSP, on your DS or on your Treo.
NitrogenB @ Aug 10th 2006 5:48PM
Streets of Rage, Road Rash, Earthworm Jim, Maximum Carnage....c'mon man! Sonic and Knuckles, heck yeah!
theboy @ Aug 10th 2006 5:52PM
Why in god's name is eternal champions on that list?! No streets of rage?!
AoE @ Aug 10th 2006 5:52PM
@Evan, not really. As far as I've heard Nintendo's virtual console is a feature of the Wii; at this time they have no plans to extend the service to either the PS2 or the PSP.
@Xizer "why would anyone want to PAY for this crap?"
Because a PSP fits into one's pocket a hell of a lot better than a modded xbox + SFAC controller + monitor of some sort + generator capable of powering the xbox and monitor and thusly making the whole affair "portable". Yes, we all understand that there's a variety of ways to play roms. Congrats, I've got a full set of goodsets too; whoopdie-doo. Sometimes it's nice to get an official port/emu like this though you know? And for the record, NO ONE thinks you're special or l33t for waving a modded xbox around... if anything it would probably make you l33t to NOT have one they're so common (I seriously don't know a single xbox owner whose xbox isn't modded.)
Pip @ Aug 10th 2006 5:52PM
If they wanted to actually make some money (IE. Sell more than a million copies) they would have decided to sell this on the DS.
AceMilo @ Aug 10th 2006 5:59PM
Its simple, if you want to play great genesis games like sonic 3, toe jam and earl, etc, just make sure your psp is at 1.5 firmware (if it isn't be sure to downgrade) and download a great emulator called pspgensis. From there all you have to do is put the roms on the psp and play them at 100% speed. God I love homebrew ;)
jeffx @ Aug 10th 2006 6:04PM
or get XBMC for your xbox and the rest is history
still buying this!!
definitely sweet they're including phantasy stars after delaying -- ultimately cancelling -- the Phantasy Star "AGES" collection for YEARS here in America...
but yeah SF2 is definitely missing from this list. You people should realize that TJ&E is an Sega of America production and odds are this collection was meant for both Jap and American markets...
TianXia @ Aug 10th 2006 6:05PM
Phantasy Star, yay. I played that game way too much as a kid. Its also pretty hard to tell written sarcasm at five years old, so it was pretty confusing. Yes, I could read at five years old.
But no Gunstar Heroes? Guess it must be first-party only or something... didnt look at the list too closely.
epobirs @ Aug 10th 2006 6:05PM
This is an excellent value, espeically when it comes down to $30 and can be touted as a buck a game. And this is coming from someone who owned nearly all of those games in their original cartridge form.
These will be entirely new to those gamers at the lower age range of the PSP demographic. For those consumers the value will be especially good since the novelty element is so much greater.
It's especially well suited to a portable platform thanks to the easy pick up and play nature of those games and value of having so many choices on a single piece of media. Having these collected for a portable is far more enticing than a similar collection for a current console.
And as for the Wii, unless Nintendo is planning to sell Genesis games for about $1.25 each, which is extremely doubtful, this remains a far better value. For those who are only interested in a small subset of these titles the Wii approach could be a better value but for those of us who enjoy a wide variety the large collection cannot be beat except by a larger collection.
And as for emulating these games, there is the small matter of honesty and respect for the owner of the IP. Some people can demonstrate they own the originals but the majority just take without asking, as if the world owes them entertainment. If I've sold off my Sega Genesis cartridges I've also sold my continued access to those games. Thus a new purchase at a miniscule price is not asking too much of me.
-Safran- @ Aug 10th 2006 6:14PM
Alright collection that's sadly lacking streets of rage (though I always thought SOR 2 was better).
Super Thunder Blade? Has anyone actually completed that? Because of its rubbish 'super scaler' technology, an archway (that you HAD to fly under) would be in the distance then suddenly KAPOW! it's in the foreground and your 'copter is eating ground faster than a fat kid at a cake fest where all the signs and banners are made of cake.
Cake.
phillosmaster @ Aug 10th 2006 6:14PM
Why are people talking about emulators and roms as an alterantive to buying the legitmate copies of these games. I hate to get on a soapbox here but this really upsets me. If it is impossible to find a game because it's rare then I can understand getting a bootlegged version. Perhaps there is a translation patch for a rom of a game that wasn't released in your native language. I can see rationalizing that, but to suggest using emulators for something that is now widely available is just pathetic and greedy. It's a major problem that this is becoming so social acceptable.
Alexadroog @ Aug 10th 2006 6:23PM
well looks like sony is trying to undercut nintendo on the virtual console bandwagon...so sad:(
uumai @ Aug 10th 2006 6:26PM
As for those complaining about the lack of Streets Of Rage, really both that Series and Sonic 3 & knuckles have been addressed by Sega already with Sonic Mega Collection & Sonic Gems Collection.
Also Gunstar Heroes has been released so far in Japan on the treasure box collection along with Alien Soldier and Dynamite Headdy.
I'm surprised at the lack of Revenge of Shinobi, and after burner would have been nice on there. Otherwise though great to hear it, and I can't wait to get it!
uumai @ Aug 10th 2006 6:28PM
@42. Are you a fanboy, hater of Sony? Because it is Sega you should hate in this case. I hardly imagine Sony begged and pleaded with Sega for a Genesis/MegaDrive Collection.
Get real, stop hating, grow up.
the_game_master @ Aug 10th 2006 6:37PM
Despite the fact these Genesis games, as well as SNES games can easily be setup and emulated on a modded PS2 at the price of $free$. Use to do that
but nowdays I rather play those old 16-bit titles on the actual vintage hardware itself, its the nostalgia factor that matters now for me now, not some cheap emulator.
On another note has anyone notice that Sega has been swinging out a lot of its old game titles as of late. I notice that PC video game service Gametap has large portion of its library of Sega titles.
I just wonder what newb is actually buying all this crap.
WeeJames @ Aug 10th 2006 6:48PM
Finally a decent 3d fighter on PSP... Virtua Fighter 2!
All Your Lost Socks @ Aug 10th 2006 6:55PM
@ 42 - Yeah, but on an incompatible front, so minus the sadness. You can't download these from your PSP, and not from your PS2 of course. You gotta go buy them.
-Safran- @ Aug 10th 2006 7:01PM
@43 (uumai): Streets of Rage 1-3 were only on the Japanese version of Sonic Gems.
Xizer @ Aug 10th 2006 7:07PM
@AoE: My modded Xbox comment was referring to the PS2 release.
It's even easier to get all these games on the PSP! You can now run homebrew on any firmware, which means all you've got to do is download a Genesis emulator and these games then throw it on the memory stick. So if you own a modded Xbox but want to buy this for the portability on your PSP, you're a dumbass - you can run a homebrew emulator on your PSP just like you can on your Xbox, even easier in fact.
So yeah, it's a piece of cake to emulate this on the Xbox or PSP, and not that much harder to emulate it on the PS2 if you don't have an Xbox. PS2s are pretty easy to mod nowadays as well. So why someone would actually spend money for this compilation that gives you LESS features than a homebrew emulator is beyond me.