Picked this up during the 50% off sale. For a measly $3, I can definitely stand to own this game on a fifth system! Made it to the start of Star Light Zone yesterday. I'd almost forgotten how frustrating the Labyrinth Zone boss can be...
And it's actually a pretty cool port. I didn't expect much of the 3D effects, but they really help the colors and backgrounds pop in this gorgeous game. I'm using the "Fall-in" 3D option rather than "Pop-out," maybe I'll try that next.
I like how it gives you options to toggle the Spin Dash, level select, and Japanese / Worldwide versions (though I hear the differences are extremely minor, I did notice the ludicrously fast background clouds though). Also something about "PSG Emulation" which can be toggled between Genesis or Genesis 2, but I dunno what that means.
With Sonic 2 confirmed to be getting the 3DS treatment this fall, I hope Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD are also on the way. Though I guess the latter might be unlikely as Sega CD might not play nice with the "Giga Drive" emulation thing they've got going with this 3D Classics line...
@Jargon Sonic CD is definitely the strangest of the 16-bit games, and it kinda rubbed me the wrong way when I first played it in the Sonic Gems Collection. But after a few playthroughs of the Steam version, I've come to really appreciate its quirks. It's my #2 Sonic game now behind S3&K.
So I say go for it. It's only five bucks and goes on sale pretty often. Heck, it was on sale for $1 last year sometime and I gifted it to a bunch of people just for kicks.
Does anyone else think, after reading the translated development diaries (for example), that this whole 3D remaster thing might be a massive waste of M2's time?
I mean, they could be porting N64 games!!
Seriously, I thought their original ReBirth games on the Wii were pretty good. I always wonder how devs that become port-houses feel about their lot in life.
@Anand Yeah I have to wonder if these 3D Classics are more trouble than they're worth to Sega. From the interviews I read about M2's work, it sounds like a lot of effort was put into this stuff. It certainly shows, as these are great ports with options that go well above and beyond what they could get away with on the VC. But the demand for 3D Sonic the Hedgehog can't be that high, can it? Let alone games like Thunder Blade and Super Hang-On.
@nate38 That's pretty much what I was getting at. It's cool that they exist, but the level of effort seems ridiculously high for what I assume to be the payoff.
I don't know. I kind of get the sense that the increased level of effort in porting the games has led to increased sales. Hearing about all of the added features to the ports seems to have brought them more attention than a straight VC port would have. And I think the added features have enticed returning fans to double dip (or quintuple dip, in Nate's case) when they might not have otherwise. I know that I'm certainly considering getting games I wouldn't be interested in buying if they were your standard VC port and Ploot's comment, among others, leads me to believe that I'm not alone. This is mostly speculation, though.
Still a great game, even if its 16-bit sequels all improved upon it in just about every way. Really glad I played this port, the 3D is a surprisingly good addition to this game.
@nate38 It's such eye candy in 3D! Especially the Japanese version, with the added graphical detail here and there. Between that and all the other options they've crammed in there, this is probably my favourite version of Sonic 1. Can't wait until we get Sonic 2!
I LOVE these 3D remakes. In my experience, it turns out 3D gaming is a super cool and useful thing, but mostly just for games that used to be 2D. I am very excited for things like Sonic 2 and maybe even Streets of Rage 2. I would also love to see S3+K and especially Sonic CD because, like Jargon, it's one of the few Sonic games I haven't played.
