Sonic Mega Collection

System: Nintendo GameCube Release date: 07/03/2003

There was a time you'd have been as likely to see Sonic the Hedgehog on a Nintendo system as glimpse a duck riding a bicycle on a motorway. Now, the velocity-happy hero has made Nintendo his natural home - and this nostalgic round-up of Sonic games past firmly lays the ghost of old-time Nintendo-Sega scrapping to rest.

Switching on Sonic Mega Collection for the first time presents you with seven slices of Sonic history from the 1990s. These classics haven't been updated, retouched or cosmetically enhanced in any way. If anything looks or sounds different from when your younger hands clasped the chunky black Sega Megadrive controller, that's the mistiness of memory for you - shake your head to realign your braincells and appreciate these vintage games in all their primordial perfection.

The centrepiece of the collection: the entire quartet of 2D Sonic The Hedgehog titles. The impossibly pretty maps of Green Hill Zone in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. The transparent pipework and skyscraper-high ramps of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Miles "Tails" Prower's first tag-along outing), where Sonic's sprinting shifts the screen at speeds that must have had the Megadrive groaning aloud in pain. And Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, offering as much high-speed coin-collecting and enemy-bopping (and, inevitably, spike-colliding) as those perfect prequels.

Such a fun-packed foursome of massive-mapped, secret-stuffed platforming titles would be worth the asking price alone. But for your cash you also net the compulsive flipper-flipping Sonic Spinball, the tough Puyo Puyo-alike puzzler Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and the bizarre-but-brilliant isometric runaround Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. All simple stuff compared to today's 3D effects-fests - but all the more glorious for it.

And that's the lot... except, it isn't. Repeated plays of the seven main games will unlock even more Megadrive memories - including (and look away now if you don't want the surprise ruined) the variations and games unlocked by the later Sonic games' clever cart-combining technology. Plus, a library of movie clips, comics and artwork allows you to wallow in Sonic's extensive history and shed a nostalgic tear or two. In short, the perfect compilation of perfect pre-3D platformers and their equally playable offshoots. Grey-haired gamers and joypad juniors alike will be in hedgehog heaven.

This description was provided by the publisher.


What you need to know

This content is sold by Nintendo of Europe SE. The payment will be made with Nintendo eShop funds usable through the Nintendo Account used to complete the purchase.

This content is sold by Nintendo of Europe SE, payable with Nintendo eShop funds usable through your Nintendo Account. The Nintendo Account Agreement applies to the purchase of this content.

This content may be purchased by users who have registered a Nintendo Account and accepted the respective legal terms.

This content may be purchased by users who have registered a Nintendo Account and accepted the respective legal terms.

The details of this offer apply to users who sign in with a Nintendo Account with the country setting corresponding to the country setting of this website. If the country setting of a Nintendo Account is different, the details of this offer may be adjusted (for example, the price will be displayed in the respective local currency).

After your payment has been processed, the content will be downloaded to the applicable system linked to your Nintendo Account. This system must be updated to the latest system software and connected to the internet with automatic downloads enabled, and it must have enough storage to complete the download. Depending on the hardware model you own and your use of it, an additional storage device may be required to download content from Nintendo eShop. Please visit our Support section for more information.

In the case of games that use cloud streaming technology, a free launcher application or demo can be downloaded.

Please make sure you have enough storage to complete the download.

After your payment has been processed, the content will be downloaded to the applicable system linked to your Nintendo Account. This system must be updated to the latest system software and connected to the internet with automatic downloads enabled, and it must have enough storage to complete the download. Depending on the hardware model you own and your use of it, an additional storage device may be required to download content from Nintendo eShop. Please visit our Support section for more information.

In the case of games that use cloud streaming technology, a free launcher application or demo can be downloaded.

Please make sure you have enough storage to complete the download.

The details of the offer are displayed based on the country settings of your Nintendo Account.

The Nintendo Account Agreement applies to the purchase of this content.

The use of an unauthorised device or software that enables technical modification of the Nintendo console or software may render this game unplayable.

This product contains technological protection measures.

Content not playable before the release date: {{releaseDate}} . For pre-orders, payments will be taken automatically starting from 7 days before the release date. If you pre-order less than 7 days before the release date, payment will be taken immediately upon purchase.

Categories

Action

Players

2

Publisher

Infogrames

Developer

Sega

Age rating

TBD

Nintendo GameCube

System

Nintendo GameCube

Release date

07/03/2003

Age rating

TBD