SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive Classics coming to PS4, XB1, PC; May 31

Here's how Sega Genesis Classics / Sega Mega Drive Classics compares to the PS3/Xbox 360 release, Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection / Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection.

ON BOTH:

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Dynamite Headdy
ESWAT: City Under Siege
Fatal Labyrinth
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Kid Chameleon
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Ristar
Shining Force
Shining Force II
Shining in the Darkness
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic Spinball
Sonic 3D Blast
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 3
Super Thunder Blade
Vectorman
Vectorman 2

"CLASSICS" exclusives:

Alien Soldier
Bio-Hazard Battle
Columns III: Revenge of Columns
Crack Down
Galaxy Force II
Gunstar Heroes
Landstalker
Light Crusader
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Space Harrier II
Sword of Vermilion
The Revenge of Shinobi
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
ToeJam& Earl
Virtua Fighter 2
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
Wonder Boy in Monster World

"ULTIMATE" exclusives:
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco: The Tides of Time
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic & Knuckles

Golden Axe Warrior (Master System)
Phantasy Star (Master System)

Alien Syndrome (arcade version)
Altered Beast (arcade version)
Congo Bongo (arcade)
Fantasy Zone (arcade)
Shinobi (arcade)
Space Harrier (arcade)
Zaxxon (arcade)

 

The Ecco titles being missing in tandem with Sonic 3K being quite the glaring omission - present legal issues not withstanding - means this is a no buy for me. The collection is arguably weaker than what came out on the PS3 and 360. However much nostalgia I have for the Genesis era some major and key games are missing here. Ecco 2 for example is a must. It's an amazing, even era defining game and Sonic 3K being missing is just criminal. If I were to hazard a guess, Sega have an additional Sonic collection (Sonic Mania Plus?) planned that's the reason why Sonic 3K is omitted here.

That's what the optimist in me says. The pessimist in me says Sega just couldn't be bothered to pay for or sort out the legal issues. Guess we'll see soon at SXSW.

 

There was a lawsuit regarding Ecco a bit over a year ago. https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/16/ecco-the-dolphin-creator-settles-lawsuit-with-sega-possibly-paving-way-for-series-rebirth/

So maybe Sega don't have the rights, or would have to pay royalties that wouldn't be cost effective. Who knows.

Ecco Jr., which had a Steam release, is also absent.

Oh, and Eternal Champions had a Steam release but isn't included on this collection either. But that's more likely due to the age rating.

 

Ahahahah, oh wow. We can't even get emulated versions of Sonic 3&K anymore, not even individually like in SUGC (though the lack of lock-on in that game was likely more due to improper emulation regarding that release). The game is effectively cursed by the lawyers now.

It's a good thing the game has had a bunch of re-releases in the past (including the still-active XBLA/Steam releases, Wii VC release is on borrowed time though) because at the rate things are seemingly going; it looks like we might never see another re-release of (one of) the series' best game(s).

 

Did you know, we live in a world where this unpopular and underwhelming Mega Drive conversion is a damn sight easier to find for modern hardware than the once-immensely popular and technically groundbreaking arcade and Saturn versions?


But I mean fair play to Sega - I'm struggling to think of any other first-party Mega Drive titles not included in this list aside from what's already been mentioned. Just licensed titles, arcade conversions and out-of-date sports simulations left (and Japanese exclusives - I'd be wanting to milk that English conversion of Monster World IV as much as possible if it were me, but whatever).

None of you should need it though

 

Surely 3&K could be re-released if a completely new soundtrack is made. The original soundtrack is sublime, but if it's never gonna be released again in its current state (and I'll admit it doesn't seem likely), then I would accept any changes which need to be made to allow for a new release. After all, the soundtrack is only one of several things which makes 3&K so good.

 

I think with Sonic 3K's glaring omission here in conjunction with Sega shooting down Taxman and Stealth's Sonic 3K remastered pitch there must be serious shit going on that's fucking up re-releases of the game. I mean they could have a Sonic focused collection planned (with Sonic Mania Plus?) but the more realistic scenario is that they can't sort out the legal troubles so just aren't releasing the game any more. It's just sad given it's one of the best platformers of all-time, the epitome of the 16-bit era and the best Sonic game ever released. Sega really need to sort this shit out.

 

I'm no lawyer, but releasing it with a new soundtrack could be seen as Sega admitting that they don't have the rights to the music, which could be used against them.

Then again, swapping out the music is exactly what they did with Sonic & Knuckles Collection on PC in the '90s, where the "Jacksony" tracks, and only the "Jacksony" tracks, were replaced.

It's so weird that they went to those lengths for S&K Collection, but just four months later released it unaltered in Sonic Jam, and continued to re-release it right up until January 2011.

 

Don't suppose they could lie and say they were unable to correctly recreate the original Mega Drive tracks? :specialed:

 

Ignoring S3k again huh? Well fuck this.

Fix this legal hell already SEGA the hell. But it is weird, why is it only a problem since 2011 or so? Prior to then there was some strangeness but not to this level. What changed?

 

Anyone still want to pretend that legal issues aren't holding back S3K's release?

 

It's much weirder than that!
In 2017, they re-released Sonic 3 on the Brazilian Mega Drive.
And in 2015, they did a remix of Ice Cap for a Sonic music album.
And then of course Sonic 3 is still for sale on Steam.

Can someone explain this? It's just bizarre. Especially the Ice Cap remix.

 

Then you have Mania. I could have sworn there was an interview where Hydrocity's music was explicitly confirmed to be a Jackson song.

 

I thought Hydrocity was a Cirrocco Jones composition.

 

Not only is Sonic 3 & Knuckles still available on Steam, but Sonic 3 is also still available on Xbox Marketplace and Wii Virtual Console (which is shutting down soon). As I said, I'm not a lawyer, but it's possible that suddenly de-listing Sonic 3 from these services could be viewed as a tacit admission that they shouldn't have released it in the first place. Which could land them in even more hot water.

The Tec Toy Mega Drive and the remix album are both very odd cases. I can only assume that it's a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. They're both obscure enough to easily fly under the radar.

I wonder how much of an impact the "discovery" of The Jetzons' Hard Times had. The Michael Jackson stuff is a lot of "five seconds of this sounds like six seconds of that". But IceCap Zone and Hard Times are absolutely the same song, with Hard Times predating Sonic 3 by 12 years. That's a HUGE can of worms. Especially with Bruce Connole being listed as the composer of Hard Times, not Brad Buxer. There's a good chance that Sega weren't aware of this until we were, and that Brad maybe did something he shouldn't have.

 

We know from Bobby Brooks' refusal to be interviewed that there have been legal issues around the soundtrack before the discovery of Hard Times, so I doubt that finding had any impact.

 

Just so I don't sound crazy, I suppose I should have given more detail. The interview I believe was with Brad Buxer, and he recalled how, in the middle of the night, he got a phone call from Jackson, who told him he'd just come up with a song, and beatboxed an early version of HCZ's theme to him.

...You know, when I put it like that, it sounds absolutely insane.

Anyway, if I remember right, it was the same interview where they played one of the game's songs to him (can't remember if it was HCZ), and he recognised it.

EDIT: Just rewatching a video on the subject, Cirrocco is brought up here, crediting 'level 2' to Jackson.

 

Insane? Beatboxing people music over the phone in the middle of the night has Jackson written all over it.