As there isn't a dedicated topic for it, I'm creating this one Sonic the Hedgehog & Lightening Force are available today and Sonic 1 has the Drop-dash feature from Sonic Mania included!
I'm really bad at writing reviews but I spent some hours with sonic 1 today, here are my thoughts: https://pastebin.com/aDKT7pkS TLDR there's more lag and frame drops then I ever remember, the extras are weird (ghz1 time attack, no other stage available) and some very barebones tv filters.
It astounds me that the Taxman port of Sonic 1 (and 2 and CD...) have not become the definitive versions for SEGA to use yet. Then again, when SEGA Forever used 1 and 2, the two got butchered. Is it really too much to ask for a simple clean console version of all three ports?
I can't find a way to change it if there is an option, the scoreboards are ghz1 time, multiplay score attack, ring combo and I think full game play time, I would need to boot the game up again to check but I feel burned out already. having cd, 1 and 2 in a retail release similar to sonic mania for £25 would be amazing, not doing this is as dumb as sega not putting chuchu rocket on XBLA during it's prime.
There's merit in having a set of Mega Drive conversions that are all built by the same people. If M2 does everything at least the results will be consistent. It wouldn't look right if they announced two games, where one was in widescreen and optimised for the platform, and the other was a Mega Drive emulator with borders. I can see why they made this choice (though the case becomes more wobbily when they start adding features like the drop dash). You can't expect joined up thinking on this either. I mean okay, yes you can, because it's 2018 and we should be sensible, but Sega has a long history of the Western and Japanese arms doing different things. The question is not why they're not using the Taxman conversions, but rather who approved releasing the same game twice on one platform with just a few weeks separating the two? Because that's what you're getting with Sega Mega Drive Classics on Switch. Taxman's ports of Sonic 1 and 2 will never become the "standard" editions. Sonic CD, possibly, because Sega have never built a Mega-CD emulator, but it's always going to be more cost effective by just dumping a few Mega Drive ROMs on a platform.
It's confirmed through some preview videos that the spin dash has the same lack of refinements the 3DS version does as well (eg. most of the bugs you have to manually fix in the Retro tutorial). I mean don't get me wrong, this is still better than a standard emulation release, but some details like this buggy spin dash and aforementioned Time Attack mode for ONE FRIGGIN' ACT are very questionable. Sonic 2 has been confirmed for a later date, so far it's been confirmed a drop dash, Mega Play mode along with some of the extras from the 3DS version like this one. Still no 'Fly for Tails' makes me sad though.
Just bought my copy of the game, so here are the features it has: Three versions of Sonic 1 to choose from: International (US), Japan and Arcade (MegaPlay); Ringkeeper Mode and Drop-dash/Spindash are avaiable to be used in any of them; Stage Select shortcut toggle on the menu (not available for MegaPlay, though) Filter options: 4:3, Dot-by-Dot, Fullscreen and CRT; Scanlines and bilinear filtering are optional (can't be disabled on CRT mode, though) GHz 1 Time Attack Mega Play Version Score Attack Online leaderboards Replays are available and can be downloaded from the internet through the leaderboards Interactive manuals that can be found here: http://manuals.sega.com/sega-ages/ Customizable Controls A nice intro animation A great remix of the JAP/EUR Sega CD bios theme on the menus
Since I don't have a Switch, I'm more curious about how Thunder Force IV plays instead of Sonic. Is it the truly definitive version of the game? The Saturn version has godawful sound emulation, so even with it's extra features I wouldn't consider that the best port. I really hope the sound emulation is tight on this, Thunder Force IV is a contender for the best Sega Genesis ost and I've noticed some of the shoddier emulators get the FM synth guitar sound of TFIV kind of wrong.
They could have just released the Taxman & Stealth version without the Sega Ages branding. But really, the Sega Ages label has been kicking around since that days of the Saturn so it's not like having inconsistent releases would be a major issue.
Not tight but not awful either. On Sonic 1, the SEGA chant is plays at a slightly higher rate and the overall soundtrack sounds like someone diminished the high frequencies using a low pass filter or equalizer. Here's some US gameplay: Here's the EU version of Lightening Force port:
Been playing Sonic 1 and I really like the inclusion of the drop-dash. Easy to operate and actually feels slightly faster than in Mania. The spin-dash is decent, but one of the known glitches remains; where if Sonic is standing right next to an item-box, if you try to spin-dash the item-box won't break and Sonic will just uncurl. Also, it's nice finally being able to play the Mega-Play version. The time-limits are generous and you don't play through any of the slowest zones; Marble, Labyrinth & Scrap Brain act3 thank god XD Having only Green Hill act1 for Time Attack is disappointing. I couldn't resist going for the #1 ranking in the "Ring Chain Rankings" which I achieved It may not be up to the standard of the mobile remasters or the Sonic Jam port, but it's the next-best release of Sonic 1 and the other modes do at least add some replay value. Would love to be able to play this version on PS4.
The vintage filter on this is actually pretty good too. The one on 3DS had a more accurate hue, though.
Looks like there's some shenanigans going on with the hit detection with the Drop Dash. You can roll right through an Orbinaut with it.
Virtua Racing is among the lineup now: https://xcancel.com/SEGA_OFFICIAL/status/1043388359723241472/photo/1 I'm kinda hoping Sonic 1 gets a patch. The package is nice on paper, but the glitches for the moves can be obstructive at times and I'd like a full Time Attack mode.
I don't know where else to put this and since this is related to Sega Ages, I figure this is the best place to put it. If mods want to move it elsewhere, go ahead, etc. According to this: This is the result of a survey Sega did to their japanese audience on what games they'd want for Sega Ages. I can't read Japanese myself, but based on what other people have said the important parts are: 1 - Jet Set Radio 2 - Shenmue 3 - Panzer Dragoon Saga 4 - Virtua Fighter 5 - Shining franchise 6 - Panzer Dragoon franchise 7 - Sakura Wars 8 - Puyo Puyo 9 - Virtual On 10 - Burning Rangers 11 - Skies of Arcadia 12 - Nights into Dreams... 13 - Golden Axe 14 - Bug King franchise(?) 15 - Phantasy Star Online 16 - Space Channel 5 17 - Outrunners 18 - Sonic Adventure series 19 - Daytona USA 20 - Spikeout 21 - Dynamite Deka series 22 - Sonic 3 & Knuckles 23 - Virtua Racing 24 - Fantasy Zone 25 - Dragon Force 26 - Sega Rally 27 - Classic Phantasy Star 28 - Guardian Heroes 29 - Outrun 30 - Wing War(?) Kind of surprised to see the support for Panzer Dragoon Saga being that high. Hell, if it means Sega throws it into an emulator and sells that, I'd take it!
I'm laughing that they actually brought the Lightening Force name back for the US...at least you can change the region of the game right?
I wonder if SEGA will ever bring up again the SEGA AGES 2500 series of games. While being low-cost productions, they were remakes that seemed nice to incorporate into packs like this one, either for portable or home consoles, Steam or even mobile platforms.
Interesting screenshot - the draw distance for computer players is still low but the track is being rendered far into the distance. They might be trying to render all of the scenery all of the time - even the PS2 port doesn't do that.
