Sonic Gems Collection (ソニック ジェムズ コレクション, Sonikku Jemuzu Korekushon^?) is a video game compilation of eleven to sixteen Sega titles (depending on region), nine of which are from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was developed by Sonic Team and released for the Nintendo GameCube in the United States and PlayStation 2 in Europe and Japan by Sega in 2005.

Intended as a successor to Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Gems Collection was conceived by Sonic Team to introduce younger players to the rare and more obscure games in the Sonic series, unlike Sonic Mega Collection, which contained the more popular Sonic games.^[7] As such, it features several Sonic games on outdated or otherwise obscure consoles or cabinets. The games aside, the collection also includes additional features, such as unlockable demos of other Sonic games, videos, and promotional artwork from across the history of the Sonic franchise.

List of games[]

• AG: Sonic the Fighters
• SCD: Sonic the Hedgehog CD
• SS: Sonic R
• GG: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)
• GG: Sonic Spinball (8-bit)
• GG: Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble
• GG: Sonic Drift 2
• GG: Tails' Skypatrol
• GG: Tails Adventure

Unlockable games[]

Western regions[]

• SG: Vectorman
• SG: Vectorman 2

Japan[]

• SG: Bonanza Bros.
• SG: Streets of Rage
• SG: Streets of Rage 2
• SG: Streets of Rage 3

Other modes[]

Manuals[]

Manuals is the menu where the player can view scans of the instructions for the games in Sonic Gems Collection:

• AG: Sonic the Fighters: A set of readable scans of the English instructions for the arcade version of Sonic the Fighters.
• SCD: Sonic CD: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for the Sega CD version of Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
• PC: Sonic: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for the Windows 95 version of Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
• SS: Sonic R: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for the Sega Saturn version of Sonic R.
• PC: Sonic R: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for the PC version of Sonic R.
• GG: Sonic the Hedgehog 2: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for the Sega Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit).
• GG: Sonic Spinball: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for the Sega Game Gear version of Sonic Spinball (8-bit).
• GG: Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble.
• GG: Sonic Drift 2: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for Sonic Drift 2.
• GG: Tails' Skypatrol: A partially complete and readable scan of the Japanese instruction booklet for Tails' Skypatrol.
• GG: Tails Adventures: A complete and readable scan of the North American instruction booklet for Tails Adventures.

Museum[]

Museum is the menu where the player can visit a museum of some sort consisting of unlockable content, such as pictures, videos, music tracks and game demos, from across the history of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Artwork[]

The artworks in the Museum feature official artworks, screen savers, and screenshots from across the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Game Data Plays[]

The Game Data Play in the Museum are playable demos of games from the early days of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They feature the complete games seen on the Sega Genesis and the Game Gear but are limited by an imposed time limit on the player's play time and will begin in the game's final levels under different circumstances. If the player clears a demo within the time limit, they can continue playing from the beginning of the game until the time runs out. These time limits vary from three to twenty minutes.

Videos[]

The videos in the Museum feature official videos from across the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Music[]

The music in the Museum features official remixes of soundtracks from across the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Extras[]

Extras is the menu where the player can view additional features for Sonic Gems Collection:

• Hints: List of secret commands for each of the games in Sonic Gems Collection based on the player's progress and other useful tips.
• Credits: Automatically displays the ending credits for Sonic Gems Collection.
• Exit: Leaves the Extras menu.

Development[]

Sonic Gems Collection was developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2.^[8] As stated by the director of Sonic Team, Yojiro Ogawa, Sonic Gems Collection, along with its predecessor Sonic Mega Collection, was conceived to introduce young players to older Sonic game. The difference between them however, was that Sonic Mega Collection focused on the original Sega Genesis games to showcase what made the Sonic franchise a success, while Sonic Gems Collection was meant to focus on games that Sega considered rare and obscure.^[7] Additionally, although Sonic Team was responsible for the creation of Sonic Gems Collection, they had limited involvement in the development of the games included on the compilation; for example, Sega AM2 made Sonic the Fighters, and Sonic R was primarily developed by Traveller's Tales.^[9] Most of the games included are emulated,^[9] but Sonic the Fighters is a port.

At the beginning of the development for Sonic Gems Collection, Sonic Team made a list of the most wanted games for the compilation. The team considered the games they felt were high quality in graphics, gameplay, and overall nature.^[7] Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Vectorman were considered for inclusion in Sonic Mega Collection, but were left to be included in Sonic Gems Collection. Producer Yuji Naka said storage constraints prevented Sonic the Hedgehog CD from being included in Sonic Mega Collection.^[7][10] In addition, SegaSonic the Hedgehog was omitted due to problems emulating its trackball controls.^[11] Furthermore, AM2 assisted in porting Sonic the Fighters, marking its first release on a home console. In addition, the Windows version of Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Sonic R were used in Sonic Gems Collection.^[9][12] Both of these games received visual upgrades: the opening sequence for Sonic the Hedgehog CD is presented in fullscreen and Sonic R has higher resolution textures.^[13]

During the development of Sonic Gems Collection, Sonic Team hoped that each region's version of Sonic Gems Collection would be identical in content. However, the Streets of Rage games and Bonanza Bros. had to be omitted from the North American localization, due to fears of a "Teen" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board.^[14][15] The PAL release was impacted as well. The team also wished to include both the Japanese and North American Sonic the Hedgehog CD soundtracks, but storage and licensing problems resulted in Japan only receiving its respective soundtrack and all other regions using the North American version.^[7][15]

Following the release of Sonic Gems Collection, the PlayStation 2 version was not released in North America.^[16]

Promotional[]

Sonic Gems Collection was announced in May 2005,^[17] and was playable at E3 2005.^[18]

Promotion[]

Those who ordered Sonic Gems Collection through Sega's online store, Sega Direct, received an exclusive Sonic-themed yo-yo.^[19]

Reception[]

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	64/100[20]
Review scores
Publication	Score
1Up.com	C+[16]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	6.2/10[21]
Eurogamer	7/10[22]
GameSpot	6.3/10[9]
GameSpy	[23]
IGN	7.5/10[24]
Nintendo Power	8.5/10[13]
Jeuxvideo.com	9/20[25]

According to Metacritic, a video game review aggregator, Sonic Gems Collection received "mixed or average" reviews.^[20] By 22 November 2005, the compilation had sold 200,000 copies outside Japan.^[26] In 2006, the GameCube version was branded a Player's Choice game,^[27] indicating it sold a million units.^[28]

Reviewers considered Sonic the Hedgehog CD the compilation's strongest feature,^[24][22] so much that Steve T. of Nintendo Power and Electronic Gaming Monthly said it was worth buying for Sonic the Hedgehog CD alone.^[13][21] Juan Castro of IGN found that Sonic the Hedgehog CD "still holds its own against modern platformers", praising its unique, time-travel oriented gameplay, level design, visuals, and sound. Castro called it one of the best games in the Sonic series and was no less fun than its original release.^[24] Ryan Davis of GameSpot found Sonic the Hedgehog CD superior to the other games in the compilation,^[9] and Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer declared "rejoice for Sonic CD... Just don't rejoice for anything else, because it's mostly rubbish".^[22] Many reviewers were also pleased by the inclusion of the Vectorman games. Castro called it "the pinnacle of 16-bit gaming", praising its melding of boss fights, action, and platforming and saying it aged well.^[24] Bramwell and Phil Theobald of GameSpy agreed.^[22][23]

Critics generally felt that Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters were mediocre.^[24][23][9] Castro, Theobald, and Davis compared Sonic the Fighters unfavorably to the Virtua Fighter games,^[24][23] with Davis calling it dated and simplistic.^[9] Superpanda from Jeuxvideo.com, in a negative review of the compilation, argued that Sonic the Fighters was too short and had control issues, but that Sonic R was on par with Sonic the Hedgehog CD in terms of quality, praising the game's graphics and claiming that it was the compilation's most beautiful game.^[25] Castro was less positive: he found its ideas clever and considered it an interesting departure from normal racing games, but thought the ideas were poorly implemented and the controls were awkward. However, he still thought the game was enjoyable and that its soundtrack was unique.^[24] Theobald voiced a similar opinion, considering it "a concept that works better in theory than in practice".^[23] Conversely, Davis said Sonic R's "laughably bad soundtrack" was its "only redeeming quality".^[9] Bramwell considered it too odd and short to be worth the player's time.^[22]

The six Game Gear Sonic games were criticized for their uneven quality and poor emulation.^[23][9][22] Theobald liked that the games were available from the start, but was puzzled why the other six games were left out. He also considered the selection random ("why Sonic 2, but no Sonic?").^[23] Castro was intrigued that they were all on one disc, but thought their screen displays were bad and said "you'd probably be better off dusting your old [Game Gear] and finding those old games" rather than playing them on Sonic Gems Collection.^[24] Of the Sega Game Gear games, Davis preferred Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit), Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, and Tails' Skypatrol, but disliked the rest. He heavily criticized their emulation quality, noting their frequent frame rate drops.^[9] Bramwell joked they were present on the disc for "educational" purposes. He lambasted their resolutions and encouraged readers to ignore them entirely.^[22]

Some reviewers found the compilation incomplete.^[23][9][16] Davis and Theobald both criticized the exclusion of the Streets of Rage games in the North American version. Davis stated he preferred them over Vectorman and Theobald said Sega should have just let the compilation get a Teen rating from the ESRB.^[23][9] Theobald was also disappointed that the compilation lacked SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles' Chaotix, and the other Sega Game Gear games.^[23] Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com said even combining Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Gems Collection would provide players an incomplete Sonic collection, lambasting the exclusion of Knuckles' Chaotix and Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure and feeling the Sega Master System Sonic games should have been included, not the Game Gear ones.^[16] Superpanda said he would have preferred Knuckles' Chaotix over the Game Gear games and also considered its exclusion of the Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast a disappointment.^[25]

Reviewers were generally divided over whether Sonic Gems Collection would leave players satisfied.^[24][9][22] 'GM summed it up as a "woefully uneven mix", but one Sonic fans should check out if they wanted Sonic the Hedgehog CD.^[21] Castro said the compilation was "decent" and worth its price tag, but was not as solid as Sonic Mega Collection.^[24] Theobald found it weak and that only Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Vectorman would appeal to casual gamers.^[23] Bramwell was sarcastic: "if this sort of thing matters to you, if you still can't bear to unplug your Dreamcast, and you do own Virtua Fighter 4 and all the others and think they're brilliant, this is for you".^[22] When Famitsu| named the best games of 2005, it ranked Sonic Gems Collection among the bottom of the PlayStation 2 and GameCube releases.^[29]

Version differences[]

• Sonic the Fighters:
  • The original title for Sonic the Fighters in the United States and Europe was Sonic Championship, but in Sonic Gems Collection, the game uses its original title in every region.
  • The model data of all the unused characters in Sonic Fighters was removed. While the character data still exists, the game will crash upon selection due to the missing models.
• Sonic the Hedgehog CD:
  • The North American and PAL versions of Sonic Gems Collection possesses the United States' soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog CD, while the Japanese version of the game possesses the Japanese soundtrack.
  • The hints for Sonic the Hedgehog CD place the debug mode sound test code with the other hidden pictures.
  • Tidal Tempest's waters in all its Rounds are clear, unlike the Sega CD and PC version of Sonic the Hedgehog CD where the water is colored differently in all time frames; the present time frame has green water; the past time frame has brown water; the good future has cyan water; and the bad future has red water. This is due to Sonic the Hedgehog CD in Sonic Gems Collection is a port of the Windows PC version. This version also uses a 256-color mode, which uses a palette, similar to the original Sega Mega Drive VDP. Consoles with modern GPUs are uncapable of properly supporting palette effects. As such, the developers seemingly chose to drop the color changes instead of rewriting it to work correctly.
  • The digital instruction manual for Sonic the Hedgehog CD are localized for each region, except that the PAL version use the North American instruction manual. Furthermore, the PlayStation 2 version of Sonic Gems Collection also possesses both the Japanese and North American instruction manuals. The instruction manual that is loaded depends on the language that has been chosen for the console. This does not apply to the Nintendo GameCube version of the game, whose language is set to the region it was released in.
• Sonic Spinball (8-bit):
  • Because Sonic Spinball was never released in Japan, the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection only uses the North American instruction booklet for its digital instruction booklet of said game. As such, the instruction booklet for Sonic Spinball in the Japanese version has a separate page at the beginning explaining this to the player.
• Tails Adventure:
  • Because Tails Adventure was never released in western territories, the western versions of Sonic Gems Collection only uses the Japanese instruction booklet for its digital instruction booklet of said game. As such, the instruction booklet for Tails Adventure in the western versions has a separate page at the beginning explaining this to the player. Additionally, the last two pages of the instruction booklet were removed in the western versions of Sonic Gems Collection.
• Sonic R:
  • Due to the limited amount of controller slots for the PlayStation 2, the multiplayer mode in Sonic R was left with room for only two players, unlike the PC version of Sonic R which has room for four players. The Nintendo GameCube version on the other hand keeps the room for four players in the multiplayer. The draw distance is also greatly improved over the previous versions.

Trivia[]

• The PlayStation 2 version contains both the Japanese and North American soundtracks of Sonic the Hedgehog CD. However, there is no in-game music selection to change the soundtrack and is based on the console’s language setting. This is not the case for the GameCube release, which may have been done to save space.
  • It is also possible to get the American soundtrack on a Japanese system, as the Japanese PlayStation 2 BIOS can switch between Japanese and English. The North American and European PlayStation 2 BIOS has no Japanese support, making it impossible to get the Japanese soundtrack on those systems. The PlayStation 3, on the other hand, can be set to Japanese regardless of its region, allowing any of the backwards compatible models to play the Japanese soundtrack (provided the player can find a way to get the Japanese version of the game running on a non-Japanese PlayStation 3, as PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software is still natively region-locked on the PlayStation 3).
• The song "Sonic 3 MegaD Mix" was included in the album, True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2, unedited.
• The Unlockable Demos are all from Sonic Mega Collection Plus, even though they are all still playable on the GameCube.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (Japanese)
• [titleSega of America product page ] (archived)