Sonic Classic Collection is a video game compilation for the Nintendo DS developed by The Creative Assembly Australia, under supervision by Sega Australia and Sega of Europe. It is a collection of: Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Sonic & Knuckles (With Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and Knuckles in Sonic 2). This compilation was officially announced on December 2, 2009 by Sega of America and was released March 2, 2010, although news of this compilation first broke when it was classified by the Australian Government's OFLC. It features two extra lock-on modes from the originals, which allows the player to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 and to play the complete version of Sonic 3 (titled "Knuckles in Sonic 3" as opposed to the original "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" title). The games receive the addition of a save option; while players can "save anywhere" as billed, they must restart the act in which they saved - they are, however, allowed to keep their score and Chaos Emeralds from when they saved, as well as any extra lives and continues earned. The collection also includes a gallery of images. It was originally supposed to also include Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and Sonic 3D Blast but none of those three games made it into the final product. The game was met with mixed to positive reactions from critics, receiving a 70 out of 100 on Metacritic. Praise was directed at the quality of the games included, but was criticized for its lack of a multiplayer mode and how the artwork included was the only extras included.
Reviews View More
The collection includes Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles; as well as lock-on for both Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 (no Blue Sphere game in this compilation). Oddly, Sonic 3 & Knuckles – what many fans deem as the definitive way to enjoy both Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles – is named “Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 3” while the description makes it sound like it will only let you play the Sonic 3 levels as Knuckles. Luckily this is not the case, and this game will allow you to play through Sonic 3 & Knuckles as any of the characters. The only extras in this version are 27 concept art images from the original games displaying the classic Sonic, while the box and all new logos show his modern stick-like form.
So how do these games perform on the DS? The game has obviously had a change in aspect ratio to make use of the whole screen, and this is actually done particularly well as all game elements still appear fine. Some of the text is slightly cropped or misplaced, but this doesn’t impact the games in any way. The biggest problem is the framerate. Sonic the Hedgehog seems to constantly struggle to keep the framerate up to your speed. It’s still perfectly playable and a lot of fun, but it really isn’t ideal. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 fares much better – the only noticeable slowdown is when you lose all your rings. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is almost unplayable as Sonic and Tails, but runs pretty well when you stick with one character.
The framerate issues are a big shame as the graphics still look extremely crisp and clear, especially on the DS’ small screen. The audio performs much better, and the music is a joy to listen to when using headphones. The only audio problem is that collecting the Power Sneakers will make the music higher pitched, as opposed to increasing the tempo of the music. Which sounds really odd each time you collect them.
Lacking from both Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the multiplayer. This could have been implemented over Wi-Fi, and possibly even improved (to give both players a full screen, as opposed to splitting one screen in half). Instead it seems that SEGA just couldn’t be bothered adapting the code for the DS’ Wi-Fi. The amount of effort is even more evident in the PAL version as the Genesis box arts in the menus have not been replaced with Mega Drive ones. It’s a tiny, unimportant thing but it still shows that SEGA don’t really care about how well these classic titles are ported.
While this classic games still look, sound and feel brilliant; the quality of the port brings it down. There are much better ports and compilations on other consoles so the only reason to purchase this collection is if you just NEED to own Sonic the Hedgehog on every device in creation.