Classic Collection

[Melf]

Europe saw many releases that never came to the U.S., and among them was a series of compilation carts that featured four Sega games each. One of them had Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Flicky, Altered Beast, and the seminal Gunstar Heroes. Quite a handy little collection on a single cart, wouldn't you say? Well, it just so happens that we have a full review (http://www.sega-16.com/2007/05/classic-collection/) for you, so check this one out and see if it's worth adding to your library.

[Alianger]

"ah what the heck, read the full review instead!"

Well I agree. Sorry :P But this felt a bit.. superfluous?
And how can you give three mediocre games a 9 just because they're accompanied by one excellent game? That's outta whack!

[McTom]

I recently bought this collection, 'cause it was the only (affortable) way to acquire Gunstar Heroes. However, I think the other three games are kinda wack.

[Zebbe]

"ah what the heck, read the full review instead!"

Well I agree. Sorry :P But this felt a bit.. superfluous?
And how can you give three mediocre games a 9 just because they're accompanied by one excellent game? That's outta whack!

Eh, I said in the review that I rate it as a compilation. When rating a compilation, you have to consider that the games cannot have too much MEGA POWER and what kind of games you expect to get when paying for the price of one. I explained why the classic cult games Altered Beast and the former mascot Alex Kidd belongs in a it. They are not great games themselves, but getting them in a compilation is just perfect, especially when it is cheaper than original Gunstar Heroes. They are the kind of games you buy and have on the shelf because of their cult value, not because you expect hours of endless fun with them.

[Mr Smith]

A nine rating? Zebbe you have got to be kidding.

Flicky = Badly dated annoying tosh
Altered Beast = Awesome in 1974 but has aged very badly, tosh now.
Alex Kidd = Average at best (personally this game annoys the hell out of me)
Gunstar Heros = Awesome
9 Rating = Excellent on every level but missing that tiny something that keeps it from perfection.

Anyway, this was the last new Mega Drive game I ever saw on the shelves in a shop. It cost £20 and I was very tempted to buy it, however, didn't which I am glad about!

[Zebbe]

For the third time, I'm rating it as a compilation !!!!111 I am very happy I bought Classic Collection, because then I didn't need to waste gazillions of Swedish Kronor on Gunstar Heroes, plus I get two CULT games, games which gave us legendary "WISE FWOM YO GLAY!" and a monkeyboy with sideburns! Can't anyone see the value in that?

[GEN ESIS GAMER]

Well i never played this collection, i personally think sega-6 pak is the best collection of games you can buy.

[Zebbe]

I agree. That one deserves a ten, IMHO.

[ThunderForce]

This is funny because I just blow $46 shipped for Gunstar Heroes JP version complete.

[megabomberman]

Can't agree with the other guys here, welldone zebbe, great choice of game. and come on guys it is an awesome collection! So diverse, you've got the original sega platformer alex, Altered beast, one of the most retro classics you can play on the md, flicky - well its an addition and gunstar heroes too! Its a dream cartridge, hours of fun to be had here.

The way some of the talk is going on here you'd swear a compiltion had to be an average of the games in it! Not the case though, you get all 4 and you don't have to go buying flicky alex and beast seperate which would be a bummer.

[Zebbe]

Exactly my point. Thanks a lot, megabomberman!

[segagamer]

Yes, I too feel the score was too generous. Plus, the Genesis version of Altered Beast was NOT arcade perfect. Once you have played the arcade version, you will surely see the differences.

[megabomberman]

Guys i don't know how many of you guys owned this when you were younger. Then games were all £40 and a collection was restricted to 15 or so cartridges because of this fact and the fact that you were only a kid.

In this time this game was a dream come true, what a quirky cartridge of really cool old games it was. It was the staple of my collection along with mega games 2 (streets of rage, golden axe, The revenge of shinobi - greatest cartridge of all time).

Even now it serves a very valuable purpose, it has those old classics balled together that would be low on your list of priorities, bar gunstar heroes, which is an utter classic.

[Elusive]

Flicky was released one year before me and could have had sex in Spain when this game came out.

Please. I'm having a hard time holding back the urge to throw rotten fruit at the stage, Zebbe :|

Good collection of games, but c'mon. I'd expect this review from some eleven-year-old over at Gamespot.

[Rusty Venture]

All I can say is that "Altered Beast" indeed sucks.

Boring, repetitive, and short. The arcade version is slightly better, but not by much.

[Zebbe]

Please. I'm having a hard time holding back the urge to throw rotten fruit at the stage, Zebbe :|

Good collection of games, but c'mon. I'd expect this review from some eleven-year-old over at Gamespot.

Sorry to hear that :(. I didn't want to make it in-depth this time, because it would have been too long with four games, and it is already longer than 1000 words actually. So I just thought some short description and comments would be enough.

[ThunderForce]

This is not bad.

I said it before that I paid $46 shipped JUST for a copy of Gunstar Heroes (JP version FYI).

[Demonic Weasel]

Heh, Flicky's amazing.

[David J.]

I got a Gunstar Heroes cart in pretty damn good shape at a Salvation Army for a $1.99... not too bad. And even better since I'm not bothered about complete Genesis games.

[Zebbe]

Prices for GH can really vary, but ofcourse a loose US cart is way cheaper than a complete JP one. I think I got my CC for around thirty dollars.

[Alianger]

When rating a compilation, you have to consider that the games cannot have too much MEGA POWER and what kind of games you expect to get when paying for the price of one.

This is a joke, right?


I explained why the classic cult games Altered Beast and the former mascot Alex Kidd belongs in a it. They are not great games themselves, but getting them in a compilation is just perfect, especially when it is cheaper than original Gunstar Heroes. They are the kind of games you buy and have on the shelf because of their cult value, not because you expect hours of endless fun with them.

So do you always base your scores on what others think about the games? It's not like anyone goes out and buys so-called cult classics for dead systems when they aren't going to be playing them because they know that they suck. From a collectors point of view, it's even more silly because then you'd want to have the original boxes and manuals.
The only good thing about this one, as a compilation, is that it's a cheaper way of obtaining Gunstar Heroes in case you're only interested in playing the game. Edit: This is why I bought it btw :)

I also question the cult status of Alex Kidd, which I don't recall anyone praising back then or later on. Everyone seems to think it was a disappointment, which it was.

[Zebbe]

I'm not joking. You can't except just any Mega Drive game from before 1996, because most of the good ones were pretty big in cart-size, which costed a lot. That's why we had Flicky, which only has about 1 MEGA POWER.

And no, I don't base my scores on what other people think, but if most Mega Drive gamers find the "Wise fwom yo glay" quote hilarious/legendary/infamous/whatever, chances are big that I do too. And I've had some nice times with Alex Kidd in Miracle World, that's why I also like to have the tr00 sequel. It's not like I never play them either, they can be entertaining in small doses sometimes.

By the way, Alex Kidd IS cult, simply because he is the hero-that-never-meant-to-be mascot before Sonic. The game has a 9 rating on this site.

[megabomberman]

I just don't understand why everyones so keen to jump on the corpse of this game, I mean what do you expect from a compilation of 4 games, its got 3 classics and flicky, big deal flickys on it, if it wasn't on it people wouldn't be moaning as much and its not like you're forced to play it.

[Mr Smith]

And no, I don't base my scores on what other people think, but if most Mega Drive gamers find the "Wise fwom yo glay" quote hilarious/legendary/infamous/whatever, chances are big that I do too. And I've had some nice times with Alex Kidd in Miracle World, that's why I also like to have the tr00 sequel. It's not like I never play them either, they can be entertaining in small doses sometimes.

The Altered Beast quote is awesome, however, it also highlights how badly that game has aged. The nicest time I had with Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was taking it out of my Mega Drive.


I just don't understand why everyones so keen to jump on the corpse of this game, I mean what do you expect from a compilation of 4 games, its got 3 classics and flicky, big deal flickys on it, if it wasn't on it people wouldn't be moaning as much and its not like you're forced to play it.

Altered Beast and Alex Kidd are more nostalgic than classic. I wouldn't be moaning half as much if it had been given a slightly lower rating, however, Super Thunder Blade is rated at a 10. :(

[megabomberman]

I wouldn't be moaning half as much if it had been given a slightly lower rating, however, Super Thunder Blade is rated at a 10. :(

I was posting in a thread about readers having their say by voting on the titles in the review library like imdb or something, that way people could stomp their feet with their votes, but supposedly with the change of database a lot more things are going to be possible so I'm excited about that.

[Alianger]

The game has a 9 rating on this site.

So does this game :P I guess you have a valid point, I just feel like it should be perfectly clear in the review that these are the reasons for giving it a 9, because I don't think that they're "regular" reasons for rating a game highly in a review.

But regarding MEGA POWER, even though they had to put small games on the compilation, it doesn't mean they have to be Bad small games. Just look at that 6-pak cart for example. It's full of great games IIRC.

[Alianger]

I was posting in a thread about readers having their say by voting on the titles in the review library like imdb or something, that way people could stomp their feet with their votes, but supposedly with the change of database a lot more things are going to be possible so I'm excited about that.

Something like a "you say" function a la Gamespot would be pretty cool.

[Zebbe]

So does this game :P I guess you have a valid point, I just feel like it should be perfectly clear in the review that these are the reasons for giving it a 9, because I don't think that they're "regular" reasons for rating a game highly in a review.

You're right that the reasons aren't regular. I didn't want to rate it based on a mean value. Let's say I give the games 2, 4, 5 and 10, which equals 21. 21/4 = 5.25 ≈ 5. Average. I don't think it deserves a grade like that, because one of the ideas of compilations is to let the gamers save money from buying several games. Neither AK or AB deserves full prices, and GH is great to get cheaper, so some of the high grade comes from that, which has nothing to do with the games themselves at all. I understand if it sounds crazy, but I think it is important when rating a compilation. Many people buy Sega Mega Drive Collection for PS2 to save money from original PSIV for example.


But regarding MEGA POWER, even though they had to put small games on the compilation, it doesn't mean they have to be Bad small games. Just look at that 6-pak cart for example. It's full of great games IIRC.

Yeah, 6-pak is a great compilation too. I would probably give it 9 or 10 in a review, as said. But I would base it on the same things as with CC:

Streets of Rage: Aged badly, but is part of a classic franchise and therefor nice to have when you have the others, to compare etc.
Golden Axe: Same as above ^^.
Revenge of Shinobi: A favourite of mine. Top game.
Sonic the Hedgehog: Same as above ^^.
Columns: Not that good, but nice to have in the collection anyway.
Super Hang-on: I don't really like it.

The first two could by me be rated similar to AK, the two following like GH, Columns like AB and SHo like Flicky. I was very pleased when I had this cartridge, because it have me GA and SoR together with two favourites, without paying more than a few dollars. I hope you get my point, even though you don't agree with it at all :P.