JANUS2's Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection review

This was an interesting review, considering it's a compilation. Though I have no idea how being developed and produced by Shiny/Virgin (Playmates in the US) has to do with Earthworm Jim's lack of appearance on the collection.

I will say, though, that this gives you a remarkable opportunity to write reviews. You should review all the titles on that disk individually to make up for the swathe you deleted some time ago. =P

(Naturally, I realize that games in this more "modern" format might be altered (somewhat) from the original and thus might alter the outcome of a review, as with how you describe Shinobi III, I think, unless that's how it was on the original Genesis, too).

In any case, I'm glad you discovered new things with this. Of course, I'll always prefer ROMming, but.... >_>

Hey, thanks for the comments. All the games on the collection are developed or published by Sega (as far as I know), which explains Earthworm Jim's omission. Shinobi III was like that on the Genesis, but it's still an excellent game. And the compilation vs. ROM argument is a non-starter. I don't think there's any way to convince people to pick collections over downloads (other than fining them or something). This is more a review for people who were thinking about getting the compilation anyway.

I really liked this review, Janus. Had a stream-of-consciousness like feel to it that worked well for discussing the compilation. I just picked this disc up and I know what you mean about the smoothing. I've actually used it on several emulators (where they call it an eagle filter or some such nonsense) and it seems hit or miss depending on the game.

I was also annoyed at Revenge of Shinobi's exclusion; I get that we're getting a 'snapshot' of the times, but it makes little sense to include Shinobi and Shinobi III, and not the second game in the true Genesis series, which, by all accounts, was a huge success upon its release. Certainly it had more personality than Shinobi III, despite the terrible double jump mechanics.

I liked the review, as well. Especially how you spent a decent amount of time focusing on a lesser title (Alien Storm) that, as you said, would likely be looked at as sub-par by many gamers. That's a nice technique: people expect games like Sonic, Golden Axe, etc. to be on a Genesis collection, so by talking about a less-known game, it gives this review a nice touch.

Oh, I'd pick Zig as the guy bemoaning the snubbing of Wardner on a future compilation. Don't know why....just a gut feeling.

I'll add to the compliments. The review struck an informative balance between expounding on the virtues of compilations in general and the flaws and highlights of this specific effort, both in comparison to the original games and to other such compilations. Very nice.

*I* liked Wardner quite a bit, despite it's obvious shortcomings. By why take my word for it? Why not see what this guy has to say about it. =D

Shhh.....

I'm thinking about sneakily using Janus' name-dropping of Wardner combined with mine to set up my own Wardner review in the near future (ie: the next couple of weeks). Too many mentions of the game (as well as links to existing reviews of it) will damage my attempts at subterfuge.....as will me spelling out my plans to everyone, but let's not think of that.....

I like that this compilation omits Revenge of Shinobi and includes the orginal arcade Shinobi. Whoever put this collection together has good taste. They should've included Shadow Dancer for the Genesis, though.

They should've included Shadow Dancer for the arcade!

//Zig

Thanks for the comments everyone. I think we should have a Wardner review contest judged by Masters. Or not. I believe that Revenge of Shinobi was excluded for copyright reasons, but I agree that its omission is the most glaring in light of Shinobi III's appearance.

Now all we need is a Saturn compilation!