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is this really original???

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 15
Date: December 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I picked this one up from a local retailer for no other reason than Sonic CD. (let's be honest now, is there any other reason?) Of course the game is great fun to play but do not be fooled, it is not the original that I know. The music in this is different. The Sonic CD that I know and love has crazy electronic music by a Japanese band (think they might have been called Miki...could be wrong...) but this has some generic crap being played over the back ground...1 or 2 of the "PAST" levels has original music but the rest is not....I am taking mine back for refund under the the complaint of false advertising.
Call it pedantic if you like, but when I fork out money like that I expect it to be the genuine article.

The title should state there are only a few gems in this game!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 11
Date: October 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game can be for diehard fans of Sonic, but the rest of us cannot even afford the price even though it is a budget title.
The game has about 2 good games out of about 11 games. They are Sonic CD and Sonic R.
They did not fix the annoying "log in and log out" thing that you have to do in order to unlock games. The good thing is that there are only two games to unlock. Sadly, I like neither.
They put horrible special features in this game. It will contain a few gems such as a video or a remix of a few songs. About 90% of the special features are PICTURES! Oh great, first I have to log into a game then log out 500 times and get a awful picture? It is worthless! They could have put in more videos and songs instead of horrible looking picture that lacks effort. Another thing about the special features is that you should not be able to unlock them all. They often require you to log in and out of a game dozens upon dozens of times (Which is worse if you hate it). Some ask that you have a game saved on your memory card to unlock material. I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER GAME TO UNLOCK A PICTURE!
One thing they did good was fix those annoying load times that haunted "Sonic Mega Collection".
Here is a short view of the games.

Sonic Fighters- Bad combos, AI, Collision dection, idea...... This is honestly the worst game I have played in my gaming career. A zero out of 5.

Sonic CD- Contains the best soundtrack I have ever heard for a Sonic game. Offers more strategy and thinking over mindless speed. Great bosses and a system that changes the level layout as you time travel! The best game on the disk! A perfect 5 out of 5.

Sonic R- It is a good idea the underperforms. The soundtrack is awful, but know that you can turn off the vocals before you cry. The graphics are acceptable based on the age of the game. It is pretty fun picking your favorite character to race. You can collect coins (5 in each level) and get more characters. Or collect the emeralds to unlock Super Sonic. The cons are minor. This game only have 5 tracks, is way too easy, and can be completed with 100% completion in under an hour.
This short time is fun though. A 4 out of 5.

Sega Gamegear titles- They are so bad, I give them all either a 1 or 2 out of 5. Most of them have choppy speeds (Could have been fixed in translation), poor graphics, confusing objectives and awful controls. Plus, not all the Gamegear titles are here. Why would Sega do that?
Also, this batch of games are the reason "Sonic Gems" gets a poor score.

Vectorman 1 and 2- It is a mindless shooter. The graphics are ok and I could not hear the music (Hearing impaired!). It seems to be nothing more than an attempt to get "cool" kids to play video games. A 3 out of 5.

If you are still interested, rent before you buy. I don't recommend this title.

These are considered gems..?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I gave this disc a rental and was extremely disappointed with the content. The six game gear titles are an automatic waste of space, and Sonic: R and Sonic the Fighters are decent for archival value but don't really hold anything that will keep players coming back for more. Sonic CD is actually quite fun, but time travel function aside it's not terribly different from the early Sonic games which can be found on the Sonic Mega Collection. You can unlock the old Vectorman games as well, and they do add a bit more value to this package.

If you're looking for classic 2D Sonic gaming, the Mega Collection is the compilation to check out. Hardcore fans will like what Sonic Gems has to offer, but the content is too dated and shallow to recommend to anyone else.

Poor....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: March 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game collection of Sonic is not that fun. It's full of old games with very poor graphics and sound. I bought this game for my kids and they don't enjoy it very much (they almost never play with it). If you really love Sonic, then there are other games better than this. Don't lose money and time with this game.

A few "gems" of the Sonic the Hedgehog game library

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I got this game a few weeks ago. I heard about it from one of my friends, and when I heard that it included Sonic CD, I decided right then and there that I had to have this game. So now, here I am, with Sonic Gems Collection in the palm of my hand. If I have to give it a full letter grade, it would be a C. It didn't live up to all of my expectations, but I'm glad I own it.

There are a total of 9 games (plus two unlockables, Vectorman 1 & 2) but I will only discuss the main three and Vectorman. Let's first start with Sonic CD.

The story of Sonic CD is simple: Sonic must save the cute Amy Rose and a whole 'nother planet from the iron grip of Dr. Eggman (a.k.a. Dr. Robotnik). Eggman's created a new robot: the villainous Metal Sonic (the coolest enemy in Sonic history, as far as I'm concerned). The goal is to guide Sonic through 7 Zones, picking up rings, beating Eggman and his robots, and scoring big points. Seems pretty simple, right? But there's a catch: to fully conquer this game, you need to collect the seven Time Stones. That's where my first complaint comes in. Getting the Time Stones was an aggravating experience. The Special Stages were nice-looking and all (for Sega CD graphics, that is), but the goal of hitting poorly placed UFO's that dodge your every attack is really hard to achieve. It's better to work on Time Attack and unlock the good ending. At first, I thought this game was too short. But when you throw in the unique time traveling gimmick, which allows you to go into the past and future of each Zone, the game can be a little longer and more fun (though not quite as fun and exciting as Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which can be found in Sonic Mega Collection, which I also own). The game even has a great soundtrack; I love "Sonic Boom". All in all, a fair game (and the race against Metal Sonic was awesome!).

Sonic the Fighters...when I first played this game, I didn't like it that much. I thought, "Sonic was never meant to be a fighting game." But now, I'm growing to like it. It's a good game to play every once in a while, and the good thing is that it's not too addictive. The final battle against Metal Sonic is hard, but awesome. Challenge a fellow rival for more fun.

Sonic R...this is the best, and only, Sonic racing game I've really taken the time to play and enjoy. The controls are simplistic, nothing complicated. You can choose from four characters in the beginning, and gradually unlock other characters. Like Sonic CD, this game has a good soundtrack. My personal favorite is the main theme of Sonic R.

Vectorman...one of the best games for the Sega Genesis is now availible on this Gems Collection. I'm not going to bore anyone with the storyline, as it's the typical "save the earth" deal. But it's fun, and plays sort of like the Mega Man games (though nowhere near as hard, unless you decide to set this game to the highest difficulty rating). Vectorman 2 is more of the same.

There are a bundle of other Sonic the Hedgehog games on this disc, so it's well worth your money to buy this game: it's at a darn good price. I'd recommend this to aspiring Sonic the Hedgehog fans and Sonic the Hedgehog veterans like myself. Just be patient while playing these games, as I stress with all the games I've reviewed.

[2.5] With the slight exception of Sonic CD, totally non-essential

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The buzz of Sonic & Knuckles wore off about the same time the buzz wore off of the Genesis and the majority of 2D gaming altogether. This initiated the launch of the Sega Saturn, and a time where Sonic Team was uneasy crafting their mascot's next installment. It wouldn't come until 1999, after the Saturn was long gone; a timeline Sega would come not to tolerate, having adopted Sonic as something of a mascot themselves. And so, they kicked off a few one-offs without Sonic Team's involvement.

Hence, the time between Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure wasn't barren for the blue hedgehog, although it felt like it with every Sonic installment coming up short of the bookends of the time period, likely due to the lack of Sonic Team's arguable (at the time, anyway) Midas Touch.

Which is why the Gems Collection comes off as a bit of a mess. Not only were the games not up to par, but it's an odds 'n' ends scoop, picking up an arcade-only game, a Saturn exclusive and the vehicle for Sega's doomed-to-fail Genesis upgrade, Sega CD. And since the games are each from different mediums, there's no uniform control system; each game is ported in its own way, which induces some confusion.

After the superb Mega Collection, housing seven immediately available titles (four of which were official installments), three feels like a windfall, especially since none of them were Sonic Team-helmed titles. (Although Sonic CD is widely considered one due to its higher quality and involvement of some key ST members.) To make the bill look a little more attractive, Sonic Team dumps six seemingly random Game Gear selections that anyone who picked up Sonic Adventure DX will already have. Not that this serves as a complete alternative, a few games are missing, including the crucial Sonic 1.

The ports are unaltered, just like those of Mega Collection, with the exceptions of a few menu tweaks and whatnot, to make each game part of the compilation. Unfortunately, these are not the cutting-edge classics of the Mega Collection that would only suffer from tweaking. Direct ports are not as essential for rushed, half-assed, forgettable releases. They're taken from when 3D was still a shaky ground to tread, and it shows. Glitches, now-embarrassing graphics, and perhaps most mortifying, a typo in the intro to Sonic Fighters; are all kept. It seems unjust that after Sonic Team gave Sonic Adventure the cannon-to-the-anthill treatment of DX, they'd go on and leave R and Fighters the way they are.

There's a reason you see Metal Sonic on the cover, and that's to push Sonic CD to the foreground. Perhaps the sole reason to own this game, it's still overwhelming to the casual gamer. As if Chaos Emeralds (er, Time Stones; pardon me) were difficult enough, time-traveling to right the wrongs of the past are also required for that "perfect" ending. But difficulty is no crime, (especially if you're content with the incomplete-but-still-happy ending resulting from just barrelling through the levels) and this may be worth the 30 dollars on its own.

Getting into the bonus features offers some interesting elements (some oddball remixes, original graphics and movies), but no showstoppers. In fact, it's a good reflection of the rest of the compilation--entertaining, but ultimately disposable.

Sonic Gems Collection Rating System

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Sonic R

GamePlay: 9.0 out of 10
Controls: 4.5 out of 5
Graphics: 4.5 out of 7 (look like an Nintendo 64/Playstation 1 design
Sound: it's tight,just nice & relaxful.
Overall: it's good fun fast & a classic game,like steering was a
lil' off,Graphics could be better like the SC/STF (Sonic Championship in USA/Sonic The Fighters in Japan)

Sonic CD

GamePlay: 9.3 out of 10
Controls: 4.5 out of 5 (when ya played the Special Stages,
controls can be insane & out of control a lil'.)
Graphics: 7 out of 7,Pefect!
Sound: love the Groove beats & Techno music
Overall: it's a very fun game,kinda slow tho & plus too short on levels

Sonic ChampionShip (USA)/Sonic The Fighters (Japan)

GamePlay: 8.9 out of 10
Controls: 3. out of 5 (controls could be better,i mean ALOT better.)
Graphics: 6.4 out 7 (colors on Amy's cheeks were white,plus a lil' black & white spots was showing on em,also)
Sound: Cartoon sound,ok songs,just cartoonish.
Overall: it's a good cool off the hook cartoon fighting video game.

Sonic 2 (Game Gear/Sega Master System)

GamePlay: 2.9 out of 10
Controls: 2.4 out of 5
Graphics: 1.9 out of 7 (it's look like an old NES,i played NES games,c'mon this game now? i mean also it's the weaker form of STH 2 for Genesis.)
Sound: don't be askin the sound here,it's not worth listen
Overall: this game is so pathetic,it's not worth playing

Sonic SpinBall (Game Gear/Sega Master System)

GamePlay: 3.2 out of 10 (don't ask me why this rating)
Controls: 2.9 out of 5
Graphics: 2.0 out of 7 (it's a Game Gear game,what do ya except from it?)
Sound:ha,ha,ha ya kiddin rite?
Overall: Don't even get me started

Sonic Triple Trouble
GamePlay: 4.1 out of 10 (the best GG/SMS around,to me!)
Controls: 4.8 out of 5
Graphics: 3.8 of 7
Sound: ok,i suppose,it's better than those rest of those GG games.
Overall: The best GG/SMS i played,well it's not the best,at least it's cool to play.

Sonic Drift 2

GamePlay: 4.1 out of 10
Controls: 3.9 out of 5
Graphics: 3.8 out of 7 (well,it's not the best graphics,etiher at least it's fun)
Sound: don't except much of the sound,it's a old game,Better than SD1 (Sonic Drift 1,not as much as much or less,i dunno
Overall: it's just as cool as STT (Sonic Triple Trouble),steering has improved a lil tho.

Tails' SkyPatrol
GamePlay: not gonna rate this ass of the a game
Controls: is ass
Graphics: why bother
Sound: borning! (yawns then sleeps)
Overall: at least Sonic 2 (GG/SMS) was just a lil tiny better

Tails Adventures
GamePlay: 4.1 out of 10
Controls: 4.0 out 5 (that's the best controls i ever have in a GG/SMS game ever)
Graphics: 4.1 out of 7 (pretty darn good for a GG/SMS game)
Sound: was just a bit better than the others,tho
Overall: it's a far cool game than the game i ever played in a GG/SMS game,kinda outdated,hey it's still fun while it lasted

Total Overall GamePlay: 9.4 out of 10
Total Overall Controls: 4.2 out of 5
Total Overall Graphics: 7 out of 7,Perfect (except GG/SMS)
Total Overall Sound: it's can Groovy,Techno & even a Work out station

best known as the half forgotten bunch

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Sonic Gems pretty much encompasses the odd period and quasi growth of the sonic games that would come in the future. The games on this collection are and sodds but some offer hints of what would we be derived from them. Sadly The games showcased the shortcomings of the systems they were showcased on as well. Sadly Sonic Cd, i anticpated it from had seen it from my youth but never played, but sadly it defiently doesnt feel like it was made by the creators of the sega gensis sonics, the games plus is the obvious showcase of cd quality music (ala Sega CD), and the levels in game in shear size are pretty hugw, but the game is plagued by short and horribley concepted level designs and easy bosses, The time traveling feature becomes an anoyance rather than an intersting feature and had unintentional representation of the system that harnesed it.The next game Sonic Fighters was a straight port from the arcade...so replay is very limited, the fighting is Vitrua Fighter rip with a sonic twist,And the fighting itself can be challenging but only in hard and hardest mode.Since its an arcade game it doesnt have the meat of a console fighter, theres no unlockable chrachters,or hidden extras for beating the game. Replay value comes souly with versus mode....so better have a friend along to get any milage off this one.The third game Sonic R was a sonic on-foot racing game for Saturn which proves to showcase the modern race elements that would be seen on Sonic Adventure. The games is pretty bare bones but unlike Sonic Fighter its not an arcade game, so has extras for winning if very few. its a pretty generic racer all unto itself, Theres unlockable charachters and one unlockable track. but the game only has slightly more replay value then the pervious two, like the former, msot the gameplay meat is off two player mode.The Game Gear games here are pretty much scattershot variations of the sonic the hedgehog platformers of their mother system. Some fair fine (Sonic 2,sonic tripple trouble) some dont make any sense being here (sonic pinball) and some just plain out suck (the 2 Tails games). For a nostalagic trip back, this collection doesnt fare as well as the Mega collection Gems feels pretty much like A B-sides and Rarities to MegaCollections Best of suite. I sometimes wish they picked better b-sides (ala Game Gear) but maybe theres hope for another collection...who knows

Where the F*** is Knuckles Chaotix?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I liked Sonic Gems Collection. It features great games that are considered rare or hard to find like Sonic CD (best game on this disk.), Sonic The Fighters, and Sonic R. The Unlockable games (Vectroman 1+2) and unlockable artwork help give the game a decent amount of replay value.

Some of the games are really bad (I'm looking at you, Sonic R!) and controll and graphics could have been a little better polished, yet that can't be said for all of the games. I would also like to say that the collision detection could have been a little more precise in Sonic the Fighters.

But to me, the games biggest flaw is that it didn't include the Sega 32X game Knuckles Chaotix. For those of you not aware of waht this game is, it's a game simialar to Sonic 1- Sonic and Knuckles that features Knuckles and his friends, the Chaotix (Also of Sonic Heroes fame) as playable charecters. Although I'm a major Sonic fan, this is the only Sonic game I've never played and would've liked to try it. This is definantly a rare game and it is a surprise it wasn't on this disk.

Overall, if your a gamer or a Sonic fan, your really going to like this game. Everyone else could get some fun out of it too. But, as a little side not to Sega, if you ever re-release this game, please include Knuckles Chaotix.

My Score: 7.5/10

Its fun, but nothing we haven't seen before

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The second complilation of Sonic games, the other being the Mega Collection, this one offers the 3 classics that the other missed: Sonic CD, Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters. Let me say this now: Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters are crap. I've beaten R in less than an hour, with all hidden characters and Chaos Emeralds, each track taking me no more or less than two attempts: One for the hidden character, one for the Emeralds.

The Game Gear games can be unlocked in Sonic Adventure: DX, so if you're getting this for those, it's much more fun to get them in Sonic Adventure, which is still a fun game, though a bit dated (but if you're getting this collection, you shouldn't be complaining about 'dated'). Sonic CD is definitelly a fun romp. I still haven't beaten it, I'm sorry to admit. The other games you unlock are fun as well... But you have to unlock them. Sorry, I can't recommend this game PURELY for Sonic CD, which is what rides the 'Fun' rating of this game. Hardcore Sonic fans ONLY need apply. And even *I* have seen the light and have tried other ways of feeling nostalgic for the old days.

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