''Sonic Classic Collection'' is a 2010

video game compilation In marketing, product bundling is offering several products or services for sale as one combined product or service package. It is a common feature in many imperfectly competitive product and service markets. Industries engaged in the practice ...

developed by

Creative Assembly The Creative Assembly Limited (trade name: Creative Assembly) is a British video game developer based in Horsham, founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell. In its early years, the company worked on porting games to MS-DOS from Amiga and ZX Spectrum platfor ...

and published by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

exclusively for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

. It contains the four main ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

platform games Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

originally released for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

: ''

'', ''

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Eggman from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space stationnamed T ...

'', ''

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. Like previous '' Sonic'' games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. They control Sonic and Tails, who attempt to retri ...

'', and ''

Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna in their quests to save Angel Island; Sonic tries to prevent Doctor Robotnik from relaunching his orbital weapon, the Death Egg, ...

''. Upon release, ''Sonic Classic Collection'' received mixed reviews.

Overview

''Sonic Classic Collection'' contains ''

'', ''

'', and ''

''. The Lock-on modes from the original ''Sonic & Knuckles'' cartridge ('' Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' and ''

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. Like previous '' Sonic'' games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. They control Sonic and Tails, who attempt to retr ...

'') are fully implemented and playable. The ability to save at any point, a feature absent in the original games, is also present. Alongside the main games, a gallery of character artwork from the ''Sonic'' series is viewable.

Development

On November 11, 2009, the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

classified ''Sonic Classic Collection'', accidentally announcing the game early. Two videos, one about '' Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood'' and the other about the history of the ''Sonic'' franchise, were listed as content present within the game. These were presumably cut, as they are not featured in the final version of the game. ''Sonic Classic Collection'' was formally announced by Sega on December 1, 2009 through a press release. A limited edition, exclusive to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, was released concurrently alongside the standard version of the game. The limited edition comes with a tin box containing the base game, a Sonic figurine, and five postcards of Sonic artwork. In 2015, ''Sonic Classic Collection'' illustrations were discovered in a former Creative Assembly Australia employee's portfolio, including ''

Sonic Spinball ''Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball'' is a 1993 pinball video game developed by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega. It is a spinoff of the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series set in the continuity of the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' animated s ...

'', ''

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine ''Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine'' is a falling block puzzle game developed by Compile and published by Sega. It was released for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive in North America and Europe in November 1993, and ported to the Game Gear in 199 ...

'', and ''

Sonic 3D Blast known in Europe and Japan as is a 1996 platform game in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series for the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn. As Sonic the Hedgehog, the player embarks on a journey to save the Flickies, birds enslaved by Doctor Robotnik. ...

'' logos. These games were not present in the final release, thus suggesting that at some point they were considered for inclusion.

Reception

According to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, ''Sonic Classic Collection'' received "mixed or average" reviews. Critics generally agreed that the compilation was fun and that the games could still be enjoyable after their original release. However, critics criticised the emulation for "the iffy frame rate present in all the games", and "although the game never slows down to the extent of Sonic’s infamous

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

, it’s a fact that the DS shouldn’t be struggling with these games". More points of contention were the lack of multiplayer and how loading a file "just kicks you back to the start of the level that you were playing". A lack of extras was another complaint, as they were described as "extremely little... to get excited about" and how ''Classic Collection'' had "only the basics of legacy material like character art."

References

External links

* *
Sonic Classic Collection
' on

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{{Sega Retro Compilations 2010 video games Nintendo DS games Nintendo DS-only games

Classic Collection Classic Collection is the barbershop quartet that won the 1982 SPEBSQSA The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA ...

Sega video game compilations Video games developed in Australia