Sonic Origins Plus

In recent years it's been fun to be a Sonic the Hedgehog fan again, after about two decades of almost total disappointment. One of the highlights was last year's collection Sonic Origins. Sure, there are things that should have been better there, and I'm fascinated by how incredibly difficult it seems to be to get a perfect emulation (for any publisher) when so many small hobby developers get it right.

All in all, though, it was hard to complain when some of the very best platform games from the glorious 16-bit era were offered in a slightly refreshed state and included the masterpieces Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD. It didn't really matter to me that the music from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 had been replaced and that there were a few blemishes at launch.

Because these are really games that stand the test of time. I don't know how many times I've played through Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and I still find it just as magical to speed down course two, the Chemical Plant Zone. Plus, there's a playfulness and willingness to use wonderful elements from the adventure in a single instance even though they're good enough to base an entire game on, something I think Nintendo is usually alone in. It's probably my least favourite of the first Sonic the Hedgehog platforming titles that came to the Mega Drive, and that's saying something considering it's also a great game.

Well, now Sega has released Sonic Origins Plus, which can be purchased as a separate game and also as an expansion to Sonic Origins. The big news is that twelve Game Gear games have been added, several of which are actually new even to me - who had the Game Gear back in the day, collects retro games and loves Sonic. Here's the list of additions:

• Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit)


• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)


• Sonic Chaos


• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (8-bit)


• Sonic Drift


• Sonic Spinball (8-bit)


• Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble


• Sonic Drift 2


• Tails' Skypatrol


• Tails Adventure


• Sonic Labyrinth


• Sonic Blast

Many of them still hold up today and I think the platform games in particular are good for younger players. The Mega Drive titles are still quite challenging and the fact that Sonic is so fast makes them more suitable for older fans. 8-bit Sonic is much slower, and more of a traditional platforming hero. However, too much of it feels like something that's fun to try once and then never play again, like Sonic Spinball (I'm very fond of the 16-bit original).

The big draw in the collection is the addition of two new playable characters, namely Knuckles in Sonic CD and Amy Rose in the games that were previously included in the collection. Amy was a character I disliked for the longest time, but Sega and Sonic Team have handled her more carefully lately and here she works perfectly as a kind of Easy Mode. Non functions much like Sonic himself, but utilises the mallet to defeat enemies, making her easier to play. The Knuckles add-on in Sonic CD is also spot on and makes the adventure easier to explore and approach in a new way.

So... perfect buy recommendation then? Yes and no. The additions to this collection - and the collection itself - are definitely something I can recommend. But this is the emulation I mentioned above, it still has the same flaws and new problems have been added with the Game Gear titles. In the latter case, it is mainly the sound that has taken a beating and in my experience the controls are a bit laggy in some games.

In addition, I wish that a collection as nice as this also included the games that came to the Master System and also the Game Boy Advance, a bit like Konami's lovely Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection. So, in the end, it doesn't get a top rating, even though I really want to give it one. This is the best Sonic collection money can buy, and I can even recommend the Plus upgrade if you already own Sonic Origins, but I still wish the package had received a little more love and become the definitive compendium for hedgehog enthusiasts.