I love Sonic. He is one of the greatest gaming icons to have graced a console and, in my opinion, always had the 1-up on Mario back in the day. However, Sonic has been seeing some tough times lately, at least when it comes to console games. In my eyes the downfall began with Sonic 3D Blast, or perhaps Sonic Labyrinth on the Gamegear, which amazingly tried to justify making Sonic not only slow, but also removing his ability to jump. Sega tried to put Sonic into a 3D world that really took away the appeal and greatness of the original Mega Drive titles. The Sega Dreamcast continued the adventure into 3D - with Sonic Adventure. However, this one wasn't actually half-bad [Not half bad? It was totally awesome! Ed] but the follow ups Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes didn't gain nearly as much praise, in fact the latter was ripped apart by critics. [Yes, Adventure 2 was appalling and Heroes, despite great effort, wasn't a patch on that Dreamcast high. I'll shut up now. Ed] However, there is still hope! Sega's team behind the GBA Sonic titles obviously know what makes him great; Sonic Advance 1 through 3 bring back the exceptional gameplay and add to it, making them good trips of nostalgia and great new Sonic games, but also are a bit depressing when you think about what could be done if effort was made to create a console based Sonic game but in the classic side-scrolling style.

Speaking of nostalgia, if you love the classic Sonic titles from the Sega Megadrive and, in some cases, the doomed Gamegear handheld then you'll absolutely love Sonic Mega Collection Plus. Originally released on the Gamecube, this new version (only for the PS2 and Xbox this time and complete with redesigned interfaces) includes almost every classic Sonic game you could think of, and then some! 17 games await you, a good number of which have to be unlocked via ridiculous time released or saved-game based methods.

The complete line-up includes Sonic the Hedgehog (Megadrive & Gamegear versions) Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, as well as the highly acclaimed Sonic 3 spin-off Sonic & Knuckles. Spin-off titles like Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Gamegear and Megadrive versions) and, one of my personal favourites, Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, also make the cut. Though they aren't anything special, various other Gamegear Sonic games have been included, two of which mark the debut of Tails and Knuckles. The list is made up of Sonic Chaos, Sonic Drift, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Blast and the two Gamegear titles noted above. For those of you who may happen to like it, Sonic 3D Blast has also made the cut, though it appears to be the Megadrive version. Many people may be surprised and overjoyed to hear that other Sega classics have been tossed in, despite having nothing to do with Sonic. The Ooze? Check. Ristar? Check. Flicky? Check. Comix Zone!? YES! Sorry... just one of my all time favourite games... Oh, and lastly, I know you Sonic & Knuckles fans are asking: What about the lock-on games that allowed you to attach older Sonic titles to Sonic & Knuckles, unlocking the classic games with Knuckles as the playable character? The answer is yes, they are all in here as separate games as well!

The controls are easy to get the hang of, seeing as how simple most of them are (however Comix Zone's item management may seem a bit odd at first.) Each game also comes with a special menu, which can be accessed at any time from any game, even during the main menus. This menu allows you to exit the game, restart it, load, or save (and saving it will store exactly what is on the screen, no matter what, so be sure not to save it right before you die.) The ability to save and reload your game is something none of these titles once had, so if you found a particular game very hard and hated having to start from the beginning, you're in luck. However, that is exactly what this does - takes away the challenge. It's up to the player to save, so if you prefer to play straight through with limited continues then go ahead and knock yourself out!

One of my complaints with this collection is saving and loading. You have twenty slots to use, each one using about 200kb worth of space. Though that's kind of outrageous, the games can be beaten quickly and the saves replaced or deleted. My real complaint is simply how long it takes to not only save, but for the saves to even show up! When you choose load or save, you go to a list of all the slots, however they're all blank and load one by one. If you scroll down the list and back up, they have to reload AGAIN. This is a pain for people who save (or maybe load) often... not a game-ruining gripe, but a gripe nonetheless.

Those of you who remember these games and loved them absolutely must buy this game. I can't express how much fun I had playing through the original Sonic games again; in fact, I probably logged in about 12 hours of gameplay before I even played all the games in the collection. It all felt so familiar; even though I couldn't remember some parts beforehand, when I saw them again I instantly felt that great nostalgic feeling. These games are almost all great (with the exception of a few Gamegear titles) and can manage to stand up to the modern next generation titles of today, faulted only by their short lengths. I really need to ask though... SEGA, why have you not created a Comix Zone sequel!? Imagine the possibilities on a next generation console!

Anyway... moving on! Plenty of bonus features are accessible through the fantastic looking menus, including plenty of artwork and movies. Sound tests are also available from most of the older games' menu screens. As for those of you wondering if the games have received any kind of upgrade, the answer is pretty much no. They're all exactly as you would remember them, right down to the massive slowdown that you encountered back then. The side-scrolling titles all look amazing still, if you ask me, and there isn't a thing I would change about them. However, be prepared to cringe when you see the beginning of Sonic 3D Blast! Though you'll probably cringe more from actually playing it... and I don't mean because of the graphics. Look at me, taking shots at this game, 10 years after it's release! Sorry SEGA, I'll back off now...

Sonic Mega Collection Plus reminds us what made the blue hedgehog and SEGA themselves great. Perhaps this title, as well as the high marks Sonic Advance has been getting, will make the company open their eyes and just back away from the new approach seen in Sonic Heroes. The release of the Nintendo DS opens a door for lots of opportunities, so let's hope the right path is taken. This collection really brings you back to the glory days of not only Sonic, but SEGA itself. An absolute must have for people who liked them back then and if you never actually played them... well, I'll hold back. Just buy this collection, you're getting a huge dose of great games for a discount price and Comix Zone is still one of the most entertaining brawlers of all time!

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).