Wednesday, November 28, 2018

"Sega Genesis Classics" Switch Review


Rounding up more than 50 1990s games, "Sega Genesis Classics" gives you the full breadth of what the experience was like growing up with the console.

For every brilliant "Sonic" and "Shinobi" game, there were confounding duds such as "Bio-Hazard Battle" and "Flicky." No matter how awful the game was, you played it for hours anyway, because that's all you had around. It was either spend your weekend on "Dynamite Headdy" or face the wrath of your mom for having wasted her $3.50 on the rental from Blockbuster.

The lame games work not only as padding, but as a whimsical sampler platter that provides a glance to the trials and triumphs of game design in its early stages. Even amid the poor, unfulfilling efforts, there are germs of what was set to emerge one day. Developers had to work under heavy constraints, working overtime to squeeze every bit of graphics, sound and gameplay variety out of the 16 bits provided. Those restrictions forced them to get creative, and this set up a laboratory for innovation to gestate.

Historical reverence aside, you're sure to spend the bulk of your time with the more memorable games included, and Sega has gone above and beyond to make sure your experience playing them is as slick as possible. Not only are the ports picture perfect, but the Switch controls are mapped as precisely as possible to echo the original Sega/Mega Drive button setup.

Enhancements such as online multiplayer, mirror modes, rewind and save-states add logical additions to gameplay, and also make them more accessible than before.

An impressive roundup that's an essential addition to any Switch library, "Sega Genesis Classics" brings back the 1990s in all their glory and warts, providing a blast from the past that will have you grinning.
Publisher provided review code.

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