Previews

Hands on with Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection on iPhone

First looks at Shining Force, Ecco the Dolphin, and others

Hands on with Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection on iPhone

Original iPhone and iPod touch titles have broken new ground for portable gaming, yet some of the most popular games have been the oldest.

Emulators and ports of classic games have an eager following, which makes Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection a brilliant answer to the demand. It's a great concept unique to iPhone thanks to in-app purchasing.

Rather than charging for a full anthology of games, Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection will be offered as a free download from within which you can download emulated games. Drawing from a library packed with forgotten gems, Sega promises the opportunity to pick out the ones you want without being charged for games you don't.

The core application comes with one free title - Space Harrier II - but a handful of others will be available for download the day of release: Sonic The Hedgehog, Shining Force, Golden Axe, and Ecco the Dolphin. We were able to play four of the games.

Space Harrier II

Included free with the core application, Space Harrier II is a respectable demonstration of old skool arcade action, though it's not the most compelling example of what Genesis has to offer nor the best in terms of control. It's unsurprisingly not as natural as using the original Genesis pad, yet does manage a modicum of basic control.

Much of the challenge comes in the lack of precision afforded the D-pad, which is also tough in Sonic The Hedgehog. Of course, it's included free so lodging complaints seems overkill. Expect to spend money on buying something more compelling.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Not much has been altered from the standalone version released last May, which is a good thing considering the decent work done to ensure this classic is playable on iPhone and iPod touch. Thankfully the bug fixes applied in the v1.1 update to the standalone game are intact here. That means performance optimisation for older handsets.

Still, touch controls aren't the most ideal way to play Sonic The Hedgehog. In fact, we're keen to recommend playing it on a platform with physical buttons given the speedy gameplay. What really concerns us, though, is the steep price: $5.99. That's way too rich for the game that's already been released once before on the App Store.

Shining Force

Out of the four games played, Shining Force felt best suited to the touchscreen. It's not much of a surprise considering the turn-based gameplay is far easier to control than twitchy Sonic or Space Harrier II.

The interface consists of a Genesis-style D-pad opposite A and B buttons situated in the bottom-right corner. Oddly, the directional pad appears at centre-left when playing in full screen mod: however, reverting to the alternate windowed view moves it to the lower-left corner.

Since the pad covers a good portion of the action in full screen mode, it will likely be best to play it in windowed mode.

Story-driven questing also makes it the longest game of the bunch. Obviously, the mechanics are rudimentary compared to contemporary tactical role-playing games, but for $2.99 it'll be a solid deal.

Ecco the Dolphin

Speed is important in Ecco the Dolphin, but not in the same twitchy way as Sonic and so it fares much better with touch controls as a result. In fact, it felt pretty decent with the configuration: D-pad on the left and three buttons for sonar, sprint, and acceleration.

The game looks pretty good too - best of the bunch, to be sure. Our concern with Ecco has more to do with its legendary difficulty than anything else. In line with Shining Force, Ecco will be $2.99.

All four games, along with Golden Axe, will be available for download within Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection come February.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.