Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 – Review

The Sega Smash Pack: Volume 1 is Segas version of the old-time compilation disc trend made popular recently by companies with a rich history of games—such as Namco, Konami and Midway. The disc includes no less than nine certified, triple-A, 16-bit classics out of the Genesis era as well as three other miscellaneous titles to add to the overall value of the purchase. The games listed on the back of the case are practically a "whos who" of the greatest cartridges available for Segas renowned machine. Included are: Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Shining Force, Phantasy Star II, Streets Of Rage 2, Altered Beast, Sonic The Hedgehog, Vectorman, Columns, Sega Swirl, Virtua Cop 2, and the previously arcade-only Wrestle War.

Taking a look at what titles they've chosen, this is an incredible trip through the golden days gone-by of the 16-bit era. Anybody who is old enough to remember the Genesis' release day will most likely fall down and weep for joy at seeing so many masterpieces in one package. The variety and selection here should easily be enough to put some of the other companies filler-stuffed discs to shame. It should, but it doesnt.

While the RPGs (Phantasy Star II and Shining Force) hold up very well in every department besides being a bit old-school in the graphics department, newer gamers probably won't be very drawn into the action games presented here due to the lack of sophistication compared to some of todays offerings. I freely admit that going back to Golden Axe or Revenge Of Shinobi didn't play anywhere near as greatly as I remembered them, and they didnt hold my interest for very long. For those who need a quick change of pace from the action or RPG titles, the puzzlers (Swirl and Columns) are good additions to the collection. While I personally wouldn't put either at the top of my "favorite puzzle game" list, they do help to round out and balance the choices available to help make it more appealing to a wider audience.

However, having said what I've just said, I cannot in good conscience recommend that anyone buy this disc. The reason? The sound effects are so completely, utterly and hopelessly screwed up that the versions aren't even as good as they were on the Genesis. It's unbelievable that this disc passed QA, really—what kind of company releases a game that forces a player turn the sound completely off in order to have a chance of enjoying the gameplay?

I'm the type of gamer that doesn't really pay much attention to sound effects or music. If I don't notice them, then the composers and artists have a done a good job as far as Im concerned. The audio portion of a game is usually only brought to the front of my brain and noticed if its either divinely good or completely rotten. I sat up and took notice of the Smash Pack audio almost immediately, and NOT because it's divinely good.

Take my word for it—if you closed your eyes while playing Altered Beast or Golden Axe, you'd SWEAR that you were listening to someone playing an Atari 2600. (Provided that you are old enough to actually remember the 2600, that is.) I am in no way exaggerating, and Im being as literal as I possibly can be—the sound effects are just THAT bad.

I find this to be extremely intolerable while playing since it makes no sense to hear bloops and bleeps when the dated and dusty 16-bit hardware sounded infinitely better. I don't for one second believe that the Dreamcast is incapable of handling the amount of horsepower these games require. Laziness is the only excuse for something like this. In my opinion, having perfect editions of these classics is really the only reason for buying the disc since anyone too young to have played these back in the days wont be interested enough to enjoy them. For a full-priced game such as the Smash Pack on hardware that's light-years ahead of the Genesis, I expect nothing less than pristine and flawless conversions. What makes this even worse is that the disc was released by Sega itself! These are some of the games that helped build and define Sega's reputation as one of the premiere names in videogames, and to see these classics getting such a shoddy, lazy and supremely half-assed conversion shows to me that they have absolutely no pride or respect for their own rich heritage.

This is a disgrace.Rating: 4 out of 10

Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 – Second Opinion

Like Brad, I have issues with Sega Smash Pack Volume 1. There are some true standouts in Streets Of Rage 2, Shining Force, Sonic The Hedgehog, and Virtua Cop 2 (even without light-gun support); all are shining examples of the Sega at its best in the pre-PlayStation age. The rest, however, are either throwaways like Sega Swirl and Wrestle War or games that do not stand the test of time like Phantasy Star II and Altered Beast. This has always been a sore spot of mine with these compilation releases. They either feature too many lousy games that only pad the feature list on the back of the casing or they consist of too few games that fans would actually want. In the case of Sega Smash Pack Volume 1, its a matter of having too many unnecessary titles thrown in to justify its existence.

What all these games, good or bad, have in common is that they sport some of the worst audio I have heard in years. Brad was not exaggerating in his assessment of these aural emanations. Some of the music and sound effects in these games are worse than anything you might have heard on Nintendo's original Game Boy. Why would Sega release a product so lacking in such an important area? Did it occur to Sega that the more discerning ears of today's gamers would notice how truly terrible the audio was? Didn't they care about the quality of their own product?

Another gripe I had with this release was the bare bones instruction manual. By today's standards, a lot of these games are old hat to anyone who has ever picked up a controller. Most of the games use two buttons at most so there isn't a lot of break-in time needed before you've mastered the controls. It would also stand to reason that since this is a compilation of classic Sega releases, its target audience would consist of gamers old enough to have played these games in their original forms. However, games like Phantasy Star II, Shining Force, and even Golden Axe—games dealing with lots of items, spells, and the like—would have benefited greatly from some form of visual instruction as to which spells or items did what. Sega simply leaves you to figure it out as you go along—always a bad idea with such content-heavy games.

Aside from allowing me to play some of Sega's better games, Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 has the ironic distinction of serving as a wake up call. As a gamer in his mid 20s, Ive been playing games since the industry was in its relative infancy. Ive played tons of arcade and console games that were revolutionary for their time, but could now be easily ported to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handheld. I formed a great attachment to those games and, like most gamers my age, I held fast to the belief that these games were some of the best ever made or at the very least more fun than today's releases. It was startling to see that industry classics like Revenge Of Shinobi and Altered Beast are not nearly as entertaining in 2001 as they were in the 1980s. It had me thinking seriously about other games I loved in my youth and how they would fare if I played them today.

When it is all said and done, Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 was a nice idea ruined only by Sega's disregard for the quality of their own release. If Sega had been more selective with the titles it chose to include and treated the porting process with more care and diligence, this could have be a "game" to recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in games of old. Instead, Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 will be added to a long list of compilation releases that should be avoided by all. Rating: 3.5 out of 10

Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 – Consumer Guide

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Animated Violence

Parents dont have anything to fear with this game, since the violence depicted at the time these were created was a far cry from being close to realistic. There arent any scenes of nudity or any questionable language, either. Some younger children might actually enjoy the disc more than the older ones since theyre too young to know what the games are actually supposed to sound like, and theyre accessible enough to be played by any age.

Gamers in general wont find much to keep them interested here unless they are either old enough to have played these games when they were new, or are really into retro trips. The RPGs are good enough and will entertain anyone who can get past the dated graphics, but I cant imagine the action titles keeping anyone busy for more than a night once the nostalgia factor wears off. If the game was more reasonably priced Id recommend it for the RPGs alone, but for a full $40, Id suggest that you just rent.

People looking to relive their younger days will find an excellent selection of Segas greatest hits horribly marred by the worst sound to be found on the Dreamcast. Worse sound than was found on the Genesis, in fact. For games as old as this running on such sweet hardware, this is simply unacceptable.