Price: £19.99 Players: 1-online Widescreen: Yes Online: Yes Multiplayer between PSPs: Yes The Sega Megadrive is a console that I didn't own back in the day as I owned an Atari VCS and then moved on to the ZX Spectrum and then an Atari ST, but I certainly played a few on the games in this compilation, which has a total approaching 30, either on a friend's console or in the arcade back in the day. When it comes to the Sega Megadrive Collection, you won't play all of them to completion, but there's more than enough to make it worth a purchase. It's amazing how little space each game takes when you realise they used to take up a whole motherboard in an arcade cabinet, for those that started life that way, but when it comes down to it, the don't take up much memory individually at all. One thing you'll spot is that the 16:9 screen of the PSP is wider than that of the games when they came out originally, so you'll be pleased to know that there are options to adjust the picture to "original" (small, and slightly windowboxed), "fit" (4:3) or "stretch" (16:9). I used the latter as it's fine for a video game.

So now what needs to be done is to run through all the games in this collection, starting with the Daddy of them all. Sonic The Hedgehog (right): This is the classic game of collecting the rings, clearing three zones and then fighting Dr Robotnik. Rinse and repeat. Brilliant stuff and the sequel is here too. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle: A mediocre side-scrolling run-and-jump affair that's fun for a while, but it not a Mario-beater. Altered Beast (below-right): The arcade side-scrolling kick and punch game. Not bad. Bonanza Bros: This one's about as close to a ‘Larry the Looter’ style game you’d find Bart playing in the Simpsons, as you run around various buildings in a side-scrolling manner, to steal the treasures before exiting via the roof, and that link to the animated show made this one to stick with for longer than normal. Columns: a Tetris-style game and one that does get very addictive. Comix Zone: a side-scrolling adventure through comic-book style pages with optional paths to take while fighting people in a Street Fighter-style. This one definitely stands up as one of the longer-lasting games 12 years on. Decap Attack starring Chuck D Head is no ‘Ghosts N Goblins’ beater, but it has a similar style you’ll feel at home with as soon as you start playing. It’s also one of the less forgiving games in this compilation in that your lives go a long way.

Ecco the Dolphin, and its two sequels Ecco: The Tides of Time and Ecco Jr, made a big splash on the Sega Dreamcast back in the day in 3D when it was really an exercise in pretty graphics in need of a game, since here – in the 2D Megadrive version – you just swim around, jumping about and beeping your sonar at other mammals, avoiding the jellyfish and listening to some bizarre background music the like of which sounds more like incidental music from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s not very captivating so, Sega, so long and thanks for all the Ecco the Dolphin games. Flicky plays like a cross between Joust and Chucky egg as you flap about as a little bird trying to get the chicks to the exit and taking them away from a brown rat-looking bird called Tiger, who’ll make you lose a life. Fun but a bit frustrating. Gain Ground: This is a bit like an early Ikari Warriors/Commando scrolling-up-the-screen kind of game but you can only shoot up which is daft. Still, I’m sure that wouldn’t put Pete Doherty off :) After a while, though, you can get a staff to lob at the baddies in all 8 directions, albeit rather clumsily, as well as a grenade a bit later on, but these only appeared after I died, and weren’t selectable between them which is very odd. Before long, though, the odds are stacked against you and you can’t successfully defeat the hoardes of baddies, since they all swarm around you in a big empty space like a game of Robotron. Golden Axe 1-3 are the classic hack-n-slash trilogy of games as you walk through sideways-scrolling levels cutting, slashing or kneeing the baddies in the groin. At times it has a similar style to the brilliant Double Dragon series. It has a 3D isometric point-of-view, rather like the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom arcade game, so you can move around to kill baddies and free tied-up prisoners. The levels on wheels are also great fun as you can kick a baddie off the truck and under the wheels. Say bye-byeeee! :) Kid Chameleon is a simplistic side-scroller a la Mario, with the premise that the game is set in a virtual world. It’s good fun for a while but there are similar and better games on here. Phantasy Star 2, 3 and 4: These top-down 3D adventures are similar in style, but not as flashy, to the online versions that came later for the Dreamcast and other consoles. This kind of RPG isn’t for me but if you are a fan then you’ll no doubt enjoy their inclusion.

Ristar (right): Another side-scroller, the only distinguishing feature being that you ‘grab’ to get about around the screens. It’s alright for a while for a bit of a diversion but, again, there are better similar games in this compilation. Shinobi III: More of the same like Ristar, but the end of level bosses get very frustrating. Super Thunder Blade is an engaging little into-the-screen shooter in a chopper, but really does show its age. Sword of Vermilion is an RPG adventure where you walk about lands a la the Pokemon series, which isn't my cup of tea, and it feels weird that you can't walk diagonally since your character's movement feels so stilted. Vector Man is a great side-scrolling walk-n-shoot game, and very addictive with it. As you collect stars, you'll see it's similar, but not a patch on Sonic. It's also very annoying that you can't skip past the menu animations. Vector Man 2 starts with you falling through space after your spaceship is destroyed, before landing on the ground and doing more of the same. Virtua Fighter 2 is a 2D affair that plays incredibly slowly. Maybe the Megadrive version was always like this, but the arcade 3D version was far better and the version on this compilation here should be avoided. Some PSP games have Wi-Fi access to go online and play against other people, provided you can find someone who also has that game and is online at the same time. You can also unlock extras such as interviews and trailers for other games as you progress through the levels in each respective entry on this compilation. Overall, it’s all good fun, and there’s probably nothing here that you can’t get with a PC and an downloaded emulator, but it’s worth it at this price even just to have the Sonic games on a handheld console so you can play it while you’re out and about, not to mention some of the hidden treasures that you'll enjoy as you discover titles you really enjoyed in the past like Comix Zone and Bonanza Bros, making this an essential purchase.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2007.