Physical Copies of SEGA 3D Classics Collection Heading Westward [3DS]

[Nz17]

April 26
USD $30
CAD $45
9 games
Previously available as digital downloads: Fantasy Zone II W, Sonic The Hedgehog, Thunder Blade, Galaxy Force II, Altered Beast
Previously unavailable: Power Drift, Puyo Puyo 2, Maze Walker, Fantasy Zone III: The Tears of Opa-Opa

The Japanese box art by Pokémon's Ken Sugimori will be used in the West.

Click the link below to see the box art:
Source 1: http://blogs.sega.com/2016/01/21/ann...-the-americas/
Source 2: https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/...tting-in-april

[Leo_A]

I just showed up to create a thread, but see that I don't need to.

Perhaps the only thing that doesn't please me here is the lack of any mention of it being volume 1 of hopefully a set. There's no shortage of excellent selections for a 2nd volume that deserves a retail release, so I hope this isn't going to be it. We still need to see the rest of these at retail.

Afterburner II
Ecco the Dolphin
Fantasy Zone (Arcade)
Fantasy Zone (SMS)
Gunstar Heroes
Outrun
Outrun 3D
Shinobi III
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Space Harrier
Space Harrier 3D
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Super Hang-On

[kupomogli]

Very lackluster line up in my opinion. For how great of a backlog they have, they definitely tried to dig out bottom of the barrel bs to shovel to the fans. Also nine games for $30? Are they trying to copy Nintendo's bs with the whole each game is worth a specific amount on virtual consoles/psn so let's price gouge the consumer?

I'm aware that this is a classic games forum and more people are into these games for classic collector's purposes and games they grew up with, but if I was to make a compilation of nine games, I'd say atleast put half of the games as games that people really want. If they were to include a nine game collection of Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes, Shinobi 3, Phantasy Star 2, Phantasy Star 4, Sword of Vermillion, Gain Ground, Golden Axe 2, and Altered Beast(which is already included,) I'd buy it, but not a set of games very few people have interest in. The shmup fanbase is really the niche of the niche, and the game as it is now includes too many of them.

If Sega was to release a 3DS port of Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst and include four player local and online multiplayer, I'd be all over that even if it was released alone. I really like the 3D effect when it's done right, so make the 3D effect not suck.

[Nz17]

1) Better $30 than $54, the combined price for these 9 games on the 3DS eShop.

2) The selection is what it is as it is made up of the games which have already been given the 3D Classics treatment and were released early in the run, and as Leo_A points out, this is perhaps being done as a setup for a Vol. 2 and possibly a Vol. 3 where the remaining games will show up.

Personally, I'm just glad these are being given a tangible release. I wasn't going to buy them as downloads due to the "been there, done that" feeling due to owning their earlier, non-stereoscopic-3D releases. I already own many of these via my copy of the Steam release of the SEGA Mega Drive Collection and some on actual carts. But now that this is being given a corporeal release and being sold at only about 50% of the sum of the costs of the downloads, I'm pretty tempted to pick this up. And I quite like the appearance of the box art to be honest.

[Leo_A]

The arcade games in particular are much more than straight forward emulations/ports, so I think this is a great value. I'd happily of paid $30 just for Thunder Blade, Galaxy Force II, and Power Drift. Heck, I'd of annoyingly but willingly paid $15 digitally or $30 physically for each of these games alone.

Personally, I'm just glad these are being given a tangible release. I wasn't going to buy them as downloads due to the "been there, done that" feeling due to owning their earlier, non-stereoscopic-3D releases.

I've also been much less enthused about the Genesis efforts, but I'll happily take them in this form where as I've been hard pressed to justify them off the eShop. I have so many versions of most of that content where it would take something like the HD recreated versions of Sonic 1-2 getting a handheld/console port to get my attention.

But besides the 3D effect that I can't even physically see, their enhancements are on the slim side. They don't even get the widescreen treatment like the arcade classics did. Not even a cd audio option for Ecco the Dolphin despite M2's abilities and the ease of muting the standard in-game emulated music and playing a mp3 in the background in its place.

Perhaps the only thing that doesn't please me here is the lack of any mention of it being volume 1 of hopefully a set. There's no shortage of excellent selections for a 2nd volume that deserves a retail release, so I hope this isn't going to be it. We still need to see the rest of these at retail.

Fantasy Zone (SMS)

Not only do I really hope we get Japan's volume 1 along with a 3rd volume someday with the remaining games like Afterburner II that have yet to reach retail in any region, I'm now curious where Fantasy Zone for the SMS slots in if Sega follows through.

In Japan, it's unlocked in this collection that we're getting when it detects the presence of save data from the earlier volume that featured classics like Outrun. I wonder if that will be the case for our collection and it will unlock when it sees save data for Volume II someday in hopefully the near future.

If they were to include a nine game collection of Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes, Shinobi 3, Phantasy Star 2, Phantasy Star 4, Sword of Vermillion, Gain Ground, Golden Axe 2, and Altered Beast(which is already included,) I'd buy it, but not a set of games very few people have interest in.

I don't see what you see, since this lineup is excellent and much more interesting I feel than several of these suggestions are.

In particular, this has excellent conversions of three great Sega arcade classics that never received anything approaching justice at home in North America in the past. It's also the first North American release for M2's attempt to go back in time and do justice to Fantasy Zone II by creating an original conversion of it that runs on the same arcade board that Fantasy Zone originally did. Previously, it had only appeared in what amounted to its Master System form in arcades, running on Playchoice style arcade hardware that utilized Sega's home system as its basis.

And you're such a PSP fan, surely you must own the Sega Genesis Collection if you find that lineup interesting. Going off memory, over half of these that you wish were here are on that fine collection and you even get the arcade version of Altered Beast as a bonus. Give me Sega Super Scaler arcade games any day over my 12th form of Golden Axe 2.

Edit: Seven of the nine are on there, although only the Genesis version of Altered Beast was available on the PSP. The arcade version was on the PS2 counterpart thanks to both versions have a unique slate of unlockable arcade extras.

[kupomogli]

And you're such a PSP fan, surely you must own the Sega Genesis Collection if you find that lineup interesting. Going off memory, over half of these that you wish were here are on that fine collection and you even get the arcade version of Altered Beast as a bonus. Give me Sega Super Scaler arcade games any day over my 12th form of Golden Axe 2.

I own the PS2 version, a digital version of the PSP version for Vita, and PS3 version of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.

I know that most of those games are on that collection, but I'm a big fan of the 3D on the 3DS. Just think of playing Phantasy Star 4 in 3D, the way it would look, especially in battles. The 3D mode would compliment Sword of Vermillion and Phantasy Star 4 the most, also compliment the brawlers Golden Axe and Streets of Rage, but would still look really nice on the other games.

[popye101]

wow you guys have some really nice collections.

[Leo_A]

I know that most of those games are on that collection, but I'm a big fan of the 3D on the 3DS. Just think of playing Phantasy Star 4 in 3D, the way it would look, especially in battles. The 3D mode would compliment Sword of Vermillion and Phantasy Star 4 the most, also compliment the brawlers Golden Axe and Streets of Rage, but would still look really nice on the other games.

Fair enough

Not being much of a JRPG fan and unable to see the 3D effect here, it's been fairly easy for me to be dismissive of your suggestion to focus on popular Genesis titles (Although it's nice to see dedicated portable options for a few here like Streets of Rage that weren't on that PSP collection).

I wonder if two separate packages with lineups different from Japan wouldn't of been the wisest course of action. Put all the arcade action on one volume and all the Genesis titles on another. Then those more interested in the Genesis years get a collection better tailored to their interest while fans of arcade gaming get everything available on another title.

At 9 arcade titles and 8 Genesis games, it would work out pretty well from a numbers perspective. And perhaps toss Outrun 3D and Space Harrier 3D in as extras for the arcade volume that are unlocked when save data is detected for the Genesis collection and the opposite with Maze Hunter 3D and the pair of Fantasy Zone titles on the Genesis collection.

It's a logical spread for the 8 bit content (Fantasy Zone never had much of a presence in American arcades), evens up the numbers, and adds an incentive to acquire both collections.