Sega 3D Classics Collection Review

Emulations of classic retro games were the flavour of 2016, with the NES Classic Mini and the Sega Mega Drive Classic Consoles recapturing the good ol’ days – even the 3DS received some love in the form of the Sega 3D Classics Collection. As with any of the throwback games, your enjoyment will highly depend on how strong your connection is to the games of old.

The overall presentation of the nine-game (or 10, if you look carefully) collection is slick, featuring plenty of old-school art and the original tunes to get the nostalgia pumping. The sheer amount of settings and customisation on offer for each game is impressive. The settings differ for each title, but they generally include customisation such as playing the Japanese or the international version, what effect the 3D has on the game, extensive button remapping, and what visual filter you wish to view the game in.

The top screen displays the game, while the bottom screen shows the box art or a prompt for touch screen controls where applicable. One of the visual filters allows you to play the game from the viewpoint of an arcade cabinet, which adds to the authentic retro aesthetic the collection perfectly captures. Another filter adds a CRTV view, which I found to be difficult to view for any extended period of time, as the intentional distortion made keeping track of the action an eyestrain.

More importantly than anything else, the emulations of each game in the collection are flawless. Everything ran smoothly and controlled tightly. I was impressed by how well some of the titles held up, especially Drift Racer, Galaxy Force II, and Puyo Puyo. It goes without saying that Sonic the Hedgehog still plays brilliantly.

My only gripe is that some of the games are brutally difficult, but I can only assume this is a faithful recreation of what they were like back in the day. My best example is of Puyo Puyo’s ridiculous rubber-banding AI, where I was on the verge of a dominant victory on more than one occasion, only for my opponent to come from absolutely nowhere and defeat me in seconds. This is less a criticism, more of an observation. Thankfully most of the games offer various difficulty settings – but I imagine hardcore Sega fans will want to play the titles as they were intended to be played.

Stunningly, the use of 3D (y’know, that little-used feature the 3DS was named after?) throughout the collection is excellent. Turning the slider up added genuine depth to the originally flat 2D games. Drift Racer and Galaxy Force II had me ducking and dodging projectiles and obstacles, such was the 3D’s effect. It feels strange to be writing this, but the Sega 3D Classics Collection uses the 3DS’ point-of-difference feature better than most of the original games developed for the system. Although the technology has been ignored of late (looking at you, Pokémon), there is definitely scope to create – or in this case, revive – engaging experiences using 3D.

I will concede that I am not the intended audience for Sega 3D Classics Collection: I never played any of the classic Sega consoles, and I have only played the odd Sonic game here or there. However, I had a great time with the collection, and will continue to do so in short bursts. It is because of this fact that I know the people who grew up with the retro Sega games will love Sega 3D Classics Collection.