Tempest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Is it just me or is Dr. Robotnick's Mean Bean Machine INSANELY hard? I've always loved the game but I can never get further than the third guy. Same here. I thought I just sucked at it, but now I'm wondering. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) Verdict: This thing's a keeper. Audio still isn't perfectly replicated, but all the major problems that plagued the PS2 release have disappeared. There aren't any missing or mistimed sound effects, and all the music is now faithfully preserved. A note to those with sensitive ears: You may want to fiddle with your stereo's equalizer and bring down the treble a bit. The sound can get quite tangy. The widescreen video problem has also gone away. When played on a 16x9 TV, each game lets you select whether to stretch the picture, or center it with its original proportions. If you opt not to stretch, each game comes with its own border and background to fill out the rest of the screen. The developers seem to have been keeping tabs on the emulator community as well. First, each game offers "video smoothing," just like a lot of emulators do now. More than just simple upscaling, this option uses some mathematical trickery to turn the jaggies or stair-steps inherent in low-resolution graphics into smooth curves, making the games almost look like they were meant for higher resolution in the first place (this is where the game gets its boast about "enhanced HD graphics"). Sometimes the resulting picture looks a bit smudged or washed out, but for the most part the effect works pretty well. If you haven't bought or played the games yet, the back of the box gives some idea of what to expect. Second, and far more important, this release finally adds something that has been sorely lacking in every other Genesis compilation: save states! Now you can play all those Sonic special levels as often as it takes to get all the Chaos Emeralds, without constantly restarting the whole game! Major kudos to Sega for this one. A few big-name Sega properties sadly are still missing: OutRun, After Burner and Galaxy Force are no-shows, while Space Harrier appears only as an unlockable arcade game. Speaking of the unlockables, they are pretty much a random, half-hearted assemblage of arcade and SMS titles. The point of the compilation is the Genesis, of course, but I agree with everyone who says Sega should have thrown in more of the older stuff if they were going to bother putting in anything at all. The least they could have done was include all the vector arcade games that the PS2 compilation offered. Nitpicks aside, this is definitely worth the thirty bucks. Fans of Sega's classic arcade games like Tac/Scan and Zektor may want to hang onto the PS2 disc, but everyone else can upgrade without fear. Edited February 12, 2009 by skunkworx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbid Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Is it just me or is Dr. Robotnick's Mean Bean Machine INSANELY hard? I've always loved the game but I can never get further than the third guy. Same here. I thought I just sucked at it, but now I'm wondering. Tempest puyo puyo is pretty easy once you figure out how to pick up a quick 5 or 6 chain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Legality aside, does this collection offer anything for people who use emulators? I use a Genesis emulator on the Wii which seems to wrok really well, so I've been hemming and hawing about getting this. The main sticking point for me is actaully not the games fault, it's that I have a 4:3 TV and if I play something that's cropped in widescreen format I basically get a postage stamp. Thankfully one the Wii I can play in 4:3 because it only does 480p. I was just wondering if they've made any improvements to the emulation of these games over the standard batch of emulators that makes them worth getting (and putting up with the postage stamping). Any extras that make the package worthwhile? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Legality aside, does this collection offer anything for people who use emulators? If you're looking to just simply play the games straight, then probably not.. if that's the case, I'd just play these games on my Xbox emulator. However, I am a big fan of legitimately released compilations. I mean.. just the stuff like packaging, or in this case, the software packaging with the menus, history tidbits, scans, etc. all appeal to me. That's what I'd get it for. The developers seem to have been keeping tabs on the emulator community as well. Oh god at least I hope it isn't a direct port of one. Remember Taito's Xbox compilation where their emulated Phoenix had EXACTLY the same inaccurate sound as the Mame version at the time? Hmmmm... And now that's permanently there in their compilation for the ages, whereas the sound has since been fixed in Mame. How embarrassing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) Legality aside, does this collection offer anything for people who use emulators? Most (maybe all) of the Sega employee and developer interviews that first appeared on the PS2 compilation are here as well. Otherwise, if you have a console-based emulator that offers save-states and high-res smoothing, or if you don't care about one or the other, then no, this compilation won't offer much more than a legal green light of any games you don't already own. The main sticking point for me is actaully not the games fault, it's that I have a 4:3 TV and if I play something that's cropped in widescreen format I basically get a postage stamp. Thankfully one the Wii I can play in 4:3 because it only does 480p. It's been a while since I've fiddled with my system settings, but I would assume the XBox 360 can be configured to 4x3, the same way the Wii (and the PS2) can. At any rate, this compilation allows the games to be stretched to fill the screen, so even if the XBox thinks you're on a 16x9 TV, the games can still look normal after being "stretched." Edited February 12, 2009 by skunkworx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 It's been a while since I've fiddled with my system settings, but I would assume the XBox 360 can be configured to 4x3, the same way the Wii (and the PS2) can. HD content (anything over 480p) is naturally 16:9. That's why if you have your 360 set to anything over 480p it will make it 16:9 no matter what you do. At any rate, this compilation allows the games to be stretched to fill the screen, so even if the XBox thinks you're on a 16x9 TV, the games can still look normal after being "stretched." Stretched to fill the 16:9 screen or to 4:3? I'd find the latter hard to believe due to my comments above, but then again I'm not an expert on such things. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I'm not that picky about sound as long as most of it is clean and nice review by skunkworx I'll be picking this up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 It's been a while since I've fiddled with my system settings, but I would assume the XBox 360 can be configured to 4x3, the same way the Wii (and the PS2) can. HD content (anything over 480p) is naturally 16:9. That's why if you have your 360 set to anything over 480p it will make it 16:9 no matter what you do. Okay, so, stupid question: What's stopping you from setting your 360 to 480p 4x3 (assuming it can be)? At any rate, this compilation allows the games to be stretched to fill the screen, so even if the XBox thinks you're on a 16x9 TV, the games can still look normal after being "stretched." Stretched to fill the 16:9 screen or to 4:3? I'd find the latter hard to believe due to my comments above, but then again I'm not an expert on such things. Like I mentioned in my comments above, on a 16x9 screen the game can either be centered with its correct proportions, or it can be stretched horizontally to fill the whole screen. So, if you have your 360 set for 16x9 display but you're really using a 4x3 display, setting the games to "widescreen" mode will make them look normal on your TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 It's been a while since I've fiddled with my system settings, but I would assume the XBox 360 can be configured to 4x3, the same way the Wii (and the PS2) can. HD content (anything over 480p) is naturally 16:9. That's why if you have your 360 set to anything over 480p it will make it 16:9 no matter what you do. Okay, so, stupid question: What's stopping you from setting your 360 to 480p 4x3 (assuming it can be)? Okay stupid answer: absolutely nothing. I suppose I can do just that, but it's a pain to go back and forth like that. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Okay, so, stupid question: What's stopping you from setting your 360 to 480p 4x3 (assuming it can be)? Okay stupid answer: absolutely nothing. I suppose I can do just that, but it's a pain to go back and forth like that. But if you're only using a 4x3 television, why would you have to switch back and forth? Or does the 360 travel between televisions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Okay, so, stupid question: What's stopping you from setting your 360 to 480p 4x3 (assuming it can be)? Okay stupid answer: absolutely nothing. I suppose I can do just that, but it's a pain to go back and forth like that. But if you're only using a 4x3 television, why would you have to switch back and forth? Or does the 360 travel between televisions? Because it's a HD CRT (yes they made them in 4:3). It actually does 1080i which looks really nice so although I lose some screen real estate, I set it to widescreen mode. The Wii however doesn't do HD so it stays at 4:3. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) But if you're only using a 4x3 television, why would you have to switch back and forth? Or does the 360 travel between televisions? Because it's a HD CRT (yes they made them in 4:3). It actually does 1080i which looks really nice so although I lose some screen real estate, I set it to widescreen mode. I gotcha. Just out of curiousity, does the TV lop off the sides of the picture when getting a 1080i widescreen signal or does it squeeze everything inward? Either way, the Genesis collection has you covered. If the sides are lopped off, just set each game to 4x3 and all you will miss are the custom backgrounds. If things get compressed, setting each game to 16x9 will effectively cancel that out. Edited February 12, 2009 by skunkworx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 But if you're only using a 4x3 television, why would you have to switch back and forth? Or does the 360 travel between televisions? Because it's a HD CRT (yes they made them in 4:3). It actually does 1080i which looks really nice so although I lose some screen real estate, I set it to widescreen mode. I gotcha. Just out of curiousity, does the TV lop off the sides of the picture when getting a 1080i widescreen signal or does it squeeze everything inward? Either way, the Genesis collection has you covered. If the sides are lopped off, just set each game to 4x3 and all you will miss are the custom backgrounds. If things get compressed, setting each game to 16x9 will effectively cancel that out. If it's a 16:9 signal then it just chops off the top and bottom. However if it's a 4:3 signal displayed in HD then it postage stamps it (cuts off all the sides). Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PressureCooker2600 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Another downer is the lack of online multiplayer. Only local co-op is available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) Of course we're now going completely off on a tangent, but hey... If it's a 16:9 signal then it just chops off the top and bottom. However if it's a 4:3 signal displayed in HD then it postage stamps it (cuts off all the sides). Like you mentioned earlier, all broadcast resolutions above 480p are inherently 16x9. So, HD video that seems to be 4x3 is still wrapped up in a 16x9 signal, with pillarbox (vertical letterbox) bars on the sides to compensate. It sounds like your TV is letterboxing 16x9 images to present them in their proper aspect ratio. In other words, it's not chopping off the top and bottom, but actually adding to the top and bottom. If an HD 4x3 picture gets letterboxed like this, then yes, the result is going to be a postage stamp. This isn't something the XBox 360 or any HD video player can compensate for, because it's happening beyond the player. However, your TV may have an option to turn off the letterboxing. Most if not all 16x9 televisions offer controls for deciding how 4x3 images should be displayed; the popular options are pillarboxing, stretching, and cropping/zooming. I would hope a 4x3 TV that was built to be aware of 16x9 signals would then have an opposite-but-equal set of controls: letterboxing, squishing, or cropping/zooming. Check your manual if you haven't already. Edited February 12, 2009 by skunkworx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) Second, and far more important, this release finally adds something that has been sorely lacking in every other Genesis compilation: save states! Now you can play all those Sonic special levels as often as it takes to get all the Chaos Emeralds, without constantly restarting the whole game! Major kudos to Sega for this one. A few big-name Sega properties sadly are still missing: OutRun, After Burner and Galaxy Force are no-shows, while Space Harrier appears only as an unlockable arcade game. Speaking of the unlockables, they are pretty much a random, half-hearted assemblage of arcade and SMS titles. The point of the compilation is the Genesis, of course, but I agree with everyone who says Sega should have thrown in more of the older stuff if they were going to bother putting in anything at all. The least they could have done was include all the vector arcade games that the PS2 compilation offered. Sonic Mega Collection Plus (Though I hear the non Plus GameCube release didn't) and Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2/PSP, both offer save states. Sonic Gems Collection on the GameCube did as well. I've taken advantage of that feature many times in those titles, so it's not really something new. As for the missing titles, they have to save something for a sequel. Emulation and such surely wasn't a issue in keeping things like Future Spy and Super Zaxxon off this, since Zaxxon used the same hardware and is included on here. Edited February 12, 2009 by Atariboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Soldier Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Picked up my copy for the 360 last night. Does anyone know if there are achievements (360), or trophies (PS3) in the collection ? I like the unlockable content but hopefully there is alittle something extra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Sonic Mega Collection Plus (Though I hear the non Plus GameCube release didn't) and Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2/PSP, both offer save states. Sonic Gems Collection on the GameCube did as well. I've taken advantage of that feature many times in those titles, so it's not really something new. I stand corrected. I could have sworn I didn't see save states available on the PS2 collection, and yes, they're definitely missing on the Game Cube's Sonic Mega Collection as well the Dreamcast and PC collections released earlier. Picked up my copy for the 360 last night. Does anyone know if there are achievements (360), or trophies (PS3) in the collection ? I like the unlockable content but hopefully there is alittle something extra. Dunno about the PS3, but the 360 release does have achievements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Soldier Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 ^Thanks for the info. Hopefully I'll get a chance to play it tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 This seems like a better compilation than the Sega Classics collection I have(PS2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I just got the PS3 version. I posted a thread in the PS3 forum of all the Trophies you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightwing Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I just got the PS3 version. I posted a thread in the PS3 forum of all the Trophies you can get. I didn't even know this was out.Being a huge fan of collection games,I'll be picking this up shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Just bought it & played a few games. How can you get the game audio & the MP3s to play together? I can't find a way to un-mute the game audio. Other games can do it. I also realized that Gain Ground is a rather dull game. In all of its mystique obscurity, it's a slowed down Gauntlet to some extent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I also realized that Gain Ground is a rather dull game. In all of its mystique obscurity, it's a slowed down Gauntlet to some extent. Pretty much. I love the game for some reason however. I usually play on Hard so I have all the guys up front rather than having to fetch them all. It really makes all the difference. Of course you don't get multiple copies that way... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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