No doubt continuing on from Nintendo and SEGA’s newfound partnership, today marks the release of not one, not two, not three, but four Game Gear games on the Nintendo 3DS eShop! We’ve already seen the likes of Sonic Triple Trouble and Sonic Blast hitting the Big N’s 3D handheld system, but now you can add some more titles to your digital retro SEGA collection, with two Sonic themed games leading the pack.
The four games on offer are Sonic The Hedgehog, Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Columns, and Shining Force: Sword of Hajya. SEGA also promise that “more [is] on the way for the Nintendo 3DS”, so you can look forward to even more classic games hitting the Virtual Console in due course.
Below are some descriptions to accompany each title which may help you decide which to download, as found on the SEGA Blog.
Sonic the Hedgehog – £4.49
Ah yes, Sonic. We know about this game, right? Blue Hedgehog runs fast, collects rings, thwarts plans, frees animals encased in unfeeling metal, is charged with the mystical energies of special emeralds. Classic!
Actually the Game Gear version is a slightly different spin on the original – it’s the same version as appeared on the SEGA Master System: half of the zones feature a different design than the 16-bit counterpart, and it has different level design and story elements.
Notably, the game also featured original music from chiptune wizard Yuzo Koshiro – the same musician who created the amazing tracks for the Streets of Rage series and contributed fifteen original tracks to Shenmue.
Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine – £2.69
Look, it was the 90s, and matching contortionist strings of goo-beans was just something that we did back then. It’s hard to explain if you weren’t there, but this game is a window into the culture of my people.
Oh! Also it is basically a Puyo Puyo game, which is to say exactly a Puyo Puyo game, but remade with a Sonic theme, because again, it was the 90s, and that’s how we rolled.
One neat thing about the Game Gear versions of Genesis titles is they often had something unique going for them – in this case, a “Puzzle Mode” that didn’t appear in its 16-bit cousin. Nineties! Yeah!
Columns – £3.59
Columns!
Seriously though, Columns. Yes, there is a fine tradition of games where the player arranges falling things in a desperate bid to make them disappear. It’s as apt a metaphor for life itself as video games have devised. The twist in columns – have you guessed it? – is the frenetic arrangements are all vertical, a metaphor for the chaos of our waking lives, and/or a metaphor for spinning falling gems stuck to one another that vanish if you line them up just so.
As is becoming a recurring theme here, Columns also had some fantastic music.
Shining Force: Sword of Hajya – £3.59
A rare gem from one of my personal favorite series – the original Shining Force games rank highly on my list of all-time favorites for their blend of tactical strategy and story-driven RPG.
Sword of Hajya takes place some 20 years after the original Shining Force, give or take, and continues the story of Guardiana. A handful of characters from the original – including Luke, Ken, Lowe, and the magical egg-shaped squid-creature (???) Domingo – return in this Gamer Gear exclusive.
To be honest, RPGs don’t always age well – they can be grindy and they can belong very much to their eras. Sometimes you take what you can get. But tactical RPGs and in particular the Shining Force series have always felt very much alive, and the blend of character progression, story, and tactical strategy still hold a primal appeal. I mean, I’m biased! But I like to think I’m biased for a reason, and those reasons say I am very excited to see this game (and all these games) show up for download on the 3DS.
Source: SEGA Blog
Sonic 1 8-bit! Yes! Glad to finally see more Game Gear goodies!
Here’s hoping for Shinobi 2 and Ristar sooner than later.
I really hate that they seem insistent upon re-releasing the Game Gear versions of Sonic 1 and 2 rather than the far superior Master System versions.
Do you realize that the Master System versions and the Game Gear versions are ONE AND THE SAME! Therefore you cannot say the Master System versions are superior when the Game Gear versions are just as good, because they are ONE AND THE SAME!
They aren’t. The Master System one is far superior, with better bosses, Special Stages, etc…
Search on youtube for the frist and the last bosses from both games.
Sorry, but that just isn’t true.
The Game Gear versions have a lower screen resolution than their Master System counterparts, making certain levels and boss fights (the first boss fight in Sonic 2, in particular) much more difficult because you simply don’t have enough time to react. There are also slight variations in level design and some entirely different boss fights (more so in Sonic 1 than 2).
To the credit of the Game Gear versions, they do make use of the system’s larger color pallet. But the Master System versions appear to have been the lead platform, and there was definitely something lost in translation with the Game Gear ports. The games simply play better on the home platform, and SEGA is doing both the games themselves and gamers everywhere a disservice by never releasing those versions.
Contrast that with Sonic Blast and Sonic Chaos, which appear to have been designed around the Game Gear’s lower resolution and thus do not benefit as much from being played on the higher resolution Master System.
Actually, some Master System versions made it to the Wii Virtual Console, including the Sonic titles.
Good one four Sega game gear games on Nintendo E Shop are Sonic the Hedgehog for $4.49 and Dr Robotnik mean bean machine is for $2.69. And the third one Columns for $3.59 and last one is Shining Force Sword of Haija. Also I will get Castle of illusion HD for Xbox live arcade first and Sonic Lost world for nintendo 3DS second . Sowonderful HD like Sonic adventure HD and Sonic adventure 2 HD more than that like If I had 3 classic sega games HD for Xbox live arcade it will be happy play three classic Sega game HD.