Sonic Classic Collection
Sonic Classic Collection is a 2010 compilation of various Sonic the Hedgehog games from the Sega Genesis. Developed by Creative Assembly's Australian studio and published by Sega for the Nintendo DS, the game received generally mixed reviews upon release. A limited edition, exclusive to Spain and Australia, was released concurrently alongside the standard version of the game. The limited edition comes with a tin box containing the base game, a Sonic figurine, and five postcards of Sonic artwork. Overview. "Sonic Classic Collection" contains "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Sonic the Hedgehog 2", "Sonic the Hedgehog 3", and "Sonic  & Knuckles". The Lock-on modes from the original Sonic & Knuckles cartridge ("Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and "Sonic 3 & Knuckles") are fully implemented and playable. The ability to save and load at any point, a feature not found in the original games, is also present. Alongside the main games, a gallery of early artwork from the "Sonic" series is viewable. Development. On November 11, 2009, the BBFC classified "Sonic Classic Collection", accidentally announcing the game early. Two videos, one about "" and the other about the history of the "Sonic" franchise, were listed as content present within the game. These  were presumably cut, as they are not featured in the final version of the game. "Sonic Classic Collection" was formerly announced by Sega on December 1, 2009 through a press release. During development, Sega had hired Stephan Dittrich to be a lead programmer for the game. Stephan had created a Sega Genesis emulator for the Nintendo DS named jEnesisDS, and "Sonic Classic Collection" runs on a modified version of the emulator in which screen size has been cropped to properly fit the top screen. In 2015, a former Creative Assembly employee featured "Sonic Classic Collection" illustrations on his portfolio. Among  the artwork were icons for "Sonic Spinball", "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine", and "Sonic 3D Blast". These games were not present in the final release, thus suggesting that at some point these games were considered for inclusion. Reception. "Sonic Classic Collection" received mixed reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics generally agreed that the compilation was fun and that the games could still be enjoyable after their original release. However, critics criticised the emulation for "the iffy frame rate present in all the games", and "although the game never slows down to the extent of Sonic’s infamous Game  Boy Advance outing, it’s a fact that the DS shouldn’t be struggling with these games". More points of contention were the lack of multiplayer and how loading a file "just kicks you back to the start of the level that you were playing". A lack of extras was another complaint, as they were described as "extremely little... to get excited about" and how it had "only the basics of legacy material like character art."