90
An excellent collection of some of the greatest games released in the past decade, and will become a must-have for all Sega fans once it becomes available separately from the system bundle.
85
The best classic compilation yet.
85
There is so much gameplay in this disk, that it would really be a shame to miss it.
7
So, SEGA Smash Pack... I'm a bit of a mixed bag about this one. I have a lot of positives and a lot of negatives. Starting with the game distribution, it's a brilliant selection of brilliant games! SEGA Smash Pack Volume 1 consists of Sonic 1, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage 2, Phantasy Star 2, Altered Beast, Virtua Cop, Columns, Shining Force, Wrestle War, Golden Axe, Vectorman, and, as an added Dreamcast exclusive, Sega Swirl. Heck, this game got me introduced to Golden Axe, which is now one of my favourite Genesis/Mega Drive games. Now, how do these cult classics play out on the Dreamcast? Well... this was still early days of emulation, I fully get that, which is why the emulation is not the greatest. I mean, most of the time it looks 100% accurate to it's 16-bit counterparts, aside from a few palette glitches from time to time, like Labyrinth Zone in Sonic 1 always having the underwater palette, even when you're not in the water, but that's not too big a deal. But the music? Well, they took the 16-bit classic tunes and recomposed them as 8-bit chip tunes! I'm no technological mastermind, but even though this is early emulation, surely they could've taken the time to just record the original songs and put them in each of their respective games? Shouldn't be too hard, right? But I digress. So, how do the chip tunes sound? Most of them sound pretty gosh darn terrible, especially for people who are used to playing on their Genesis or Mega Drive. I kind of like Spring Yard Zone from Sonic 1's 8-bit recomposition, And the Columns main theme still sounds pretty good, but other than that, it's a crime on your ears to listen to. So, do I recommend it? Well, unless you're a serious collector and you simply must have it to complete your Dreamcast collection, then no. Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant for it's time but nowadays, there are cheaper emulations and far better ways to play all the games included in this compilation.
Sega Smash Pack Volume 1
Dreamcast
Released On:
Jan 31, 2001
Metascore
Generally Favorable
76
User score
Mixed or Average
7.2
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
75% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
13% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
90
Die-hard gamers and fanatical purists will undoubtedly make this game compilation a must-have; but those who took up gaming when the 32-bit era kicked in will find only two titles of interest: "Virtua Cop 2" and "Sega Swirl."
90
An excellent collection of some of the greatest games released in the past decade, and will become a must-have for all Sega fans once it becomes available separately from the system bundle.
85
There is so much gameplay in this disk, that it would really be a shame to miss it.
80
The presence of one or two of the titles truly baffles me, but they're easily overwhelmed by the sheer greatness that the others provide.
80
Plenty of reasons to come back whether it's that nostalgia itch or genuine cravings for some "Virtua Cop" blasting. You'll never grow tired of it.
62
The visuals are bang on with yesteryear but the unfortunate demise of the sound is quite disturbing.
45
While this all may sound like a great value, every single one of the ports is incredibly poor, resulting in nothing but disappointment for anyone looking to replay any of these classic games.
User score
Mixed or Average
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
20% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Jul 24, 2019
7
So, SEGA Smash Pack... I'm a bit of a mixed bag about this one. I have a lot of positives and a lot of negatives. Starting with the game distribution, it's a brilliant selection of brilliant games! SEGA Smash Pack Volume 1 consists of Sonic 1, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage 2, Phantasy Star 2, Altered Beast, Virtua Cop, Columns, Shining Force, Wrestle War, Golden Axe, Vectorman, and, as an added Dreamcast exclusive, Sega Swirl. Heck, this game got me introduced to Golden Axe, which is now one of my favourite Genesis/Mega Drive games. Now, how do these cult classics play out on the Dreamcast? Well... this was still early days of emulation, I fully get that, which is why the emulation is not the greatest. I mean, most of the time it looks 100% accurate to it's 16-bit counterparts, aside from a few palette glitches from time to time, like Labyrinth Zone in Sonic 1 always having the underwater palette, even when you're not in the water, but that's not too big a deal. But the music? Well, they took the 16-bit classic tunes and recomposed them as 8-bit chip tunes! I'm no technological mastermind, but even though this is early emulation, surely they could've taken the time to just record the original songs and put them in each of their respective games? Shouldn't be too hard, right? But I digress. So, how do the chip tunes sound? Most of them sound pretty gosh darn terrible, especially for people who are used to playing on their Genesis or Mega Drive. I kind of like Spring Yard Zone from Sonic 1's 8-bit recomposition, And the Columns main theme still sounds pretty good, but other than that, it's a crime on your ears to listen to. So, do I recommend it? Well, unless you're a serious collector and you simply must have it to complete your Dreamcast collection, then no. Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant for it's time but nowadays, there are cheaper emulations and far better ways to play all the games included in this compilation.
