I’m pretty sure that if you are reading this you already know the news that Sega teased those who loved the “classics” that the company has brought us in the past was officially announced as the 3D Classics Collection. When it was announced that the game would be released outside of Japan, everyone seemed to have pretty mixed opinions and to be honest I can kinda see why. Some have praised it, while others are saying it was just a huge disappointment. In this piece I’m going to tell why my thoughts on why, at the very least, it’s a bigger deal that what you might think.
I know I’m not the first person to admit that Sega has made some pretty bad decisions. If you need an example you don’t have to really go back really far, just look at what the last few Sonic games have looked like. However, what they did less than 48 hours ago was something that sent them in the right direction. That positive contains 2 words; social media. As soon as they teased the “classics”, social media went crazy and was trending worldwide on Facebook for over 18 hours. When the game was announced it was trending yet again. This is great because social media is excellent for marketing. By just 1 post containing 1 sentence, they were able to get the hype machine rolling all around the world to the point that it was one of the most talked about topics on social media. The post didn’t cost them anything, so even if they receive 500 preorders this weekend in the United States they did something right. They can also take the data they receive from the amount of copies sold and figure out if there is a game that is more favorable over all the others. This would give them a reason to possibly make an HD remake, and possibly into a continuation of the series after so many years.
As far as my opinion on if it was great news or a disappointed, I find myself somewhere in the middle. The big deal about the game itself is that both Power Drift and Puyo Puyo 2 were never released outside of Japan. This is a big deal if you are a Sega fan, or into retro gaming as you will have the opportunity to play the games without ever having to import a copy. Oh yeah, just for a quick tidbit; the first Puyo Puyo game was available in the United States. Puyo Puyo is best known as Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine outside of Japan. However, it does seem like some of these games are already available on the 3DS via eShop. Plus the original Sonic the Hedgehog is pretty much on every single Sega collection ever released, so why do we need it for the 20th time? If you look at the Sega library, the possibilities of these collections are endless. Personally, the idea of having a mobile version of Crazy Taxi or Jet Set Radio to be very attractive. Even if the 3DS couldn’t handle the fast pace and graphics for games like this, there are still others that I feel have more appeal. Games such as Streets of Rage, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, After Burner, Shinobi, and Sega Rally Championship.
I personally believe that if Sega wants to release more of these they really need to take a step back and look at some of the other games in their library. I love the idea of bringing games that have previously been exclusive to Japan, but we really don’t need the original Sonic the Hedgehog featured in every one of them. You have the library and diversity of multiple genres to introduce younger gamers to characters lost over time like Alex Kidd, Wonder Boy, and RiStar, so why not just make a new one with these characters with some different genres?
