Sonic 3D Blast brings Sonic into the realm of 3D by giving him the freedom to run in all directions. This game came out on the Saturn and this console handles 3D stages better than the Genesis.

The game is addictive and fun to play. Sonic has the task of defeating enemies throughout the levels. If he defeats them, they turn into Flickies. You take them to the ring at the end and send them away.

Sonic is not as fast in this game as the in the 2D games, but that does not make the game any worse. Cleverly placed context platforms are available to propel Sonic or to make him do his spin dash. You are still collecting rings in this game.

The controls are quite loose and could have been a little bit tighter. It feels and looks like Sonic is on ice when you see him running and turning instantly. This is a small issue as it has not made me make any unnecessary mistakes.

The music and sounds are good also, most of the sounds you are familiar with, like when you collect gold rings or when you jump on an enemy.

The graphics complement the Sonic universe nicely. The game is played from a top down angle. So you never have to mess with the camera. You can focus on Sonic, your enemies, and collecting coins.

Not having to control the camera is a good thing, because the camera gets the job done. In the recent 3D Sonic games the camera is usually an issue. instead on focusing on gameplay, you are messing around with the view to get it in the right spot.

I would have to give Sonic 3D Blast two thumbs up. It is a fine game to explore and you will have fun playing with Sonic the Hedgehog in these levels.

Sonic Mega Collection is a fans dream come true. This game has only appeared on the Gamecube and it has most of the Sonic games that came out on the Genesis.

A lot of people do not like the new direction the Sega team took when they decided to switch 2D Sonic to 3D Sonic. But you cannot blame them, because 3D platforms have been doing great. Just look at the Mario games.

Many people jumped on the 3D bandwagon and it was necessary for Sega to do the same, otherwise they would lose a lot of fans. This step in to a new direction brought a lot of problems with it. Problems that still haunt recent Sonic the Hedgehog games.

Sonic Mega Collection does not have these problems. What are they? First of all the camera work is not the greatest and the developers are having a hard time designing large stages that accommodates Sonic his speed. Sonic is so fast that they need to develop a very large amount of miles for a stage, just to keep the game long enough and make the fans happy.

Sonic Mega Collection has plenty of the old classics that will keep you busy for a while. These are: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball.

To make it even better, you can also unlock other Sonic games for even more fun. The Sega team also added some extra nice features into the game, to keep you happy. Like photo galleries and the instruction books that came with the games.

All the games are kept intact. This is a good and bad thing, because a slight graphical improvement would have been a nice addition to the games, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Sonic Mega Collection is a must have for any Sonic fan.

Sonic Spinball is a Genesis game that came out on the Wii virtual console. By listening to the name, you can imagine what the game is about. Spinball has been cleverly used. Spin for Sonic the Hedgehog his moves and pinball, because the game is a pinball game.

Even though the game looks like any of the previous Sonic games, this one is different. In the old Sonic games you have to complete the stages by running and spinning full force to reach the end, while defeating enemies who are in the way.

Sonic Spinball is different, you are in a pinball table and have to collect the chaos emeralds. If you collect them all, you will be able to fight the boss.

Platforming is kept to a minimum, this is all pinball action.You can do the normal actions such as running, jumping, and the spin dash. But you won’t be doing this very often.

What you will be doing is handling the flippers shooting Sonic in different tubes and against walls to make the action move forward.

In Sonic Spinball it is not about mindless running and jumping, you actually have to think about what you need to do to get the emeralds. These are not easy to get as there is always something standing in the way to keep you out.

For example, in the first stages some of the emeralds are surrounded by slug. It is up to you to find out how to drain that slimy slug out and then collect the emerald.

The graphics have not changed from the Genesis period, which is kind of disappointing (imagine playing this game with the latest graphics). But it is still a very cool game, if you are looking for a game where you have to use your brains.

Sonic Spinball is a must play, so get it and start pin balling.

Sonic Rush is a Nintendo DS game that goes back to the 2D Sonic games, but does it live up to the famous 2D Sonic games? You will be surprised.

All I can say is Sonic Rush, where have you been all my life. This game is awesome. It takes all of the good things about the 2D Sonic game and improves on it. After playing some of the bad 3D Sonic games I am pleasantly surprised and relieved that Sonic Rush is a must have.

Even though it is 2D, it still has 3D elements, like the 3D special stages and the 3D touches while playing the game. The animation is excellent. Sonic has different animations for the different situations he is in. When you play the game you will notice these animations, they added way more than the old games.

Sonic the hedgehog is so fast you can sometimes see a double image of him. To make things even better, you can give sonic a temporary boost to speed him up. This is something that was not available in the 2D Sonic games.

This burst of speed is great, because it makes game move forward at the same fast pace. It is irritating if you where traveling fast and then something breaks that rhythm, an issue I always had with the older games. The boost keeps the same flow going.

You can power up your boost meter by doing tricks while airborne. While doing these tricks the crowd will go wild.

You will also be using both of the DS screens, but most of the time you will use the top one.

If you thought about buying Sonic Rush, do not wait and by it now. It is better than the old 2D Sonic games and it is very addictive to play it on the Nintendo DS.

Sonic Unleashed is yet another Sonic game but with a twist. Everybody knows that our favorite blue hedgehog is all about speed. This game definitely delivers on the speed part, but is that all? Does it bring our hero to the next level?

Sonic Unleashed is divided in three sections. You have daytime, night, and adventure. Now what are these three about? I am happy you asked.

The day part is where its at. All the action and fast running takes places during the daytime. Sonic the hedgehog is super fast, so fast that most of the time you do not even know what you are doing. This is a good thing and it reminds me of the 2D Sonic games that I loved and miss so much.

You get to dash through various levels and they are all very beautiful. On the other hand, the nighttime is lacking in fun. During the night, you get to play with Sonic as a Werehog. This is a over sized, monster version of Sonic.

The Werehog lacks on speed, but makes up for this with Brute force. While attacking enemies, you will notice that his arms can expand very far. This might be the only part that indicates his speed. He is so fast with his arms that it can extend.

The night stages in Sonic Unleashed are fun in the beginning, but they become boring and repetitive pretty quickly.

Maybe I am reaching to far, but it seems like a good theory.The last section (adventure) has you collecting tokens you can use to open the day and night stages. This part of the game they could have left out.

So is this a buy or a rent? I would say rent it and play it. You will probably get bored and bring it back to the rental store. Sonic Unleashed had some nice touches, but it could have been more.