Sonic Jam

Sonic Jam is the closest thing we got to an exclusive Sonic game for the Sega Saturn which is a real shame when you think about it. I know that this has a reputation for being yet another compilation of Sonic games, but it is far more than that. So much so, if you have even the slightest interest in Sega’s blue mascot, you have to play this game!

Four Of The Best

Let’s start with what this game is known for and that is the classics. Featured here are the first three Sonic games as well as Sonic and Knuckles. All of these are absolute classics and they play just as well here as they do on the original Sega Mega Drive/Genesis hardware. I could play these games anytime and have a great time and nothing has changed here.

If you like the classic Sonic games, you are going to be very happy with how they look, sound, and play here. I found the Sega Saturn controller to work very well with all of the games. While there is nothing new added here to the original Sonic games, I feel that there is nothing that Sega could have added to make these better.

Sonic World

No, I am not talking about the Sonic Lost World game for the Nintendo Wii U (which is not as bad as some people say) in Sonic Jam, we got our first taste of a 3D version of Sonic the Hedgehog. The game has this mode called, Sonic World where you get to control Sonic in a 3D environment and run around what is best described as a Sonic museum. It is just amazing fan service and you can see all kinds of cool stuff. Back in the day, this was the first time I saw many of the Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog things.

Now as great as Sonic World is, it is not a full game and it is rather limited in what it allows you to do. However, I must say in playing this again for this review. I did feel that there were some very strong bones here for a 3D Sonic game on the Sega Saturn.

More Sonic

As much as I love Sonic Jam, I will admit that most of this is based on Sonic World. You see, we already had a Sonic compilation on the Genesis (all be it a more basic one with just a couple of games) and there have been a million since this that do it far better. However, at the time this was released most people felt that they could have added in the Sega Master System games and games like Sonic Spinball and Sonic CD to make it a more complete Sonic experience.

I love Sonic Jam I really do. It is the kind of game that is worth playing just to see how the Sega Saturn could have handled a 3D Sonic game. It features a lot of fan service and we all know that all four of the games are absolute classics are just as much fun to play today as they were in the 90s. The fan service in Sonic World is a lot of fun to look at and while later collections offer far more content. If you want to see what a 3D Sonic game on the Saturn would have been like there is no other way than with this collection.

Pros:

• Sonic World is very, very interesting
• The only 3D version of Sonic on the Saturn
• I liked all of the extras that the game had
• All four Sonic games are great
• It is an interesting piece of Sonic history

Cons:

• They could have added more games
• It does make you wonder what could have been