Every week Cyril Lachel comes down from his giant castle in the hills to provide the final word on all of the classic downloadable games and retro compilations. This is the Retro Round-Up, your official guide to the best (and worst) in classic gaming for the Nintendo Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Join us as we shed some light on what games are worth your five or ten dollars, and what games you should avoid at all costs. For more information about these games (and retro gaming in general) we invite you to check out Defunct Games. If you believed Capcom and SNK then this week we should be reviewing the original Mega Man and the seminal Samurai Shodown II. But something strange happened between those announcements and the moment that Nintendo pushed the upload button, because this week we are actually looking at Splatterhouse 2 and the Sega Master System port of Sonic the Hedgehog. Okay, so it`s not exactly Samurai Shodown II, but maybe we can actually use this time to talk about something important. Find out how that goes in yet another exciting episode of the Retro Round-Up!

Sonic the Hedgehog
What Is It?
Seeing how popular Sonic the Hedgehog was on the Genesis, Sega decided to release this 8-bit port of the game. Perhaps port is the wrong word, I`m sure Sega would have talked about how this is an 8-bit "reimagining" of the Sonic the Hedgehog game. Either way, the basic look and gameplay of the 16-bit game are all here, only shrunk down to fit on the Sega Master System. While the game follows roughly the same path as the original game, there are some striking differences between the 8- and 16-bit versions of the game. New levels and bosses were added, some of scoring details are different and the level maps have been completely changed. Is this a big enough change to warrant a second purchase? Probably not, especially since this Sonic the Hedgehog game suffers from some weird control choices.

Does It Still Hold Up?
While the graphics and animation are surprisingly solid for an 8-bit game, Sonic the Hedgehog is plagued by some control issues and slow gameplay. Worse yet, the game just doesn`t feel right. When you jump it feels like you float in the air for far too long. Running from one part of the level to the next also feels weird, due in large part to the slower gameplay. After playing more than a decade of Sonic the Hedgehog games I know how Sonic should feel, and this is definitely NOT how he is supposed to control.

Is It Worth The Money?
I suppose it`s better this than Sonic the Hedgehog on the Game Gear. Actually, I`m not so sure about that. The truth is, there`s really no reason for this game to exist on the Virtual Console. It`s not like the far superior 16-bit version is unavailable on Nintendo`s console, the Genesis game has been available from the start. Yes, there are some new levels and the layouts aren`t exactly the same, but it also has this weird floaty feel and it doesn`t play very fast. The only reason you would buy this is if you are a Sonic the Hedgehog completist, and even then you should probably go out and pick up one of those Sega Mega Collection discs that has all of Sonic`s 8-bit outings. Sonic the Hedgehog isn`t a terrible game, but it`s also not the kind of Master System game they should be releasing.



Splatterhouse 2
What Is It?
Looking back at it now it`s nearly impossible to believe that Namco`s Splatterhouse was once the most controversial game on the block. Unleashed in the arcades and later ported to the TurboGrafx-16, Splatterhouse took the over-the-...